Wang Chengzong - First Campaign of Resistance Against The Imperial Government

First Campaign of Resistance Against The Imperial Government

Wang Shizhen died in 809, and Wang Chengzong claimed the title of acting military governor. Soon thereafter, his uncle (Wang Shizhen's brother) Wang Shize (王士則), fearing imperial punishments for Wang Chengzong's claiming the title without imperial sanction, fled to territory held by the imperial government and submitted to Emperor Xianzong. Meanwhile, Emperor Xianzong considered forcibly imposing another military governor on Chengde and attacking it if Wang Chengzong refused to yield. The chancellor Pei Ji and the imperial scholar Li Jiang believed such a course of action to be imprudent, pointing out that Chengde would be difficult to conquer. The powerful eunuch Tutu Chengcui, however, advocated a campaign against Chengde, as did Lu Congshi (盧從史) the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi). Emperor Xianzong hesitated, and considered another course of action — making Wang Chengzong military governor, but ordering Wang to surrender two of Chengde's six prefectures, De (德州, in modern Dezhou, Shandong) and Di (棣州, in modern Binzhou, Shandong) Prefectures, to be formed into a new circuit.

Meanwhile, Wang was becoming apprehensive about the lack of imperial approval for his succession. When Emperor Xianzong sent the official Pei Wu (裴武) to Chengde to comfort the soldiers, Wang offered to surrender De and Di Prefectures. After Pei returned to the Tang capital Chang'an, Emperor Xianzong issued an edict naming Wang military governor of Chengde, while forming a separate circuit, Baoxin Circuit (保信), out of De and Di Prefectures and naming a relative of Wang's by marriage, Xue Changchao (薛昌朝) the prefect of De Prefecture, its military governor. Wang's ally Tian Ji'an the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), however, informed Wang that Xue had received the position by turning to the imperial government; in response, Wang had Xue arrested and brought back to Heng Prefecture. When Emperor Xianzong subsequently ordered Wang to allow Xue to assume his post, Wang refused, and Emperor Xianzong responded by stripping Wang of his titles and commissioning Tutu as the commander of the forces against Chengde.

The forces of several circuits — Hedong (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), Hezhong (河中, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), Zhenwu (振武, headquartered in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) — soon joined the forces of Chengde's neighboring circuit Yiwu (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei) in attacking Chengde from the north, while forces commanded by Tutu attacked it from the south. Liu Ji the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) also attacked Chengde on his own. However, it was said that because the generals did not respect Tutu, his command was not successful, and after the general Li Dingjin (酈定進) was killed in battle, morale was low.

Meanwhile, Lu, who had advocated the campaign against Wang, was actually in secret communication with Wang. Tutu discovered this, and, under Emperor Xianzong's orders, Tutu arrested Lu. Emperor Xianzong subsequently replaced Lu with Meng Yuanyang (孟元陽). After Lu's arrest, Wang submitted petitions claiming that it was Lu who alienated him from the imperial government and that he was willing to submit tax revenues and permit the imperial government to commission his subordinate officials to show submission. Wang's ally Li Shidao the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) also made the same request on his behalf. In summer 810, Emperor Xianzong, seeing that the campaign against Wang was unsuccessful, agreed to exonerate Wang and make him military governor, and further officially returned De and Di to Chengde.