I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 534 All under heaven belongs to the king!

"Nothing can be hidden from Father."

Liu Ju bowed and neither explained nor elaborated, but vaguely acknowledged Liu Che's speculation, which had not yet been fully clarified.

"Hehehehe."

Liu Che just looked at him, with a hint of disappointment in his eyes, and then he sat down with a few meaningless dry laughs.

Seeing this, Liu Ju stepped forward and personally poured him a cup of tea, then placed it in front of him with both hands:
"Father, please."

Liu Che did not take it, but signaled him with his eyes to put the teacup on the table, and then said:

"Liu Ju, I want to ask you a question. Think carefully before you answer."

"Please ask Father to test me."

Liu Ju replied.

"In your opinion, it's because I'm the emperor, so the people below me all listen to me..."

Staring into Liu Ju's eyes, Liu Che paused for a moment before asking in a serious tone,

"Or is it because those people below me listen to me, so I am the emperor?"

Before this, no one had ever dared to raise this question publicly, because in this era of "divine right of kings", this was simply a question that would lead to death.

It's not just the person who answers who will die.

Even the person who asks this question will also lose his life.

Perhaps in the whole world, Liu Che is the only one who is qualified to ask or answer this question without having to pay any price, right?
In other words, when he raised this question, he had already paid the price.

Because this question directly strikes at the essence of the royal power in his hands, making his royal power no longer seem so sacred.

"Father..."

When Liu Ju heard this question, he had already realized Liu Che's intention, and his heart warmed slightly. He answered seriously,

"Father, I think that because the people below listen to you, you are the emperor."

"You are indeed a rebellious son. You are probably the only rebellious son in the world who dares to answer this question directly."

Liu Che glanced at him sideways, and finally raised his hand to pick up the teacup on the table, blew away the foam on it, took two sips, and then asked in return,
"Since you understand this principle, do you know how to make these people obey you willingly and how to control them?"

"My son knows."

Liu Ju bowed again.

"Really know?"

Liu Che questioned.

"know."

Liu Ju continued to speak with his eyebrows lowered,
"Internally, my son needs to be able to bring them benefits."

"For external affairs, my sons and ministers need to be able to help them resist risks."

"As long as I can do these two things, I will make these people obey me. Even if I ask them to die for me, they will be willing to do so and will continue to do so."

"This is the core of the art of controlling people. As for tactics such as creating opposition, making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, and being vague, they all need this as a foundation. Otherwise, they will be like a tree without roots and will not last long..."

"?!"

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Liu Che's eyes. This was the most important lesson he intended to teach Liu Ju today, and also the most core imperial strategy.

He also planned to use this opportunity to teach Liu Ju a lesson, to let Liu Ju know his own worth and what kind of stupid things he had done by being too clever.

Liu Ju actually finished all his words in one breath? !

"Snapped!"

Liu Che suddenly became angry, threw the teacup in his hand to the ground, and cursed at him:
"Since you, the rebellious son, have already understood this principle, you should also know how high my expectations of you are. Why do you still do such a thing?!"

"After this incident, how can those people listen to you after I pass away? How can you succeed to the throne smoothly?"

"I gave you the sword I carried when I was the crown prince so that you would learn to keep a low profile like me."

"You used that sword to stab Jiang Chong to death in the street, and now you openly point the sword at the entire court. Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to understand?!"

As a result, Liu Ju only used a few innocent words to instantly extinguish Liu Che's anger:
"But Father, you are the emperor now, and I am just a minister under your rule. I should fulfill my duties as a minister. If I abuse the power of the emperor, I will become a traitor."

This makes so much damn sense that I am speechless!

Liu Che was stunned when he heard this.

If Liu Ju started to use imperial power tactics now and made those below him listen to him, wouldn't he, the emperor, be sidelined?

The people below no longer listen to him, but to Liu Ju. So is he still the emperor?

Liu Che suddenly thought of an idiom - self-contradiction.

Liu Ju's words were tantamount to using his spear to pierce his shield. He was not dead yet. If Liu Ju really did this, how would he deal with it? Should he abdicate and become the emperor emeritus?
At this moment, Liu Che felt inexplicably warmed.

This rebellious son... You say he is sensible, but what he does never makes us worry-free!

But you say he is ignorant, he knows everything... Yes, yes, he must have understood these principles a long time ago.

If he didn't understand these things, how could he have turned the Xiongnu and the Western Regions upside down, made the generals and officials who had been to the Western Regions on official business praise him so much, and made all the countries in the Western Regions speak highly of him?

I underestimated him after all!
I am angry about him cutting off his own roots, but he is being filial to me?!
"call--"

After exhaling the foul air in his chest, Liu Che poured himself a cup of tea, sipped it slowly and asked,

"Tell me, what are you planning to do this time?"

"When I asked for permission to go to the Western Regions, I told you that I was truly facing war, and thus understanding it and being in awe of it. I saw what you saw, understood what you thought, understood your kindness, and understood why you were always successful."

Liu Ju bowed and said,
"Over the years, although I am dull, I have made some progress."

"At least I can understand part of the intention of your father's previous national policies, understand how great and benevolent your father is, and understand how much helplessness is mixed in your father's success."

"To be honest, people only think that my father inherited the prosperous reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, but they don't know that he also inherited the stubborn disease and filth that grew along with the prosperity and had long been out of control."

"My father has been fighting these stubborn diseases and filth all his life, curing the illnesses of the seriously ill Han people."

"For this, Father did not hesitate to bear the infamy and endure criticism. Sometimes he had to pretend to be submissive and compromise. No one knows what kind of pressure Father was under. Father also had no one to talk to, because a great ruler like Father would never allow himself to show the slightest weakness in front of anyone."

"These are what I have understood over the years!"

"..."

At this point, Liu Che's hand holding the teacup began to tremble slightly uncontrollably, so he quietly put it back on the table and turned his face to the side without making a sound, so as not to let Liu Ju see his expression clearly.

"Your Majesty asked me what my plans were, but I didn't have any plans." Liu Ju continued as if he hadn't noticed.
"I am only fulfilling my duty as a minister. I am only doing these things to comply with your wishes, hoping to inspire others. Even if some things are not well thought out, I have no worries, because I know that no matter when, your father will stand behind me and can always turn decay into magic."

"This is the confidence that allows me to do whatever I want..."

Just as Liu Ju was expressing his true feelings, Liu Che suddenly snorted, glared at him and started to curse:
"You rebellious son, I almost believed you. Since you like acting so much, how about you replace Li Guangli and write the script for me?"

"Why does Father say that?"

Liu Ju asked with a look of grievance.

"If you continue to act like this, it will be disobedience!"

Liu Che rolled his eyes at him, then started to bring up old scores, cursing like a machine gun.
"Do you think I'm old enough to have forgotten what happened in the past?"

"Ever since you found out the ancient river course of Dayu but insisted on hiding it from me and causing the dikes to be destroyed and the fields to be flooded, making me think that it was my destiny, you have been using me and plotting against me!"

"Even that memorial that was full of mistakes and insults about my father and my king was written by you because you knew my temper and deliberately provoked me to send you to control the flood!"

"And later on, I pacified Nanyue, conquered Xiqiang, and waited for the gods in Donglai..."

"I don't even bother to list them one by one. Which of these things did you not plan long ago? Are you playing hard to get with me?"

"You rebellious son, don't you think that I said you played well, but only played well this time?"

"Although I have seen countless people in my life, who, apart from you, dares to bully me like this? The grass on my grave is only three feet tall."

"You dare to call yourself filial? I'm the first to laugh!"

"Don't think I can't see it. Your so-called throwing out bricks to attract jade is just taking advantage of me to bully others."

"As soon as I came back, those who were ready to make a move immediately put their tails between their legs. You played out this assassination scene again, so naturally no one dared to openly stand up and oppose you. The two radical national policies you introduced can naturally be implemented!"

"Let me guess..."

"I'm afraid there's more to it than that. I'm afraid you have other leverage over them. You can use this assassination to force them to keep on trying to survive, right?"

"I'm afraid you're planning to use this as an excuse to do me another favor!"

"You already knew that these two national policies were too radical and would not benefit the Han Dynasty. You also knew that I would see this. Although I would take this opportunity to continue to implement the national policies, I would also make some changes based on local conditions. In this way, I will play the good cop and let you play the bad cop. In my heart, I will remember the sacrifices you made for me. Isn't that right?"

"maybe……"

"Even if I could guess these, it was because you deliberately revealed your true colors so that I could guess them, right?"

"You think that by doing this, I can dispel my concerns about you, and think that you are extremely intelligent and loyal and filial, and regard you as a filial and rebellious son. Is this right or wrong?"

"Uh……"

This time it was Liu Ju's turn to be speechless.

The greatest emperor in history is not so easy to fool... Fortunately, the problem is not serious. At least Liu Che did not misunderstand that he had any evil intentions. Even if he was deceiving the emperor, it was still deceiving the emperor with good intentions.

Speaking of which, it seems that Liu Che shouldn't know so much about Dayu's ancient river channel, right?
After all, Guo Chang swore to him many times that he would never reveal these secrets to anyone. Could this old man be so dishonest as to sell him out so early?
However, Liu Che did not guess all of them correctly.

Before he left for the Western Regions, he did not use any tactics, such as playing hard to get or playing hard to get. He was sincerely disobedient to Liu Che and only wanted to be deposed quickly. God knows why Liu Che had such a misunderstanding...

"And Liu Hong, you have corrupted such a good kid!"

Liu Che seemed to enjoy Liu Ju's humiliation and continued to rebuke him aggressively.
"At the beginning, he listened to your instigation and was determined to fight for the position of Crown Prince. If I hadn't taken advantage of his trick, wouldn't it have led to a disaster?"

"In recent years, he has been playing a trick on me about not being able to get married before the age of 25, hanging out with court officials and nobles all day long, and intentionally or unintentionally pretending to be betrayed and secretly sending me a list. Do you really think I can't see that he is trying to help you eliminate dissidents and join the game to catch all those who oppose you?"

"For this reason, this rebellious son even dared to collude with outsiders and use the borrowed birthday ceremony to deceive me!"

"Why do you think I ordered Su Wen to deliver the secret letter to you and let you handle the matter with full authority?"

"Isn't it just giving you a chance to clean up the mess you made?"

"Rebel!"

"How could I have given birth to two rebellious sons like you? You two rebellious sons actually have such a tacit understanding with each other. If I can't live a hundred years, it must be because of you two rebellious sons that I am angry about it!"

Although Liu Che's tone of rebuke at this moment was harsh and indignant, anyone could hear that he was actually weak inside and was not really angry at Liu Ju and Liu Hong, the two rebellious sons.

"Father is teaching me this. I know I was wrong and I won't do it again next time."

Liu Ju naturally heard it carefully, and bowed his head decisively to apologize.

He never expected that Liu Hong would use the same trick on Liu Che.

What a stupid brother! No wonder Liu Che could guess so accurately.

But to be honest, it was not just the two rebellious sons who were colluding with each other. Their father, the Emperor Liu Che, also cooperated with them tacitly. Otherwise, how could things have developed to this point today?
Slow!

Having said that, is it possible that Liu Hong did it on purpose, just as he deliberately let Liu Che guess some things, or Liu Che clearly knew many things but pretended not to know?
If that is true.

Isn't this a kind of tacit understanding, the tacit understanding between the father and his two sons, why can't it be called fatherly love and filial piety?

The only ones who were really fooled were those treacherous officials and vermin!
If so, it would be too difficult for them...

"And next time?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Che's eyes instantly glared at him fiercely again.

"No, no, I dare not."

Liu Ju shook his head repeatedly.

"Humph……"

Liu Che just snorted coldly and said unhappily,
"You don't have to get involved in what happens next. I will clean up your mess!"

"Since you have already played the villain, I will have no choice but to play the hero. You have to play the whole show. After a while, you should accept the blame and go back to the Western Regions."

"I won't appreciate your kindness, you asked for this!"

"But you should know that this trade route has become increasingly important and is related to the interests of many people. As long as the Western Region is in your hands, the gains and risks of those people will be controlled by you..."

"That's all I have to say. I don't owe you anything, you rebellious son. Please leave now."

"promise."

Liu Ju agreed, took two steps back but then froze, and reminded with a dry laugh,

"But Father, this seems to be my son's bedroom."

Liu Che was also stunned for a moment before he reacted, and immediately frowned again:

"The whole world belongs to the king! Bowang Garden was also given to you by me, you unfilial son!"

(End of this chapter)