Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 695

Chao Cuo had a stern face, and still had no good looks towards the emperor's elder brother.

During these days, the only one that Chao Cuo regarded as his great enemy was the king of Wu in the south.

King Yan is brave but decisive, King Liang is strong but lacks knowledge, King Qi is rich but has no ambitions, King Qiang of Changsha is timid and general, and King Zhao is incompetent.

And kings such as Jiaodong, Hexi, and Chengyang are not worth mentioning.

Only this king of Wu, the country is strong and the people are safe, he is united as one, ambitious, resourceful, and good at winning people's hearts, he is simply the number one enemy of the temple.

The whole country of Wu was willing to fight to the death for him, and the ministers sent by the temple to supervise him were all willing to use him in the end.

The reason why Chao Cuo had such a strong idea of ​​cutting down the feudal clan probably came from his deep fear of the King of Wu.

His prestige is too high and his strength is too strong, not to mention whether he has the idea of ​​rebellion, but he has already possessed the initial strength of rebellion. If he does not rebel, what about his son?Where is his grandson?

Chao Cuo looked at King Wu in front of him with hostile eyes, not hiding his malice at all.

Liu Heng was very calm, without any fear.

"King Wu really has the guts to pretend to come to me and propose to cut down the feudal clan? Hehe, isn't Your Majesty afraid of losing the heart of the clan?"

Chao Cuo said sarcastically.

"In the past, Mr. Chao took good care of him. Mr. Chao sent a large number of talents to our country of Wu every year. I am very grateful. I came here today to express my thanks."

Liu Heng replied very seriously.

Chao Cuo broke his defense immediately and almost cursed.

From time to time, he sent some people to divide the power of King Wu and supervise King Wu, but the people he sent would not listen to him when they went to Wu State. He was moved by King Wu and went directly to King Wu, and some even wrote letters back , to persuade Chao Cuo not to have such hostility towards his king
Chao Cuo gritted his teeth, and said angrily: "If you have anything to say, just tell me, don't delay my business!"

Only then did Liu Heng say: "This time, I came here for the sake of royal power. I'm afraid it's not appropriate to say that what you want to do is to weaken the vassal state. Your majesty never said that you want to weaken the princes. It should be the power of the king. A strong feudal state is a good thing for a great man, and a strong feudal king is a bad thing. These days, I have always disagreed with your ideas, not because I object to restricting the feudal states, but because I oppose You weaken the princes."

"You often say that people in vassal states only know their country and don't know that there are temples, but why don't you? You always regard vassal states as outsiders, and when you hear that vassal states become rich and powerful, you start to grin your teeth, don't you?" Say, the people of these vassal states are not the people of the temple? As the third prince of the temple, you should be happy for the prosperity of the vassal state."

Chao Cuo wasn't angry anymore, he sneered.

"According to what you said, I should write a letter to the vassal states to reduce or exempt taxes, so that the vassal states can accumulate more food and raise more troops?"

"Haven't you been promoting the equality of prefectures and countries? To be honest, the widow was still looking forward to this matter, and has been paying attention to your approach. Unfortunately, your approach has disappointed the widow."

"The widow thought you were going to turn the vassal state into a county, but I didn't expect that in the end, you turned the county into a vassal state."

"What is the difference between the county and the princes today? There is no difference between the county guards and the princes and kings. You have also noticed this, so you can't wait to attack the county guards this time, right?"

Chao Cuo's face darkened, "The time for the unification of the world is still too short after all, and the concept of region is difficult to change. People from other counties are regarded as foreigners in various places, and they have no approval, let alone vassal states. I want to reverse this view. , what can be done is to open up exchanges between various places on a large scale.”

"That's why you agree with Shihuo House so much. Chao Cuo, who has always emphasized agriculture, supports Shihuo House in a high-profile way because business can speed up exchanges between different places and break the barriers between people who are not of our race, right?"

Hearing Liu Heng's question, Chao Cuo's eyes flashed with surprise, and then he shook his head.

"There are many people who can guess this matter. Your Majesty once said to me that there are two kinds of communication, one is war, and the other is business. Of course, I can only adopt the second one. Merchants are wandering around, and His Majesty has opened up to the common people. Our restrictions, allowing them to go out, and even encouraging those Yu Ding to live in various counties and counties, this is to change the situation that the county is the country and excludes other counties."

Because I have not experienced the situation where the barbarians almost wiped out the species, so at this moment, there is no identity as the same nation among different places. When you meet, you will not say that we are all Han people, but that I am Runan Man, since you are from Yingchuan, we have nothing to do with each other. Many times, there is even hostility. This is true of counties and counties, let alone vassal states.

Liu Heng nodded, "That's why you want to actively manage the governor system, right? The crown prince proposed the governor system to govern the region, but you want to form the same state identity in the county, at least, in the future Runan People from Yingchuan will not kill each other when they meet, they will think that everyone is from Yuzhou. They are from the same area. Under the governor’s command, there are counties and vassal states. Regional identity. In fact, you are quite thoughtful and talented, and I dare say that there are few people who can match you, Minister of the Temple."

Chao Cuo just felt very angry, he gritted his teeth, "Oh, I didn't expect that."

What made him angry was not that King Wu saw his thoughts, but that the world could understand his thoughts, and that the person who was his confidant was actually his biggest enemy.

"I can help you handle these things, whether it's the governor or the restriction of royal power. Of course, I'm better at royal power. I'm in the clan, and I still have a lot of say. How far do you want the royal power to go? If you want to let The princes and kings have completely become decorations, and the power is completely handed over to the ministers. In this generation, at least it is still impossible. It is not that we are unwilling to let go, but the situation does not allow it. The temple still needs us, maybe in the next 40 years In [-], the local government was governed, the roads extended in all directions, and the orders of the temple could be transmitted to any place. At that time, the princes and kings can play in the palace with peace of mind, and the power comes from the phase."

"I understand this. I want to promote the reform of the vassal states, so that the vassal states and counties are divided into three parts. The princes and kings can supervise them to do things. If the temple allows, they can command them to meet the enemy, but they can no longer be the king of a country. , wantonly run amok and must obey the dispatched governor. The governor must be qualified to supervise the princes and kings."

"can."

Liu Heng nodded.

"Then what do I need to do?"

Chao Cuo asked, he didn't believe that the person in front of him would help him unconditionally, Liu Heng stared into his eyes, "It's very simple, after it's done, I want you to resign from the position of Sangong."

"Does it make you feel threatened if I serve as the Sangong?"

"No, what the big man needs now is to move forward steadily. You are too radical and not suitable to continue to be the third prince."

"Okay, if this can be done, I will submit a letter to resign, but it is hard to say whether His Majesty will agree."

The two came to an agreement on this.

At the same time, in the Changle Palace, Zhao Tuo was chatting with Empress Lu about some past events, and the two old people still had a lot in common.

When they talked about the situation in the Qin Kingdom, the young people around seemed to be listening to heavenly scriptures, completely unable to understand that era.

"I think the king of Nanyue is getting tougher. He is much younger than when he first met me."

Empress Lu said with emotion.

Zhao Tuo shook his head, "How could it be? I have been in the South for a long time. You know the situation there. Miasma is everywhere. Once it rains, it will rain endlessly. My old bone, once every time When it rains, the pain becomes unbearable. I really don't know how much time there is left, I hate my son, he has no talent, and he has little knowledge, but the Empress Dowager is really getting younger and younger."

"Where is it? Now, I can't walk without crutches. My appetite is also getting less and less, and I can't eat a bowl of rice."

Zhao Tuo smiled lightly, "That Zhang Xiang has the best body. I heard that Zhang Xiang can still eat meat and drink alcohol, and often take concubines. Really..."

"You are not bad, but I heard that you were in South Vietnam, you often fought with soldiers, and you won and lost each other. I know you are brave. At first, because of the most outstanding martial arts, you stayed with the first emperor to protect him. Later, you went to South Vietnam , and often wins more with less, armed with a spear, charged on foot, beheaded dozens of heads, and rose to the third rank in one battle, no one can stop it."

"The people of South Vietnam are terrified. They dare not fight again when they see you. Up to now, your reputation has not been weakened."

Zhao Tuo's complexion changed, and he shook his head hastily, "These are all rumors. At my age, how can I fight against armored soldiers? It's just for exercise. Those armored soldiers also let me in for fear of getting hurt. I don't know. How come it is said that I am fighting the soldiers? Is there anyone in the world who is nearly [-] years old and can still fight the soldiers? You still have to look radiant."

Liu Chang, who had been listening all the time, finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"Yes, yes, you are all young. One is a fighting soldier, the other is glowing with phantom light. I am old. I can't lift my hands or shoulders. Can we change the subject?"

The conversation between the two was interrupted immediately.

Liu Chang grabbed Zhao Tuo's hand, "Since the chat is over, come with me, I have something very important to discuss with you!"

Zhao Tuo was dragged by Liu Chang all the way to the Hall of Houde. Liu Chang let go of his hand and looked at the old man in front of him. , maybe we can still play a game.”

Without Empress Lu, Zhao Tuo's expression suddenly became a lot more presumptuous.

He proudly said: "If the old man is 30 years younger, he can hold you here and beat you."

"Oh, Xiang Yu dare not say such a thing!"

Liu Chang was rather disdainful, and raised his arm, with his bulging muscles, "Did you see it?"

"You dragged this old man from Changle Palace just to show me this?"

Liu Chang sat down bored, "I need your help with something, and you should do your best to help."

"I've lived in the south for too long. I don't even know that the etiquette in the Central Plains has become like this. When you find someone to do something, you still look like this. You just lie on the bed and say: Mr. Zhao, help me do this. Isn't it better like this?"

"Chao Cuo wants to kill the king, and the fourth brother has already agreed to come forward. The fourth brother is the most prestigious among the kings, and you are the oldest one among the kings. You are almost as old as the four Jiaodong kings. So , I hope you can help my fourth brother and follow him to complete this matter. As long as the two of you agree, I think other kings will not dare to object. I will not completely entrust this matter to you I will personally take care of it, but you still have to do the specific things.”

"If I speak in person, they will definitely not object, but, second brother just passed away, I don't want to speak at this time. You should come."

The corner of Zhao Tuo's eyes twitched, "This old man is a vassal king, do you want this old man to cut himself?"

"You don't have to cut it. There is still a difference between being forced to cut it and doing it yourself?"

"If you don't cut it, I can only cut it by pinching your neck."

"Just what you said will be infamous for thousands of years."

"Don't worry, it won't happen. I said these words after careful consideration. Sima Xi is on vacation today."

Zhao Tuo stroked his beard lightly. Speaking of which, Zhao Tuo had long since lost his past thoughts. There is no such thing as a separatist regime now. With the strength of a big man and the scale of development, anyone who tries to separatist regimes can keep it for a month. It's all smoke from the ancestral graves, not to mention, today's Nanyue is not what he used to say at all. There are many people who tend to be big men. If he talks about separatism today, someone may come in and cut his head in exchange for military merits at night.

Restricting royal power is inevitable and unavoidable, but well, you can't agree so quickly, at least you have to get some benefits for yourself, right?

"I also have something that I need your help with."

Liu Chang disdained, "I know, you can't be as selfless as the fourth brother? Tell me, what's the matter?"

"With the system of the Han Dynasty, after my death, the legitimate son will inherit the throne, but the concubine sons can only be named princes. I think, if it is possible, after my death, my two concubine sons will also be named kings. It does not need a large territory. , even if only a few counties”

Now, all the old man cares about is his clan.

And the Tweeting Order is not an unconditional seal, it depends on the bloodline, only the sons can get the chance to be the king, say King Qi, after the death of the King Qi, only the three sons will be the king, and the rest of the descendants will not have such a chance , the better one can be granted the title of Marquis of Che, others may be just a Marquis of Guannei, without even a city, and Zhao Tuo has only one son, if he dies, his son can inherit a piece of land and be named king, and the rest of the county, It is about to fall into the hands of the temple.

Zhao Tuo seems to distrust his son-in-law very much. If he has two more young kings in his family, the family inheritance will not be easily ruined. Even if something happens to the son-in-law, the other two lines can continue. It's a very dangerous thing. Every year, Marquis Che is dismissed, and the title of king is guaranteed. As long as he doesn't make a big mistake, he won't be easily expelled from the country.

"It's not difficult, I can make the decision."

"It was originally meant to be a favor. Since you want your bastards to inherit your kingdoms, then I will follow your will. When you die, I will let your two bastards inherit the throne."

Zhao Tuo breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't blame me, my son is incompetent and has such a nature. I have always been worried that he will cause disaster for me and cause the clan to be wiped out. I don't know how many times I have been dismissed, I am already old, and the only thing I care about is the descendants of the clan."

"It's okay, I can understand, it's not a big deal anyway, let's talk about business, what do you think?"

"Among the kings, King Liang and King Changsha will definitely not have any opinions. After all, King Jiaodong is young. Even if he has opinions, he would not dare to refute his elder brother. The only ones he cares about are King Yan, King Zhao, and King Hexi. Kings of Qi, King Yan is violent and powerful, and has always had revenge. He will not give up the power in his hands easily. I have heard that King Zhao is a cruel and unscheming king in the south. , he is young, and he has someone like Zhou Bo to assist him, he has fought many times abroad, and his father has just passed away, so it is not easy to make a strong move. As for King Qi, Qi is strong."

Hearing Zhao Tuo's analysis, Liu Chang shook his head, "No."

"Liu Xiang was very impulsive in the past, but now he has learned how to be good. Zhou Bo is old and struggles to get on the chariot. There will be no problems at all. This is especially true for King Zhao. There is no threat from the temple, but the threat from the temple is too great. If I hadn't stopped him, King Zhao would have been executed dozens of times. When King Qi came to Chang'an, he hurriedly confessed his crimes to me, and he is still terrified. If you don’t dare to come out of the palace, the only one who will object may be King Yan.”

"But, King Yan has a very good relationship with me."

"Then what are you still worried about? Why bother?"

Zhao Tuo was at a loss.

"I'm not worried about whether I can restrict them, I'm just thinking about how to restrict them is the best. The princes and kings can't be completely used as decorations. If you want to guard the Quartet for me, one of the degrees is difficult to grasp. You Do you think that the fourth brother is here to help me suppress them and make them dare not speak?? You may be underestimating me, this is just a matter of my words, the fourth brother is helping me to check, so that they will not cut too hard."

Zhao Tuo nodded, and suddenly realized: "It seems that I am indeed old."

"Don't be old. You served as a guard for the first emperor. How many years has the first emperor been dead? Tell me the truth, when the first emperor made alchemy, was it stolen by the three of you? One is the first emperor's librarian. staff, one is his doctor, and the other is his bodyguard, but up to now, the three of you are still alive and kicking."

Zhao Tuo laughed lightly, stroking his beard, "Maybe so."

Lu Lu, who had remained silent all this time, got up and said, "It's all thanks to Your Majesty! Under His Majesty's rule, there are more and more old people and their life expectancy is getting longer. This is the best of His Majesty's benevolent government." Embody! Under His Majesty's benevolence, the old ministers were free from illness and disaster, and all died well. Your Majesty is indeed the emperor of the ages!!"

Liu Chang stared at him dumbfounded, "What's wrong with you? Did you take Zhang Buyi's medicine by mistake?"

Lu Lu cleared his throat, "Your Majesty, I also have something to ask."

(End of this chapter)