[6] Li Kuo's exact locations during this time were not stated in historical records, although presumably he accompanied his father, because while his mother Consort Shen was captured by the rebel Yan forces along with many palace women, he was not.

[10] He and his staff were sent to rendezvous with Tang and ally Huige forces at Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), to prepare an attack to recapture the eastern capital Luoyang, which was then serving as the Yan capital under Yan's fourth and final emperor Shi Chaoyi.

In 781, the searchers mistakenly believed that an adoptive daughter of Gao Lishi, a powerful eunuch during Emperor Xuanzong's reign, was Empress Dowager Shen, and she was taken to Chang'an to be honored as such.

[15] Meanwhile, Emperor Dezong, under Yang's proposal, also began to consider campaigns to recapture the western prefectures lost to Tufan during and immediately after the Anshi Rebellion.

However, his putting Li Huaiguang, known for being a harsh commander, in charge of the project caused a mutiny of the soldiers at Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang, Gansu) in 780.

Emperor Dezong had the Jingyuan mutiny suppressed, to show resolve, but was forced to abandon the plans to act against Tufan.

By spring 782, it appeared that Emperor Dezong would be soon successful in his aim to wipe out warlord power and reunify the realm under imperial authority.

The imperial scholar Lu Zhi, whose opinion Emperor Dezong valued, earnestly advised against these taxes and against the campaigns, pointing out that the realm was on the verge of completely falling into rebellion.

[17] On November 2, 783,[18] soldiers from Jingyuan Circuit, at Chang'an to be deployed to the battlefield to the east, rebelled when they became angry that they were not only not given rewards that they believed they deserved, but were being fed a vegetarian diet, mutinied.

Many Tang officials surrendered to Zhu and served in his administration, although many fled to Fengtian to join Emperor Dezong.

[17] Zhu Ci personally led an army and put Fengtian under siege for more than a month, and the small city nearly fell.

[20] At Lu Zhi's suggestion, on January 27, 784 (Chinese New Year)[21][20] Emperor Dezong issued a pardon blaming himself for provoking the rebellions and pardoning all of the warlords and their soldiers, with the only exception of Zhu Ci personally, and further exempting the soldiers involved in the campaign against Zhu Ci from taxes.

Upon receiving the pardons, Wang Wujun, Tian Yue, and Li Na renounced their princely titles and reclaimed allegiance to Tang; in turn, Emperor Dezong made them military governors of their own circuits.

Zhu promised to honor Li Huaiguang as an elder brother and divide the Guanzhong region with him, with each ruling a state as its emperor.

In anger and fear, Li Huaiguang withdrew from the region and headed back to his base at Hezhong (河中, in modern Yuncheng, Shaanxi).

[23][28] In summer 786, with Li Xilie being ill, his general Chen Xianqi had him poisoned, slaughtered his family, and then resubmitted to Tang authority.

With Emperor Dezong beginning to become paranoid about generals having too much power by this point, it was soon thereafter that rumors spread by Shang and Li's political enemy Zhang Yanshang, then a chancellor, made Emperor Dezong suspicious of Li Sheng, who was then the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi).

As Ma was responsible for arranging the peace treaty with Shang, Emperor Dezong recalled him to Chang'an as well and stripped him of his command of Hedong Circuit (河東, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi).

[30][31] Lu Zhi became the main chancellor, and for some time, made ambitious proposals to reform the civil service system and logistics system, and reassert authority over regional governors—whom, by this point, Emperor Dezong was so apprehensive about such that he was not daring to impose governors unless he had explicit agreements from the key military officers of the circuits.

These generals had initial successes, but without an unified command, they could not coordinate their actions, and around the new year 800, they suddenly collapsed and fled, allowing Wu to capture much of their supplies.

At the suggestion of Wei Gao the military governor of Xichuan Circuit and the chancellor Jia Dan, Emperor Dezong pardoned Wu in late 800, ending the campaign.

The officials who associated with them included Wei Zhiyi and such junior officials as Lu Chun (陸淳), Lü Wen (呂溫), Li Jingjian (李景儉), Han Ye (韓曄), Han Tai (韓泰), Chen Jian (陳諫), Liu Zongyuan, and Liu Yuxi.

[33] In winter 804, however, Li Song suddenly suffered a stroke, causing him to be partially paralyzed and unable to speak.

The early part of Dezong's reign can be seen as an attempt to limit the strength of the fanzhen, a situation where regional military governors or jiedushi had sprung up after the An Lushan rebellion, to take control of huge border areas of the empire.

Dezong seized upon this request as a chance to rid his state of the military governors and declined to grant Li Weiyue the title.

In the meantime, an internal military coup albeit a minor one forced Dezong to flee his palace in capital city of Chang'an – the third Tang emperor to do so.

In early 784, in order to restore peace and stability, Dezong decreed that he would not limit their power and accept responsibility for causing the initial revolt.

Dezong felt forsaken and during his escape, only a handful of eunuchs namely Dou Wenchang and Huo Xianming were by his side.

After his return to Chang'an, Dezong greatly rewarded Dou and Huo for their loyalty not least of which were military and government post.

A series of unfortunate events which included revolts by military governors forced Dezong to flee Chang'an in 784.