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 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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. At that time, the collective leadership at the Later Han imperial government (put in place by Liu Zhiyuan as Liu Chengyou was still young and unable to oversee governance himself) was considered chaotic, and Guo was respected by the people. He secretly talked with Li Gu about that, but Li Gu did not encourage him to have further ambitions, but rather only encouraged him to be faithful. This disappointed Guo but drew Guo's respect for him. After Guo successfully defeated the rebels, Li Gu was made the prefect of Chen Prefecture (陳州, in modern
Zhoukou,
Henan). In spring 951, Empress Dowager Li declared him emperor, and he took the throne as the new emperor of a new
Later Zhou. He also rebuilt his grandfather's and father's mansion at
Luoyang (which was destroyed in the late-Tang
Huang Chao Rebellion) and built houses around the mansion to allow his clansmen who were not serving in government to live and farm on the property. In winter 955, Guo Rong launched a major attack on Later Zhou's southeastern neighbor
Southern Tang (the successor state to Wu). He put Li in command of the army and made him acting governor of the Southern Tang prefectures that Later Zhou was seeking to capture, including Shou (壽州, in modern Lu'an) and Lu (廬州, in modern
Hefei,
Anhui) Prefectures, with the general Wang Yanchao () serving as his deputy and 12 generals serving under them. Li and Wang crossed the Huai at Zhengyang by means of a temporary floating bridge, and put Shou Prefecture under siege. However, even though the Later Zhou army scored several victories against Southern Tang forces, Li was unable to capture Shou quickly. In spring 956, fearful that the Southern Tang general Liu Yanzhen () would destroy the bridge and leave the Later Zhou army with no means to retreat, he decided to withdraw back north of the Huai and await Guo, who had decided to lead an army himself to join the attack by that point, as well as the major general
Li Chongjin (Guo's cousin). Li's withdrawal drew disapproval from Guo, but turned out to work well for Later Zhou — as Liu believed it to be a sign of weakness and decided to prepare to attack the Later Zhou army, despite the dissuasions by Southern Tang's defender of Shou, Liu Renzhan (). When Li Chongjin subsequently arrived and engaged Liu Yanzhen, Liu Yanzhen's army was crushed — Liu Yanzhen himself was killed, and several of his subordinate generals were captured. Guo subsequently had Li Chongjin replace Li Gu as the overall commander of the operations, while making Li Gu the acting governor of Shou, apparently having Li Gu overseeing the subsequent reinitiating of the
siege against Shou. Guo rewarded Li greatly for his contributions. Upon Guo's return to Kaifeng, Li again requested to retire, which Guo initially again declined but finally accepted in the fall, allowing him to keep only the position of
Sikong while removing him from the chancellor post. The new emperor gave Li Gu the additional honorific title
Kaifu Yitong Sansi () and created him the Duke of Zhao. Li subsequently requested retirement to Luoyang, and that request was granted. Li Rong, whose name had been changed to Li Yun (to observe
naming taboo for Guo Rong) was then the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern
Changzhi,
Shanxi), and he, believing that Li Gu was a great chancellor, sent gifts of money and other materials to him, which Li Gu accepted.
Song In 960, the general
Zhao Kuangyin (
posthumously remembered as Emperor Taizu) seized the throne in a coup, ending Later Zhou and starting a new
Song dynasty. He sent a messenger to provide Li Gu with additional rewards. Shortly after the declaration of the Song dynasty, Li Yun rose against the new Song emperor in Zhaoyi. Worried that he would be considered part of this rebellion, Li Gu became distressed and fell seriously ill. He died shortly after Li Yun killed himself after defeat. The Song emperor gave him posthumous honors. == References ==