Li Bian
Li Bian (7 January 889 – 30 March 943), 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.
[3] In 895, the major warlord Yang Xingmi the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) attacked Hao and captured it.
[9] In 912, after a campaign in which Xu Wen destroyed one of the most ardent resisters to his regency, Li Yu (李遇) the governor of Xuan Prefecture (宣州, in modern Xuancheng, Anhui), Xu Zhigao, for his participation in the campaign as the deputy commander to the general in charge, Chai Zaiyong (柴再用), was promoted to be the prefect of Sheng.
[10] In 915, Xu Wen decided to leave the Wu capital Guangling and make Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) his headquarters.
After Xu Wen subsequently arrived, he suspected many other generals and officials of being in a conspiracy with Zhu and considered major 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 (江州, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi), with Xu Zhijian taking over his post as military prefect of Run.
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 Zhigao remained junior regent, now with the greater titles of Zuo Pushe (左僕射, one of the heads of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng)), de facto chancellor as Can Zhengshi (參政事), acting overseers of all military matters (知內外諸軍事, Zhi Neiwai Zhu Junshi), and military prefect of Jiang.
Also, Jiang Prefecture was converted to a new Fenghua Circuit (奉化), and Xu Zhigao was made its military governor, even as he remained at Guangling as junior regent.
[13] In 923, after there were accusations that Zhong Taizhang (鍾泰章) the military prefect of Shou Prefecture (壽州, in modern Lu'an, Anhui) was embezzling horses, Xu Zhigao replaced him with Wang Ren (王稔) and demoted him to the post of prefect of Rao Prefecture (饒州, in modern Shangrao, Jiangxi).
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 (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi).
Xu Zhixun was kept at Guangling to take the office of army commander (統軍, Tongjun), still carrying the title of military governor of Zhenhai Circuit.
Once he settled in at Jinling, Xu Zhigao build a Lixian Pavilion (禮賢院), where he collected books and discussed current events with learned guests, including Sun Sheng and Chen Jue.
Zhou Zong, hearing this, volunteered to go to Jiangdu to start hinting to Yang of the need for transition, as well as to inform this to Song.
As a result, Xu demoted Zhou to be the deputy military prefect of Chi Prefecture (池州, in modern Chizhou).
Yang Meng was demoted to the title of Duke of Liang, and put under house arrest at He Prefecture (和州, in modern Hefei, Anhui).
[2]) In late 935, Yang Pu created Xu Zhigao the Prince of Qi, and gave him the additional titles of Taishi (太師) and Generalissimo (大元帥, Da Yuanshuai).
[19] In spring 936, he began to establish a Generalissimo headquarters with six ministries, as well as a directorate of salt and iron monopolies, modeling after an imperial government.
After Yang Pu issued an edict in late 936 authorizing him to establish a Qi government,[20] he did so in early 937, including beginning to refer to his headquarters as a palace, and making Song and Xu Jie his chancellors and Zhou Zong and Zhou Tingyu (周廷玉) his chiefs of staff (內樞使, Neishushi, equivalent to other states' Shumishi).
Under Song's advice, he sent emissaries to Khitan Empire's Emperor Taizong (Yelü Deguang) to establish friendly relations, to counter Later Jin, which then controlled central China.
In fall 937, he assassinated Wang Hong (王宏), the commander of the soldiers that Xu Gao put in charge of guarding him.
He headed for Desheng Circuit (德勝, headquartered in modern Hefei), hoping that its military governor Zhou Ben, who was a senior general under Yang Xingmi, would support him.
[2] By this point, the Wu generals and officials were all signing petitions for Xu Gao to take the throne – including the old and ill Wang Lingmou, who died shortly after doing so.
Your ancestral temples, insignia, and clothing colors will also remain the same as they were in the Wu days.Yang Pu, finding it untenable for the Southern Tang emperor to still be claiming to be his subject, wrote a letter back declining this humility.
[2] (Due to the quickness of his death after yielding the throne, it was commonly believed that he was killed on the new emperor's orders, although definitive proof was lacking.
The Song dynasty historian Sima Guang commented that subsequently, his successors (son Li Jing and grandson Li Yu) also declined such honorifics, and in this area of governance, as well as preventing relatives from wielding improper power and interference by eunuchs into governance, none of the other states of the time could be compared to Southern Tang.
Li Bian, in anger, ordered Xia's death, and Song, in fear, claimed to be ill, and was relieved of his executive bureau responsibilities.
He subsequently made Song the military governor of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi).
[4] While the kingdom Xianzhu founded did not succeed in reuniting the Chinese realm, it played an important part in the consolidation of politics with the absorption of Min and Chu.
