Li Renhan


Li Renhan , courtesy name Demei, was a major general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Shu. He contributed greatly to the campaigns that allowed Later Shu's founding emperor Meng Zhixiang to control his realm. However, later in his career, he became arrogant and greedy, such that Meng Zhixiang's son and successor Meng Chang and other high-level officials came to see him as a threat to Meng Chang's governance, so they had him arrested and executed.

Background

It is not known when Li Renhan was born, but it is known that he was from Chenliu. His early career was not well-documented in history, but it is known that he was an officer in Later Tang's army that conquered Former Shu in 925. When, in 926, after the conquest, the Later Tang commander of that invasion army, Li Jiji the Prince of Wei was prepared to depart Chengdu and return to Later Tang's capital Luoyang, he left a detachment, commanded by several officers — Li Renhan, Pan Rensi, Zhao Tingyin, Zhang Ye, Wu Zhang, and Li Tinghou — at Chengdu, to await the arrival of the new Later Tang-commissioned military governor of Xichuan Circuit, Meng Zhixiang, to arrive.

Service under Meng Zhixiang

By 930, the relationships that Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang the military governor of neighboring Dongchuan Circuit with the imperial government, with Li Cunxu's adoptive brother Li Siyuan as emperor, had become very strained, and it appeared that war between the imperial government and these two circuits would erupt at any time. At that juncture, there was a time when Li Renhan and Zhang Ye invited Meng to a feast. This led to a rumor, which a Buddhist nun informed Meng, that the two of them were intending to assassinate Meng at the feast. Meng investigated, found no proof of the assassination plot, and eventually discovered that the rumors were being spread by the officers Du Yanchang and Wang Xingben. He put Du and Wang to death by cutting them in halves at the waist. He then proceeded to attend the feast at Li's house without any guards accompanying him. Li, in gratitude for this show of trust, knelt down to him and cried, stating, "This old soldier can only die to repay your grace." It was said that this incident led the generals to have greater attachment to Meng.
In fall 930, Meng and Dong formally rose against the imperial government. Meng sent Li to command the army against the imperially-held Wuxin Circuit, with Zhao Tingyin serving as his deputy and Zhang serving as his forward commander. Li shortly after put Wuxin's capital Sui Prefecture under siege, with the imperial general Xia Luqi the military governor of Wuxin defending. When Xia sent his officer Kang Wentong out of the city to battle Li, Kang, hearing that the previously-imperially held Baoning Circuit had already fallen to the joint Dongchuan/Xichuan army, surrendered to Li. In spring 931, Sui Prefecture fell to Li; Xia committed suicide.
Meng then commissioned Li as the acting military governor of Wuxin, and sent him with a fleet east to try to capture the Three Gorges region from defending imperial generals. Li quickly captured Zhong and Wan Prefectures, and then approached Kui Prefecture. The imperially-commissioned military governor of Ningjiang Circuit, An Chongruan abandoned Kui and fled back to secure imperial territory, allowing Li to take control of Ningjiang. He remained in the region for some time, and in winter 931, he returned to Chengdu.
By this point, the imperial government had effectively capitulated, as Li Siyuan had withdrawn the main imperial army against the two circuits, commanded by his son-in-law Shi Jingtang, and had executed his chief of staff An Chonghui, the main proponent for the campaign against the two circuits. Li Siyuan sought rapprochement with the two circuits, and Meng wanted reconciliation with the imperial government, but Dong did not, and instead attacked Xichuan. Meng's counterattack defeated Dong, and Dong's officers subsequently killed him and surrendered Dongchuan to Meng. Li subsequently rendezvoused with Zhao at Dongchuan's capital Zi Prefecture, and Zhao personally went to welcome Li's arrival. Instead of acknowledging Zhao's accomplishments in defeating Dong, however, Li insulted Zhao, causing Zhao to become resentful of him. When Meng himself subsequently arrived at Zi as well, he summoned Li and Zhao, asking them which of the two of them would be suitable to be the military governor of Dongchuan, believing that one of them would support the other, he was surprised that Li only made the comment of, "Even if you, Lord, want to give me Shu Prefecture again, I will accept it" and that Zhao was completely silent. Subsequently, with the two of them at a standoff, Meng decided to assume the military governorship of Dongchuan himself to avoid having Li and Zhao continue to struggle over it. He subsequently commissioned Li as the full military governor of Wuxin, and Zhao the military governor of Baoning.
In 934, Meng claimed imperial title as emperor of a new state of Later Shu. He made Li Renhan one of the generals commanding his imperial guards, but continued to let Li also serve as the military governor of Wuxin. It was said that many senior Later Shu generals at that time were arrogant and pillaging the people, often abusing the law to seize people's good fields and even destroying tombs, with Li and Zhang Ye being among the worst offenders. Li had used these tactics to become very wealthy. He had also wanted to marry a concubine of a Former Shu emperor who was very beautiful, but was concerned that Meng would rebuke him for doing so, and therefore did not do so.

Death

Meng Zhixiang died later in 934, leaving a will for his son Meng Renzan to succeed to the throne, and entrusting Meng Chang to the chancellor Zhao Jiliang, Li Renhan, Zhao Tingyin, the chief of staff Wang Chuhui, and the imperial guard generals Zhang Gongduo and Hou Hongshi.
Immediately after Meng Chang's assumption of the throne, Li Renhan insisted on being put in command of the imperial guards. Meng Chang initially reluctantly agreed and put him in command, making Zhao Tingyin his deputy. Meng Chang also gave him the honorary chancellor designation Zhongshu Ling. However, Zhang Gongduo and several of Meng Chang's close associates thereafter accused Li Renhan of plotting treason. After consulting with Zhao Jiliang and Zhao Tingyin, Meng decided to arrest him while he was attending an imperial meeting, and then put him to death, along with his son Li Jihong and several associates.