I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 164 Huo Guang: Cousin, I can only help you so far

After a long time.

"Brother Sima, I have never heard such words, and you have never said them before."

Huo Guang picked up the things he had dropped, his facial expression had completely returned to normal, and he just spoke lightly.

He sent back three important memorials in total during these days.

The first one was naturally the memorial about "Liu Ju's ascension to immortality."

The second letter was a memorial concerning the "book burning and prescription drowning" incident.

The third letter was sent out a few hours ago, and it was a memorial regarding the "countryside tour".

Now that I think about it carefully, if the contents of these three memorials were integrated together and sent back to Chang'an, it would seem to be a complete and interesting story.

But Huo Guang was not a prophet, and Liu Ju had never discussed his plans with him.

Therefore, he could only report one thing as it happened. Coupled with the necessary process for submitting memorials, it was easy to create a situation of constant surprise, which caused great fluctuations in Liu Che's emotions.

But this "keeping the death secret" is a bit too serious. Liu Che's ability to bear it should not be that bad, right?

However, in just a short while, Huo Guang had already made up his mind.

If "the death was kept secret" was true, then there would naturally be nothing to think about.

At this moment, Wei Qing and Wei Zifu are still in Chang'an, and they will definitely be able to stabilize the political situation. Liu Ju will soon succeed to the throne when he returns to the capital this time, which is naturally not a bad thing for both the Wei and Huo families.

If the "secret death" is false, then Liu Ju should think carefully about how to deal with Liu Che after returning...

Fortunately, Liu Ju's final "rural tour" solved in advance the problem he was most worried about, the dispute between "imperial power and immortal power".

But this does not mean that there were no problems between Liu Che and Liu Ju, father and son.

On the contrary, the problems between them remain extremely serious.

Because this time, what Liu Ju did seemed to be dealing with those alchemists and wizards, but at the same time it also negated Liu Che's previous years of seeking immortality and asking ghosts for advice.

This still made Liu Che, who already attached great importance to his reputation, very embarrassed, and still touched Liu Che's reverse scale...

Huo Guang couldn't help but think of the result of his previous attempt to "pacify the Kingdom of Nanyue".

Although Liu Ju made great contributions during this trip, he was eventually placed under house arrest by Emperor Wu of Han, and then thrown into the imperial prison on the charge of "falsifying laws and causing great harm". Even Wei Qing was implicated and was detained in the Weiyang Palace for a long time.

Although in the end Liu Che merely "raised him high and put him down gently", and pardoned Liu Ju by taking advantage of the prosperous times when "all nations came to pay tribute".

But what about this time?

There will no longer be any prosperous era of "all nations coming to pay tribute" this time. Can Liu Che still tolerate it?
difficult!
too difficult!
Huo Guang knew too well what kind of person Liu Che was, at least during the years he assisted Liu Che.

Apart from Liu Ju, he had never seen Liu Che suffer any injustice from anyone, let alone this kind of injustice that was almost equivalent to humiliation!
"Captain Huo, don't worry too much. I am only suggesting this possibility and will only tell Captain Huo. After all..."

Sima Qian was still young after all, and seeing Huo Guang's reaction, he wanted to explain.

However, he only said half of his words when he saw Huo Guang's extremely serious and restraining gaze, so he could only laugh awkwardly:
"I am sorry for saying too much. Thank you, Captain Huo, for your advice."

Huo Guang skipped the topic and asked:
"Just now I heard Brother Sima say that he would go back to the capital with us?"

"good."

Sima Qian nodded.
"My father ordered me to travel and collect historical materials for compiling history books. Over the years, I have traveled south from Chang'an, east, and north, and finally arrived in Qi. Next, I will travel west and return to Chang'an, and I will complete my mission."

"Brother Sima has such experience at such a young age. Your father is the Grand Historian. I believe you will be promoted to the Imperial Academy after you return this time."

Huo Guang said again,

"But I think Brother Sima Xian can probably go further."

"Why?"

Sima Qian asked doubtfully.

"Brother Sima, didn't you see during your time in Donglai that the Crown Prince admires you very much? Although you don't hold an official position, the Crown Prince treats you with more courtesy than the officials of the court. He doesn't avoid you in many matters, even I am not as good as him."

Huo Guang smiled and said,

"Brother Sima, you don't think that His Highness will look at you differently just because you are the descendant of a historian, do you?"

"Captain Huo means..."

Sima Qian was slightly stunned when he heard this.

Liu Ju's admiration for him was indeed not just something Huo Guang said, he himself felt it deeply, otherwise how could he have lived with Huo Guang this time, without any restrictions on coming in and out, or seeking to see Liu Ju?
This is a treatment that even high-ranking local officials like Donglai County Magistrate Chen Tao do not have!

If so...

Although Huo Guang did not say it explicitly, if the death was really kept secret this time, Liu Ju might really be able to use him after he returned and succeeded to the throne. That would certainly not be as simple as entering the imperial court.

"I don't mean anything. I'm just stating a fact. Don't think too much about it, Brother Sima."

Huo Guang smiled again and continued,

"By the way, Brother Sima has traveled for many years, so his knowledge is naturally incomparable to that of ordinary people. In fact, I still have some doubts about what Your Highness did this time when he was waiting for the God of Donglai. Could you please explain it to me in detail, Brother Sima?"

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it. How can I dare to explain it to Captain Huo? But if Captain Huo wants to discuss this matter with me, I am willing to accompany him."

Sima Qian did not doubt him and quickly waved his hands modestly.

"What do you think is the purpose of your Highness doing these things?" Huo Guang frowned and asked in confusion.
"First he became an immortal, then he burned books and drowned himself, and finally he pushed himself off the altar... No matter how I think about it, I feel that your Highness's actions are like taking off his pants to relieve himself. Apart from punishing those rumormongers, it has no significance for the court."

"No, no, I think your Highness's move is a far-sighted one."

Sima Qian immediately said,
"Although these alchemists and wizards may seem to have no impact on the political situation, if the political situation is compared to a dam, these alchemists and wizards are ants. The ant holes they dig out are constantly destroying the foundation of the dam. If they develop to a certain scale, they can destroy a thousand-mile dam in an instant."

"Captain Huo also witnessed what happened between Immortal Xu and his followers."

"Under the instigation of Immortal Xu, they not only dared to risk their lives to disobey the Crown Prince, but even tried to assassinate him. Doesn't this explain the problem?"

"That's because there aren't many followers of Immortal Xu right now. If the number grows to 100,000, 1 million, or even 10 million, do you think this is still a small problem, Captain Huo?"

"besides."

"Captain Huo also said that after Your Highness became an immortal, those Qimen warriors and Jianzhang cavalry were no longer under the command of Captain Huo, but only obeyed Your Highness' orders."

"Captain Huo, have you ever thought about what would happen if the one who became an immortal was not the Crown Prince, but someone else?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is second only to one man, so he can resist the temptation to command the world."

"If it were someone else, I'm afraid they would quickly use the matter of 'becoming an immortal' to quickly form a group with more people and deeper faith than Immortal Xu. How could it not have an impact on the government by then?"

"Therefore, I believe that your Highness's move is of great significance and may even benefit future generations."

"This is an extremely important warning to both the current emperor and future emperors. We must be on guard against these matters of seeking immortals and asking ghosts for advice. We must not let them go and allow them to grow and develop. Otherwise, we will be retaliated against."

"in addition."

"I have also learned a little bit about the way of kings from your Highness's actions."

"I think that asking gods and ghosts for advice is actually a double-edged sword!"

"If you treat it as a tool and hold it firmly in your hand, it will be an invincible divine sword, just as Your Highness has easily created a situation where all the people sincerely bow down to you."

“But if you insist on believing this, it will be like handing such a powerful weapon to the hands of scoundrels and rumormongers, which will be a great harm to the country, the people, the country, the national destiny, and even the imperial power!”

"Your Highness must have understood this principle long ago."

"That is why I have done these things, hoping to persuade Your Majesty and return the kingly way to Your Majesty's hands."

"It's a pity that His Majesty has already..."

"..."

Seeing that Sima Qian was about to say something inappropriate again, Huo Guang quickly interrupted him and nodded slightly, saying:
"As expected of you, Brother Sima, you have such profound insights. Listening to your words, I feel as if the clouds have been cleared and the sun has been shining. I admire you so much!"

"Captain Huo, you are too kind. I have seen a lot, so I have thought a lot."

Sima Qian felt a little embarrassed by the praise, and smiled modestly.

"I wonder if Brother Sima has ever thought of compiling these insights into a book and storing it in the Shiqu Pavilion for future generations to read and benefit for generations to come?"

Huo Guang asked again in an inducing manner.

Shiqu Pavilion is the royal library in the Weiyang Palace and is the highest-standard national archive and library in the entire Han Dynasty.

“This is my lifelong dream!”

Sima Qian's face was full of longing. He didn't know yet that his main workplace in history was Shiqu Pavilion, and his "Records of the Grand Historian" would become one of the most important cultural treasures of the Celestial Empire in later generations.

"Then write it down, Brother Sima, I believe in you!"

Huo Guang patted Sima Qian's shoulder heavily.

"Your ideas are profound and far-reaching. Once you present them to the emperor or the crown prince, they will surely regard them as treasures and store them in the Shiqu Pavilion!"

"Really?"

"Of course it is true. There are countless historians in the world, but there is only one historian as far-sighted as Brother Sima. Your father would be proud of you if he knew about this!"

"Okay, I'll listen to Captain Huo!"

"How can you say that you listened to me? I don't have the experience and foresight of Brother Sima Xian. Brother Sima Xian, you are embarrassing me. It is I who was taught."

"..."

Although Sima Qian and Huo Guang were not much different in age, they were far less experienced in officialdom.

After all, Sima Qian had been traveling outside at the order of his father and had never been involved in officialdom, while Huo Guang entered the court early and became a close minister of Liu Che. Compared with the two in this respect, Sima Qian was a clear-eyed and stupid college student, while Huo Guang was a cunning old fox.

Moreover, even many years later, Sima Qian was still not as good as Huo Guang in this respect, otherwise he would not have suffered castration.

So in just a short while, Sima Qian had fallen into Huo Guang's trap.

Seeing that Sima Qian excitedly accepted the suggestion, he ran to pack up his luggage and prepare to return to Beijing.

Huo Guang's gaze gradually deepened:

"My cousin, I can only help you up to this point..."

"I have mentioned Sima Qian in my previous memorial. If it weren't for the 'secret death' and Sima Qian had returned to the capital with us, Your Majesty would have summoned him to inquire about the Donglai incident."

"Whether this person can share His Majesty's anger for you, and how much anger he can share, will depend on your own luck."

(End of this chapter)