王处直
As of 921, Tang had long fallen, and Wang Chuzhi's Yiwu Circuit was aligned with Li Keyong's son and successor Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin in a long-term war with Tang's successor state Later Liang. That year, another ally of theirs, Wang Rong the Prince of Zhao (also known as Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang)), was killed in a coup by his adoptive son Zhang Wenli (known as Wang Deming while Wang Rong's adoptive son), and Li declared a general campaign against Zhang. Wang Chuzhi, believing that over the late Tang decades, Yiwu and Chengde had been geographically reliant on each other for defense, and that if Li took control of Chengde directly, Yiwu would be isolated, opposed the campaign. Li, however, sent a response stating that because of Zhang's great crimes, he could not be spared. Wang, apprehensive of the consequences, decided to secretly contact Wang Yu, asking him to entice Khitan Empire's Emperor Taizu to invade, to divert Jin troops. Wang Yu agreed, but extracted a promise from Wang Chuzhi that he, not Wang Du, would become Wang Chuzhi's heir.