Gaozu of Later Han

Liu Zhiyuan () (March 4, 895 – March 10, 948), later changed to Liu Gao (), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han (), was the founding emperor of the Shatuo-led Later Han dynasty, the fourth of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was the older brother of the Northern Han founder Liu Min.

Background

Liu Zhiyuan was born in 895, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, at Taiyuan. His ancestors were of Shatuo extraction. His father Liu Dian () served as an officer under the major late-Tang warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered at Taiyuan). His mother was a Lady An, likely Liu Dian's wife. He had at least one other brother of the same father (and possibly of the same mother), Liu Chong.''New History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 18. Lady An — likely after Liu Dian's death — bore a son to a man with the surname of Murong. This half-brother of Liu Zhiyuan's was named Murong Yanchao.''Old History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 130. Liu Zhiyuan was said to be serious in his disposition as a young man. He became a guard soldier for Li Keyong's adoptive son Li Siyuan.

During Jin and Later Tang

In 907, Li Keyong's archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), who then had the Tang imperial court under his control, seized the throne from Emperor Zhaozong's son and successor Emperor Ai, ending Tang and starting a new dynasty known as Later Liang. Li Keyong and several other warlords refused to recognize him as the new emperor, and Li Keyong, from that on, became effectively the ruler of an independent state of Jin, which, under him and his biological son and successor Li Cunxu, engaged in numerous wars with Later Liang.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 266. In 919, there was a battle at Desheng (德勝, in modern Puyang, Henan), a fortress on the Yellow River that Li Cunxu was trying to enlarge. During the battle, Li Siyuan's son-in-law Shi Jingtang, who served as one of the commanders under him, was stricken by a Later Liang soldier, and his horse's armor was broken. Liu Zhiyuan, who was near Shi at that time, gave Shi his own armored horse, while taking Shi's horse and moving gradually, such that the Later Liang soldiers in pursuit believed that he was leading them into a trap, and broke off the pursuit. From this point on, he became close to Shi.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 271.

By 932 — at which point Jin had destroyed Later Liang and taken over its territory as a new state of Later Tang, and Li Siyuan was its emperor — Shi was made the military governor of Hedong. He made Liu and Zhou Gui () the commanders of his guards, entrusting military matters to Liu and financial matters to Zhou.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 278.

In 934, by which time Li Siyuan's biological son Li Conghou was emperor, Li Conghou's chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, suspicious of both Shi and Li Siyuan's adoptive son Li Congke, then the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), decided to move them to other circuits. They issued a number of orders, moving Li Congke from Fengxiang to Hedong, Shi from Hedong to Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Chengde's military governor Fan Yanguang to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei). Li Congke, fearful of what the consequences might be if he gave up his military command, rebelled. He defeated the first army Li Conghou sent against him, commanded by Wang Sitong, and a second army that Li Conghou sent against him, commanded by Kang Yicheng (), defected and submitted to him. Li Conghou fled the capital Luoyang and headed north, while Shi, hearing of Li Congke's rebellion, was heading toward Luoyang himself, with the intent of bolstering Li Conghou. They encountered each other near Wei Prefecture (衛州, in modern Puyang). Li Conghou was initially pleased at Shi's arrival, but Shi, realizing that it would be difficult to defeat Li Congke at this point, changed his mind and refused to support Li Conghou. Angry at Shi's betrayal, Li Conghou's guards She Shourong () and Ben Hongjin () rebuked Shi and tried to attack him, resulting in a melee in which Sha and Shi's guard Chen Hui () killed each other, and Ben committed suicide. Hearing of the melee, Liu led Shi's guard soldiers in and slaughtered all of Li Conghou's guards. Shi then departed for Luoyang to pay allegiance to Li Congke, while leaving Li Conghou, by himself, at Wei. (Li Congke subsequently declared himself emperor, and ordered Li Conghou's death.) While Li Congke had long disliked and was apprehensive of Shi, he, at the urging of Shi's wife (his sister) the Princess of Wei, and the princess' mother Empress Dowager Cao, returned Shi to Hedong.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 279.

In 935, there was an incident where Shi, then with the Hedong army at Xin Prefecture (忻州, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi) to defend against a potential Khitan incursion, was present with an imperial messenger, who was delivering Li Congke's edict issuing the soldiers summer clothing. As the messenger read the edict, the soldiers instead were chanting, "May you live 10,000 years!" at Shi — a blessing that should have been reserved to the emperor. Shi, in fear that he would be seen as contending to the throne, considered what to do. At the urging of the staff member Duan Xiyao (), Shi had Liu arrest 36 of the leading chanters and execute them. Still, these executions did not calm Li Congke's apprehension of Shi.

In 936, believing that Shi might rebel anyway and that he should catch Shi unprepared, Li Congke issued an edict moving Shi from Hedong to Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) and making the imperial guard general Song Shenqian () the military governor of Hedong. Fearful of the consequences, Shi summoned his key officers and sought their advice. Zhao Ying recommended that he report to Tianping. Xue Rong () was noncommittal. Liu recommended resistance, a recommendation that joined by Sang Weihan

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