Weiyang Palace.
The emperor returned to Chang'an one step ahead of schedule and asked Dong Xu to convey the order and asked King Zhao Liu Pengzu to come to see him.
After the emperor took his seat, he drew a map of the northern border of the Han Dynasty on a piece of paper made of silk.
He walked through the Northland himself and described the northern border with unusual clarity and detail.
The emperor had not visited other locations, so he left them blank.
If given the chance, he would personally travel through these mountains and rivers to reveal the land of Han.
The emperor stared at the drawn border of the Huns. The vast area of Nuo was now completely returned to the Han.
In his mind, he recalled the many years of games and confrontations between the Han and the Huns.
After a while, Liu Pengzu, a tall and somewhat fat figure, strode in from the outside under the guidance of Dong Xu.
He was dressed in royal robes, showing his wealth and majesty, with a square-shaped dark green jade belt tied around his waist. After middle age, people are still full of energy and bright eyes.
"emperor!"
Liu Pengzu greeted him, took his seat at the lower left of the emperor, and spoke first, saying:
"In this blink of an eye, Emperor, you have been on the throne for nearly twenty years. You have conquered all ethnic groups and greatly expanded your country. Such achievements have been achieved by one person throughout the ages."
The emperor lowered his eyes slightly, still looking at the map he had drawn of the territory where the Huns merged with the Han.
Liu Pengzu seemed to have a strong desire to express himself and said:
"When you came to the throne, I was the first among the brothers to second my opinion and approved of your taking the throne.
In recent years, there has been turmoil in Huainan internally, and externally there have been the Xiongnu and other barbarians.
There were envoys from Huainan who visited me. Because my country is close to the northern border, the geographical location is particularly important.
I didn't know Huainan's purpose at the time, but they were very persuasive and gave me many things.
I refused them all because I was very satisfied with the current situation. Regardless of internal and external turmoil, I had always firmly supported the Emperor and never wavered.
You were only seventeen when you came to the throne and took power. Others disobeyed you, but I did not. "
The emperor finally looked up at Liu Pengzu:
"That's why you sit on the throne until now."
The emperor's words suddenly gave Liu Pengzu a chill.
The emperor meant that he was not ignorant of some things, but he left room for Liu Pengzu and took care of his feelings.
Let him sit on the throne until now, and the more he speaks, the more he feels that there is a hidden murderous intention.
Has the emperor ever thought of deposing his throne?
Liu Pengzu's thoughts flickered, and the more he thought about it, the more chill he felt.
There were so many words I had prepared before, but there was no need to continue.
"I may have had the same thoughts as you a few years ago. But sitting in this position, I slowly understood a truth.
The people are the foundation of the world and the country. If the people's hearts are unstable, everything will fail. "
"I am closely related to the national destiny, and I feel particularly deeply about it. If the national destiny increases, I will benefit. If the national destiny decreases, I will be affected."
Liu Che looked at Liu Pengzu: "I am not afraid of foreign enemies. From the moment I ascended the throne, I made a great wish to conquer the barbarians and prevent my great Han from being humiliated by foreign enemies.
However, the process of revitalizing the Han Dynasty was not easy. Difficulties were faced one after another. There was competition with other countries on the outside and coveting on the inside.
How many threats did one Xiongnu alone bring to us back then? "
"You come from a clan, how dangerous is the siege of Bai Deng by the great ancestor.
If something happened to Emperor Gaozu at that time, the mountains and rivers might also overturn. When the Han Dynasty was first established, we were waiting for things to happen and our troops were not strong, so we could only endure the humiliation and bear the heavy burden.
There was a time when the Huns were so arrogant that they treated the Han people as livestock.
When I first came to power, the Xiongnu also asked me for 10,000 cattle and horses, and 20,000 people and livestock in the credentials they gave me.
After reading it, it took me a while to realize that they were equating me, a Chinese, with animal husbandry.
At that time, in the Xiongnu, they raised and lived Han people together with livestock. They put on animal skins and climbed on the ground. They were not allowed to stand up and walk. If they disobeyed, they would be whipped for fun. "
The emperor rested one arm on the low seat, stopped Liu Pengzu from speaking, and continued:
"Foreign enemies are so ferocious, but I have always felt that they are not scary, because all foreign enemies are on the surface. I, the Han people, will never be willing to be oppressed by the Huns. Sooner or later, I will defeat them and take everything that the Han people owe me. return.
No matter how fierce they come, there are tens of thousands of Han troops on the front line, including General Wei and champion marquis.
You all think that I valued martial arts and trusted Wei Qing too much in the early years, but in recent years I have used the champion prince again. Have you ever seen them fighting on the battlefield? Over the years, they spent more than half of their time away fighting and were not allowed to return home!
Have you ever seen them personally leading the crowd into the enemy's formation, fighting through the formation among thousands of troops, regardless of their own safety?
What I'm afraid of is that while the soldiers on the front line are working hard and the officials are working hard, there are people behind the scenes who will act arbitrarily and shake the people's hearts and the destiny of the country.
This is more terrifying than any foreign enemy.
Especially some of them are my relatives, who are outside the criminal law. Just like the Huns, they treated the people as livestock! "
Liu Pengzu was shocked and said angrily: "The emperor said these words, but did Xiao Xiaojin slander me?
I know that you, Emperor, are referring to me, but please, Emperor, please do not listen to the slander. "
"I just said so much, you didn't even listen, did you?"
The emperor said: "If you dare to quibble again, I will destroy you. If the clan members dare to support you, I will punish them severely!"
I want to see who dares to stand up and fully support you! "
Liu Pengzu's face turned pale, he gritted his teeth and remained silent.
"You wait here until Qu Bing comes back from HD."
Liu Pengzu had realized that the emperor was really angry.
Fighting against the emperor at this time will definitely not lead to good results.
The sun was setting and the sky was completely dark.
The emperor lowered his head to deal with the various memorials accumulated during his outing in the afternoon.
Just as night fell, Huo Qubing returned to Chang'an and walked into the brightly lit study with bronze lotus lamps.
He then grabbed Liu Dan, whose face was covered in blood, from the military mansion next to him.
Liu Pengzu looked at Liu Dan's broken cheek and broken and bleeding legs sitting on the ground, and his face was filled with shocking anger: "Huo Qubing, but you hurt my son?
I want your life! "
The emperor looked at Liu Dan: "Did you hit someone, Champion?"
"Beat, Liu Dan, the eldest son of King Zhao, gathered the county soldiers to attack, intending to attack the people who embroidered clothes."
Huo Qubing said: "On my way back, I made inquiries and had the embroiderers write down the records, and I learned a lot.
This is Liu Dan's confession. In the past few years, he has arbitrarily robbed the female family members who came to HD, and also minted bad coins privately. All of them are signed and stamped. Your Majesty, please observe carefully. "
Huo Qubing handed over a roll of bamboo slips.
The emperor took it and threw it to Liu Pengzu beside him without looking at it.
Liu Pengzu didn't even look at it and said, "He tortured my son, how can his confession be accurate?
Dan'er, my father asked you, did they force you to make this confession? "
Liu Dan glanced at his father and said, "Exactly, they not only forced me, but also threatened me and planted charges at will.
The injuries the child suffered were all caused by beatings, so he had no choice but to admit what he said, otherwise his life would be in danger.
The boy's two followers, as well as the county soldiers in the county, were killed by him.
Father, please make the decision for me, Your Majesty. "
The emperor looked at Huo Qubing: "What do you have to say, Lord Champion?"
Huo Qubing Shi Ran said: "On my way back, I sent an order to the local garrison and went to the place where the bad coins were minted as confessed by Prince Zhao, as well as the place where he hid his female relatives for his own pleasure."
Liu Pengzu stood up suddenly and took a step forward: "Huo Qubing, what do you want to do?"
Huo Qubing said: "King Zhao, please don't worry. The news I just received before entering the palace is that when the garrison arrived, the people you arranged were destroying evidence.
Your people still dare to confront the Han army, which is tantamount to rebellion.
After being captured by the garrison, they were tortured to extract confessions and beaten into submission, and then they confessed one by one.
There are hundreds of people who have confessed, and they are all slandering you, King Zhao. King Zhao, you should kill them all to prove your innocence. "
Huo Qubing said the opposite.
Liu Pengzu was trembling with anger, his lips turned purple, and his eyes were spitting fire.
The emperor said: "The champion marquis made a big mistake by using torture privately. Even if he has done meritorious service to the country, he cannot be so lawless.
I punish you... three months' salary.
If there is another war, you will be punished to personally lead the troops to defeat the enemy and fight with the enemy on the front line. If there is any injury, it will be a punishment for the mistakes you made today. You will not be rewarded for your meritorious service. "
Liu Pengzu almost spit out a mouthful of old blood and was fined three months' salary.
He has a fiefdom of ten thousand households, does he care about three months' salary?
And punish him to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy?
Huo Qubing is invincible on the battlefield, and the whole world knows it. Is this a reward or a punishment for him to perform meritorious deeds again?
In other words, it doesn't matter if you don't reward your merits.
"King Zhao feels that my punishment is unfair, and his face is so ugly.
In this case, I will punish King Zhao and his son Liu Dan to follow Huo Qubing to the battlefield as a supervision. "
Liu Pengzu's face turned pale, and he felt his energy and blood rushing to the top of his head.
If my father and I really followed him to the battlefield, wouldn't life and death fall into Huo Qubing's hands?
"Master Champion, please go down. Think about your mistakes at home, and I will punish you by being grounded for five days. Don't cause trouble for me all the time." The emperor gave Huo Qubing a sideways look.
Huo Qubing came out of the study and went home on his own.
In the study, the emperor looked at Liu Pengzu: "You, King of Zhao, have often violated etiquette, minted coins privately, and committed many acts of chaos. From now on, I will take back your county and fiefdom. You can come back to live in Chang'an. .
I punish you by being banned from the house for ten years, and you are not allowed to come out of the house. The crown prince Liu Dan was deprived of his right to inherit the throne and demoted to a commoner. "
Liu Pengzu's hands and feet were numb.
Liu Dan was stunned and speechless, in disbelief.
The emperor actually wanted to uproot his lineage of King Zhao and take back his fiefdom and the country!
Liu Pengzu was not a fool. He immediately thought that the emperor was killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, and used him to frighten various places to make kings and further promote the restoration of coinage rights.
Thinking deeper, the emperor was strengthening his centralization of power!
I'm afraid this is just the beginning, and there will be greater turbulence in the future.
The entire clan may be in for a turmoil.
"I have opened my eyes to you. You should know that what you did is a capital crime."
Liu Pengzu stood there for a long time, and the bargaining chips he could use against the emperor were actually very limited.
Those people from various clans behind him, if the emperor was really angry, would never fight for him Liu Pengzu to the end with all his strength at this moment.
Especially when Huo Qubing mobilized troops and mastered a series of empirical evidence in a short period of time.
And what would be the result if all branches of the clan were used to fight with all their strength?
If we really get to that point, the consequences are almost certain to be death... Liu Pengzu bowed slowly: "I accept the decree, thank you Your Majesty."
"You go down," the emperor said.
This is just the beginning.
The emperor was indeed planning to take the opportunity to rectify the feudal kings in various places. This was something he had been planning and preparing since the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion and the Huainan Rebellion not long ago. It was just a good time to take back the minting power and remove King Zhao.
Emperor Wu in history also continuously strengthened his control over the kings and highly centralized power.
————
The lanterns are on.
Huo Qubing returned to the house and found a visitor.
In a side hall of the inner house, there was the sound of drums and music.
Liu Qing played the piano himself, while Bai Nanyu played the pipa.
There is also a woman dancing gracefully on the blanket in the middle of the hall.
She was wearing a red and gold long skirt, which was different from the waist-cinching style of the Han skirt, revealing a small part of her slender waist and arms.
The white and small bare feet are wearing golden tassels specially made for dancing. The tassels sway with the dance steps, reflecting the lights in the hall, and the movements are like clouds and flowing water, and they are shining like flowing waves.
His figure rises and falls, and every move carries an inexplicable charm. Sometimes he bends his legs and leans forward, and his colorful hand gestures are like graceful flowers blooming.
The facial expressions echo the movements. At one time, he is kind and solemn, and at the other time, he is elegant and pure. It presents a strong visual impact and shocks people's hearts.
Its body is like a wild goose, its arms are as soft as boneless, and there are lotuses growing on the ends of its feet, like a drop of round dew rolling on a lotus leaf, full of spirituality.
The woman's dancing steps forward and backward, as if reflecting the most graceful truth between heaven and earth. The movement, stillness and void form a different kind of twist, which seems to be advancing but actually retreating, with endless changes.
After the song ended, all the singing and dancing in the hall stopped.
Everyone was completely immersed in his moving dance.
"I've heard that you are a master of music and dance, and you are truly amazing."
Liu Qing was the first to speak. He looked at Huo Qubing who was standing on the porch and said happily: "Does your husband say so?"
The dancing girl looked back and saw Huo Qubing standing on the porch, and her face turned slightly moist.
Ps: Chapter 389 is in again...please vote, thank you
(End of chapter)
