Feng Hongduo

Feng Hongduo (馮弘鐸) was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang Dynasty, who controlled the Sheng Prefecture (昇州, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu) region from 893 to 902.

Feng Hongduo was originally from Lianshui (漣水, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu), and he served as an officer at Ganhua Circuit (感化, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), which Lianshui belonged to. Once, when Feng was accused of impropriety by circuit administrators, fellow officer Zhang Xiong, who was also from Lianshui, spoke on his behalf, and Zhang's doing so caused Ganhua's military governor (Jiedushi) Shi Pu to suspect both of them. In 886, knowing that Shi suspected them, Zhang and Feng gathered 300 men and left Ganhua with them, crossing the Yangtze River to attack Su Prefecture (蘇州, in modern Suzhou, Jiangsu), which then belonged to Zhenhai Circuit. They captured it, and Zhang claimed the title of prefect. Eventually, he was able to gather an army reaching the size of 50,000, with 1,000 ships, and called his army Tiancheng Army (天成軍).

Zhang Xiong was eventually dislodged from Su Prefecture by Xu Yue (徐約) and roved down the Yangtze River to East China Sea and then back up the Yangtze; Feng followed him. Zhang eventually settled in at Shangyuan (上元, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), and was given the title of prefect of a new Sheng Prefecture, with its seat at Shangyuan, by then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong. After Zhang's death in 893, Feng succeeded him as the prefect of Sheng.

It was said that Feng Hongduo, as the prefect of Sheng, was capable in riding and archery, and was also a good speaker, speaking as if he were a learned Confucian scholar. He also possessed the strongest fleet of the region, constructed from good, durable wood that he obtained from afar; the ships were massive and known as "tower ships" (樓船). He made peace with Yang Xingmi, who by that point had taken control of Huainan. However, at one point, he sent his follower Shang Gongnai (尚公乃) to Yang, demanding that Yang turn over control of Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) to him. When Yang refused, Shang made the comment to Yang, "Lord, you reject our demand, but can you withstand the tower ship fleet?" Still, it appeared that no major conflict between Yang and Feng resulted from this incident.

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