During Tang Dynasty As of 902, Emperor Zhaozong was at Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern
Baoji,
Shaanxi), having been forcibly taken there by the powerful
eunuchs, led by
Han Quanhui, as the eunuchs feared a general slaughter by Emperor Zhaozong and the chancellor
Cui Yin. (Fengxiang was then under the rule of the eunuch's ally
Li Maozhen.) Cui summoned his ally, the major warlord
Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern
Kaifeng,
Henan) to put Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality under siege. In 902, Emperor Zhaozong, perhaps at the eunuchs' behest, gave Zhang Bo the imperial clan surname of
Li and the new name of Yan, sending Li Yan as his personal representative to Huainan Circuit to commission its military governor
Yang Xingmi as the supreme commander of the southeastern circuits, honorary chancellor title of
Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and the Prince of Wu and ordering him to organize a major attack on Zhu's territory. The bestowment also granted Yang permission to exercise imperial powers in the emperor's absence. Part of Li Yan's mission was also to bestow various honors on Yang's subordinates
Zhu Jin and
Zhu Yanshou, as well as on the independent warlords
Feng Hongduo (then ruling the Shangyuan (上元, in modern
Nanjing,
Jiangsu) region) and
Ma Yin (then the military governor of Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern
Changsha,
Hunan), apparently hoping that Feng and Ma would join Yang's attack on Zhu. (Feng and Ma, however, did not, although Feng would soon be defeated, and his territory absorbed into that of, Yang's subordinate
Tian Jun the military governor of Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern
Xuancheng,
Anhui).) Yang did launch an attack on Zhu later in 902, but, running into food supply issues, withdrew shortly after. It was said that, after Li Yan bestowed on him the imperial authorities, Yang, while establishing an office to issue edicts on the emperor's behalf, would nevertheless inform Li Yan and present the proposed edicts to a statute of Emperor Zhaozong's ancestor
Emperor Xuanzong before issuing them. In 903, Zhu, who at that point had prevailed over Li Maozhen, forced Li Maozhen to surrender the emperor to him to sue for peace, and slaughtered the eunuchs, was planning on seizing the imperial throne eventually. He feared that Li Yan's father Zhang Jun, who had by that point retired to his estate in Changshui (長水, in modern
Luoyang,
Henan), would incite the regional governors to rise against him, and therefore had the entire family killed. Only Li Yan's older brother
Zhang Ge escaped to Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern
Chengdu,
Sichuan). In 905, Yang Xingmi died. His subordinates met with Li Yan and requested Li Yan to bestow on his son and designated successor
Yang Wo the titles of military governor of Huainan, supreme commander of the southeastern circuits, honorary chancellor title of
Shizhong (侍中), and Prince of Hongnong — a lesser title to Yang Xingmi's Prince of Wu title. Li Yan did so.
During Hongnong/Yang Wu In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Emperor Zhaozong's son and successor
Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new
Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. Several regional governors, including Yang Wo, Li Maozhen,
Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern
Taiyuan,
Shanxi), and
Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan, refused to recognize the Later Liang emperor. Wang Jian founded his own state of
Former Shu, while Yang, Li Maozhen, and Li Keyong theoretically remained vassals of the defunct Tang state, but were in effect sovereigns of their own separate states (Hongnong,
Qi, and
Jin respectively). In 908, Yang Wo was assassinated by his guard commanders
Zhang Hao and
Xu Wen, who declared his younger brother
Yang Longyan the new Prince of Hongnong. Xu soon killed Zhang and took over as regent of the Hongnong state. Under the requests of the Hongnong officials, Li Yan, still serving as Emperor Zhaozong's representative, bestowed on Yang Longyan the titles of military governor of Huainan, the supreme commander of the eastern circuits, honorary chancellor title of
Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), and Prince of Hongnong. Still, apparently believing that this was insufficiently formal, in 912, Xu, along with the senior Wu generals Liu Wei (劉威) and Tao Ya (陶雅), went to see Li Yan and requested that he, as Emperor Zhaozong's representative, bestow the Prince of Wu title on Yang Longyan and also give him the title of
Taishi (太師, one of the
Three Excellencies). Li Yan did so. By 918, Xu had left the Wu capital Guangling (廣陵, in modern
Yangzhou) and was taking up defensive position at Sheng Prefecture (昇州, i.e., Shangyuan), leaving his son
Xu Zhixun as the junior regent at Guangling, overseeing the policy decisions of the Wu government. Xu Zhixun, however, was arrogant and violent, alienating the other Wu officials and generals, including Zhu Jin, who, as titularly the deputy supreme commander of the circuits, carried a higher position than Xu Zhixun, formally. Xu Zhixun tried to send Zhu out of the capital by making him the military governor of a new Jinghuai Circuit (靜淮, headquartered at modern
Huai'an,
Jiangsu). Zhu, angered, assassinated him but then committed suicide after being cornered by Xu Wen's subordinate Zhai Qian (翟虔). By that point, Li Yan had been residing at Hailing (海陵, in modern
Taizhou, Jiangsu) and was said to be in poverty. As he was friendly with Zhu, Xu Wen believed that he was complicit in Zhu's assassination of Xu Zhixun, and so had Li executed, along with the general Mi Zhicheng (米志誠), whom he also suspected of collaborating with Zhu. It was said that the people, knowing that Li was not involved, lamented his death. == Notes and references ==