[4] Wei Chun passed the imperial examinations when he was young, and early in the Zhenyuan era (785-805) of Emperor Suzong's grandson Emperor Dezong, he further passed a special examination for those considered talented and good-charactered, and thereafter was made Xiaoshu Lang (校書郎), a copyeditor at the Palace Library.
Initially, Du Congyu's title was reduced to Zuo Shiyi (左拾遺), a lower rank, but still a consultant at the examination bureau, Wei and Cui further clarified their rationale — that the consultants were there to suggest to the emperor corrections to make when the chancellors' governance were not proper, and they believed it improper for Du Congyu to be effectively casting judgment on his father's governance.
[3][7] At a later point, he and Zhang Hongjing were in charge of a special imperial examination on strategies, and it was said that of the 18 people they selected as the high scores, most were later well known for their writing.
While he was serving there, there was an occasion when the deputy director of palace supplies, Jin Zhongyi (金忠義), who was from Silla and who had apparently previously been a merchant, requested that his two sons be made officials.
[3] In 808, when Emperor Xianzong held a special imperial examination for the examinees to give honest criticism of government, Wei and Yang Yuling (楊於陵) were in charge of the examination, and Wei selected three examinees who gave blunt criticism — Niu Sengru, Huangfu Shi (皇甫湜), and Li Zongmin — for top marks.
As a result of Li Jifu's accusations, Pei, Wang, Yang, and Wei were all demoted, with Wei initially demoted to be the prefect of Guo Prefecture (果州, in modern Nanchong, Sichuan), and then further moved to be the prefect of Ba Prefecture (巴州, in modern Bazhong, Sichuan).
[8] However, Wei was soon summoned back to Chang'an to serve as Duguan Langzhong (都官郎中), a supervisorial official at the ministry of justice (刑部, Xingbu) and put in charge of drafting imperial edicts.
He served as deputy minister of rites for two years, and the examinees that he selected as top scorers were the ones that he felt to have valued substance over form, and it was said because of his policy, those who tried influence examination results decreased.
[3] In 814, Wei Guanzhi was given the title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making a chancellor de facto.
He was thereafter given the title of the head of the household of the crown prince Li Heng, but ordered to keep his office at the eastern capital Luoyang.
Emperor Muzong made Wei Guanzhi the mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region), and then summoned him to Chang'an to serve as the minister of public works (工部尚書, Gongbu Shangshu).