In 77 BCE, after several Han envoys had been intercepted and killed in or near Loulan, a Chinese delegation was sent with orders to assassinate the king of Loulan, including an envoy named Fu Jiezi. Fu Jiezi gained entry to Loulan by claiming to carry silk and valuables as gifts for the king. After the king of Loulan became drunk after receiving his gifts, Fu Jiezi's guard stabbed him to death, severed his head and had it hung from a tower above the northern gate. Upon completing the assassination, the guard supposedly proclaimed: "The Son of Heaven (Han Emperor Zhao) has sent me to punish the king, by reason of his crime in turning against the Han...Han troops are about the arrive here; do not dare to make any move which would result in yourselves bringing about the destruction of your state." While the king's younger brother Weituqi (尉屠耆) succeeded him as king, the Han court apparently tightened its grip on Loulan from this point – a step symbolized by the Han court obliging Loulan to adopt a new official name, the non-native exonym Shanshan.