Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 607

When Chao Cuo was taken down from the wall, he still kept his hands up, and he couldn't put them down at all.

Facts have proved that Yang Chengyan, who was responsible for the construction of Chang'an City, was still a very serious person, and he did not cut corners at all. There are hook-shaped decorations on the walls of Houde Hall. This is the style of Zhao State, and it is generally used to put swords. Spears and the like to show martial virtues.

Hanging up is probably the first time.

When the servants came to help Chao Cuo down, Chao Cuo was so complicated that he could hardly speak. If he had come later, he would have become a specimen of Houde Palace.

Two armored soldiers supported Chao Cuo, who was exhausted, to leave the palace, put him on the carriage, and asked them to send him back to his mansion.

When Chao Cuo returned to the mansion, there were still several officials standing at the door.

These people seemed extremely anxious. Chao Cuo was not invited to the Hall of Houde, he was dragged there by two soldiers. Because they were frightened, they didn't dare to wait at the gate of the palace, they only dared to wait here.

"Duke Chao!!"

Several people stepped forward, and they were relieved to see Chao Cuo come back alive.

Several people hurriedly helped Chao Cuo into the inner room, and then helped him to sit down. Chao Cuo was so sore all over his body, his hands were almost useless, and he no longer had the arrogance he used to.

"Are you being punished?"

Zhou Yu asked suspiciously.

Chao Cuo cleared his throat, "It's not punishment, His Majesty loves me and has many expectations for me, so he taught me as a teacher. This is His Majesty's kindness!"

"Your Majesty Shengming!!"

The few present here are all the eagle dogs of the Fa family. Even if Liu Chang is going to drag them to cut in half in the next moment, they probably won't have any dissatisfaction.

Zhou Yu asked, "Then what instruction does Your Majesty have?"

"In the future, we have to change our thinking. Although there are many traitors in the world, His Majesty loves the people and always regards the people as the top priority. We still need to pay more attention to the situation of the local people and deal with the local officials. Those in Chang'an Man, let's deal with the pests after cleaning up the place!"

Zhou Yu said: "Mr. Chao! How can the harm brought by an official of the county government be compared to the harm brought by a traitor in a temple? Since it is to protect the people, of course the upper class is the main one. When the weather is clear, local officials can be eliminated without governance, but if there is serious harm in the temple, the locality cannot be governed no matter what. As a minister, you should put straightness first, why be afraid of it?"

If it was in the past, Chao Cuo would definitely agree with his words, because these words are exactly what Chao Cuo said on weekdays, but at this moment. He glanced at Zhou Yu, you have backbone, you are not afraid, and if something happens, you will be caught. It's not you who hung up! ! !
Chao Cuo is indeed not afraid of the criminal law, he will do what he is determined to do, even if the emperor repeatedly warns that he will beheaded if he does it again.

What Chao Cuo was afraid of was losing his official position.

Only in the position of Sangong can he display his ambitions, deal with those internal and external traitors, and make many traitors fear that without the position of Sangong, he can't even deal with Shen Tujia, so how can he talk about governing the world?
He said seriously: "Your Majesty is already very angry. If we continue to stare at the court, I am afraid that what we have done before will be in vain."

Zhou Yu said indifferently: "It turns out that you are worried that you will be deposed from the title! Dare I ask Duke Chao, why do you want to be the third Duke?"

"It is to govern the world, so that traitors have nowhere to hide!"

"If you can't do this, His Majesty will let you serve as the imperial doctor for 20 years. What's the use?!"

Chao Cuo was taken aback, moved his sore arm, and gritted his teeth, "You're right!!"

There was a gleam of fierceness in Chao Cuo's eyes, "It's not my choice to have a vegetarian meal in the corpse! You should think that the king has achieved great things and died well!!!"

The eagle dogs around him also shouted: "It should be so!!"

At this time, a soldier ran in quickly. There were many soldiers in Chao Cuo's mansion, all arranged by Liu Chang. They followed Chao Cuo day and night to prevent someone from jumping over the wall and directly assassinating San Gong.

The knight-errant style of the pre-Qin still exists, and there are many assassins still alive. These people had a record of assassinating the king. The assassination of the Sangong was an opportunity for them to become famous in the world. Anyway, Chao Cuo's reputation is very bad.

"Mr. Chao. Someone came to visit outside the door, claiming to be Prince Sheren Feng Tang."

Chao Cuo narrowed his eyes.

"Prince Sheren? What is he looking for me in the middle of the night?"

"Tell him I'm asleep and let him come back another day!"

The soldiers left immediately. Chao Cuo looked at the officials and was about to order something when he heard shouts from outside the door. A moment later, the door was kicked open, and four or five people broke into the house directly.

Chao Cuo subconsciously wanted to draw his sword, but his hands were in severe pain, but he couldn't pull it out.

The rest of the officials drew their swords one after another and stood by Chao Cuo's side.

It was naturally Feng Tang who broke in.

Feng Tang looked at Chao Cuo with a smile, "Mr. Chao, the crown prince ordered you to see him. How dare you refuse to go? What kind of crime is this?"

"Your Majesty only dealt with a wounded soldier today. You know you broke the law. Forcibly breaking into Sangong's mansion, what kind of crime is this?"

Feng Tang replied with a smile: "I came here under the order of the prince, but the soldiers dared to obstruct it. I beat them. This is not against the law. As for breaking into the Sangong's mansion, you resist the order first. It's just an order."

Chao Cuo looked at the officials around him, and told them to put down their weapons tactfully, "Since it is His Royal Highness who wants to see me, please lead the way!"

In the middle of the night, the Prince's Mansion was brightly lit.

Liu An sat on the top seat with a serious face, and the doormen stood in every corner of the mansion with torches in their hands. When Chao Cuo was dragged here, he saw this scene. Chao Cuo smiled disdainfully. These things scare me, even if the crown prince cooks me with a cauldron in the mansion, I won't be afraid at all!
"I greet your Highness!"

See you at Chao Cuo's salute, Liu An looked at him indifferently, and motioned for him to sit beside him.

Chao Cuo swaggered past many retainers and sat beside Liu An.

Liu An stared at Chao Cuo, "I know why you are so confident. You are not afraid of death, you are not afraid of the criminal law, you have no family, and you have almost no weaknesses. It is impossible for me to really kill you."

"Your Highness speaks seriously. I always respect Your Highness."

"But don't forget that I am the crown prince. It is said that a person dies and a government dies. Do you know? I can make everything you are doing now in vain with just one word."

Chao Cuo still had no fear. He smiled and said, "Everything I do is for the king, and it is all beneficial to the king. If you are a king, why would you do things that are not good for you? To get revenge on me, a courtier who offended you? It's not worth it!"

"Yes. Hahaha~~~"

Liu An laughed, "But I am different from my father. I ruled Huang Lao. Our Huang Lao school has more than one or two policies that are beneficial to the king. Compared with your Legalists, it is only a lot more. I have to take care of it." Think, how to overthrow all your claims and at the same time be more beneficial to the king."

Chao Cuo's smile suddenly became a little stiff, and he said calmly: "If your Highness's opinion is more beneficial to the big man, even overthrow my opinion, I will admit it, there is nothing wrong with it!"

Liu An waved his hand, and immediately someone served food and drinks.

"I asked you to come here this time, not to intimidate you, let alone to kill you. It is also what I care most about. Although you are a Sangong, if you encounter something like today, you will inevitably be frustrated. I You also know this person. I am willing to do things, and I am willing to innovate. Why don't we come together to handle major issues and rectify the administration of officials. If the clan is involved, I can come forward."

Chao Cuo was taken aback for a moment. Before coming here, he had thought about a lot, but he just hadn't thought about this.

What does this mean, Your Highness? ?Colluding with me, the Sangong, is this trying to rebel? ?
"Why does Your Highness want to help me?"

"Everyone gets what they need. Don't look at me like that. I'm not trying to rebel, I just want to protect my people."

"That's not okay, even if it's His Highness's people, if they make a mistake, I can't let it go."

"I didn't ask you to connive. I just told you not to be so harsh. Just because three people drank together, you arrested them. It is too much to count them as a crime of drinking together. If they really committed a big crime Wrong, I will deal with it myself, but you don't have to be so serious about these small things."

Chao Cuo hesitated for a moment, before he said: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, I still have important matters to attend to. I will come to see Your Majesty again when I finish my work."

Chao Cuo didn't even eat the meat prepared by Liu An, and left in a hurry.

Liu An rewarded his followers with meat. After everyone left, only Feng Tang and Mao Chang were left beside him. Liu An squinted his eyes, "Mr. Feng, this guy didn't answer."

Feng Tang was not in a hurry, he just stroked his beard, "It's okay, we don't really want to win him over."

"Mr. Feng, because of your persuasion, I gave up my plan to kill him. If it doesn't work out, I will ask for guilt."

Feng Tang looked confident, "Your Highness, I know you want to avenge your brother. However, it would be a pity if Chao Cuo died at your hands like this. He has a very bad personality, but he His ability is placed in the temple, and there are few people who can match it. It is not an option to let him go around like this, so we have to deal with him for the officials, manage the officials for His Majesty, and help Chao to correct his mistakes and return to the right."

Mao Chang shook his head, "I'm afraid it won't be easy."

"Anyway, the hook is put down. Chao Cuo will not change it. Next, just wait and see that the officials are cornered. When the time comes, it will be our chance to kill three birds with one stone!"

Feng Tang said calmly, Liu An smiled, "If I can really recover Chao Cuo and use it for my own use. Three birds become one bird, it's worth it."

"Since I promised to catch three birds for His Highness, it must be three birds!"

Liu Chang woke up, yawned, and sat on the bed. Even though the sun was already high, he still felt a little sleepy.

Cao Shu got up early, and he was the only one on the bed.

After putting on his clothes under the service of his servants, Liu Chang was ready to eat in the hall directly. His clothes were not properly dressed, his hair was disheveled, and he did not have the majesty of a king at all.

"Chen Chengyang King Liu Zhang begging to see you!"

"Come in!"

Liu Zhang lowered his head and walked into the hall with small steps. Liu Chang glanced at him and said displeasedly: "There are no outsiders here, just pretending! Sit down and eat!"

"Father Zhong. I've already eaten."

"When I'm your age, I have to eat six meals a day!"

Liu Zhang was taken aback, hesitated for a long time, but still did not dare to say that he was actually two years older than Father Zhong.

Liu Zhang had no choice but to sit beside Liu Chang and start eating. Liu Chang ate his meal in a leisurely manner, and asked, "How is that Shuzi Xi? I haven't seen him for a long time, how is his study going?"

"Sigh, this Shuzi is useless. After studying in Taixue for a year, he ran to Shangfang and now works as a petty official under Chen Tao's command."

"Isn't this good? It's better than wandering around and causing trouble, right? However, Shang Fang's many things are also very dangerous. You have to warn him more, but don't take risks."

"only."

After the uncle and nephew finished their meal, Liu Chang stroked his belly, "Tell me, come to me early in the morning, what happened?"

"Last night, the prince sent Feng Tang to break into Chao Cuo's mansion and brought Chao Cuo to his own mansion. He threatened Chao Cuo first, and then asked Chao Cuo to indulge his people a little bit. He offered to help Chao Cuo to rectify Officials."

No one knows how powerful Xiuyi Mansion is now, after all, this mansion is not under the jurisdiction of any officials and is directly responsible to His Majesty.

After so many years of development, their strength has become unimaginable.

Especially in this Chang'an, Chang'an has no secrets to Liu Chang, and is completely open-minded, and Liu Chang will be the first to know about everything.

"Is this Zhuzi playing tricks on Chao Cuo?"

Liu Chang quickly made a judgment, "You don't need to pay attention to this matter. People like Feng Tang are very prudent, and they won't lead the prince astray. You should pay more attention to Ji Bu's situation and take care of him along the way. , don’t let him be bullied, don’t let him starve or freeze.”

Liu Zhang smiled wryly, "Ji Yushi probably already knew that every time he had no place to live on the road, he would meet merchants passing by to provide him with meals and set up camp. Every time he met thieves and villains, he would encounter Patrol soldiers"

"If you know it, you know it. Can I still watch my loved one being bullied?"

"Father Zhong, there is one more thing, I don't know if I should say it or not"

"Just say what you want, what are you afraid of!"

"Duke Luan insulted His Majesty many times in Longxi and said a lot of things to criticize His Majesty."

Liu Zhang was a little helpless, Xiuyi Mansion was still extremely sensitive to these things, if other people dared to insult the emperor in public, they might be taken away at night, but this person was Luan Bu, which made Xiuyi Mansion very embarrassed.

Liu Chang was taken aback, "Why is he scolding me for no reason?"

"I am dissatisfied with His Majesty's reuse of Chao Cuo and dismissed Ji Gong"

"Oh, it's okay, let him scold you! I am a magnanimous person. If the ministers have different ideas, I should tolerate it. You can't just arrest me for saying a few bad words, right?"

Liu Zhang said loudly: "Your Majesty is wise!!"

"But, you have to be a little careful. If other people fabricate rumors and insult me ​​with crimes they didn't have! Just arrest me!!"

Liu Zhang immediately understood what the emperor meant, except for Luan Bu, the others had to be arrested!
After Liu Zhang was sent away, it was time for the court meeting.

Liu Chang changed his clothes and went to court.

Liu Chang has not participated in the court meeting for a while, but this time he still has to participate in the court meeting.

Because this time the court meeting is to list the achievements of the previous year, sing triumphant songs, and tell about the achievements. His Majesty does not like to be praised by others, nor does he want to check his achievements for the past year. See what you can improve, Zhang Buyi said.

Liu Chang sat in the top position, and all the officials were basically there, except for a certain Taiwei who still didn't come.

The lieutenant didn't ask for leave either. The reason for not coming was probably because he stayed up late last night and was still lying on the bed and didn't want to get up, but no one dared to say anything.

Under the leadership of Zhang Cang, Qunche talked about the benevolent government this year.

The grain output of Dahan has made a breakthrough again, Shangfang has made many good things, the number of county schools has increased dramatically, the treasury has been enriched, foreign kings have come to Beijing to meet, tax revenue has increased greatly, the calendar and music laws have been drawn up, the administration of officials is clear, and hundreds of schools are revitalized.

Anyway, they are all good words, but today's big man is indeed developing, and the data from the officials here is still credible.

Liu Chang listened to his achievements within a year with a proud expression, his mouth almost grinning to his ears.

The biggest achievement of this year is probably that all places have achieved a huge and unprecedented breakthrough. Since the beginning of winter, no one has been frozen to death.

When Zhang Cang proudly said that no one had been frozen to death since the beginning of winter, Liu Chang couldn't help but jumped up.

"it is good!!!"

Liu Chang patted his leg, and the officials were also very knowledgeable, and hurriedly bowed, "The Holy Son is alive!!! It is the blessing of the great man!! It is the blessing of the common people!!"

Liu Chang looked very excited. He always told everyone about his ambition, to make the people of the great Han people have no worries about food and clothing. Food has not been completed yet, but having clothes is a major breakthrough. From ancient times to the present, who can do it like this? , Can you guarantee that no common people will be frozen to death in winter?
This has never been realized before, and such a prosperous age has now appeared in his own name.

Liu Chang couldn't wait to look at Sima Xi, and sure enough, Sima Xi was writing furiously.

Liu Chang couldn't help raising his head and laughing loudly.

"Your Majesty! The minister has played!!"

Just when Zhang Buyi passionately praised His Majesty's supreme merit, Chao Cuo stood up.

"What do you play?"

Chao Cuo said seriously: "Your Majesty, I want to impeach eight county magistrates, and the 23 county magistrates concealed the real situation, defined the old man who was frozen to death as sick and died, and the hospice deliberately created a prosperous world to flatter your majesty!! This can be called Great rebellion!! Deceive the king and ignore it.”

At that moment, the whole temple became silent.

Zhang Cang looked at Chao Cuo, hesitated to speak, and finally just sighed.

Zhang Buyi's eyes were red, his fists were clenched, and his whole body was shaking with anger.

The smile on Liu Chang's face disappeared without a trace, and he stared at Chao Cuo without saying a word.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little scary.

(End of this chapter)