Liu Rengong
Liu Rengong (Chinese: 劉仁恭) (died 914) was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang dynasty who controlled Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) from 895 (when his one-time lord Li Keyong conquered Lulong and left him in charge of it) to 907 (when he was overthrown by his son Liu Shouguang and put under house arrest).
He was initially a Lulong officer, but later fled to Li Keyong's Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).
His domain later became the basis of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Yan that Liu Shouguang established.
It is not known when Liu Rengong was born—although he was said to be spreading the rumor that he would become a military governor (jiedushi) at age 48 when he later served Li Kuangwei, indicating that he was not yet 48 by that point.
His family was originally from Leshou (樂壽, in modern Cangzhou, Hebei), which was not a part of Lulong Circuit, although he would follow his father Liu Sheng (劉晟) to Lulong Circuit, as Liu Sheng served under the military governor Li Keju.
Li Kuangwei was very pleased, made him an army officer again, and gave him command of a garrison at Wei Prefecture (蔚州, in modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei).
[1] It was said that, as the soldiers at Wei were not promptly rotated back to Lulong's capital You Prefecture (幽州) after a number of years, they became resentful, as they missed their families.
[4] He left an army detachment and a group of associates, headed by Yan Liude (燕留德), at Lulong, to accompany Liu.
In summer 895, then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong formally made Liu the military governor of Lulong.
[6] In 897, by which time Emperor Zhaozong had fled from the imperial capital Chang'an to Zhenguo Circuit (鎮國, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) due to attacks by the warlord Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), Li Keyong planned a campaign to assist the emperor.
)[1][7] In fall 897, angry at Liu Rengong's betrayal, Li Keyong commanded the army himself and attacked Lulong.
Thereafter, Liu formed a relationship with Li Keyong's archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), and under Zhu's recommendation, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed the honorary chancellor designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事) on Liu.
In response, Liu Rengong made an irreverent statement to the imperial emissary:[5] I have my own banners and staffs, too.
Tell them [(i.e., the emperor and the chancellors)] what I said!In any case, it was said that after the victory over Yichang, Liu Rengong, believing in his military strength, began to have ambitions of controlling the entire region north of the Yellow River.
When he captured Weibo's Bei Prefecture (貝州, in modern Xingtai), he slaughtered the population of the entire city and threw the bodies into the river.
Weibo's military governor Luo Shaowei sought aid from both Zhu and Li Keyong.
[5] In 900, Zhu further had Ge command armies of four circuits (Xuanwu, Weibo, and two other circuits under Zhu's control—Taining (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong) and Tianping (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong)) to attack Liu Rengong's territory.
However, when weather turned against the siege army, and mediators were sent by Wang Rong the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), Ge withdrew.
[8] In winter 900, after forcing Wang to become a vassal, Zhu again had Zhang lead an army, with supplements from Weibo, to attack Liu.
[8] In 901, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed the greater honorary chancellor title of Shizhong (侍中) on Liu Rengong.
In winter 903, when the Khitan leader Yelü Abaoji sent his brother-in-law Shulü Abo (述律阿缽) to attack Shanhai Pass, Liu Rengong's son Liu Shouguang, who was then defending Ping Prefecture (平州, in modern Qinhuangdao, Hebei), pretended to be parlaying with the Khitan officers and invited them to a feast, but ambushed them there once they became drunk and captured them.
As Li Si'an approached, Liu Rengong was still at the Mount Da'an mansion, and the city was left nearly defenseless.
He then claimed the title of military governor and had his generals Li Xiaoxi (李小喜) and Yuan Xingqin attack Liu Rengong's mansion at Mount Da'an.
After they arrived back at Hedong's capital Taiyuan, Li Cunxu first executed Liu Shouguang in the capital, along with his wives, and then had his deputy military governor Lu Rubi (盧汝弼) transport Liu Rengong to Li Keyong's tomb at Dai Prefecture (代州, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi).
