Li Jinquan (died circa 950) was a military general during the Five Dynasties period, serving successively the Jin–Later Tang, Later Jin, and Southern Tang dynasties. He was of Tuyuhun ethnicity.
Li is best known for his 940 revolt against the Later Jin, after which he fled to Southern Tang. Later Jin demolished the Southern Tang force sent to receive him, and from this point on Southern Tang never dared to encroach on Central Plains again.
Early life
Li Jinquan was born in the 880s during the Tang dynasty. Originally a menial servant of the Shatuo general Li Siyuan, Li Jinquan was described as fearless and skilled in mounted archery. As Li Siyuan served the warlords Li Keyong and his son Li Cunxu, Li Jinquan also fought in battles and won military merits. The Shatuo state, known as Jin after the Tang's collapse in 907, became Later Tang in 923.
Under Later Tang
After Li Siyuan became Later Tang's emperor in 926, he appointed Li Jinquan military commissioner of Longwu (), seated in Jing Prefecture in the western part of the empire. Li Jinquan's governance was greedy and oppressive. Following his recall to the capital Luoyang, he presented dozens of horses to Li Siyuan (then renamed Li Dan) as a gift, followed by another herd a few days later. This shocked the emperor, who questioned him: "You must suffer from a plentitude of horses. Why else would you offer so many? Moreover, you serve at Jing Prefecture. How would you characterize conditions there? Surely, you do more than merely trade in horses?" Li Jinquan was too ashamed to reply.
Li Jinquan later governed Henghai (), seated in Cang Prefecture in the northeast. He was again recalled to the capital to command the "Right Guard" of the imperial guards at some point.
Under Later Jin
Later Jin replaced Later Tang in 936, and Li Jinquan retained his position with the imperial guards. On 3 September 937, Wang Hui (), director for defense reserves at An Prefecture, assassinated Zhou Gui (), military commissioner of Anyuan (). Anyuan, seated in An Prefecture, was in the southern part of the empire bordering Wu to the southeast. Later Jin's emperor Shi Jingtang, busily fighting the rebellion of Fan Yanguang in the north, could not afford to battle on two fronts. Therefore, he issued a "letter-on-arrow" against slaughtering a single person in Anyuan, while also promising Wang Hui governorship of Tang Prefecture if he surrendered. He then sent Li Jinquan with a 1000-man cavalry to Anyuan to induce Wang Hui's surrender, and before Li's departure, admonished him: "Do not compromise my credibility!".
Indeed, Wang was about to flee to Wu, but he was killed by a subordinate before Li Jinquan arrived in An Prefecture. Li arrested hundreds of mutineers and delivered them back to the capital. As Wang Hui had looted An Prefecture for 3 days, many of his officers acquired large numbers of properties. Li Jinquan then executed dozens of such officers to appropriate their wealth for himself. One such officer, Wu Kehe (), cried out before his execution: "If you, commander, contravene imperial rescripts to kill surrendering soldiers, then you may not escape peril yourself!" Even though Shi Jingtang heard about Li's disobedience, he could not do anything. Instead, to appease Li, he appointed him military commissioner of Anyuan on 11 October 937.
In Anyuan, Li Jinquan entrusted a greedy and immoral man named Hu Hanyun () with the day-to-day operations of the military and government. After Shi Jingtang heard of Hu Hanyun's excesses, he sent an honest administrator named Jia Renzhao () to Anyuan to replace Hu. Hu was terrified, so he persuaded Li Jingquan to submit a memorial which claimed that Hu was ill and could not be recalled back to the capital. Pang Lingtu (), who hailed from the same hometown as Li Jinquan, repeated advised Li to appoint Jia Renzhao. Hu Hanyun then sent soldiers to massacre Pang Lingtu's entire family. He also poisoned Jia Renzhao to death. Because Hu Hanyun colluded with the flatterer Zhang Wei (), Li Jingquan knew nothing of his wrongdoings and trusted him more than ever.
In summer of 940, Shi Jingtang decided to replace Li Jinquan with Ma Quanjie (). Knowing Jia Renzhao's sons would file court complaints for their father's murder, Hu Hanyun warned Li Jinquan of the possible punishment he would also face in the capital: "Formerly, the Son of Heaven summoned me, but you violated imperial orders by refusing to relieve me." Li Jinquan then prepared to rebel. Having heard the news, on 29 June 940, Shi Jingtang named Ma Quanjie the overall commander of the punitive force against Li Jinquan. The soldiers of this force came from 12 prefectures.