In 913, by which time Emperor Taizu had been assassinated by and succeeded by his son
Zhu Yougui the Prince of Ying, Wang Yanzhang was made the prefect of Pu Prefecture (濮州, in modern
Puyang,
Henan), but remained in the main Later Liang imperial army as the commander of the forces from Pu Prefecture. The Jin forces initially treated them well and took them to the Jin capital
Taiyuan, and sent a secret messenger to Wang, trying to persuade him to turn to the Jin cause. Wang killed the secret messenger and refused to respond; as a result, several years later, Jin had his wife and children executed. In 919, Wang was made the acting military governor of Kuangguo Circuit (匡國, headquartered in modern
Xuchang,
Henan), but continued to serve as a general in the imperial army. In 920, he was made full military governor and created a marquess. Soon after, he was made the deputy commander of the armies in the north (i.e., the armies defending against Jin) under
Dai Siyuan. In spring 921, he was transferred from Kuangguo to Xuanyi Circuit (宣義, headquartered in modern Anyang).
Events of 923 In spring 923, Li Cunxu, then at Wei Prefecture, declared himself emperor of a new
Later Tang (as Emperor Zhuangzong), effectively claiming to be the legitimate successor to Tang. Shortly after, he had his general
Li Siyuan launch a surprise attack across the
Yellow River on Later Liang's Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern
Tai'an,
Shandong), capturing it. The fall of Tianping's capital Yun Prefecture () left few defenses between it and Daliang, causing great panic at Daliang. Zhu Zhen relieved Dai Siyuan of his command for failing to anticipate the attack, and, at the urging of the senior
chancellor Jing Xiang, named Wang Yanzhang to replace Dai, with
Duan Ning serving as his deputy. After being commissioned, Wang immediately attacked the Later Tang-held city of Desheng (德勝, in modern Puyang)—which was divided into two parts by the Yellow River. He destroyed the bridge between the two parts so that the Later Tang forces to the north could not reinforce the southern city, and then captured the southern city and killed thousands of Later Tang soldiers, dealing a big blow to the Later Tang morale. He then prepared to attack Yangliu (楊劉, in modern Liaocheng), the ford on the Yellow River that was allowing the Later Tang forces to the north of the River to maintain communication and supply lines open to Yun Prefecture, in order to trap Li Siyuan at Yun. Both armies tore down the Desheng buildings to use as rafts, and as they headed down the river, they battled intensely on the river. When he arrived at Yangliu, he laid siege to it, nearly capturing it several times, but the city's defenses eventually held under the defense by the Later Tang general Li Zhou (). When Later Tang soon built a second fort at Majiakou (馬家口, also in modern Liaocheng) to allow a second passageway to Yun, Wang attacked it but could not defeat the Later Tang emperor, who was defending the fort himself, Wang was forced to withdraw. It was said that throughout these battles, however, Wang was being undermined inside the Later Liang army itself. He had long resented what he saw as the corrupting influence that Zhu Zhen's brother-in-law
Zhao Yan and four brothers/cousins of Zhu Zhen's deceased wife
Consort Zhang (including Zhang Hanjie, who was her brother), and had told people, "After I victoriously return, I will kill all the wicked men on the behalf of the people of the empire." His hatred of them eventually was discovered by Zhao and the Zhangs. Further, Duan was jealous of Wang and wanted to be the commander himself, and therefore formed an alliance with Zhao and the Zhangs, and it was said that Wang's military campaign was much hampered by this group of internal enemies. After his forced withdrawal from Majiakou, Zhu Zhen believed the false accusations against Wang and relieved him of his command of the main Later Liang army, instead ordering him to rendezvous with
Dong Zhang to attack Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern
Jincheng,
Shanxi). Zhu Zhen replaced him with Duan, despite the oppositions of senior officials Jing,
Li Zhen, and
Zhang Zongshi. Soon thereafter, Wang was recalled back from the Ze front and instead ordered to attack Yun Prefecture to recapture it, with Zhang Hanjie serving as the monitor of his army, as part of a four-prong counterattack against Later Tang that Duan was envisioning—having Dong attack northwest toward Taiyuan, having Huo attack north toward Zhending (真定, in modern
Baoding,
Hebei), having Wang attack northeast toward Yun, and having Duan himself attack the Later Tang emperor directly near Desheng. This four-prong plan was revealed to the Later Tang emperor, however, when the Later Liang officer
Kang Yanxiao defected to Later Tang. Kang also revealed that the main strength was with Duan, who had by that point crossed the Yellow River and headed toward what he believed to be the Later Tang main army. The Later Tang emperor decided to risk opening up his rear by heading immediately to Yun to rendezvous with Li Siyuan, bypassing the Later Liang main army, and attack Daliang directly. Just as the Later Liang army was about to put the four-prong plan into effect, the Later Tang emperor arrived at Yun Prefecture and advanced toward Daliang, with Li Siyuan as his forward commander. They encountered and surprised Wang, who was forced to retreat to the poorly-fortified city of Zhongdu (中都, in modern
Jining,
Shandong). The Later Tang forces quickly breached its defenses, and Wang tried to flee, but as he did, the Later Tang general Xia Luqi (), who had served in the Later Liang army before with Wang, recognized him and speared him. Wang was seriously injured and captured, along with Zhang and most of his army. The Later Tang emperor, impressed with Wang, initially wanted to spare his life and get him to submit. Wang repeatedly refused, however, stating that he was a faithful Later Liang subject who would never serve Later Tang. When the Later Tang emperor sent Li Siyuan to also try to persuade him, he insulted Li Siyuan by referring to Li Siyuan by nickname. When the Later Tang forces, after a short rest, was getting ready to march on Daliang, Wang still tried to prevent its advance by falsely stating to the Later Tang emperor that Duan's army (which in reality was trapped north of the Yellow River and would not be able to come to Daliang's aid) was on its way, the Later Tang emperor executed him. Shortly after, the Later Tang forces captured Daliang; Zhu Zhen committed suicide, and Later Liang was at its end. == Notes and references ==