He Ning
By this point, Liu Zhiyuan had entered Kaifeng. Hearing that news, the Han soldiers in the Liao army at Heng rose against the Khitan, under the leadership of the officers Li Rong and Bai Zairong (). The Han and Khitan soldiers battled within the city walls, and initially, the battle was going badly against the Han soldiers. Li Gu, wanting to encourage the Han soldiers, asked three senior Later Jin chancellors, Feng Dao, Li Song, and He Ning, to visit the battle scene to encourage the soldiers. When the soldiers saw the three senior chancellors, they were encouraged, and they fought harder, eventually expelling the Khitan soldiers out of the city. Subsequently, the soldiers supported Bai to be the acting military governor of Chengde, so that he could submit to Later Han and seek aid. Meanwhile, Bai, who was greedy, wanted to kill Li Song and He Ning to seize their wealth. Li Gu rebuked him, pointing out that if he did so, the new Later Han emperor would surely have him punished, so Bai did not do so. Li Gu also then dissuaded Bai from seizing the wealth of the people to give to the soldiers.