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

Why?

Li Bai asked, puzzled.

"Because we can't extract those experiences from his mind. If we can't extract them, then those experiences and memories will continue to affect him."

"Taibai, do you know what the most stubborn person in the world is?"

Wei Mai chuckled lightly.

"The Emperor and the Old Man."

Before Li Bai could answer, Wei Mai spoke directly.

"His Majesty possesses both qualities now."

"Taibai, after Yang Guozhong and Gao Lishi fell from power, His Majesty has no cards to play, so he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. You need to be careful from now on."

"If you really want to change the court, you'll probably have to start teaching the Crown Prince now. I've observed the Crown Prince closely today, and he's just an average person, not up to the task."

"Your Majesty's other princes are not particularly outstanding either. Only the grandson is still young. If he is properly taught, he may be able to improve in the future."

Li Bai hadn't expected Wei Mai to think so far ahead, not only observing the Crown Prince but also the other princes of His Majesty.

Even the imperial grandson has been taken a liking to.

Li Bai naturally trusted his senior brother's judgment without a doubt.

"There's one more thing, Taibai."

Wei Mai suddenly became serious, and his tone became somewhat solemn.

Seeing this, Li Bai also stopped smiling, pricked up his ears, and listened to Wei Mai's story.

"Taibai, your attention has been focused on the imperial court lately, and you haven't paid much attention to the local areas, especially the movements of the various military governors."

"A military governor?"

Li Bai frowned slightly. Ever since Li Longji officially confirmed the Jiedushi system, those Jiedushi on the border had seized both military and political power, and had long since become de facto regional lords.

However, the Tang Dynasty has not yet reached the stage of numerous warlords rising up like at the end of the Han Dynasty. The court still has the power to easily dismiss military governors and take back their power. Therefore, although Li Bai was dissatisfied with the military governor system, he was not too worried about it at the moment.

But Wei Mai brought this up so cautiously, could it be that someone is plotting a rebellion?!

"The military governors held military and political power in their respective regions and were essentially local warlords."

"Especially the earliest batch of military governors, such as An Lushan, the military governor of Pinglu, who had been in this position for more than ten years."

"For more than a decade, he controlled the local military and political affairs. Now, Pinglu has reached the point where people only know An Lushan and not the imperial court."

"If they don't act rashly, that's fine, but if someone harbors rebellious intentions, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Wei Mai reminded him.

"Senior brother, I understand."

Li Bai gave a bitter laugh, never expecting that he would end up as a powerful minister.

Wei Mai meant the same thing: to make him a powerful minister, to properly educate the imperial grandson, and then, when the current emperor passed away, to directly support the wise imperial grandson to ascend the throne and honor the crown prince as the retired emperor.

In the days leading up to His Majesty's passing, he was determined to be a powerful minister and seize control of the court.

At the same time, after seizing control of the court, he transferred the military governors from various regions to the capital or exchanged them among themselves to prevent them from having the power to threaten the central court.

……

Upon returning to his palace, Li Longji realized that he no longer had any support to rely on.

He immediately wrote two letters, affixed his private seal, and handed them to the few people he could still trust, asking them to deliver them to An Lushan, the military governor of Pinglu, and Shi Siming, the military governor of Fanyang.

The letter ordered An Lushan and Shi Siming to lead troops south to the capital to purge the emperor's inner circle of corrupt officials.

At the same time, he also prepared to disband the Imperial Guards and transfer some troops from the Pinglu military governor An Lushan and the Fanyang military governor Shi Siming to replenish the Imperial Guards.

Li Longji planned to use an outsider's pawn to smash the chessboard and restart the game.

Soon after, this would become something he deeply regretted, and Li Longji's reckless behavior finally brought him the punishment he deserved.

When An Lushan received Li Longji's letter, he was startled, thinking that Li Longji had discovered his years of preparations.

Thinking about whether he should prepare his valuables and flee abroad with his personal guards, he decided to do so.

However, the imperial court did not attack, which gave him a glimmer of hope. When his men in Luoyang informed him of the events at court with great speed, they arrived.

Only then did he realize what had happened in the court. He breathed a sigh of relief, understanding that Li Longji truly wanted him to go south to the capital to serve the emperor, rather than using him as bait to arrest him.

This is like a godsend, a perfect opportunity.

He was still worried. The border troops of the Tang Dynasty were still very strong, and the Imperial Guards were all elites from the battlefield. It would be extremely difficult for him to start a rebellion.

Unexpectedly, he really did have a destiny bestowed upon him.

Li Longji secretly ordered him and Shi Siming to go south. He was ordered to go to the capital to defend the emperor. Before being completely exposed, it would be safe to send the army to Luoyang.

After the main force was brought to Luoyang, the border troops were powerless to reach it.

The only thing he was worried about was the imperial guards. Now that the imperial guards had been disbanded by Li Longji, wouldn't the entire city of Luoyang be at his mercy?

Can such a good thing really happen?

This was so good that An Lushan became somewhat insecure, even suspecting that his intelligence agents had been bribed and were deliberately setting him up.

After verifying the information multiple times and gathering information from various sources, he discovered that it was actually true!

Is the world really this magical?!

Am I really the protagonist of this era?

There's a saying, isn't there? What comes from the unity of heaven and earth?

What are we waiting for? An Lushan wrote a letter to Shi Siming, and the two of them raised a large army and began their southward march.

……

On the other hand, the trial of the Yang clan and the eunuch faction alone took a full month.

After review by the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, a total of 976 pieces of evidence were confirmed, with the amount of embezzlement and bribery totaling nearly 100 million guan.

Each piece of evidence is backed by substantial evidence, including witness testimonies and physical evidence.

After the memorial was submitted to Emperor Xuanzong (Li Longji), the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review pronounced judgment on him in accordance with the law.

Yang Guozhong was stripped of all his official titles and ranks, reduced to a commoner, imprisoned in Dali Prison, and executed in the autumn.

Yang Xian, Yang Qi, Yang Xuan, and other direct descendants of the Yang family were all dismissed from their official posts and stripped of their titles, and exiled to the far north, to the desolate and bitterly cold frozen land.

All officials who had been entrenched in the Yang family were dismissed, and the vacancies were filled by officials newly selected by the Ministry of Personnel.

The Yang family seized tens of thousands of hectares of salt fields, tidal flats, and private land, all of which were returned to the government and the people in various places.

All 213 officials who were affiliated with the Yang family—prefects, governors, and magistrates—were dismissed, held accountable, and had their property confiscated.

After Yang Guifei entered the palace, the powerful Yang family, who had dominated the court for more than a decade and controlled the government, were completely uprooted and vanished.

The once powerful Yang family, whose influence was so great that the court was full of sycophants and whose residence was always bustling with visitors, was completely wiped out overnight, leaving not a trace.

The power of the eunuchs was no less than that of the Yang family, and they were also uprooted during this opportunity.