Wei Yuanzhong
Around 678, there were repeated Tufan attacks, and Emperor Gaozong was concerned about them. Wei Yuanzhong went to the eastern capital Luoyang, where Emperor Gaozong was at the time, and submitted a secret petition, making suggestions as to what to do with the Tufan threat—pointing out that at the time, the generals were largely past generals' sons who were not necessarily militarily talented; the reward and punishment system was not being utilized properly; and that the army was being crippled by a then-existent regulation prohibiting the people from keeping horses. Emperor Gaozong was impressed by Wei's petition and made him a secretary at the Palace Library, but gave him an office at the more important legislative bureau (中書省, "Zhongshu Sheng") and permitted him to meet the emperor periodically with officials of higher ranks.