Tang dynasty
Zhu Wen, originally a salt smuggler who had served under the rebel Huang Chao, surrendered to Tang forces. By helping to defeat Huang, he was granted a series of rapid military promotions. In 907 the Tang dynasty was ended when Zhu Wen, now a military governor, deposed the last emperor of Tang, Emperor Ai of Tang, and took the throne for himself (known posthumously as Emperor Taizu of Later Liang). He established the Later Liang, which inaugurated the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. A year later Zhu Wen had the deposed Emperor Ai poisoned to death.
Yang Shihou
In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's last emperor, Emperor Ai, yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang as its Emperor Taizu. In 909, Emperor Taizu recalled Yang Shihou from Shannan East, commissioning him as the commander of the forces preparing to attack Lu Prefecture (潞州, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), which was then ruled by Later Liang's archrival Jin (i.e., the state ruled by Li Keyong's son and successor Li Cunxu). He sent Wang Ban (王班) to Shannan East to serve as acting military governor in Yang's absence. (As Yang departed Xiang Prefecture, he warned Wang Ban that certain officers, including one Wang Qiu (王求), were unruly and might mutiny in his absence; Wang Ban took no precautions, however, and later in the year Wang Qiu assassinated Wang Ban and rebelled, but the rebellion was quickly put down.)