Page "Han Xiu" Paragraph 5

In 733, after the chancellor Pei Guangting died, Emperor Xuanzong asked Pei's fellow chancellor Xiao Song for a recommendation.

Xiao was set to recommend his friend Wang Qiu ( 王丘 ), but Wang declined and recommended Han instead.

Xiao, believing Han to be meek and easy to control, recommended Han.

Emperor Xuanzong thus made Han the Huangmen Shilang ( 黃門侍郎 ), the deputy head of the examination bureau, and gave him the designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi ( 同中書門下平章事 ), making him a chancellor de facto.