Li Shenfu

Li Shenfu (; died 904) was a general who served under the major warlord Yang Xingmi the military governor (jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) late in the Chinese Tang dynasty.

Background It is not known when Li Shenfu was born, but it is known that he was from Ming Prefecture (洺州, in modern Handan, Hebei). He became a soldier in the army of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), which Ming Prefecture belonged to, and was later posted to Huainan Circuit when Gao Pian the military governor of Huainan served as the overall commander of the operations against the agrarian rebel Huang Chao. He was later assigned to Lu Prefecture (廬州, in modern Hefei, Anhui) to serve under Gao's subordinate Yang Xingmin (who would later be renamed Yang Xingmi) the prefect of Lu.

In 886, Zhang Ao the prefect of Shou Prefecture (壽州, in modern Lu'an, Anhui) sent his officer Wei Qian to attack Lu. Yang sent Li, Tian Jun, and Zhang Xun to resist, and they repelled Wei's attack.

During the campaign against Sun Ru In 887, a mutiny by the Huainan officer Bi Shiduo against Gao Pian and Gao's favorite sorcerer Lü Yongzhi triggered an internecine war that had Bi, Lü, Yang Xingmi, and Qin Yan contending for the control of Huainan, which eventually was taken by Sun Ru. Yang, in turn, advanced south and took Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuancheng, Anhui) and became its military governor.

In 891, Sun took his army and advanced south, intending to destroy Yang. In an initial confrontation, Li Shenfu surprised Sun's advance troops and defeated them. Later in the year, Yang also sent Li to attack He (和州, in modern Chaohu, Anhui) and Chu (滁洲, in modern Chuzhou, Anhui) prefectures, defeating the Sun-commissioned prefects Kang Wang and An Jingsi ; Kang surrendered, and An fled.

Campaigns against Cai Chou After Sun Ru's defeat, Cai Chou , whom Yang Xingmi had previously made the prefect of Lu but who then surrendered to Sun when Sun attacked, tried to submit to Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan). Zhu, however, considered Cai unreliable and refused to launch an army to aid Cai, and instead informed what Cai was doing to Yang. Yang thereafter sent Li Shenfu to attack Cai. Later, Tian Jun and Yang himself also joined Li's siege of Lu Prefecture. In fall 893, the city fell, and Yang executed Cai. Subsequently, Cai's ally Ni Zhang the prefect of Shu Prefecture fled. Yang thus made Li the prefect of Shu.

In 902, Yang made Li the prefect of Sheng Prefecture (昇州, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu).

Campaigns against Du Hong In spring 903, Yang Xingmi made Li Shenfu the commander (行軍司馬, Xingjun Sima) of the Huainan army and put him in command of an army to attack Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan, Hubei), with Liu You serving as his deputy. He quickly captured Yongxing (永興, in modern Huanggang, Hubei), cutting off the food supplies for Wuchang.

Du sought aid from Zhu Quanzhong, but at that time, Zhu was only able to send a small detachment commanded by Han Qing , who could not lift the siege. Zhu thereafter made requests to Cheng Rui the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), Ma Yin the military governor of Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan), and Lei Yanwei the military governor of Wuzhen Circuit (武貞, headquartered in modern Changde, Hunan), asking them to save Du. Only Cheng launched a fleet to try to save Du, though. Further, as soon as Cheng left his capital Jiangling, Ma's officer Xu Dexun and Lei's officer Ouyang Si rendezvoused and jointly attacked Jiangling, sacking it and taking its population and treasures before withdrawing. When the news arrived at Cheng's fleet, Cheng's soldiers' morale was destroyed. Li subsequently crushed him, and he committed suicide by drowning. When Han heard of Cheng's death, he also withdrew, leaving Du with no aid.

Notes and references

Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms , vol. 5. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 255, 256, 258, 259, 262, 263, 264, 265.