Li Tao (李濤) (c. 898?–961?), courtesy name Xinchen (信臣), formally the Duke of Ju (莒國公), was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Chu, Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou, states, as well as the Song dynasty. He briefly served as chancellor during Later Han.
Background
Assuming that Li Tao died in 961, he would be born in 898, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. He was from Wannian (), one of the two counties making up the Tang dynasty capital Chang'an. He was a 10th-generation descendant of Li Yi (), an uncle of Tang's founding emperor Emperor Gaozu and was a great-grandnephew of the Tang chancellor Li Hui. His grandfather Li Zhen () served as a county magistrate, while his father Li Yuan () served as the director of palace construction (將作監, Jiangzuo Jian). He had at least one younger brother, Li Huan (), who would later be known for literary capabilities.
In 907, the major warlord Zhu Quanzhong seized the throne, ending Tang and establishing Later Liang. Li Yuan, as he was a member of Tang's imperial clan, feared that disaster would come to him, and therefore took Li Tao to the land of Later Liang's vassal state Chu to look for refuge from Chu's ruler Ma Yin. Ma commissioned Li Tao as the magistrate of Hengyang County (衡陽, in modern Hengyang, Hunan). Li Tao's cousin Li Yu () served in the Later Liang imperial guards and apparently informed Zhu about Li Yuan's and Li Tao's flight to Chu. Zhu ordered Ma to send Li Yuan and Li Tao back to Later Liang proper and made Li Tao the magistrate of Heyang County (河陽, in modern Luoyang, Henan).
During Later Tang
Early in the Tiancheng era (926-930) of Later Liang's successor state Later Tang's emperor Li Siyuan, Li Tao passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi () class, and thereafter became an assistant to the prefect of Jin Prefecture (晉州, in modern Linfen, Shanxi), and later successively served as an imperial censor with the title of Jiancha Yushi (), and then You Bujue (), a consultant at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). When Li Siyuan's son Li Conghou the Prince of Song was made the military governor (Jiedushi) of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), Li Tao was made his assistant in his role as governor (觀察使, Guanchashi). After about a year of serving at Tianxiong, Li Tao was recalled to the imperial government to serve as an imperial chronicler (起居舍人, Qiju Sheren).
During Later Jin
In 936, Later Tang was destroyed and succeeded by Later Jin, with Li Siyuan's son-in-law Shi Jingtang becoming emperor. In this new administration, Li Tao received the titles of Kaogong Yuanwailang (考功員外郎, a low-level official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, Libu)) and editor of imperial history (史館修撰, Shiguan Xiuzhuan). In 937, when the general Zhang Congbin () rebelled against Shi, but was then quickly defeated, one of Zhang Congbin's chief co-conspirators was Zhang Jizuo (). When Shi was set to slaughter Zhang Jizuo's clan on account of his treason, Li cited the fact that Zhang Jizuo's father Zhang Quanyi had been a great benefactor to the people in rebuilding Luoyang to beg Shi to spare his clan; Shi agreed, and ended up limiting the executions to Zhang Jizuo's wife and children.
There was a subsequent time when Li served as an imperial emissary to Song Prefecture (宋州, in modern Shangqiu, Henan) to review the farms of the prefecture to revise the taxes to be levied there. The official Yuan Zhengci (), who had an estate at Song, sent Li a gift of textile, trying to get Li to overlook his estate. Li instead revealed this to Shi, who honored him for his honesty. As a result, Yuan was demoted a rank, and Li was made the magistrate of Junyi County (), one of the two counties making up the Later Jin capital Kaifeng. He later was made Bibu Langzhong () and then Xingbu Langzhong (刑部郎中, both supervisory positions at the ministry of justice (刑部, Xingbu)), while also serving as an assistant to the director of salt and iron monopolies specifically dealing with salt monopoly.