The Crumbling Empire: Late Tang Dynasty’s Political Landscape

The late Tang Dynasty (618-907) witnessed the dramatic unraveling of central authority as regional military governors (jiedushi) increasingly dominated the political landscape. By the early 10th century, Emperor Zhaozong found himself a puppet in the hands of powerful warlords, his imperial authority reduced to ceremonial gestures. The capital Chang’an, once the glorious heart of a vast empire, lay in ruins after repeated rebellions and invasions, its magnificent palaces reduced to rubble.

This era of fragmentation saw two particularly ambitious warlords emerge as dominant figures: Zhu Quanzhong, the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit based in Bianzhou (modern Kaifeng), and Li Maozhen, the governor of Fengxiang Circuit. Their rivalry would culminate in the dramatic siege of Fengxiang city, a pivotal moment that would reshape the balance of power in collapsing Tang China.

The Hostage Emperor: Li Maozhen’s Bold Gambit

In a brazen power play characteristic of the period, Li Maozhen took Emperor Zhaozong under his “protection” in Fengxiang city during 901 CE. What began as temporary shelter during imperial travels became outright captivity, as Li Maozhen revealed his true intentions through increasingly audacious acts of disrespect.

At court banquets, Li Maozhen’s behavior crossed all boundaries of protocol. When the emperor mentioned fish caught from the palace ponds, Li Maozhen casually remarked they were specially bred for the emperor’s arrival – effectively admitting his hostage-taking was premeditated. Even more shockingly, he once tapped the emperor’s face with his wine cup when Zhaozong refused more drink, an unthinkable act of lese-majeste in Confucian political culture.

Li Maozhen consolidated control by installing his cronies in key positions. He forced the appointment of Wei Yifan as chancellor, a corrupt official who repaid his patron by showing similar contempt for imperial authority. During one drunken audience, Wei repeatedly forced wine on the reluctant emperor, holding his cup threateningly close to Zhaozong’s face when ignored. The emperor’s bitter remark to his attendants – “These people dare call themselves chancellors!” – encapsulated his powerless rage.

The Siege Begins: Zhu Quanzhong’s Military Campaign

Zhu Quanzhong, recognizing both the threat and opportunity presented by Li Maozhen’s hostage-taking, mobilized his formidable Bian army. His initial victories came swiftly – capturing the strategic Wugong region after a brilliant assault by general Kang Huaizhen, who defeated Li Maozhen’s nephew Li Jiyuan, taking 6,000 prisoners and 2,000 horses.

By mid-902, Zhu’s forces reached Fengxiang itself, establishing camps east of the city. The two warlords exchanged barbed words across the walls, with Li Maozhen claiming to protect the emperor from calamity while Zhu positioned himself as the true loyalist rescuing the sovereign from kidnappers.

Facing Fengxiang’s formidable defenses, Zhu adopted a strategy of isolating the city. He first conquered Binzhou, forcing Li Maozhen’s adoptive son Li Jihui (who reverted to his birth name Yang Chongben) to surrender four prefectures. Subsequent victories at Zhouzhi and other strongholds systematically eliminated Li Maozhen’s peripheral support.

The Desperate Defense: Fengxiang’s Agonizing Siege

As the siege dragged into winter 902-903, conditions inside Fengxiang became apocalyptic. Food supplies dwindled to nothing, forcing residents into unthinkable acts of survival. Contemporary accounts describe a horrific marketplace where human flesh sold for 100 coins per pound (compared to 500 for dog meat), and frozen corpses were routinely cannibalized. The imperial family fared little better – while Emperor Zhaozong occasionally received meat from Li Maozhen, other royals starved on thin gruel before being cut off completely.

Zhu’s psychological warfare compounded the misery. His troops harvested all grass outside the walls while conducting nightly fake attacks with drums and horns, denying defenders sleep. The strategic placement of “centipede trenches,” guard dogs, and alarm bells created an impenetrable blockade that slowly strangled the city.

The Turning Point: Military and Diplomatic Maneuvers

The siege’s critical moment came when Zhu’s officer Ma Jing brilliantly feigned defection, convincing Li Maozhen that the Bian army was retreating with only a sickly rearguard remaining. When Li Maozhen fell for the ruse and attacked, Zhu’s hidden forces annihilated his troops in a devastating ambush that permanently broke Fengxiang’s military capacity.

Simultaneously, Zhu neutralized potential allies. He repulsed relief attempts by Li Maozhen’s cousin Li Maoxun and exploited Wang Jian’s opportunistic attacks from Sichuan to keep Li Maozhen fighting on two fronts. Most crucially, Zhu defeated intervention by the powerful Shatuo warlord Li Keyong at Pu County, eliminating the last serious threat to his campaign.

The Final Reckoning: Scapegoats and Surrender

By early 903, with his position hopeless, Li Maozhen negotiated surrender by scapegoating the eunuch faction. In a brutal purge, he executed宦官韩全诲 and other court eunuchs, presenting their heads to Zhu as peace offerings. On the 22nd day of the first lunar month (February 28, 903), Emperor Zhaozong finally left Fengxiang under Zhu’s “protection,” marking Li Maozhen’s total defeat.

The aftermath saw Li Maozhen’s political influence permanently broken, though he retained control of Fengxiang by turning to Central Asian trade routes for economic survival. Zhu Quanzhong emerged as the dominant power, his path cleared to eventually overthrow the Tang and establish the Later Liang dynasty in 907.

Legacy of the Siege: The Tang’s Final Collapse

The Fengxiang campaign accelerated the Tang dynasty’s disintegration while demonstrating key military innovations in siege warfare and psychological operations. It marked the definitive shift from eunuch to warlord dominance at court and previewed the coming Five Dynasties period’s characteristic power struggles.

Most significantly, the siege revealed the complete erosion of Tang imperial authority. Emperor Zhaozong’s humiliations – from being force-fed alcohol to watching his children starve – symbolized how far the Son of Heaven had fallen. The educated elite’s despair permeates records like Han Wo’s poetry, lamenting the dynasty’s irreversible decline even as nature’s cycles continued unchanged.

For modern historians, the siege offers a microcosm of late Tang collapse – where personal ambition trumped loyalty, where survival justified any atrocity, and where the mighty Tang’s final act played out not in its glorious capital, but in a starving provincial city surrounded by trenches and the bones of the eaten dead.