Li Tai - As Prince of Wei

As Prince of Wei

In 636, Li Tai's title was changed to Prince of Wei (魏), and he was made the commandant at Xiang Prefecture (相州, roughly modern Handan, Hebei), but again, he was not sent there, but remained at Chang'an. By this point, Emperor Taizong had begun to favor Li Tai greatly for his literary talent, he permitted Li Tai to retain a staff of scholars, and also, because Li Tai was obese, allowed him to ride a litter into the palace rather than walk. When rumors reached him that the high level officials dishonored Li Tai, he grew angry at them, but relented after the chancellor Wei Zheng pointed out that, in fact, according to Confucian ceremonies, those high level officials were in fact supposed to be higher in rank than Li Tai. In 637, Emperor Taizong made the senior official Wang Gui, a one-time chancellor, Li Tai's teacher, and he ordered Li Tai to honor Wang as if he were honoring his own father. Li Tai did so, and Wang accepted this. In 640, Emperor Taizong personally visited Li Tai's mansion, and to celebrate the occasion, Emperor Taizong pardoned the minor criminals of Chang'an, exempted Li Tai's neighborhood of its taxes for one year, and gave awards to Li Tai's staff members and the seniors in Li Tai's neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Li Tai's staff member Su Xu (蘇勖) suggested to him that, like the talented princes in past dynasties, he should commission a major literary work, so Li Tai commissioned a work to be called the Journal of Geography (括地志, Kuodi Zhi) and retained the officials Xiao Deyan (蕭德言), Gu Yin (顧胤), Jiang Yaqing (蔣亞卿), and Xie Yan (謝偃) to head the project. Initially, the work was drafted at Chang'an, and his staff scholars received so many visitors among the noble youths that they were distracted from their work. Li Tai saw that their time was not being productive, and so sent them out to the field -- the various prefectures -- to collect data and write. It took four years for Li Tai's scholars to complete the work, which had 550 volumes. The work was completed in 642, and Emperor Taizong rewarded Li Tai with a large supply of silk. By this point, Li Tai's staff was growing so large that the imperial stipend to Li Tai exceeded that to Li Chengqian. The official Chu Suiliang suggested to Emperor Taizong that this was improper, and Emperor Taizong agreed -- but rather than reducing Li Tai's stipend, he removed all limits on Li Chengqian's spending, which led to Li Chengqian, who was already wasteful in his lifestyle, to be even more wasteful. Emperor Taizong also had Li Tai move to Wude Palace (武德殿), next to Li Chengqian's palace -- an action that Wei Zheng considered inappropriate, and so Emperor Taizong reversed.