Li Zhirou (李知柔; died 900), formally the Prince of Xue (薛王), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who briefly served as a chancellor in 895 during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, to whom he was a distant relative.
[1] After Li Zhirou inherited the title of Prince of Xue, he served as the minister of imperial clan affairs (宗正卿, Zongzheng Qing).
[2][3] In 895, there was an occasion when then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong fled Chang'an into the Qinling Mountains, fearing that the nearby warlords Li Maozhen the military governor (jiedushi) 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) would seize him.
Subsequently, Emperor Zhaozong commissioned Li Zhirou as the military governor of Qinghai Circuit (清海, headquartered in modern Guangzhou, Guangdong), carrying the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi title as an honorary title, but still let him temporarily act as the mayor of Jingzhao, the director of finances, and the director of salt and iron monopolies, with directions that he should report to Qinghai after the emperor returned to Chang'an.
[4] In 900, then-leading chancellor Cui Yin was showing dislike for fellow chancellor Xu Yanruo for having greater seniority, and Xu, detecting this, resigned the chancellorship and asked to succeed Li at Qinghai (as Li was one of the few military governors remaining who was still obeying imperial orders).