Remainder of Baoying era (762-763), and Guangde, Yongtai eras (763–766) Li Fuguo effectively took over the control of the imperial government, going as far as telling Emperor Daizong: an assassin got into Li Fuguo's mansion and killed him, taking his head and an arm away as well. Emperor Daizong formally issued an order seeking the arrest of the assassin, and buried Li Fuguo in a grand ceremony, after having a wooden head and wooden arm carved to be buried with the rest of the body.), who had also received an alliance proposal from Shi Chaoyi. Yaoluoge Yidijian thus initially rejected Emperor Daizong's proposal and advanced south to aid Shi Chaoyi, but after further persuasion by Pugu Huai'en, whose daughter he had married, he agreed with the Tang proposal. In winter 762, the joint Tang and Huige forces recaptured Luoyang, forcing Shi Chaoyi to flee. (Shi Chaoyi would eventually commit suicide in spring 763, ending Yan.) In fall 763, Emperor Daizong faced two new additional threats. Pugu, whom two other generals Xin Yunjing () and
Li Baoyu and the eunuch Luo Fengxian () had suspected of plotting rebellion, was angry at the suspicion on him and, after submitting a number of accusatory petitions, began to act independently of the imperial government. Meanwhile, though,
Tibet, which had begun to seize Tang western prefectures one by one during the Anshi Rebellion, launched a sudden attack on Chang'an. At that time, with Cheng in power and the generals hating him for his previous accusations against the generals Lai Tian () and Li Huairang () that led to their deaths, when Emperor Daizong sought emergency aid from the provincial generals, none came to his aid, and on November 16, he was forced to abandon Chang'an and flee to Shan Prefecture (i.e., Shancheng). Tibetan forces declared Emperor Suzong's cousin
Li Chenghong the Prince of Guangwu the Emperor of Tang, although they withdrew within the course of a month due to the Tang people's resistance efforts and counterattacks commanded by Guo Ziyi. Emperor Daizong was able to soon return to Chang'an. Still, much territory had fallen into Tibetan hands and Tang forces were not able to counterattack. As the popular sentiment at the time blamed Cheng for the disaster, he stripped Cheng of his posts and sent him back to his home. Soon thereafter, the most powerful figures at court became the chancellor
Yuan Zai, who flattered Emperor Daizong, and the eunuch
Yu Chao'en, who commanded the imperial guards.
Early Dali era Meanwhile, by this point, Emperor Daizong, who had previously favored
Taoism, had begun to become a devout
Buddhist due to the influences of his chancellors Yuan Zai,
Wang Jin, and Du Hongjian. Yuan, in particular, advocated the belief that it was by the blessings of the Buddha that Tang was able to survive the Anshi Rebellion and Pugu's rebellion. As a result, Emperor Daizong's policies began to be heavily influenced by Buddhist principles, and he honored the
Buddhist monk Bukong with great honors, including creating him a duke. The temples at Chang'an became very wealthy, and Emperor Daizong further ordered that monks and nuns not be subject to physical punishments. With the emperor and the chancellors all devout Buddhists, Buddhism became the leading influence in the empire. (Traditional historians, such as the
Song dynasty historian
Sima Guang, ascribed the poor governance and justice system during Emperor Daizong's time to this.)
Late Dali era In 773, Xue Song died, and Emperor Daizong agreed to let his brother
Xue E succeed him in ruling Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern
Anyang,
Henan). However, Tian Chengsi, who ruled nearby Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern
Handan,
Hebei), had other designs. In spring 775, under his encouragement, the Zhaoyi officer Pei Zhiqing () rose against Xue E, and Tian subsequently captured Zhaoyi's capital Xiang Prefecture (). Xue E fled to imperial territory, while Tian continued his campaign to capture the rest of Zhaoyi territory despite Emperor Daizong's orders to stop his campaign. With Xue Song's other relatives Xue Xiong () and Xue Jian () still holding Wei (衛州, in modern
Xinxiang,
Henan) and Ming (洺州, in modern Handan) Prefectures, Tian attacked them and captured those prefectures, as well as Ci Prefecture (磁州, in modern Handan as well). (The remaining prefectures of Zhaoyi came under imperial control and were eventually merged with Zelu Circuit (澤潞, headquartered in modern
Changzhi,
Shanxi), governed by Li Baoyu's cousin
Li Baozhen.) These defiant actions by Tian, who had already angered Li Zhengji, then ruling Pinglu Circuit (平盧, then headquartered in modern
Weifang,
Shandong), by disrespecting him and Li Baochen, then ruling Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern
Shijiazhuang,
Hebei), by killing Li Baochen's brother Li Baozheng (), brought a serious imperial response, along with the offended warlords. In summer 775, Emperor Daizong announced a campaign against Tian, with Li Zhengji and
Li Zhongchen attacking Weibo from the south, and Zhu Tao, Li Baochen, and Xue Jianxun () attacking Weibo from the north. Initially, the imperial forces were scoring victories over Weibo forces, but after Tian flattered Li Zhengji in a humble letter, Li Zhengji withdrew from the campaign, causing other imperial generals south of the Yellow River to hesitate to advance as well. Meanwhile, Li Baochen was offended when an imperial eunuch, Ma Chengqian (), who had visited Li Baochen's army, was so dissatisfied with Li Baochen's gift to him that he threw it on the ground, and Tian was also able to use hoaxes to persuade Li Baochen that if he joined forces with Tian to attack Lulong, he would be successful. Li Baochen thus turned against Zhu, launching a surprise attack on him, but was unable to kill Zhu, effectively ending any hopes of the campaign against Tian. By 776, Emperor Daizong was forced to pardon Tian and abandon the campaign. Also in 775, Emperor Daizong's favorite concubine
Consort Dugu died. He posthumously honored her empress and, saddened greatly by her death, kept her casket in the palace for almost three years, only finally burying her in 778. In 776, after the death of Biansong Circuit (汴宋, headquartered in modern
Kaifeng,
Henan)'s acting military governor Tian Shenyu (), its officer Li Lingyao () seized the circuit. Emperor Daizong commissioned a campaign by the surrounding circuits against Biansong and Li Lingyao, and despite aid from Tian, was quickly defeated, although the imperial government received little benefit as five of Biansong's eight prefectures were taken and merged into Li Zhengji's Pinglu Circuit, and Li Zhengji then moved his headquarters from Qing Prefecture () to one of the Biansong prefectures he took, Yun Prefecture (鄆州, in modern
Tai'an,
Shandong). In 777, Emperor Daizong, tired of Yuan Zai's and Wang Jin's corruption and hold on power, had them arrested. Yuan was executed and Wang was exiled, and they were replaced by
Yang Wan and
Chang Gun. Emperor Daizong hoped that Yang could lead a reform of the government, but Yang died later that year, leaving Chang in control of the government. By 777, it was considered that these warlords were ruling their realms
de facto independently: • Li Zhengji, with his Pinglu Circuit containing 15 prefectures and having 60,000 soldiers. • Tian Chengsi, with his Weibo Circuit containing seven prefectures and having 50,000 soldiers. • Li Baochen, with his Chengde Circuit containing seven prefectures and having 50,000 soldiers. •
Liang Chongyi, with his Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern
Xiangfan,
Hubei) containing six prefectures and having 25,000 soldiers. In 779, Tian died, and Emperor Daizong permitted Tian's nephew
Tian Yue to succeed him. Meanwhile, Li Zhongchen was expelled from his Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern
Zhumadian,
Henan) by his officer
Li Xilie. Emperor Daizong, believing Li Zhongchen to have been faithful to him, kept him at Chang'an as a chancellor, while making Li Xilie acting military governor. In summer 779, Emperor Daizong grew ill and soon died. Li Kuo succeeded him as emperor (as Emperor Dezong). ==Chancellors during reign==