Background
Li Zhengji was born Li Huaiyu in 733, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He was born in Tang's Pinglu Circuit (平盧, then headquartered in modern Chaoyang, Liaoning). As of 758, he served in the military at Pinglu Circuit's capital prefecture, Ying Prefecture (營州), along with his cousin Hou Xiyi (侯希逸).
In 758, when the military governor (jiedushi) Wang Xuanzhi (王玄志) died in the midst of the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong's son and successor Emperor Suzong sent an emissary to Pinglu, preparing to find a successor to Wang in the Pinglu army. However, Li Huaiyu believed that Wang's son would be made military governor and did not want that to happen, so he killed Wang's son and supported Hou to succeed Wang. In response, Emperor Suzong initially made Hou deputy military governor and then eventually military governor. (This action was much criticized by the Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang in his Zizhi Tongjian, and Sima believed this to mark the beginning of the failing of Tang military discipline.)
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