Lei Yangong

Lei Yangong was a Chinese warlord who controlled Wuzhen Circuit (武貞, headquartered in modern-day Changde, Hunan) as its military governor (Jiedushi) from about 903 to 908, late in the Tang dynasty and early in the subsequent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He later submitted to the state of Yang Wu.

Background It is not known when Lei Yangong was born. His father Lei Man had taken over the area of Lang Prefecture (朗州, in modern Changde, Hunan) and later became the military governor (Jiedushi) of Wuzhen Circuit, headquartered at Lang Prefecture. When Lei Man died in 901, Lei Yangong's older brother Lei Yanwei claimed the title of acting military governor, Lei Yanwei was full military governor as of 903, when he sacked Jiangling Municipality, the capital of neighboring Jingnan Circuit , in the absence of Jingnan's military governor Cheng Rui. Lei Yanwei apparently occupied Jiangling for some time, but Lei Yangong rose against him and, in coordination with Zhao Kuangning the military governor of Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern Xiangyang, Hubei), expelled him from Jiangling and, apparently, from Wuzhen Circuit as well.

In 907 — by which time Zhu had taken over the Tang imperial throne and established a new Later Liang as its Emperor Taizu — Lei allied with Ma Yin the Prince of Chu to again attack Jiangling. (The attack was despite Chu's status as a Later Liang vassal, while Lei had submitted to Later Liang's rival Hongnong.) Gao stationed an army at Gong'an (公安, in modern Jingzhou) to cut off the Wuzhen forces' supply route, and then defeated them. Both Wuzhen and Chu forces withdrew. Apparently turning against his ally, Lei then attacked Chu's Yue Prefecture (岳州, in modern Yueyang, Hunan), but was unable to capture it.

Lei subsequently continued his pillage campaign against Jingnan. Emperor Taizu thereafter declared a general campaign against him and ordered Gao and Ma to attack him. Gao sent his general Ni Kefu to rendezvous with the Chu general Qin Yanhui , and they put Lang Prefecture under siege. Lei sought aid from Hongnong's prince Yang Wo. Yang Wo sent the generals Ling Ye and Li Rao to try to save Lei, but they were defeated and captured by the Chu general Xu Dexun and never reached Lang Prefecture.

Notes and references

New Book of Tang, vol. 186. History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 17. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 41. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 265, 266.