Chapter 413: The Retired Emperor Taizu

Nearly two months had passed since the Shangyuan Festival, yet the dozens of lanterns in Xingqing Palace still hung there, sparsely attached to the massive beams of the Xingqing Hall. In a quiet corner of the hall, Wu Ruiniang, once the imperial concubine, was helping Li Longji practice walking slowly, circle after circle.
“Your Majesty, go slower, please.”
Li Longji had been awake for almost half a year. From being able to eat at first, to speaking a few words, to now being able to walk slowly, he was gradually recovering. He glanced at Wu Ruiniang and said unhappily, “Ruiniang, I’ve told you not to call me Your Majesty anymore.”
“But… Yes! I understand.”
Wu Ruiniang lowered her head, but her heart was filled with worry. Her youngest son, Li Qi, had been killed by rebel troops while crossing the Yellow River, and his body was thrown into the river. Her eldest son, Li Jin, had fallen into the hands of An Lushan in Taiyuan. Having lost one son, she was devastated. She begged Li Longji to find a way to rescue him, and he agreed. Yet, whenever Emperor Li Yu came to visit his grandfather, Li Longji refused to mention anything about his sons, which filled Wu Ruiniang with resentment.
Ever since Li Longji fainted and fell into a coma, it had been her who had taken care of him. She had devoted so much effort, but did he not remember her kindness at all?
“Your Majesty, didn’t the Emperor say he would come to see you today?”
“Does it matter whether he comes or not? I don’t want to see him.”
Since waking up, Li Longji had been dissatisfied with Li Yu. He had not formally abdicated, yet Li Yu had ascended the throne on his own. In Li Longji’s view, even if he could no longer handle state affairs, Li Yu should only serve as regent for the Tang Dynasty and never replace him—such an act would be treasonous, betraying all his efforts in raising him. He was filled with anger. That’s why he ignored Li Yu’s visits several times and also sensed that someone was watching him.
“That wretched grandson!”
Li Longji cursed angrily. Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. He looked at Wu Ruiniang, seeing her worried frown, and said, “Are you worried about Qi?”
Wu Ruiniang knelt down and wept, “An Lushan is ruthless. If Qi falls into his hands, who knows what kind of torture he’ll suffer? I implore Your Majesty… I implore my husband to speak to the Emperor and save my Qi! I… I only have this one son.”

Wu Ruiniang’s word “husband” made Li Longji’s thoughts wander. He suddenly remembered “Third Brother,” then his Yu Huan. He recalled the days when they composed music together in the lyre garden—him playing the flute and her dancing, creating the beautiful melody of “Rainbow Robes.” The pear blossoms were stunning, petals drifting in the air. He wondered how she was now.

“Husband!”

Wu Ruiniang noticed Li Longji was distracted and, displeased, reminded him again. Li Longji stared at her blankly. “What… are you saying?”

Overcome with sorrow, Wu Ruiniang realized the emperor hadn’t heard her. She cried out, “Husband, I’m saying that Qiu’er has fallen into An Lushan’s hands. Please save him, Your Majesty.”

“An Lushan!”

A surge of anger rose from deep within him. If possible, he would order An Lushan to be torn to pieces. His hatred for An Lushan surpassed that for anyone else. An Lushan had not only destroyed his throne but also his hope as a man.

At that moment, eunuch Yu Chaoen rushed over, panting from afar. “Emperor Emeritus, the emperor has arrived.”

Wu Ruiniang became panicked and pleaded again, “Your Majesty, I beg you.”

“I know. First, help me to the side hall.”

Seemingly remembering something, Li Longji suddenly grabbed her arm and whispered, “Don’t be careless. No one from his side is allowed to touch any of my food or utensils. Remember that?”

“I remember, my lord.”

Frightened, Wu Ruiniang helped Li Longji to the side hall. As soon as he sat down, Li Yu entered quickly, accompanied by several guards.

The light in the side hall was dim. Li Longji, like an ancient bat, sat in a dark corner, his gaze cold as he watched his grandson. Over these days, he had learned of many things happening in the court. In particular, the Anxi silver coins and silversilversilver coin coins coins had become the official currency of the Tang Dynasty. A large number of these coins had flowed in from the Western Regions, pushing the Kaiyuan Tongbao coins to the fringes. This meant not only that Li Qing’an controlled the Tang Dynasty’s currency system but also that vast amounts of supplies would be sent to Anxi to strengthen his power.

This made Li Longji extremely dissatisfied with Li Yu—displeased by his indecision, his weakness, and his concessions to Li Qing’an. He already regretted deciding to make Li Yu the crown prince.

“Emperor Emeritus, the emperor has arrived.”

Seeing that Li Longji didn’t react, Yu Chaoen couldn’t help but remind him again. Li Longji gave him a cold glance, feeling a hint of suspicion. The emperor wasn’t in a hurry, but the eunuch was too eager. This eunuch was being overly enthusiastic.

Li Yu stepped forward quickly and knelt down. “Your Grandson pays his respects to the Great Ancestor Emperor Emeritus, wishing him good health and a long life.”

“Get up!” Li Longji said coldly.
“Thank you, Emperor Taizu!”
Li Yu stood up. He had come here with a purpose today, but seeing Li Longji’s cold attitude, he hesitated for a moment.
At that moment, Wu Ruini gently pressed on Li Longji’s shoulders from behind, increasing the pressure slightly. Li Longji understood what she meant and asked, “How is Prince Rong doing?”
Prince Rong was Li Wan. After the chaos in Shuofang, he fled eastward by boat to Hedong, narrowly escaping An Lushan’s blockade and reaching Chenliu. He had already served as the governor of Henan Province, so he decided to stay there permanently. He submitted a letter to the imperial court, expressing his willingness to continue serving as the governor.
Li Yu replied respectfully, “Your grandson believes that Sixth Uncle is often ill and should not be overworked, so he did not agree to let him resume his role as governor. He hopes Uncle will go to the capital to recover.”
“Did he listen to you?”
“Reporting to Emperor Taizu, your grandson has already sent people to deliver the decree, but there is no news yet.”
“And then?”
“Your grandson then appointed Zhang Jieran, the head of the Weiwei Temple, as the military governor of Henan and sent him to Chenliu to take up the position.”
Li Longji’s expression improved slightly, and he said, “Zhang Jieran is just a scholar; he likely cannot lead troops. I suggest choosing someone else.”
Li Yu immediately bowed and said, “Please give your instructions, Emperor Taizu!”
Li Longji remained silent for a while before deciding to drop the topic and turning to Li Qian. “Isn’t An Qingzong held hostage in Chang’an? We can use him to exchange for the Prince of Xiliang. Send a capable person to handle this as soon as possible.”
“Yes! Your grandson understands.”
Perhaps still satisfied with Li Yu’s attitude, Li Longji’s expression softened further. Seeing that Li Yu seemed hesitant, he said, “If you have anything to say, go ahead!”
Li Yu hesitantly said, “Recently, hundreds of farmers from Weinan County came to Chang’an to file complaints. They claim that the servants of Princess Huo seized hundreds of acres of fertile land and injured several hundred farmers. Among the seized lands is forty acres of farmland belonging to Qibao Mountain Villa. Your grandson has sent people to investigate, and it turns out to be true.”
Princess Huo was Li Longji’s sister, the oldest living princess, known as the Crown Princess. After divorcing her guilty husband Pei Xujи in the eighth year of the Kaiyuan era, she never remarried and was highly respected by Li Longji, who bestowed many gifts upon her. She owned large tracts of fertile land in Guanzhong. Li Longji’s expression darkened. Those servants clearly referred to Princess Huo occupying the land, meaning Li Yu wanted to target her.

Li Longji’s anger, which had already subsided, flared up again as he said coldly, “You are the current emperor. To kill or capture anyone is just a matter of your word. Why do you need to consult me? Go ahead! Kill whoever you want—wipe out all the princes and princesses without exception.”

Seeing his grandfather angry, Li Yu quickly knelt down and pleaded, “Grandfather, please calm down. Everything else may be negotiable, but Qibao Villa was a fief granted by you to Li Qing’an back then; it’s not appropriate to interfere with it rashly.”

It would have been fine if Li Yu hadn’t mentioned Li Qing’an. But once his name came up, Li Longji’s fury surged once more. Slamming the table, he said, “He already occupies Anxi—does he still think the land isn’t enough? You even want to give him more land in Guanzhong? Why not just give him the Daming Palace?”

Fueled by anger, Li Longji’s head began to spin again, and he nearly collapsed. Frightened, Li Yu kowtowed repeatedly, saying, “Grandfather, please calm down! Take care of your health first.”

Wu Ruini quickly supported Li Longji and said to Li Yu, “Your Majesty, you go first! Handle well the tasks your grandfather has assigned. I’ll take care of him.”

With no choice, Li Yu stood up and said, “Please take care, my late emperor. I’ll be leaving now.”

After saying that, he slowly retreated. Yu Chaoyen stepped forward immediately and said, “Your Majesty, let this servant lead you out.”

He led Li Yu outside. At that moment, Li Longji slowly opened one eye, staring at Yu Chaoyen’s flattering back. A murderous intent flashed in his eyes. Waving his hand, he said to Wu Ruini, “Find someone trustworthy to summon Gao Lishi for me.”

……

“Bang!”

Li Yu violently smashed a jade inkstone against the wall, sending shards flying everywhere. The eunuchs in the imperial study were terrified and crawled to the ground. They had never seen the emperor lose his temper so badly before.

Face turning ashen with rage, Li Yu growled in a low voice, “He has established vassal states and allowed others to seize land, resulting in the current situation where there’s no tax revenue. Now he even dares to interfere in my decisions. I’ll cut off his supplies and force him to ask those imperial relatives for money!”

Li Mi tried to calm him down, saying, “Your Majesty, please calm down first. Losing your temper like this won’t solve anything. Let’s discuss this further.”

Struggling to control his anger, Li Yu said slowly, “He is no longer an emperor, yet he still dares to interfere in my decisions. I can’t tolerate this. This time, I definitely won’t let him manipulate me anymore.”

“Your Majesty is right! Informing the late emperor about this is a sign of respect for him, but it’s still up to you to decide how to handle it.”

Li Yu nodded and immediately ordered those around him, “Go quickly and summon Prime Minister Wang, Prime Minister Li, and Deputy Minister Pei! Tell them I have important matters to discuss with them.”

As the new year passed, tax statistics from various regions began to arrive one after another. Due to the separatist rule of local warlords, the imperial court actually controlled only a small area—specifically Guannei Dao, Jingji, Longyou, Henan Fu, and Henan Dao. Many prosperous regions such as Hedong, Jianghuai, Jingxiang, and Shuzhong, even though taxes were collected by local officials, could hardly be transported to the capital, resulting in a significant reduction in tax revenue.

Moreover, the areas under the court’s control were precisely those where the nobles had seized the most land. Additionally, the taxes from Longyou and Guannei Dao had to support the armies in Shuofang and Longyou. The court’s real reliance was on Guanzhong and Henan. In the end, the tax revenue in the first year of the Dali era was less than 20% of previous years’ amounts—only about two million shi of rice and 500,000 guan in cash. This was a serious problem, as the annual expenses of the palace alone exceeded 500,000 guan, not to mention over one million shi of rice for court officials, plus more than three million shi in unpaid salaries from before, as well as over two million guan in emoluments. There was also the military expenditure for Li Yu’s 100,000 troops in Guanzhong.

The court was on the verge of running out of food. Officials’ salaries had not been paid for years. It was rumored that some low-ranking officials went to the markets at night to work for foreign merchants to support their families, undermining the authority of the government. It was already March, and within another half month, Li Yu would have to pay officials their salaries and emoluments. Since his ascension to the throne, he had not paid a single penny in salaries or emoluments. The military expenditure for 100,000 troops was also due in April. If there was still no money or food within half a month, officials would refuse to attend court, the army would rebel, and Li Yu would have to abdicate.

In fact, given Guanzhong’s prosperity, it should have been able to afford all these expenses. The problem was that there were almost no self-cultivating farmers in Guanzhong, cutting off the source of taxes. Only a few small and medium-sized landlords and their tenant farmers had to pay both rent and taxes, while most of the fertile land had been divided up among imperial relatives and high-ranking nobles, turning into manors where they never had to pay taxes. For this reason, Li Yu had issued three decrees demanding tax payments, but no one paid attention.

Now, cornered and desperate to maintain at least some semblance of imperial authority and to reclaim some benefits from the imperial relatives, Li Yu had no choice but to find someone to blame.

Coincidentally, at that time, hundreds of small landlords and their tenant farmers from Weinan County came to the capital to file complaints. Princess Huo had allowed her servants to seize hundreds of hectares of land, including 40 hectares of permanent farmland belonging to Li Qing’an. Given his extreme financial difficulties, Li Yu also needed Li Qing’an’s help, so he decided to use this powerless old princess as a scapegoat.

Moments later, Wang Gong, the Left Chancellor, Li Yan, the Minister of Justice, and Pei Min, the Deputy Minister of Revenue, hurried into the imperial study. “Your subjects pay their respects to Your Majesty!”

“Dukes, rise. Please take your seats.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
The eunuchs brought over several stools, and the three of them sat down. Li Bi also sat nearby. At that moment, Li Yu took out a memorial from Cui Guangyuan, the deputy governor of Jingzhao, and said to the three of them, “This is a memorial forwarded by Prime Minister Yang. Cui Guangyuan reported that hundreds of people in Weinan County have accused Princess Huo of using her slaves to seize land. I have already sent people to investigate secretly, and it turns out to be true. I am determined to use this as a case to impose severe punishment.”
Li Bi added with a smile, “Moreover, among these 300 hectares of land, 40 hectares belong to Li Qingan, the governor of Anxi. If Your Majesty does nothing, it will set a bad precedent of seizing officials’ permanent lands.”
The three high officials exchanged glances. Of course, they knew the real reason was that the imperial court’s finances were on the verge of collapse, and the emperor could only target some members of the royal family—Princess Huo just happened to be the target.
In fact, these three high officials were all loyal supporters of Li Yu. Li Yu had called them here to tell them the truth.
Pei Min pondered for a moment and said, “I wonder how far Your Majesty intends to go. Does he want to punish Princess Huo, or just her slaves, as a show?”
Li Yan also said, “I share the same concern. What is Your Majesty’s true intention?”
Li Yu waved his hand, asking the eunuchs to leave. He said to the three of them, “I have already investigated. Princess Huo owns thirty estates in Guanzhong, covering at least 3,000 hectares of land. There is at least a million bushels of grain in her warehouses, and she has countless amounts of gold, silver, and copper coins. I intend to punish Princess Huo severely for seizing land to relieve my urgent financial difficulties.”
At that moment, Wang Gong, who had remained silent until then, spoke up, “But since this involves Li Qingan, things might get a bit complicated.”
“I know. Let Li Qingan share this burden with me!”