I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 25 I have never missed a thing in my life

"Subjective initiative..."

This new word made Du Zhou a little confused, but he quickly guessed the meaning through the context, and immediately moved closer, saying with a flattering look,
"I am a stupid official. Please explain clearly, Your Highness."

"This matter must have alarmed my father. If I am not mistaken, the person my father sent to settle this matter should arrive in the next two days."

Liu Ju said, "You also know that the people who usually handle this kind of thing are the Imperial Court Judges. You are already an Imperial Court Judge, so the person coming this time must be of a higher rank. So it shouldn't be hard to guess who my father will send this time, right?"

"My superior, Zhao Zhengjian, is most likely him."

Du Zhou gave the answer immediately.

The Chief Justice of the Court of Justice, who was in charge of the Court of Justice and was one of the Nine Ministers, Zhao Yu.

He was also a famous cruel official in history who acted brutally and hastily, but he was also a relatively honest person. The idiom "acting on one's own will" comes from his deeds.

"This is it."

Liu Ju nodded and continued, "You should know better than me what kind of people your court officials are. Even if you fall into the hands of these so-called insiders, you will be in trouble."

"But if you want to survive this time, you must protect two people!"

"Which two people?"

Du Zhou showed a hint of hesitation, and it was obvious that he would not be completely led by Liu Ju so easily.

"Jiren and Guochang."

Liu Ju lowered his voice and said mysteriously,
"After destroying the dike and flooding the fields, these two people still actively controlled the water. Now they have successfully blocked the breach on the south bank of Huzikou, completely solving the flood problem in Liangchu."

"So in this case, they have made amends."

"But what I want to talk about is not this, but something more important."

"These two people will soon achieve great success!"

Du Zhou couldn't help but become curious when he heard this, and asked quickly: "What is this unprecedented achievement?"

"As far as I know, in order to protect themselves, they have jointly submitted a secret memorial to my father in the past few days."

Liu Ju continued,

"This memorial records the 'Three Strategies for River Control' left by Dayu when he was controlling floods. If we follow the contents to control the river, the river will not burst again and the people on both sides will live in long-term peace and stability."

"If these 'Three Strategies for River Management' were handed over to my father, wouldn't they have accomplished an unparalleled feat?"

These “three strategies for river control” are certainly not the good strategies for river control left by Dayu.

Instead, it was written by Jia Rang, a river management strategist who lived nearly a hundred years later.

Liu Ju said this only to increase the weight of the "Three Strategies for River Control". Anyway, no one except him would know what happened in later generations, and it would be easier to fool the superstitious Liu Che.

"Having said that..."

Du Zhou nodded slightly, but still looked hesitant.

"They have fallen into the hands of the Imperial Court this time, and they will surely be severely tortured on their way back to the capital."

Liu Ju patiently persuaded

"If you are injured, disabled, or killed, it has nothing to do with you."

"But if you can protect the two of them, when my father reads their memorials and decides to reward them, he will naturally credit you for this and you will have made up for your mistake."

"This is the third way I give you to survive."

In order to protect Ji Ren and Guo Chang, Liu Ju really spared no effort.

He could easily imagine that on the way back to the capital, although the Chief Justice would not dare to touch him, the prince, he would definitely take action against Ji Ren and Guo Chang.

He tried his best to produce a solid confession and grab some credit before meeting Emperor Wu of Han.

He was under "house arrest" at the time and certainly couldn't protect the two of them.

In this case, it is necessary to have someone who can speak with authority to mediate.

In Liu Ju's opinion, Du Zhou was a good candidate.

After hearing this, Du Zhou seemed a little moved, but he couldn't help but ask:
"Your Highness's analysis does make some sense, but I can't understand why Your Highness would save me when I have no relationship with you?"

"I just want to protect Jiren and Guo Chang, but you just happen to be a part of it."

Liu Ju smiled and said, "So you don't need to be grateful to me."

"Let me give you another piece of advice. You know that my father likes officials who are not attached to the powerful and do not form factions." "So when you return to the capital to report, you can add as much as you want to my actions and put the blame on me. If you have any concerns, you will be wrong."

"Just take care of yourself."

After hearing this.

There was a hint of fear in Du Zhou's eyes when he looked at Liu Ju.

He had a feeling that he was completely seen through, to the point that an uncontrollable chill rose up from deep within his heart.

"I don't dare!"

Du Zhou immediately put down the wine jar and knelt in front of Liu Ju.

He had a hunch for no reason.

Even though Liu Ju destroyed the dikes and flooded the fields, everything was still under his control.

If anyone thinks that Liu Ju is doomed this time and his position as crown prince is difficult to preserve, and even becomes ready to make moves because of this, then they are totally wrong and will definitely end up shooting themselves in the foot!

……

In recent days.

The number of urgent reports reaching Chang'an City suddenly increased, most of which came from the flood-stricken areas.

Liu Che has been much more diligent in his work recently, and he would definitely review and annotate such urgent reports personally.

This was a tough time for the attendants and warriors who accompanied him.

They felt that they must have been suffering from memorial stress disorder recently. Whenever Liu Che saw the memorials related to the crown prince, their hearts would unconsciously rise to their throats and they would be ready to hold their breath and kneel down at any time.

What's more, what Liu Che was reviewing today was the urgent report from the four disaster-stricken counties on the north bank.

These urgent reports were both related to the prince and reports on the relevant disasters.

As a result, the attendants and warriors did not even dare to think about what would happen next. They only hoped that Liu Che could take care of his body and not get hurt...

The result was unexpected.

After reading the urgent report today, Liu Che did not get angry. Instead, he leaned back on the dragon couch, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if thinking about something.

"This……"

Everyone secretly observed Liu Che's condition out of the corner of their eyes, and was puzzled.

What kind of reaction is this?
Could it be that he was finally angry and ended up in trouble?

After a while.

"Su Wen, do you still remember Dong Zhongshu?"

Liu Che suddenly asked, and his voice was no longer as suppressed and silent as it had been in recent days.

"Slave remember."

Su Wen didn't know the purpose of this question, and didn't dare to say anything extra.

Liu Che continued to talk to himself:

"Dong Zhongshu called himself a great Confucian scholar and advocated the interaction between heaven and man. He said that if the emperor did not implement benevolent and virtuous policies, or did something wrong, heaven would send down various disasters to punish the emperor. All disasters in the world are caused by this."

"He also called the flooding of Changling and Gaomiao a disaster, slandering me for being unkind in my administration, thus drawing the censure of heaven."

"Such evil words can confuse people. If I hadn't sympathized with his talent, how could he have survived until today?"

"..."

Su Wen and the other eunuchs didn't know why Liu Che suddenly brought up these things, and they still didn't dare to respond casually. They just pricked up their ears and listened quietly.

Liu Che suddenly seemed to regain his spirits, and he sat up and said loudly:
"Haven't many Confucian scholars gathered at the Golden Horse Gate recently, crying and begging to see me and plead for the people?"

"They are not qualified. If I want to see someone, I want to see Dong Zhongshu!"

"Immediately summon Dong Zhongshu. I want to debate with him. I want to ask him carefully. Since the disasters are the heavens' rebuke to me, I will do my best to correct them."

"So this flood, which should have caused disasters for thousands of miles, not only did not cause a disaster, but instead became a water conservancy project that benefited the country and the people. This kind of natural disaster can be turned into a blessing. This kind of auspicious sign has never appeared before in ancient and modern times."

"Is God telling me that I have never made a mistake in my life?!"

(End of this chapter)