I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 219 Those who can tell stories rule the world!

How could Liu Ju not realize that the situation was not good when he saw this?

He just said that he was having fun and he had some unknown support in his heart, so he was not afraid that Liu Che would destroy him. But Liu Che's attitude clearly showed that he wanted to take action directly and was looking for something that was convenient for him!
Liu Che is now forty-five years old and tall and strong.

Although the average life expectancy of a man is not high, it is still considered as a prime age, not to mention that he eventually lived to be sixty-nine years old.

If a fight breaks out and he uses all his strength in a rage, won't I have to lie in bed for ten days or half a month?

"Father, please calm down. I just spoke from the bottom of my heart and I have no intention of disobeying you!"

As he spoke, Liu Ju took a few steps back, secretly preparing to run. Once he discovered that Liu Che had found something useful, he would have to run and would deal with the rest later.

"Good! Such a heartfelt statement!!!"

When Liu Che heard this, he became even more angry. He couldn't find his golden-handled whip for a moment, so he grabbed a scroll of bamboo slips and smashed it hard.

Liu Ju was quick-witted and dodged it by moving sideways. He quickly said:

"Father, please be patient. Have you ever heard of the saying: Those who can tell stories rule the world?"

"Very good! Telling stories is the job of actors. Are you comparing me to an actor?!"

"Whizzing!"

Along with Liu Che's angry curses, two more scrolls of bamboo slips flew towards him, faster and more fiercely than before.

Liu Ju ducked again and was about to stand up to say something.

But he saw that Liu Che had already stepped onto the table in front of the dragon couch, and with a few big strides he leaped in front of him. Before he could say anything else, he kicked him:
"Rebellious son, how dare you hide from me!"

This time Liu Ju had no time to dodge and was kicked on the butt by Liu Che with a "bang".

"Eh!"

Although Liu Ju knew that Liu Che was keen on secret hunting when he was young, and that he must have been a good rider and had some martial arts skills, he did not expect that he was still so agile at this age. The power of this kick was quite strong.

So he was immediately forced to demonstrate a move of leaning his butt backwards and rubbing his buttocks on the relatively smooth stone floor for more than ten feet.

Then there was no time to get up.

Liu Che had followed suit, jumped over him and rode on him, with a scroll of bamboo slips appearing in his hand, and slapped him hard on his raised butt with a "pa".

"Ouch! Father, spare my life!"

This blow was not light. Liu Ju only felt a burning pain on half of his buttocks. There was no trace of the momentum and heroism he had when he spoke just now.

All he had left now was regret.

Damn, Liu Che actually changed his strategy without even discussing it with him. He stopped talking nonsense with him, and didn't threaten him with the position of Crown Prince. Instead, he just beat his son regardless of his status?
Is there still kingly law? Is there still law?
I remember!

From now on, any words that might anger Liu Che must not be said in private. They must be said during the morning court session when there are many people present. With all the civil and military officials watching, he must be cautious!
But the most important thing now is how to escape from danger...

Seeing that his cries of "Father, please spare my life" had no effect at all, Liu Che raised the bamboo slips again, and the second blow was about to come.

"Father! Can you please listen to what I have to say? If what I said is wrong, you can beat me. I can also swear to heaven that I will never disobey you again!"

Liu Ju originally wanted to say "Please, father, depose me" in an attempt to activate the loophole of "time travel blessings", but looking at the current situation, Liu Che never mentioned deposing him. He was afraid that this trick would not only be useless, but would further anger Liu Che and cause him to suffer more beatings, which would be a loss.

Damn, if I were a full-level human now, I wouldn’t be so passive!
"Snapped!"

Liu Che's eyes turned cold, and he took another picture:
"Rebellious son, I'm beating you because you exposed Luan Da's nonsense and called me stupid!"

"Snapped!"

"This time, I'm beating you for destroying the dikes and flooding the fields in Dongjun without consulting me in advance!"

"..."

Liu Che didn't listen to what Liu Qi said at all, and started to teach him a lesson by using the bows on both sides, even explaining the reason behind each strike.

He actually started from the time when Liu Ju first exposed Luan Da's Ci Shi chess piece, as if he was going to take this opportunity to settle the score with him today.

It turns out that Liu Che had secretly written down all the previous events in a little notebook, just waiting for this day!

Liu Ju's buttocks ached and his heart was bleeding. He had such a sinister and vengeful cheap emperor as his father. This was the worst misfortune he had ever had.

If Liu Che really settled all the accounts, he would definitely be in big trouble today.

The only thing to be thankful for was that Liu Che had not yet thought of beating him to death, so although he was merciless, at least every blow landed on his buttocks...

"Call it, you rebellious son, why don't you shout it?"

After being hit several times, Liu Ju suddenly stopped struggling. He just clenched his teeth and lay on the ground as if he was angry, without saying a word. Liu Che was still a little unsatisfied.

Liu Ju had seen that the more he cried out in pain, the more excited Liu Che became. He also knew that Liu Che had no intention of really beating him, so he deliberately did the opposite. Finally, he got a chance to speak, and he immediately endured the pain and continued the half-sentence he had just said:

"The world is ruled by those who can tell stories. Father uses Confucianism to tell stories for him because he is not a good storyteller."

"Since it is not the father who tells the story, then it is not the father who rules the world, but the Confucians."

"Father seems to have taken advantage of Confucianism and is the smartest person in the world."

"But father, have you ever thought that I am studying Confucianism now, and my descendants will also study Confucianism in the future. The descendants of the Liu family will all respect Confucianism."

"A hundred years later, the throne changed. It seemed that my father fooled and weakened the people, but he also fooled and weakened the descendants of Liu. Only Confucianism was respected in the world."

"I can't help but ask Father, will the world belong to my Liu family or to Confucianism?"

"?!"

After hearing this last question, the bamboo slips that Liu Che had already lifted up stopped in mid-air.

The look of anger mixed with joy in his eyes quietly disappeared, replaced by a look of surprise as if he had just woken up from a dream.

This question touched upon a point that even he was often constrained by but had never figured out.

Is this world really my Liu family's?

Or is it the world of Confucianism? !

He knew better than anyone that after more than twenty years of vigorous promotion, Confucianism had evolved from being one of the most prominent schools of thought to being the only prominent school of thought in the Han Dynasty.

The number of Confucian scholars increased day by day, and the influence of Confucianism in the government and the public also increased year by year.

The officials he appointed to implement Han laws and enforce legal decrees were portrayed by Confucians as cruel officials.

The framework of Han laws that he personally established and the laws revised by officials were promoted by Confucians as harsh laws.

He formulated a grand strategy for the Han-Xiongnu in response to the repeated invasions of the Xiongnu, but the Confucians spread the idea that this was a harsh policy that was costly and detrimental to the country and the people. They repeatedly stood up to oppose it and demanded that the Han Dynasty bow down to the Xiongnu, offer money and marriage to the Xiongnu.

His implementation of the state-run salt and iron system was clearly intended to compete with merchants for profits, but in the eyes of these people it was seen as competing with the people for profits. Even after this reform, the quality and price of salt and iron tools had been brought down, but it still couldn't stop them from talking.

The prince he appointed had clearly suffered an unjust accusation. After he used all his means to clear his name, he still had to consider the influence and reputation of the Confucian scholars in the world, and thought it would be best to give these people a break...

Only then did he suddenly realize it.

Unconsciously, even he who thought he had everything under control had been fooled and weakened by Confucianism and became a character in the story told by Confucianism. This story was not under his control from the beginning and was entirely controlled by Confucianism!
As Liu Ju said, if he was like this, then what about the descendants of the Liu family?

Will every generation have a heroic leader like him...

Thinking of this, Liu Che suddenly lost his confidence. Just as Liu Ju said, now his crown prince and princes are all studying Confucianism. Their descendants and Liu's descendants will also continue his national policy and respect Confucianism. If they are fooled and weakened generation after generation, will they still be able to fight against Confucianism?

At this moment, he finally understood the meaning of Liu Ju's words:

He who can tell stories rules the world!
He made the people ignorant and weak, and in the end it was the Liu family of the Han Dynasty who were ignorant and weak. Only the storytelling Confucians became increasingly difficult to control, and this continued from generation to generation.

Even if dynasties change, as long as the Confucian story is told well, the subsequent rulers will still fall into the so-called trap of autocracy and despotism, and for the sake of their own legitimacy and personal gain, they will continue to become a character in the story told by Confucianism.

In order to play the leading role in this story and get the script of a positive character, he constantly compromised with Confucianism and was unknowingly ruled by Confucianism...

I am really confused!
What Liu Che was most proud of before was his ability to rule people, but now he realized what a foolish thing he had done.

Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Yin-Yang...the hundreds of schools of thought.

There are so many famous schools of thought in front of me, why should I choose only one and allow it to develop and grow, instead of eliminating the ideas that are not beneficial to me, and then let them contend with each other and play their roles for my use?
Isn’t the essence of how to control people the word “competition”?
Only when a hundred schools of thought contend, I am the one telling the story, and I am the one who rules the world!

But what kind of story should I tell?

at this time.

Liu Ju hadn't been beaten for a long time. He had seen Liu Che's hesitation and awakening through his expression, and said quietly:
"Father, I think you can tell me a story like this. The name of the story is, Meko the Great, Grete Urgan."

"Meko-dahan what?"

Liu Che came back to his senses after hearing the voice, but the expression on his face became more confused.

"Bah bah bah!"

Liu Ju spat several times, revealing an ugly grin.

"I'm going to say something nonsense, but I want to say that Father can tell you a story called..."

“…We are far ahead!”

(End of this chapter)