How did Li Linfu die?
Li Linfu
Meanwhile, with Nanzhao repeatedly attacking Jiannan Circuit (劍南, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), Li Linfu tried to defuse Yang's threat to him by requesting that Yang, who was also military governor of Jiannan, be sent to Jiannan to defend against Nanzhao attacks. Despite Yang's repeated pleas, Emperor Xuanzong sent him on his way, but promised to recall him soon to be chancellor. Meanwhile, Li Linfu was seriously ill by this point, and when a sorcerer indicated that if the emperor looked at him, he would be cured, Emperor Xuanzong considered visiting him. Ultimately, though, at the opposition of the imperial attendants, Emperor Xuanzong did not do so, but had Li Linfu brought out to the courtyard of his mansion and then ascended a tower to look toward Li Linfu. This had no beneficial effect on Li Linfu's illness, however. Meanwhile, once Yang reached Jiannan, Emperor Xuanzong recalled him. When Yang, after arriving back in the capital, went to visit Li Linfu, Li Linfu tried to ingratiate him and entrust his family to Yang. Li Linfu died around the new year 753.
Li Tao (Five Dynasties)
In 960, the major Later Zhou general Zhao Kuangyin overthrew Later Zhou and took the throne himself, establishing Song dynasty as its Emperor Taizu. In the new administration, Li Tao received the title of minister of defense (兵部尚書, "Bingbu Shangshu"). He fell ill in 961, when there was an incident that the army commander Yin Xun (尹勳), who was assigned to Xu Prefecture (許州, in modern Xuchang, Henan), was commanding a project to sift the Wuzhang Canal (五丈渠); the conscripted man had a night terror event, and, in the aftermaths, Yin executed more than 10 crew leaders, and captured more than 70 men who fled and cut off their left ears. When a complaint was made to the emperor that this was undue cruel punishment, Li, despite his illness, got up and wrote a petition urging for Yin to be executed to avenge the people. When Li's family members pointed out that he was ill and should rest, he responded, "Death happens to everyone, and I cannot be spared of it. I hold the authority over the army; how can I not discuss a matter where an officer killed people unduly?" When the emperor received Li's report, he was appreciative of it, but on account of Yin's bravery and past accomplishments, only rebuked him. Li died shortly after (impliedly, in 961), and was given posthumous honors. (However, the biography of his brother Li Huan indicated that Li Huan died in 962 while still in Liao service and that Li Tao published a collection of Li Huan's writings, appearing to imply that Li Tao died after Li Huan, but not explicitly stating so, although it could also be read as that Li Tao published Li Huan's works sometime before.)