I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 295 If Li Guang had had this rare item earlier, he wouldn’t have had to commit suicide!

Zhao Yu stepped forward, bowed and said:
"Your Majesty has already formulated a strategy against Wiman Joseon. You only need to provide some military aid to Chen State, south of the Korean Peninsula, to make Wiman Joseon unable to sleep peacefully. By trapping the enemy without fighting, Wiman Joseon will eventually be forced to surrender. This is a brilliant plan."

"If we now change it to an expedition to Weiman Joseon, the final goal will not change qualitatively, which is tantamount to giving up the easy for the difficult."

“This is one of the inappropriate things;”

"Your Highness, what you said in your memorial is all just a dream. There is no definite conclusion yet. If you start a war over something that has no conclusion, there is no guarantee that it will not end up wasting the national treasury."

“This is the second inappropriate thing;”

"The ocean is vast and dangerous. Although our Han Dynasty has tower ships, we have no other experience of going out to sea except crossing the Bohai Sea to Chen Kingdom a few days ago. The Crown Prince is the heir to a country. His personal safety is related to the stability of the court. It is really not appropriate for him to go out to sea rashly on the ship."

“This is the third inappropriate thing.”

At this point, Zhao Yu did not forget to bow to Liu Ju, and while expressing his apology to him, he solemnly said to Liu Che,

"Therefore, I think that the matters mentioned in your memorial still need to be carefully considered. I hope Your Majesty will understand."

The words fell.

"Yeah yeah."

"Zhao Zhengjian's words make sense..."

"We really shouldn't act rashly..."

Some people nodded in agreement, including Liu Ju's uncle, Gongsun Jingsheng's father, Gongsun He, the current Minister of the Imperial Household.

It is not difficult to see that the majority of officials in the inner court share the same idea as Zhao Yu.

On Liu Ju's side, there was only Sang Hongyang who reluctantly supported him, and Wei Qing who had previously clearly stated that he would at most "abstain".

As for Liu Che.

Although we still don't know what his attitude is, we can see that he is actually somewhat interested in this matter, otherwise he would not have specially summoned the close ministers of the inner court to hold a meeting to discuss it.

"Liu Ju, do you agree with Zhao Yu's opinion?"

After listening to this, Liu Che nodded without comment, and then threw the question to Liu Ju.

"I agree."

Liu Ju bowed slightly.

"You agree?"

Liu Che frowned. Since he agreed, why did he submit this memorial? Was it to make me happy?
In fact, before convening this inner court meeting, he had already asked Sang Hongyang about the contents of this memorial.

Although Sang Hongyang did not mention that he had discussed this matter in Bowang Garden, he fully explained to Liu Che the significance of the Han Dynasty obtaining a silver mountain.

As for other matters related to Xu Fu, the elixir of immortality and Pingyuan Guangze, there was no positive response.

After all, this was not his concern, but he knew that this was Liu Che's concern. Therefore, for such matters, ambiguity was the most correct attitude, and it was best not to comment.

Therefore, whether it is for the silver mountain, or for the elixir of life and the vast plains.

Liu Che wanted to give it a try. If he made a good bet, he would make a lot of money. If he made a bad bet, he could also incorporate the Korean Peninsula into the territory of the Han Dynasty. It would just cost a little more than the original plan, but the goal would be achieved faster.

of course.

Just as Zhao Yu said, even if he wanted to gamble, he had no intention of letting Liu Ju go out to sea.

An assassination attempt on the crown prince had just happened in Hejian State not long ago. Although he was not so afraid of ropes as to be bitten by a snake once, he did not want to let Liu Ju, who had high hopes for him, take the risk. What if he ended up like Xu Fu and never came back?
There are indeed rumors in the coastal areas that Xu Fu may have reached a fairyland and become an immortal god, but there are also rumors that Xu Fu had already been eaten by fish.

No one can tell which rumor is true and which is false...

The reason why Liu Ju was summoned to attend the inner court meeting today instead of being summoned to the palace for questioning privately.

This was a plan that Liu Che had in mind.

If he questioned Liu Ju face to face, this rebellious son would most likely be rude and might not be able to get any serious answers. But if these close court officials raised questions, even if this rebellious son spoke rudely, it would not be directed at him, and in order to quell everyone's doubts, he would have to make his words clear in public.

Just as he always adheres to the way of governing people.

The best way is to let the people below quarrel with each other. As long as he doesn't get out, he will always be invincible. This is especially true for Liu Ju, the rebellious son, so as to avoid making himself angry.

But now?

This rebellious son did not even argue with Zhao Yu, but instead said to me, "I agree." Isn't this too unconventional?
"That's right. I think that Zhao Zhengjian's words are enough to show that he is loyal to his father and selfless to the country. Every word he says is for the sake of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Ju also bowed to Zhao Yu and said with a smile,
"If I were in Zhao Zhengjian's position and stance, I would say almost the same thing, so I cannot help but agree."

"?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Che and his close ministers all looked suspicious.

Whether in the inner court or the outer court, different political views are common.

Therefore, it was common for the ministers to refute and argue with each other. Even if they made a compliment out of courtesy before speaking, it was just a simple polite remark, or if they made a mistake, it was irony. It was rare for someone to brag so much right from the start and almost surrender with both hands like Liu Ju.

This is Liu Ju, the rebellious son, the cruel crown prince. Could it be that he has changed his character?

However, they had no idea that Liu Ju was completely serious in praising Zhao Yu. In this day and age, even if Zhao Yu just gave a few words of advice in a tactful manner, let alone openly opposing Liu Che's seeking immortals and ghosts, it would be very rare and precious, and he could be regarded as a loyal minister among loyal ministers.

The performance of other people in the inner court was also good. Most of them agreed with Zhao Yu's words, which also proved from the side that Liu Che's vision in selecting officials was indeed good.

"but……"

Then Liu Ju used only these two words to make Liu Che and his close ministers retract their thoughts and fantasies, and then said,

"My dream is not without conclusion. In order to help me find that vast plain, Xu Bo recently taught me a strange item in my dream. This item is the best proof."

While talking.

Liu Ju had already reached into his arms and took out a palm-sized round box made of brass.

"This is……"

Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the brass round box.

"This thing is called a compass."

Liu Ju placed the brass round box on the table and unscrewed the lid of the round box.

Then he shook off the water on his hands and wiped it twice on his court robes...

It was so embarrassing. The seal of the copper box was not good enough and it leaked a little, which made a small spot of the lining of his court dress wet. Fortunately, the leakage was not serious and there was still half of water left in the box.

"compass?"

Liu Che and a group of officials did not pay attention to this detail and came forward curiously.

I saw a small black needle floating in a brass round box that was half full of water.

The small needle is about an inch long and about the same thickness as an embroidery needle. Three small pieces of peeled millet stems are pierced in the middle, allowing the small needle to float on the water.

Besides.

On the edge of the brass round box, there are some scales shaped like the solar corona, and the words "East, South, West, North, Southeast, Northeast, Southwest, Northwest" are written in eight directions, which looks quite precise.

"Father, everyone, please look, this is the compass I learned in my dream."

Liu Ju also wiped his hands at this moment, and carefully showed the compass to Liu Che and a group of officials.

"Please remember the direction that the needle is pointing to. I will move the needle and turn the copper box."

As he spoke, Liu Ju reached out and gently fiddled with the small needle in the water.

The small needle then began to rotate slowly, and after a moment it stopped again, and as expected, it returned to the north-south direction it had pointed to before.

Then Liu Ju simply turned the small copper box filled with water below, and followed the direction of the copper box rotation.

Although the small needle in the water swayed slightly, it did not turn with the rotation of the copper box, and always maintained the same north-south direction, as if it was being pulled by a mysterious force.

"You see, this is the power of the compass. It always points to the north and south and never makes mistakes."

Seeing the surprise in everyone's eyes, Liu Ju knew that the effect had been achieved, and then said,

“So as long as you carry it with you, whether you are in the endless sea or in the boundless grasslands and Gobi, even without the sun and stars, you can always easily identify the direction and it is difficult to get lost.”

The Sinan compass appeared in the Qin and Han dynasties, but the compass fish did not appear until the Tang Dynasty. It then gradually developed into a more accurate compass.

However, although Si Nan was recorded as having the properties of a compass, it was actually not easy to use and was completely impractical. That was why so many generals got lost during the war between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu.

Wei Qing should have a deep understanding of this, and those present here who participated in the Han-Xiongnu War also have a deep understanding of this.

As for the declination of the compass, Liu Ju did not intend to explain it to them in detail for the time being, in order to avoid them being unable to digest it all at once and causing unnecessary arguments.

The words have not yet fallen.

"Can I take a closer look?"

Wei Qing had moved even closer, almost putting his face against the copper box, staring at it without turning his head and asking,
"I can now turn this needle around, take it out and put it back, will it still always point north and south?"

Palaces and cities in the Han Dynasty were built facing east and sitting west, with the west being more valuable and could be used as a reference for direction at any time.

"Uncle, I told you, any time."

Liu Ju nodded.

There is no need to talk about some extremely special magnetic fields and environments. After all, they are rare and there is no need to argue about them.

As he spoke, Wei Qing had already taken out the small needle, and deliberately tossed it around in his hand for a long time before putting it back into the water in the copper box. After a moment, it came to a stop, and sure enough, it was still pointing to the north and south.

"..."

Wei Qing's breathing became rapid, and he said loudly and excitedly,

"Your Majesty, if there had been such a rare item earlier, Li Guang would not have had to commit suicide to apologize for his crime!"

(End of this chapter)