Zhou Dewei () (died January 28, 919Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 270.Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.), courtesy name Zhenyuan (), nickname Yangwu (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Jin (predecessor state to Later Tang).
Service under Li Keyong It is not known when Zhou Dewei was born, but it is known that he was from Mayi (馬邑, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi). He started his service in the late Tang dynasty under Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) as a cavalry officer. He was said to be brave, intelligent, and capable in horsemanship and archery. As he grew up on the northern border, it was said that he gained the experience of watching the dust clouds created by cavalry and being able to judge the strength of the force that was proceeding. During the Qianning era (894–898) of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, he became the commander of Tielin Base (). During Li Keyong's campaign against Wang Xingyu the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi), Zhou had accomplishments and was made the deputy commander of Li Keyong's headquarter guard corps.History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 56.
Later in 898, when Li Keyong sent his adoptive nephew Li Sizhao and Zhou to try to recover three prefectures east of the Taihang Mountains that he had previously lost to his archenemy Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan) (Xing (邢州, in modern Xingtai, Hebei), Ci (磁州, in modern Handan, Hebei), and Ming (洺州, also in modern Handan)). However, they were defeated by Zhu's general Ge Congzhou, who subsequently cut off their escape path back into the Taihang. It was due to the effort of Li Keyong's adoptive son Li Siyuan in fighting through Ge's blockade that the Hedong army was able to escape.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 261.
In 899, Ge tried to attack Hedong's main territory, and his deputy Shi Shucong () advanced to Yuci (榆次, in modern Jinzhong, Shanxi). Li Keyong sent Zhou to try to repel Shi. Shi's forward commander, one Chen Zhang (), claimed that he could capture Zhou, but Zhou, in a one-to-one confrontation, hammered Chen off his horse and captured him. Subsequently, his soldiers defeated Shi's soldiers, and Shi fled. Following Shi's defeat, Ge also withdrew.
In late 899, Zhu sent Ge to attack Liu Rengong the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), putting Liu's son Liu Shouwen the military governor of Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) under siege at Yichang's capital Cang Prefecture (). In spring 900, Li Keyong sent Zhou with a 5,000-men cavalry force, and then had Li Sizhao follow up with a 50,000-men force to attack Xing and Ming Prefectures to try to relieve the pressure on the Lius. Subsequently, though, Zhu recalled Ge, as Wang Rong the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) mediated the dispute, and Ge's army was also itself stalled by rainstorms. By that point, Li Sizhao had captured Ming Prefecture. Zhu sent Ge against Li Sizhao, and subsequently arrived himself with reinforcements. Li Sizhao withdrew, but suffered substantial losses.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 262.
In spring 901, Xuanwu forces under Shi launched a major attack against Hedong, advancing all the way to Hedong's capital Taiyuan Municipality and put it under siege. The city almost fell, but eventually, with Xuanwu forces bogged down by rain and running out of food supplies, Zhu recalled Shi. As Shi was retreating, Zhou and Li Sizhao attacked him, inflicting losses. Later in the year, Li Keyong sent Li Sizhao and Zhou to capture Xi () and Ci (慈州, both in modern Linfen, Shanxi, not the same prefecture as the one east of the Taihang Mountains) Prefectures, which had become under Zhu's control when Zhu conquered Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) earlier in 901.
Later in 901, the powerful eunuchs at the Tang imperial court at Chang'an, believing that then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and the chancellor Cui Yin were able to slaughter them, forcibly seized Emperor Zhaozong and took him to Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), then reigned by the eunuchs' ally Li Maozhen. Cui, who was allied with Zhu, summoned Zhu to attack Fengxiang. Li Maozhen wrote Li Keyong to request aid. Li Keyong sent Li Sizhao to attack Jin Prefecture (晉州, in modern Linfen), and Li Sizhao defeated Xuanwu forces at Jin Prefecture. Subsequent battles in spring 902 in which Li Sizhao and Zhou engaged Shi and Zhu's nephew Zhu Youning (), however, could not produce conclusive Hedong victories, and Shi was eventually able to defeat Li Sizhao and Zhou at Pu County (蒲縣, in modern Linfen). They tried to withdraw, but the Xuanwu forces chased them. In the subsequent engagement, Li Keyong's son Li Tingluan () was captured by Xuanwu forces, who then again advanced to Taiyuan and put it under siege. The situation became so dire that Li Keyong, under the advice of his adoptive son Li Cunxin, considered abandoning Taiyuan and fleeing to the north; only at the urging of his wife Lady Liu, as well as Li Sizhao, Li Siyuan, and Zhou, did Li Keyong resolve to defend the city. Li Sizhao and Li Siyuan again led nightly counterattacks against the sieging Xuanwu forces, and eventually, the Xuanwu forces withdrew. Even though Hedong forces were in fact then able to further recapture Ci, Xi, and Fen (汾州, in modern Linfen), it was said that Li Keyong did not dare to again engage Zhu for several years. (Li Maozhen was subsequently forced to sue for peace by surrendering the emperor to Zhu.)Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 263.
Later in 906, Zhu advanced north and again put Liu Shouwen under siege at Cang Prefecture. Liu Rengong sought aid from Li Keyong to try to save Liu Shouwen. Under Li Keyong's demand, Liu Rengong sent troops to join Hedong forces under Li Sizhao and Zhou in attacking Lu Prefecture (潞州, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), to try to recapture Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered at Lu Prefecture). When the joint Hedong/Lulong forces reached Lu Prefecture, Ding Hui, the military governor commissioned by Zhu, who had been mourning Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (whom Zhu had assassinated in 905 and replaced with his son Emperor Ai), surrendered Lu to them.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 265.
In 907, Zhu forced Emperor Ai to yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. Li Keyong, along with Li Maozhen (whose territory became Qi), Yang Wo the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) (whose territory became Wu), and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan) (whose territory became Former Shu), refused to recognize the Later Liang emperor, and thereafter was effectively the ruler of his own state of Jin (as he had been previously created the Prince of Jin by Emperor Zhaozong). Shortly thereafter, the Later Liang emperor sent the general Kang Huaizhen () to put Lu Prefecture under siege. After a conventional siege failed to capture the city after half a month, Kang built a centipede-like encampment around the city to try to starve it while also using it defensively against any Hedong relief troops. Li Keyong subsequently sent Zhou to command a relief army to try to lift the siege, but while both Li Sizhao and Zhou were able to disrupt the siege operations, Kang's encampment held, and Zhou was unable to lift the siege. By spring 908, with Li Keyong having fallen gravely ill, Zhou withdrew to Luanliu (亂柳, in modern Changzhi). Li Keyong entrusted his oldest biological son, Li Cunxu, whom he designated as his heir, to his brother Li Kening, the eunuch monitor of the army Zhang Chengye, the officers Li Cunzhang and Wu Gong (), and the secretary Lu Zhi (). Before dying, he stated to Li Cunxu:Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 266.
Li Keyong, knowing that there was a rivalry between Li Sizhao and Zhou, also told Li Cunxu:
Li Keyong then died, and Li Cunxu succeeded him as the Prince of Jin.
Service under Li Cunxu
In Li Cunxu's initial campaigns Li Cunxu himself had, immediately after becoming prince, had to deal with a conspiracy by Li Kening and an adoptive son of Li Keyong's, Li Cunhao (), to overthrow him, but after executing Li Kening and Li Cunhao and Zhou showed submission by returning to Taiyuan to mourn Li Keyong and pay homage to Li Cunxu, Li Cunxu prepared for a campaign to save Li Sizhao. He put Ding Hui in nominal command of the operation, while he himself, Zhou, and Li Siyuan led the main attacks against the Later Liang centipede encampment. They attacked it under the cover of fog, and the Later Liang forces collapsed and fled. When Zhou subsequently arrived at the city walls and announced that the siege had been lifted, Li Sizhao initially did not believe him, but when Li Cunxu subsequently arrived, wearing white armor (thus signifying that Li Keyong had died), Li Sizhao realized what had occurred and fell into deep mourning before opening the gates to let Li Cunxu enter. (Before the battle, Li Cunxu had told Zhou what Li Keyong had said before his death, and Zhou, in response, fought particularly fiercely during the battle. After the battle, he relayed what occurred to Li Sizhao, and the two reformed a friendship.) After the siege was lifted, Zhou put Later Liang's Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern Jincheng, Shanxi) under siege, but could not quickly capture it against the defense put up by the Later Liang general Niu Cunjie (); when another Later Liang general, Liu Zhijun, arrived to aid Niu, Zhou lifted the siege and withdrew. For Zhou's contributions in saving Lu Prefecture, Li Cunxu made him the military governor of Zhenwu Circuit (振武, headquartered in modern Shuozhou).
In fall 908, Li Sizhao and Zhou attacked Later Liang's Jin Prefecture and put it under siege. Later Liang's Emperor Taizu personally went to aid Jin Prefecture, and when Li Sizhao and Zhou heard that the Later Liang emperor would be soon arriving, they withdrew.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 267.
In 909, after Liu Zhijun had surrendered to Qi, Li Maozhen planned to have Liu command an attack on Later Liang's Shuofang (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia) and Dingnan (定難, headquartered in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) Circuits. He thus requested Li Cunxu to simultaneously attack Jin and Jiang (絳州, in modern Yuncheng) Prefectures. Li Cunxu prepared to attack those prefectures, and he sent Zhou to attack Jin Prefecture first. Zhou put Jin Prefecture under siege, but could not capture it quickly. When the Later Liang general Yang Shihou then arrived, he withdrew.
In 910, in another coordinated attack between Qi and Jin, Li Maozhen personally went to attack Dingnan, then governed by Li Renfu, along with his vassals Li Jihui the military governor of Jingnan and Liu (whom he had commissioned the military governor of Zhangyi Circuit (彰義, headquartered in modern Pingliang, Gansu), while Li Cunxu sent Zhou. The joint Qi and Jin forces put Dingnan's capital Xia Prefecture () under siege. When the Later Liang generals Li Yu () and Liu Wan () subsequently arrived to aid Li Renfu, however, the Qi and Jin forces withdrew.