I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 407: True Cake Master

"Don't rush to deny it. I don't mean to blame you."

Liu Ju said with a smile,
"When countries interact with each other, interests are paramount, and deception is the norm. The Han have their own interests, you have yours, and the Xiongnu have theirs. If there is a benefit, then unite; if there is no benefit, then separate; if there is a loss, then fight."

"You previously obeyed the Xiongnu's orders, but it was only because it was more beneficial for you to obey the Xiongnu. Now you are submitting to the Han Dynasty, but it is only because you weighed the pros and cons and thought that it was more in your interest to submit to the Han Dynasty."

"In fact, looking at the world situation, isn't it just a question of how to divide the pie?"

"..."

After hearing these words, Sima Qian, Han Zeng, Su Wu, Wang Hui, Han Ling and others who were accompanying him all looked at Liu Ju with new eyes again, and even felt a little ashamed of themselves.

Incisive!

At this moment, Zhao Po Nu was directing the military exercise on the command platform.

Except for Wang Hui, the rest are young people in their early twenties. Han Ling has even just turned eighteen. His hearts are filled with patriotism and passion. He has never had such a profound and essential understanding before.

Look at Liu Ju. He is a few years younger than most of them, but his thoughts and insights have reached such a level, reflecting a sense of detachment that looks down on all living beings.

This made them wonder if they had lived a dog's life for the past twenty years...

The one who was most touched was naturally Sima Qian.

He had known about Liu Ju's deeds in detail since Liu Ju pacified the Kingdom of Nanyue. Later, he met Liu Ju when he was waiting for the god in Donglai, and participated in Liu Ju's plan to create a god in Donglai throughout the whole process.

It is with this understanding.

Sima Qian was even more touched. Since he followed Liu Ju on this expedition, he felt more different things from Liu Ju.

Although Liu Ju still did whatever he wanted like he did in Nanyue and Donglai, he was obviously less naive than before. His words and actions were flawless and he was no less capable than the most mature politicians.

Looking back on the time since the expedition, Liu Ju has done many things, but he has been able to satisfy and convince everyone in everything. Even the main general Zhao Po Nu, who had lost military power, still obeyed his orders without any discomfort or complaints. This is a good example... This is not something that ordinary people can do.

Sima Qian would like to call Liu Ju's change growth.

But he still couldn't figure out what could have made Liu Ju grow so quickly?

"Your Highness, I have a good opinion..."

The kings of the three kingdoms also looked at the young Han prince in front of them in surprise.

Although he was still so young, he seemed to be able to see through their hearts and understand their thoughts, and he also showed a maturity and rationality that was inconsistent with his age.

If a Han prince is like this, they have to wonder, to what extent will the Han emperor who raised such a prince be evil?
"But speaking of bread, there's a saying you guys have heard before?"

Liu Ju said seriously,

“The world is big, but if you are not the one who divides the cake, then you are the cake that is divided.”

"This……"

The kings of the three kingdoms looked at each other and smiled bitterly again. This was indeed the first time they had heard such a statement.

However, they could understand the meaning of it. For a long time, the countries in the Western Regions were like a piece of cake. The Huns sent servants and captains to stay here not to protect their interests, but to extort and collect taxes from them to supply the Chanyu's royal court far away in the desert.

The only benefit of submitting to the Huns is.

As long as they were obedient enough, the Huns would not send troops to attack them, but would recognize the rule of their royal families, and sometimes even send troops to help them maintain their rule and prevent them from being replaced by disobedient people.

In the eyes of the Huns, they were just a piece of cake that they could take whatever they wanted.

They also knew that they were just a piece of cake in the eyes of the Huns.

Now the Han Dynasty, which is equally powerful, or perhaps even more powerful than the Huns, has arrived. In the face of such a powerful country, will their situation change?
"Don't get me wrong, that was said by the Xiongnu. We Han people have never said that." Liu Ju smiled and said,

"We Han people have never believed that strong countries should be the ones to share the pie, and weak countries should be the ones to be shared... Han people only want to make a new pie that can be shared by both strong and weak countries. As long as you are willing, you can become the one to share the pie, not the pie."

"I don't know what your Highness means by this. Could you please explain it in detail?"

The kings of the three kingdoms couldn't help but show curiosity. Who doesn't want to be the one to share the pie?

"?"

Sima Qian and others were also confused and didn't know what Liu Ju was talking about.

That is to say, at that time there was no allusion of "drawing a cake on the ground is inedible", and there was no later interpretation and extension of "drawing cakes to satisfy hunger", otherwise they would definitely be amazed by Liu Ju's straightforward way of drawing cakes with cakes.

However, what puzzled them more at the moment was that now that the people and the cakes were certain, how could Liu Ju, or the Han Dynasty, make a new cake and invite these "cakes" to be the "cake sharers".

"Please look at this."

Liu Ju shook his sleeves, and three round silver coins appeared in his hand. He then placed them one by one on the table in front of the kings of the three kingdoms.

The king of the three kingdoms was confused and picked up the silver coin in front of him to examine it.

This silver coin is of the same specifications as the silver coins currently circulating in the Western Regions. The only difference is the portrait on one side of the coin and the official script "Han" on the other side...

This portrait clearly has the hairstyle of a Han Chinese man. Although the details of the eyebrows and eyes are difficult to be too refined with current technology, it is still not difficult to see that it seems to be somewhat similar to Liu Ju, but the face is a bit bigger.

"Excuse me, Your Highness, is this the Emperor of Han?"

The King of Yanqi reacted quickly and guessed the prototype of the portrait immediately. After all, the portraits on the silver coins of the Western Regions were all based on the prototypes of the current king of the country.

"good."

Liu Ju nodded, then waved his hand, and someone immediately pulled down the large map that had been placed on the viewing platform in advance. On this map, there were no longer two circles, but two lines.

Liu Ju pointed to the line on the map and continued:

"This is what we, the Han Dynasty, are going to do now. These are the two roads leading to the Parthian Empire, the north and the south. Your countries are all on the necessary roads."

"The Han Dynasty is a great country with vast territory and abundant resources. The Parthian Empire is also a great country with vast territory and abundant resources. To the west of the Parthian Empire, there is another country called the Qin Dynasty, which is equally not to be underestimated."

"Due to different environmental geography, each country produces different things, so there must be a lot of trade demand."

"As far as I know, the current financial sources of the Western Region countries, in addition to regular taxes, also come from business operations, fines, tolls, and loan income."

"You have already tasted some of the sweetness. You should be able to imagine how big a pie will be in front of you once these two trade routes are officially opened, right?"

"..."

Hearing this, the eyes of the three kings all brightened.

Even now, in addition to regular taxes, the rest of the income already accounts for almost half of their country's fiscal resources.

After all, with the population of these small countries, most of whom are slaves who have no tax obligations, it is difficult to collect much tax.

But the next moment.

Liu Ju's hand has already pointed to the next target of the battle, Gushi Kingdom:

“But there is no free cake in the world. If you want to be the one who shares the cake, you have to make the cake together.”

(End of this chapter)