Wei Zhaodu

Wei Zhaodu (韋昭度) (died June 4, 895), courtesy name Zhengji (正紀), formally the Duke of Qi (岐公), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xizong and Emperor Xizong's brother Emperor Zhaozong. With imperial power dwindling, Wei's fellow chancellor Cui Zhaowei, who associated with the warlords Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han Jian, encouraged Li, Wang, and Han to march on the capital Chang'an, and the three warlords, once they arrived there, put Wei and fellow chancellor Li Xi to death.

It is not known when Wei Zhaodu was born. He was from Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'an). His family was not known to be prominent, as it had no known connections to the families of other chancellors named Wei, and his grandfather Wei Shou (韋綬) and father Wei Pang (韋逄) were not listed with any offices. Wei Zhaodu passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class in 867, during the reign of Emperor Yizong, and thereafter entered governmental service.

In the middle of the Qianfu era (874-879) of Emperor Yizong's son and successor Emperor Xizong, Wei Zhaodu went through a series of promotions — becoming a supervisory official at one of the ministries at the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng), then becoming in charge of drafting edicts and being made Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). When Emperor Xizong fled from Chang'an to Chengdu in early 881 due to the attack on Chang'an by the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao, Wei followed Emperor Xizong there, and once they arrived in Chengdu he was made deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, Bingbu Shilang) as well as chief imperial scholar (翰林學士承旨, Hanlin Xueshi Chengzhi). In fall 881, he was given the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor de facto. It was said that the reason why he was made chancellor was that he was an associate of the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi, with whom he established a relationship through the Buddhist monk Shiche (釋澈). As a result, in 886, when the warlords Wang Chongrong, Li Keyong, Zhu Mei, and Li Changfu rose against Tian (forcing Emperor Xizong to again flee Chang'an, to Xingyuan (興元, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi)) and demanded Tian's death, they also demanded Wei's death, although no subsequent actions were taken against Wei, who remained chancellor. Subsequently, when the imperial guards battled Li Changfu, it was said that one of the reasons why the imperial guard soldiers were inspired was that Wei left his family members in the imperial guard camp to show his faith in their ability to defeat Li Changfu. Subsequently, the imperial guards, commanded by Li Maozhen, was able to defeat Li Changfu, who was then killed by his own subordinate Xue Zhichou (薛知籌). After Li Changfu's defeat, Emperor Xizong gave Wei the honorific title of Taibao (太保, one of the Three Excellencies) and also gave him the greater chancellor designation of Shizhong (侍中, head of the examination bureau (門下省, Menxia Sheng)). Yet later, after Emperor Xizong returned to Chang'an, he made Wei Zhongshu Ling (中書令, the head of the legislative bureau).

...
Wikipedia