Emperor Yizong of Tang - Middle Reign

Middle Reign

Over the course of 865-866, however, Gao Pian was able to defeat Dali forces and recapture Jiao Prefecture. Meanwhile, though, the tense situation on the Dali border at Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan) led to a major misstep on the part of Emperor Yizong, as he was misled by the official Li Shiwang (李師望) into carving out seven border prefectures out of Xichuan into a new Dingbian Circuit (定邊, headquartered at Xi Prefecture (巂州), in modern Chengdu) and commissioning Li Shiwang as its military governor despite the obvious impractical nature of Dingbian's territory — as Xi Prefecture was extremely close to Xichuan's capital Chengdu Municipality and unsuitable to serve as the capital for a circuit intended to concentrate on border defense. The Dingbian debacle demoralized the officers at Xichuan, who went as far as secretly encouraging Dali to attack Dingbian to expose Li Shiwang.

Yet more disastrous, though, was a mutiny by soldiers for Xusi Circuit (徐泗, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), who had been posted to Gui Prefecture (桂州, in modern Guilin, Guangxi) to defend against a potential Dali attack, with a promise that they would be allowed to return home after three years. When the term was up in 868, however, the governor of Xusi Circuit, Cui Yanzeng (崔彥曾), ordered that the term be extended one year, causing the Xusi soldiers to mutiny under the leadership of Pang Xun. They headed northeast home, and when they reached Xusi's capital Xu Prefecture (徐州), they attacked and captured it. After Pang's initial attempts to obtain an imperial commission was rebuffed, the mutineer army attacked the nearby regions, with the imperial forces unable to stop them. Not until Kang Chengxun, with major assistance from the Shatuo chieftain Zhuye Chixin (who was bestowed the imperial surname of Li, as well as a new name of Guochang because of his contributions), was able to defeat Pang in 869 was the rebellion suppressed. (Subsequently, though, Kang, due to the false accusations of the chancellor Lu Yan and the imperial scholar Wei Baoheng (the husband of Emperor Yizong's favorite daughter Princess Tongchang), was exiled.)