As military governor
Under Jin
Shortly after,Li Cunxu put Chengde's capital Zhenzhou (鎮州) under siege. Wang Yu persuaded Liao's Emperor Taizu to aid the Chengde rebels,and Emperor Taizu agreed. In winter 921,he marched through Lulong,and then attacked Yiwu's capital Dingzhou. Wang Du sought emergency aid from Li. Li headed for Dingzhou to aid Wang Du. [4]
Meanwhile,in the spring of 923,while under attack,Wang Du went to visit Wang Chuzhi at his western mansion,apparently trying to maintain a resemblance of a father-son relationship. Wang Chuzhi,however,swung his fists at Wang Du's chest,cursing,"Rebellious bandit! When did I ever mistreat you?" As he was unarmed,he also tried to bite at Wang Du's nose. Wang Du barely escaped from Wang Chuzhi's grasp. Shortly after,Wang Chuzhi either died in anger [3] [4] or was killed by Wang Du [7] on February 6th. He received a fairly elaborate tomb,rediscovered in 1980 and prized for its depiction of the elite music of the era.
As Li's relief force approached Dingzhou,Emperor Taizu advanced to Xinle (新樂,in modern Shijiazhuang) to confront him. At a battle there,however,he was defeated by Li and forced to withdraw,lifting the siege on Dingzhou in the process. Wang Du went out of the city to personally welcome Li,and held a feast for him. [4] He also asked to give his teenage daughter in marriage to Li's son Li Jiji,which Li Cunxu agreed to. After this meeting,it was said that Li treated him well,and whatever requests he made were approved. [3]
Under Emperor Zhuangzong
In 923,Li Cunxu declared himself the emperor of a new Later Tang (as Emperor Zhuangzong),claiming to be the legitimate successor to Tang. He soon destroyed Later Liang and took over its territory. [8] Wang Du continued to serve Emperor Zhuangzong. During Emperor Zhuangzong's reign,Wang continued to act as a semi-independent warlord,commissioning the prefects for the two subordinate prefectures—Qi (祁州) and Yi,both in modern Baoding—by himself,not submitting census counts to the imperial government,and keeping the tax revenues for his own army without submitting them to the imperial government. In 925,when Emperor Zhuangzong visited Yedu (鄴都,in modern Handan,Hebei),Wang went to Yedu to pay homage to him,and Emperor Zhuangzong held grand feasts in his honor. [3] (It was for the purpose of opening a polo field for Emperor Zhuangzong to welcome Wang at that Emperor Zhuangzong destroyed an altar that he had initially received the imperial title in 923—an act that the deputy defender of Yedu,Zhang Xian (張憲),considered a sign of misfortune since it showed a lack of gratitude for the Mandate of Heaven.) [9]
Under Emperor Mingzong
In 926,Emperor Zhuangzong was killed in a mutiny at his capital Luoyang. Soon,his adoptive brother,the general Li Siyuan,who had led a separate mutiny,arrived at Luoyang and claimed the imperial title (posthumously commemorated as Emperor Mingzong). [10] Emperor Mingzong bestowed the honorary chancellor title of Zhongshu Ling (中書令) on Wang Du, [3] but was said to despise Wang because of what Wang had done to his father. Another source of the friction between the imperial government and Yiwu developed over the fact that Emperor Mingzong's chief of staff An Chonghui wanted to show imperial strength and was not as willing to allow Yiwu to retain its revenues. Further,due to the incessant Khitan attacks,the Later Tang imperial government was often sending armies to the region of Lulong and Yiwu,and Wang feared that they actually intended to attack him. Both sides became suspicious of each other. [1] [3]
Wang became apprehensive that Emperor Mingzong might try to move him from Yiwu to another region and therefore consulted He Zhaoxun; [1] He Zhaoxun suggested finding ways to alienate other military governors so that he could protect himself. [3] Wang therefore tried a number of ways to ally with other military governors—including trying to enter a marriage alliance with Zhao Dejun the military governor of Lulong;asking to become blood brothers with Wang Jianli the military governor of Chengde,who had an enmity with An;sending secret letters encased in wax to the military governors of Pinglu (平盧,headquartered in modern Weifang,Shandong) (Huo Yanwei),Zhongwu (忠武,headquartered in modern Xuchang,Henan) (Fang Zhiwen (房知溫)),Zhaoyi (昭義,headquartered in modern Changzhi,Shanxi) (Mao Zhang (毛璋)),Xichuan (西川,headquartered in modern Chengdu,Sichuan) (Meng Zhixiang),and Dongchuan (東川,headquartered in modern Mianyang,Sichuan) (Dong Zhang),trying to alienate them from the imperial government;and trying to entice the general Wang Yanqiu the military governor of Guide Circuit (歸德,headquartered in modern Shangqiu,Henan),who was then commanding the imperial defense against Khitan incursions. When Wang Yanqiu refused his overtures,he tried to bribe Wang Yanqiu's subordinates into assassinating Wang Yanqiu. The attempt failed,and Wang Yanqiu reported this to Emperor Mingzong,accusing Wang Du of rebellion. [1]
In summer 928,Emperor Mingzong ordered a general campaign against Wang Du,putting Wang Yanqiu in overall command of the operations,assisted by An Shentong (安審通) and Zhang Qianzhao (張虔昭). Wang Yanqiu quickly advanced to Dingzhou and put it under siege,but the Khitan general,the Xi chieftain Tunei (禿餒) quickly arrived to aid Wang Du. They attacked Wang Yanqiu,but Wang Yanqiu repelled their attack,forcing them to withdraw within the Dingzhou city walls. Wang Yanqiu then captured Dingzhou's western city.[ clarification needed ] However,the main city's walls were secure and difficult to attack,so Wang Yanqiu relaxed his attack,while building a temporary Yiwu headquarters (as Emperor Mingzong put him temporarily in charge of Yiwu),collecting the taxes from the three prefectures of Ding,Qi,and Yi to supply his troops. [1]
Shortly after,another Khitan army arrived,and Wang Yanqiu and Zhang Yanlang withdrew some distance away from Dingzhou. Wang Du and Tunei took the opportunity to chase them to Quyang (曲陽,in modern Baoding),but fell into a trap laid by Wang Yanqiu and were defeated with heavy casualties,forcing them to flee back to Dingzhou. Wang Yanqiu also defeated another subsequent wave of Khitan reinforcements,and then put Dingzhou under siege again. With Khitan forces discouraged by their defeat at Wang Yanqiu's hands,Dingzhou's situation became difficult. As a desperate measure,Wang welcomed one Li Jitao (李繼陶)—a commoner boy that Emperor Zhuangzong had taken on one of his campaigns and adopted as his own son,but whom Emperor Mingzong had sent out of the palace when he took the throne—to Dingzhou,and had him put on the emperor's yellow robe and sit on the city wall,stating to Wang Yanqiu,"This is the son of Emperor Zhuangzong,who is now to be emperor. You,Lord,had received the graces from the deceased emperor. How can you not think of him?" Wang Yanqiu,however,pointed out that this was a useless trick,and did not relent on his attack. [1]
However,Wang Du was,for months,effective at holding Dingzhou's defenses. He also kept close watch on his officers,and any officer who were about to defect to the imperial forces would be killed. Emperor Mingzong sent messengers to push Wang Yanqiu into attacking more directly,but Wang Yanqiu showed the secureness of the defenses to the imperial messengers,and insisted that it was better to keep the city under siege and then wait for it to collapse on its own. Emperor Mingzong agreed. In spring 929,Wang Du and Tunei tried to fight their way out of the siege,but could not. Shortly after,Wang Du's officer Ma Rangneng (馬讓能) opened up the city gates to let the imperial forces in. Wang Du and his family committed suicide by fire. [1] Wang Du had maintained an extensive collection of books,which he collected by sending messengers to buy up rare books at the time that Zhang Wenli's son Zhang Chujin was defeated at Chengde,and when Later Liang was conquered. In his suicide,the book collection was also destroyed. Four of his sons and one of his brothers (presumably from the Liu line) were captured (along with Tunei) and presented to Emperor Mingzong. [3]