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

Despite Li Heng's repeated requests, Li Bai remained determined to leave, leaving Li Heng with no choice but to agree.

The news that Li Bai wanted to resign his post caused a stir in the court and among the people.

Some officials who had always been dependent on Li Bai were naturally shocked, while those from aristocratic families were overjoyed.

They finally waited for Li Bai to leave, and the power in the court would be reshuffled. They would no longer have to be careful and hold only a meager amount of power.

Du Fu, Gao Shi, and others were all close friends of Li Bai. They had heard Li Bai mention this matter long ago, understood his intentions, and offered their blessings to him.

Unlike Li Bai, they were more determined to achieve great things and were prepared to continue serving the country in the imperial court.

Many officials, seeing that they could not persuade Li Bai, had no choice but to submit to the leadership of Du Fu and others.

On the day Li Bai left the capital, the city of Luoyang was deserted as countless people spontaneously came to see him off.

He had deliberately concealed his departure time and said goodbye to his friends in advance, all to prevent this situation from happening, and was preparing to sneak out of the city.

However, after the news of his request to retire spread, the entire Li residence was surrounded by countless ordinary people, all wanting to see him off.

He was spotted as soon as he stepped out, and then the news spread like wildfire, until the whole of Luoyang knew that he was leaving today.

The people spontaneously saw him off and did not block his way, silently making way for him to reach the gate of Luoyang.

Li Bai sat in the sedan chair and silently made his way to the city gate. He stepped out of the sedan chair and looked back at the entire city of Luoyang and the many friends, officials and common people who had come to see him off.

Looking back from the distant Purple Palace, the long avenue gathers countless people.

Raise a cup to thank the elders, and express gratitude to those seeing you off.

I do not yearn for official rank and wealth, but I cannot forget the kindness of the common people.

I shall return to the vastness of the universe, and dare not fail this kindness.

Why are my eyes often filled with tears? Because I love these people so deeply.

Li Bai glanced at Luoyang one last time, then climbed into the carriage. The coachman flicked the whip, and the carriage began to move forward.

Behind the carriage, countless people spontaneously knelt down to see Li Bai off.

After leaving Luoyang, Li Bai headed towards Jiangling, stopping and starting along the way. When he got excited, he even took a detour to visit various places.

The last time he went sightseeing was before he took the imperial examination. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.

After returning to nature, Li Bai rediscovered himself and became that celestial being, white as the earth.

He wrote the poem "Departing from Baidi City at Dawn" in Baidi City.

He wrote five poems entitled "Traveling to Dongting Lake".

He wrote the poem "A Song Under the Moon in Jinling City" in Jinling City.

He wrote the poem "Looking at Lushan Waterfall" after visiting Lushan Waterfall.

After leaving the imperial court, Li Bai's talent, which had been hidden for more than a decade, finally burst forth, and one popular poem after another spread far and wide, gaining countless admirers.

……

The news of Li Bai's journey eastward in a small boat and his retreat to the mountains and forests not only shocked the imperial court.

Those who were truly sleepless and secretly restless were the noble families who had been lying dormant for a hundred years.

The Wei clan of Guanzhong, the Pei clan of Hedong, the Cui clan of Boling, the Cui clan of Qinghe, the Lu clan of Fanyang, the Li clan of Zhaojun...

Since the Kaiyuan era, Li Bai served as the governor of the central government for more than a decade, reforming officialdom, suppressing powerful clans, restricting patronage of influential figures, investigating hidden landholdings, and blocking the expansion of powerful clans.

He alone suppressed the arrogance of all the powerful families in the world for a century.

With Li Bai in power, powerful families would never have a chance to rise in status.

Now that Li Bai has retired and left the country, the towering mountain that had weighed on the powerful clans of the land for decades has been lifted up with a roar.

The air suddenly seemed to freeze, and the undercurrents of the world instantly boiled over.

However, out of fear of Li Bai, these powerful families decided to put forward a force to destroy all the backup plans left by Li Bai.

The force they decided to promote was the Jiedushi (military governor) group.

The powerful families in various regions all held important positions in the imperial court, and they knew that the current situation where the regional military governors obeyed orders but not summons was absolutely unacceptable to the court.

The reduction of the power of the regional military governors was inevitable; the only difference was whether it was done quickly or gradually.

They knew it, and so did the regional military governors.

They planned to push the regional military governors and the imperial court to confront each other, destroy all the political legacy left by Li Bai, and then it would be time for these aristocratic families to inherit Li Bai's legacy and leave behind all his political legacy.

With the fall of the Li faction, eunuchs and imperial relatives, having learned from past mistakes, will have no chance to rise again, and the court will fall into their hands.

In most of the military governors' residences across the country, a group of strangers quietly appeared, dressed elegantly, speaking with noble manners, not displaying their official status, and not inquiring about military affairs.

They did not wear official robes, carry armor, or bear name tags.

They would often travel in light carriages, wear brocade robes, and be accompanied by two or three servants, entering the town at night and quietly leaving at dawn.

The inland regions of Shannan, Jiannan, and Jingxiang, as well as the northern regions of Hebei, Youyan, and Hedong, were all included without exception.

Behind the government offices of various towns, in the side halls of separate courtyards, and deep within secret rooms, the sounds of secret conversations could be heard every night.

"When Li Bai was in power, the court was united and could suppress the regional military governors. Even An Lushan and Shi Siming dared not make any rash moves."

"If Li Longji had not summoned An Lushan and Shi Siming to the court, giving them a tremendous opportunity, they would not have rebelled."

"However, with An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelling, the regional military governors will become thorns in the side of the imperial court."

"An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelled, so will you rebel?"

"Does it even matter whether you rebel or not?"

"The important thing is that you have the ability to resist."

"If Li Bai were still serving as prime minister, Your Majesty and the court would have had the magnanimity to suppress the regional military governors. But now that Li Bai has resigned, does the court still have the confidence to suppress them?"

"I'm afraid not."

"In order to prevent the regional warlords from threatening the imperial court, what awaits you is the reduction of their power."

"Today we'll take your personnel, tomorrow your finances, and the day after that your military power. Once you're without soldiers, without finances, and without the power to employ people, a single transfer order will leave you like fish on a chopping board, completely at our mercy."

These similar rhetoric caused great alarm among the various military governors, making everyone feel insecure.

They all had people in the imperial court, so they were naturally aware of the court's changing attitude towards them and were even more certain that what these people were saying was true.

Even knowing these people had ill intentions, they had no choice but to try and negotiate with them.

With the collusion of various powerful clans, these ambitious military governors banded together for mutual support, ignoring all imperial orders to reduce their power over personnel, military, and finances.

Of course, after so many years of cultivating talents, there were naturally some military governors who were loyal to the country. These military governors were excluded from the country by aristocratic families from the very beginning, and were also excluded by other military governors.

Li Heng and many other important officials, who were discussing the reduction of the power of the princes in the imperial court, were completely unaware of all this.