Background

Li Cunxu was born in 885, at Jinyang (i.e., Taiyuan), during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. His father was the late-Tang Dynasty major warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河东, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi). His mother was Li Keyong's concubine Lady Cao. He was Li Keyong's oldest biological son.

In 895, when Li Keyong was on a (eventually successful) campaign against the warlords Wang Xingyu the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (静难, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi), Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (凤翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), and Han Jian the military governor of Zhenguo Circuit (镇国, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi)—who, earlier, had entered the capital Chang'an and executed the chancellors Wei Zhaodu and Li Xi over Emperor Zhaozong's objections—Li Keyong sent Li Cunxu to pay homage to the emperor. Emperor Zhaozong, upon seeing Li Cunxu's appearance, caressed him and stated, "You, son, will be a pillar for the state. Please be faithful to the imperial house." After Li Keyong defeated the three warlords (killing Wang and forcing Li Maozhen and Han to nominally resubmit to the emperor), Li Cunxu was given the honorific title of acting Sikong (司空) and made the prefect of Xi Prefecture (隰州, in modern Linfen, Shanxi), and later successively the prefect of Fen (汾州) and Jin (晋州) Prefectures (both in modern Linfen), but as he did not report to those prefectures, the titles were honorary. He was said to understand music, and often sang or danced before his father. He had a rudimentary understanding of the Spring and Autumn Annals. When he grew older, he became capable at riding and archery.

Li Cunxu was said to be intelligent, brave, and alert even in his youth. In or around 902, seeing his father's distress at years of losses against archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), he pointed out that his father's public display of distress would merely distress the troops and the people as well, and that it was better to lie low and wait for Zhu to make a mistake before trying to react, allowing the troops and the people to rest for the time. He also spoke to Li Keyong about what he saw as the issue of the ethnically Shatuo soldiers pillaging the civilian populace—although Li Keyong was unwilling to curb the soldiers' behaviors at that time, pointing out that if he did, the soldiers might scatter and be unable to be gathered again.

In 906, Zhu was on campaign against another major warlord, Liu Rengong the military governor of Lulong Circuit (卢龙, headquartered in modern Beijing), and he put Liu Rengong's son Liu Shouwen the military governor of Yichang Circuit (义昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) under siege at Yichang's capital Cang Prefecture (沧州). Liu Rengong sought aid from Li Keyong—whom he had previously rebelled against and thereafter became independent from. Li Keyong, bearing that grudge, initially refused to aid Liu. Li Cunxu pointed out that Zhu had become so strong at that point that nearly all of the other warlords had submitted to him as vassals, and that Hedong and Lulong were two of the few remaining holdouts. He advocated aiding Liu to stop Zhu's expansion, while at time helping Li Keyong gain a reputation for magnanimity. Under Li Cunxu's advocacy, Li Keyong agreed, and requested Liu send troops to him to jointly attack Zhu's possession Zhaoyi Circuit (昭义, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi) to open a second front. Liu did so. Subsequent, when Li Keyong attacked Zhaoyi's capital Lu Prefecture (潞州), Zhaoyi's military governor Ding Hui, who had secretly resented Zhu for having killed Emperor Zhaozong in 904, surrendered Zhaoyi to Li Keyong, forcing Zhu to abandon his campaign against Liu.

In 907, Zhu had Emperor Zhaozong's son and successor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang as its emperor. He claimed to be the proper ruler for all of the former Tang realm, but Li Keyong, as well as Li Maozhen, Yang Wo the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), refused to recognize him as emperor, effectively becoming sovereigns of their own realms (Jin, Qi, Hongnong, and Former Shu, respectively). Zhu thereafter sent his general Kang Huaizhen (康怀贞) to put Li Cunxu's adoptive cousin Li Sizhao, whom Li Keyong had made the military governor of Zhaoyi, under siege at Lu. Kang built walls and trenches around Lu to cut off communications with the outside, and subsequent relief forces that Li Keyong sent under Zhou Dewei's command, while having some minor successes against Later Liang forces, were unable to lift the siege. By spring 908, Li Keyong had fallen seriously ill. He entrusted Li Cunxu, whom he designated as his heir, to his brother Li Kening, the eunuch monitor Zhang Chengye, Li Cunxu's adoptive brother Li Cunzhang, the officer Wu Gong (吴珙), and the secretary general Lu Zhi (卢质), while repeatedly stating to Li Cunxu that the immediate urgency after his death would be to rescue Li Sizhao. He then died and was succeeded as the Prince of Jin by Li Cunxu.

As Prince of Jin

Initial consolidation of power

After Li Keyong's death, Li Kening initially took over the discipline of the army, and no one dared to create a disturbance. By contrast, the officers and the soldiers did not then respect the young (then 22) Li Cunxu, and they were constantly commenting about him. Li Cunxu, in fear, offered the command of the army to Li Kening, but Li Kening declined, pointing out that he was Li Keyong's lawful heir. Under Li Kening's and Zhang Chengye's insistence, Li Cunxu took the titles of Prince of Jin and military governor of Hedong.

Many of Li Keyong's adoptive sons who served as officers, however, were older and more accomplished militarily than Li Cunxu, and they did not respect him; many refused to meet him to pay homage, and some refused to bow to him. One of those, Li Cunhao (李存颢), tried to persuade Li Kening to take over the command himself, but Li Kening refused Li Cunhao's overture, going as far as to threaten him with execution. However, Li Cunhao and several other adoptive sons sent their wives to persuade Li Kening's wife Lady Meng. Lady Meng agreed with their idea, and therefore urged Li Kening to go with the idea, causing Li Kening's resolve to support Li Cunxu to be shaken. Further, he was also encountering policy disagreements with Zhang and Li Cunzhang and argued with them frequently. He thereafter killed an officer, Li Cunzhi (李存质), without Li Cunxu's approval, and also requested to be made the military governor of Datong Circuit (大同, headquartered in modern Datong, Shanxi). Li Cunxu agreed.

Despite Li Cunxu's agreement with Li Kening, the conspiracy around Li Kening continued. Li Cunhao specifically planned, with Li Kening's understanding, to seize Li Cunxu when Li Cunxu would visit Li Kening's mansion, deliver Li Cunxu and his mother Lady Dowager Cao to the Later Liang emperor, and take over Hedong Circuit. Li Kening met the officer Shi Jingrong (史敬熔) to try to get Shi to join the plot and to surveil Li Cunxu. Shi pretended to agree, and then informed the plot to Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu met with Lady Dowager Cao and Zhang and initially offered to resign to try to avoid a conflict, but Zhang persuaded him to act against Li Kening. Zhang summoned Li Cunzhang, Wu Gong, as well as the officers Li Cunjing (李存敬) and Zhu Shouyin to prepare against Li Kening.

On March 25, 908, Li Cunxu held a feast at his own mansion, and all the high-level officers attended. At the feast, soldiers that Li Cunxu had previously hidden seized Li Kening and Li Cunhao, and then executed them.

Meanwhile, the crisis of Lu being under siege continued. However, believing that Lu would fall by itself without aid from the outside in light of Li Keyong's death (particularly because Li Cunxu withdrew Zhou Dewei from the area back to Taiyuan for some time), Zhu Quanzhong left the siege, leaving his generals to continue the siege against Lu. Li Cunxu decided to lead the army himself to try to lift the siege. With he himself attacking the Later Liang forces from one side and Zhou from the other, the surprised Later Liang forces collapsed, ending the siege on Lu.

Li Cunxu thereafter instituted policies that, during the next several years, gradually let Jin regain its strength from the nadir late in the Li Keyong years. As described by the Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang in the Zizhi Tongjian:

Li Cunxu also began to exercise imperial powers, in the name of the Tang emperor (even though there was no Tang emperor at that time any more)—an authority that Emperor Zhaozong had previously granted Li Keyong, but which Li Keyong never exercised. He trusted Zhang Chengye greatly, honoring him as an older brother.

For some time thereafter, Li Cunxu did not wage major campaigns, although he did involve himself in the war between Liu Shouwen and his younger brother Liu Shouguang by aiding Liu Shouguang, after Liu Shouguang had overthrown Liu Rengong and taken over Lulong Circuit. (Liu Shouguang eventually captured Liu Shouwen, uniting Lulong and Yichang under his control.) He also jointly attacked Later Liang with Li Maozhen's Qi state after the major Later Liang general Liu Zhijun submitted to Qi.

Li Cunxu's major opportunity to assert himself against Later Liang came in late 910. Zhu Quanzhong had come to suspect his vassals Wang Rong the Prince of Zhao, who controlled Wushun Circuit (武顺, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Wang Chuzhi the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (义武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), of potentially turning against them, and therefore decided to seize the circuits by trick. As Liu Shouguang was threatening Yiwu at that time, he launched an army north, pretending to be helping Yiwu and Wushun in defending against a potential Liu Shouguang attack, but then seized Wushun's Shen (深州) and Ji (冀州) Prefectures (both in modern Hengshui, Hebei) and slaughtered Wushun's garrison at those prefectures. Wang Rong, surprised by this turn of events, immediately sought aid from both Li Cunxu and Liu Shouguang. Liu Shouguang refused, but Li Cunxu launched armies commanded by Zhou and later, himself. In spring 911, a joint Jin/Zhao/Yiwu army crushed the Later Liang army, commanded by the major Later Liang general Wang Jingren, at Boxiang (柏乡, in modern Xingtai, Hebei). In the aftermaths of the victory, Li Cunxu decided to advance further, and he briefly put Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan, Hebei), the capital of Later Liang's important Tianxiong Circuit (天雄), under siege. However, apprehensive that a major Later Liang army under the command of the major general Yang Shihou was approaching, and more apprehensive that Liu Shouguang (who by this point was making noise about joining forces with him but demanding a leadership role in the army) might create trouble for him, he soon gave up the siege on Wei, ending the confrontation with Later Liang for the time being. From this point on, Zhao and Yiwu became effectively independent polities, but in close alliance with Jin, all still using the Tang era name of Tianyou (天佑) to signify opposition against Later Liang.

Conquest of Yan

Meanwhile, Liu Shouguang, believing himself to be strong enough to declare himself emperor, tried to persuade Wang Rong and Wang Chuzhi to honor him as Shangfu (尚父, "imperial father"). Li Cunxu, in order to further encourage Liu into megalomania to be able to defeat him later, thereafter signed a joint petition with Wang Rong, Wang Chuzhi, as well as three other governors under his command—Li Sizhao, Zhou Dewei (whom he had made the military governor of Zhenwu Circuit (振武, headquartered in modern Datong)) and Song Yao (宋瑶) the defender of Tiande Circuit (天德, headquartered in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia)—offering Liu the title of Shangfu. Zhu Quanzhong, while knowing that Liu was inflating himself, tried to keep him nominally in the fold by naming him the surveyor of the circuits north of the Yellow River.

All of these honors offered to him, however, did not stop Liu from claiming the title he actually wanted, and in fall 911, he declared himself the emperor of a new state of Yan. He also launched an army to attack Yiwu. When Wang Chuzhi sought aid, Li Cunxu sent Zhou to rendezvous with the Zhao and Yiwu armies, to jointly attack Yan. Zhou was able to advance deep within Yan territory. Li Cunxu himself later also headed to the Yan front. (In his absence, Zhu tried to avenge himself by attacking Jin and Zhao, but his army was tricked into collapsing on itself due to posturing by the Jin generals Li Cunshen (Li Cunxu's adoptive brother), Shi Jiantang (史建瑭) and Li Sigong (李嗣肱) (pretending that a major Jin army was about to attack the Later Liang army under Zhu), and eventually gave up on the idea of aiding Liu.)

While the Yan campaign was going on, in late 912, Zhu Quanzhong was assassinated by his son Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, who thereafter declared himself the emperor of Later Liang. The major Later Liang general Zhu Youqian the military governor of Huguo Circuit (护国, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), refused to submit to Zhu Yougui, and instead submitted to Jin, seeking Li Cunxu's aid. When Zhu Yougui subsequently sent the general Kang Huaizhen (康怀贞) to attack Zhu Youqian, Li Cunxu went to Zhu Youqian's aid and repelled Kang's attack, forcing Kang to withdraw. (Zhu Youqian would subsequently return to the Later Liang fold after, in 913, Zhu Yougui's brother Zhu Youzhen the Prince of Jun overthrew Zhu Yougui in a countercoup and became emperor, but would yet later revert to Jin.)

By summer 913, Zhou had put Yan's capital You Prefecture (幽州) under siege. Liu, desperate, claimed that if Li Cunxu himself came to You, he would surrender. When Li Cunxu arrived, however, he did not do so, despite Li Cunxu's assurance that his life would be spared if he surrendered. Li Cunxu subsequently intensified the siege, and You fell. Liu fled with his wives and children, but was subsequently captured. Li Cunxu took him and his family, including his father Liu Rengong (whom he had put under house arrest) back to Taiyuan, and then executed them there. He commissioned Zhou as the military governor of Lulong and added Yan territory to his own. In light of his victory, Wang Rong and Wang Chuzhi offered the title Shangshu Ling (尚书令) to him—a title that no Tang subject had dared to accept because it had been at one point held by Tang's second emperor Emperor Taizong. After initially declining, Li Cunxu accepted the title, and also established a provisional central government, exercising imperial powers in the manner that Emperor Taizong did (while he was still the Prince of Qin under his father, Tang's founder Emperor Gaozu).

Initial campaign against Later Liang

After Yan's destruction, with the fear of a Yan attack no longer in sight, Li Cunxu decided to commence his campaign against archrival Later Liang, in conjunction with Zhao and Yiwu. His initial attack toward Later Liang's Tianxiong Circuit in late 914 was repelled by Yang Shihou (who was then the military governor of Tianxiong).

However, Yang's death in 915 would bring a major opportunity for Jin. Zhu Youzhen—who had changed his name to Zhu Zhen by this point—was apprehensive of the power that the Tianxiong army had, and decided to weaken it by dividing in into two circuits, each with three of the six prefectures that Tianxiong previously possessed, with a smaller Tianxiong Circuit headquartered still at its long-time capital Wei Prefecture (魏州) with He Delun (贺德伦) as its military governor, and a new Zhaode Circuit (昭德) headquartered at Xiang Prefecture (相州, in modern Handan) with Zhang Yun as its military governor. The Tianxiong army was apprehensive and angry about the division, and therefore mutinied under the leadership of the officer Zhang Yan, taking He Delun hostage. When Zhu refused to meet Zhang Yan's demands that the division be cancelled, Zhang Yan forced He Delun to write Li Cunxu, offering to surrender Tianxiong to him. Li Cunxu subsequently arrived at Tianxiong and, after killing Zhang Yan for his violent behavior, assumed the military governorship of Tianxiong himself and incorporated into Jin. Subsequent Later Liang counterattacks commanded by the generals Liu Xun and Wang Tan (王檀) were defeated by Li Cunxu and his generals. (Tianxiong subsequently became a major source of human and material resources for Li Cunxu's campaigns.) Tianxiong's fall to Jin left the other Later Liang circuits north of the Yellow River (Baoyi (保义, headquartered in modern Xingtai, Hebei, which Jin later renamed Anguo, and Shunhua (顺化, i.e., Yichang, which Later Liang had taken during the Jin campaign against Yan and renamed, and which Jin later renamed Henghai (横海)) isolated, and by late 916, they had fallen to Jin as well, leaving a single city (黎阳, in modern Hebi, Henan) north of the Yellow River that was still held by Later Liang.

However, Jin was soon challenged by the Khitan Empire to the north as well, with Khitan's Emperor Taizu (Yelü Abaoji) launching a major attack on Lulong in 917, putting You Prefecture under siege. While Li Cunxu and his generals (his adoptive brothers Li Siyuan and Li Cunshen, as well as Yan Bao (阎宝)) subsequently repelled the Khitan attack, Lulong's vulnerability to Khitan attacks had been exposed, and in the future, there would be recurrent Khitan incursions against Lulong.

In winter 917, Li Cunxu, believing that he was in shape to destroy Later Liang once and for all, gathered all of his major generals, preparing to cross the then-frozen Yellow River and attack Later Liang's capital Daliang. However, he then apparently changed his mind, wanting to destroy the main Later Liang army, which was then under the command of He Gui, first, and he spent several months pillaging the Later Liang territory on the Yellow River. Around new year 919, the two armies met at Huliu Slope (胡柳陂, in modern Heze, Shandong), just south of the Yellow River. Disregarding Zhou Dewei's advice that he should wear out the Later Liang forces first before engaging them, Li Cunxu ordered a direct attack, which was disastrous for the Jin army, with Zhou killed in battle. During the initial rout, however, Li Cunxu took position on a hill and used it to counterattack, inflicting much losses against Later Liang, fighting the battle to an essential draw. It was said that both Jin and Later Liang lost two thirds of their soldiers that day, and both were weakened for quite some time.

Integration of Zhao and Yiwu into Jin

At the same time, a crisis was developing within Jin's ally Zhao. Wang Rong, in his old age, was described to be superstitious and spending much efforts on immortality, not attending to the affairs of his state, and spending much time at his vacation estate. He also greatly trusted the eunuch Shi Ximeng (石希蒙), who encouraged him in such tendencies. In late 920, when he remained for months at his vacation estate and refused to return to Zhao's capital Zhen Prefecture, his military commander Li Ai (李蔼) and eunuch Li Honggui (李弘规) felt compelled to mobilize soldiers to force him to return—and the soldiers, in the disturbance, killed Shi. Wang subsequently killed Li Ai and Li Honggui, entrusting the authority of the state to his son and heir Wang Zhaozuo and adoptive son Wang Deming. The remaining soldiers feared that they would also be punished, and, in spring 921, they mutinied and slaughtered Wang Rong and his family, supporting Wang Deming (who then changed his name back to his birth name of Zhang Wenli) as their leader.

Zhang offered to submit as a vassal to Li Cunxu, and Li Cunxu, while greatly saddened by Wang Rong's death, initially commissioned him as the acting military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, i.e., Zhao). However, Zhang himself was apprehensive of how Li Cunxu viewed him, and therefore made overtures to both Later Liang's emperor Zhu Zhen (premised on the fact that he spared Wang Zhaozuo's wife, who was a sister to Zhu Zhen and who carried the title of Princess Puning), and Khitan's Emperor Taizu. Zhu, however, was dissuaded from aiding Zhang by his associates, despite his chancellor Jing Xiang's advocacy for doing so. Eventually, Li Cunxu, encouraged by the Zhao general Fu Xi (符习), who commanded the Zhao detachment in Li Cunxu's army and who wanted to avenge the Wang family, declared a general campaign against Zhang. Zhang died in shock when the campaign was declared, but under the leadership of his son Zhang Chujin, the Chengde mutineers resisted.

Meanwhile, a similar crisis was developing at another Jin ally, Yiwu Circuit. Wang Chuzhi feared that if Jin conquered Zhao lands, Yiwu would inevitably also be incorporated into Jin territory, and therefore advocated pardoning Zhang Wenli. When his proposal was rebuffed by Li Cunxu, Wang Chuzhi decided to secretly make an overture to Khitan's Emperor Taizu to invite him to invade Jin, through his son Wang Yu (王郁), who was then a Jin officer on the Khitan border. Wang Yu agreed, but extracted a promise from Wang Chuzhi that he be made heir, displacing Wang Chuzhi's adoptive son Wang Du, whom Wang Chuzhi had designated as heir. However, the Yiwu officers did not want to see a Khitan invasion, and Wang Du used this sentiment to lead a coup against Wang Chuzhi. He put Wang Chuzhi and Wang Chuzhi's wife under house arrest, while slaughtering Wang Chuzhi's descendants at Yiwu's capital Ding Prefecture (定州). He then reported what happened to Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu commissioned him as the acting military governor of Yiwu, thus effectively turning Yiwu into a vassal.

Subsequently, the Khitan emperor invaded, enticed by Wang Yu's description of Chengde and Yiwu as rich lands that he could pillage. Li Cunxu, leaving his generals to siege Zhen Prefecture, personally led an army to confront the Khitan army. He defeated the Khitan army, forcing Emperor Taizu's withdrawal and leaving the Chengde mutineers without outside allies.

Despite the seeming inevitability of success, the Jin forces suffered several major losses against the Chengde mutineers:

• Shi Jiantang was killed in battle.

• Yan Bao was defeated and forced to retreat. (Yan subsequently died in shame.)

• Li Sizhao suffered a mortal injury and died from it.

• Li Cunxu's adoptive brother Li Cunjin was also killed in battle.

Meanwhile, Li Cunshen and Li Siyuan fought off a Later Liang army commanded by Dai Siyuan, which tried to take advantage of the situation. Li Cunxu subsequently commissioned Li Cunshen to attack the Chengde mutineers, and Zhen fell to him. Li Cunxu killed Zhang Chujin and his brothers, and incorporated Chengde into his territory.

Li Sizhao's death, however, created another crisis for Li Cunxu, who, at this time, was preparing to claim imperial title. After Li Sizhao's death, his sons, against Li Cunxu's orders to have Li Sizhao's casket escorted to Taiyuan for burial, instead took it back to Lu Prefecture. Thereafter, Li Sizhao's son Li Jitao seized power at Zhaoyi, and Li Cunxu, not wanting to create another disturbance, changed the name of the circuit to Anyi (安义) (to observe naming taboo for Li Sizhao) and commissioned Li Jitao as the acting military governor. However, subsequently, fearing that Li Cunxu would act against him, particularly when Li Cunxu recalled the eunuch monitor Zhang Juhan and the secretary general Ren Huan to his provisional imperial government, Li Jitao submitted Anyi to Later Liang. Zhu Zhen was very pleased, and renamed the circuit to Kuangyi (匡义), commissioning Li Jitao as its military governor.

As Emperor of Later Tang

Conquest of Later Liang

Shortly after, in spring 923, Li Cunxu declared himself emperor of a new Later Tang—using the Tang name for his state to claim legitimate succession from Tang—at Wei Prefecture. He renamed Wei to Xingtang Municipality (兴唐) and made it his temporary capital.

At that time, though, the outlook for the new Later Tang state was not a positive one—as it was facing the reality of regular Khitan incursions that laid Lulong bare and Anyi's recent rebellion. However, at that time, the Later Liang officer Lu Shunmi (卢顺密) defected to Later Tang, revealing that Later Liang's Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong)—south of the Yellow River and deep behind Later Liang lines—was not well-defended and could be taken. Li Cunxu believed that this was an opportunity to change the tide of the war, and put Li Siyuan, who supported the plan, in charge of an army to launch a surprise attack on Tianping's capital Yun Prefecture (郓州). Li Siyuan was shortly thereafter able to capture Yun in a surprise attack.

Shocked by Yun's fall, Zhu Zhen relieved Dai Siyuan, who was the military governor of Tianping but who was then commanding the main Later Liang army against Later Tang, of his command, and, at Jing Xiang's recommendation, commissioned Wang Yanzhang to replace him. Wang quickly attacked and captured the border fort Desheng (德胜, in modern Puyang, Henan), intending to use it to cut off the supply line between Later Tang proper and Yun. However, his subsequent battles against Li Cunxu himself were indecisive; further, Wang's commission caused much apprehension in the hearts of Zhu's close associates—his brother-in-law Zhao Yan and four brothers/cousins of his late wife Consort Zhang—as Wang had long despised what he saw as their wickedness. Zhao and the Zhangs thus defamed him before Zhu, who then removed him and replaced him with Duan Ning. Meanwhile, Zhu also destroyed the Yellow River levee at Hua Prefecture (滑州, in modern Anyang, Henan), causing a flood area, believing that it would impede further Later Tang attacks.

Duan prepared an ambitious plan for a four-prong counterattack against Later Tang:

• Dong Zhang would head toward Taiyuan.

• Huo Yanwei would head toward Zhen Prefecture.

• Wang and Consort Zhang's brother Zhang Hanjie would head toward Yun Prefecture.

• Duan himself, along with Du Yanqiu, would confront Li Cunxu.

However, the Later Liang officer Kang Yanxiao, at this junction, defected to Later Tang, revealing Duan's plan to the Later Tang emperor and pointing out that the plan left the Later Liang capital Daliang defenseless, and pointing out that Wang's and Zhang Hanjie's army was the weakest of the four prongs and could easily be defeated. Li Cunxu decided to take the risky move himself, and advanced to Yun to join forces with Li Siyuan, and then engage Wang and Zhang Hanjie. He defeated them, capturing both Wang and Zhang Hanjie at Zhongdu (中都, in modern Jining, Shandong), and then headed directly toward the defenseless Daliang. With Duan's army trapped north of the Yellow River and unable to come to his rescue, Zhu saw the situation as hopeless. He ordered his general Huangfu Lin (皇甫麟) to kill him; Huangfu did, and then committed suicide himself. This thus ended Later Liang. Li Cunxu subsequently entered Daliang and claimed all of Later Liang territory.

Governance at Luoyang

Li Cunxu set his capital at Luoyang. He also notified the other main independent states—Wu and Former Shu—of his victory over Later Liang, causing much fear in both of those states. Also shocked by his victory was Qi's prince Li Maozhen, who, in fear that he might be the next target, submitted as a vassal. Li Cunxu accepted Li Maozhen's submission and created him as the Prince of Qin. After Li Maozhen's death in 924, Li Cunxu allowed his son Li Jiyan to inherit Fengxiang Circuit as military governor, but did not bestow Li Jiyan a princely title, and this was thus viewed as the end of Qi as an independent state. The Later Liang military governors all submitted to him, and in effect, he had merged the two states. (That included Li Jitao, although, after he later discovered the Li Jitao was still planning to control his realm independently, he put Li Jitao to death.

However, despite being a capable general, Li Cunxu was not capable at governance. He, and particularly his favorite consort Empress Liu, whom he created empress, were gathering wealth to be stored despite the burden it was creating for the people. He also alienated his army by trusting actors (as he himself had a passion for acting) and eunuchs, such that he made three actors prefectural prefects, while soldiers who had followed him for hundreds of battles were not similarly rewarded. This phenomenon was also observed as such by Wu's emissary to Later Tang, Lu Ping (卢苹), and a former Later Liang warlord, Gao Jixing the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荆南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei, not the same Jingnan Circuit referred to earlier), who would eventually, after Li Cunxu's death, effectively become independent of Later Tang, as well as Southern Han's emissary He Ci (何词).

Meanwhile, Li Cunxu planned to conquer Former Shu and, in late 925, put his plans into action. He commissioned his oldest son with Empress Liu, Li Jiji, as the titular commander of the operations, but put his chief of staff, Guo Chongtao, in actual command of the operations as Li Jiji's deputy. The attack caught Former Shu's emperor Wang Zongyan by surprise as he thought that the two states were coexisting peacefully. The Later Tang forces repeatedly defeated the forces Former Shu sent to resist it, and, by the end of 925, the situation had become so desperate that the Former Shu major general Wang Zongbi (Wang Yan's adoptive brother) seized Wang Yan and his family and forced Wang Yan to surrender the Former Shu realm to Later Tang, thus ending Former Shu, whose territory was taken over by Later Tang.

Downfall

After the conquest of Former Shu, however, both Li Cunxu and Empress Liu came to suspect Guo Chongtao of wanting to occupy the Shu lands and rebel. Li Cunxu, however, was unwilling to act against Guo without further proof. However, Empress Liu went ahead and issued an order to Li Jiji, ordering him to kill Guo. Li Jiji did so. With Guo dead, Li Cunxu went ahead and issued an edict condemning him and ordering his sons be killed as well. Subsequently, with the eunuchs and actors accusing the major general Li Jilin of having plotted rebellion with Guo, Li Cunxu killed Li Jilin and his family members as well.

Guo's and Li Jilin's death sent fear and anger throughout the Later Tang army ranks. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the central Later Tang territory was going through a terrible famine at the time, and, with Empress Liu unwilling to release the funds for famine relief, many soldiers' families starved, further causing them to be angry at the emperor and empress. These resentment spawned a number of revolts, the most serious of which were one led by Kang Yanxiao in the Shu lands (as he was one of the generals under Guo in the Former Shu campaign), and one by the soldiers at Yedu (邺都, i.e., Xingtang). Kang's rebellion was quickly put down by Ren Huan, but the imperial troops under Li Shaorong had difficulty putting down the Yedu rebellion, and it threatened to become even more problematic. When Li Cunxu subsequently sent Li Siyuan to take over the operations, Li Siyuan's own soldiers mutinied and forced him to join the Yedu mutineers. Li Siyuan tried to send messengers to Li Cunxu to explain he had not intended to rebel, but his messengers were intercepted by Li Shaorong. He decided to attack south and occupy Bian Prefecture (汴州, i.e., formerly Daliang), and Li Cunxu mobilized an army to try to intercept him. Bian Prefecture's defender Kong Xun decided to play both sides, and sent emissaries to both of them, welcoming them. When Li Siyuan reached Bian first, Kong welcomed him in, and rejected Li Cunxu. Hearing this, Li Cunxu dejectedly returned to Luoyang. After he returned to Luoyang, the officer Guo Congqian (郭从谦) led a mutiny, and Li Cunxu tried to fight the mutineers. He suffered an arrow wound in the battle and shortly after died from it. Li Siyuan shortly thereafter arrived at Luoyang and, after initially claiming only the title of regent, eventually took the throne. Empress Liu fled Luoyang but was tracked down by Li Siyuan's emissaries and ordered to kill herself. Li Jiji tried to head to Luoyang to contest Li Siyuan's succession, but on the way, his soldiers deserted him, and he committed suicide. Li Cunxu's younger sons later became monks and fled to Meng Zhixiang, who would treat them as his own sons.

Poetry

Li Cunxu's 4 ci poems were preserved in a Song Dynasty book called Zun Qian Ji (尊前集; Collection of Respecting the Old).

Personal information

• Father

　• Li Keyong, Prince of Jin, posthumously honored Emperor Wu

• Mother

　• Lady Cao, initially the Lady of Jin, later the Lady Dowager of Jin, later Empress Dowager (honored 923), posthumously honored Empress Zhenjian

• Wives

　• Lady Han, later imperial consort with the rank Shufei (淑妃)

　• Empress Liu (created 924, killed 926), mother of Prince Jiji

• Major Concubines

　• Lady Yi, later imperial consort with the rank Defei (德妃)

　• Consort Xia, the Lady of Guo, later wife of Li Zanhua

　• Consort Hou, the Lady of Qian

　• Consort Bai, the Lady of Yi

　• Consort Deng, the Lady of Xu

　• Consort Zhang, the Lady of Liang

　• Consort Zhou, the Lady of Song

　• Consort Wu, the Lady of Yanling

　• Consort Wang, the Lady of Taiyuan

　• Consort Han, the Lady of Changli

　• Consort Zhang, the Lady of Qinghe

　• Consort Wang, the Lady of Langye

　• Consort Ma, the Lady of Fufeng

• Children

　• Li Jiji (李继岌), the Prince of Wei (created 925, committed suicide 926)

　• Li Jitong (李继潼)

　• Li Jisong (李继嵩)

　• Li Jichan (李继蟾)

　• Li Jiyao (李继嶢)

　• Princess Yining, married Song Tinghao (宋廷浩)

出生日期

《旧五代史》记载：庄宗光圣神闵孝皇帝，讳存勖，武皇帝之长子也。母曰贞简皇后曹氏，以唐光启元年岁在乙巳，冬十月二十二日癸亥，生帝于晋阳宫。

《册府元龟》记载：后唐庄宗以光启元年十月癸亥生于晋阳宫。

《旧唐书》记载：十二月辛亥朔。

李存勖以唐光启元年十月二十二日（885年12月2日）生于晋阳宫，而十月二十二日不是癸亥是癸酉，十月十二日才是癸亥。同光元年至三年的万寿节（李存勖生日）皆在十月二十二日，李存勖的生日就是十月二十二日。光启元年十月壬子朔，癸亥是十二日，癸酉是二十二日，李存勖若生于十二日何以过二十二日生日，此当是编纂者失察误抄所致。

生平

少年时代

李存勖是后唐太祖李克用与贞简皇后曹氏的长子。他自幼擅长骑马射箭，胆力过人，为李克用所宠爱。少年时随父作战，11岁就与父亲到长安向唐朝朝廷报功，得到唐昭宗的赏赐和夸奖。

李存勖成年后状貌雄伟瑰丽，得习《春秋》，豁达而且通大义，并勇敢善战，熟知战略要术。他又喜爱音乐、歌舞、俳优之戏，旁人多有异谈。当时，军阀割据混战、占据河东的李克用常被控制河南的朱温牵制围困，兵力不足，地盘狭小，非常悲观。李存勖劝说其父：「朱全忠恃其武力，吞灭四邻，想篡夺帝位，这是自取灭亡。我们千万不可灰心丧气，要积蓄力量，等待时机」。李克用听后大为高兴，重新振作起来，与朱全忠对抗。

即位晋王

后梁开平二年(908年)正月，李克用病死，李存勖于同月袭晋王位。但是当时的兵马大权归于其叔父李克宁，军民之事皆由李克宁决定，权柄既重，令众人皆攀附李克宁。当办完丧事后，李存勖与张承业、李存璋设计，要除去势力庞大的叔父李克宁。同年二月二十日，当诸将于府第时，乃伏兵于府中，置酒大会，李克宁既至，于席间擒下李存颢、李克宁二人，李存勖哭著责备李克宁：「侄儿一开始就打算把军队、政权都让给叔父，叔父不愿意背弃我父亲的遗命，怎么现在又把我跟我母亲丢给豺狼虎豹？叔父怎么忍心？」李克宁泣对：「这是谗言啊，我还能说甚么？」当日，李克宁与李存颢俱伏法。

其后，李存勖认为潞州（今山西上党）是河东屏障，没有潞州对河东不利，所以他立即率军从晋阳出发，直取上党，乘大雾突袭围潞州的梁军，大获全胜。李存勖的用兵之奇使梁太祖朱温大惊，他说：「生儿子就要生李存勖一样的儿子，李克用不会灭亡了啊！至于我的儿子，猪狗之辈而已！」

建立后唐

当潞州之围解决后，河东威振，控制镇州的王熔和控制定州的王处直见形势骤变，也动摇了依附后梁的信心，竟然和李存勖结成联盟共同对付后梁。后梁为了保护河北之地，不惜一切，出兵再战，于是双方在柏乡又展开了一场血战。柏乡之战中，晋军有周德威等三千骑兵和镇州、定州兵；对方梁军有王景仁率领的禁军和魏博兵八万。梁军守卫柏乡、以逸待劳，在地形、兵力、装备几方面处于优势；而晋军是骑兵，机动性和进攻能力大，对梁军构成威胁。战役开始，李存勖采用周德威建议，引诱梁兵出城，聚而歼之，晋军主动后撤。梁军主将王景仁果然上当，倾巢而出。晋军抓住机会，以骑兵猛烈突击梁军，周德威攻右翼，李嗣源攻左翼，鼓噪而进。这时晋军李存璋率领的骑兵大队也赶上，梁军丢盔弃甲，死伤殆尽。这一仗，使梁军丧失了对河北的控制权，之后，朱温一听晋军就谈虎色变。而李存勖却进一步安定了河东局势，他息兵行赏，任用贤才，惩治贪官恶吏，宽刑减赋，一时河东大治。

李克用临死时，交给李存勖三支箭，嘱咐他要完成三件大事：一是讨伐刘仁恭，攻克幽州；二是征讨契丹，解除北方边境的威胁；第三件大事就是要消灭世敌朱温。他将三支箭供奉在家庙里，每临出征就派人取来，放在精制的丝套里，带著上阵，打了胜仗，又送回家庙，表示完成了任务。其后李存勖达成李克用遗志，打败契丹，攻破燕地，并且攻灭刘守光与刘仁恭父子割据的桀燕政权，并且于923年，在魏州（河北大名县西）称帝，国号为唐，史称后唐，其后攻灭后梁，统一北方。李存勖还收降了李茂贞建立的岐，并攻灭王建所建立的前蜀。

李存勖以唐朝赐姓为李的合法继承人身份，打起中兴唐朝的旗号，并为唐朝皇帝立庙。又以诛灭唐朝逆臣之名，将后梁宰相敬翔、李振等人灭族，将帮助朱温篡唐的旧臣11人贬官。

但李存勖到了晚年自认为已经拚命一生，应该好好享乐，遂荒废朝政。李存勖自幼喜欢看戏、演戏，常粉墨登场，并自号艺名「李天下」。伶人大受皇帝宠幸，以至于伶人景进干预朝政。士大夫皆气愤，又不敢出气。李存勖又派伶人、宦官抢民女入宫，强掳魏博士卒们妻女千馀人，怨声四起。同光二年，李存勖恢复旧唐宦官的势力，本来已经消失的监军又凌驾于藩镇之上，导致诸将更大的不满。同光三年（925年），李存勖派遣儿子魏王李继岌、侍中郭崇韬，攻灭前蜀。但是其后继岌、崇韬互相猜疑。郭崇韬又得罪宦官，李存勖于是对崇韬起疑，下命孟知祥入蜀，见机行事。翌年，李存勖被宦官的谗言所迷惑，诛杀了朱友谦、李存乂。后唐朝廷人心惶惶。

后唐同光四年（926年），魏博士兵皇甫晖在邺城叛乱，是为邺城之乱，李存勖命李绍荣前往讨伐，久不能下，无奈命李嗣源攻邺城，李嗣源命其女婿石敬瑭同征。兵进魏州时，李嗣源却被叛军拥戴，恭迎入城，李嗣源百口莫辩，石敬瑭表示就算不造反也无法免责，李嗣源因而拥兵自立，与魏博的叛军合兵造反。李嗣源占据汴州（今河南开封），进军洛邑，先锋石敬瑭则带兵逼进汜水关（河南荥阳汜水镇），李存勖决定亲征反击。

兴教门之变

这时担任指挥使的伶人郭从谦不知李存乂已被庄宗杀死，欲奉李存乂之名作乱，火烧兴教门。蕃汉马步使朱守殷见危不救。李存勖当时仅有符彦卿及王全斌等少数将领效忠他。郭从谦率兵攻入皇城。李存勖被流箭射中。王全斌将其扶至绛霄殿。李存勖失血过多，渴懑求饮，经宦官奉进酪浆，喝完一杯，遽尔殒命。王全斌大恸而去。一名伶人拣丢弃的乐器放在李存勖尸体上，点火焚尸。史称兴教门之变。李嗣源入洛阳杀尽叛臣，葬李存勖尸骨于雍陵，进庙号庄宗，李嗣源在汴州称帝，是为后唐明宗。

评价

李存勖称帝即位之前，和后梁血战十馀年，大小百馀战，作战英勇异常。但打了天下，却不懂得治天下，宠幸伶人，重用宦官，又吝于银钱，不抚恤士卒，三年后因兵变被杀，失败之速，亦是罕见。

北宋欧阳修写《新五代史·伶官传序》便是讨论李存勖沉溺逸乐、宠信乐官而致亡国的史实，叹惜李存勖「方其盛也，举天下之豪杰复能与之争；及其衰也，数十伶人困之，而身死国灭，为天下笑。」，说明「忧劳可以兴国，逸豫可以亡身」的历史规律 。

《旧五代史》则称赞李存勖是「中兴之主」，是唐朝的合法继承者，但语锋一转，随即批评他「忘栉沐之艰难，徇色禽之荒乐」、「伶人乱政、靳吝货财、大臣无罪以获诛、众口吞声而避祸」 。

朱温评价李存勖说「生子当如李亚子，克用为不亡矣！至如吾儿，豚犬耳！」(生儿子就要生像李存勖这样的，李克用的大业不会灭亡了！至于说我的儿子，猪狗之辈而已！)，

家庭

后妃

• 皇后刘氏，原为妾室，立为皇后。

• 淑妃韩氏，原为正室，册为淑妃。

• 德妃伊氏，妾室，册为德妃。

• 昭仪侯氏，封汧国夫人

• 昭容夏氏，封虢国夫人，被后唐明宗赐婚嫁于耶律倍

• 昭媛白氏，封沂国夫人

• 出使美宣邓氏，封珝国夫人

• 御正楚真张氏，封凉国夫人

• 司簿德美周氏，封宋国夫人

• 侍真吴氏，封延陵郡夫人

• 懿才王氏，封太原郡夫人

• 咸一韩氏，封昌黎郡夫人

• 瑶芳张氏，封清河郡夫人

• 懿德王氏，封琅琊郡夫人

• 宣一马氏，封扶风郡夫人

• 某氏，庄宗爱姬，有子，为皇后刘玉娘所设计，于同光三年（925年）归于元行钦

• 郭氏，后梁末帝朱友贞妃，入庄宗后宫，出家为尼，后晋时主持朱友贞之丧

• 李氏，庄宗登基前的侧室，后被赐给孟知祥。

• 侯氏，原为符道昭妻，与昭仪侯氏是否为同一人，无考。

兄弟

• 永王李存霸

• 邕王李存美

• 薛王李存礼

• 申王李存渥

• 睦王李存乂

• 通王李存确

• 雅王李存纪

• 李存矩

子女

子

• （佚名）

• （佚名）

• 魏王李继岌，925年封，926年自杀

• 守王李继潼

• 光王李继嵩

• 真王李继嶦

• 川王李继嶢

曾孙李佑，宋仁宗天圣四年（1026年）四月由安德节度推官改授西京留守推官。

女

• 义宁公主，嫁光禄大夫、检校司徒、前房州刺史兼御史大夫、上柱国广平郡人宋廷浩

外孙宋偓，外孙媳后汉永宁公主刘氏

外曾孙婿宋太祖、张子野、孟隆谂 (后蜀孟玄喆之子)、寇准、韩崇训、王德用

义子

• 归德节度使李绍荣（原名元行钦）

• 宣武节度使李绍安（原名袁象先）

• 枢密使李绍宏（原姓马）

• 郑州防御使李绍琛（原名康延孝）

• 卢龙节度使李绍斌（原名赵行实，后名赵德钧）

• 泰宁节度使李绍钦（原名段凝）

• 保义留后李绍真（原名霍彦威）

• 洺州刺史李绍能（原名米君立）

• 齐州防御使李绍虔（原名王晏球）

• 河阳节度使李绍奇（原名夏鲁奇）

• 南东道节度使李绍珙（原名刘训）

• 贝州刺史李绍英（原名房知温）

• 护国节度使李继麟（原名朱友谦）

• 忠武节度使李绍琼（原名苌从简）

• 金枪指挥使李继璟（原名李从审，为明宗李嗣源长子）

• 匡国节度使李绍冲（原名温韬）

• 李绍文（原名张从楚）

• 李绍鲁（原名白承福）

• 李绍威（原名扫剌）

脚注