Li Zhengji, or Yi Jeong-gi (733 - 28 August 781[1]) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Tang dynasty, originally of Goguryeo descent.
He was born in Tang's Pinglu Circuit (平盧, then headquartered in modern Chaoyang, Liaoning).
In 758, when the military governor (jiedushi) Wang Xuanzhi (王玄志) died in the midst of the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong's son and successor Emperor Suzong sent an emissary to Pinglu, preparing to find a successor to Wang in the Pinglu army.
[2]) By 762, however, Pinglu, which was cut off from Tang territory by the rebel Yan state and facing repeated attacks from Khitan and Xi tribes, was in a desperate situation.
In summer 765, on an occasion when Hou happened to have spent the night outside the city with sorcerers, the soldiers mutinied and closed the gates, disallowing his return.
Emperor Daizong made his son Li Miao (李邈) the Prince of Zheng the titular military governor of Pinglu, but made Li Huaiyu the acting military governor and changed his name to Zhengji (meaning, "one who corrects himself").
Also at his request, Emperor Daizong incorporated Li Zhengji's line into the imperial clan rolls.
After Emperor Dezong put down a rebellion led by Liu Wenxi (劉文喜) in 780 and showed Liu's severed head to Li Zhengji's messengers, Li Zhengji became even more fearful and planned for war against the imperial troops.
As part of his preparation, Li Zhengji unsuccessfully tried to stop the food shipments from the Yangtze River region, through the Grand Canal, to the Tang capital Chang'an, as the imperial general Zhang Wanfu (張萬福) was able to escort the food shipments through despite intimidation by Pinglu troops.