I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 253: Shit, what does that mean?
"..."

After hearing Liu Ju's words, Dongfang Yu couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chest.

Hit people without slapping their faces, and curse people without revealing shortcomings.

When I witnessed this prince operating on the King of Qi in Zhumu Garden before, I didn't realize that he had such a sharp tongue. Why did he immediately show his sharpness when he met my father...

Oh, by the way, I heard that when the "debate on deposing and enthroning the crown prince" was going on, he was debating with the scholars in the court.

He criticized all the sharp-tongued Confucian scholars and virtuous writers, and in the end they even lost their lives. It would be strange if his mouth was not powerful.

Thinking about this in his mind, Dongfang Yu stole a glance at Dongfang Shuo standing beside him.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk!

Oh my dear father, what happened? Why is your face turning red and white?

Isn't your father usually very eloquent? A few days ago, your son knelt down and asked the emperor to reprimand you for changing women too frequently. You were still making excuses in front of the emperor. Why are you so embarrassed now just because the prince said something to you?

At this moment, Dongfang Yu's heart was filled with gratitude towards Liu Ju.

Is this what it means to have one thing conquer another?

It seems that the emperor is unable to control his useless father. Don't bother the emperor anymore in the future. It's better to interact more with the prince and ask him for more help...

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Dongfang Yu immediately gave Liu Ju a great gift and made a solemn promise.

Liu Ju nodded slightly and asked again:
"By the way, have you ever contacted a foreign delegation before? When you meet the envoy of Chen Country later, have you thought about how to negotiate with him?"

"This is the negotiation summary I wrote in advance according to your majesty's order. Please take a look at it."

Dongfang Yu quickly took out a bamboo slip from his arms and presented it to him with both hands.

"As for the negotiation skills, although I have never contacted foreign envoys before, I also consulted the senior of the Grand Herald yesterday and learned some experience. I think there should be no problem."

Liu Ju took the bamboo slips and glanced at them briefly.

I found that due to space limitations, it mainly contains a few summaries of the "Chen State Strategy". Unlike the speeches in later generations that were specific to every sentence, it seems that Dongfang Yu wanted to express himself freely in this negotiation.

As a result, just as he was about to speak, he saw Dongfang Shuo beside him had recovered and shamelessly volunteered:
"Your Highness, don't worry. As the saying goes, fathers and sons fight together in battle. His Majesty ordered me to come and assist my son. He has taken this issue into consideration. I will check and fill in the gaps at the appropriate time and will never let my son humiliate the dignity of the Han people."

"In my opinion, Mr. Dongfang doesn't need to get involved in this matter, right?"

Liu Ju glanced over and said quietly.

Dongfang Shuo was stunned when he heard this, and immediately said anxiously:

"Your Highness, I was ordered to come here to handle this matter. How can I just say I won't participate?"

Ever since he was demoted by Emperor Wu of Han for urinating in the Xuanshi Hall, he had been waiting for orders in the Eunuch's Office.

It was not until a few days ago when Liu Ju had surgery on Liu Hong that Emperor Liu Che summoned him into the palace and appointed him as a Zhonglang, and then assigned him this task not long after.

Therefore, this was the first thing he did after his reinstatement. If he was excluded by Liu Ju when he got here, when Liu Che knew about it, he would probably not be able to hold the position of Zhonglang for long...

The main reason is that he can no longer afford to support the beauty in the family, he really can't afford it. It is not a good thing to always ask his son for money and things. Even if his daughter-in-law and grandchildren don't say it, they don't know how they are cursing him in their hearts.

"The most taboo thing in diplomacy is a lack of unity of thought. Mr. Dongfang has some complaints about this national policy, and he is unwilling to associate with a treacherous villain like me. I am afraid that he will not be able to stand together with us when negotiating with the envoys of Chen Country later, which will eventually affect the results of the negotiations. By then, it will be a small matter for Mr. Dongfang to implicate me and your son, and Mr. Dongfang's own life will also be a small matter. I am afraid that this will ruin the country's major plan, and then we will all be sinners of the country."

Liu said as he looked at Dongfang Yu again and threw the question directly to him.

"Brother Dongfang, you are the mastermind this time, what do you think?"

"I think what Your Highness said is absolutely right. Such hidden dangers must not be allowed to remain."

Dongfang Yu bowed in response.

"You, the rebellious son!"

Dongfang Shuo did not expect that his son would really abandon filial piety this time and would not say a word for him. He was furious but helpless, so he had to personally plead with Liu Ju.

"Your Highness, I have just pondered over this matter and suddenly realized the significance of this national policy. Now my thoughts are completely in line with Your Highness's!"

"I think your Highness's plan is brilliant. Your Highness is well versed in the art of war. Warfare is all about deception!"

"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says, 'The best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack his alliances, the next best is to attack his troops, and the worst is to attack his cities.'"

"Your Highness, this plan is in line with this military maxim. If we can resolve the war simply by making friends, and force a small country to surrender without bloodshed, wouldn't that be great?"

"Besides, the kingly way and the hegemonic way are not absolute. The former Nanyue and Minyue, and the current Weiman Joseon, are all vassal states of our great Han. Our great Han has applied both the kingly way and the hegemonic way to them, but these small countries have not been willing to submit. They have rebelled from time to time, and have always been like a maggot attached to our bones, causing our great Han to have no peace."

"Therefore, after your advice, I have completely understood."

"The kingly way is for gentlemen. How can these small countries be considered gentlemen? If our Han Dynasty still wants to do so, it will be tying its own hands and feet and abolishing its own martial arts. How can we make the world submit?"

"We, the Han Dynasty, must make these small countries understand that if they are willing to submit, we will rule them by the kingly way; if they are unwilling to submit, we will rule them by the hegemonic way; if they dare to pretend to be submissive and have evil intentions, our Han Dynasty's conspiracies and tricks will emerge in an endless stream, and no one can surpass them."

"It's not that the Han Dynasty doesn't have the manners of a great country. The manners of the Han Dynasty are only for gentlemen, not villains!" "If anyone still has complaints about this, they should look for the reasons in themselves or in these small countries. What does the Han Dynasty have to do with it?"

"I wonder if Your Highness thinks that I have realized the point?"

At this point, Dongfang Shuo was already filled with righteous indignation and was indignant, as if he was not the one who had just opposed the "Chen State Strategy" and was not the one who regarded Liu Ju as a treacherous villain.

"Eh……"

This time it was Dongfang Yu's turn to feel embarrassed and he covered his face in distress.

It's so embarrassing. What kind of father is he? He is now acting the role of a treacherous villain, and you can tell at first glance that he is so bad that his urine is all black water.

With such a character, he still judges others. I don't know where he gets the nerve to do that.

Fortunately, I am more like my mother...

"..."

Liu Ju also looked at Dongfang Shuo with new respect.

How did the saying go: "After entering the Pass, there will be great scholars who will debate the scriptures for me."

Dongfang Shuo is now the great scholar, and he can argue very well, citing scriptures. He is sure that he can account for three of the five evils summarized by Confucius.

This is actually somewhat inconsistent with his understanding of Dongfang Shuo. Perhaps he was influenced by some later TV dramas with him as the protagonist, or Sima Qian's record of him was quite positive, which made him preconceived that Dongfang Shuo was funny but at least a principled man.

But I have to admit it.

Dongfang Shuo's wit was indeed very quick, and he had no difficulty in changing the subject. His ideas were insightful and his words were eloquent. He was truly shameless, and even Liu Ju felt inferior to him...

"Your Highness, how about..."

In order to prevent Dongfang Shuo from continuing to embarrass himself in front of Liu Ju, Dongfang Yu was finally forced to stand up and speak for this useless father.

……

In the end, Dongfang Shuo still participated in the negotiations with the envoys of Chen State.

Then he, his son, and several other officials witnessed Liu Ju's negotiation skills, and they were busy recording the golden sentences that came out of his mouth from time to time:

"Before we begin, let me say this."

"Messengers, from now on please always remember that I, the Great Han, am speaking to you from the perspective of strength."

"Shit, let me say one more thing."

"You must think clearly. You will not get what you cannot get on the battlefield no matter how many envoys you send to negotiate with Wiman Joseon. Only the Han Dynasty can give you the qualifications to make demands on Wiman Joseon."

"Shit, let me emphasize one more thing."

"No one can affect the friendship between the Han Dynasty and Chen State, not even Wei Man Joseon or Chen State."

"Shit, I wonder if you Chen Guoren have ever heard this saying."

"The crying child gets the milk, but if he wants to drink milk, he has to cry and reach out for a hug, otherwise he's just crying."

"Shit, let me say one last thing."

"The Han Dynasty does not need you to fight for it. The result will be the same anyway. If you hold on, you will join the Han Dynasty. If you fail, you will also join the Han Dynasty. This is the general trend of the future."

"The only difference is whether you enter Han as Chen State or Wei Man Joseon. The former can still be granted a title of nobility, but the latter may have been fed to the fish by Wei Man Joseon."

"..."

Under such circumstances, the negotiation progressed very quickly.

Anyway, Liu Ju felt happy.

It’s great to live in an era where one’s own country can be called a “great power”, or more precisely, a “superpower”.

What is diplomacy? It means that the other party has to listen carefully to every word you say and respond carefully.

In fact, he didn't say much at all, except to interject occasionally when he saw Han officials being too particular about etiquette.

But his occasional interjection always brings great psychological pressure to both parties present.

The Han officials would wonder if they were being too kind, and the Chen envoys would wonder if they were asking for too much, causing the prince's dissatisfaction.

At the same time, there is a question that lingers in their minds from beginning to end:

"Shit, what does that mean?"

Even the envoys from the State of Chen were confused. At that time, there was no such saying in their country. They all thought it was Liu Ju's unique catchphrase, but no one dared to ask about its meaning.

During this process, Dongfang Shuo's eyes when looking at Liu Ju also quietly changed significantly:
"How did the prince come up with these playful and domineering words? Is there any technique? It sounds good. I want to learn it."

(End of this chapter)