Li Shidao - Campaign Against Imperial Government

Campaign Against Imperial Government

In late 817, the imperial general Li Su captured Wu Yuanji, who was soon executed. When the news of Wu's defeat reached Li Shidao and Wang Chengzong, both became fearful. Wang again offered to surrender two of his six prefectures to imperial control and further sent his two sons to Chang'an to serve as hostages, and Emperor Xianzong accepted his submission. Li Gongdu and another officer, Li Yingtan (李英曇), thus persuaded Li Shidao to submit three of his 12 prefectures — Yi (沂州, in modern Linyi, Shandong), Mi, and Hai (海州, in modern Lianyungang, Jiangsu) to imperial control and to send his oldest son Li Hongfang (李弘方) to Chang'an as a hostage. Emperor Xianzong initially agreed, and he sent the official Li Sun (李遜) to Pinglu to comfort Li Shidao.

However, it was said that by this point, Li Shidao was only often conferring on the key matters with his wife Lady Wei, household servants Hu Weikan (胡惟堪) and Yang Ziwen (楊自溫), the female servants Ladies Pu and Yuan, and the scribe Wang Zaisheng (王再升). Lady Wei did not want to send Li Hongfang to Chang'an, and she, along with Ladies Pu and Yuan, argued that Pinglu should not weaken itself by submitting three prefectures. Instead, they argued that if he did not do so, the imperial government would, at most, attack, and that if Pinglu could try to fight and submit the three prefectures only if it was losing on the battlefield. Li Shidao agreed, and he further considered executing Li Gongdu. Only at the intercession of another staff member, Jia Zhiyan (賈直言), was Li Gongdu spared, but Li Yingtan was executed. When Li Sun arrived at Pinglu, Li Shidao promised to send Li Hongfang to Chang'an, but Li Sun could see that Li Shidao was not intending to do so. Once Li Sun returned to Chang'an and reported this to Emperor Xianzong, soon, Li Shidao submitted a petition stating that the soldiers would not permit him to submit the three prefectures and hostage. Emperor Xianzong, in anger, declared a campaign against Li Shidao, mobilizing the troops of Xuanwu, Weibo, Yicheng (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan), Wuning, and Henghai (橫海, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) to attack Pinglu. Soon, the armies of these circuits were continuously dealing Pinglu forces defeats, and by winter 818, Tian Hongzheng's Weibo army had crossed the Yellow River and approached Pinglu's capital Yun Prefecture (鄆州). Despite these defeats, it was said that Li Shidao did not like to hear news of defeats, and when Li Su, then the military governor of Wuning, captured Jinxiang (金鄉, in modern Jining, Shandong), Li Shidao's staff members did not dare to inform him, and Li Shidao did not know about Jinxiang's fall even until his death. Meanwhile, with the soldiers clamoring for Li Wenhui to be held responsible, Li Shidao demoted Li Wenhui out of the headquarters, and he released Guo and another staff member who advocated submission to the imperial government, Li Cun (李存).

At this point, Pinglu's main forces were under the command of Liu Wu, who was known for being lenient to the soldiers and gaining their support, and stationed at Yanggu (陽穀, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong), to defend against Tian's Weibo army, but Tian was repeatedly dealing Liu defeats. Someone warned Li Shidao that Liu might be up to no good, and Li Shidao summoned Liu back to Yun Prefecture to attend a meeting, intending to execute him. However, at another person's urging, pointing out that killing Liu would lead the officers to all lose faith, Li Shidao changed his mind and, after the meeting, sent Liu back to Yanggu and gave him much rewards to calm him. Because Liu Wu's son Liu Congjian served as a guard for Li Shidao, Liu Wu nevertheless found out about Li Shidao's original thoughts and began to take precautions.

Li Shidao soon resolved again to kill Liu Wu. On March 7, 819, Li Shidao sent two messengers to Liu Wu's deputy Zhang Xian (張暹), ordering Zhang to execute Liu and take over the army. Zhang, however, was friendly with Liu, and he quickly informed Liu. Liu thus had the two messengers arrested and executed. That night, Liu informed the army the events that were occurring and stated that he was intending to make a surprise attack on Yun Prefecture and submit to imperial authority. When some officers hesitated, he executed them, and the other officers agreed to follow him. Early morning March 8, Liu made a surprise advancement toward Yun Prefecture, entering the city despite some opposition by the troops defending the city. Li Shidao's guards soon surrendered. Li Shidao hid with his two sons, but were eventually found and captured. Li Shidao still wanted to meet Liu and plead for his life, but Li Hongfang pointed out that they could not live anyway and that it was better to die quickly. Later that morning, Li Shidao and his two sons were executed by Liu.

Liu delivered the heads of Li Shidao and his two sons to Tian, and Tian soon arrived and took over control of the circuit for the imperial government. Emperor Xianzong divided Pinglu into three smaller circuits. Initially, no one dared to bury Li Shidao's body, until one Shi Yingxiu (士英秀) did so. Later, the new military governor Ma Zong (馬總) reburied Li Shidao's body with ceremony due a scholar, not a general. Li Shidao's wife Lady Wei and his youngest son were spared but made palace servants — purportedly spared only because Liu had an affair with Lady Wei and falsely reported her to be a descendant of Wei Zheng's. Li Shidao's cousins were exiled.