Li Baozhen
Li Baozhen (
Li Na
; and later in persuading Wang, Tian, and Li to again submit to Emperor Dezong.
Background
An Baozhen was born in 733, during the reign of
During Emperor Daizong's reign
After Emperor Suzong died in 762 and was succeeded by his son
Shuofang Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia), was set on rebelling against Emperor Daizong. Li Baozhen slipped away in 764 and fled back to Chang'an. When Emperor Daizong asked him for his opinions on what to do with Pugu, Li Baozhen suggested that Emperor Daizong recommission the general Guo Ziyi, who was formerly Pugu's superior as the commander of the Shuofang army, arguing that such a move would undermine the morale of Pugu's army. Emperor Daizong agreed, and subsequently, Pugu did rebel but was unsuccessful. Emperor Daizong, crediting Li Baozhen for his opinions, made him the deputy military governor of both Zelu and Chenzheng (陳鄭, headquartered in modern Zhengzhou, Henan) Circuits, both of which were then under Li Baoyu's command. When Li Baozhen met Emperor Daizong to thank him, Li Baozhen, while thanking Emperor Daizong, stated, "Whether the people have to labor or can rest depends on their prefect. I would like to receive a prefecture to try myself." Emperor Daizong approved of his volunteering, and, in addition to making him the deputy military governor of Zelu and Chenzheng, also made him the prefect of Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern Jincheng, Shanxi), one of the prefectures of Zelu Circuit. He served at Ze Prefecture for two years and then was moved to Huai Prefecture (懷州, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), which was merged into Zelu. He served there for eight years. At that time, as Li Baoyu was at Fengxiang (鳳翔, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) on the western border with Tufan
, Li Baozhen was in effective command of Zelu.
Li Baozhen believed that, eventually, there would be war against a number of circuits commanded by generals who nominally submitted to Tang authority—Pinglu (平盧, headquartered in modern
Xiangfan, Hubei), believed that Zelu was in a strategic position and was vulnerable to attack. In the aftermaths of the Anshi Rebellion, however, the circuit was lacking in military manpower, and had no financial resources to recruit soldiers. He thus created an innovative program—he selected the strongest of farmers and waived their tax burdens; in exchange, they were to train in archery, and the most capable ones would receive rewards. In three years, he was able to train them sufficiently that he was then able to convert them to an army of 20,000 men. It was said at the time that no other infantry in the realm could rival Zelu's.[3] In 776, after Zhaoyi Circuit was largely seized by Tian Chengsi, the military governor of Weibo Circuit, after the death of its military governor Xue Song
, and after the succeeding military governor of the portion of Zhaoyi that came under imperial control, Li Chengzhao (李承昭), fell ill, Li Baozhen was given the deputy military governorship of Zhaoyi as well, and Zhaoyi and Zelu were merged. In 777, after Li Baoyu died, Li Baozhen continued to be in command of the merged Zhaoyi Circuit, but still carried the title of deputy military governor.
During Emperor Dezong's reign
Emperor Daizong died in 779 and was succeeded by his son
Li Na to succeed his father Li Zhengji as the military governor of Pinglu, Li Weiyue, Li Na, and Tian Yue the military governor of Weibo rose together against imperial forces. As a part of their operations, Tian attacked Linming (臨洺, in modern Handan), then defended by the Zhaoyi general Zhang Pi (張伾). Li Baozhen sought aid from the imperial government, and Emperor Daizong sent the general Ma Sui the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) as well as a commanding general of the imperial Shence Army (神策軍), Li Sheng, to aid Li Baozhen. Together, Ma, Li Baozhen, and Li Sheng defeated Tian at Linming, forcing him to flee back to his headquarters at Wei Prefecture. In spring 782, they, along with Li Qiu (李艽) the military governor of Heyang Circuit (headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan
) again defeated Tian (who was then aided by forces from Pinglu and Chengde as well) at Huan River (洹水, flowing through modern Handan). It was said that, in the aftermaths of the battle, Tian's subordinate Li Changshun (李長春) was ready to surrender Wei Prefecture to imperial forces, but as Ma and Li Baozhen did not get along with each other, their progressed was slowed, and only after 10 days after Tian was able to flee back to Wei Prefecture and kill Li Changchun did the imperial forces arrive at Wei Prefecture, and they were unable to capture it. (Ma and Li Baozhen's grudge against each other had originated when Ma was the defender of Heyang; at that time, there was an occasion when Li Baozhen wanted to kill his subordinate Yang Shu (楊鉥) the prefect of Huai Prefecture; Yang fled to Ma, who not only allowed him to take refuge but further submitted a petition to the emperor to defend Yang.)
Later in the year, when Li Weiyue's subordinate
era name
in order to show nominal allegiance. Soon, however, Zhu and Wang had a dispute over Zhu's actions in not returning quickly to Wei Prefecture after he briefly went back to his own circuit to fight off a surprise joint attack by Li Sheng and Zhang Shengyun (張昇雲, Zhang Xiaozhong's son)—and Li Baozhen, hearing this, tried to exploit the situation by sending his subordinate Jia Lin (賈林) as a messenger to Wang, urging Wang to return to the imperial fold. Wang agreed to do so if Emperor Dezong would issue a general pardon to the rebels, but no pardon came at that time. Still, a secret relationship was created between Li Baozhen and Wang.
In fall 783, after not being given rewards after being summoned to Chang'an in anticipation of further service to the east, the army of Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern
Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang attributed this to Li Baozhen being displeased that Emperor Dezong had, earlier in the year, relieved Li Sheng of his military command at the suggestion of the chancellor Zhang Yanshang.[4]
)
Meanwhile, it was said that Li Baozhen tried to gather talented people to his circuit by sending messengers throughout the realm to look for talented people and entice them with rewards, but that if those people thus retained had few suggestions for him, he would let them leave. As the realm was peaceful at the time, he constructed many pavilions and artificial lakes for his own amusement. He also engaged many
Taoist monk, Niu Dongxuan (牛洞玄), briefly cured him by giving him lard and laxatives. However, after Li Baozhen was healed, he again listened to Sun, who stated, "You have come close to immortality. Why abandon it now?" Li Baozhen thereafter took 3,000 more pills and died.[5]
Emperor Dezong mourned him for three days and gave him posthumous honors.
At the time that Li Baozhen was ill, his son Li Jian (李緘) plotted with Li Baozhen's subordinate Lu Huichang (盧會昌) and nephew Yuan Zhongjing (元仲經) for Li Jian to take over Zhaoyi. After Li Baozhen's death, Yuan acted as if Li Baozhen were still alive and forged an order from Li Baozhen transferring command to Li Jian. Initially, Li Baozhen's deputy Li Shuo (李說) and other subordinates agreed. Lu then forged a petition from Li Baozhen requesting Emperor Dezong to allow Li Jian to succeed Li Baozhen. Emperor Dezong, already hearing rumors that Li Baozhen had died, sent the
eunuch
Diwu Shoujin (第五守進) to Zhaoyi, ordering that the command be transferred to Li Baozhen's subordinate Wang Yan'gui (王延貴). When Li Jian considered resisting, the other officers would not go along with him, and he gave up the command and went to Luoyang per Emperor Dezong's orders.
Notes and references
- ^ a b See Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 230 (Wang Wujun's reference to Li Baozhen as "Brother Ten").
- ^ New Book of Tang, vol. 75."漢川草廬-二十四史-新唐書-卷七十五‧表第十五". Archived from the original on 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2010-02-07."宰相世系五(三公李氏)". Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ a b New Book of Tang, vol. 138 Archived 2007-12-26 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 232.
- ^ a b Old Book of Tang, vol. 132 Archived 2008-09-25 at the Wayback Machine.
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 132.
- New Book of Tang, vol. 138.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 223, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 235.
