Wei Gao - Background and Early Career

Background and Early Career

Wei Gao was born in 745, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'an). HIs sixth-generation ancestor Wei Fan (韋範) had accomplishments during Tang's two predecessor dynasties, Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasty.

Early in the Dali era (766-779) of Emperor Xuanzong's grandson Emperor Daizong, Wei served as one of the ceremonial pallbearers for the burial of Emperor Xuanzong's son and Emperor Daizong's father Emperor Suzong, and thereafter was made an officer at Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi). In 782, during the reign of Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, when the chancellor Zhang Yi was made the military governor (Jiedushi) of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), he invited Wei to serve on his staff as an assistant overseeing military farming, and also put Wei in charge of the army stationed at Long Prefecture (隴州, in modern Baoji).

In 783, soldiers from Jingxuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang, Gansu), at Chang'an to await deployment to the east for wars against warlords, mutinied after not receiving rewards that they believed they deserved, and Emperor Dezong fled to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). The Jingyuan soldiers supported Zhang Yi's predecessor as military governor of Fengxiang Circuit, Zhu Ci as their leader. As Zhu Ci had been removed from his command by Emperor Dezong due to a rebellion by his brother Zhu Tao, he resented Emperor Dezong, and he soon declared himself emperor of a new state of Qin. The Fengxiang officer Li Chulin (李楚琳) mutinied, killed Zhang, and submitted to Zhu. Meanwhile, another former subordinate of Zhu's, Niu Yun'guang (牛雲光), stationed at Long Prefecture, was ready to rise against Wei and seize Long Prefecture for Zhu, but when he was discovered, he fled toward Chang'an. On the way, however, he met Zhu's emissary Su Yu (蘇玉), who wanted to try to persuade Wei to submit, and thus they returned to Long Prefecture together. Wei pretended to be ready to submit, but instead, after welcoming them into the city, killed them. He then led the soldiers in swearing an oath to Emperor Dezong, sent his cousins Wei Ping (韋平) and Wei Yan (韋弇) to Fengtian to report the events to Emperor Dezong, and also sought aid from Tufan. Emperor Dezong made Long Prefecture into its own circuit — Fengyi Circuit (奉義) and made Wei its military governor. Zhu then sent another emissary to Wei, promising to make him the military governor of Fengxiang; Wei executed the emissary. After Zhu was defeated and Emperor Dezong returned to Chang'an in 784, he summoned Wei and made him a general of the imperial guards. Under the suggestion of the chancellor Xiao Fu, he also considered Wei as a possible replacement for Chen Shaoyou (陳少遊) as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), but did not actually do so.