My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 13 Family Banquet
"The ancestral temple and the country need a living Prime Minister Shen Tujia..."

Walking on the way home like a zombie, Shen Tujia kept repeating this sentence.

To say that Liu Rong really said something shocking to the world, or how shocking to heaven and earth, is actually not true.

It's just that Shen Tujia didn't think of this aspect at all before.

——If everything continues to develop as it is now, what will be the final result?
Previously, the only thing Shen Tujia could think of was: no matter how determined Emperor Qi was, he must buy more time to more calmly deal with the rebellion of the princes that was bound to happen.

To this day, Liu Rong did not hesitate to take the risk of public opinion that "the eldest son of the emperor was in cahoots with the prime minister." After reminding himself, Shentu Jia only belatedly realized what he had overlooked.

What if it doesn't work?
What should I do if I have tried my best and tried every possible means, but still cannot stop the Emperor from doing anything?
Do you really want to bet with your own life on whether Emperor Qi will be soft-hearted and whether he will be concerned about the death of the prime minister and delay the reduction of vassalage?

"His Majesty……"

"Even if I die, Your Majesty will never waver."

Realizing this, Shentu Jiaben's rock-solid heart was shaken.

Regardless of whether he stops it or not, Emperor Qi will definitely cut down the feudal vassal!
The only difference lies in the state of Shen Tujia and Emperor Qi when the rebellion broke out, which was huge and likely to affect most of the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Faces and hearts are at odds with each other, and they are angry with each other?
Or are monarchs and ministers alienated, secretly stumbling upon each other?

Or, as Liu Rong just said: Prime Minister Shen Tujia has long since disappeared in the court...

"Is it really irreversible..."

"Really, there is nothing that can be done to stop His Majesty..."

With this kind of thinking, Shen Tujia finally walked into Shangguanli in confusion and stepped into his Gu'anhou Mansion.

This is also the first time that Shen Tujia has not appeared in the prison room of the Prime Minister's Mansion on time on a non-holiday since he became an official in the court, especially since he became the prime minister...

·
Changle Palace, Changxin Palace.

Liang Wang Liu Wudu had entered the court for nearly ten days, and there was finally a welcoming family banquet in Changle Palace.

It's said to be a 'banquet', but it's actually a clear soup with little water.

——Although the national mourning for the people of the world has ended, the filial mourning for the Liu clan has actually not ended.

Or should I say: Although it is over in theory, in reality, anyone who is not a complete beast will definitely need to pay more attention to it for a while.

This is true for the common people, and as a model for everyone in the world, let alone the royal family.

In this case, there is nothing surprising about today's shabby family dinner with neither wine nor meat.

Seeing that there were only a few shabby vegetables and a cup of turbid tea on the table in front of him, Liu Rong put down his chopsticks without leaving a trace and took a sip of the tea.

In the first place of honor, the rare gathering of Queen Mother Dou, Emperor Liu Qi, Prince Liu Wu of Liang, Princess Liu Guantao, mother and son, were talking with smiles.

Moving his gaze downwards, he saw the Liu clan members who were all sitting in the huge palace.

——Left behind Liu Rong are two brothers from the same mother: Liu De and Liu Yu;
On the right side, there are four elders, Liu Yu, the fourth, Liu Fei, the fifth, Liu Fa, the sixth, and Liu Duan, the eighth.

Finally, there are the seventh lao Liu Pengzu and the ninth lao Liu Sheng;

At the last seat was the infant little Liu She, in the arms of his mother Wang Meiren, curiously looking at everything within his field of vision.

Even at the family banquet, all the daughters-in-law of the old Liu family were present.

The lonely Queen Bo, Li Ji, the biological mother of the eldest child, the second child and the third child, Cheng Ji, the biological mother of the fourth child, the fifth child and the eighth child, Tang Ji, the mother of the sixth child, and Mrs. Jia, the mother of the seventh child and the ninth child.

Counting with his fingers, there were already more than a dozen people, but there wasn't much conversation;

This made the voices of Empress Dowager Dou's mother and son on the imperial couch reach the ears of everyone in the palace with almost 'original' sound quality.

"The late Emperor has great success. From now on, my Han family will need you and your brothers to help each other." "Especially now, the emperor plans to reduce the vassal, and changes in Guandong are very likely. The emperor must rely on Awu even more."

"——If the taboo is not violated, the emperor should ask the Shaofu to send more weapons, food and grass to Liang Guo;"

"In this way, if something happens in Guandong, Awu will not be in chaos in Suiyang?"

Yun Danfengqing's words seemed to be asking the brothers Emperor Qi and Liang Wang Liu Wu to help each other as a mother. In fact, they clearly showed Donggong Changle's attitude towards Emperor Qi's intention to reduce the vassal.

——The reduction of vassal status is already an established fact.

The king of Liang, Liu Wu, was behind the dangerous move of "cutting down the feudal vassal".

In order to cope with possible changes, Liu Wu's Liang State should receive maximum support from the Chang'an Central Committee.

Emperor Qi obviously had a clear understanding of this point, and he didn't even pay much attention to the second half of Queen Mother Dou's words. He felt happy just because Queen Mother Dou showed her attitude of 'supporting the reduction of vassalage'.

"That's what the Queen Mother said."

"Actually, as early as the late emperor's time, my father had already vaguely sensed that Wu King Liu Bi was about to make a move in the land of Jing and Wu."

"Although he did not say it explicitly, the late emperor also repeatedly ordered the court to send additional troops and supplies to the Liang Kingdom, especially Suiyang, the capital of Liang."

"Now, Suiyang City alone is guarded by no less than 50,000 troops!"

"As for Liang Guo, there are hundreds of thousands of Liang Guo soldiers..."

What Emperor Qi said was very smart.

On the surface, he was following Empress Dowager Dou's words, but secretly, he was probably reminding Empress Dowager Dou that Liang Guo had received a lot of support from the Chang'an Central Committee.

I don’t know if I didn’t hear it for a while, or if I just pretended not to understand;

After hearing the emperor's words, Empress Dowager Dou only sighed softly: "When Taizu Gao was emperor, the Marquis of Huaiyin once said: When a general orders troops, the more the better."

"Especially when it comes to important matters related to the ancestral temple and the country, no matter how many soldiers and horses there are, it will never be considered 'too much'."

"——I, a blind old woman, don't understand the matter of the military formation. The emperor himself will discuss it with the ministers."

"It's just that even a blind old woman like me can understand the importance of Suiyang. It's impossible for him, King Wu Liu Bi, not to understand."

Speaking of which, Emperor Qi didn't bother much about this topic and just nodded in agreement.

Just as he was thinking about how to change the topic, he heard Empress Dowager Dou ask again: "You said that the emperor wants to cut down the vassals. Does the prime minister have strong opinions?"

At this question, the smile on Emperor Qi's face froze visibly, and he had to force a smile and answer: "Yes."

"After all, I am an old minister. I always want to do things more safely and slowly."

"Mother, don't take this matter to heart. When you have time, I will have a heart-to-heart talk with the Prime Minister..."

As he said this, the emperor raised his head without any trace and glanced in Liu Rong's direction.

When Liu Rong averted his eyes with a slight guilt, Emperor Qicai lowered his head with a smile again and fell into his thoughts again.

"The Prime Minister is an old minister of the Zhu Kingdom who was left to the Emperor by the late Emperor."

"Even when there is stubbornness, there may not be three points of truth in it."

"What the Prime Minister said, the Emperor has to think carefully about whether it makes sense."

"Even if it doesn't make sense, we should always give the founding fathers the dignity they deserve..."

"——What the Queen Mother said is..."

(End of this chapter)