His father He Mo (何默) served as an officer at Xia Prefecture (夏州, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi).
[3] In a campaign that Tian waged against Wang Chengzong, the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), when Wang was resisting the imperial government, there was a night when Weibo forces conducted a night raid against Chengde's capital Heng Prefecture (恆州).
Wang responded by sending an officer in an iron mask, commanding 1,000 cavalry soldiers, to counterattack against the Weibo forces.
[4] By 829, He Jintao was serving under Shi Xiancheng, who was ruling Weibo in de facto independence from the imperial government.
However, at that time, imperial forces were close to defeating the rebel general Li Tongjie, who controlled the neighboring Henghai Circuit (橫海, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei), and Shi became apprehensive.