The Great Han Dynasty: From Feng Lang Juxu to the Eternal Emperor

Chapter 351 The Price of Growth

The imperial court has organized a team of two censors, the minister of the Ministry of Works, and the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs to go to Yanzhou for disaster relief.

The floods in the Yellow River prevented the people in the lower reaches of the river from suffering because of the opening of Yanzhou.

No one among the people knows about these things, let alone the people in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. They still live their lives quietly. The death of so many people in Yanzhou is just a topic for them to talk about after dinner.

They never know how much the country has done behind the scenes to save them from misery.

The news from Yanzhou quickly reached the central government. In the political hall, the three senior officials looked at the memorial from the Yanzhou prefect with their mouths open.

"The prince... has chosen an official!"

Zhao Zhou sincerely lamented that the crisis in Yanzhou was resolved with the death of Li Shimao, the governor.

Li Qishi took all the blame on himself. He took the initiative to open the mouth of the Yellow River. The reason he gave was that the court was unfair to him and did not give him a promotion for several years. Therefore, he felt sad and angry and took revenge on society.

It is natural to deceive ignorant people with these excuses, but anyone who has read the book will know how to analyze the weirdness and tricks involved.

History has always had such a charm. Many things that seemed extremely impossible did happen. Historical data can only say a few words, and later generations can judge good or bad with just one word.

But no one has ever explored what happened at that time and why the traitor became a traitor.

All in all, public opinion will never accuse Weining again. Li Shimao shouldered everything for Weining willingly.

The three senior officials didn't know how Jia Rang did all this. If Li Shimao hadn't taken the initiative to shoulder all this, no one could have forced him.

In other words, Jia Rang let Li Qishi take the initiative to do all this.

This is a very talented person. He solved the crisis in Yanzhou and comforted all the surviving people in Yanzhou. At the same time, it also proves one thing, the crown prince’s human eyesight is... quite vicious!

Jia Rang is a politician and possesses the outstanding wisdom of a politician!

When the news reached the desk of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Weiyang Palace, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty felt extremely sorry for Li Shimao.

But he still gritted his teeth and ordered the Ministry of Punishment to kill the nine Li Shimao clans!

For such a big crime, if only Li Shimao was killed, he would not be able to answer to the people of Yanzhou!

East Palace.

When Weining learned about what Jia Rang was doing in Yanzhou, he was both happy and sad, with contradictory emotions.

Perhaps this is helplessness. There is too much helplessness in a person's life. From the emperor and prince to the common people, there are too many helpless things that cannot be avoided.

Did Li Shimao do anything wrong? No. But he died anyway.

Wei Ning felt guilty because he knew that Li Shimao had shouldered all the infamy for him.

Jia Rang hoped that Weining would give preferential treatment to Li Shimao's family, and Weining agreed to him.

It was not until he heard the order from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Weiyang Palace to kill the entire Li Shimao family that Wei Ning panicked completely.

He never thought that there would be a day when things would develop beyond his control.

He has always been very confident, especially with the help and teachings of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Now that he is the crown prince of the empire, he does not think there is anything he cannot do.

But if Li Shimao couldn't even save his family, how could he have the nerve to be the crown prince?

Wei Ning immediately stepped forward and hurriedly walked towards Weiyang Palace, and met Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty at Qilin Palace.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty pressed his hands and said to Wei Ning: "I know you are in a hurry, please don't be anxious yet."

"Li Shimao is going to die, so I have to do such a thing. As the emperor, I have to be ruthless and cruel. This is unavoidable."

"The emperor's family is ruthless. The ruthlessness lies in interests and human lives. We can only choose the former."

"You are a qualified prince. I know that you feel wronged, sympathize with Li Shimao, and even feel guilty for Li Shimao."

"But he is a minister, a retainer of the emperor, and a victim. Anyone in the world can be sacrificed, including you and me."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said it very ruthlessly. But Weining still shook his head desperately and said: "That's not the case!"

"His family should not die, and Li Shimao's people should not be killed either."

"Father, he has shouldered everything for me, but now I have to betray my faith and kill his people. Do I still deserve to be the prince?"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said sonorously: "It is because of this that you are worthy of being the prince. Men should not be benevolent as women."

Wei Ning said loudly: "But he is innocent! His people are also innocent!"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: "The moment he incited the people of Yanzhou to rebel, he was not innocent!"

"I want to answer to the tens of thousands of surviving people in Yanzhou."

Wei Ning said: "Then we have to pay the price of killing Li Shimao's entire family?"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said: "Yes!"

"This is the same as the multiple-choice question you took before. You chose other downstream counties and gave up Yanzhou. The reason is the same."

"Why can't you calm down when this happens?"

Wei Ning said: "It's different!"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty shook his head and said: "It's the same!"

"My order has been issued, and Chrysostom has been opened."

"No matter how much you say, it won't help. My imperial power does not allow anyone to question or challenge it."

"do you understand?"

Wei Ning said: "Jia Rang will resent me."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sneered: "He dares! Don't forget that his officials were all awarded to him by you. What right does he have to resent you?"

"Just because you failed to protect Li Shimao's people? Then why doesn't he think about Li Shimao's sin of inciting Yanzhou to rebel?"

Wei Ning said: "Li Shimao is innocent. He doesn't understand what I did and made a mistake."

"Since you have become an official, you have to pay the price for your stupidity. Otherwise, how can you tame the officials below us and let them know that accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger, and the officialdom is like walking on thin ice?"

"Do you know how the imperial power was firmly established step by step? That's how it was established!"

"You are still young. One day you will understand that what I did was not wrong, but you are still too soft-hearted. Being soft-hearted is a good thing, but it is not a good thing."

"Child, every time you grow up, you have to pay a price. Don't plead for anyone anymore. If you are in a bad mood, just go back and sleep. Tomorrow will be another beautiful day."

Wei Ning was silent for a long time and said, "Can I still sleep?"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty glanced at him and said: "You can't sleep when something happens to you, what else can you do in the future?"

"Let me tell you, I have encountered too many frustrations during my ruling career, and I have killed too many wrong people. Do you think I have no guilt in my heart?"

"You just encountered something like this, what should you do in the future?"

"You are the crown prince of the Han Dynasty and the most outstanding successor I have trained. You should not be so affectionate and righteous."

"Give up all your emotions. You don't dare to have emotions. In your heart, you can only weigh the pros and cons. No emotion should belong to you. This is the price of being a prince!"

Weining was silent. If this was the price, it would be too heavy. He felt a heavy weight on his shoulders at this moment.

(End of this chapter)