LFHYB -Chapter 215 The People of Luoyang Are Too Excited

Li Xuanba learned of Li Mi’s fate even earlier than Li Shimin.

While fleeing toward the Turks, Li Mi learned halfway that Li Shimin had already captured Xieli Khan. He then hired several Turkic guides and tried to flee west to the Western Turks instead.

Unexpectedly, those guides took his money—and that very night, cut off his head and exchanged it with Tang troops for a reward, behaving “cunningly” like common people in times of peace.

One Turkic merchant who spoke Chinese even mocked Li Mi to the Tang soldiers:

“He actually said in front of all of us that he was the Heavenly Khagan’s enemy and wanted to join the Western Turks to fight him. Wasn’t he practically begging us to kill him for the reward?”

Li Zhao happened to be stationed nearby, and Changsun Sheng was there as well.

Li Mi had once been close to Yang Su. Changsun Sheng had connections with Yang Su and had met Li Mi several times. Although Li Mi looked somewhat different from a decade earlier, Changsun Sheng was good at recognizing people and immediately identified the corpse as Li Mi.

Knowing that Li Mi had once plotted to assassinate Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun, he sent Li Mi’s body to Chang’an and informed Li Xuanba of the good news.

The weather was hot, and by the time the corpse reached Chang’an, it had already decomposed.

Li Xuanba covered his mouth and nose and glanced at it. He could no longer make out Li Mi’s appearance.

Li Mi belonged to the Longxi Li clan. However, it was a huge clan, with members scattered across the country who might never speak to one another in their lives.

In fact, the current Li-Tang imperial family also belonged to the Longxi Li clan in the genealogical records. If one insisted on tracing relations, they and Li Mi were technically of the same lineage. Naturally, Li Xuanba would not take out his anger on the clan.

When Li Mi had followed Yang Xuangan in rebellion, his relatives had already been purged by Yang Guang. Now, there were no close relatives of Li Mi left in Chang’an.

Li Xuanba thought for a moment. First, he had Li Mi’s remains cremated to prevent the spread of disease. Then he buried the ashes in a paupers’ graveyard and erected a tombstone. If Li Mi’s relatives ever came to collect his remains, they might at least be able to find the place.

He knew that the fire in Hedong Prefecture had been set by Li Mi. But so many years had passed, and they had long since served different masters. Although he would certainly have killed Li Mi—he would even have found a chance to do so if Li Mi had surrendered—he did not actually harbor much hatred toward him. It was simply a matter of repaying a grievance with revenge.

Now that Li Mi was dead, Li Xuanba let the matter go.

When Yuwen Zhu learned that Li Xuanba had even buried Li Mi’s ashes, she was so angry that she wrote him a letter, scolding him for the first time.

She still remembered how dangerous things had been for Li Xuanba back then. She had shed countless tears for him and had once thought they would be separated by life and death.

After learning that Li Mi had started the fire, Yuwen Zhu had clenched her teeth for years, waiting for a chance to take revenge. Yet now Li Xuanba was acting as if nothing had happened and had even given Li Mi a proper burial?!

Li Xuanba did not think burying ashes in a mass grave counted as a “proper burial,” but at this moment… well, it was better to obediently admit his mistake.

When Li Shimin learned of Li Mi’s fate, he also wrote a letter scolding Li Xuanba, saying he would personally come back and dig up Li Mi’s grave.

Li Xuanba had no patience with his second brother. He wrote back and scolded Li Shimin in return, using twice as many words.

Dou Huiming laughed until tears came to her eyes.

“He’s just talking. He won’t really do it. You showed your kindness and magnanimity and earned praise from the scholars. For your sake, he’ll pinch his nose and act generous too.”

Li Xuanba said, “I know. But if he scolds me, I’ll scold him back.”

Dou Huiming covered her mouth and laughed. “Alright, alright. Scold him then.”

Consort Wan was peeling the lychees that Chai Shao had sent. Li Zhiyun, this unfilial son, only knew how to open his mouth and eat, like a foolish mama’s boy.

Hearing this, Li Zhiyun swallowed the lychee pulp and said, “I’m not afraid of bad reputation. I’ll go dig it up.”

“Just eat your lychees.” Li Xuanba plucked one from the potted lychee tree and stuffed it, shell and all, into Li Zhiyun’s mouth.

Lychees spoiled easily. Tribute lychees were usually sent as fruit-bearing potted trees so they could stay fresh longer.

When the lychees began to bear fruit, Chai Shao had already arranged for the potted trees to be delivered. By the time they reached Chang’an, they were almost ripe.

Unfortunately, even if the trees were replanted and survived, they would not bear fruit the next year. That was why lychees were extremely precious. Even the emperor rewarded people by counting them one by one.

Li Xuanba ate a lychee. Though it was said to be fresh since it was still on the tree, he still felt it had a hint of rot. It tasted completely different from the lychees in his memory.

When he had been working as a marketing-account editor in his previous life, he had already paid off his debts and his finances had improved. During lychee season, he could afford to eat them. Moreover, when he had worked in the south, lychees had been so cheap they rotted on the trees. There was even a time when he was so poor that he ate lychees with rice as if they were vegetables, so sweet it made his stomach turn.

Thinking back on it now, Li Xuanba felt that even those hardships had not been so bad.

At least he had been able to eat fresh lychees until he was sick of them.

Because of those memories, Li Xuanba did not like lychees much and gave his share to Li Zhiyun, who loved sweets.

Li Zhiyun’s tastes were the same as Li Shimin’s—both had an extreme sweet tooth. Li Xuanba, on the other hand, preferred light flavors.

When Li Shimin received Li Xuanba’s scolding letter, Li Xuanba had also sent dried lychees.

He ate a piece and smiled, saying to Gao Jiong, “A-Xuan still has such a bad temper.”

Gao Jiong nodded. Seeing that Dade still had such a temper toward Daxiong, he felt relieved. At least the brothers’ relationship had not changed.

Li Shimin said, “Mother has already relented and no longer opposes having A-Xuan help me educate the Crown Prince. Once Mother agrees, A-Xuan won’t be able to stir up trouble.”

Gao Jiong sighed. “I hope your position as heir will not face any more setbacks in the future.”

Li Shimin smiled. “Even if there are setbacks again, I’ll only blame myself, not others.”

After hearing this, Gao Jiong felt a little embarrassed.

He comforted him, “If he is taught well, the Crown Prince will surely be outstanding.”

Li Shimin seemed to recall something and said with a strange expression, “Back when I asked A-Xuan to be my son’s teacher, I told him the same thing. A-Xuan replied: ‘If you give me a Li Yuanji, how should I deal with him?’”

Gao Jiong: “?!”

Li Shimin said, “What else could I do? Of course, I beat A-Xuan up hard!”

Gao Jiong fell silent for a while, then said grimly, “You beat him well!”

…

“Achoo!” Li Xuanba rubbed his nose. “No need to guess—Second Brother must be badmouthing me.”

Gao Shengdao could not help but laugh.

Before meeting Li Xuanba, he had heard many rumors about him—how he was monstrously intelligent, extremely resourceful, and prematurely mature.

After spending some time with him, he finally understood why his younger brother always looked at Li Shimin and Li Xuanba with an indulgent, doting expression. He did not know Li Shimin well, but Li Xuanba was indeed very childlike.

After scolding his second brother a few more times, Li Xuanba continued assigning tasks to Gao Shengdao.

Since Teacher Gao had already delivered the people into his hands, how could he not squeeze them for labor? Unfortunately, his own in-laws’ family was used to a leisurely life and not easy to make use of.

Among the four teachers’ families, only his father-in-law’s family went unscratched. This made Li Xuanba feel rather dissatisfied.

“The charity auction and charity ranking will probably follow this process. Is there anything you still don’t understand, Brother Gao?” Li Xuanba asked.

Gao Shengdao again advised, “You can just call me by my courtesy name. There’s no need to be so formal.”

Li Xuanba smiled. “How many times have you said that, Brother? And how many times have I answered? Aren’t you tired of it? I call you ‘Brother’ not out of politeness, but out of closeness. I even call Third Brother Gao my senior brother.”

Gao Shengdao sighed. “Alright. I basically understand now. I just need practice. If anything is unclear, I’ll come ask you again.”

The “charity” that Li Xuanba proposed sounded novel, but upon closer thought, its meaning was simple: to use the vanity of the powerful, exchange honor for their money, and use it to relieve the poor.

This was, in essence, “reducing what is excessive to supplement what is lacking.”

Gao Shengdao reread the proposal Li Xuanba had written, then suddenly frowned.

“Dade, I believe you can use this money properly. But if it falls into the hands of someone with bad intentions, it could become a new tool for exploitation and oppression.”

Li Xuanba replied, “That’s how charity works. It’s called charity, but in reality, it’s fundraising. The so-called donations from nobles are returned in full, and then the organizers split the profits with them, seventy–thirty. That’s the true face of charity.”

Gao Shengdao looked at Li Xuanba in silence.

Li Xuanba continued, “All policies in this world are like this. In the hands of good people, they become good deeds. In the hands of bad people, they become evil. All we can do is make sure that while they’re in our hands, they’re used to save people.”

Gao Shengdao sighed. “You’re very open-minded. Is that because you can read prophecies and see the future?”

Li Xuanba joked, “What I see isn’t the future, but a different path of development from this world’s. So it’s not wrong to call me a fraud.”

Gao Shengdao also joked, “That makes sense. Do you mind if I ask about my future in another world?”

Li Xuanba said, “You’ll be exiled by Yang Guang to Liucheng in the northern frontier and die there of illness.”

The corner of Gao Shengdao’s mouth twitched. “In the future you see, is there really nothing good?”

He had long heard his third brother secretly complain that almost none of Li Xuanba’s ‘prophecies’ for his friends contained good news.

Li Xuanba said, “Of course there is. They just remember the bad parts. Didn’t I say Fang Xuanling and Du Keming would become chancellors, and my second brother would become emperor? Isn’t that good news?”

Gao Shengdao felt that Li Xuanba’s words were quite philosophical.

Indeed, Li Xuanba had made many good predictions, but people remembered the bad ones more clearly. That was why rumors spread that his prophecies never contained anything good.

After leaving, Gao Shengdao sighed to many people about this matter, saying that Li Xuanba had been misunderstood.

He also explained that Li Xuanba had once admitted that the future he saw was one in which he himself did not exist. Since that future had already been changed, his prophecies and physiognomy had become “illusory words.” Others did not need to feel as if Li Xuanba could see through everything and therefore distance themselves from him.

As the successor of Gao Jiong, Gao Shengdao enjoyed a great reputation, and many people echoed his words.

With Gao Shengdao’s active advocacy, fewer people tried to curry favor with Li Xuanba for fortune-telling. In the capital, people gradually treated his “prophecies” and “face-reading” as casual after-dinner jokes.

Li Xuanba noticed everything Gao Shengdao had done and kept it in mind.

He did not care about public opinion. None of it could harm him. In fact, the more people feared him, the quieter his life became.

Still, Big Brother Gao’s thoughtfulness warmed his heart.

The two senior disciples in Teacher Gao’s family really seemed like perfect elder brothers who had stepped out of the books of sages.

After hearing Gao Shengdao’s remarks, Fang Qiao, Du Ruhui, and the others actually came to apologize to Li Xuanba. They said they had not meant to complain and had only spoken carelessly, and that they never truly believed he only foretold bad things.

Li Xuanba said, “Actually, I do tell you bad things more often. Bad things need to be changed, while good things don’t. So knowing the bad is enough. But since you’ve sincerely come to apologize, it would be embarrassing if I didn’t take something in return.”

With that, he brought out the construction plan for Huaqing Palace ahead of time and assigned Fang Qiao and Du Ruhui to supervise the project despite their busy schedules.

Huaqing Palace was the hot spring imperial villa at the foot of Mount Li. It dated back to the time of Qin Shi Huang but had long fallen into ruin.

After Li Shimin became emperor, it was difficult for him to build new palaces for himself. But if he rebuilt a hot spring palace in the name of honoring the Retired Emperor, no one would oppose it.

After the earthquake, disaster victims needed resettlement. With all of Li Xuanba’s preparations, there was enough relief grain to support people doing physical labor. Under the banner of building a palace for the Retired Emperor, they could implement work-for-relief—helping the refugees while also polishing the reputation for “filial piety.”

Although Fang Qiao and Du Ruhui were already overwhelmed with work, they still accepted the new assignment to show their sincerity.

Li Xuanba, however, was sharp-tongued. He told everyone that he had originally planned to give this task to Li Zhiyun so that Fang Xuanling and Du Keming could rest a little. Since they had come to him on their own, it meant they didn’t want a break anyway.

He even sighed that perhaps Fang Xuanling and Du Keming had deliberately come to apologize just to get more work.

The two ministers, already famous for “Fang’s planning and Du’s decisions,” privately met for drinks and cursed Li Xuanba whenever he was mentioned.

After capturing Luoyang, Li Shimin originally planned to return to the capital. But when he learned that Li Xuanba and the others were using the earthquake to boost his reputation, he sighed, “The people’s lives are so hard,” and continued southward.

Li Jing had basically conquered the Yangtze River region and was now negotiating with the powerful clans controlling Lingnan.

Lingnan’s terrain was rugged, its climate hot and humid, and miasma was widespread, making it difficult to conquer. Fortunately, its actual ruler, Feng Ang, was loyal to the Central Plains and did not wish to establish an independent regime, so negotiations were possible.

Feng Ang might not be very famous in later generations, but his grandmother, Lady Xian, was legendary.

Lady Xian was a leader of the Li people and married Feng Bao, the governor of Gaoliang Commandery. This marked the beginning of intermarriage between the Han and Li peoples in Lingnan.

After Feng Bao’s death, Lady Xian pacified the Baiyue tribes, suppressed rebellions, cracked down on powerful clans, and promoted Sinicization. She greatly advanced Lingnan’s production techniques and social culture. She was ennobled by the Liang, Chen, and Sui dynasties, served as a general under the Chen, and was granted the title Lady of Qiao by Emperor Wen of Sui. She was allowed to establish her own administrative staff and commanded the military forces of six Lingnan prefectures.

Most duchesses were ennobled because of their husbands. In Lady Xian’s case, it was the opposite: because of her achievements, her late husband was posthumously granted noble titles in successive dynasties.

Since the Central Plains dynasty still could not fully control remote regions like Lingnan, these areas were governed under the jimi (loose rein) system, allowing minority leaders to rule themselves. As long as Feng Ang submitted his letter of surrender to Tang, there would be no need for war in Lingnan.

Lingnan was far from the Central Plains, and Feng Ang was gathering information. Being half Han, and though his family would continue guarding Lingnan for generations, he still hoped that some of his descendants could return to the heartland. Therefore, as long as Tang had truly secured the realm, he would certainly submit.

Li Jing admired Lady Xian’s family for their generations of loyalty and righteousness, and was therefore willing to give Feng Ang more time.

Li Shimin personally traveled south to accept Feng Ang’s surrender. Feng Ang was extremely nervous and uneasy. With a mournful face, he said to Li Jing, “Did I surrender too late?”

Li Jing comforted him, saying, “Lingnan is isolated and information travels slowly. You merely took some time to verify the news so as not to be deceived by villains. As a loyal official of the former Sui, being cautious was not a mistake. The lord personally came to pacify you because he values you.”

In his heart, he added: It’s only because the Eastern Turks and Luoyang were too useless and surrendered too quickly, leaving my lord with nothing to do—so he ran all the way south.

My lord, if you really have nothing to do, just go back to the capital!

He had heard that Prince Jin had drawn up a list of natural disasters, keeping Minister Fang and Minister Du and other senior officials extremely busy. The Prince himself had already fallen ill twice since the beginning of the year. War was such a simple matter—let alone entrusting it entirely to Li Jing, even Pei Xingyan or Changsun Wuji could command an army independently. His lord really should return to the capital and ascend the throne as soon as possible.

Li Jing was not someone who liked to remonstrate, but this time he had no choice. He knew his lord had only recently come of age and was full of restless energy, eager to conquer everything personally. But now that the Central Plains were pacified, the Eastern Turks subdued, and even the Western Turks had sent envoys to submit, only Lingnan remained. There was no need for such obsessive perfectionism—traveling so far just to “fill in the last piece on the map.”

Gao Jiong was stationed in Luoyang, reclaiming farmland and restoring order around the Eastern Capital while suppressing scattered bandits. When Li Shimin brought his trusted subordinates to the banks of the Yangtze River, he was first met with a round of earnest advice from Li Jing.

Li Shimin smiled and said to Changsun Wuji and Pei Xingyan, “Has Li Yaoshi changed careers and become a remonstrating official too? Do I have too many advisors under me now?”

Changsun Wuji had worked with Li Jing before and knew him well. With an expressionless face, he replied, “If you’ve managed to force Li Yaoshi into becoming a remonstrator, my lord, you should reflect on yourself.”

Pei Xingyan, though unfamiliar with Li Jing, still echoed Changsun Wuji’s words.

Seeing that Li Shimin’s entourage was still so lively and noisy, Li Jing felt a headache coming on.

Will the court be this lively in the future too? Maybe I should just stay posted on the frontiers and never return to court.

Li Jing did not like to talk much. He made his point and stopped, without tugging at Li Shimin’s sleeve to nag endlessly.

After giving his advice, he reported Feng Ang’s situation to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin sighed. “Lady Xian and Feng Ang… I know them.”

What he sighed over was not Lady Xian and Feng Ang themselves, but Feng Ang’s famous eunuch great-grandson.

Coincidentally, when Li Xuanba wrote to tell Li Shimin not to return for now and to bring Feng Ang back first, he was also sighing over that same great-grandson.

Besides having a famous grandmother, Feng Ang also had a famous great-grandson, named Gao Lishi.

Many later generations knew of Lady Xian, knew of Gao Lishi, and had even heard of Feng Ang, but almost no one knew that Gao Lishi was Feng Ang’s great-grandson and Lady Xian’s seventh-generation descendant, originally named Feng Yuanyi.

Gao Lishi was often mentioned together with Li Bai in the famous story “Gao Lishi Removing Li Bai’s Boots,” making it seem as if he were merely a flattering and corrupt eunuch who gained favor by fawning on Emperor Xuanzong.

In fact, Gao Lishi was a highly meritorious and loyal minister. He rose to the rank of General of the Right Gate Guards and was ennobled as Duke of Bohai. It was said that he vomited blood and died after Emperor Xuanzong passed away. He was posthumously appointed Grand Governor of Yangzhou and buried alongside the emperor at Tailing. Moreover, he was a descendant of Lady Xian and Feng Ang, a family renowned for loyalty.

When Wu Zetian seized the throne, she employed the ruthless official Wan Guojun to suppress opposition. As everyone knew, such officials not only eliminated their master’s enemies but also abused their own power.

In the first year of the Shengli era, Lingnan suffered a disaster. Wan Guojun was stationed in Guangzhou as an imperial inspector. At that time, Feng Ang’s grandson, Feng Junheng, was in charge of Lingnan. Because Feng Junheng failed to flatter Wan Guojun in time, Wan falsely accused him of inciting disaster refugees to rebel. The Empress issued an edict ordering Li Qianli, the Pacification Commissioner of Lingnan, to destroy the Feng and Xian clans, desecrating their graves and exterminating their families.

Feng Yuanyi was spared execution due to his young age but was castrated and made a slave. Li Qianli took pity on him and brought him back to the palace as a eunuch. He was later adopted by the eunuch Gao Yanfou and renamed Gao Lishi.

Gao Yanfou came from the Bohai Gao clan and had also entered the palace through punishment. Perhaps sympathizing with Feng Yuanyi’s fate, he protected the boy. Later, Gao Lishi was granted the title Duke of Bohai partly because his adoptive father was from the Bohai Gao clan, following the custom of using ancestral origins as noble titles.

The Ming dynasty thinker Li Zhi once praised him: “Gao Lishi was truly a loyal minister. Who says eunuchs never produce worthy men?”

Even when Lady Xian’s descendants were reduced to a single eunuch, they still upheld loyalty to the end. Though their entire clan was exterminated, they remained loyal to the throne—truly worthy of the name “a family of loyalists.”

Born of a distinguished and loyal lineage, Gao Lishi was falsely accused and castrated, yet never abandoned his grand ambitions or loyalty. He rose to become a duke as a eunuch, yet was still despised and insulted because of his physical mutilation. It was truly lamentable.

Incidentally, the current Duke of Bohai was his senior fellow clansman, Gao Biaoren, also from the Bohai Gao clan. Gao Yanfou was probably only a distant collateral relative.

“Brother Gao,” Li Xuanba said, “I’ve heard you’re from the Bohai Gao clan. Why not establish a clan school? In the future, the Tang will promote the imperial examinations. If your clansmen advance through them, they’ll become part of the refined elite.”

Gao Shengdao replied speechlessly, “Forget about something so far in the future! The ground is shaking this badly—aren’t you afraid?!”

Li Xuanba knew the date of this earthquake. Together with Gao Shengdao, Fang Qiao, and others, he had moved into tents three days in advance so that they could issue orders immediately after it struck.

The earthquake arrived as predicted. Everyone first jumped up in shock, then lost their balance and fell to the ground, their faces filled with fear.

Only Li Xuanba sat on his chair, swaying back and forth, reading a letter and chattering casually, completely unrestrained.

Seeing how relaxed he was, the others felt both speechless and reassured. Their panic faded considerably.

Since Li Xuanba had foreseen this earthquake, what was there to fear? The urgent task now was disaster relief—there was no time to dwell on terror.

After the earthquake, Empress Dou led Consort Wan and the palace ladies in personally setting up porridge kitchens to aid the victims. Yuwen Zhu rushed back to the capital to deal with possible post-disaster epidemics. Changsun Kangning remained with Li Zhao’s army, working with her father Changsun Sheng to pacify the Turkic leaders and negotiate another division of the Eastern Turks. She would return to serve as empress when Li Shimin was about to come back to the capital.

Li Shimin carefully timed his northward journey, pacifying disaster victims along the way, suppressing unrest, and opening the granaries for relief.

Li Xuanba had long arranged for representatives of the common people from various regions who were living in the capital. At last, they were able to carry out their task.

They revised their slogans and, in the capacity of respected elders from different counties and prefectures, urged “Prince of Qin” Li Shimin to ascend the throne.

After all, the realm should have belonged to “Prince of Qin” Li Shimin in the first place. It was precisely because the True Son of Heaven had not returned to his rightful position in time that the dragon veins had become unstable!

“The Eastern Capital, Luoyang, is out of control! The people firmly believe your nonsense—they’ve even started casting divine statues of Daxiong and building temples!” Gao Jiong rushed back to the capital and scolded the troublemaking Li Xuanba nonstop.

Li Xuanba was utterly confused.

The people of Chang’an were still just watching the spectacle and hadn’t joined in this ‘crowning with imperial robes’ yet. So why were the people of Luoyang, who had only recently become Tang subjects, so excited?

A few days later, Li Shimin also sent Changsun Wuji back to Chang’an to ask for help.

“A-Xuan! What on earth did you do?! The people of Luoyang are surrounding me, burning incense and kowtowing. They’re forcing me to ascend the throne right there in Luoyang! They won’t let me leave unless I do it—they’re afraid there’ll be another earthquake! Hurry and come rescue me!”

Li Xuanba’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

Yuwen Zhu laughed so hard she almost choked. “My lord, you’d better hurry to Luoyang and bring your brother back. Otherwise, Guanyinbi will have to detour to Luoyang to become empress.”

Li Xuanba clutched his head with both hands. “What on earth happened?! Ah, Teacher Gao, don’t roll up your sleeves—Luoyang has nothing to do with me! It’s not like I’m the one guarding Luoyang… Alright, fine, my fault. No, it’s Second Brother’s fault!”

Second Brother, what did you do to make the people of Luoyang force you to become emperor?!