Li Jue
In his youth, Li Jue's family lived in Huaiyin (淮陰, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu). He lost his father early, and he was said to have served his mother with well-known filial piety. After attaining adulthood, he passed the imperial examinations, in the "Mingjing" class, which was not considered as prestigious as the "Jinshi" class. When the former chancellor Li Jiang, who was then the prefect of Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), saw Li Jue, he stated to Li Jue that it was inappropriate for someone as talented as he to have only passed the "Mingjing" class, so he recommended Li Jue to enter the "Jinshi" examinations, and Li Jue passed with high scores. The military governor ("Jiedushi") of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), Wu Chongyin, subsequently invited Li Jue to serve on his staff. After Li Jue later passed a special examination for those making good rulings, he was made the sheriff of Weinan County (渭南, in modern Weinan). He was eventually made "You Shiyi" (), a low-level advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, "Zhongshu Sheng").