Wu Yuanji

Wu Yuanji (吳元濟) (783 or 793 – December 12, 817 ) was a Chinese military general during the Tang dynasty who tried to control Zhangyi Circuit (彰義, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan) without approval from Emperor Xianzong after the 814 death of his father Wu Shaoyang, who had governed the circuit in a de facto independent manner from the imperial government. Emperor Xianzong declared a campaign against Wu, and imperial troops under Li Su were eventually able to defeat and capture him. He was delivered to the Tang capital Chang'an and executed there.

Background The biographies of Wu Yuanji in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang conflict as to when he was born — with the Old Book of Tang indicating that he was born in 783

Wu Yuanji was Wu Shaoyang's oldest son, and he had at least two younger brothers. While Wu Shaoyang governed the circuit, Wu Yuanji was made the acting prefect of Zhangyi's capital prefecture Cai Prefecture (蔡州). Previously, Wu Shaoyang's staff members Su Zhao (蘇兆) and Yang Yuanqing (楊元卿), as well as his officer Hou Weiqing (侯惟清), had all recommended that Wu Shaoyang go to the capital Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Xianzong, to show submission to the imperial government,

Defeat by Li Su As Li Su was not well known, and the Zhangyi forces had defeated Gao Xiayu and Yuan Zi previously, it was said that the Zhangyi forces did not consider Li a threat and did not take much precautions against him. Li, after receiving reinforcements from several circuits, began to carry out military actions in which he targeted Zhangyi officers, captured them, and then treated them well and incorporated them into his command structure, using their familiarity with Zhangyi's defenses against Zhangyi. Such Zhangyi officers he thus captured included Ding Shiliang (丁士良), Chen Guangqia (陳光洽), Wu Xiulin (吳秀琳), Li Xian (李憲, whose name Li Su changed to Li Zhongyi (李忠義)), and Li You. Meanwhile, with Zhangyi's food supplies running low, the people were forced to initially resort to eating water caltrop, fish, freshwater turtles, birds, and beasts, but after those plants and animals ran out, the people started surrendering to the imperial forces en masse. The Zhangyi forces, believing that detaining the people would merely lead to quicker drain on resources, did not stop them.

Meanwhile, in addition to Li Su, Li Guangyan and Wu Chongyin were also continuing to deal Wu Yuanji defeats, capturing the important city of Yancheng (郾城, in modern Luohe) in summer 817. Wu Yuanji put Dong Chongzhi in charge of his strongest army, which rode mules, and Dong was stationed at Huiqu (洄曲, near Yancheng) to defend against further attacks by imperial forces from Yancheng. Pei Du volunteered to serve as the overall commander of the operations, and Emperor Xianzong agreed. Pei soon arrived on the front and personally monitored the troop advancements. With Zhangyi in great difficulty, Wu Yuanji offered to surrender to Emperor Xianzong, and Emperor Xianzong was initially inclined to accept and promised not to execute Wu, but with Dong opposing capitulation, Wu's surrender never came. at dusk, Li Su launched an attack, from his then-base of Wencheng Fence (文成柵, in modern Zhumadian), and, after dusk, after destroying the bridges between Huiqu and Cai Prefecture, and with a major winter snowstorm serving as cover, he advanced quickly to Cai Prefecture. With Li You and Li Zhongyi leading the forward attack, Li Su's forward soldiers climbed up the city walls and surprised the defending soldiers, killing them without engagements and then opening the city to allow the remainder of Li Su's soldiers to enter. Li Su's forces then attacked Wu Yuanji's fortified mansion. Wu Yuanji still commanded his own guards to defend against the attack. During the battle, Li Su, believing that Wu Yuanji's last hope would be if Dong returned quickly to save him, personally visited Dong's house and asked Dong's son Dong Chuandao (董傳道) to go to Dong Chongzhi's camp to express Li Su's good faith. Dong Chongzhi immediately abandoned his troops and returned to Cai Prefecture to surrender to Li Su. On November 29, with even the residents of Cai Prefecture joining the attack on Wu's headquarters, Wu surrendered. Li Su put him under arrest and delivered him to Chang'an.

Death On December 12, Emperor Xianzong ascended the palace gate to receive Wu Yuanji as a captive. He had Wu delivered to the imperial ancestral temples, as if to be offered as a sacrifice, and then had him beheaded under a lone willow.

During Wu's campaign against the imperial government, Li Shidao had sent his officer Liu Yanping (劉晏平) to Zhangyi as a messenger to observe Wu's status. After Liu returned to Pinglu, he gave this report to Li Shidao as far as his observation of Wu was concerned:

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 145. New Book of Tang, vol. 214. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 239, 240.