Li Xilie
When Liu Congyi's mourning period was complete, the emperor was Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, and the most powerful chancellor was Lu Qi. Lu recommended Liu, and Liu returned to the bureau of censors as "Shiyushi" (侍御史). After several months, because a relative of his was also becoming an imperial censor, under Tang regulations that relatives should not serve at the same agency, he was made "Xingbu Yuanwailang" (刑部員外郎), a low-level official at the ministry of justice (刑部, "Xingbu"). In 783, with Li Xilie the military governor ("Jiedushi") of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan) rebelling against imperial rule, Emperor Dezong, believing that the armies sent against Li Xilie needed a supreme commander to coordinate their actions, commissioned his son Li Yi (李誼) the Prince of Pu to be the supreme commander of the forces against Huaixi, and he made Liu a secretary for Li Yi.