Li Tai Lodges a Complaint
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Li Tai paid no attention to how Li Zhi had managed to decline the post in the Dragon Cavalry.
Ever since Emperor Li Shimin had announced Li Zhi’s appointment, he had been consumed by anger.
In Li Tai’s eyes, his father’s affection for Li Zhi had gone too far. Such an enormous benefit had been handed over without so much as a blink.
At that moment, Li Tai’s mind was filled with memories of the affection Li Shimin had once shown him. At the same time, he laid the blame for his recent loss of favor entirely at Li Zhi’s feet.
He believed that Li Zhi’s appearance had stolen the affection that should have belonged to him, leaving him with no choice but to lower himself and associate with a group of officials’ sons.
By then, Li Tai’s heart was brimming with jealousy toward Li Zhi.
He never once considered that the predicament he now faced had been caused entirely by his own shortsightedness.
Even after court was dismissed, Li Tai could not free himself from his anger. He racked his brains, trying to find a way to make Li Zhi lose favor in their father’s eyes.
That was when he thought of the Pavilion of Prince Jin, which was still under construction.
The work had already reached its middle and later stages. The basic framework had long since been completed, leaving only some interior and exterior finishing to be done.
That was not what concerned Li Tai. What drew his attention was the fact that the main building of the Pavilion of Prince Jin was a three-story structure.
The third floor rose higher than the outer walls of the imperial palace.
That meant anyone standing on the third floor would have a chance to see what was happening inside the palace.
Such a thing was forbidden by the laws of the Great Tang. According to the law, anyone who did so was to be imprisoned for at least one year.
Li Zhi, who had once participated in drafting those laws, certainly could not have been unaware of this.
Yet he had still built the main structure three stories high. Was that not a blatant case of knowingly breaking the law?
Li Zhi was currently the governor of Yongzhou, the official responsible for the people of Chang’an.
As a prince of the Great Tang and the chief official of Chang’an, Li Zhi had actually dared to lead by example in knowingly violating the law.
Was this not the perfect reason for Li Tai to impeach him?
The moment he thought of it, Li Tai prepared to write a memorial accusing him.
Even if he could not ultimately do anything to Li Zhi, he would at least vent his anger.
Li Tai’s literary talent was indeed excellent. The memorial he composed vividly conveyed the gravity of the alleged offense.
Yet he had overlooked one extremely important fact.
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He had never carefully inspected the Pavilion of Prince Jin.
Most of what he knew about it came from rumors and hearsay.
According to the usual understanding of the age, buildings called pavilions generally stood eight to ten meters high on every floor.
In his mind, the Pavilion of Prince Jin was certain to rise far above the palace walls.
However, the pavilion Li Zhi was building did not use the traditional wooden structure.
Large quantities of steel reinforcement and concrete had been used in its construction.
As a result, each floor was only about three meters high. Even with the roof ridge included, the entire building stood less than twelve meters tall.
That meant one could see the imperial city only by climbing above the roof ridge.
Otherwise, even a person standing at the highest point of the third floor would be only a little over eight meters above the ground—and that required someone more than two meters tall.
The enormous gap between Li Tai’s assumptions and reality filled him with confidence as he submitted his memorial.
A case in which Prince Yue accused Prince Jin of breaking the law naturally drew the attention of the entire Chancellery.
The memorial was therefore soon delivered to Wei Zheng.
The moment Wei Zheng opened it, he could not help frowning.
He knew at once that the memorial had never been properly verified, for he himself had personally seen the Pavilion of Prince Jin.
Wei Zheng naturally knew that its construction had violated no laws.
The problem was that he did not know whether this matter ought to be brought to the emperor’s attention.
The memorial appeared simple enough, yet it clearly revealed Prince Yue’s attitude toward Prince Jin.
Was it not an outright declaration that Prince Yue disliked Prince Jin?
Even in an ordinary household, such a matter could not be treated lightly, let alone within the imperial family.
Wei Zheng pondered for a long while but could not reach a decision.
In the end, he had no choice but to take the memorial to Fang Xuanling and explain the situation in detail.
Fang Xuanling felt a headache coming on when he saw it.
He truly could not understand how the usually clever Li Tai could have done something so foolish.
Whatever else might be said, the two men were brothers.
No matter how dissatisfied Li Tai was with Li Zhi, he should not have acted in this manner.
It was not as though Li Tai had no opportunity to see the emperor.
He could simply have complained about Li Zhi directly before His Majesty.
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Why go to such lengths to write a memorial and make the whole affair public?
Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng stared at each other for a long time. At last, they gritted their teeth and made a decision.
Fang Xuanling said to Wei Zheng, “Since His Highness Prince Jin’s building has not violated the law, return the memorial to His Highness Prince Yue.”
Fang Xuanling wanted to suppress the matter.
Leaving aside whether Li Tai’s accusation had any merit, his manner of handling it would certainly provoke the emperor’s displeasure.
When that happened, the palace would inevitably be thrown into chaos.
Wei Zheng also felt that this was the best course of action.
There was no need to anger the emperor over an accusation founded on nothing.
Thus Wei Zheng wrote a brief reply on the memorial—“No evidence found”—and returned it to Li Tai.
When Li Tai saw Wei Zheng’s response, he did not send anyone to the Pavilion of Prince Jin to verify the facts.
Instead, consumed by anger, he assumed that the ministers at court were deliberately making things difficult for him now that he had fallen from favor.
Carrying that resentment, he went directly to Li Shimin.
The first words Li Tai spoke upon entering the Taiji Palace startled Li Shimin.
“Father Emperor, your son wishes to expose the ninth brother for knowingly breaking the law by illegally constructing a restaurant.”
Before Li Shimin could react, Li Tai continued, “Your son also wishes to accuse Counselor Wei Zheng of shielding the ninth brother and returning my memorial without investigating it.”
Li Tai’s words startled not only Li Shimin but also Zhang Anan, who was standing nearby.
Li Shimin carefully replayed Li Tai’s words in his mind.
Then he asked incredulously, “You submitted a memorial accusing Zhi Nu of breaking the law to the Censorate?”
Li Tai replied with righteous indignation, “As the chief official of the capital, the ninth brother knowingly broke the law. Your son naturally had to report the matter to the Censorate.”
At those words, Li Shimin’s chest heaved violently for quite some time.
Only after a long while did he ask, “Even so, how can you be certain that Wei Zheng did not verify the matter?”
Li Tai answered as though it were obvious. “Your son’s memorial was returned shortly after it was submitted, and the pavilion built by the ninth brother clearly has three stories.”
Li Shimin’s hands were already trembling with rage.
Nevertheless, he forced himself to suppress his temper and asked once more, “And did you ever go there to measure the height of the Pavilion of Prince Jin?”
Even then, Li Tai still had not realized the magnitude of his mistake.
He replied, “Your son understood this long ago. According to the architectural style of our dynasty, each story of a pavilion must be nearly thirty feet high.”