Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 262 A life-and-death fight

Xiao He had already made some guesses about the possible turmoil in the court.

From the time Chen Ju and Chen Bi took leave of absence at home one after another, the turmoil had already begun to emerge.

Xiao He understood why Chen Ju did this and what Chen was thinking. He was even a little happy because of these things. After all, for him, he had already stood beside Lu Fei, so there was no need to retreat. The next chance.

He must fight for Lu Pheasant with all his strength.

No matter if he is facing the Chen family, the Emperor, or anyone else.

Of course, for Xiao He, facing other people is the least stressful, followed by facing the emperor. The last thing he wants to face is to stand on the opposite side of the Chen family and fight against the Chen family.

After all, Chen's threat is probably greater than that of the Emperor.

Now, Chen and Empress Lu seem to be in the first camp - of course, this camp must be short-lived.

But as long as Lu Pheasant doesn't want to continue to expand Lu's power to an unimaginable level, Chen probably won't stop Lu Pheasant's actions.

"Is King Zhen's health okay?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the court was shocked.

"After my father woke up, he asked me about the affairs of the court and the world, and then scolded me, saying that I had failed to live up to Emperor Gao's expectations, and how could a man stay in front of his bed and ask me to come."

Could it be that the emperor thought that by doing this, the kings would think that he was a benevolent and good person?

As for the emperor?

But he sat there with a tired look on his face, without even opening his eyes. The ministers could easily see the vicissitudes of life and hard work on his face.

They all heard the several meanings contained in Chen Bi's words.

"Your Majesty, please don't pay attention to me."

The next day, there was a court meeting.

The rebellion of the Liu kings brought great suffering to the world, to the head of Guizhou, and even to their ministers, and yet His Majesty actually wanted to let them return to the country without guilt.

Chen Bi forced himself to cheer up and stood up, with a respectful and humble look on his face: "Father woke up last night, but the imperial doctor ordered that my father's health is still not good, and he may become seriously ill again at any time and fall into a coma."

Does the emperor think that if he does this, the people of the world will be moved?
Xiao He couldn't understand what the emperor was thinking. He could only sigh quietly again, and then looked helplessly into the distance.

"My father said that he met Emperor Gao when he was in a coma. Emperor Gao supported his hand and said in pain that after he was in coma, there was a cholera epidemic in the world. He asked his father to wake up quickly and take charge of the government."

The emperor, the princes, and even Empress Lu, who listened behind the curtain, had different expressions.

Even the emperor rarely asked with concern before the court meeting began: "Is Chen Qing okay?"

First: Kings are officially defined as rebels and rebels. This statement comes from Chen Bi and Chen Ju, regardless of whether it comes from Emperor Gao, but it still has such a layer of skin. Who can and who dares to question the king?

Confucianism is about respecting etiquette, and the rebellion of the kings naturally violated the "propriety" they insisted on, while Legalism is even simpler, because the behavior of the emperor and the behavior of the kings are all a slap in the face of the Legalists!

There will definitely be a fight between dragons and tigers in the court hall tomorrow.

"If your majesty wants to violate Han law, I dare to ask your majesty to see the spirit of Emperor Gao in heaven!"

At this time, the people who originally wanted to come forward to greet him did not dare to come forward to touch his troubles.

When he saw these people standing up, Liu Ying looked a little ugly, because he found that these people were not from the Chen family, nor from Xiao He, nor from Queen Lu, they did not even belong to the same force!
But they all belong to "Legalism" and "Confucianism".

Liu Ying still did not call the kings "rebels", but "kings", which showed that he was very dissatisfied with Chen's characterization of the kings.

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, and they were all silent for a moment.

"Emperor Gao asked his father to wake up and take a look."

"My father was still very confused in his dream. He told Emperor Gao that he was perfectly safe with all the princes in the court, so how could he fall into war?"

nobody.

But in an instant, the emperor calmed down his emotions and said with a smile: "It just so happens that the matter to be discussed today is the matter of the kings."

He just wanted to take a look.

Who cares about his mood, especially for such an emperor.

If this news is bad news for the emperor, Zhou Bo and others, then the second meaning is good news for them.

What is rare is that Chen Bi is here.

These two meanings made everyone in the court a little silent now. At this critical moment, Chen came out to express his position again. What exactly did he mean?
No one knows.

"After my father woke up last night, he scolded me for taking leave these days."

Xiao He's mouth was full of ridicule.

They can use this to develop their own strength.

Chen Bi seemed to have aged ten years: "It's just that, even though my father said this, I still feel uneasy, but I can only come and take a look."

Just as Liu Ying's voice fell, Cao Shen stood up with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, why do you call the traitors kings when they are planning to rebel? This matter has been decided by Prime Minister Chen, the King of Zhen, and even His Majesty Gaozu. , these are traitors!”

"Although I don't know why the Queen Mother changed her mind, from the perspective of political interests, this should be a good thing."

After Chen Bi said these words to himself, he sat aside again, closing his eyes and saying nothing, as if he was ready to continue fishing to the end.

Then dozens of courtiers stood up with solemn expressions: "Your Majesty, please consider what you say!"

Second: Chen has no intention of intervening in this trial to convict the kings.

Law!
Can't be violated!
Some courtiers even said impassionedly: "Your Majesty! In the previous dynasty, Zhao Gao, the favored minister of the First Emperor, violated the laws of Qin. The sages of the Chen family stood up with swords. Later, Zhao Gao was killed and was not loved by the First Emperor."

"In the past during the Warring States Period, King Huiwen, who was still the crown prince, violated the laws of Qin. The king personally tried him! He replaced his head with his hair!"

"If a crown prince is like this, let alone these few?"

"Your Majesty, please be careful what you say!"

Liu Ying looked at Zhou Bo who was standing in the court at a loss, with a look of confusion on her face, as if she didn't understand why her words aroused so many refutations.

But Zhou Bo just nodded slightly, and then continued to close his eyes.

Liu Ying's hands were tightly held in her sleeves, and he could only say: "What Aiqing said is reasonable. It's my fault."

"What I want to talk about today is how Zhu Ni will handle things."

He tried to play the family card: "After all, Zhu Ni is the heir of Emperor Gao and my brother. If we get rid of all of them, wouldn't it make Emperor Gao's bloodline wither?"

There were some tears in Liu Ying's eyes, as if he had remembered something.

"Back then, I made an oath before my father's bedside that I would take good care of all my brothers. But how can I answer to my father for my behavior today?"

Chen Ping slowly stepped out of the queue, looked at Liu Ying and said softly: "Your Majesty, do you still remember that when Emperor Gao was reincarnated in the past, King Zhao violated the law and was then secluded in the palace by Emperor Gao? So far, there has never been such a case. A matter of freedom?”

"This is enough to show that even Emperor Gao would not think that the prince is more important than the dignity of the law."

"Why do you use His Majesty the Emperor Gao as an excuse when you come to see His Majesty?"

He bowed down and said softly: "Your Majesty, please put the country, the country, the world, and the law first."

"Please kill the traitor Liu Fei and others!" As Chen Ping spoke, many ministers from the Lu family, Chen family, and Xiao He's sect all stood up with respectful expressions on their faces, but Their eyes were full of pride.

Their hearts did not bend as hard as their own, but stood straighter.

Kill!

Without any euphemism, these people directly pointed out the most important and only thing about today's court meeting.

They only want this result and will not accept any other result.

Xiao He stood at the front and looked at each other with Lu Pheasant, who was listening behind the curtain, and both saw the inevitable win in the other's eyes.

Zhou Bo had no choice but to stand up, his expression even more humble.

"In the past, although the prince still had to be tried for breaking the law, he was not killed, right? Instead, he was given hair instead of head."

"Why can't we do this today?"

He smiled and said, "I was confused when Chen Li used this as an example. Then he said he wanted to kill all the kings, which made me even more confused."

"The prince of the pre-Qin Dynasty could use his hair as a substitute for his crime, so why can't my prince of the Han Dynasty?"

Zhou Bo squinted his eyes and said coldly: "Could it be that Mr. Chen thinks that the prince of my Han Dynasty is not as noble as the prince of the pre-Qin Dynasty?"

This was a quibble. Not only Chen Ping, but everyone in the court who had a little bit of brains heard it, but they didn't care. After all, political struggle is a life-and-death struggle.

Anyway.

As long as he can win, no matter how shameless he is.

Who is a good person who still has shame when he plays politics?

Facing Zhou Bo's question, Chen Ping just smiled and said nothing. Someone with more weight stepped forward.

Cao Shen, the former left prime minister of the Han Dynasty and now the imperial censor, stood up.

He looked at Zhou Bo with an even more indifferent expression: "You and I both know that this is sophistry, but since Jianghou has made such remarks, we will no longer argue about whether this is sophistry."

"I just want to ask Jianghou one thing."

"In the past, King Huiwen was the prince and even the crown prince. That's why the King of Han proposed the idea of ​​"replacing the head with hair" because King Huiwen was not only a prince, but also the foundation of a country."

"And who is the founder of the Han Dynasty now? It is His Majesty."

"Who is the prince of the great man?"

"Your Majesty has no heirs yet, so there is no way to talk about the next generation's national foundation."

"The kings are traitors, how can they be worthy of becoming the foundation of the country?"

Cao Shen had a sarcastic look on his face: "Even if Jianghou wants to say that in ancient times sages had brothers and eventually brothers, but now the emperor is still young, how could he have no heirs? Even if the world really has no heirs, Emperor Gao's The bloodline still has the king alive!"

"The acting king is not only a bloodline of the Emperor Gao, but also a rare and kind person."

"Isn't it better than this traitor?"

There was a slight coldness in his voice: "Or does Jianghou think that among those traitors, some of them can be called the foundation of the country?"

"Or are you dissatisfied with today's life?"

Zhou Bo stood there, his expression even more gloomy.

At this time, Liu Ying saw that the situation was not good, and immediately said with a smile: "Why did Cao Qing say this?"

"Jianghou is just saying this, there is no need to make this matter so big."

"Jianghou definitely has no such intention."

There was something about Cao Shen making a fuss out of a molehill in these words, and there was some complaining about it.

You can tell the distance from Liu Ying's titles. After all, he called Cao Shen "Cao Qing" and Zhou Bo "Jianghou".

Cao Shen turned around, looked at Liu Ying and said softly: "I just used Jianghou's remarks to Jianghou, and I didn't mean to say that Jianghou had any rebellious intentions."

His expression was even more indifferent, as if he didn't care.

"As a censor, I am responsible for correcting and impeaching the opinions of officials. This is my duty."

Cao Shen's words were also very simple. This is a matter within my authority, so your Majesty should not interfere.

He changed the topic and said: "Your Majesty, don't talk about this matter, just continue talking about the previous things."

"Every king who conspires against you should be punished for his crimes."

"Now Taiwei Chen De is leading his troops outside. As long as His Majesty has the decree, within three months, the rebellious countries can be destroyed, and then these countries can be placed under my central territory."

"Your Majesty, please make an early decision."

Behind Cao Shen, many ministers echoed again: "Your Majesty, please make a decision as soon as possible!"

Taking back these feudal states is definitely a good thing for the Han Dynasty. This is the best way to strengthen centralization, and now is also the best time.

If it were the future Emperors Wen, Jing, or even Wu, the moment the kings conspired to rebel, they would have thought of how to punish the kings and then take back these feudal states and rights.

It's a pity that the one sitting on the throne now is not Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, or Emperor Wu, but Liu Ying.

Liu Ying's expression was gloomy, and he glanced slightly at the person standing in front.

The man stood up.

When he stood up, some people in the court changed their expressions.

Kong family, Kong Shaoqing.

Kong Shaoqing's expression remained unchanged. He looked at Cao Shen and said softly, "I think Cao Yushi has overlooked something."

There was a smile on his face and he looked very confident: "What is the reason why the kings rebelled?"

"If the kings' rebellion is just a simple rebellion, we can naturally handle the matter in accordance with the law."

"But the reason why the kings are rebellious now is to Qingjun."

Kong Shaoqing glanced at the person sitting behind Liu Ying in the court, with seriousness and seriousness in his voice.

He said softly: "Back then, Emperor Gao had a decree that the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics."

"If there is someone interfering with politics in the harem, the king of town and Prime Minister Chen can find the general Han Xin and ask the general to kill the thief."

Kong Shaoqing lowered his eyes and whispered: "When the news came out, the King of Zhen and Prime Minister Chen had no reaction. Even if they took action later, it would be later."

He found this time difference and used it as a reason to counterattack.

"The kings did not know that King Zhen had already resolved the matter. They were just grieving and in order to maintain the dignity of the Liu dynasty, so they reported it to Lord Qing."

"This is the oath and covenant sworn by Emperor Gao."

"Anyone who is not the king of the Liu family and the Chen family will be punished by the whole world!"

(End of this chapter)