Li Hanzhi
In 899, under Zhu's recommendation, several of his officers, including Ding, who had been made acting military governors, were made full military governors of their circuits. Under these recommendations, Li Hanzhi (who had, in 898, turned from his allegiance to Li Keyong to Zhu and seized Lu Prefecture (潞州, in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), the capital of Zhaoyi Circuit (), which had been under the control of Li Keyong's subordinate Xue Zhiqin () until Xue's recent death) was made the military governor of Zhaoyi, and later in the year, Zhu sent Ding to help Li Hanzhi recapture Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern Jincheng, Shanxi), which Li Hanzhi had held but which had been captured by Li Keyong's adoptive nephew Li Sizhao. Ding was able to capture Ze Prefecture, and when Li Keyong's officer Li Junqing () then put Lu Prefecture under siege, Ding and another subordinate of Zhu's, Zhang Cunjing (), came to Li Hanzhi's aid and defeated Li Junqing, lifting the siege. Subsequently, when Li Hanzhi became very ill, Zhu made him the military governor of Heyang and Ding the military governor of Zhaoyi. (Li Hanzhi died shortly after.) However, then, for reasons unclear in history, Zhu sent Ge to defend Lu Prefecture instead of Ding, and, after another officer under Zhu, He Delun (), was defeated by Li Sizhao, Ge withdrew, allowing Li Keyong to retain Zhaoyi. Not until 901, when, in the aftermaths of a major attack Zhu launched on Li Keyong's capital Taiyuan, Li Keyong's subordinate Meng Qian () surrendered Zhaoyi to Zhu, that Ding was actually able to take over Zhaoyi Circuit and govern it. Subsequently, then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong formally commissioned Ding as the military governor of Zhaoyi and Meng as the military governor of Heyang.