Wei Gao - As Jiedushi of Xichuan Circuit - After Nanzhao's Resubmission

After Nanzhao's Resubmission

In 796, Wei Gao was given the honorary chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangzhi (同中書門下平章事). Meanwhile, it was said that he kept in Emperor Dezong's good graces by offering daily tributes to Emperor Dezong. In 801, with Emperor Dezong ordering him to attack Tufan to divert Tufan's attentions from the northern regions, he, in joint operaiton with Yimouxun, attacked a number of Tufan outposts and burned them, killing over 10,000 Tufan soldiers in the process. To reward Wei, Emperor Dezong gave him honorary titles of acting Situ (司徒, one of the Three Excellencies) as well as Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and created him the Prince of Nankang. Subsequently, Wei put Wei Prefecture and Kunming (昆明, in modern Liangshan, not modern Kunming) under siege; when a Tufan army under the command of the general Lun Mangre (論莽熱) came to try to lift the siege, Wei engaged him and captured him. However, with Wei's own army suffering major losses, he was forced to withdraw.

In 805, Emperor Dezong died and was succeeded by his severely ill son Emperor Shunzong. Emperor Shunzong gave Wei the honorific title of acting Taiwei (太尉, also one of the Three Excellencies). Meanwhile, Emperor Shunzong's close associate Wang Shuwen became powerful, and Wei sent his deputy military governor, Liu Pi, to Chang'an, to meet with Wang, requesting that Wei be put in charge of not only Xichuan, but also two neighboring circuits — Dongchuan (東川, headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan) and Shannan West (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi). Liu, apparently under Wei's instruction, informed Wang:

The Taiwei asked me, Liu Pi, to give you his regards. If you give him the Three Chuans, he will support you to his death, and if you do not, he will repay you in other ways.

Wang, in anger, wanted to kill Liu, but was stopped by the chancellor Wei Zhiyi. Meanwhile, when Yang Shi'e (羊士諤), an official from Xuanshe Circuit (宣歙, headquartered in modern Xuancheng, Anhui), also made demands to Wang on behalf of his superiors, Wang exiled Yang. When Liu heard this, he fled back to Xichuan and reported to Wei. Apparently in response, Wei submitted a strongly worded petition denouncing Wang and his partisans. Wei also wrote a letter to Emperor Shunzong's crown prince Li Chun, urging him to take over as regent, to which Li Chun reacted favorably. Wei's petition was followed by those from two other senior military governors, Pei Jun (裴均) and Yan Shou (嚴綬), which much shocked Wang's partisans. Soon thereafter, with Wang forced to leave governmental service due to his mother's death and Emperor Shunzong thereafter passing the throne to Li Chun (as Emperor Xianzong) later in 805, Wang and his partisans lost power and were purged.

Late in 805, Wei died and was given great posthumous honors. According to the Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang, who harmonized the commentaries about Wei in the Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang:

Wei Gao was at the Bashu region for 21 years. He initially increased the tax burdens and extracted wealth; he gave plenty of tributes to the emperor to cause the emperor to favor him; he awarded much treasure to the soldiers to get the soldiers to be grateful to him. When the soldiers had weddings, funerals, or casualties, Wei made sure that they were well-supplied, so he was able to keep his positions for a long time, and the soldiers were happy to serve under him. While he was serving, he persuaded Nanzhao to submit and inflicted injuries on Tufan. He sent his senior staff members out to the prefectures to serve as prefects, and once their terms were over, he recalled them to serve on his staff, but he continuously made sure that they did not return to Chang'an, to avoid their reporting to the emperor what he was doing. After the treasury was filled, he then was lenient to his people, and every three years, he exempted their taxes once. The people of Bashu respected his intelligence and feared his might. Even today, the people treated him as a Tudi, and the households all have his pictures on the wall to offer sacrifices to.