A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

After raising the money, Li Bai handed it all over to Du Fu, asking Du Fu to help him manage it.

Du Fu followed behind Li Shande, and after Li Shande finished his work, he paid back all the expenses incurred by the lychee orchards in Lingnan and the people at the post stations along the way.

They also obtained firsthand evidence of Yang Guozhong's embezzlement and bribery.

The list of conscripted laborers in Lingnan prefectures and counties, the account book of extra expenses incurred in the canal transport, the documents of excessive levies imposed on post stations along the way, the appeals and petitions of displaced people, and the correspondence between local officials and Yang Guozhong...

At the same time, Li Bai also ordered officials from various regions to secretly search for a large amount of evidence of Yang Guozhong's crimes, with both witnesses and physical evidence.

In order to ensure the complete downfall of Yang Guozhong and to thoroughly awaken Li Longji, Li Bai also allied with the aristocratic class.

For those friendly aristocratic families, Li Bai appealed to their emotions and reasoned with them.

Yang Guozhong was powerful and had swallowed up the interests of many aristocratic families. What was even more despicable was that this guy had no martial ethics, no sense of political rules, and acted recklessly.

Yang Guozhong was unaware of the unspoken rules among various families because of his humble background.

Furthermore, relying on Yang Guifei's favor and Li Longji's heavy reliance on him, he became lawless and acted recklessly.

They will stop at nothing to frame and slander others.

For the sake of money and resources, it is common for them to resort to trickery and force to seize them.

Although powerful families are greedy, they still have rules and bottom lines. Many of them would not stoop to blatantly oppressing the common people.

But Yang Guozhong is different; he's just a nouveau riche. What does he know? What does he understand?

They would seize resources without any scruples, even resorting to blatant robbery. They would fabricate charges against ordinary people and confiscate all their property.

In some places, small wealthy families are subjected to various forms of taxation and extortion; if they refuse, their families are ruined and their lives are lost.

These powerful families naturally expressed their support in dealing with Yang Guozhong.

With the support of powerful families, Li Bai continued his preparations.

He secretly spread the word about Yang Guozhong's extra rationing during this lychee transfer, making it known to everyone in the country.

They also exposed all the evil deeds he committed, such as plundering land from people all over the country.

Furthermore, Wang Wei instructed the students of the Imperial Academy to use poetry and prose to satirize extravagance and ridicule the chaotic government. The poems circulated in Luoyang, and the literati of the Qingliu school collectively composed poems in response, causing a sensation among the scholars.

Yang Guozhong reacted quickly and soon realized that this was aimed at him.

He ordered an investigation while simultaneously carrying out a bloody crackdown.

Anyone who raised this issue was arrested by him on various charges, and he even wanted to beat them to death in the street so that others could see the consequences of speaking out of turn.

But whenever his subordinates acted this way, someone would always step forward to stop them. There weren't many people who could mobilize such a large number of people in Luoyang.

Li Bai made no attempt to hide anything, openly admitting that he was determined to get back at Yang Guozhong.

Yang Guozhong was naturally able to sense Li Bai's provocation. He, Yang Guozhong, was no longer the ignorant fool he once was. What could Li Bai do about it?

I, Yang Guozhong, am the emperor's brother-in-law. Who's afraid of who?

He really thinks he's the Prince of Yan, huh?!

Tensions were high between the two sides.

Yang Guifei's birthday celebration slowly arrived in this atmosphere.

After overcoming numerous hardships and traversing countless mountains and rivers, Li Shande finally succeeded in delivering the lychees to Luoyang City before the final deadline.

Li Bai stood on the city gate of Luoyang, watching Li Shande's retreating figure as he rushed towards him.

Looking back at Chang'an, it's like a tapestry of embroidered hills, with a thousand gates opening one after another atop the mountain.

After riding the red dust princess smiled, no one knew it was Litchi.

The next day, the morning court session began.

After the routine matters were reported one by one, Li Longji was about to leave the court when he found that Du Fu suddenly stood up.

"Dr. Du, what do you wish to report?"

Li Longji asked with some dissatisfaction.

This Du Fu really showed him no respect. Yesterday was Yang Guifei's birthday, and he held such a grand celebration. It was time for him to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Now he's suddenly extended the court session again. Doesn't he want to hurry off to enjoy the song and dance performances of his beloved Yang Guifei?

They have absolutely no sense of propriety.

"Your Majesty, when Emperor Taizong was emperor, he had specific requirements for the tributes sent from various regions."

"The total value of the annual tribute from a prefecture shall not exceed fifty bolts of silk, and all of it shall be purchased with public funds from the government. No additional taxes or corvée labor shall be imposed on the people."

"The tribute was only for ancestral temple sacrifices and state banquets, and not for the emperor's private entertainment."

"Nowadays, in order to win a smile from the Consort, His Majesty has ordered people to transport fresh lychees from Lingnan, which is 7,600 miles away. The process involves adding extra costs and extra rations at each level. For just a few lychees in this dish, more than 300 lychee trees were cut down in Lingnan."

"According to the national policy set by Emperor Taizong, the compensation for these more than three hundred lychee trees should be paid by the national treasury, and the travel expenses during the journey should also be paid by the national treasury. No additional taxes or corvée labor should be imposed on the people."

"However, the Right Chancellor actually ordered the people around the post station to pay for six months' worth of expenses around the post station and to impose additional corvée labor. If they did not want to perform corvée labor, they could only pay a full two strings of cash for lychees."

"Through this, the Right Chancellor extorted more than 50,000 strings of cash from the people. Apart from some of it being used for transporting lychees, the rest all went into the Right Chancellor's pocket."

"May I ask Your Majesty, what is the crime?!"

Du Fu, with his upright character and righteous spirit, questioned the emperor in the imperial court.

"yawn!"

After listening to Du Fu's words, Li Longji yawned.

He thought it was something serious. It's just a small matter.

"Just order the Right Chancellor to make up for all of this. It's a trivial matter; why bring it up in court?"

Li Longji said nonchalantly.

"It's nothing!"

Upon hearing Li Longji's words, Du Fu was immediately enraged: "This matter concerns the livelihoods of tens of thousands of households, and it is caused by the corruption of the court, Your Majesty's improper appointment of officials, and the rule of treacherous officials."

"Your Majesty considers this a trivial matter?!"

"May I ask, Your Majesty, what is of utmost importance?!"

"Is it only when the world is in chaos and the people rise up in rebellion that it can be considered a major event?"

Du Fu was so angry that his beard trembled. He never expected that, right here in the imperial court, Li Longji would say that the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of people were a trivial matter.

"Du Fu, how dare you!"

Li Longji never expected that someone would say that his rule would lead to chaos and that the people would rise up in rebellion!

Li Longji personally experienced the three great upheavals of Empress Wu, Empress Wei, and Princess Taiping, and launched two coups to establish the Tang Dynasty. He personally ended decades of turmoil in the court and single-handedly created the prosperous Kaiyuan era, where all nations paid tribute to him.

Although the Tang Dynasty was founded by Li Yuan and Li Shimin, it reached its peak under his rule.

Li Yuan conquered the country with the help of his son, which is nothing special.

Although Li Shimin ushered in the Zhenguan era of prosperity, he also had the stain of the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Only Li Longji could restore order and bring the whole world to submission. His civil and military achievements were flawless.

Throughout history, no emperor can compare to him.

Not to mention his mastery of political maneuvering; all the civil and military officials in the court were merely pawns in his game.

His rule will last for thousands of generations and will never change!