I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 180 Liu Che: This rebellious son is really something!

A few days later, Xuanshi Hall.

"Sima Tan, is this the son you recommended to be an official?"

Liu Che looked at the father and son in the hall, his eyes focused on Sima Qian.

"He could recite ancient Chinese literature at the age of ten, and traveled the world at the age of twenty. He can be considered a promising young man."

"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. My son..."

Sima Tan just bowed down and wanted to say something humble, but he saw Sima Qian standing there motionless. He immediately raised his leg and kicked Sima Qian in the knee, knocking him to his knees with a plop. Then he continued to bow and said,
"I have been herding and farming in the fields, and have also traveled in the market. I am not familiar with the etiquette of the court. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Liu Che's summons today was very sudden, and Sima Tan didn't quite understand the reason.

The Han Dynasty had its own "Appointment of Sons" system. To put it simply, if the father or brother was an official in the court or had made achievements, they could recommend their sons to become officials in the imperial court and become reserve officials.

Although Sima Tan's annual salary as Grand Historian was only 600 dan, he was already in line with the "Ren Zi" system.

Therefore, after Sima Qian came back this time, Sima Tan submitted a memorial of recommendation.

Originally, this matter was just a process. After all, even if Sima Qian became a Lang official, he could only be a Langzhong, the lowest level among the Lang officials, under the command of the Zhonglang Jiang, who stayed in the palace to guard the palace, waiting for the opportunity to display his talents and be used.

Maybe it’s because Sima Qian has an impressive resume?

After all, there were many officials' children of his age who were familiar with ancient books and proficient in the six arts of a gentleman, but there were very few who had traveled around the world...

"I, Sima Qian, kowtow to Your Majesty!"

Sima Qian was flattered as it was his first time entering the palace to meet the emperor. After being kicked, he finally came to his senses, knelt on the ground and began to kneel to Liu Che.

"Get up."

Liu Che smiled and said,
"I heard that when Liu Ju was pacifying the Nanyue Kingdom, you went to Panyu, the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom. This time Liu Ju went to Donglai, and you happened to be in Qi. You were almost involved in everything that happened in Donglai a few days ago. Is this true?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, when the Crown Prince was pacifying the Kingdom of Nanyue, I hurried after him, but in the end, I still passed by him and was unable to see his elegance."

Sima Qian stood up and bowed,

"This time, I was lucky enough to be in Donglai to wait for the gods. Not only did I receive courtesy from the prince, but I also got to witness his elegance throughout the whole process."

“Style…”

Liu Che did not like this wording, but he knew that Sima Qian could only evaluate Liu Ju in this way, so he did not take it to heart and asked again,
"What do you think about what Liu Ju did in Donglai?"

Sima Tan and Sima Qian, father and son, did not understand why Emperor Liu Che summoned them, but Liu Che understood it very well.

What does the Grand Historian do?
In addition to being in charge of astronomy and calendar, the remaining core responsibility is writing history.

Although Liu Che did not know that the Tang Dynasty would emerge hundreds of years later and that historians would completely become vassals and propaganda tools of the royal family by then, the current Grand Historian still had the autonomy to write history, and even he, the emperor, could not easily interfere, and could not even check the contents of history books.

At least on the surface, this is still the social consensus today.

"I think that although the prince's move may seem absurd, it is actually a far-sighted one that benefits the country and the people. I admire him very much."

Sima Qian answered seriously.

"Oh? What do you mean by this?"

Liu Che frowned slightly.

In fact, he did not mind Sima Qian's high praise for Liu Ju. What he cared about was whether Sima Qian's high evaluation of Liu Ju's behavior would make him look like an emperor.

"..."

Sima Tan finally realized the problem at this moment, and immediately signaled to Sima Qian to be careful when speaking in front of Liu Che.

At this time, he could no longer kick Sima Qian openly.

Otherwise, Liu Che would only think that Sima Qian really had some rebellious thoughts in his heart, which would only make things worse. Even if he didn't have any rebellious thoughts, it would not be explained clearly.

However, Sima Qian did not see his expression. Upon hearing this, he pulled out a scroll of bamboo slips that even Sima Tan did not know about, and presented it with both hands:
"Your Majesty, my opinions on this matter are all written down in this book. Please take a look at it."

"Go and get it."

Liu Che's brows tightened even more and he pouted at Su Wen beside him.

Seeing this, Su Wen's knees began to ache again, but he had no choice but to go downstairs to get it.

Liu Che spread out the bamboo slips and looked at the contents.

quiet!
While Liu Che was reading this scroll, the silence in the Xuanshi Hall was depressing.

Sima Tan kept looking at Sima Qian secretly with a questioning look, trying to determine through eye contact whether there was any problem with the content of the bamboo slips.

The attendants and warriors lowered their heads silently, held their breath, and made preparations secretly. After all, this was another volume of bamboo slips related to the prince.

Sima Qian, on the other hand, looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, as if he had entered his own world.

After a while.

"Snapped!"

With a slight sound, Liu Che casually dropped the bamboo slips onto the table.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft..."

All the attendants and warriors knelt down in unison, as if they had undergone rigorous and lengthy training.

"???"

Sima Tan was also shocked. He looked around in panic, his legs bent, and he didn't know whether he should kneel down like these attendants and Qimen warriors.

Then Liu Che asked doubtfully:
"Su Wen, what are you doing?"

"Your Majesty, your humble servant...your humble servant..."

Su Wen was startled when he heard this, and raised his head slightly, his face full of surprise and doubt.

Before, when they were in Zhumu Garden, they could still say that they were tired of standing and took a break, but now... this is Xuanshi Palace, and it is their duty, so how dare they say they are tired?

"What a disgrace! Everyone, get up!"

Fortunately, Liu Che did not mean to embarrass them. He just scolded them and then smiled at Sima Qian.
"Sima Qian, how do you know that Liu Ju's actions in Donglai were actually instructed by me? Did you figure out the kingly way behind this yourself?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not speculate on your will."

Sima Qian bowed again and answered with his eyebrows lowered and eyes lowered.
"It's just that some things are out in the open, and you only need to connect them together to understand them, without having to speculate too much."

"Although I was slow to realize many things, I also learned on my way back to the capital that the people in Taishi Mountain shouted "Long live Your Majesty", Your Majesty punished the local officials in Gaoshi City and Taishi Mountain, Your Majesty burned the painting books in Taiye Lake, drowned the alchemists and wizards, and the people in Qilian Mountain shouted "Long live Your Majesty" when conquering the Western Qiang. "

"If we connect these events together, it is not difficult to see that Your Majesty had already seen through the deception of those sorcerers and wizards before ordering the crown prince to go to Donglai to wait for the gods. Therefore, everything that happened afterwards must be under Your Majesty's control. The purpose is to use this incident to educate the people to avoid being deceived and prevent such a powerful weapon of the king's way from falling into the hands of scoundrels and rumormongers."

"And the reason why His Majesty ordered the Crown Prince to do this was probably intentional."

"It is intended to warn the Crown Prince and teach him to be vigilant against this matter in the future and never let it go."

"Your Majesty's painstaking efforts should not be buried like this, and should not be misunderstood by the people of the world. Therefore, if I write history in the future, I will definitely record this incident in the history books!"

Sima Qian made these remarks after he returned to Beijing, connecting these events and making inferences. He believed that only such a conclusion could make all events and motives reasonable.

In addition, Sima Qian came to this conclusion based on another most important basis, which is:
He didn't know whether Liu Ju and his entourage were rewarded after returning, but one thing was certain, no one was punished!
The worry that Huo Guang showed in Donglai at the time showed that these things would definitely make the emperor angry.

But after returning to Beijing, the situation was completely the opposite.
What does this mean?
Doesn’t this just show that everything is under the emperor’s control?
"Hahaha, well said."

Liu Che laughed and said with admiration,
"I never thought that my plan, which I thought could deceive the world, would be seen through by a young boy who has never been involved in officialdom. As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. This is indeed true. Your knowledge and understanding have surpassed many people. You are a rare talent."

"Your Majesty, I am too humble to accept your praise."

Sima Qian said modestly.

Liu Che nodded. The more he looked at Sima Qian, the more he liked him. Then he said:

"Your father recommended you to be a doctor, but I think it's a bit of a waste of your talent. You should start as a counselor and take on the responsibility of asking questions and answering questions during court meetings."

"This……"

Sima Qian was stunned when he heard this. The annual salary of a Grand Counselor was 800 dan, which was two levels higher than his father's 600 dan. For a young man like him who had just entered the officialdom, this was simply a step to heaven.

"Rebellious son, why don't you thank the emperor for his grace?!"

Sima Tan was also stunned for a moment, but his reaction was faster than Sima Qian's. He immediately kicked Sima Qian in the knee with a sweeping kick.

……

After Sima Qian, the new "backstabber", stepped down, another memorial was delivered to the Xuanshi Hall soon after.

At this moment, Liu Che was in a good mood, and his feet moved quickly on the table:

"Although this rebellious son is not worthy of being a son of man, he did remind me that my preferences have a huge impact on the people. We must strictly guard against seeking immortals and ghosts in the future and never let them go, otherwise it may shake the country's destiny."

After he finished reading the contents of this memorial, he immediately felt much better:

"This rebellious son really has something!"

"I went to the Minister of Agriculture a few days ago and got an abacus and a four-pillar inventory, which shocked Sang Hongyang."

"Only a few days have passed, and several corrupt officials hiding in the Salt and Iron Office have been uncovered from the account books. This is much faster than I expected."

"but……"

"Do the officials who can be found in the account books really have the ability to influence the affairs of the salt and iron industry, mobilize the Confucian scholars and virtuous writers of the Imperial Academy, and manipulate public opinion at court and abroad?"

"If this matter is really so simple, why did I turn a blind eye to it before?"

"Let this rebellious son do it for now. If we can kill a few of them to scare the monkeys, it can also be regarded as a warning to those people."

"Soon this rebellious son will realize that he is still too naive..."

"Then I will teach this rebellious son what to do, and let him see clearly what an emperor should do!"

(End of this chapter)