New History of the Five Dynasties
In any case, Li Renfu served as an officer at Dingnan, and as of the time of Li Yichang's rule of the circuit was serving as the commander of both the Han and non-Han soldiers at the circuit. In 910 (according to the "Zizhi Tongjian") or 909 (according to the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" and the "New History of the Five Dynasties") Li Yichang was assassinated by his officer Gao Zongyi (). The Dingnan officers killed Gao and supported Li Renfu to succeed Li Yichang. When Li Renfu reported this to Zhu Quanzhong, the emperor of Tang's successor state Later Liang, Zhu gave Li Renfu the title of military governor of Dingnan.