Is “Li Bai ordered Yang Guozhong to hold an inkstone and grind ink” true?
The Old Book of Tang, Biographies of Empresses and Consorts, Part 1, records that Yang Guozhong, as the cousin of the imperial consort, monopolized power and acted arbitrarily, stating that 'since the Kaiyuan era, no noble family has been as powerful and prosperous as the Yangs,' ultimately leading to chaos and ruin. In Chapter 082 of the Sui and Tang Romance, borrowing the episode of writing a letter to intimidate the barbarians while drunk, it is written that Li Bai, when proclaiming the foreign letter, ordered the powerful to serve him, 'removing boots and grinding ink, old grudges now released,' making Yang Guozhong hold an inkstone and grind ink in the court, thereby expressing the pride of a literatus. This event is not recorded in official history.
In official history, Yang Guozhong abused power as a relative of the imperial consort and brought disaster to the state, while the novel fabricates a case where Li Bai ordered him to hold an inkstone and grind ink in court.
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