Tian Hongzheng
Later, during the reign of Emperor Daizong's great-grandson Emperor Xianzong, the chancellor Du Huangchang believed that Xue Ping was talented and recommended him to be the prefect of Ru Prefecture (汝州, in modern Pingdingshan, Henan), and Xue governed with distinction. By 812, Xue was referred to as a major general of the imperial guards, when he was made the military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan) in the aftermaths of the death of the warlord Tian Ji'an (Tian Chengsi's grandson) the military governor of Weibo, as part of the imperial maneuvering to try to control Weibo. (Subsequently, Tian Ji'an's relative Tian Xing (who was later renamed Tian Hongzheng) seized control of Weibo from Tian Ji'an's son Tian Huaijian and submitted to the imperial government.)