Kong Qian
Kong Qian () (died May 28, 926) was a Chinese economist and politician of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Tang (and Later Tang's predecessor state Jin. He was credited with making sure that the campaigns of Later Tang's founding emperor Emperor Zhuangzong (Li Cunxu) was well-financed, but his methods of extracting funds from the people were also said to be so exacting that the people eventually became resentful of Emperor Zhuangzong, helping to lead to Emperor Zhuangzong's downfall. Background It is not known when Kong Qian was born, but it is known that he was from Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan, Hebei). At some point prior to the surrender of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered at Wei Prefecture) to Jin in 915 — i.e., at a time when Tianxiong belonged to Jin's archrival Later Liang — Kong became the accounting officer at Wei Prefecture. He thus became a Jin subject when Tianxiong became a Jin possession then. He was said to be diligent and good at managing the books. During Jin After Tianxiong became Jin possession, Jin's prince Li Cunxu personally assumed the title of military governor (Jiedushi) of Tianxiong. Apparently impressed with Kong Qian's abilities,