Li Baozhen

Li Baozhen (733–794), né An Baozhen , courtesy name Taixuan , formally the Prince of Yiyang , was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He initially distinguished himself as deputy for his cousin Li Baoyu, and after Li Baoyu's death came into command of his own. He played substantial roles in fighting the rebellions during Emperor Dezong's reign against Zhu Tao, Wang Wujun, Tian Yue, and Li Na; and later in persuading Wang, Tian, and Li to again submit to Emperor Dezong.

Background and early life An Baozhen was born in 733, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He was probably the 10th-born son. His family was originally from Parthia but had lived for generations in the Hexi region. His great-grandfather An Xiuren was a contributor to the Tang dynasty's establishment, having assisted his brother An Xinggui in overthrowing Li Gui, the Emperor of Liang, during the transition from Sui to Tang, subsequently uniting the Liang state with Tang.

The An family was renowned for its capability in tending horses. A number of family members eventually moved to the region around the Tang capital Chang'an and became students of literature, intermarrying with scholar-bureaucratic families. An Baozhen was noted as a deep yet decisive thinker.

Surname change An Baozhen later served under his third cousin An Baoyu (a great-grandson of An Xinggui). In 757, during the Anshi Rebellion, An Baoyu requested a surname change because he did not want to share a surname with the rebel Yan state's emperor, An Lushan. Emperor Xuanzong's son and successor, Emperor Suzong, agreed and bestowed the imperial surname of Li on An Baoyu. Presumably, An Baozhen's surname was also changed to Li at this time, as Emperor Suzong permitted the entire clan to change its designated home to the capital Chang'an.

Service under Emperor Daizong After Emperor Suzong died in 762 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Daizong, Li Baoyu, who held a command as a military governor (jiedushi), received the additional command of Zelu Circuit (澤潞, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi). He highly valued Li Baozhen's service under him.

The Pugu Huai'en rebellion At one point, Li Baozhen was appointed the secretary general of Fen Prefecture (汾州, in modern Linfen, Shanxi), when it appeared that the general Pugu Huai'en—who controlled the region and commanded the powerful Shuofang Circuit army (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia)—was set on rebelling against Emperor Daizong.

Li Baozhen slipped away in 764 and fled back to Chang'an. When Emperor Daizong asked him for his counsel, Li Baozhen suggested recommissioning the general Guo Ziyi, who was formerly Pugu's superior as the commander of the Shuofang army, arguing that this move would undermine the morale of Pugu's troops. Emperor Daizong agreed; Pugu subsequently rebelled but was unsuccessful.

Administrative assignments and military innovations Crediting Li Baozhen for his strategic insights, Emperor Daizong made him the deputy military governor of both Zelu and Chenzheng (陳鄭, headquartered in modern Zhengzhou, Henan) Circuits, both of which were under Li Baoyu's command. When Li Baozhen met Emperor Daizong to express his gratitude, he stated: "Whether the people have to labor or can rest depends on their prefect. I would like to receive a prefecture to try myself."

Emperor Daizong approved his volunteering and made him the prefect of Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern Jincheng, Shanxi), one of the prefectures of Zelu Circuit. He served at Ze Prefecture for two years and was then moved to Huai Prefecture (懷州, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), which was merged into Zelu. He served there for eight years. Because Li Baoyu was stationed at Fengxiang (鳳翔, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) on the western border with the Tufan, Li Baozhen was left in effective command of Zelu.

Li Baozhen anticipated an eventual war against several circuits commanded by independent warlord generals who only nominally submitted to Tang authority: Pinglu (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang, Shandong) Lulong (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) Weibo (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) Chengde (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) Zhaoyi (昭義, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan) Shannan East (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan, Hubei)

Believing Zelu occupied a strategic yet vulnerable position, and facing a severe post-rebellion shortage of military manpower and financial resources, Li Baozhen created an innovative program. He selected the strongest local farmers and waived their tax burdens; in exchange, they trained in archery, with the most capable receiving rewards. Within three years, he trained an elite army of 20,000 men. It was said at the time that no other infantry in the realm could rival Zelu's.

During this period of peace, Li Baozhen sought out talented individuals across the realm, rewarding those who offered useful counsel and dismissing those who did not. He constructed numerous lavish pavilions and artificial lakes for his amusement and surrounded himself with alchemists in a quest for immortality.

One alchemist, Sun Jichang , manufactured golden alchemical pills for him, claiming they would grant eternal life. Li Baozhen trusted Sun completely, telling his subordinates, "This is something that not even Qin Shi Huang or Emperor Wu of Han was able to have. I will soon be at the court of Shangdi and no longer be among you." Having dreamed of riding a flying crane, he constructed a wooden crane and practiced riding it.

Ultimately, Li Baozhen ingested a total of 20,000 alchemical pills, causing his abdomen to become completely rigid and preventing him from eating. A Taoist monk, Niu Dongxuan , temporarily relieved his condition using lard and laxatives. Once healed, however, Li Baozhen listened to Sun Jichang again, who urged, "You have come close to immortality. Why abandon it now?" Li Baozhen consumed another 3,000 pills and died from poisoning in 794. Emperor Dezong mourned his death for three days and granted him high posthumous honors.

Succession crisis During Li Baozhen's terminal illness, his son Li Jian conspired with Li Baozhen's subordinate Lu Huichang and nephew Yuan Zhongjing to seize control of Zhaoyi Circuit. Following Li Baozhen's death, Yuan concealed the passing, pretended the general was still alive, and forged an order transferring command to Li Jian.

Li Baozhen's deputy, Li Shuo , along with other subordinates, initially acquiesced to the order. Lu Huichang then forged a official petition to the throne requesting that Emperor Dezong permit Li Jian to succeed his father. However, Emperor Dezong had already received reports of Li Baozhen's death. He dispatched the eunuch Diwu Shoujin to Zhaoyi with imperial orders transferring the command to another subordinate, Wang Yan'gui . When Li Jian considered military resistance, his officers refused to back him. He yielded command and traveled to Luoyang under imperial orders.

Notes and references

Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 223, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 235.