Background

It is not known when Liu Rengong was born—although he was said to be spreading the rumor that he would become a military governor (Jiedushi) at age 48 when he later served Li Kuangwei, indicating that he was not yet 48 by that point. His family was originally from Leshou (樂壽, in modern Cangzhou, Hebei), which was not a part of Lulong Circuit, although he would follow his father Liu Sheng to Lulong Circuit, as Liu Sheng served under the military governor Li Keju. It was said that Liu Rengong was already shown to be full of tactics in his youth, and often made military suggestions. When Li Keju sent the officer Li Quanzhong to attack Yi Prefecture (易州, in modern Baoding, Hebei), which belonged to neighboring Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding) in 885, Liu Rengong served under Li Quanzhong. When Li Quanzhong's subordinate Yu Yan (于晏) put Yi under siege but could not capture it for months, it was Liu who came up with the idea of digging a tunnel into the city to capture it. For this act, he became known under the nickname of Liu Kutou (劉窟頭, i.e., "Liu who headed into the tunnel"). Later that year, when Yiwu forces recaptured Yi, Li Quanzhong, in fear of punishment by Li Keju, overthrew Li Keju and took over the circuit; Li Quanzhong then died in 886 and passed the circuit to his son Li Kuangwei.

It was said that Liu was ambitious, and he spread rumors that he dreamed of a giant Buddha banner coming out of his fingers, and that he was told in the dreams that he would be a military governor at age 48. When Li Kuangwei heard this, he disliked Liu; he stripped Liu of his military position and made him the magistrate of Jingcheng County (景城, in modern Cangzhou). At one point, when a mutiny at the prefectural capital of Ying Prefecture (瀛州, in modern Cangzhou) resulted in the prefect's death, Liu conscripted a thousand inexperienced soldiers and put down the mutiny. Li Kuangwei was very pleased, made him an army officer again, and gave him command of a garrison at Wei Prefecture (蔚州, in modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei).

It was said that, as the soldiers at Wei were not promptly rotated back to Lulong's capital You Prefecture (幽州) after a number of years, they became resentful, as they missed their families. In 893, when Li Kuangwei was himself overthrown in a coup by his brother Li Kuangchou, Liu decided to take advantage of the confusion by leading his army to attack You Prefecture. However, when he reached Juyong Pass, the headquarter's army defeated his. He thereafter fled to Hedong Circuit, where he was treated well by Hedong's military governor Li Keyong.

Service under Li Keyong

Liu Rengong was said to carefully serve both Li Keyong and Li Keyong's chief strategist Gai Yu, and through Gai, he made repeated suggestions to Li Keyong that Lulong could be conquered, and he asked for 10,000 men for the campaign. However, as during this time Li Keyong was dealing with the rebellion of his adoptive son Li Cunxiao at Xingming Circuit (邢洺, headquartered in modern Xingtai, Hebei), he was only able to give Liu several thousand men, and the campaign failed. This caused Li Kuangchou to become arrogant and feel free to harass Hedong's borders. In anger, in winter 894 (after he had defeated and executed Li Cunxiao and reabsorbed Li Cunxiao's territory), Li Keyong personally launched a major attack on Lulong. You Prefecture fell quickly to him; Li Kuangchou fled to neighboring Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou) and was killed by Yichang's military governor Lu Yanwei.

In spring 895, Li Keyong formally entered You Prefecture, and he had Liu and an adoptive son, Li Cunshen, surveil and pacify the region. He left Liu in charge of Lulong as acting military governor, and then returned to Hedong. He left an army detachment and a group of associates, headed by Yan Liude (燕留德), at Lulong, to accompany Liu. However, the Hedong soldiers soon ran into conflicts with the Lulong officer Gao Siji (高思繼) and Gao Siji's brothers, as they bullied the Lulong people. The Gao brothers executed a number of them, drawing Li Keyong's displeasure, and Li Keyong rebuked Liu. Liu, blaming all of the executions on the Gao brothers, delivered them to Hedong, where Li Keyong executed them. Liu, however, in order to pacify the Lulong people, took in the Gao brothers' sons as officers in the Lulong army. In summer 895, then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong formally made Liu the military governor of Lulong.

Through the years that Liu served as Li Keyong's vassal, the officers that Li Keyong left at Lulong managed much of the affairs of the circuit. They collected taxes from the circuit, and, except for what was needed for the Lulong army's supplies, they delivered the rest to Hedong, contrary to the prior customs during Lulong's independence periods where Lulong kept its own revenues. In 897, by which time Emperor Zhaozong had fled from the imperial capital Chang'an to Zhenguo Circuit (鎮國, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) due to attacks by the warlord Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), Li Keyong planned a campaign to assist the emperor. He thus requisitioned troops from Lulong, but Liu declined his requisition request, claiming that the soldiers were needed to defend against Khitan incursions. For several months, Li Keyong sent repeated letters, and Liu continued to decline. When Li Keyong sent a harshly-worded rebuke, Liu threw the letter onto the ground, put the Hedong emissary under arrest, and tried to kill the Hedong officers stationed at Lulong, who fled and escaped death, according to the Zizhi Tongjian. (The History of the Five Dynasties and the New History of the Five Dynasties indicated that Liu did in fact kill a number of them, including Yan.)

As independent warlord

In fall 897, angry at Liu Rengong's betrayal, Li Keyong commanded the army himself and attacked Lulong. He engaged the Lulong forces commanded by Liu's son-in-law Dan Keji (單可及), but was defeated when his army was ambushed by the Lulong officer Yang Shikan at Mugua Creek (木瓜澗, in modern Baoding), at great losses; it was only the inclement weather at the time that prevented the Lulong forces from inflicting greater damage. Li Keyong was forced to abandon this attempt to retake Lulong. Thereafter, Liu formed a relationship with Li Keyong's archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), and under Zhu's recommendation, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed the honorary chancellor designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi on Liu. However, Liu also wrote a letter to Li Keyong apologizing for what happened.

Meanwhile, Liu had a running dispute with Lu Yanwei over the two circuits' control of the salt trade. In 898, Liu sent his son Liu Shouwen to attack Yichang's capital Cang Prefecture (滄州). Lu, unable to resist, abandoned it and fled to Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), allowing Liu Shouwen to take the circuit. Liu Rengong commissioned Liu Shouwen as acting military governor, and then made a request to Emperor Zhaozong that Liu Shouwen be given a formal commission as military governor, the imperial government initially refused. In response, Liu Rengong made an irreverent statement to the imperial emissary:

In any case, it was said that after the victory over Yichang, Liu Rengong, believing in his military strength, began to have ambitions of controlling the entire region north of the Yellow River. In spring 899, he launched a major attack on Weibo. When he captured Weibo's Bei Prefecture (貝州, in modern Xingtai), he slaughtered the population of the entire city and threw the bodies into the river. In response, all of the subsequent Weibo cities he attacked defended themselves to the death. He decided to, instead, directly attack Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture. Weibo's military governor Luo Shaowei sought aid from both Zhu and Li Keyong. When Zhu's generals Li Si'an (李思安) and Zhang Cunjing arrived first, Liu had Liu Shouwen and Dan engage them, but the Xuanwu forces defeated them, killing Dan and nearly killing Liu Shouwen as well. When Xuanwu generals Ge Congzhou and He Delun (賀德倫) subsequently arrived as well and again engaged Lulong forces along with Weibo forces, the Lulong forces were again defeated, and the Lulong officers Xue Tujue (薛突厥) and Wang Guilang (王鄶郎) were captured. Liu Rengong and Liu Shouwen were forced to flee back to their territory.

In 900, Zhu further had Ge command armies of four circuits (Xuanwu, Weibo, and two other circuits under Zhu's control—Taining (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong) and Tianping (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong)) to attack Liu Rengong's territory. Ge quickly captured Yichang's De Prefecture (德州, in modern Dezhou, Shandong) and put Liu Shouwen under siege at Cang Prefecture. When Liu Rengong sought aid from Li Keyong, Li Keyong responded by sending his officer Zhou Dewei and his nephew Li Sizhao to attack the Xingming region (which had fallen to Zhu earlier) to try to divert Zhu's forces. When Liu Rengong himself tried to lift the siege by engaging Ge, Ge defeated him. However, when weather turned against the siege army, and mediators were sent by Wang Rong the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), Ge withdrew.

In winter 900, after forcing Wang to become a vassal, Zhu again had Zhang lead an army, with supplements from Weibo, to attack Liu. Zhang quickly captured Lulong's Ying and Mo (莫州, in modern Cangzhou) Prefectures and Yichang's Jing Prefecture (景州, in modern Cangzhou). (In the latter battle, the prefect Liu Renba, who might have been a brother to Liu Rengong, was captured.) Zhang prepared to next attack You Prefecture, but subsequent weather conditions stopped him, and he instead attacked Yiwu and forced that circuit into submission (despite Liu Shouwen's attempts to assist Yiwu).

In 901, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed the greater honorary chancellor title of Shizhong (侍中) on Liu Rengong.

In 903, after Emperor Zhaozong (who had fallen effectively to Zhu's control by that point) ordered a general massacre of eunuchs, Liu did not execute Zhang Juhan the eunuch monitor of the Lulong army; rather, he hid Zhang, and executed a prisoner in Zhang's stead.

Also in 903, Wang Jinghui (王敬暉), an officer at Li Keyong's Yun Prefecture (雲州, in modern Datong, Shanxi), assassinated the prefect Liu Zaili and submitted to Liu Rengong. Li Keyong sent Li Sizhao and Li Cunshen to attack Wang. Liu sent forces to aid Wang, forcing Li Sizhao and Li Cunshen to retreat some distance, allowing Wang to abandon Yun and flee to Liu Rengong's territory.

Over the years, it was said that Liu Rengong gained great understanding on Khitan's military operations, and he often sent armies to pillage the Khitan lands, as well as to burn the grazing fields to prevent the Khitan horses from grazing properly. In winter 903, when the Khitan leader Yelü Abaoji sent his brother-in-law Shulü Abo (述律阿缽) to attack Shanhai Pass, Liu Rengong's son Liu Shouguang, who was then defending Ping Prefecture (平州, in modern Qinhuangdao, Hebei), pretended to be parlaying with the Khitan officers and invited them to a feast, but ambushed them there once they became drunk and captured them. The Khitan were forced to pay Liu Rengong a large ransom to get them released.

In 906, when Zhu again put Cang Prefecture under siege, Liu Rengong, after repeated losses against Zhu's army, felt that he needed even more soldiers, so he ordered all men from age 15 to 70 to serve, tattooing their faces. He also sought aid from Hedong. Li Keyong initially refused to help him, but later, under the advice of his son Li Cunxu, relented; as per Li Cunxu's advice, he requested Liu to send an army to attack Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi) – which had previously been Li Keyong's territory but had fallen to Zhu earlier – with him, to divert Zhu's army. Liu agreed, and the Hedong and Lulong forces attacked Zhaoyi. Ding Hui, the Zhaoyi military governor that Zhu commissioned, surrendered, forcing Zhu to lift the siege on Cang Prefecture and withdraw.

it was said that over the years, as Liu Rengong became more entrenched in his rule of Lulong, he became even more arrogant, wasteful, and violent. Believing the headquarters in You Prefecture to be insecure, he built a grand mansion at Mount Da'an (大安山, in modern Beijing), which was built like an imperial palace. He selected many beautiful women and put them in the Da'an mansion. He also retained alchemists to try to achieve immortality. He hoarded the money from the people of the circuit, instead making coins out of clay, and he prohibited purchasing tea leaves from south of the Yangtze River, instead using the leaves of the circuit's trees as tea substitutes.

Overthrow by Liu Shouguang and subsequent house arrest

In or sometime before 907, Liu Rengong discovered that Liu Shouguang had been having an affair with Liu Rengong's favorite concubine Lady Luo. He caned Liu Shouguang, threw him out of the household, and disowned him.

In spring 907, Zhu Quanzhong sent Li Si'an to make a surprise attack on You Prefecture. As Li Si'an approached, Liu Rengong was still at the Mount Da'an mansion, and the city was left nearly defenseless. It nearly fell, but Liu Shouguang took troops and entered the city to defend it; he then engaged Li Si'an in battle, forcing Li Si'an to withdraw. He then claimed the title of military governor and had his generals Li Xiaoxi (李小喜) and Yuan Xingqin attack Liu Rengong's mansion at Mount Da'an. Li Xiaoxi defeated the troops that Liu Rengong sent to defend against the attack, and then captured Liu Rengong and returned with him to You Prefecture, where Liu Shouguang put him under arrest. Liu Shouguang killed many of Liu Rengong's close associates whom he did not like. Therefore, a number of officers, including Liu Shouguang's younger brother Liu Shouqi, nephew Wang Sitong, and the officer Li Chengyue (李承約), fled to Hedong Circuit.

Hearing of what Liu Shougguang did, Liu Shouwen launched his troops to attack Liu Shouguang, with initially inconclusive results. (In this fraternal war, Liu Shouguang received aid from Li Cunxu, who had succeeded Li Keyong as the military governor of Hedong and the Prince of Jin after Li Keyong's death in 908, while Liu Shouwen was assisted by the Khitan and the Tuyuhun tribal armies.) In 909, they had a battle at Jisu (雞蘇, in modern Tianjin), where Liu Shouwen initially prevailed. However, Liu Shouwen then stepped out onto the battlefield and stated, "Do not kill my brother!" As he did, Yuan, who knew that it was Liu Shouwen, made a surprise attack and captured him. Liu Shouguang put Liu Shouwen under house arrest as well, and then put Cang Prefecture, which was defended by Liu Shouwen's son Liu Yanzuo, under siege. The city fell in 910, so Liu Shouguang took Yichang under his control as well. He then had Liu Shouwen killed, while submitting a petition to Zhu Quanzhong (who had seized the Tang throne by this point and established a new Later Liang as its Emperor Taizu) in Liu Rengong's name, seeking retirement. The Later Liang emperor approved of Liu Rengong's retirement, bestowed the title of Taishi (太師) on Liu Rengong, and subsequently created Liu Shouguang the Prince of Yan.

Death

Liu Shouguang, however, was not satisfied with the princely title under Later Liang suzerainty. In 911, he claimed the title of Emperor of Yan. Subsequently, Li Cunxu, who was by that time allied with Wang Rong and Wang Chuzhi the military governor of Yiwu, had Zhou Dewei command a major operation against the new Yan state. By late 913, nearly all Yan cities had fallen to the Jin army, except for You Prefecture. Liu Shouguang claimed that he would surrender to Li Cunxu if Li Cunxu personally arrived to accept his surrender, but when Li Cunxu arrived, Liu Shouguang again refused to surrender, under Li Xiaoxi's advice. However, Li Xiaoxi then himself surrendered to the Jin army and revealed the desperate state the Yan army was in. Li Cunxu then ordered a final attack, and the city fell. Liu Rengong, his wife, and his concubines were taken captive. Liu Shouguang tried to flee to Cang Prefecture (which was then defended by Liu Shouqi, who had become a Later Liang general), but was captured on the way there. (When he was brought back to You Prefecture, Liu Rengong and his wife both spat on him and stated, "Rebellious bandit! Look at what you did to our household!")

In spring 914, Li Cunxu took the Liu household, including Liu Rengong and Liu Shouguang, on a victory tour through Yiwu and Chengde Circuits, at Wang Chuzhi's and Wang Rong's invitation. When they arrived at Chengde Circuit, at Wang Rong's request (as Wang Rong wanted to finally meet Liu Rengong in person), Li Cunxu temporarily removed the shackles from Liu Rengong and Liu Shouguang, and had them attend a feast that Wang Rong held for him. After they arrived back at Hedong's capital Taiyuan, Li Cunxu first executed Liu Shouguang in the capital, along with his wives, and then had his deputy military governor Lu Rubi (盧汝弼) transport Liu Rengong to Li Keyong's tomb at Dai Prefecture (代州, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi). There, his chest was first pierced, with the blood sacrificed to Li Keyong, and then he was decapitated.

Notes and references

• New Book of Tang, vol. 212.

• History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 135.

• New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 39.

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 256, 259, 260, 261, 262, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269.

簡介

劉仁恭跟隨父親劉晟擔任原范陽節度使李可舉旗下將領，唐僖宗光啟元年（885年）在范陽攻易州的一場戰役中，以挖地道進城的方法攻陷城池，因此軍中號曰「劉窟頭」。

唐昭宗景福二年（893年），當時的范陽節度使李匡威為其弟李匡籌所逐，適巧劉仁恭所率部隊已過輪調期日而未還，士兵由於思鄉，遂兵變，以劉仁恭為領袖，回師攻范陽軍的軍部幽州（今北京市），然為李匡籌軍所敗，因此逃往河東歸附李克用，李克用待之甚厚。

劉仁恭至河東後，不斷透過李克用智囊蓋寓游說李克用攻擊范陽。乾寧元年（894年），李克用攻陷范陽。明年（895年），李克用上表於朝廷，推薦劉仁恭為范陽留後，不久，唐朝廷追認劉仁恭為范陽節度使。但是劉仁恭任范陽節度使後，亟思背離李克用。乾寧四年（897年），唐昭宗為鎮國節度使韓建挾持於華州，李克用將欲勤王，向劉仁恭徵兵，而劉仁恭以許多理由搪塞，李克用大怒，親征幽州，未料大敗而還，劉仁恭因此擺脫河東控制。

乾寧五年（898年），劉仁恭敗義昌節度使盧彥威，併吞其轄區，並以其子劉守文為義昌節度使，因此興起兼併河北三鎮的野心。惟明年（899年）南征時，大敗於宣武朱全忠、魏博羅紹威聯軍，女婿單可及被斬，自是實力受創。其後劉仁恭即依違於朱溫及李克用間，然而隨著朱溫勢力的擴張，華北最後僅餘河東李克用及范陽劉仁恭可自保。因此唐哀帝天祐三年（906年），朱溫大舉攻范陽，劉仁恭危在旦夕時，李克用基於唇亡齒寒之理，仍不計前嫌營救。

然而劉仁恭本人對於自己因中原處於多事之秋而得以稱雄一隅，志得意滿，遂逐漸驕傲奢侈，荒淫無度。他在幽州大安山上興築宮殿，富麗堂皇，遴選許多美女居住其中；又與道士王若訥煉金丹，「招聚緇黃，合仙丹，講求法要」，以求長生不死；復命令人民將銅錢交出，藏於山上，而人民只好用土做錢。

劉仁恭之子劉守光曾因與劉仁恭的愛妾羅氏通姦，被劉仁恭鞭打後，斷絕父子關係。天祐四年（907年），宣武將領李思安攻幽州，而當時劉仁恭還在大安山享樂，城中沒有戒備，劉守光從城外率軍進入擊退李思安後，隨即自稱節度使，並派兵進攻大安山，劉仁恭被擒，守光將仁恭禁錮，又派元行欽殺劉仁恭的其餘兒子們。劉仁恭幼子劉守奇、外孫銀胡簶都指揮使王思同、部將山後八軍巡檢使李承約等逃往河東。劉守文聞訊討伐劉守光，不慎被俘，後被殺。劉守光以劉仁恭名義上表請致仕。

913年，李克用之子晉王李存勗，討伐稱燕帝的劉守光，攻陷范陽，被囚禁的劉仁恭亦與劉守光為晉軍所擒；李存勗到成德軍軍部鎮州，得節度使王鎔款待，王鎔說「劉氏父子是我的鄰鎮，我一直沒見過他們，能讓我見一見嗎？」于是李存勗讓劉仁恭父子也出席，一起享受宴席。914年，劉氏父子被李存勗獻於晉國太廟。劉仁恭後來被押解至代州（今山西代縣），將以刀刺其心臟所流的血來奠祭李克用之墓，然後斬首。後唐曾掘劉仁恭、劉守光父子所藏之寶，但無所獲。

據其曾孫劉宇傑、劉宇一墓誌，劉仁恭謚號燕昭王，其燕王稱號系受封或自封，尚待考。劉宇一祖父為平營薊等三州團練使、檢校太傅，可見為區別于劉守文、劉守光、劉守奇的另一子。另劉仁恭後裔劉日泳墓誌述及先祖時有「二王貴胤，五守賢侯」之語，似劉仁恭有以「守」為名的五個兒子。劉守奇有劉繼顒、劉承業、劉承嗣等至少十個兒子和十個女兒。