LKJ
LKJ, short for Likejun (李可军), was the elite Shatuo tribal army commanded by Li Keyong (and later Li Cunxu) at the end of the Tang Dynasty. After Huang Chao's rebel army captured the Tang capital of Chang'an in 880, the Tang emperor Xizong asked Shatuo leader Li Keyong for assistance. Realizing this is an opportunity to expand Shatuo power into central China, Li Keyong sent the Likejun, a 40,000-strong cavalry force, to attack the Huang camp at Tongzhou. Li categorically defeated 150,000 rebels at the Battle of Liangtianpo in 882 and drove Huang Chao out of Chang'an. In February 884, the LKJ crossed the Yellow River and destroyed the rebel army at Battle of Zhongmou. Rebel commanders Shang Rang and Ge Congzhou both surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Li's Shatuo cavalrymen played crucial roles in suppressing the rebellion and forcing Huang Chao to commit suicide in Langhu Valley (near modern day Laiwu, Shandong province) in 884. During the subsequent power struggle between Li Keyong and Later Liang emperor Zhu Wen, the LKJ was repeatedly defeated and forced to retreat to Yunzhou (modern day Datong, Shanxi province}. When Li Keyong died in 908, his son Li Cunxu took command of the LKJ. After 15 years of incessant warfare in northern China, Li Cunxu eventually conquered the Later Liang Dynasty in October 923 to establish his Later Tang Dynasty. LKJ is also an artist name used by Linton Kwesi Johnson
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