A few days later, Liu Ji came to Beigong and said to Lu Pheasant excitedly,
"By the way, Lu Wan has arrived in Luoyang.
I think I haven't seen you for a long time. Let him bring his family to Beigong to meet you tomorrow.
While Lu Yuan hasn't left yet, you can reminisce about old times together. "
"Family members? Is the Lu family's sister-in-law here too?
Lu Wan is now a lieutenant, do you still want to promote him? "
Lu Zhi was startled and asked with a smile.
In fact, when she heard the news, she felt sudden, but not surprised. Instead, she felt a hint of joy in her heart to see an old acquaintance.
Lu Wan is Liu Ji's best friend in his life.
Lu Wan and Liu Ji were born in the same year, month and day. The Lu family and the Liu family were not only from the same hometown, they even lived in the same neighborhood. The two families had lived next to each other for decades.
Since the previous generation, Lu Wan's father has been good friends with Mrs. Liu, helping each other and becoming like a family.
When their wives gave birth on the same day, the relationship between the two children became even closer. They were not related by blood, but they were better than biological brothers. The two grew up together, studied together, became rangers together, and went out to explore the world.
Later, when Qin unified the world, the young and frivolous rangers returned to their hometowns and settled down.
Liu Ji became the pavilion chief of Sishui and became a low-level official in the Qin Empire. However, Lu Wan failed the official examination and had to work hard at home and farm the land. She was one of the most ordinary households in the Qin Empire.
Despite the change in status, Liu Ji, the pavilion chief, and Lu Wan, the head of Guizhou Province, continued to maintain a brotherly relationship, and their family members also naturally fell in love with each other as sisters.
In the first year of the Second Qin Dynasty, many heroes came to compete for the throne. Liu Ji, unwilling to be outdone, also raised troops from Peixian County, and Lu Wan was the first guest under his command.
From then on, Lu Wan has always been like Liu Ji's shadow, following him every step of the way, until now.
Liu Ji's trust and intimacy with Lu Wan were unparalleled among the officials.
"Yes, Sister-in-law from the Lu family is here too.
And Lu Wan's two young boys, they haven't seen each other for almost a year, and they must have grown a lot.
These two brats are much more naughty than Ying'er, but I don't know if they recognize me anymore.
The clothes are really not as good as new, and the people are not as good as before. "
Liu Ji stood in front of the ninety-six tree-shaped copper lamp again, stretched out his hand to fiddle with the branches, and smiled with some emotion. Under the beating light, the layers of laughter lines rising from the corners of his eyes were vaguely visible.
At this moment, his mind was in a trance, feeling that he was no longer in the cold and forbidden Luoyang Palace City, but had returned to the village house in his hometown in Peixian County.
He seemed to be no longer the emperor, but the director of the pavilion who returned home in the evening. He and his wife were arranging today's evening meal. She told the thrifty housekeeper to bring out the smoked duck that she had been reluctant to eat, saying that the Lu family brothers would come to have a drink. .
***
Lu Pheasant looked at this man who was one of the best in the world with a calm and detached expression, watching the rare and short-lived warmth he occasionally showed.
She knew very well that Liu Ji avoided talking about her second question because she hit the nail on the head and completely guessed what he was thinking.
He summoned Lu Wan to Luoyang at this moment, which was also part of the careful plan for King Zang Tu of Yan.
If the King of Yan turns against him as expected, he will take Lu Wan on a personal expedition and take the opportunity to create opportunities for him to make meritorious deeds. Then, he can legitimately replace him and make him the new King of Yan.
Conferring Lu Wan the title of King of Yan was a shocking initiative. Rather than rewarding the old friends who had followed him all the way, it was more about pushing his good brothers out and acting as a living target to test the reaction of all parties.
Because the logic behind Lu Wan's title of king was the new policy of "making the king because of relatives" that Liu Ji had been trying to implement.
The seven kings with different surnames standing in the east at this time were definitely not the emperor's original intention, but the result of Liu Ji's continuous alliance, compromise, and surrender in order to win during the Chu-Han War.
To put it bluntly, the principle of canonization of these seven kings with different surnames is based on military merit and has nothing to do with the emperor's personal wishes and preferences or royal blood.
For Liu Ji, who dreamed of great unification, this was like a stick in his throat. Sharing the territory of the world with the princes and kings seemed to be ridiculing him all the time, and he was not yet a complete emperor.
In this world, everyone must have the surname Liu, and the territories of these kings with different surnames must all belong to the descendants of the Liu family, so that it can be considered the official Liu family empire;
However, Liu Ji knew very well that the process of naming Liu in this world must be done step by step and slowly.
The veteran heroes will definitely not accept the direct change from "king for merit" to "king for kinship". If they act forcefully and conflicts continue to intensify, there will even be a sudden change.
Therefore, there must be a transitional stage first. Choose a person with a different surname who is "close but not destined" and throw it out to test the water temperature.
The so-called "close but not related" has two meanings:
"Qin" means personal favor, a favorite of the emperor, and a very deep personal relationship;
And "unfate" means that there is no blood relationship with the emperor, and he still has the status of a king with a different surname, so as to avoid direct conflict between the heroes and other kings with a different surname.
In short, if Lu Wan succeeds in testing the waters this time, then the sons of Liu who are ready to make a move, especially the princes headed by Liu Fei, will be named kings with the same surname one after another to gradually replace the kings with different surnames.
And if something went wrong this time due to the plan of professing the king, it would still be the emperor's favorite Lu Wan himself who would be criticized verbally and verbally, and there would be no loss to Liu Ji and the Liu family.
***
“Are people not as good as they are?
If Your Majesty truly regards Lu Wan as a brother, then you will know that this person has mediocre abilities and is not suitable for entrusting him with important responsibilities. "
"He's an honest guy. He doesn't have much ability or a lot of ambition. He's still loyal to me."
Liu Ji scratched his head, thoughtfully.
Lu Wan seemed taciturn, had mediocre qualifications, and lacked the ability to lead an army in combat. Although he had served under Liu Ji for many years, he had basically made no achievements.
However, it was precisely because of his mediocre qualifications and easy control that Liu Ji would confidently hand over the Yan Kingdom bordering the Xiongnu to him in the future.
“If you know the small but plan the big, if you are small but the task is heavy, you will suffer disaster.
It's not like there's no other way to turn things around, so why put his family on the fire? "
Lu Pheasant said slowly.
No matter how honest a person is, he will jump over the wall when pressed.
No matter how loyal Lu Wan is, when the emperor sharpens his sword and deals with the kings with different surnames one by one, he will eventually realize that his special king with different surnames is just the bridge that the emperor is crossing to demolish the bridge.
When that day comes, he will die if he doesn't, and he will die if he doesn't. In order to protect himself, he has no choice but to rebel even if he is unwilling to do so in order to protect himself.
But in history, Lu Wan was not resolute. He always wanted to go to Beijing to apologize and explain things face to face with his old brothers. However, due to the situation, he had no choice but to flee to the Huns with his family, and he soon died in depression.
And his wife, after living in the Xiongnu for several years, finally returned to Chang'an and made an appointment with Empress Lu to see her again, but she was unable to do so because Empress Lu was seriously ill.
"A good and honest family member could have done his best to be loyal to the great man, but he was suddenly treated as an outcast in a big game of chess. No wonder he felt unwilling to do so.
Besides, your biological son from the Liu family, and the biological son from the Li family that I gave birth to in my previous life, will they definitely not rebel? "
Lu Pheasant thought to himself,
"What a stupid move. It will be better if I do it this time."
