Wang Zai

 ( Tang Dynasty Jiedushi Of Binning Circuit ) 

After He Hongjing launched his troops, with the objective of pressuring He Hongjing having been accomplished, Emperor Wuzong, at the advice of the lead chancellor Li Deyu, diverted Wang Zai to Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan) instead, as Heyang troops had recently been dealt a serious defeat by Zhaoyi forces under the command of the officer Xue Maoqing (薛茂卿), and its defense had been further hampered by the illness that its military governor Wang Maoyuan (王茂元) was suffering. When Wang Maoyuan subsequently died, Emperor Wuzong had Wang Zai take over the command of the Heyang troops, then at Wanshan (萬善, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), as well, although he gave the command of the circuit itself to Jing Xin (敬昕), rather than giving Wang Zai the command of Heyang as well.

Once Wang Zai arrived at the front, it was said that because Wang's troops had strict discipline, the Zhaoyi soldiers became apprehensive of him. Meanwhile, Xue had become resentful toward Liu Zhen, as Liu had not rewarded Xue for his great victory over Heyang troops—believing that it was Xue's victory that aggravated the imperial government into refusing peace. Xue therefore initiated secret contacts with Wang. When Wang subsequently attacked Tianjing Pass (天井關, in modern Jincheng, Shanxi), which Xue had previously captured, Xue made only minimal efforts to resist him before withdrawing and allowing Wang to recover Tianjing Pass. Xue withdrew to Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern Jincheng) and secretly urged Wang to attack Ze Prefecture quickly, promising to surrender Ze Prefecture to him when he arrived. Wang, however, doubted Xue's sincerity and did not do so. Xue's plans were subsequently leaked, and Liu summoned him back to Zhaoyi's capital Lu Prefecture (潞州) and killed him and his family. The Zhaoyi forces on the Ze Prefecture front were taken over by another Zhaoyi officer, Liu Gongzhi (劉公直), who subsequently recaptured Tianjing Pass from Wang. Wang was subsequently able to in turn deal Liu Gongzhi a loss and capture Lingchuan (陵川, in modern Jincheng), but his and Liu Gongzhi's forces subsequently stalemated.

On Chinese New Year's Day 844, soldiers at Taiyuan Municipality, the capital of the imperially-controlled Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), mutinied against the military governor Li Shi, under the leadership of the officer Yang Bian (楊弁). Li Shi was forced to flee. Yang subsequently entered into an alliance with Liu Zhen. In light of this, Wang advocated accepting Liu Zhen's offer to submit, and sent messengers to Lu Prefecture to see what Liu Zhen's intentions were. Li Deyu, however, advocated against peace, and argued that neither Yang nor Liu Zhen should be allowed to remain. When other Hedong soldiers, who were previously attacking Zhaoyi, subsequently recaptured Taiyuan and put down Yang's mutiny, Li Deyu pointed out to Emperor Wuzong two reasons why he believed that Wang wanted peace—because Shi Xiong, who commanded an army against Zhaoyi that was then closer to Lu Prefecture than Wang, had been previously falsely accused by Wang Zhixing, and therefore an enmity existed between Shi and Wang; and because Wang Yanshi, who had been the prefect of Ci Prefecture, was then detained by Liu Zhen. Emperor Wuzong thereafter issued an edict urging Wang Zai to continue his offensive, pointing out that he knew Wang Yanshi's importance to him, but the welfare of the state had to come first.

In order to pressure Wang Zai, Emperor Wuzong subsequently, at Li Deyu's suggestion, transferred Liu Mian (劉沔) the military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan) to Heyang, and had him take his troops to Wanshan, close to Wang's camp. Wang, thereafter, attacked Ze Prefecture in summer 844, but did not capture it immediately. Subsequently, in fall 844, the three Zhaoyi prefectures east of the Taihang Mountains, angry at the taxes that officers Liu Zhen sent were imposing on them, surrendered to He Hongjing and Wang Yuankui the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). When this news reached Lu Prefecture, Liu Zhen's officer Guo Yi (郭誼) killed Liu Zhen and surrendered to the imperial forces. Liu Zhen's head was subsequently delivered through Ze Prefecture to the imperial camp, and when it arrived at Liu Gongzhi's camp, Liu Gongzhi, after the entire army wept in grief, surrendered to Wang Zai. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 248.