I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 509 Questioning party struggles, understanding party struggles, and utilizing party struggles!

"Just do your duty well. I will let you know what you should know!"

Liu Che glanced at Liu Ju, scolded him coldly, then turned and walked into the ritual temple.

Looking at Liu Che's back, Liu Ju already had the answer in his mind.

Liu Che felt guilty.

Otherwise, why did his micro-expression just now seem like he was deliberately avoiding it, and why did his departing back seem like he was running away?

Liu Che's behavior was definitely not because he was afraid of him, at least now Liu Che had no reason to be afraid of him. Therefore, it could only be that he had done something wrong that he could not completely convince himself of, which made Liu Che so strong and arrogant to subconsciously avoid him.

So……

At this moment, Liu Ju had already made his own judgment in his mind that the tragedy of Huo Shan's sudden death in history would most likely be repeated.

Thinking of this, Liu Ju turned around and looked at Huo Xian who was going forward to beat the drum.

When he came here just now, he had secretly observed Huo Xian's condition.

Although Liu Che's series of strange behaviors must have brought him considerable psychological pressure when he was under the inscriptionless stone tablet, when he came back, Huo Shan's condition had returned to normal, and he did not show any negative emotions such as determination or resignation.

From this we can infer.

Although Huo Xian cooperated with this strange ceremony under the guidance of Liu Che, he probably had no idea of ​​the fate he was about to face.

After all, fear of death is human instinct.

No matter how strong a person's faith is or how fearless he is about death, it is impossible for him to have no emotional fluctuations when facing death.

What's more, Huo Xian is only seventeen years old now. From his performance under the wordless stone tablet just now, it can be seen that he is far from reaching the state of remaining calm even when faced with a collapse of Mount Tai, and it is even more impossible for him to accept death so calmly.

Not to mention him, even Liu Ju, who had reached the maximum level of human, knew that he couldn't do it.

Therefore, it is highly likely that no valuable information could be obtained from Huo Xian. If Liu Che knew about it, it might cause him to fall into a crisis of trust, and the situation would become more dangerous and difficult. Liu Ju himself would also lose the opportunity and time to find out the truth.

at the same time.

Liu Ju already had a clear target in his mind, which was the wizards and alchemists around Liu Che.

Although Liu Che was obsessed with seeking immortals and asking ghosts for advice, he lacked creativity in this regard. The unorthodox sacrificial ritual he had just performed under the inscriptionless stone tablet must have been performed by the wizards and sorcerers around him.

Therefore, if one wants to find out the purpose of this sacrificial ceremony, it will not be wrong to use these wizards and alchemists as a breakthrough point!
……

That night.

After climbing the mountain for a whole day, Liu Che was already tired and went to bed early.

Liu Ju had also figured out the general situation of the wizards and alchemists who came with Liu Che this time through observation and inquiries, and he paid special attention to An Yu, the Nanyue wizard who was the most favored by Liu Che in the past two years.

"Claims to be one hundred and seventy years old?"

This label alone was enough to make Liu Ju classify this South Vietnamese wizard as a rumormonger.

The person who holds the longest life expectancy in later generations is an old lady named Alimihan Seyti, a Uyghur in China. She lived to be 135 years old. She was known as the centenarian in China and was recognized as the oldest person in the world.

And this is a centenarian who appeared in later times when living standards and medical standards were highly developed.

This Nanyue wizard named An Yu could live to be 170 years old in this era. Unless he had become an immortal, Liu Ju could not think of any other possibility.

"You also served Zhao Tuo, the first king of Nanyue?"

Liu Ju naturally knew about Zhao Tuo's deeds. This man was truly long-lived. He lived from the Qin Shihuang period to the reign of Emperor Liu Che. All of his deeds could be traced and there was no dispute.

At this moment, Liu Ju already had some associations.

Regardless of whether An Yu's self-proclaimed longevity was true, the mere fact that he had "served Zhao Tuo" was enough for him to gain Liu Che's trust and was a fatal temptation to him.

Liu Che hoped to achieve immortality.

But if you can't get what you want, you can only settle for the next best thing. Living a long life like Zhao Tuo is also a good alternative.

Once An Yu used his own experience as proof and offered Liu Che a method to make him live as long as Zhao Tuo, Liu Che naturally flocked to it and was willing to give it a try even at some cost.

For example, Huo Xian...

However, these are just Liu Ju’s personal speculations at the moment and still need evidence to support them.

Using Liu Che as a breakthrough point would definitely not work.

When Emperor Wu of Han performed that strange ceremony, he excluded him from a distance of a hundred meters. Afterwards, he tried to ask about it but was reprimanded by Emperor Wu of Han. Naturally, he would not be given any chance.

Although this South Vietnamese wizard named An Yu is the most suspicious, it is also difficult to alarm him.

Not to mention that this ceremony was not included in the etiquette process of the Fengshan Ceremony, Liu Che acted completely in secret. If this matter was really related to An Yu, any tentative move by Liu Ju would immediately make him alert.

Once An Yu became alert, it would mean that Liu Che knew his intentions.

At that time, with Liu Che's methods, no matter what he wanted to do, he would face unprecedented resistance and would never know the truth of the matter.

and so……

Liu Ju privately summoned a local scholar from Qi who came to participate in the Fengshan ceremony.

"Meet your highness."

This Qi local scholar was named Li Xiushan.

Now the wizards and alchemists around Liu Che were divided into two major factions. One was the Nanyue wizard faction headed by An Yu, and the other was the Qi local scholar faction headed by Li Xiushan.

According to Su Wen, the two factions have been fighting openly and secretly for their own interests, and the intensity of the fight is no less than that of the party struggles in the court.

In the past two years, the South Vietnamese wizard faction has naturally gained the upper hand.

Because most of the people Liu Che had come into contact with before were local scholars from Qi, it was difficult for the local scholars from Qi to come up with new things. In addition, the incident caused by Liu Ju's "Donglai Houshen" also dealt a heavy blow and frightened the local scholars from Qi. They spoke and acted much more cautiously in front of Liu Che, so it was naturally difficult to arouse Liu Che's interest.

At this moment, when Li Xiushan saw Liu Ju, he was still timid and didn't even dare to look Liu Ju in the eye.

After all, since Qin Shihuang's "burning of books and burying of scholars", the one who dealt the greatest blow to the local scholars of Qi was Liu Ju.

He only went to Donglai once to wait for the gods on behalf of Liu Che, but he almost wiped out all the alchemists who had some popularity among the people in Qi.

Even now, the residual power of the "God of Donglai" has not dissipated. All the local scholars in Qi are filled with hatred when they talk about Liu Ju, but they can do nothing about him, so they can only choose to stay away from him.

"Mr. Li, there's no need to be so polite. I came to you this time just to ask you about some matters regarding sacrificial etiquette."

Liu Ju smiled, made a gesture of invitation, and invited Li Xiushan to sit in front of him.

Li Xiushan did not dare to sit down, but bowed repeatedly and said:
"I don't deserve it. Your Highness, please feel free to ask. I will tell you everything I know." "Then I will ask directly."

Liu Ju nodded slightly and continued,
"As the saying goes, the most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and war. The court has different rituals for offering sacrifices to heaven and earth and worshipping the gods. Mr. Li is an expert in these sacrificial matters. Do you know when to use the ritual of four bows and four incense sticks during these sacrificial ceremonies?"

"Four bows and four incense sticks?"

Li Xiushan looked suspicious when he heard this.

Liu Ju nodded:

"That's right, please help me solve this puzzle, Mr. Li."

"Your Highness, the ritual of four prostrations and four incense sticks is for worshipping ghosts. It is only used during the five rituals of mourning. It should never be used in ceremonies of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth or worshipping gods. I wonder why Your Highness is asking this question?"

Li Xiushan also asked tentatively.

Liu Ju had been the crown prince since he was young, and had received a good education. Of course, he was also familiar with the etiquette among the six arts of a gentleman. Logically speaking, he should not have asked such an illogical question.

Liu Ju did not give a direct answer and continued to ask:
"Then Mr. Li, do you know what kind of sacrificial ritual would use the blood of a living person?"

"This……"

The expression on Li Xiushan's face became even weirder.
"It is rumored that in ancient times, there were some sacrificial ceremonies using living people, but most of them occurred during the brutal and cruel Shang Dynasty. Since the Zhou Dynasty, related sacrificial ceremonies have been banned. I have never heard of sacrificial ceremonies using the blood of living people."

"Besides, even if some sacrifices require blood, even if they are blood oaths, the blood used is actually the blood of livestock. How can they use the blood of living people?"

Liu Ju frowned upon hearing this and muttered to himself in deep thought:
"That's weird..."

"I wonder what strange thing your Highness is talking about?"

Li Xiushan's curiosity was aroused and he asked subconsciously.

"Oh, nothing, I just asked casually, Mr. Li, don't worry too much."

Liu Ju then pretended to come to his senses, shook his head and vaguely said,

"Speaking of which, Mr. Li is so reserved in front of me. Maybe he has some misunderstanding about me and thinks that I have a prejudice against you alchemists, right?"

"I dare not..."

How could Li Xiushan dare to admit it? He quickly put away his curiosity and bowed to deny it.

"It's okay if you dare."

Liu Ju smiled and said indifferently,
"But I still want to seek justice for myself. In fact, I not only have no prejudice against you, but I also regard you as an important inheritance of ancient culture, and I always respect you in my heart."

"You should know that a few years ago, when I was ordered by my father to wait for the gods in Donglai, although I punished many Qi alchemists, I did not kill any of them. I only punished them with tattooing."

"And this is because they tried to deceive me, which is a crime of deceiving the emperor. If my father were to deal with this matter, they would not be able to survive even if they had ten lives. I am showing them special mercy by tattooing them."

"You have been serving my father in the palace for a long time, so you should have an idea of ​​this, right?"

Li Xiushan didn't dare to nod or shake his head, so he could only say ambiguously:

"Your Highness is a kind person..."

However, he also knew that what Liu Ju said was not false. After all, Liu Ju had tattooed a group of local scholars from Qi in Donglai. When Liu Che learned about it, he immediately burned books and drowned people in Taiye Lake.

If compared in this way, Liu Ju was really showing mercy. If he had brought those alchemists back to Chang'an, that would have been a real death sentence for them.

"Then do you know what happened to those Taoist priests whom I tattooed?"

Liu Ju asked again.

"How would I know this? Your Highness, please explain clearly."

Li Xiushan became curious again and asked in confusion.

He only knew that Gongsun Qing was sent to Bowang Garden by the emperor and handed over to Liu Ju for disposal, and there was no news of him after that.

In addition, those local scholars in Qi who were tattooed never made any waves again. In addition, communication was inconvenient in that era, so they naturally did not attract any attention.

However, Li Xiushan could imagine how difficult their future days would be.

Tattoos were not popular in the Han Dynasty like in Nanyue, especially for those who had the word "rumor gang" tattooed on their faces like them. They would probably live like rats crossing the street wherever they went, suffering from people's bullying and discrimination. In the past few years, they might have died tragically from hunger and cold, and their families might have been eaten up.

But from what Liu Ju said, could it be that he left them other ways to survive?
"When I went to the Korean Peninsula before, I brought Gongsun Qing and those alchemists who were tattooed with me."

Liu Ju said with a smile,
"Then he ordered people to cover up the tattoos on their faces with tattoos similar to those of the South Vietnamese wizards, and gave them official positions, entrusting them to use their knowledge and learning to educate the barbaric and ignorant Japanese people in the local area."

"If you have friends in the Shangshu Province in the court, you will find out that the most insignificant among them have received seals and ribbons of the same level as county magistrates a few years ago, and Gongsun Qing's current salary should be no less than that of a provincial governor."

"This……"

Li Xiushan's eyes widened when he heard this.

He thought Gongsun Qing had died long ago, but he never imagined that this guy had quietly managed to get to this point.

He's the governor of a state, a highly placed official. The annual salary of a governor seems to be two thousand stones, which is equal to the nine ministers in the court, right?
At least before Gongsun Qing, no matter it was Li Shaojun, Li Shaoweng, or Luan Da, even if they were given various general titles, they had never obtained real power in the local area like Gongsun Qing!
This is called a blessing in disguise, right?
If this is true, Liu Ju has really done his utmost to treat these Qi local scholars. How can it be said that he has a prejudice against them?
Besides, it is not difficult to find out about this matter, and there is really no need for Liu Ju to lie to him... I am really envious!
"I have no other meaning in telling you this."

Liu Ju then patted Li Xiushan's shoulder in a friendly manner.

"No matter what my father likes, I personally have no good feelings towards those South Vietnamese wizards. After all, our Han Dynasty is vast and rich in resources, and Chinese culture has a long history. In any case, it is not the turn of a small country like South Vietnam to jump up and down."

"You are from Qi, and even more so from Han. I believe you have similar pride and resentment as I do."

"So I will spare no effort to support you in this matter. If you need my support in the future, just come to me."

"Thank you very much, Your Highness!"

Li Xiushan became excited upon hearing this, and even his speech was a little halting.

Now that Emperor Liu Che favored the Nanyue wizards, the local scholars of Qi had become powerless in front of him and had very few opportunities to speak. They were naturally extremely dissatisfied.

If he could get the support and reliance of Prince Liu Ju, his situation would naturally be much better!

The most important thing is that as Liu Che gets older, the value of Liu Ju as the crown prince has become higher and higher, and his support determines the future fate of many people!

After thanking him, Li Xiushan suddenly thought of something and immediately submitted another letter of surrender:

"Your Highness, most Han Chinese sacrifices are to gods, while the South Vietnamese are keen on praying to ghosts. I suspect that the four-bow and four-incense ritual you just mentioned was created by the South Vietnamese wizards!"

"Also, there is something I don't know whether I should say or not..."

(End of this chapter)