Li Weiyue - Background

Background

It is not known when Li Weiyue was born. He was not Li Baochen's oldest son — as his half-brother Li Weicheng (李惟誠) was older than he was — but as Li Weiyue was born of Li Baochen's wife and Li Weicheng was not, Li Weiyue was considered Li Baochen's proper heir. Li Weiyue also had at least one younger brother, Li Weijian (李惟簡).

Li Baochen had been a general of the rebel state Yan during the Anshi Rebellion, but in 762 submitted to Tang imperial authority and was made the military governor (Jiedushi) of Chengde Circuit. He effectively ruled the circuit as his own domain, semi-independent from the imperial government, and he wanted to eventually pass the circuit to Li Weiyue. During the time that Li Baochen served as military governor, Li Weiyue served as commander of the forces (行軍司馬, Xingjun Sima) as well as the prefect of Chengde's capital prefecture Heng Prefecture (恆州). Li Weiyue was considered young and weak in personality, so, as Li Baochen aged, he began to kill a number of officers that he viewed as potential threats to Li Weiyue. The only two major officers who escaped this fate were Zhang Xiaozhong (who escaped the fate by remaining at his garrison at Yi Prefecture (易州, in modern Baoding, Hebei), refusing to return to Heng Prefecture even when Li Baochen summoned him multiple times) and Wang Wujun (whose son Wang Shizhen was a son-in-law to Li Baochen and brother-in-law to Li Weiyue).