Li Gu (903History of Song, vol. 262.12 August 960),Xu Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 1.Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar. courtesy name Weizhen, titled Duke of Zhao, was an official of the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou, Liao, and Northern Song dynasties of China. He served as a chancellor under the Later Zhou dynasty.
Life Early years Li Gu was born in 903, late in the Tang dynasty. He was said to be from Ruyin () in modern Fuyang, Anhui. He was tall and handsome, and in his youth wanted to be a fighter for justice but was restricted by the people of his home territory. He thus resolved to study hard, and he became learned.
Later Tang In 929, during the reign of the Later Tang emperor Li Siyuan, Li Gu passed the imperial examinations in the class. He subsequently successively served as a secretary to the prefects of Hua () around modern Weinan, Shaanxi, and Tai () around modern Yuncheng, Shanxi. Some records give him the title of in 926 as he was recorded to have helped a friend, Han Xizai, in fleeing to Later Tang's southeastern neighbor Wu that year after Han's father was caught up in a rebellion and executed. It was said that Li accompanied Han to the two states' border post Zhengyang () between modern Fuyang and Lu'an, Anhui, on the Huai River, to send him off. They drank together before parting with each other. At that time, Han made the comment, "If Wu makes me a chancellor, I will surely invade and conquer the Central Plains." Li laughed and responded, "If the Central Plains makes me a chancellor, for me to take Wu would be as easy as taking something out of a sack." Han then entered Wu realm.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 275.
Later Jin During the subsequent Later Jin, Li Gu became an imperial censor with the title of (). When Shi Chonggui, the nephew of the founding emperor Shi Jingtang (Li Siyuan's son-in-law), served as the mayor of the capital at modern Kaifeng, Li Gu served as an assistant to him, as well as (), the secretary general of the Ministry of Rites. Shi Chonggui became the mayor of Kaifeng in 938, so this would have been in 938 or shortly after.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 281. Subsequently, when Shi Jingtang himself took up residence at Yedu () in modern Handan, Hebei, for some time and left Shi Chonggui in charge at Kaifeng, Li Gu was given the additional title of (), a low-level official at the Ministry of Public Works. Shi Jingtang took up residence at Yedu in 941 in response to the expected rebellion of the general An Chongrong, so this would have been in 941 or shortly after.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 282. When Shi Chonggui was subsequently made the mayor of Guangjin (), i.e. Yedu, Li followed him to Guangjin and continued to serve as his assistant.
In 942, Shi Jingtang died and Shi Chonggui succeeded him as emperor.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 283. He made Li (), a supervisory official at the Ministry of Personnel. Shortly after, Li was made (), also a supervisory official at the Ministry of Personnel, as well as secretary at the treasury (, ). At some point, for reasons lost to history, Li was removed from his offices. In 944, when Shi Chonggui personally led a campaign against Later Jin's northern neighbor the Khitan Empire, he issued an edict asking Li to accompany him on the campaign, and he made Li an imperial scholar at the office of the chief of staff (, ), as well as imperial attendant (, ). However, Li was disliked by Shi Chonggui's close associates Feng Yu and Li Yantao (). When Shi Chonggui later led another campaign against the Khitans, Li Gu was made the deputy director of the three financial ministries overseeing the treasury, taxation, and the salt and iron monopolies.
In fall 945, Li Gu was made the prefect of Ci Prefecture () in modern Handan, and the director of military supplies for the army in the north (i.e. the army against the Khitans). In 946, Shi Chonggui commissioned the generals Du Wei and Li Shouzhen to command a major campaign against Khitan. Li Gu, apparently accompanying the army, suggested to the generals that they attack the main Khitan force which was then besieging Later Jin's Hengzhou (now Zhengding in Shijiazhuang Prefecture, Hebei) before the Khitan army could be prepared for the Later Jin army. Du and Li Shouzhen, however, did not listen to him, and instead sent him away to requisition supplies from Huai Prefecture () in modern Jiaozuo, Henan, and Meng Prefecture () in modern Luoyang, Henan. Li Gu believed that Du and Li Shouzhen were about to lead the Later Jin army into a major disaster as the Khitan army, realizing the Later Jin army was approaching, was beginning to cut off its supply routes. He secretly submitted a petition to Shi Chonggui, urging him to quickly head to the front line himself with the generals Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing, but the petition either did not reach Shi or was not heeded. When the Khitan army subsequently surrounded the Later Jin army, Du and Li Shouzhen surrendered to the Khitan emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong then quickly headed toward the effectively undefended Kaifeng, forcing Shi to surrender and ending Later Jin.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 285.
Liao The Khitan emperor entered Kaifeng and renamed his state the Liao dynasty, taking on ceremonial Han clothing and apparently intending to directly rule his Khitan and Chinese lands together. He sent Shi Chonggui and his family in exile to the Khitan lands in the north. The former Later Jin emperor's train was not well-supplied, but his former subjects did not dare to provide supplies. However, when Shi's train went through Ci Prefecture, Li Gu greeted him on the way and they both wept. Li stated, "Your subject had no excuse for failing Your Imperial Majesty." He gave what he had to Shi and sent Shi back on his way north.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 286.
Most Later Jin officials submitted to the Liao emperor at least nominally, but Liu Zhiyuan, the military governor of Hedong () around modern Taiyuan, Shanxi, and one of its strongest generals, initially pretended to submit to Liao but then declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, Later Han. Li secretly allied himself to Liu, putting his prefecture's resources at his disposal. He encouraged Liu to have the bandit leader Liang Hui (), who had likewise submitted to Later Han, attack nearby Xiangzhou (), also within modern Handan. Liu agreed and Liang attacked and captured Xiangzhou. Subsequently, the Liao emperor attacked Xiangzhou, killed Liang, and slaughtered the city's inhabitants. Under the belief that Li had secretly submitted to Later Han, he had Li arrested and accused him of treason, but Li denied the allegations. The Liao emperor pretended to be holding letters that he had intercepted between Li and the Later Han emperor, but Li, seeing through the trick, stated, "If this is real, please show me the evidence." The Liao emperor interrogated him six times, but was unable to get him to admit that he had submitted to Later Han. As Khitan law dictated that a person who had not admitted his crimes could not be put to death, Li was spared and released. During an illness, the Liao emperor then stated to Li, "When I advanced south, I was told by others that you said that I will surely be unable to return north. What magic do you have that you were able to tell this? Now I am very ill. If you can save me, you will be rich and powerful." Li responded, "I have no magic. It is merely other people who want to harm me who spread this lie."
As rebellions against Liao rule multiplied, Emperor Taizong resolved to leave Kaifeng and return north to Khitan lands. He died on the way, however, while near Heng Prefecture. The main Khitan army entered Hengzhou to consider their next step. The Han Chinese general Zhao Yanshouto whom Emperor Taizong had initially promised the Chinese throne before reneging on the offerwanted to declare himself regent, but the Khitan princes resolved to declare Emperor Taizong's nephew Yelü Ruan, the Prince of Yongkang, the new emperor (posthumously remembered as Emperor Shizong). Yelü Ruan subsequently imprisoned Zhao. Faced with a challenge to his succession from his grandmother, the Empress Dowager Shulü, who wanted to make his uncle the Crown Prince Yelü Lihu emperor instead,History of Liao, vol. 71.History of Liao, vol. 72. he took his army and advanced north to face her army, leaving the general Mada () in charge at Hengzhou. He left the vast majority of former Later Jin officials, whom Emperor Taizong had taken with him on his trek back north, at Hengzhou, a group including Li Gu.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 287.
By this point, Liu Zhiyuan had entered Kaifeng. Hearing that news, the Han soldiers in the Liao army at Hengzhou rose against the Khitans under the leadership of the officers Li Rong and Bai Zairong (). The Han and Khitan soldiers battled within the city walls and, initially, the battle was going badly against the Han Chinese soldiers. Li Gu, wanting to encourage the Han, asked the three senior Later Jin chancellors Feng Dao, Li Song, and He Ning to visit the battle to encourage the soldiers. When the soldiers saw the three senior chancellors, they were encouraged and fought harder, eventually expelling the Khitans from the city. Subsequently, the soldiers supported Bai to be the acting military governor of Chengde, so that he could submit to Later Han and seek aid. Meanwhile, Bai, who was greedy, wanted to kill Li Song and He Ning to seize their wealth. Li Gu rebuked him, pointing out that, if he did so, the new Later Han emperor would surely have him punished. Bai refrained. Li Gu then also dissuaded Bai from seizing the wealth of the people of Heng Prefecture to distribute to his soldiers.
Later Han Li Gu was subsequently recalled to the Later Han imperial government and promoted to Zuo Sanqi Changshi (), a high-level consultant at the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng). He was shortly after made the acting mayor of Kaifeng. And that time, there was much banditry in the region, particularly most serious at Zhongmou (中牟, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan). Li had known of a capable old administrator from Later Liang (which existed between Tang and Later Tang), Liu Deyu (), who had retired and taken up residence at Zhongmou. He made Liu the secretary general at the Zhongmou County government, and sent several thousand imperial guard soldiers to serve under Liu. They captured the bandits, finding out that their leaders included a county administrator and an administrator at the Office of the Imperial Censors (御史臺, Yushi Tai) — apparently explaining why the banditry went unabated earlier — and recovering much of the wealth the bandits had taken earlier. From that point on, the travelers could go through Zhongmou without trouble. Shortly after, Li was made the deputy minister of public works (工部侍郎, Gongbu Shilang).