Li Bian
Li Bian, courtesy name Zhenglun, known as Xu Gao between 937 and 939 and Xu Zhigao before 937, and possibly Li Pengnu during his childhood, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Liezu of Southern Tang, was the founder and first emperor of the Chinese Southern Tang dynasty. In traditional histories, he is also often referred to as the First Lord of Southern Tang. He was an adopted son and successor of the Yang Wu regent Xu Wen who usurped power from the Yang Wu emperor Yang Pu.
Early life
Li Bian was born in 889 at Pengcheng, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, and might have been known as Li Pengnu in his childhood. His father was named Li Rong, who was said to be careful and kind. Li Rong favored spending time with Buddhist monks and often visited their residences, such that he became known as Philosopher Li. His mother was a Lady Liu, who was probably Li Rong's wife.In 893, Li Rong died. At that time, the Pengcheng region was engulfed in warfare. Li Rong's older brother Li Qiu took Li Bian and Lady Liu and fled to Hao Prefecture. Shortly after, Lady Liu died. Li Qiu, apparently unable to care for Li Bian, left Li Bian in the care of the monks at Kaiyuan Temple at Hao.
In 895, the major warlord Yang Xingmi the military governor of Huainan Circuit attacked Hao and captured it. Yang's soldiers took Li Bian captive. Yang, finding Li Bian's appearance to be unusual, wanted to take him in as an adoptive son, but Yang's oldest son Yang Wo disliked Li Bian. Yang therefore gave Li Bian to his officer Xu Wen, and Xu took Li Bian as an adoptive son and renamed him Xu Zhigao. As Xu Wen's wife Lady Li had the same surname and felt attached to Xu Zhigao, she cared for him well. It was said that Xu Zhigao served his father with greater filial piety than Xu Wen's other sons. One time, when he offended Xu Wen, Xu Wen caned him and chased him out of the house. However, when Xu Wen came home at night, Xu Zhigao was waiting at the door for him. Xu Wen asked, "Why are you still here?" Xu Zhigao wept and responded, "Where can a son go but to his parents? When father is angry, I go to mother. This is what human nature is." Xu Wen became even more loving of him, and often put him in charge of family matters. , Xu Zhijian, Xu Zhizheng, and Xu Zhi'e When Xu Zhigao grew older, he became known for calligraphy and archery; he was also intelligent and handsome. Yang Xingmi often told Xu Wen, "Xu Zhigao is capable. None of the older officers' sons can be compared to him."
During Xu Wen's regency of Hongnong/Wu
In 908by which time Tang had fallen and the Huainan territory was now an independent state ruled by Yang Wo under the title of Prince of Hongnong after Yang Xingmi's deathXu Wen and another officer, Zhang Hao, assassinated Yang Wo. Shortly after, Xu killed Zhang, and made Yang Wo's younger brother Yang Longyan the Prince of Hongnong. Xu effectively served as the regent and controlled Wu's government. Xu Zhigao was apparently given the command of the Yuancong Corps. In 909, Xu Wen, believing that Jinling was a good defensible location and where the Hongnong fleet could be best stationed, took for himself the title of prefect of Sheng Prefecture but made Xu Zhigao the discipline officer of Sheng as well as the deputy commander of the fleet, stationing at Sheng to be in charge of it.In 912, after a campaign in which Xu Wen destroyed one of the most ardent resisters to his regency, Li Yu the governor of Xuan Prefecture, Xu Zhigao, for his participation in the campaign as the deputy commander to the general in charge, Chai Zaiyong, was promoted to be the prefect of Sheng. It was said that he governed Sheng well, selecting honest administrators, and gathered learned people around him. It was at this time that he became impressed with a strategist, Song Qiqiu, and made Song his assistant. Song, Wang Lingmou, and Wang Hong became his chief advisors, while officers Ma Renyu, Zhou Zong, and Cao Cong became close associates.
In 915, Xu Wen decided to leave the Wu capital Guangling and make Run Prefecture his headquarters. He left Xu Zhigao's brother Xu Zhixùn in charge at Guangling as the junior regent. However, Xu Zhixùn was arrogant and ran the government impulsively, which Xu Wen was unaware. Meanwhile, in 917, when Xu Wen went to Sheng to examine the prefecture, he was impressed by its prosperity. Under the advice of the officer Chen Yanqian, he decided to move his headquarters to Sheng, while moving Xu Zhigao from Sheng to serve as the military prefect of Run. Xu Zhigao did not want the Run post and requested the Xuan post, but Xu Wen refused to grant it. Song, however, pointed out to him secretly that Xu Zhixùn would soon be bringing a disaster on himself, and Run, being just across the Yangtze River from Guangling, would allow Xu Zhigao to react quickly. Xu Zhigao agreed, and took up the post thereafter.
Over the years, Xu Zhigao and Xu Zhixùn developed an adversarial relationship, as Xu Zhixùn, as well as Xu Zhixún, did not truly consider Xu Zhigao a brother. However, Xu Zhijian had a good relationship with Xu Zhigao and helped to protect him.
In 918, after Xu Zhixùn insulted the general Zhu Jin and tried to expel Zhu from the Wu central government, Zhu assassinated him and then, when corned by Xu Wen's close associate Zhai Qian, committed suicide. Xu Zhigao, upon hearing of the disturbance at Guangling, took his troops, crossed the Yangtze, and pacified the city. After Xu Wen subsequently arrived, he suspected many other generals and officials of being in a conspiracy with Zhu and considered major reprisals. Xu Zhigao and Yan Keqiu, however, reported to him about Xu Zhixùn's acts that brought alienationincluding his arrogance and lack of respect for even Yang Longyan, as his sovereign. Xu Wen, listening to them, did not carry out large scale reprisals. As all of his other sons were young, he made Xu Zhigao the junior regent with the official titles of deputy commander of the Huainan army, deputy commander of the infantry and cavalry, general overseer of the headquarters, and military prefect of Jiang Prefecture, with Xu Zhijian taking over his post as military prefect of Run. It was said that Xu Zhigao governed opposite to how Xu Zhixùn didhe treated Yang Longyan with respect, was frugal, and was respectful to the other officials. He also lowered the tax burden on the people. He continued to employ Song as a chief strategist. Later in the year, when Yan was repeatedly trying to persuade Xu Wen to replace Xu Zhigao with Xu Zhixún, Xu Zhigao tried to remove Yan from the scene by making him the prefect of Chu Prefecture. When Yan received the order, however, he went to see Xu Wen. At the meeting, he pointed out that at that time, Wu's nominal ally and fellow rival to Later Liang, Jin, was winning victory after victory over Later Liang, and that Jin's prince Li Cunxu appeared to be posturing to claim the imperial title himself and claim lawful succession from the Tang emperors. Yan argued that, with that being the case, Wu's political structure was untenable since it, like Jin, had been claiming its desire to reestablish Tang. Yan instead suggested that Xu Wen advise Yang Longyan to claim imperial title as well and restructure the Wu political structure to cut off connections to Tang. Xu Wen agreed, and he kept Yan at Guangling to prepare for ceremonies for such a break with Tang. Xu Zhigao, seeing that he could not eliminate Yan, instead decided to make peace with Yan by giving a daughter in marriage to Yan's son Yan Xu.
In 919, Xu Wen advised Yang Longyan to claim imperial title. Yang Longyan declined, but claimed the greater title of King of Wu, thus ending connections to Tang. Xu Zhigao remained junior regent, now with the greater titles of Zuo Pushe, de facto chancellor as Can Zhengshi, acting overseers of all military matters, and military prefect of Jiang. Later in the year, when Wu forces, under Xu Wen, repelled a major attack by Wu's southeastern neighbor Wuyue, Xu Zhigao suggested a surprise attack on Wuyue's Su Prefecture, but Xu Wen, citing the desire for peace between the two states, declined.
In 921, after Yang Longyan, at Xu Wen's advice, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth to show him more as a full sovereign, Xu Zhigao was granted the greater chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, and was also promoted to be the governor of Jiang. Also, Jiang Prefecture was converted to a new Fenghua Circuit, and Xu Zhigao was made its military governor, even as he remained at Guangling as junior regent.
In 923, after there were accusations that Zhong Taizhang the military prefect of Shou Prefecture was embezzling horses, Xu Zhigao replaced him with Wang Ren and demoted him to the post of prefect of Rao Prefecture. He wanted to further have Zhong interrogated, but Xu Wen, pointing out that Zhong was a close ally during the time when he killed Zhang Hao and stating that he would have died at Zhang's hands without Zhong, refused. He further had Xu Zhigao's son Xu Jingtong marry Zhong Taizhang's daughter, to make peace between Xu Zhigao and Zhong.
In 926, Xu Zhigao's chancellor title was made the greater title of Shizhong. In 927, seeing that there was a plague of officers who were not paying proper attention to protocol, he intentionally intruded into the residence of Yang Longyan's younger brother and successor as King of Wu, Yang Pu. He immediately withdrew and apologized, and had himself indicted. When Yang Pu issued an edict declining to punish him, he nevertheless imposed a penalty of one month of salary on himself, to show that even he himself was subject to punishment and to restore discipline.
Meanwhile, over the years, Xu Zhixún, citing the fact that Xu Zhigao was not actually a biological son of Xu Wen's, repeatedly pleaded to Xu Wen to take over the junior regency. Yan Keqiu and Xu Jie also often spoke in favor of this change. Xu Wen, as Xu Zhigao was filially pious and careful, declined, and Xu Zhigao was also supported by Xu Wen's principal concubine Lady Chen, who stated to Xu Wen, "Xu Zhigao is someone whom you raised in our home since you were not yet prominent. How is it that you would abandon him now that you are honored?" However, as Yan and others repeatedly spoke of this, Xu Wen eventually changed his mind. In late 927, he planned to go to Guangling to request that Yang Pu take imperial title and take Xu Zhixùn with him, and then, after the ceremony, leave Xu Zhixùn there to be junior regent. However, he then fell ill, so he sent Xu Zhixùn to Guangling with his petition for Yang Pu to take imperial title and to take over for Xu Zhigao. Hearing this, Xu Zhigao drafted a petition to Yang Pu, where he would resign his offices and requested to be made the military governor of Zhennan Circuit. However, while Xu Zhixùn was still on the way, Xu Wen died, and Xu Zhixùn immediately returned to Jinling, so Xu Zhigao never actually resigned and remained in his office.