Wang Chuzhi, who was then the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered at Zhongshan), treated him with respect and invited him to serve on staff, and it was said that he was good at writing and bookkeeping.
[8] In summer 923, Li formally declared himself emperor of Later Tang at Xingtang (興唐, in modern Handan, Hebei).
It was said, though, that the actual governmental authorities were in the hands of Li's chief of staff Guo Chongtao (who was also given a chancellor designation), leaving Doulu with little to do.
[8] Further, it was said that in drafting regulations on governmental structure, Doulu, due to his lack of talent, was making many mistakes, requiring corrections by his subordinate Xiao Xifu (蕭希甫).
Further, both Doulu and Wei commissioned their sons Doulu Sheng (豆盧升) and Wei Tao (韋濤) respectively, as governmental advisors serving below them, which was considered improper — and after this was exposed, they removed their sons from those posts but each other's sons to serve as imperial scholars in the imperial institutes that they oversaw — Doulu Ge was overseeing Hongwen Pavilion (弘文館) and Wei was overseeing Jianxian Institute (集賢院), respectively, further hurting their reputation, as this was considered an improper exchange of favors.
Further, Doulu was said to be not interested in finding talented people to serve in the imperial administration, but spending his time on alchemy, seeking to extend his life.
His adoptive brother Li Siyuan, who had previously rebelled against him, quickly arrived at Luoyang and took control of the city.
Doulu Ge led the imperial officials in offering the throne to him, which Li Siyuan initially declined, but eventually accepted.
Meanwhile, Xiao Xifu had long resented Doulu and Wei for having rejected his earlier proposed promotion to Jianyi Daifu (諫議大夫), and therefore decided to take vengeance.
He submitted a petition in which he not only accused Doulu and Wei of flattery and faithlessness to Li Cunxu, but further falsely accused Doulu of seizing people's farms and allowing his farmer tenants to kill others, and Wei of seizing a neighbor's well in order to steal the treasures that the neighbor's ancestors had hidden in the well.