While he served Tang his meals, he used this opportunity to analyse the current issues of the time, such as the bad points of Jie of Xia.

[5] Then Yi assured Tang to wait for Jie of Xia's armies to drop in power.

He explained that the army needed a boost in morale, so Tang gave a speech to the soldiers, which became known as 'Tang's pledge' (湯誥, now in Shangshu).

[3] During the early Shang dynasty, Yi helped Tang set up different institutions, resulting in political stability and economic benefits.

According to a popular theory, Yi wrote three essays to Taijia regarding his rule (伊訓 chapter of the Shangshu).

Seeing that Taijia would not give in, Yi banished the king to Tonggong(桐宮, archaic name for the tomb of Tang) and became the temporary ruler of China.

Yi had banished Taijia to his grandfather's tomb and then seized absolute power for seven years.

[6] However, archaeological evidence based on contemporary records in oracle bone script showed that Yi was still worshipped by the Shang people, including the royal family, several hundred years after his death, calling the reliability of the latter account into question.