Marquis of Linhuai Li Zushu was the eighth Marquis of Linhuai of the Great Ming Dynasty. The first to hold the title was Li Yi, a descendant of Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao. Following the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di had granted Li Jinglong the titles of "Minister Who Upholds Heaven and Assists in Transport," "Promoter of Sincerity and Exerter of Strength," Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Pillar of the State, and Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, along with an annual salary increase of one thousand piculs of grain. In the second year of the Yongle reign, however, Zhu Di stripped Li Jinglong of his dukedom, confiscated his property, and placed him under house arrest. After Li Jinglong’s death, the Li family line remained in obscurity for a long time. It was not until the thirteenth year of the Jiajing reign that the Daoist-inclined Zhu Houcong, for reasons unknown, bestowed the title of Marquis of Linhuai upon Li Yi, a fourth-generation descendant of Li Jinglong. Thus, the Li family re-emerged in the imperial court. The title of Marquis of Linhuai was passed down thereafter until the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Interestingly, when Zhu Di’s forces reached the gates of Nanjing in the fourth year of the Jianwen reign, Li Jinglong opened the gates to surrender and welcomed the Yan army into the city. More than two hundred and forty years later, in the first year of the Hongguang reign, when the Manchu Qing forces arrived at the gates of Nanjing, Li Jinglong’s descendant, Li Zushu, li…
Chapter 740