Li Zhengji
Later in 781, Li Wei (李洧), the cousin to Li Na's father and predecessor Li Zhengji, whom Li Zhengji had made the prefect of Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), contacted and offered to submit to the imperial government. He sent his assistant Cui Cheng (崔程) to Chang'an and suggested that if he were made the governor of a new circuit containing Xu Prefecture and two other prefectures belonging to Pinglu — Hai (海州, in modern Lianyungang, Jiangsu) and Yi (沂州, in modern Linyi, Shandong) Prefectures — those prefectures would turn against Li Na and submit to the imperial government as well. When Cui arrived at Chang'an, however, he made the mistake of first meeting Lu's chancellor colleague Zhang Yi rather than Lu. Lu, viewing this as a snub, refused. Subsequently, although the Li Wei still submitted, and the imperial government was able to take Xu Prefecture, they were not able to take the other two prefectures. Meanwhile, wanting to eliminate Zhang as a competitor for power, he pretended to be willing to become the military governor of the important Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), a key defensive position against Tufan, and then making comments that induced Emperor Dezong to make Zhang the military governor of Fengxiang instead. It was said that early in Emperor Dezong's reign, when Cui Youfu was the main chancellor, Cui had led him to be lenient, and therefore Emperor Dezong was compared by the people to his well-regarded ancestor Emperor Taizong, but after Lu became chancellor, he led Emperor Dezong to be strict, harsh, and suspicious, causing disappointment throughout the realm.