Li Congke was an adoptive son of Li Siyuan and took the throne after overthrowing Emperor Mingzong's biological son Li Conghou.
36 Facts About Li Congke
1.
2.
Li Congke was later himself overthrown by his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang, who was supported by Liao troops.
3.
Li Congke was born in 885, during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang, in Pingshan.
4.
Li Congke's biological father was a man with the surname of Wang.
5.
Li Congke's mother was a Lady Wei; it seems likely, although not completely clearly stated in historical records, that Lady Wei was Wang's wife.
6.
Li Congke happened to encounter Lady Wei and Li Congke, and he captured them.
7.
Li Congke made Lady Wei either a co-wife or a concubine subordinated to Lady Cao.
8.
Li Congke took Li Congke as an adoptive son and named him Congke.
9.
Li Siyuan was one of Li Cunxu's major generals, and Li Congke served under him.
10.
Li Congke encountered the main Later Liang army, under the command of the general Li Congke Gui, at Huliu Slope, south of the Yellow River.
12.
Li Congke left his officers Lu Shunmi, Liu Suiyan, and Yan Yong at Tianping's capital Yun Prefecture to defend it.
13.
Li Congke advocated that Later Tang attack it by surprise.
14.
Li Siyuan's army managed to evade Later Liang detection, and when they reached Yun, Li Congke led the soldiers in scaling the walls.
15.
When Wang made an exploratory attack on Yun Li Congke led a small contingent of cavalry soldiers and repelled his attack, causing him to withdraw to Zhongdu.
17.
Li Congke punched An hard in the head, and An only avoided further injury by fleeing.
18.
Li Congke later regretted and apologized, but while An accepted the apology, he bore a grudge against Li Congke from that point on.
19.
Li Congke sent Li Siyuan to combat one of the major ones, at Yedu, but Li Siyuan's own soldiers mutinied and forced him to join forces with the Yedu mutineers.
20.
Li Congke took his soldiers and rendezvoused with Chengde's disciplinary officer Wang Jianli at Zhen, and they headed south together to reinforce Li Siyuan's troops.
21.
Apparently shortly after, Li Congke was made the full military governor of Huguo.
22.
Li Congke subsequently received the honorary titles of acting Taifu and then acting Taiwei.
23.
Yang found an opportunity when Li Congke went outside the city walls of Huguo's capital Hezhong Municipality to examine cavalry troops, and locked the city gates, refusing Li Congke reentry.
24.
An then induced the chancellors Zhao Feng and Feng Dao to suggest that, due to the loss of the control of the circuit, Li Congke should be punished.
25.
In 932, Li Congke was moved to be the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit.
26.
Li Congke therefore did so, issuing a declaration that targeted Zhu and Feng for improper administration, killing Li Congrong, and supporting Li Conghou.
27.
Li Congke, hoping to sway the imperial army's morale, went up city walls and tearfully stated to them:.
28.
Li Congke subsequently sent messengers to Wei Prefecture, where Li Conghou had fled, to have Li Conghou killed.
29.
One immediate issue for Li Congke to confront was the fact that the imperial treasury lacked the resources for him to give out rewards of what he promised both his initial own Fengxiang soldiers and the imperial soldiers who submitted to him.
30.
Li Congke therefore put a stop to the proposal and demoted Lu.
31.
In summer 936, at Xue's suggestion, Li Congke issued an edict moving Shi from Hedong to Tianping.
32.
Li Congke commissioned Zhang Jingda to lead the imperial troops against Shi, and Zhang quickly put Taiyuan under siege, but was unable to capture it quickly.
33.
Li Congke quickly engaged Zhang's Later Tang imperial army, defeating Zhang.
34.
Li Congke returned to Luoyang, and ascended a tower with his family, as well as some loyal officers.
35.
Li Congke set fire to it for them to commit suicide together.
36.
Li Congke's background was the basis of a 14th-century zaju by the Yuan Dynasty playwright Guan Hanqing titled "Madame Liu Hosts the Celebration Feast for the Five Marquesses".