Kong Qian

Kong Qian (died 28 May 926 ) was a Chinese economist and politician of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Tang and Later Tang's predecessor state Jin. He was credited with making sure that the campaigns of Later Tang's founding emperor Emperor Zhuangzong (Li Cunxu) were well-financed, but his methods of extracting funds from the people were also said to be so exacting that the people eventually became resentful of Emperor Zhuangzong, helping to lead to Emperor Zhuangzong's downfall.

Background It is not known when Kong Qian was born, but it is known that he was from Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan, Hebei). At some point prior to the surrender of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered at Wei Prefecture) to Jin in 915 — i.e., at a time when Tianxiong belonged to Jin's archrival Later Liang — Kong became the accounting officer at Wei Prefecture. He thus became a Jin subject when Tianxiong became a Jin possession then. He was said to be diligent and good at managing the books.

During Jin After Tianxiong became Jin possession, Jin's prince Li Cunxu personally assumed the title of military governor (Jiedushi) of Tianxiong. Apparently impressed with Kong Qian's abilities, Li made him the officer in charge of the treasury. It was said that Kong flattered the prince and carefully cultivated relationships with powerful individuals, such that he became increasingly powerful. For the next eight years (until 923, when Later Liang fell), as the Jin and Later Liang forces battled on the Yellow River border, it was said that despite Tianxiong's war-ravaged status, Kong made sure that the Jin army never lacked money or food, but as a result of his high taxations and other means of wresting wealth from the people, the people of Tianxiong came to bear a heavy resentment for the prince.

Later in the year, Emperor Zhuangzong, in a surprise attack, captured the Later Liang capital Daliang. The Later Liang emperor Zhu Zhen committed suicide, ending Later Liang and allowing Later Tang to take control of Later Liang territory, and Emperor Zhuangzong subsequently made Luoyang his capital, designating Xingtang as the eastern capital. Shortly after, Kong, wanting to get Zhang out of the role of supervising him, went to see Guo, and suggested that Zhang would be suitable for the important role of defender of Xingtang, by emphasizing Xingtang's importance and that Zhang was the only suitable person for that position. Guo agreed and recommended Zhang to be Xingtang's defender. However, instead of becoming director of material pricing as Kong expected, Kong remained deputy, with the chancellor Doulu Ge assuming the director of material pricing office as an additional office, again disappointing Kong. and Zhang's morally upright nature was also causing concern among other officials. In summer 926, Emperor Zhuangzong was killed in battle at Luoyang in one of those mutinies, and one of the rebel leaders, Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother Li Siyuan, quickly arrived at Luoyang and assumed (for that time) the title of regent. (He would later take the throne as Emperor Mingzong.) Believing that Kong was responsible for causing suffering for both soldiers and civilians, he ordered Kong be executed, and ended the regulations that Kong promulgated that he considered overly harsh. He also abolished the office of director of material pricing, redivided the directorate's responsibilities among three agencies in charge of taxation, treasury, and monopolies (i.e., to the state it was before Later Liang consolidated those responsibilities into a single office), and returned to the chancellors.

Notes and references

History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 73. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 26. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 269, 272, 273, 274, 275.