Cui Zhaowei (崔昭緯) (d. 896), courtesy name Yunyao (蘊曜), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong.
According to traditional histories, he was disloyal to Emperor Zhaozong and manipulated the court scene by conspiring with the eunuchs and the warlords Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) and Wang Xingyu the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi).
[3] Apparently at some point prior to the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, Cui Zhaowei passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi (進士) class.
During Emperor Zhaozong's reign, he served (unclear if successively or concurrently) as Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng); imperial scholar (翰林學士, Hanlin Xueshi); and deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, Hubu Shilang).
[1] In 891, in the aftermaths of an imperial defeat in a campaign against the warlord Li Keyong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), the chancellors Zhang Jun and Kong Wei, who were the main proponents of the campaign, were removed from their offices, and Cui, who was at that time the chief imperial scholar (翰林學士承旨, Hanlin Xueshi Chengzhi) and deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, Bingbu Shilang), was made a chancellor with the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), along with Xu Yanruo.
[5] In 894, Emperor Zhaozong was set to make then-chief imperial scholar Li Xi, from whom he learned writing, a chancellor.
They marched on the capital again along with a third ally, Han Jian the military governor of Zhenguo Circuit (鎮國, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), and they executed Li Xi and Wei over Emperor Zhaozong's protest.
[6] Shortly after Cui Zhaowei was stripped of his chancellorship, Emperor Zhaozong further exiled him to be the military advisor to the prefect of Wu Prefecture (梧州, in modern Wuzhou, Guangxi).