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

From the time Yang Guozhong took charge of the Ministry of Revenue, the Grand Canal, and the Salt and Iron Commissions in the 26th year of the Kaiyuan era until his case was uncovered in the 36th year of the Kaiyuan era, over a period of ten years, due to Yang's harsh policies, land annexation, heavy taxes, forced conscription of labor, interception of disaster relief grain, and misuse of postal services, more than 2,917,400 households were forced to abandon their homeland and flee.

Completely severing ties with their original homes, fleeing famine in the mountains, and becoming tenant farmers dependent on powerful families: more than 1,698,300 households.

Families who wandered from place to place, begging on the streets, and had no fixed land or residence: more than 692,700 households.

More than 80% of the displaced people fled because the Yang family members forcibly seized fertile land, imposed heavy taxes, and forcibly conscripted laborers.

"Your Majesty, do you still believe the world is at peace?"

"this……"

Li Longji knew that Yang Guozhong was greedy, but he never expected Yang Guozhong to be this greedy.

This data is truly alarming.

He looked at Yang Guozhong with a hint of disappointment. He had given Yang Guozhong so many rewards on a daily basis, wasn't that enough for him to spend?

It's one thing to be greedy, but to be so greedy is another.

It's one thing to be greedy, but to be caught red-handed and have evidence against you!

What a useless piece of trash! You're such a good-for-nothing!

"This might have been done by someone below without Guozhong's knowledge. We need to investigate this thoroughly."

Li Longji defended it.

"Your Majesty, the evidence is conclusive, with witnesses and physical evidence, including Yang Guozhong's signature and seal. The evidence is irrefutable."

Li Longji said.

"This might be a forgery. This matter has far-reaching implications, and I think we should investigate it thoroughly."

"Guozhong, what do you think?"

Li Longji hinted to Yang Guozhong.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not true."

"I am innocent! Someone must be framing me!"

"Your Majesty, I am utterly loyal and have no disloyal intentions. I have never engaged in any corruption or illegal activities. All my actions have been in accordance with the laws of the court. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"

Yang Guozhong knelt down with a thud and said to Li Longji with a wronged expression.

He harbored a deep grudge against Du Fu and vowed to make Du Fu pay the price for this. He would retaliate against all of Du Fu's family members and make Du Fu spend the rest of his life in endless regret.

"There is no need for further investigation. The witnesses are right outside the palace. Your Majesty can find out with a simple question."

Du Fu said coldly, "They have already made all the preparations. Yang Guozhong will definitely fall today, as Du Fu has said."

Forced into a corner, Li Longji had no choice but to summon the witnesses from outside to the court.

All of Yang Guozhong's crimes were true, and Li Bai, Du Fu, and others had prepared extremely detailed accounts, so there were naturally no mistakes.

In the imperial court, before the emperor, the person involved, and all the high-ranking officials, Yang Guozhong's crimes were condemned.

This completely cemented Yang Guozhong's place on the pillar of historical shame, making him one of the most notorious traitors in Chinese history.

Even though Li Longji tried his best to protect him, he had to consider whether it was worth it to confront so many officials head-on for the sake of Yang Guozhong, given the support of most of the officials in the court.

At the same time, he also felt the taste of losing power. He couldn't even protect his brother, who was favored by his concubine, in the court. This was undoubtedly a challenge to his power as emperor.

He looked at Du Fu and said, "Tell me, how do you intend to try Guo Zhong?"

"Your Majesty, it's not about how we want to judge him, but how the law of the land should judge him."

"All my actions are for the purpose of upholding and protecting the law of the land, not for personal vendettas."

Du Fu said disappointedly.

Yang Guozhong's crimes were laid bare, yet Li Longji still wanted to protect him.

"snort!"

Li Longji snorted coldly, "Then how should the sentence be according to the law?"

"Immediately dismiss Yang Guozhong from all official positions, reclaim all authority over the Ministry of Revenue, the Grand Canal, and the tribute system, and transfer him to the Three Departments for joint trial to investigate his years of corruption."

"Investigate all the officials promoted and demoted by Yang Guozhong, verify them one by one, demote those who should be demoted, promote those who should be promoted, and punish those who should be punished."

Du Fu spoke slowly.

"Granted."

Li Longji gritted his teeth and spat out those two words, his heart filled with raging anger.

Yang Guozhong, lying on the ground, was deathly pale. "Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"Most of the money I embezzled went into the palace, and I gave the precious antiques and curiosities to Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine."

"My crimes do not lie in this!"

"Your Majesty, save me! Please spare my life!"

"Your Majesty, I am willing to offer all my family's wealth to you."

Yang Guozhong finally panicked. He began to realize that the emperor's favor did not mean he could rest easy and do whatever he wanted.

His value was not high enough to cause Li Longji and the entire court to turn against him.

Li Longji closed his eyes, forcing himself not to look at Yang Guozhong on the ground.

"Do any of you ministers have anything else to report?"

Du Fu remained standing there, showing no intention of returning to the queue.

Li Longji opened his eyes and looked at Du Fu with a puzzled expression.

Du Fu bowed and continued, "Your Majesty, Yang Guozhong's calamity has not been solely his fault. The eunuchs in the inner palace, long serving at Your Majesty's side, have colluded with you both inside and outside the court, fueling the chaos and allowing extravagance and oppressive policies to escalate. They are in cahoots with the Yang family, poisoning the people; their crimes are equally countless!"

"When Yang Guozhong first took office as the Minister of Revenue, he repeatedly asked eunuchs to send gold, silver and precious jewels into the inner palace. The eunuch Wang Chengen would then relay the messages, praising Yang's competence before the emperor every day and concealing the truth about the exploitation of the salt and grain transport. Whenever a secret memorial from the local government impeached Yang Guozhong and was sent to the palace, it would first be screened by the Inner Palace Attendants Bureau. The eunuchs would intercept all of them, only reporting auspicious omens and not mentioning the suffering of the people."

"In the twenty-seventh year of the Kaiyuan era, eunuchs were ordered to go to Jiangnan to purchase silk and satin. Instead of allocating funds from the national treasury, they forced the people of Suzhou and Hangzhou to hand over two bolts of brocade to each household. Those who could not pay were forced to detain the male members of their households for corvée labor. In Jiangnan alone, 12,000 households were forced to abandon their homes and flee."

"In the 28th year of the Kaiyuan era, eunuchs went to Jiannan to purchase jade and spices. The prefectures and counties along the way had to provide them with 100 taels of silver as travel expenses. Officials passed on the tax burden layer by layer, and more than 5,000 farming households in Jiannan were displaced."

"The eunuchs added layers of markups to the daily purchases of firewood, fresh fruit, and utensils in the palace. What was originally a purchase expense of 10,000 strings of cash was reported to the national treasury as 50,000 strings of cash, and the difference was divided up among the eunuchs."

"In just four years, the eunuchs embezzled a total of 1.13 million strings of cash from the national treasury for procurement, which can be verified one by one in the Ministry of Revenue's accounts."

"Military reports from the border must first pass through the hands of eunuchs. In the 29th year of the Kaiyuan era, the Hexi region reported a shortage of food and fodder. The eunuch Yu Chaoen suppressed the report for three days and first sent someone to inform Yang Guozhong to withhold military pay, which resulted in the soldiers at the front having no clothes in the cold winter and almost instigated a mutiny."

"Whenever an official or censor dared to speak frankly and remonstrate with the emperor, or impeach a relative of the empress or an eunuch, the eunuch would constantly slander him before the emperor and urge His Majesty to demote the loyal and upright officials to the remote wilderness. Of the 165 officials who had been suppressed before, the demotion of 73 of them was all fueled by the presence of eunuchs."

"We beg Your Majesty to punish him severely!"

After impeaching Yang Guozhong, Du Fu went on to impeach the eunuchs, which triggered Li Longji's still-developing political sense.

This is just Du Fu; why didn't Li Bai step forward?

There's only one answer: Du Fu was just the vanguard; Li Bai's target was him!