Meanwhile, in spring 821, Liu Zong the military governor of Lulong, who had taken power initially by killing his father Liu Ji and brother Liu Gun (), had grown fearful of his father's and brother's spirits, and wished to resign and become a Buddhist monk. He also requested an award to the soldiers, while ordering a number of officers that he felt were difficult to control, including Zhu Kerong (the grandson of a former military governor, Zhu Tao) to report to Chang'an, hoping that the imperial government would give them proper discipline and rewards such that they would become faithful to the imperial government. He further recommended that Lulong be divided into three circuits and recommended Zhang Hongjing, Xue Ping, and Lu Shimei () to take over the three circuits. Specifically, his division plan called for the circuit capital, You Prefecture (), along with Zhuo Prefecture (涿州, in modern Baoding, Hebei), be given to Zhang; Ji (薊州, in modern Tianjin), Gui (媯州, in modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei), and Tan (檀州, in modern Beijing) Prefectures be given to Xue; and Ying () and Mo (莫州, both in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) Prefectures be given to Lu. (Liu had made these recommendations on the bases that when Zhang ruled Hedong, which neighbored Lulong, Liu had often heard good opinions of Zhang's governance; that Xue was the son of Xue Song and familiar with the region; and that Lu was a relative of Liu's wife's.)