Yu Di - After Return To Chang'an

After Return To Chang'an

However, it appeared that Yu Di did not exercise much actual chancellor responsibility, as, per the precedent of Du You, he only attended imperial meetings three times a month. Further, when he suggested to Emperor Xianzong that harsher punishments be instituted, Emperor Xianzong did not accept the proposal and further, in discussion with other chancellors, referred to Yu as being evil in submitting the proposal and wanting him to lose the hearts of the people.

Yu Di was not happy serving in this manner. In or shortly before 813, there was a man named Liang Zhengyan (梁正言) who claimed to be a close relative of the powerful eunuch Liang Shouqian (梁守謙), and Yu had his son Yu Min (于敏) bribe Liang Zhengyan, seeking to be made a military governor again. However, at a later point, Liang Zhengyan was revealed to be a fraud, and Yu Min demanded the return of the bribe, which Liang Zhengyan refused. In anger, Yu Min trapped Liang Zhengyan's servant by trick, and killed and dismembered the servant. When this was discovered, Yu Di and Yu Jiyou went to the palace gate in mourning clothes to seek mercy, but the palace guards refused to let him meet the emperor. He was subsequently demoted to be the assistant to Emperor Xianzong's granduncle Li Lian (李連) the Prince of En, and he was denied further access to the emperor's presence. Yu Min was exiled to Lei Prefecture (雷州, in modern Zhanjiang, Guangdong), while Yu Di's other sons were all demoted in rank. On the way to exile, Yu Min was ordered to commit suicide, while Liang Zhengyan and his associate, the Buddhist monk Jianxu (鑒虛) were executed. Later that year, Yu Di was elevated to the higher position of Taizi Binke (太子賓客), an advisor to Emperor Xianzong's crown prince Li Heng.

In 815, when Emperor Xianzong was conducting a campaign against Zhangyi, then ruled by Wu Yuanji (whose father Wu Shaoyang was not related by blood to Wu Shaocheng but was regarded as a cousin), many generals submitted their wealth to support the campaign. When Yu tried to submit a large amount of silver and gold, however, Emperor Xianzong refused to accept his submission. Subsequently, when Yu Jiyou was accused of lack of filial piety as he continued to feast when Yu Di's wife (not his mother) died, Yu Di was stripped of his honorific title of Jinzi Guanglu Daifu (金紫光祿大夫) as he was considered to have failed to educate Yu Jiyou properly. In 818, Yu requested retirement, and traditionally, when an official sought retirement, he would be allowed to retire at a greater position than he actually held. The chancellors thus proposed giving him the greater position of Taizi Shaobao (太子少保) — also advisor to the crown prince, but at higher position. Emperor Xianzong disapproved and had him retire as Taizi Binke. He died later that year and was given posthumous honors but the posthumous name Li (厲, "cruel"). After Emperor Xianzong's death and succession by Li Heng (as Emperor Muzong) in 820, Yu Jiyou, on an occasion when he attended a hunt with Emperor Muzong, pleaded with Emperor Muzong to give his father a more honorable posthumous name. Many officials opposed such a request, but Emperor Muzong eventually gave Yu Di the posthumous name of Si (思, "repentant").