I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 127: Long live the emperor! Keep all the wealth within the family!

At the time of Shen, all officials and generals were allowed to enter the Xuanshi Hall.

At noon, Liu Che personally went to the Xuanshi Hall, and the usher read out the imperial edict to announce his achievement, and the celebration banquet officially began.

During the banquet, Liu Che first drank three cups with his ministers, and then asked about the battle between Li Xi and Xu Zi.

Naturally, the two men did not dare to hide anything, and immediately recounted the important events in this battle, starting from when Liu Ju went to the Northern Army to propose a battle strategy, to the "Sky Lantern" invented by Liu Ju, and to the final annihilation of the Qiang people.

of course.

These two guys were not fools. They omitted things like "one hundred thousand military merits" which clearly seemed like Liu Ju was plotting against Liu Che, so as not to bring trouble to Liu Ju or to themselves.

After hearing this, all the officials were shocked and looked sideways.

No matter how much they knew about Li Xi and Xu Ziwei, and no matter whether they had previously guessed that Liu Ju played a crucial role in this war, they had to re-examine the crown prince Liu Ju at this moment.

How old is he now?

With such courage, determination and brains, what else could he be but a father?
All officials know it.

Liu Che's attitude towards the Huns has always been just two words - destroy the country!
This was Liu Ju's first time participating in a war, and he had only two words to describe the difficult-to-deal-with problem of the Western Qiang - destroy the country!
When dealing with the enemy, the father and son really spared no effort, trying their best to leave no room for the enemy country...

But the difference between the two is.

The Huns have not been destroyed to this day.

Liu Che never achieved this strategic goal. Now the Huns have fled far away to the North Sea. Although they are badly damaged, they are still struggling to survive. Recently, they have even shown signs of making a comeback. This time, the trouble caused by the Western Qiang has the shadow of the Huns.

And what about the Western Qiang?

After this battle, there may no longer be Western Qiang in the world. As for the thousands of Qiang people who escaped by chance, it is not that I look down on them. From now on, they can only flee to uninhabited and cold places. Even if they are given another hundred years to recuperate, they may hardly have the chance to make a comeback.

Therefore, it can be said that Liu Ju had successfully achieved his goal of destroying the Qiang.

However, this does not prove that Liu Ju was better than his teacher.

After all, the Xiongnu and the Western Qiang were two enemies that could not be put on the same level.

Given the intensity of Liu Che's battle in Mobei several years ago, I'm afraid that the fifty Western Qiang would have been exterminated long ago. If the Xiongnu had not run fast and far, and the Han army knew little about the Beihai area, they would most likely have been destroyed.

At the same time, they vaguely felt that Liu Ju's actions were a little unreasonable.

They were still impressed by the previous efforts to pacify the Kingdom of Nanyue.

Therefore, they did not quite understand why Liu Ju adopted the conciliatory policy of "one country, two policies" when dealing with the Kingdom of Nanyue, which made the countries in southern Xinjiang come to submit to him one after another.

But this time, when dealing with Western Qiang, he only wanted to destroy the country?
Even before the battle began, many people had already speculated on the outcome of the battle, and thought that this time it would be like pacifying the Nanyue Kingdom, but using deterrence as a means to force it to submit to the Han Dynasty.

After all, Liu Che appointed Li Xi and Xu Ziwei as generals...

Also.

Let’s talk about the “sky lantern” again.

All the officials became more and more curious. Li Xi and Xu Ziwei described this thing as so magical that they even called it the fastest and most effective message tool in local wars in history.

If what the two said is true, this item can probably be compared with the "Tianlu Box" presented by the King of Qi some time ago, right?
What kind of monsters are these princes?

Each of them can rub the magical objects with their hands and do it effortlessly. Could it be that the emperor prayed to the gods and ghosts, and ended up giving the blessings and fortune bestowed by God to this generation of princes?

"..."

Liu Ju listened to the reports from Li Xi and Xu Ziwei without changing his expression.

He knew that some things were impossible to conceal, so he never asked Li Xi and Xu Ziwei to keep it secret for him. Moreover, with the courage of these two people, they might not dare to lie in front of Liu Che.

Moreover, making such a contribution, which could be big or small, would also be beneficial to his plan of "laying down and letting things go".

From now on, he should be able to rest on his laurels. As long as he doesn't make any big mistakes, Emperor Liu Che will not easily throw him into prison again.

"Ah."

Liu Che had guessed some clues as early as a month ago, so he was not too surprised by this.

Including this "Sky Lantern", King Liu Hong of Qi had told him long ago that Liu Ju had many good things like the "Tianlu Box".

Last time he threw Liu Ju into the imperial prison, he also ordered Liu Hong to trick and ambush him, but in the end, no gold coins popped out of Liu Ju.

Unexpectedly, he was ordered to be the military inspector this time.

Instead, gold coins unexpectedly exploded from his body, which can be considered an unexpected gain.

After listening to what Li Xi and Xu Ziwei said.

Liu Che did not comment, but nodded slightly, showing an approving smile to Liu Ju in front of all the officials, and then looked at the most conspicuous bag in this battle:

"Gongsun Jingsheng, compared to these, I would like to hear more about how you achieved three feats in one battle. I'm sure everyone here is as curious as I am, right?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

When Gongsun Jingsheng heard Liu Che calling him, he immediately became nervous.

In such a hurry, his bulging belly accidentally knocked over the wine glass on the table, and the wine spilled all over the table and flowed down the edge.

Seeing this scene, his father Gongsun He, who was not far away, cursed in his heart: "Fool, not worthy of being on the stage!"

However, when Liu Che saw this scene, he smiled and waved his hand without caring:

"No need to stand up, just sit down and talk." "I dare not!"

Gongsun Jingsheng dared not act rashly, and still insisted on coming to the hall, bowing and saying,

"Your Majesty, I dare not take credit for this. I was able to achieve such a great feat in this battle, firstly because the soldiers who first arrived at the camp and the exiled soldiers fought desperately to defend and fight, and secondly, it was all thanks to your Majesty's blessing!"

"Oh? Is there anything else about me?"

Liu Che loved to hear this and immediately became interested.

"Exactly!"

Gongsun Jingsheng then bowed slightly and recited Liu Jujiao's poem.

"That day, our army surrounded the Qiang people. The Qiang leader not only refused to surrender but also wanted to resist to the end. General Li and General Xu failed to persuade them to surrender, so they ordered the entire army to attack."

"I will lead the soldiers of the Xiandeng Camp and the exiled soldiers to lead the charge. We will fight to the death."

"Although the morale of the Qiang people has been low due to being surrounded by a large army, their numbers are still large. When our camp charged into the center of the Qiang army, nearly half of them had been killed or wounded. I'm afraid it will be difficult to advance any further."

"Just when I was getting extremely anxious, I suddenly heard a faint humming coming from the mountains amid the sounds of fighting."

"Listening carefully again, the voice seemed to be shouting something like 'Long live the Emperor of Han'."

"I thought it was just hallucination, so I asked the soldiers and exiled soldiers around me in the chaos. Who knew they also heard this ethereal and melodious voice? The voice came from the distant mountains, but it seemed to be whispering in my ears, making it difficult to find the source."

"At this time, someone in the camp echoed loudly: 'This is the cry of Qilian Mountain. Long live the Emperor of Han!'"

"This sound is more inspiring than the war drums in the army, and it immediately makes people's blood boil."

"So I also shouted 'Long live the Emperor of Han', and all the soldiers in the camp and the exiled soldiers also shouted 'Long live the Emperor of Han'. In an instant, I felt an indescribable strength surging through my body, as if I had received divine help!"

"When we charged forward with all our might, we felt that we had all the strength in our bodies. The Qiang people who were resisting stubbornly were also frightened and became vulnerable. From then on, we were able to break through the central army in one fell swoop."

"The Qiang leader was panicked upon seeing this, but he still tried to struggle and escape."

"The soldiers and exiled soldiers who had rushed here with me shouted 'Long live the Emperor of Han' together, shocking the Qiang leader so much that he froze in place, unable to move. Two exiled soldiers took the opportunity to rush forward, one grabbed his knife, and the other held him by the waist to restrain him."

"I also raised my sword and cut off his head. I took down the central army flag and hung his head on the flagpole for public display."

"Since then, the Qiang people finally fell into chaos and surrendered one after another and became prisoners."

"That's why I said this."

"The reason why I, the soldiers of the Xiandeng Camp and the exiled soldiers were able to achieve this military feat is the inexplicable low humming coming from the mountains. The humming of 'Long live the Emperor of Han' must be the gratitude of the Qilian Mountains and the blessing bestowed by Your Majesty in Chang'an on the soldiers of the Xiandeng Camp and the exiled soldiers."

"If not for this, we would be in danger of dying in this battle, let alone achieving this feat."

"I, on behalf of the soldiers who have arrived at the camp first and the soldiers who have been exiled to the garrison, will remember your majesty's grace!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the entire Xuanshi Hall fell into silence.

The officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

Gongsun Jingsheng's words were indeed a bit far-fetched, but they did not dare to say whether they were true or not. After all, no matter how rational they were in this era, they did not completely disbelieve in ghosts and gods.

What's more, "the most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and warfare," which has been a recognized concept since the emergence of Chinese civilization until the Han Dynasty.

Now that "sacrifice" and "war" complement each other and appear in a war, who can assert that Gongsun Jingsheng is lying?

Or even if some people knew it was fake, who would dare to stand up and point out in public that Liu Che was not wearing any clothes?
They didn’t dare to do so in history, so would they dare to do so now?
And before this, Gongsun Jingsheng had already reached a consensus in private with the officers and soldiers of Xiandeng Camp and the exiled soldiers. Now they are a community of interests, and even if someone asks, they will only get the same answer.

at the same time.

"Long live the Emperor of Han? Long live..."

Liu Che savored the artistic conception carefully, and a blush gradually appeared on his face.

"..."

However, at this moment Gongsun Jingsheng's legs were trembling slightly, and he unconsciously looked at Liu Ju.

He was really unsure. If it weren't for the exiled soldiers who had arrived at the camp first, he would never dare to deceive Emperor Liu Che with these words, as this was a serious crime of deceiving the emperor.

Liu Ju just closed his eyelids calmly, signaling him to calm down.

Because he knew what was going on, this time he just asked Gongsun Jingsheng to replicate the "Long live the mountains" event that would happen soon, or it could also be said as "Long live the mountains".

The "Historical Records: Fengshan Book" records:
"The emperor went up to the Taishi Temple of Zhongyue according to the ritual. The officials at the foot of the mountain heard someone saying 'Long live the emperor'. When the emperor was asked, he said nothing; when the people below were asked, they said nothing. So three hundred households were granted to Taishi Temple to worship the shrine, and it was named Chonggao Town."

The Book of Han, Chronicles of Emperor Wu, says:
"The next day he personally climbed up to Songgao, and the imperial censors and their subordinates were beside the temple. All the officials and soldiers heard him shouting "Long live the emperor" three times."

Later scholars unanimously agreed that this incident was actually a farce planned by sorcerers and local officials.

The purpose was to cater to Liu Che's preferences and to deceive people into giving him rewards.

Since the sorcerers and local officials could use it and used it successfully, it even led to the "Long Live the Dynasty" trend for two thousand years.

Then Liu Ju can naturally use it as well.

Anyway, it's all about deception and a surprise attack, so it's better for him to deceive Liu Che than for others to do so.

This is called keeping the benefits within the family, or wearing other people's shoes, walking other people's paths, and leaving them with no way to go.

(End of this chapter)