My father is Emperor Wu of Han, how can I be different from him?

Chapter 21 What about the Crown Prince?

General?
Hearing these words, Li Cai's forehead was wrinkled, but he kept his composure and did not interrupt.

Gongsun Hong continued, "When the last emperor was alive, and even during the reign of Emperor Wen, being a prime minister was a very good job, but now... Hey... Your Majesty has been in office for 18 years and has had six prime ministers. You can't say you are not diligent!"

Gongsun Hong's joke was relatively restrained.

If we look into it in more detail, we will probably find out that none of the first five prime ministers left their posts in a normal way!
"After I was appointed Prime Minister, I realized a truth: if I want to sit on the throne safely, or even retire after success, I must share your worries."

"What do you mean by sharing your worries?"

Gongsun Hong, with his eyes closed, seemed to be talking to himself. Without Li Cai's intervention, the old voice answered its own questions.

"My predecessors should have taken the initiative to give up their power. After all, the current emperor is different from the previous emperor. How can he tolerate a prime minister who leads the outer court alone?"

"Ah!"

"When it comes to me, the situation has changed. Your Majesty's position is stable and he has begun to control the government. As the Prime Minister, I have to follow his will."

As if he was talking about something very proud, Gongsun Hong raised his eyelids, and a smile appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"What is the will of the emperor? The will of the emperor means that if anyone in the court offends His Majesty, I will help His Majesty with his worries. I will transfer, dismiss, hold him accountable, or put him in jail. If His Majesty is satisfied, I can enjoy my old age in peace, right?"

After hearing this, Li Cai remained silent and bowed slightly.

To show the old man’s profound opinion.

As for the people involved in this high-sounding theory, such as Zhufu Yan, Ji An, and Dong Zhongshu, they were not within Li Cai's consideration...

"When it comes to you, the situation is different." Gongsun Hong took a breath, his face a little complicated: "The world changes too fast, it's hard to keep up. Who could have expected the sudden rise of the general?"

"Ugh!"

He sighed, as if lamenting his old age and frailty, unable to keep up with the changing times.

Subsequently.

Gongsun Hong's body was just like his words, weak as soon as he said it. His eyelids, which had just opened, closed again.

The breathing sound began to be faint...

"I heard that the prime minister's son has been the governor of Shanyang for many years and has made remarkable achievements. If there is a chance in the future, he should be moved back to Chang'an."

In the quiet courtyard, Li Cai took a sip of tea and said so.

After being disturbed, Gongsun Hong did not remain unconscious for too long this time. After waking up, he patted his forehead and said, "Alas, I am old, old, and useless!"

"What were we talking about?"

"General." Li Cai put down the tea bowl as if nothing had happened and reminded.

"Yes, the general!" Gongsun Hong suddenly realized, "The general is incredible. He controls all the generals and is as high up as the three dukes. Who in the court can match his power and status?"

The old prime minister is still playing charades.

But the person who was about to take over as prime minister was already getting impatient to listen.

Li Cai was much more patient than his cousin Li Guang, but he was born into a military family after all, and had spent the first half of his life hanging out with rough guys in the barracks. How could he stand Gongsun Hong's mystification?

'If you give me a benefit, stop talking nonsense!'

As the thought came to his mind, Li Cai's face turned cold, "Prime Minister, please speak frankly."

See this.

Gongsun Hong smiled but showed no emotion.

Following the other party's meaning, he said directly: "Haha, the general has too much power, and someone has to restrain him, and the prime minister is the best person to restrain him."

"After you take over, you can confront the general on everything, no matter if it's right or wrong."

Li Cai frowned, "Your Majesty trusts the general very much. Wouldn't it be counterproductive to oppose him?"

"The court needs balance, not trust or not."

After being rebuked, Gongsun Hong finally figured out who his successor would be, and he spoke directly.

"The emperor's mind cannot stand one family dominating the other. Your opposition to the general will not affect the general's favor, but His Majesty will look upon you with new eyes. This alone is enough for you to gain a foothold in the court!"

As the saying goes.

A deity makes a mountain, not its altitude.

You don't need to say too much. If it's useful, just one sentence is enough. Li Cai was silent for a while, then he bowed and said stiffly, "I'll teach you."

Say it.

He stood up and prepared to leave.

"Since I still need you to look after the Gongsun family in the future, I will give you another piece of advice." When Li Cai stood up, Gongsun Hong also said the last sentence. "If you go against the general, you will inevitably run into the crown prince. I advise you not to change your course because of the crown prince."

"Otherwise, it would be counterproductive!"

Li Cai is not a fool. He knows that once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back, without anyone reminding him.

Actually.

Except that his experience and vision are not as good as Gongsun Hong, in some aspects, because of Li Cai's military background, he is actually more radical than Gongsun Hong!
three days later.

Discussing government affairs in Xuanshi Hall.

Li Cai refuted the proposal of Marquis Guanjun and questioned the guarantee of the general.

Although Li Cai was momentarily flustered by the unexpectedly early encounter with the prince, he quickly responded.

There was no change of course, nor was there any stopping.

Faced with the prince's support, Li Cai chose to retort in court!
From that moment on, he regarded the Marquis of Guanjun, the general, and the prince as one, and they were actually one.

That's the case.

What's the difference?

If you want to be a lone minister, do it to the end. You have fallen out with the general, so what can the prince do? !
……

……

"Ah! Ahh!"

Liu Ju rubbed his nose, wondering who was talking about him.

"Your Highness, you must take care of your health!" The eunuch leading the way turned around and said with concern.

Facing the chief eunuch of the entire Weiyang Palace, Liu Ju was still very amiable and just chuckled as if nothing was wrong.

"Well, that's good."

"Please wait for a moment. I will go and inform them."

After the quarrel in the daytime, the emperor left the general alone to discuss the matter. It is unknown what they talked about.

When it was evening, he sent someone to call Liu Ju over.

Liu Ju could guess something about this question and answer. In order to help his cousin enter the palace, he had performed a trick of "unity of knowledge and action".

If the Emperor is interested, he will definitely ask about it in detail afterwards.

Not long after.

The lights in Chengming Hall were bright.

Liu Che rubbed his temple, threw the bamboo slips in his hand on the table, and looked at the prince who was kneeling in front of him.

"None of my royal horses are as good as the one given to you by Marquis Guanjun. If you have a good horse, you should train it diligently. I will test it when we go hunting in Shanglin Park in the future."

For a strict father, this is considered too kind.

Then the emperor went straight to the point.

"Today, during the court discussion on the use of troops against the Xiongnu in Hexi, you rejected the safe strategy. Are you supporting the risky plan of Marquis Guanjun?"

"Yes!" Liu Ju blurted out.

"Why?"

"I believe that my cousin can do it!" Liu Ju widened his eyes and replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Liu Che was stunned for a moment, and then became speechless.

The question was led to a dead end with a strange logic, because the emperor also thought that Huo Qubing could do it!

How to explain the inexplicable sense of trust?

I can’t explain…

Liu Che leaned back on the imperial couch and asked in a different way, "Not just in Hexi, do you think we should still fight the Xiongnu? How should we fight?"

really!

The big revenge story during the day attracted inquiries.

At the same time, a problem that was crucial to Liu Ju, and even to the direction of the entire Han Empire, finally emerged:
child.

Is he similar to his father?
(End of this chapter)