My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 280: A country of etiquette? Bang Bang Bang!

Putting aside Dou Ying's status as a relative by marriage, Liu Rong still recognized this cousin in terms of his abilities.

After all, no matter what, they were elites selected and trained by the Dou family's in-laws with the efforts of their entire clan. They also followed two elders of the same clan, Dou Changjun, Marquis of Nanpi, and Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu, for many years and learned a lot from them.

Taking into account Dou Ying's identity as a "great Confucian scholar" and the objective facts that Confucianism is becoming increasingly powerful in the Han Dynasty and has even almost achieved an academic monopoly among the people - it is no exaggeration to say that Liu Rong must keep Dou Ying firmly in his hands.

Even if Dou Ying was just a corrupt scholar who shook his head and talked nonsense, Liu Rong would definitely let Dou Ying take the position of prime minister for a while, and then give him an honorary position to keep Dou Ying in the court in Chang'an for a long time.

What's more, Dou Ying's symbolic value is not just that of a "representative figure of Confucianism."

——As a relative by marriage, and especially a member of the clan of the current Empress Dowager: Empress Dowager Dou, the existence of Dou Ying will to a large extent ensure that the political struggle between Liu Rong and the Empress Dowager, or between the East and West Palaces, will remain in a state of fighting but not breaking, or in other words, fighting in secret but peace on the surface.

At the same time, Dou Ying's military background gave him an unquestionable political resume in the Han Dynasty: he was good at both civil and military affairs!

In addition to Dou Ying's own talents and the reputation he enjoyed both inside and outside the court, Liu Rong could almost conclude that having Dou Ying as prime minister would be a hundred benefits and no harm to Liu Rong and even to the Han family's ancestral temple and the country.

The reason why it is "almost" rather than "absolutely" is naturally because his identity as a relative by marriage brought negative impact to Dou Ying.

If we want to know the source of this negative impact, we have to trace it back to Empress Lü Zhi...

In his heart, even if Liu Rong did not appoint the next prime minister, did not interfere in the democratic election of the next prime minister, and prevented Empress Dowager Dou from supporting her nephew;

Or to be more direct - even if Dou Ying's information was covered up, only the court and the people inside and outside were told: there was such a person, with such and such ability and such and such background, who had done such and such things and achieved such and such results;
Even so, the next prime minister of the Han Dynasty will almost certainly be Dou Ying!

In other words, Dou Ying was qualified to be the prime minister, and no one could be more suitable for the position than Dou Ying in terms of ability or qualifications.

Of course, right now, it was just the stage where the Imperial Censor Cen Mai had retired and Dou Ying was about to become the Imperial Censor-in-Chief.

If nothing unexpected happens, unless the current Prime Minister Liu She dies suddenly in the short term, or makes a serious mistake and is dismissed from his post, otherwise, Dou Ying will most likely remain as prime minister until the day Liu She dies of old age.

Maybe it will be three to five years later, or seven to eight years - even fifteen to twenty years, it is not impossible.

But Dou Ying was still very young;
For a politician, it is not unacceptable to spend no more than 20 years to go from deputy prime minister to prime minister...

"Recently, there has been a lot of discussion inside and outside the court;"

"It is said that before I was crowned and took power, I spoke harshly to the visiting Xiongnu envoys, completely disregarding the previous alliance and even basic etiquette."

"——Some even say that I was like that before I was crowned, and now that I am crowned and in charge of government, I am afraid I am even worse than before."

"I wonder if Marquis Wei Qi has heard of these rumors?"

Strolling along the straight road from the entrance gate of Shanglin Garden to Bowang Garden, Liu Rong put his hands behind his back and looked calm.
While aimlessly looking at the scenery on both sides of the road, he did not forget to chat with Dou Ying.

When Dou Ying heard Liu Rong mention this, he immediately nodded with a smile.

After carefully considering the words, he said cryptically: "Your Majesty is young and passionate, and your political tactics are extremely strong and masculine;"

"Before your majesty, Emperor Taizong reigned for twenty-three years, and Emperor Xiaojing reigned for six years."

"——For a full thirty years, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty has always adopted a feminine strategy of pretending to be submissive and enduring humiliation when facing the Xiongnu."

"Thirty years~"

"In the common people, it is probably the life of a male farmer..."

···
"Your Majesty was enthroned at a young age, full of vigor and vitality, and you are a hegemonic person, which is obviously different from the kingly ways of the two previous emperors, Taizong and Xiaojing."

"It is human nature to feel uncomfortable for a while inside and outside the court."

"After all, it has been a long time since the Han family has been able to stand up and speak in front of the Xiongnu..."

"It has been bent for thirty years - even since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, it has been bent for more than fifty years. Suddenly it straightened up. It is inevitable that some people will not be able to react in time."

"There are even some people who have had their backs bent since the day they were born, and they think that the backs of Han people are naturally bent!"

"For such a person, asking him to straighten his back is no less than asking him to walk backwards or sleep standing up..."

While Dou Ying was saying this, he did not forget to put on an expression that said, "It is an honor for the country to have a great ruler," and he even let out a long sigh of relief.

But on the side, after hearing Dou Ying's cryptic response, Liu Rong sneered, turned his head, and pointed at Dou Ying again and again with the index finger of his other hand.

Dou Ying, who was ordering, couldn't hold himself back and lowered his head with an awkward but polite smile. Liu Rong smiled and shook his head, withdrawing his gaze from Dou Ying.

Looking into the distance, he let out a long sigh.

"Rather than saying that I am a tyrant and extremely strong, it is better to say that I am young and short-sighted and have not learned the wise tactics of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xiaojing."

"——Without the shrewdness of experience, this is like a foolish man trying to cut the Gordian knot;"

"In reality, it was for the sake of momentary pleasure that a huge disaster was planted for the ancestral temple and the country..."

Liu Rong's words were obviously a criticism of himself, or an admission of his mistakes, but they carried a hint of sarcasm for some reason.

While pretending to sigh, Liu Rong did not forget to glance sideways at his cousin Dou Ying beside him.

If there was a third person present and saw Liu Rong's expression, he would immediately understand: Liu Rong's previous self-criticism was just a sting operation to see Dou Ying's reaction.

Dou Ying naturally couldn't see Liu Rong, who was standing in front of him with his back to him, looking at him subtly with his eyes slanted.
But Dou Ying could also vaguely understand that the current Emperor Rong was never the type to admit his mistakes voluntarily.

Not only is the current Liu Rong not the same - from Emperor Taizu Gao Emperor Liu Bang, to Emperor Taizong Xiaowen Emperor Liu Heng, to Emperor Xian Xiaojing Emperor Liu Qi;
None of the Han emperors possessed the good character of "admitting mistakes when they are made and correcting them after admitting them."

People can not escape from doing wrong?
As a mortal being, the Emperor of Han would naturally make mistakes.

Even as wise and brave as Emperor Taizu Gao, as benevolent as Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, or as malicious for the country as Emperor Xiaojing, they were not immune to this evil.

But the emperor of the Han Dynasty made mistakes. After making a mistake, he might secretly correct it in private, or secretly remind himself to "never do it again", but publicly he would just pretend that nothing happened;
But verbally, the Emperor of Han would never admit that he was 'wrong'!

Let me give you a vivid example.

Even if one day, Liu Rong was dazzled and mistook a deer for a horse, thus causing a disagreement with the ministers of the court, Liu Rong would never admit and say: I'm sorry, my eyes are dazzled.

Instead, they will hold on to it and insist that it is a horse if they point at a deer.

Then he sent someone to secretly replace the deer with a horse in the middle of the night, and then on the next day he confidently shouted to the emperor: See, I said it was a horse, right?

As for the reason for doing so, it is naturally because the current Chinese civilization is still in the emerging period of the concept of "divine right of kings". The divine right of kings, shepherding the people on behalf of God, means that the word "Son of Heaven" basically means literally: the second son of God.

Since he is the Son of God, that is, half a living God, then of course he can’t make mistakes, right?
After all, there is a famous saying in later generations: Gods cannot have blood bars;

The day the health bar is exposed is the beginning of the fall of God.

The same principle applies: in this age, God cannot be wrong and cannot make mistakes.

Naturally, the son of the Supreme God - the Son of Heaven, who is actually the emperor - cannot make mistakes.

Even if it is objectively unavoidable to make mistakes, subjectively you must never admit them.

In the original historical timeline, this situation did not begin to change until Emperor Wu of Han issued the Luntai Confession Edict, which marked the beginning of the Chinese emperors' confession of their mistakes.

But at the same time, Emperor Wu's edict of self-criticism was an official acknowledgment of the objective reality that the Son of Heaven could be wrong and the emperor could make mistakes.

Then, the Son of Heaven is no longer sacred;

The ministers could complain and say that the emperor was immoral or made mistakes - there were even outstanding ones like Huo Guang, who clearly just wanted to depose the emperor and establish another, but in order to increase the persuasiveness and legitimacy of his own case to depose the emperor, he fabricated 1,127 "sins" for the King of Changyi.

Poor Haihunhou, he was in office for only 27 days, but he was busy committing 1,127 serious crimes;
On average, more than 42 things happened every day - it was hard for Haihun Hou to commit so many things in the limited twelve hours of each day...

Let's get back to the present: the current political background of the Han Dynasty does not allow the emperor to personally admit his mistakes in any occasion or in any form.

Even if we put aside this political background, the current emperor Liu Rong is by no means a foolish or mediocre ruler who would make a decision and then spit in the faces of his subjects and deny his own decision.

Since he is not really admitting his mistake, Liu Rong's true intention is self-evident.

Knowing that this was an exam, Dou Ying naturally took on the attitude of taking the exam;

After only a brief conversation, he began to argue for Liu Rong as a great scholar of the time.

"Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision, how can such mediocre officials as me guess?"

"——Although I cannot fully understand the reason why Your Majesty did this, even a dull person like me can roughly understand it;"

"If what you just said is really a denial of yourself, then I want to say to you: I hope you will not underestimate yourself!"

"After all, each generation has its own mission;"

"Just like the late Emperor Xiaojing, who was born to reduce the power of the feudal lords - Your Majesty, you were also born to lead our Han family and wipe out the national hatred and family feuds of the past fifty years."

"In this case, it is only natural that Your Majesty would no longer want to play coy with the Xiongnu and the barbarians."

I have to say that Dou Ying's words are very sophisticated.

Ask yourself, if Liu Rong were in Dou Ying's shoes, he would definitely not be able to photograph this pure horse in such a noble, glorious and upright manner.

Of course, if it were just that - if it was just that he was good at taking pictures of horses, Liu Rong would not have said that Dou Ying was qualified, or even the only qualified candidate to become the next generation Han prime minister after Liu She.

That’s right;

In addition to high emotional intelligence, Dou Ying also has high abilities.

In addition to his unpredictable skill of flattery, Dou Ying also possessed a very keen political sense and a very broad political vision.

"Of course, I think Your Majesty has already made up his mind about what will happen next."

"For example, after this autumn, the Xiongnu will almost certainly invade the border again to avenge your majesty's humiliation of the Xiongnu envoys in the spring."

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid you have already made a plan for the war."

"When I take up the post of Vice Prime Minister, I will follow your majesty's arrangements for the war after the autumn and help your majesty relieve his worries and work..."

Look!
Look at what this says, how beautiful it is?
Obviously, he wanted to remind Liu Rong that after the autumn harvest this year, the Huns would definitely attack again.

But what he said was: Your Majesty must have anticipated this and must have made arrangements...

"Confucianism~"

"Hey;"

"Just looking at Dou Ying's mouth, even if he were in the future, he might not be a potential stock in the officialdom who 'really wants to make progress'..."

Liu Rong thought so secretly but did not speak again.

——Liu Rong knew that Dou Ying was subtly reminding him: Your Majesty, there will be another war in the autumn.

Are you ready?

In this regard, Liu Rong only wants to say that facts speak louder than words.

Instead of talking to Dou Ying about things like "I have made up my mind" and "I will fight to the death", it would be better to take Dou Ying with him to Bowang Garden and Lu Ban Garden.

After seeing those advanced weapons and military equipment that may or may not have existed, but all of them surpassed this era, I think Dou Ying would have the answer in his heart...

The fact was not beyond Liu Rong's expectation;
After strolling in Luban Garden for more than half a day, Dou Ying fell silent.

From that day on, Dou Ying never asked questions like "Can we win?" or "Is it worth fighting?", or expressed opinions like "Why not stop fighting?" or "Think of other ways?"

On this day, Dou Ying asked the same questions in Luban Garden over and over again: What is this called? How much does it cost? How do I use it?
After this day, Dou Ying only had one attitude on the topic of the Huns.

——There is no word "和" in the Imperial Censor's dictionary!
We Confucians revere Confucius as a sage, and our main point is that a vengeance that has been passed down for nine generations can still be avenged!

what?
You said it is elegant and easy-going, a gentleman's demeanor, and a country of etiquette?

Hey!
Look at this crossbow!

The country of etiquette!

--state!!!

--state!!!!!!
(End of this chapter)