Liu Xu
Liu Xu , courtesy name Yaoyuan, formally the Duke of Qiao, was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Later Tang and Later Jin, serving as a chancellor during both of those short-lived dynasties. He was the lead editor of the Old Book of Tang, one of the official histories of the preceding Tang Dynasty, completed during Later Jin, although most of the work was probably completed during the term of his predecessor Zhao Ying.
Background
Liu Xu was born in 887, during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang. His family was from Zhuo Prefecture. His grandfather Liu Cheng and father Liu Yin both served as officers at You Prefecture.It was said that in his youth, Liu Xu was known for his handsome appearance and his literary abilities, and both his older brother Liu Xuan and younger brother Liu Hao were known in their home territory. Sometime during the Tianyou era, there was a time when forces of the Khitan captured Zhuo, and Liu Xu was captured and taken to Xin Prefecture, but he escaped his Khitan captors. He later took up residence at Mount Daning, living with Lü Mengqi and Zhang Lin, spending the time reciting and writing poems.
At one point, Wang Chuzhi, then ruling Yiwu Circuit as its military governor, commissioned his adoptive son Wang Du as the prefect of Yi Prefecture. Wang Du invited Liu to serve on his staff as his secretary in military matters. Later, after Wang Du completed his term as the prefect of Yi — probably at the time that Wang Chuzhi commissioned Wang Du as the deputy military governor of Yiwu — Liu requested to leave governmental service. Instead, Wang Du invited him to go to Yiwu's capital Zhongshan with Wang Du. At that time, Liu Xu's older brother Liu Xuan also arrived from Zhuo, and Wang Du recommended both of them to his father Wang Chuzhi. Wang Chuzhi commissioned Liu Xu as his secretary in headquarter matters, and shortly after promoted to him to be the secretary in Wang Chuzhi's role as governor.
About two years later, in 921, Wang Du seized control of the circuit from his father Wang Chuzhi in a coup. As one of Wang Du's close associates, He Shaowei, had previous disputes with Liu Xuan, he made false accusations against Liu Xuan, and Wang Du killed Liu Xuan. Liu Xu fled the circuit, and took up residence at Cang Prefecture, in Jin territory. The military governor of Henghai Circuit, Li Cunshen, invited him to serve as secretary.
During Later Tang
During Li Cunxu's reign
After Li Cunshen's lord and adoptive brother Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin claimed the title of emperor in 923, he made Liu Xu a Taichang Boshi, a scholar at the ministry of worship, and shortly after an imperial scholar. He was also made Shanbu Yuanwailang, a low-level official at the ministry of rites, and later promoted to be Bibu Langzhong, a supervisory official at the ministry of justice. He later left governmental service for some time when his mother died, to observe a period of mourning. After the period was complete, he was made Kubu Langzhong, a supervisory official at the ministry of defense, and also resumed his role as imperial scholar.During Li Siyuan's reign
Li Cunxu was killed in a mutiny in 926, and his adoptive brother Li Siyuan became emperor. After Li Siyuan became emperor, Liu Xu was made a Zhongshu Sheren, a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government ; he later also assumed the posts of deputy minister of census and scholar at Duanming Hall. It was said that Li Siyuan respected him for his gracefulness and favored him for his mild disposition.In 933, Liu was given the titles of Zhongshu Shilang and Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, making him a chancellor; he was also made the minister of justice.
After Li Siyuan's reign
Li Siyuan died in 933, and was initially succeeded by his son Li Conghou the Prince of Song. However, in 934, Li Conghou's chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, not wanting his older adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu and his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang to become too entrenched at their circuits, transferred them both, causing Li Congke to rebel in fear at his military command at Fengxiang Circuit, believing that they were targeting him for elimination. Li Congke quickly defeated the imperial forces sent against him, and thereafter headed for the imperial capital Luoyang. As he approached Luoyang, Li Conghou fled Luoyang in panic, while Zhu committed suicide and Feng was killed by the imperial guard general An Congjin. An thereafter requested that the three chancellors — Liu Xu and his colleagues Feng Dao and Li Yu — lead the civilian officials in welcoming Li Congke. The three chancellors conferred with each other and initially were unsure what to do, but with An rushing them, agreed to welcome Li Congke, who subsequently entered Luoyang and claimed the throne.After Li Congke took the throne, he put Liu in charge of the three financial agencies, after the official Wang Mei, whom he initially put in charge of the three agencies, was found to inflate the amount of treasury reserves. He was also given the additional titles of minister of civil service affairs and Menxia Shilang. Shortly after, Feng Dao, one of whose children had married one of Liu's children, was sent out of the capital to serve as the military governor of Kuangguo Circuit, leaving Liu and Li Yu serving as chancellors. Without Feng to moderate them, they quickly developed frequent arguments, as Liu was said to be critical and paying attention to details, while Li Yu was said to be strong-willed, particularly because when they discussed what changes might be necessary, Li Yu would satirize Liu and Feng's children's marital relationship by stating, "This was the doing of your wise marital relations. Is it not right to change it?" With them in frequent disputes, not much was being done at the office of the chancellors, causing much aggravation for Li Congke. Li Congke thus made Lu Wenji an additional chancellor.
Meanwhile, after Liu took over the three financial agencies from Wang, he had his secretary Gao Yanshang carefully go through the records to see how much money the treasury actually still had. He discovered that much of the purported treasury reserves were in fact uncollectible debts that the administrators kept on the books to use as excuses to harshly collect from the people. Liu reported this to Li Congke and advocated a two-pronged approach — that the government make all efforts to collect the collectible debts but forgive the uncollectible ones. Li Congke's chief of staff Han Zhaoyin concurred in this, and Li Congke issued an edict forgiving much of the debts that were accumulated from before Li Siyuan's Changxing era. The poor were very thankful, but the administrators at the three agencies resented Liu for this reform. When, shortly after, Liu and Li Yu were removed from their chancellor posts, with Liu being made You Pushe and no longer in charge of the three agencies, the administrators were all celebrating, and none of them accompanied Liu on his journey back to his mansion, as was customary.
During Later Jin
During Shi Jingtang's reign
In 936, Shi Jingtang rebelled against Li Congke at Hedong Circuit and, with support from Khitan Empire's Emperor Taizong, overthrew Li Congke, ending Later Tang and starting his own Later Jin. However, for quite some time, his realm was not pacified, and in 937, when the major general Fan Yanguang rose against Shi at Tianxion Circuit, the general Zhang Congbin rose at Luoyang in support of Fan and killed Shi's sons Shi Chongxin the military governor of Heyang Circuit and Shi Chong'ai the acting defender of Luoyang, whom Shi Jingtang left in charge of the region. After Zhang's rebellion was suppressed shortly after, Shi Jingtang made Liu Xu the defender of Luoyang and the acting mayor of Henan Municipality, and soon thereafter put him back in charge of the directorate of salt and iron monopolies.In 938, when Shi was offering grand honorable titles to Emperor Taizong and Emperor Taizong's mother Empress Dowager Shulü, he sent Feng Dao and Liu to Khitan to do so, with Feng in charge of offering the honors to Empress Dowager Shulü and Liu in charge of offering the honors to Emperor Taizong. Upon their return, Liu was given the titles of Taizi Taibao and Zuo Pushe, and created the Duke of Qiao.