Li Shouzhen

Li Shouzhen (李守貞; died 17 August 949) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Later Jin and Later Han, as well as (briefly) the Khitan Liao dynasty. During the reign of Later Han's second emperor Liu Chengyou, he became concerned that he was being targeted by the officials assisting the young emperor, and therefore rebelled. His rebellion was defeated by the Later Han general Guo Wei, however, and he committed suicide.

It is not known when Li Shouzhen was born. It is known that he was from Heyang (河陽, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan). He was said to be intelligent and strong in character in but poor in his youth. He became an officer at Heyang Circuit (headquartered at Heyang). When Shi Jingtang served as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Heyang under his father-in-law, the Later Tang emperor Li Siyuan, he made Li his protocol officer. Thereafter, when Shi was moved to several other circuits, Li followed him and continued to serve under him.

After Shi Jingtang overthrew then-Later Tang emperor Li Congke (Li Siouan's adoptive son) in 936 and established his state of Later Jin, he made Li Shouzhen his imperial protocol officer (客省使, Keshengshi). In 940, when Li Jinquan the military governor (Jiedushi) of Anyuan Circuit (安遠, headquartered in modern Xiaogan, Hubei) rebelled against Shi's rule, Shi sent the general Ma Quanjie (馬全節) to attack Li Jinquan. Li Shouzhen served as Ma's army monitor during the campaign, and after Li Jinquan fled to Later Jin's southeastern neighbor Southern Tang and Later Jin retained Anyuan, Li Shouzhen was promoted to be the director palace affairs (宣徽使, Xunahuishi).

After Shi Jingtang died in 942 and was succeeded by his nephew Shi Chonggui, Li Shouzhen was given the dual offices of commander of the imperial cavalry guards and military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan). His imperial guard office was soon changed to be discipline officer of the imperial guards.

In 944, the Khitan Liao dynasty's Emperor Taizong—whose support had been instrumental in Shi Jingtang's establishment of Later Jin but whose relationship with Shi Chonggui had become inimical—invaded Later Jin. Li Shouzhen was one of the Later Jin generals sent to resist the invasion. When the Liao general Yelü Mada (耶律麻荅) tried to attack Shi Chonggui himself directly during the campaign, Li Shouzhen intercepted and defeated him. After the end of that campaign, Shi, while retaining him as discipline officer, also made him the military governor of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong).

Subsequently, when the major general Yang Guangyuan the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang, Shandong) rebelled with Liao support, Shi sent Li to attack Yang. (The reason why Shi sent Li was because Li and Yang had prior grudges against each other.) Around the new year 945, Yang Guangyuan's son Yang Chengxun (楊承勳) put his father under house arrest and surrendered to Li. With Yang Chengxun's having surrendered on his own, Shi, while believing that Yang Guangyuan deserved death, did not want to execute him publicly, and therefore had Li secretly send executioners to batter Yang to death, while publicly claiming that Yang had died of an illness. Yang's treasury officer Song Yan (宋顏), who had encouraged Yang's rebellion and therefore was decreed to be executed, submitted Yang's treasures, beautiful concubines, and best horses to Li, hoping to be spared. Li thus hid him from the imperial officials. However, the chancellor Sang Weihan, receiving reports that Li had sheltered Song, sent officers to search Li's camp and, upon locating Song, executed him, causing Li to resent Sang. Li also drew resentment from his own soldiers by awarding them for the victory with items that they did not appreciate—such as fermented tea, dyed wood, ginger, and herbs. The soldiers receiving such "rewards" often tied them up in bundles and hanged them on trees, calling them, "Shouzhen's heads". Nevertheless, upon Li's return to the capital Kaifeng after the victory, he was greatly honored by being given the honorary chancellor designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事) and the grand mansion that Yang had at Kaifeng—which Li then expanded into an even grander structure, said to be the largest mansion for officials at Kaifeng. Shi held feasts in his honor and gave him rewards beyond all others.

In late 944, Emperor Taizong launched another major incursion into Later Jin territory, inflicting much damage on the Later Jin populace north of the Yellow River. As the Liao army withdrew in spring 945, Shi sent Du Wei (Shi Jingtang's sister's husband, and therefore, Shi Chonggui's uncle by marriage) and Li Shouzhen in command of an army to give chase. They crossed into Liao territory and captured Qi (祁州) and Tai (泰州) (both in modern Baoding), but soon received news that the Liao army had turned around and was heading for them. They tried to withdraw, but became surrounded near Yangcheng (陽城, in modern Baoding). Du panicked and was reluctant to engage the Liao army, but at Fu Yanqing's advocacy, Li Shouzhen ordered an attack during a sandstorm (which hid the Later Jin numerical disadvantage); Fu, Zhang Yanze, Yao Yuanfu (藥元福), and Huangfu Yu (皇甫遇), attacked the Liao army fiercely, causing the Liao army to panic and flee. After his return from this campaign, Li's military governorship was moved to Guide Circuit (歸德, headquartered in modern Shangqiu, Henan). In late 945, Shi stationed Li Shouzhen and his army at Chan Prefecture (澶州, in modern Puyang, Henan), to defend against another potential Liao attack. Meanwhile, still resentful of Sang, Li Shouzhen, along with Shi's close associates Feng Yu (the brother of Shi's wife Empress Feng) and Li Yantao (李彥韜), falsely accused Sang of plotting to have Shi replaced with Shi Jingtang's son Shi Chongrui (石重睿). Sang was removed from his dual roles as chancellor and chief of staff (Shumishi) and replaced by Zhao Ying and Li Song. Around this time, his military governorship was moved from Guide to Tainting (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong).

In 946, there was a report from Ding Prefecture (定州, in modern Baoding, Hebei) that another Liao attack was impending. Shi Chonggui sent Li to the frontier to command an army against the potential invasion, with Huangfu Yu (皇甫遇) serving as his deputy. However, with the report apparently being a false alarm, Li, after minor border skirmishes, was returned to his position at Chan. (It was said that at this time, Li Yantao had become particularly powerful as Shi's close associate, such that he had Li Shouzhen's every move under control. Li Shouzhen, in response, outwardly showed respect and deference to him, while inwardly resented his influence on the emperor.) Meanwhile, with Li Shouzhen's troops having to often go through Guangjin (廣晉, in modern Handan, Hebei), Du, who was then the military governor of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered at Guangjin), frequently got the chance to welcome him and often gifted him with gold, silk, armors, and elite soldiers, causing them to become good friends. Whenever Shi held feasts for Li Shouzhen and praised him for battlefield accomplishments, Li Shouzhen would thus praise Du for his contributions and suggest that, in the future, if there were to be a major attack against Liao, he and Du could work together, and Shi agreed.