Wang Gong

Wang Gong (王珙) (d. 899) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who controlled Baoyi Circuit (保義, headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan) from 887, when he succeeded his father Wang Chongying, to his death in 899.

Little is known about Wang Gong's early years, and it is not known when he was born. The first historical reference to him was in 887, when his father Wang Chongying was serving as the military governor of Shanguo Circuit (陝虢, i.e., the same circuit that would later be known as Baoyi) and his uncle Wang Chongrong was serving as the military governor of Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), which lay across the Yellow River from Shanguo. That year, Wang Chongrong was assassinated by his officer Chang Xingru (常行儒). Shortly after the assassination, then-reigning Emperor Xizong made Wang Chongying the military governor of Huguo and Wang Gong the acting military governor of Shanguo, keeping both circuits in the hands of the Wang family.

Wang Chongying died in 895. Wang Gong, who was referred to by that point as the military governor of Baoyi (as Shanguo had been renamed to Baoyi), coveted Huguo. However, the Huguo soldiers supported his cousin Wang Ke — a biological son of his uncle Wang Chongjian (王重簡) who had been adopted as a son by Wang Chongrong — to succeed Wang Chongying. Both Wang Gong and his brother Wang Yao (王瑤) the prefect of Jiang Prefecture (絳州, in modern Yuncheng) objected and attacked Wang Ke. They also wrote the major warlord Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), claiming that Wang Ke was not actually biologically a member of the Wang family, while Wang Ke's father-in-law Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), who was the main rival to Zhu, supported Wang Ke.

...
Wikipedia