Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 671 Coincidence
"Haha, Mr. Chao~~ It was just a little effort before, so you don't have to thank me!"

When Chao Cuo returned to the mansion, there was already a prince waiting for him carelessly.

But this vassal king is not the King Yan that Chao Cuo had expected, but King Liu Ci, the king of Xia who couldn't get rid of his feudal clan.

Liu Ci also had a few confidants with him, they looked very proud, and they didn't regard Chao Cuo's mansion as an outsider at all, they didn't see outsiders at all, and there was a lot of food and drink in front of them.

Chao Cuo frowned and looked at the servant beside him.

Before the servant could answer, Zhang Tang said, "I brought them in."

Seeing that Chao Cuo was still a little unhappy, Liu Ci said displeasedly: "Don't forget, I was the one who helped you with the idea of ​​the Lingyi system. When you were arrested and waited for the result of the disposal, it was me Walking around, in exchange for this glimmer of life for you, now that you are out of prison, do you want to ignore my kindness to you?"

"I would like to thank King Xia for his kindness. I don't know if King Xia is here. What orders do you have?"

Chao Cuo's face was very calm, but he was not too rude to Liu Ci.

"Come on, don't be too polite, please sit down!"

Liu Ci was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly looked at Dong Zhongshu at the side, and winked at him.

Liu Chang took the letter and didn't even read it, "An Sheng wins."

Zhang Tang was overjoyed, hurriedly lowered his head, and listened very carefully, but fearing that he would not be able to remember, he simply picked up a pen and paper to record Chao Cuo's words.

"How is this possible? This was written by Chao Cuo!! No matter how powerful the elder brother is, can he still beat Chao Cuo?"

Chao Cuo hastily finished another letter, put it aside, stretched his muscles, raised his head, and met Zhang Tang's eyes.

Faced with Chao Cuo's sudden teaching, Zhang Tang seemed a little flattered. After following Chao Cuo, Zhang Tang found that this is an extremely selfish person, and he only has himself in his mind, or in other words, only himself has to do it. Everyone here is just a tool for him to do things. He doesn't care what these people think, and he doesn't care whether these people understand him. This is the first time he has expressed concern for people other than himself.

Dong Zhongshu also popped his head to watch.

I don't know what Chao Cuo thought of, and suddenly said: "Wait a minute."

Chao Cuo looked at Zhang Tang in front of him, his expression seemed a bit complicated, in his eyes, Zhang Tang's image seemed to gradually overlap with the figure of another person, Chao Cuo looked at him for a long time, and finally said with emotion: "Maybe it's really My fault!"

Chao Cuo is currently writing another policy article on how to deal with tyrants. Zhang Tang reads it very carefully. They all say that Chao Cuo has the talent of a state minister and is not weaker than Zhang Cang. Zhang Tang agrees with this statement. Chao Cuo's talent is indeed very high, and his talent is transcendent. He is one of the top three writers in the country for writing articles, one of the top three politicians in the country for his strategy, and one of the top three scholars in the country for studying knowledge. It's a pity that he is too stubborn to do business. , I can't forget the matter of cutting down the vassals, and I always feel that the princes are the number one threat to the Han, and they have to be eliminated.

Liu Chang looked down, "It's still your elder brother who wins."

"Why don't I just start killing people, and I have to find out their criminal evidence before doing it? Killing is very simple, but ruling the world is not for killing people. Killing is just a means. If you forget the fundamentals, ignore the law, and despise If you rule the world, only kill people as a way to promote yourself and get rewards, do things just to fulfill the emperor's orders, disregard other things, and even make killing people your own goal, then you are not a Legalist, but just cruel officials. It's hard to be a family, but it's easy to be a cool official"

Liu Ci was dumbfounded. He raised his head, looked at Chao Cuo in front of him, and suddenly raised his head and sighed, with annoyance and remorse on his face.

"If something happens, I will call you, go back and rest!"

If the person who came to question was Liu Bi, the king of Yan, Chao Cuo would have his servants come to arrest him. He and the brothers have never heard of cutting the emperor's son. Three times, Liu Ci is not all nonsense. Chao Cuo talked to Wang Tianqi and knew that Liu Ci had made a lot of efforts in this case. Zhang Tang met Wang Tianqi, helped him convince King Yan, investigated the ranger and so on.

Liu Ci hurriedly took over and watched, "Please treat the book outside the Great Wall?"

But Zhang Tang said: "It is true that there is no money. Mr. Chao spent all the rewards he got on his affairs, and his family has no money."

Chao Cuo pointed to the various policies he had formulated, and explained in detail why he had formulated them in this way.

Liu Chang scolded immediately: "You have the nerve to say it! I am an upright person, and I have never coveted other people's achievements. I have always done it myself. How can I have a son like you? I copied Chao Cuo's strategy, and I didn't even bother to copy it. , do you think I can't read Chao Cuo's handwriting?!"

Liu An only felt a slight pain on his forehead.

Liu Chang was furious, "Zhuzi! If you don't know how to use allusions, don't talk nonsense! That's Zilu!"

Liu An couldn't help interrupting their father and son, Liu Chang picked up Liu An's letter, and Liu An explained seriously: "After reading "Yu Gong", "Zhi Fang" and other books, I suddenly have After some thoughts, the territory of the Han Dynasty today is vast, which is incomparable in the past, and it is difficult to effectively exercise the power of supervision with the establishment of supervisors and censors in the county. Inspector, above the county officials, in the ranks of supervising state ministers, not granting real power, straight to the heavens. Cha Qiang Zonghao right, fields and houses overrun, use the strong to bully the weak, use the crowd to tyrannize the few"

"No."

"what are you doing here?"

"If he was convicted and exiled to Xia Kingdom, why should I go around begging for help?"

Liu Ci tugged at Dong Zhongshu's sleeve, "That's not what I said when I came here. The widow has been running around these days, begging for help, just to let him write an article? What's the use of that? "

According to Chao Cuo's theory, the biggest threat to the great man must be the internal vassal states. This is only a matter of time, and it will happen sooner or later.

"Stand over."

Zhang Tang did not leave together, after sending them away, he returned to the study and continued to serve Chao Cuo.

"Build cities in places where nomads must pass, gather people to farm here, and promote agricultural technology. Gradually control the entire area outside the Great Wall from several important points"

"Mr. Chao?"

Chao Cuo said softly, a gloomy light flashed in his eyes.

When Liu Chang heard this, he was in a daze for a moment.

Liu An only felt a little pain on his forehead.

"Chao Cuo! If it weren't for me, would you be able to get out of the Tingwei Mansion?!"

Liu An didn't speak, but Liu Ci said again: "What? Don't you dare to compare? Let my father see who is better in our letter! The loser will donate three horses!!"

After Chao Cuo finished explaining his strategy this time, Zhang Tang saluted him very seriously, "Thank you for your teaching!"

There wasn't much smile on Chao Cuo's face, just a straight face as usual.

"I don't need to look to know that it is An Shengsheng. What are you writing?"

"Well, of course you can, but how come you have Chao Cuo's article?"

What virtue and ability do I have, to be born in such a cultural family!
"Father, let's read my letter."

Liu Ci asked, "Can it be implemented?"

"Be a legalist. Don't be a cruel official."

Liu An laughed, then nodded.

Liu Ci and others stood beside Chao Cuo in astonishment, watching him write vigorously.

"The great man governs the world with benevolence, righteousness and morality. If the king does this, doesn't he cut himself off from the world?"

Liu Chang looked at Liu Ci's strategy again for a long time, then nodded, "Chao Cuo is still good, the idea coincides with mine, that's what I thought in the beginning."

Liu Ci took the letter and left Chao Cuo's mansion happily.

"Then why are you so rude to me?"

"It's not about partiality. Since there is no evidence to prove that they made a mistake, then they are not at fault. Should I exile them because they may be involved in the crime of murdering me? There are so many things going on in the temple, and I still need them to come Contribute, if Your Majesty wants to coerce me to send someone to Xia Kingdom, then please go back!"

Seeing that Chao Cuo was a little resigned, Liu Ci smiled again, "I know you have a lot of things in your hands, and I won't delay. I just came to get my reward. I helped you a lot earlier. What are you going to do?" How about repaying me?"

Liu Ci resorted to the ancestral anti-guest principle, and Chao Cuo directly sat on the top seat, "Let's talk now if you have anything to do, the king, I still have a lot of things to do, so don't delay."

"Besides, my king did this to fulfill your reputation of repaying your kindness. Is there something wrong with that?"

Zhang Tang stopped and turned to look at Chao Cuo.

"There is a system at the top and bottom, and the emperor ascended the throne to establish the system. The so-called system is actually the foundation of maintaining the temple, and the cruel officials often despise the system and act beyond the system. Such behavior can certainly achieve more results in the short term, but in the long run. , but it will cause extremely serious damage to the creation of the world. It will make the temple have no credibility at all. Legalism cannot govern the world without credibility. If people in the world no longer trust officials and temples, it is very terrible something happened."

Liu Ci was shocked, "Can Zhao Yu do such a big thing in Yushi's Mansion alone? Most of the officials in Yushi's Mansion are in collusion with him. Do you still want to protect them?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me."

Liu Ci was taken aback for a moment, then jumped up angrily, "Father! Why do you favor Big Brother so much? You didn't even look at it!"

Liu Ci didn't speak, and waited earnestly. After waiting like this for more than half an hour, Chao Cuo made revisions after finishing writing, and changed again and again until Liu Ci's stomach started to grow hungry. While screaming, he finally finished writing and handed the things to Liu Ci.

"That's right, this is the governance policy I presented to Your Majesty. The outside of the Great Wall is completely different from the Central Plains. If you follow the Central Plains' method to govern the Outside of the Great Wall, there will be no good results. Fu Qing is a capable minister, but he has no experience in governing the outside of the Great Wall. Your Majesty can deliver this book to him, and he will naturally know what to do."

Chao Cuo pointed at Zhang Tang again, and said, "There is Zhang Tang, if you need it, you can also take it to Xia Guo. I have nothing to give you."

Liu Ci stood in front of Liu Chang very proudly, and took out the letter.

Liu Ci lowered his head aggrieved, "I don't know how to write."

Liu Ci looked at Dong Zhongshu again, and Dong Zhongshu had no choice but to say, "Mr. Chao, please don't blame me. Xia Guo is poor but extremely important. You also know that Xia Guo includes all the grasslands and is going to command Zhimin, why, we have never had any experience in this area before, so we don't know how to proceed, we don't want anything else when we come this time, we just want Duke Chao to advise us, is it possible?"

Liu Ci glanced at the paper in Liu An's hand, and couldn't help but said: "Is it true that only the eldest brother can write a letter? In fact, my talent is not weaker than others, it's just because you all look down on me, so you ignore it. If you don't believe me, you can compare with me and see which one of our proposals is better?"

Chao Cuo said solemnly: "In Yushi Mansion, Zhao Yu is the only criminal. How to deal with him is decided by Ting Wei. The rest of them have not committed crimes, so why should they be exiled?"

Chao Cuo just took a look at Dong Zhongshu, and then replied very simply: "Then you can say whatever you want, but the minister is clean and honest, and the family has no money, and can't get anything out. There are still a few books in the house, and two books. A servant to take care of me, and apart from that, I don't even have arable land."

"My lord? What's wrong with you?"

"Hahaha, what can you doll learn? Go read your book!"

"Just take a look!"

"Hahaha, father! After much deliberation, I personally formulated more than 20 strategies for governing beyond the Great Wall. Take a look, how do I write?!"

Liu Ci couldn't believe it.

Hearing Dong Zhongshu's answer, Liu Ci smiled even more happily. He is indeed the widow's think tank.

Zhang Tang attached himself to salute, turned around and was about to leave.

"How can your majesty repay you with kindness?"

Chao Cuo waved his hand, and Zhang Tang had no choice but to reply, "I want to learn something from you."

"The widow regrets why he took the initiative to save Chao Cuo!!"

Liu Ci smiled and said: "I didn't come to ask for property. This time, everyone in Yushi's mansion murdered you. Except for the chief villain, Zhao Yu, everyone else must be sentenced to exile and other crimes, right? I want them, can I let them go?" What about the country of Xia? My country of Xia is poor.”

Zhang Tang carefully stood beside Chao Cuo, and Chao Cuo pointed to the strategy in front of him, and said seriously: "Using the Yushifu to govern the world, there are three things to do. Different positions have different ways to govern the world. , but the principles are common, especially when legalists like us rule the world. When a person like Zhang Shizhi governs the world, he tends to use written laws to maintain the order of the world. Therefore, he must constantly target those who can go beyond the law. A person restricted by the law, such as a prince, such as His Majesty Zhang Buyi, governs the world. His world is only limited to the emperor. If the emperor is not wise enough, the world will collapse sooner or later, and people like me To rule the world, the world I want is the world of all peoples."

Chao Cuo said softly: "If you want to govern beyond the Great Wall, you still have to follow the example of Modun at the beginning. Modun integrated the Beyond the Great Wall and adopted a method of differentiation. He divided his power into three parts, and arranged different grazing for different tribes." In this way, they are not allowed to go out, so as to avoid their private alliance, and then appoint ministers to supervise their situation, adopt the method of intermarriage to appease the leader, gather the young offspring of various tribes around, learn knowledge, let them not know their tribes But I only know that Daxia changed its customs, set up great gifts, organized caravans from various ministries, actively conducted trade with the Central Plains, and opened the door to let merchants from the Central Plains come. They don’t want to make profits for Daxia, but only to break the barriers. make them interoperable."

Liu Ci couldn't wait to hand over his letter to Liu Chang, and urged Liu An to hand over the letter to Liu Chang as well.

Chao Cuo listed more than 20 policies in total, most of which imitated the original Maodun, and some were combined with the system of the great Han.

If other princes and kings said so, it might be suspected of seizing the heir, but Liu Ci is fine.

Young Master Ci is courageous, but he does not read much, and he looks like "I don't study much, so you must come and lie to me". When Chao Cuo said this, he didn't know how to refute it, but Dong Zhongshu was different. After receiving Liu Ci's hint, Dong Zhongshu quickly replied: "At the beginning, Zi Gong redeemed the Lu people who were captives and never asked for reward. Confucius criticized him because of this, saying that he did it for his own reputation. And it made more people who were taken captives suffer. My king saved you. This is a righteous thing. If he doesn’t ask for reward, wouldn’t he be like Zigong, making people in the world dare not do benevolent things again? ?"

Liu Ci hurriedly explained, "He scolded me as a way of repaying favors. I was angry at that time, and I satirized him with the allusion that Zi Gong snatched the captives and then refused to pay him!"

Chao Cuo did not refuse this time in a hurry. Although Chao Cuo is a staunch fan of reducing feudal vassals, his idea is to weaken the vassal state, not to abolish the vassal state. He is still very clear about the meaning of the existence of the vassal state. To manage the area outside the Great Wall well, break the antagonistic relationship between the Central Plains and the Great Wall, turn it into our own territory, and achieve long-term peace. Chao Cuo never objected. He was silent for a moment, and then he asked for paper and pens to start writing. stand up.

Inside Houde Hall, both Liu Chang and Liu An looked at him in astonishment. Liu An also held the letter in his hand. Seeing his younger brother like this, he couldn't help but tease: "Ci actually started to write the letter?"

"Start the assessment system as soon as possible, and recruit local talents through military merit and assessment"

Dong Zhongshu shook his head, "Your Majesty, don't be in a hurry, you'll know later."

"Ah?? In these years, your title has been promoted again and again. This is about to become a marquis. How can you have no land and property?"

"state?"

"Yeah, I've already thought about it, take the world as the state, and add state governors. There are Yan, Qing, Ji, and Xu"

Liu Chang looked at Liu An, and asked suspiciously: "Is this all your own thinking?"

Liu An was a little helpless, didn't I think it could be Chao Cuo? ?
You two are good at things like this, I'm not
"Not bad! It can be said that it coincides with me!!"

(End of this chapter)