Li Jianxun (Chinese: 李建勳; died 952), courtesy name Zhiyao (致堯), known late in life as the Duke of Zhongshan (鍾山公), was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Wu and its successor state Southern Tang, serving as a chancellor during Southern Tang and possibly during Wu.
It is not known what year Li Jianxun was born — although subsequent events of his life would tend to place a framework on the possible time of his birth.
He was the fourth son of Li Decheng, who served as a general under the major late-Tang warlord Yang Xingmi the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu).
Despite Li Jianxun's being honored based on his father's and his father-in-law's statuses, he himself was said to be careful and (at that time) not involved in politics, although he often met with the poorer members of the intelligentsia.
[1] Li Jianxun later became a surveyor at Sheng Prefecture (昇州, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), where his father-in-law Xu Wen had his headquarters.
[5] By late 936, when the plans for such a transition were deep in motion, Xu Zhigao had Li Jianxun's father Li Decheng and Zhou Ben, the two most senior generals of the realm, go to Guangling to petition Yang Pu to pass the throne to Xu Zhigao, and then come to Jinling to petition him to accept.
This led Xu's advisor Song Qiqiu, who opposed the transition, to state to Li Jianxun, "Your honored father was a great contributor to Emperor Taizu [(i.e., Yang Xingmi)], but now his accomplishments are destroyed.
[7] He was also given the title of Zuo Pushe (左僕射, one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng)), put in charge of editing the imperial history, and given the military governorship of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan, a completely honorary title as Yicheng was then the territory of Southern Tang's northern neighbor Later Jin).
Even though she was Xu Wen's biological daughter, Li Jianxun's wife, who by this point was carrying the title of Grand Princess Guangde, joined in the mourning.
The imperial attendant Chang Mengxi (常夢錫) thereafter submitted an accusation against Li Jianxun for wrongly drafting an edict.
)[8] Late in his reign, Li Bian often took medication made by the alchemist Shi Shouchong (史守沖), which he believed to be able to enhance health, but which in actuality changed his disposition such that he became harsher and less patient.
[1] In 943, Li Jianxun was sent out of the capital Jinling to serve as military governor of Zhaowu Circuit (昭武, headquartered in modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi).
[1] In 946, Li Jing recalled him to the imperial government to serve as You Pushe and Menxia Shilang (門下侍郎, deputy head of the examination bureau (門下省; ménxià shěng), as well as chancellor, along with Feng Yanji.
It was said that this time around as chancellor, Li Jianxun, while experienced in administrative matters, was indecisive, allowing Feng, who was considered wicked, to make most of the decisions.
[10] At a subsequent point (before 951), Li Jianxun built a lodge at Mount Zhong, and requested retirement there.