I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 495: Your Majesty is fortunate to have a son like this!
Combined with the situation described by Huo Guang in the secret letter, Liu Ju suspected that Liu Che might have symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, which is commonly known as senile dementia in later generations.

This disease is actually very common, and the older people are, the higher the probability of getting the disease.

Memory loss and hysteria are both typical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

But combined with historical records.

It is not difficult to see that Liu Che's Alzheimer's disease will gradually worsen.

But it seemed that when he died at the age of 69, his condition remained mild.

Otherwise, Liu Che might not have issued the "Luntai Edict", and the candidates for the four ministers of state would not have been so good, ensuring a smooth transition of the political situation after his death, and he might not even have been able to formulate measures to pull back from the brink in his later years.

In addition to symptoms such as memory and spatial disorders, mild cases of Alzheimer's disease may also cause some personality disorders.

For example, becoming unhygienic, unkempt, irritable, easily angered, selfish, suspicious, etc.

Thinking about it this way, Liu Che's behavior in his later years seems to be explained.

There is no doubt that Liu Che became irritable, selfish and suspicious in his later years.

When dealing with his ministers, he rarely forgave or allowed them to redeem their sins with money, and would often execute their entire families.

The entire family of Li Yannian and Li Guangli was wiped out.

Liu Quti and his family.

Li Ling's family.

Gongsun He and his family.

Zhao Po Nu and his family.

And Sima Qian's birds...

Of course, Liu Ju's family was also included. Only one grandson was left, Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Bingyi. Even Liu Bingyi had a tragic life. If it were not for Huo Guang's secret manipulation and the protection of a court eunuch named Bing Ji, he would have been killed before Liu Che's death.

Even the "Witchcraft Incident" was caused by the fact that Liu Che was unwell, so he suspected that someone had secretly used witchcraft to curse him, and then there were villains who added fuel to the fire.

Just because of this suspicion, before the "Witchcraft Incident" occurred, rivers of blood had already flowed in the capital and the harem.

And when it comes to his own sons, Liu Che was not only suspicious of Liu Ju, but also of other princes.

Liu Bo, the King of Changyi, who came from the Li family, had lost his qualification to compete for the throne in advance because of his relationship with Li Guangli and Liu Quti, and he died the year before Liu Che's death.

King Guangling Liu Xu was a luxurious person who loved pleasure and behaved without any rules, so he was never well-received.

After the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident, King Yan Liu Dan sent an envoy to request to guard the capital. However, the envoy was directly beheaded by Emperor Che as a warning.

The only two princes he did not doubt were probably Liu Hong, who died young in history, and Liu Fuling, who was ignorant of the world.

So in the end the throne fell into the hands of Liu Fuling.

Even so, when Liu Che made this decision, he executed his biological mother, Lady Gouyi.

In short, for the royal family and court officials, Liu Che's evening was undoubtedly the darkest period. After Liu Che's death, it is no exaggeration to say that the royal family and court officials were plowed through, and those who could remain unscathed were absolutely rare.

"wrong!"

Thinking about this, Liu Ju suddenly thought of a problem that he had previously overlooked.

"Gentleman, what's wrong?"

Dilibaier asked doubtfully. She could see that Liu Ju's condition suddenly became a little abnormal. His originally calm face now showed obvious worry.

"nothing……"

Liu Ju shook his head, but his brows furrowed even more tightly.

He thought of what happened to Li Ling.

Historically, Li Ling was defeated and captured. Emperor Wu of Han, without yet fully understanding the situation and despite Sima Qian's strong remonstrance, insisted on castrating Sima Qian and killing Li Ling's entire family, forcing Li Ling, who had persisted, to surrender.

There is also the experience of Li Guangli.

While Li Guangli was still on the expedition, Emperor Wu of Han imprisoned his wife and children because of Liu Quti's incident.

Upon learning of this, Li Guangli was both worried and frightened, and had to make a desperate attempt to atone for his sins. In the end, he advanced blindly in the hope of getting lucky, which resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Han men and the Han Dynasty's confidence in fighting against the Huns.

In this matter, Liu Che also has an unshirkable responsibility.

When he was young, Liu Che rarely made micromanagement in wars, but in his later years he was no longer able to trust his subordinates, and he frequently made micromanagement and arbitrarily exerted pressure, which was a big taboo in the employment of soldiers and generals.

Could it be that Liu Che didn't know these principles?
He must have known that he probably just had trouble controlling his increasingly severe personality disorder at times, and that he ultimately went down in history with a later age that was infamous.

But this was not what Liu Ju was worried about at the moment.

What he was more worried about was the situation of Wei Zifu, Yi Shuo and Liu Fuling.

The fact that Liu Che repeatedly committed major taboos in employing troops and generals in his later years, and these were such low-level mistakes, is enough to show that his irritability, selfishness and suspicion at that time had often affected his reason.

So is it really safe for Wei Zifu, Yi Shuo and Liu Fuling to stay with such a Liu Che?
It’s hard to say!

Li Guangli also had a large army at that time, but Liu Che also imprisoned his wife and children. Didn't he ever worry about whether such actions would force Li Guangli to surrender to the enemy or rebel?
Moreover, Liu Che's capriciousness in his later years also proves his disordered personality.

For example, he killed Li Ling's wife and children, and castrated Sima Qian's descendants.

After a while, he suddenly figured it out and realized that Li Ling was captured because he was isolated and helpless, but not because he surrendered to the enemy, so he sent envoys to comfort Li Ling's remnants.

For example, after the "Witchcraft Incident", he suddenly realized it.

Then he executed the entire families of Liu Quti, Li Guangli and Jiang Chong, wiped out all the anti-prince factions, and built the Palace of Missing the Prince and the Platform of Returning to express his remembrance of Liu Ju.

He even promoted Tian Qianqiu, who had vindicated Liu Ju, directly from a tomb keeper to the prime minister.

All signs indicate that Liu Che's "Alzheimer's disease" was probably the culprit that caused this series of tragedies and even shook the Han Dynasty's national destiny.

But Liu Che could not be forgiven either, as he was not a good man to begin with.

It's just that Alzheimer's disease made him more irritable, selfish and suspicious in his later years, often suppressing the rationality he still maintained when he was young and completely releasing the violence in his heart.

"I have reached a point where I can no longer retreat. Otherwise, I will push my mother, Yishuo, and Liu Fuling to the front, putting them in an extremely dangerous situation!"

Realizing this problem, Liu Ju suddenly clenched his fists.

Originally, he planned to maintain this state of "accepting small beatings and running away when fighting" until the day of Emperor Liu Che's death, and try his best to avoid any direct conflict with Emperor Liu Che.

Because in this era, things like patricide and usurping the throne are absolutely not allowed!

After decades of promotion, the "great revenge thought" of the Gongyang School of Confucianism has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

"Great revenge" is not just about "national revenge can be avenged in a hundred generations", it also means "the revenge of the king and father can be avenged in a hundred generations".

If the king is killed and the minister does not punish the thief, he is not a good minister.

If a son does not avenge his father's death, he is not a good son. Moreover, this idea of ​​revenge is not only held by the Gongyang School of Confucianism, but has been an absolute consensus regardless of faction since the emergence of Confucianism in the pre-Qin period.

Even "revenge" is included in the etiquette advocated by Confucianism.

It is a kind of etiquette that is on par with the five other etiquettes: auspicious etiquette, inauspicious etiquette, military etiquette, guest etiquette, and auspicious etiquette!

Liu Che was both a king and a father.

If Liu Ju really did something like patricide and usurpation of the throne, he would immediately become the enemy of the world, and the Han Dynasty would then be in danger of more than just a shaken fate.

The big man will sound the death knell immediately.

Ambitious forces from all sides rose up one after another, entering the meat grinder mode of troubled times where people were eaten without leaving any bones. Even if he was the winner in the end, the Han Dynasty had already been devastated!

This is also the reason why Liu Ju had always followed Liu Che and always forced Liu Che, trying his best to maintain this fragile and dangerous relationship between father and son.

He hoped that Liu Che could spend his later years in peace and safety.

This is the greatest blessing for the Han Dynasty and also the greatest blessing for all people in the world.

But now, Liu Che's symptoms of "Alzheimer's disease" have undoubtedly blocked his last bit of luck in killing Liu Ju. He cannot take risks with Wei Zifu, Yi Shuo, and Liu Fuling, nor can he take risks with the Han Dynasty and its millions of people.

"Do you want to see the prosperity of Chang'an and the power of Tianhan with your own eyes?"

Liu Ju had already made a new decision in his heart. His frown relaxed and he pulled Dilibai into his arms and asked with a smile.

"Gentleman, are you planning to accept the imperial edict and return to Tianhan to participate in the Fengshan ceremony?"

Dilibaier heard the hidden meaning of Liu Ju's words and asked in confusion.

Liu Ju frowned just now, and she thought that Liu Ju didn't want to go back.

"Such a grand event only comes once in a thousand years. How can I miss it? You shouldn't miss it either, or you will regret it for the rest of your life."

Liu Ju smiled and said,

"You don't have to worry about the matter of the Five Tribes Xihou. I don't intend to keep it a secret. I will hold a banquet in your name as soon as possible and invite the leaders of each tribe to the banquet. I will completely resolve this matter at the banquet and ensure that no one can take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos, whether you are in the country or not."

"When you and I go to Chang'an, I will also arrange for the Tianhan generals and the 'Western Alliance' coalition forces to temporarily suspend their offensive against the Xiongnu, temporarily switching from offense to defense, to ensure that no force can take advantage of the situation and infiltrate."

"As for you, just treat this trip as a tour and relax."

"I'm afraid it hasn't been easy for you since you inherited the throne, has it?"

"Thank you, sir. I... Tianhan should be calling herself that. I heard Sister Han often calls herself that in front of you."

Dilibaier smiled when she heard this, and immediately stood up and saluted Liu Ju like Han Ling did.

"It is because you are a gentleman that you love me and understand my difficulties."

"If it weren't for the gentleman, I and the Great Yuezhi royal family would have been prisoners at some point. The best decision I could have made in my life was to marry the gentleman."

"Please undress quickly, I can't wait to serve you!"

Unlike Yishuo and Han Ling, although Dilibai'er is shy sometimes, due to different cultural etiquette, she is not as reserved as them in such matters, and she does not think there is anything wrong with learning a foreign language during the day.

In fact, Dilraba Dilmurat originally regarded her marriage with Liu Ju as a political marriage.

She even had some complaints about Liu Ju's decision not to rush to punish the five Xihou. After all, this was one of the main purposes of her marriage with Liu Ju, and she always felt that Liu Ju was deliberately keeping her hanging.

However, with the increasingly in-depth communication after the marriage, this political marriage that benefited both parties was quietly changing.

She increasingly felt that she was entering into a marriage rather than an alliance.

She has been taught since childhood how to be a queen, and she can also live like a little woman who is loved and protected. This feeling... is irresistible. I can go faster, faster, faster!

……

The news that Liu Ju decided to return to the capital to report soon spread throughout the Western Regions.

When the Han army generals, officials and countries in the Western Regions learned of this news, they naturally had different thoughts.

The person who was most overjoyed was naturally the envoy who brought the imperial edict, and who was also an old acquaintance of Liu Ju who had received "local specialties" from him, the usurper Zhao Qian.

However, Zhao Qian, who received the "local specialties", is no longer the same person as before.

Although he was not granted a title of nobility, he was transferred to the Daxingling (a department in charge of foreign affairs) to serve as the Daxingchen, in charge of supervising and guiding the etiquette of foreign envoys during court meetings. His official position and salary were second only to the Nine Ministers.

This guy, who was unknown in history and whose name was not even recorded in history books, probably never thought that this day would come for him... After all, his family background was ordinary and he had no connections. In this era when there were no imperial examinations and everything depended on recommendations, it was really not easy for him to climb up.

This time, Liu Ju decided to return to Beijing to report, which gave him another huge surprise.

As the first and only envoy who successfully recalled Liu Che, this was obviously another honor. Perhaps if Liu Che was so happy, he would be rewarded again.

"call……"

Sang Hongyang also let out a long sigh.

Then he immediately returned to his residence and took out a scroll of memorials with its mud seal still intact from the bottom of the box he had brought with him. Without even opening it, he threw it directly into the brazier beside him.

This was the secret decree given to him by Emperor Liu Che that he brought with him when he came to the Western Regions.

Liu Che's intention was to let him act according to the circumstances. Once he found that Liu Ju showed signs of losing control, he would immediately issue a secret decree to control the soldiers of the three armies and forcibly take Liu Ju back to Chang'an.

The results of it.

It was three years and three years...Except for the period when he returned to Beijing to report on his work, Sang Hongyang had been stranded in the Western Regions for nearly six years.

During this period, he witnessed Liu Ju's restoration of the crown prince to guard the national border, witnessed Liu Ju's wedding to Dilraba Dilmurat, and also witnessed Liu Ju's gradual growth, to the point where he could easily establish a country without Liu Che, and the threat to the Han Dynasty was even greater than that of the Huns back then.

Fortunately, Liu Ju always practiced what he had said to him before: "For the Han Dynasty."

He never saw any desire for independence in Liu Ju, nor did he see any tendency for Liu Ju to oppose Liu Che. All he did was to fulfill his duties as a frontier official of the Han Dynasty. Even if he occasionally made mistakes, it was to safeguard the interests of the Han Dynasty, not out of selfish motives, and he rarely overstepped the imperial authority.

Now, Liu Ju has finally decided to go back and report, so there is naturally no need to keep this secret decree any longer.

In fact, Liu Ju should have gone back long ago.

Because according to the agreement between Liu Ju and him, Liu Ju should have set out on the journey back to Beijing to report when the "Western Alliance" completely controlled the Pamirs.

The result was naturally that Liu Ju broke his promise and kept him as well.

Now the sphere of influence of the Western Alliance has expanded to the Parthian Empire, which is at least 6,000 miles further west than the original agreement, and it is actually under its control...

But it’s not too late now, and the extra time has not been wasted.

"Your Majesty is so lucky to have a son like this!"

Sang Hongyang suddenly felt his nose sore, as if the huge rock that had been hanging high in his heart for many years had finally fallen to the ground, and he felt indescribably relieved and moved.

He seemed to have seen the touching scene of Liu Ju and Liu Che, the loving father and filial son after Liu Ju returned to Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)