Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 304: The Crown Prince ordered the death of Princess Chen!

The ministers in the court, the nobles of the world, those in the royal family, and most importantly, the Chen family, their attitudes are already very clear.

If the emperor is unwilling to bow his head, then you can replace him with another emperor who is willing to bow his head.

In fact, the royal family did not think of making the emperor bow his head at the beginning. After all, in their opinion, this matter had nothing to do with the emperor.

They went to find Chen Qiu and Chen Tuo in Guandu, hoping that Chen Qiu would give the emperor some face.

After all, he is the emperor.

But when Chen Qiu and Chen Tuo produced evidence and asked the Liu clan whether they also knew about these things, all the Liu clan members became angry. They were not angry at Chen's attitude, but at the fact that they had tried their best to deal with the troubles for the emperor, but the emperor still deceived them about some important matters!
The emperor never told them from the beginning to the end that there was anyone who instructed him in this matter!
Therefore, the extremely angry Liu clan not only did not continue to assist the emperor, but instead turned around and stabbed the emperor directly.

Zong Zheng went directly to Emperor Gao's temple to cry and even blame the emperor.

In almost an instant, the emperor became the target of public criticism.

The people also began to complain about the emperor, and this is the most important thing.

Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, who had been smart, shrewd and capable all his life, ended up losing his integrity in his later years just because he made a decision to "test" Chen. This also made people in the world who were watching in secret see the power and strength of Chen.

Is the Chen family's foundation so powerful?

Then
Under such coercion, what choice will the emperor make?

Weiyang Palace
The tense atmosphere in the hall has lasted for half a month. Ever since the ministers in the court began to resign one after another, Liu Qi's expression has been very ugly. There was even a period of time when the decorations in the Weiyang Palace had to be replaced every day.

This low pressure lasted for half a month.

On this day, when Liu Qi was in a state of depression, Crown Prince Liu Che came to the Weiyang Palace.

Liu Qi raised his head, his eyes slightly red, and stared at the prince: "What? Are you, the prince, also going to admonish me?"

Liu Che knelt on the ground, raised his head, and looked directly into Liu Qi's eyes. He simply asked, "Father, I am not here to persuade you to bow your head."

His voice was sonorous and powerful: "No one can force the emperor to bow his head, and no one can be an enemy of the Liu family! If the emperor is unwilling to bow his head, then issue an imperial decree directly. I am willing to lead the troops personally to destroy the Chen family!"

Liu Che's voice echoed in the Weiyang Palace, and Wang Que, who was hearing these words, turned pale.

Your Highness the Crown Prince, I didn't ask you to come here to add fuel to the fire!

However, strangely, as Liu Che finished speaking, the anger in Liu Qi, who was sitting in the hall, gradually disappeared, and instead turned into a very calm feeling.

Liu Che looked at Liu Qi and asked, "Father, have you calmed down now?"

Liu Qi then pressed his forehead and said to Wang Que beside him, "You, can't you just say what you want to say?"

Liu Che lowered his head and said softly, "Father, I am speaking from the heart."

Liu Qi shook his head, took the honey water handed over by Wang Que, drank a sip to calm down the breath in his heart, and then said: "What a sincere statement."

His voice was calm, but also a little helpless and confused: "Seriously, did I really do something wrong this time?"

Liu Che nodded, then shook his head: "Father did make mistakes in some things."

"Based on my understanding of Chen and my teacher, the reason why Chen and my teacher are so angry is not because your father is testing Chen, nor because your father wants to weaken Chen's power."

Liu Che analyzed the situation very calmly: "Since the Chen family came to power, up to now, the Chen family has experienced Qin Xiaogong, Qin Huiwenwang, Qin Zhaoxiangwang, Qin Xiaorenwang, Qin Zhuangxiangwang, Qin Shihuangdi, Qin Ershihuangdi, Qin Sanshihuangdi, Qin Sishihuangdi and Qin Wuliedi."

"After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the Chen family experienced Emperor Gao, Emperor Xiaoren, and Emperor Xiaowen."

"Looking back, the Chen family has gone through two dynasties and fourteen emperors. How many of them have secretly tried to test the Chen family? And how many of them have attacked the Chen family openly or secretly?"

"Except at the end of the Qin Dynasty, during the reign of the fourth emperor, when Zhao Gao harmed the common people, when did Chen get angry? When did she get angry?"

Liu Qi slowly fell into silence. If that was the case, it seemed that it was indeed not the case.

He looked at Liu Che: "What do you mean?"

Liu Che nodded silently, and then said softly: "Yes, Chen was angry this time because you extended your tentative hand to a member of Chen's clan, and it was a girl."

"It didn't work this time, but what if it did?"

Liu Che raised his head and looked at Liu Qi. In fact, he was also very confused: "Father, what if it succeeds? Do you know what will happen between Chen and Liu at that time?"

"The Nine Princes' Rebellion has just passed. Do you really want to break with the Chen family?"

Liu Qi shook his head silently: "It won't succeed. When Liu Pi is about to succeed, my people will appear and save Chen Rou."

"How could I let Chen Rou get into trouble?"

Liu Che looked at Liu Qi and said, "Father, do you think that as long as this incident doesn't happen, this precedent can be set?"

precedent!

After these two words appeared, both of them were silent for a moment.

Liu Qi sighed: "I am confused."

No harm to family members!
The main reason why Chen was so angry this time was that Liu Qi was completely unreasonable. You could test Chen from any angle, but you involved an underage girl and used such mean and despicable means. Isn't it a bit too much?
Therefore, Chen showed unprecedented anger and attitude, because Chen wanted Liu, or even everyone in the world, to know one thing.

Chen’s bottom line cannot be touched!
Otherwise you will have to bear the consequences of doing so!
Liu Qi fell silent again: "What should we do now?"

Liu Che looked at Liu Qi and said, "Father, please go to Guandu Chen's Clan quietly to meet with the teacher and explain this matter. Then, as the crown prince, I will personally go to Guandu Chen's Clan to take the blame for my aunt's stupid behavior."

"The emperor has issued an order to sentence my aunt to death immediately."

"At the same time, Chen Rou is promoted to Princess Anguo, and is granted etiquette and a fief of 10,000 households."

Liu Che stated his solution without hesitation, and this solution was actually similar to the one Liu Qi had given to Chen before. The only difference was that the emperor went to Guandu in person to explain, and the prince went to apologize in person.

But in Liu Che's view, this was not such a humiliating thing.

Why can’t you bow your head?
For the sake of power, no matter how much you bow your head, it is never too much. In order to establish the country, Emperor Gao personally went to Guandu Chen's family to find Mr. Chen Ju, and only went to Pei County after obtaining the consent of Guandu Chen's family.

Why can't you bow your head now?

Is Liu so noble?
The Chen family has been passed down for so many generations, and the position of one of the three highest officials has never been interrupted for many years. Its bloodline is much more noble than that of the Liu family.

Is the Chen family so arrogant?
But they are all yellow pictures. Liu Qi finally sighed and said, "Well, let's do as you say."

He closed his eyes and said, "You will stay in the capital to supervise the government affairs first, while I will go to Guandu Chen's to explain this matter to your teacher and my teacher. When I come back, I will issue an order for you to go."

"There must be no one in Chang'an City."

When Liu Qi made this decision, he instantly relaxed.

Yes, what can the emperor do?
Precedents must never be set.

He shook his head with a helpless look on his face. He had indeed gone too far this time.

In the sixteenth year of Jingyuan, it was autumn and winter.

This farce finally ended. The emperor went to the royal family in person to explain the matter clearly. Then he returned all the letters of resignation from officials without even reading any of them.

Then, the prince said that this matter was caused by him. Princess Liu Biao hurt Chen because of her private thoughts and belittled Chen with her stupid brain, which was something that the royal family absolutely could not accept.

So the prince prepared to go to Guandu in person, carrying a thorny stick on his back to apologize and ask for Chen's forgiveness.

When the news about the crown prince came out, the emperor fell ill. So the crown prince, who had originally decided to go to Guandu in mid-October, had no choice but to take over the important task of regent.

Of course, that's what it looks like on the surface.

In fact, everyone knew very clearly whether the emperor was really "sick" or just pretending to be "sick". Of course, the ministers also understood the emperor's face problem, so they did not expose the matter.

The sixteenth year of Jingyuan, the end of October.

In silence, Chen welcomed a distinguished guest, Liu Qi.

Chen's Residence

Chen Qiu looked at Liu Qi in front of him with a normal expression: "Your Majesty, have you really thought it through? What answer do I want?"

Liu Qi just sighed, and when he was about to speak, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard, and then Chen Tuo walked in, smiling as he walked, "Ah, Master, I came to you to deal with something, but I didn't expect His Majesty to be here too."

He smiled and sat down next to Liu Qi: "What's going on? The atmosphere is tense, as if the two are about to fight?"

When Chen Tuo sat down and started talking, Liu Qi instantly felt much calmer in his heart. With Chen Tuo around, the worst situation would never happen.

Then he was relieved.

Thinking of this, Liu Qi felt even more relaxed.

"Teacher, you are here."

He calmly conveyed what the two had just said as well as Chen Qiu's words. His main purpose was to get Chen Tuo to help him and to hint at whether what he was thinking was right.

Chen Tuo sighed helplessly. It seemed that he was reprimanding Liu Qi, but in fact, he was giving him a backdoor: "You, you really went too far this time. It's no wonder that the patriarch is angry."

He shook his head: "What has the Chen family not experienced over the years? Whatever you want to do to the Chen family members and disciples in the court, the Chen family can do it, but you should never do anything to the female family members."

"This is the bottom line of the patriarch and the Chen family."

“This precedent must not be set.”

"Otherwise, wouldn't the world be in chaos in the future?"

Liu Qi's eyes instantly turned red, but he did not push the matter onto others. He just whispered, "It was my fault."

He calmly told the story: "My health was getting worse and worse, so I wanted to find a queen for Che'er as soon as possible. I didn't know why I told Guantao about this without thinking. Afterwards, it seemed like I was possessed and pushed this matter forward."

"Please forgive my unintentional mistake, Teacher and Prime Minister Chen."

After Liu Qi finished speaking, Chen Tuo immediately followed up by saying, "Master, since His Majesty didn't mean it, and this is the first time, why don't we just leave it at that?"

Chen Qiu remained silent, while Liu Qi on the side told him all the preparations he had made before coming here, without considering any bargaining skills at all. What a shitty price he could bargain for at this time!
After listening to everything, Chen Qiu sighed, looked at Liu Qi and said, "Your Majesty, this is the only time."

"If there is a next time, Chen will definitely not react this way."

In fact, Chen Qiu had never thought of asking the emperor to personally take the blame from the beginning. After all, the emperor's face still had to be protected.

All he needed was the emperor's promise, a promise that he would never do such a thing in the future, and that he would really include this "unspoken rule" in the rules that could not be violated.

There is a difference between unwritten rules and rules.

Unspoken rules mean that you don’t have to follow them, and even if you don’t, nothing will happen; no one will use them against you openly.

But the rules mean that as long as you break the rules, everyone can openly criticize you.

After listening to Chen Qiu's words, Liu Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief. This matter was finally over.

He whispered, "Please ask Prime Minister Chen to return to the court."

This is also necessary. After all, if Chen Qiu doesn't go back, how can the other ministers think that Chen has forgiven this matter?
There was fatigue in Chen Qiu's eyes. Sometimes this is the helplessness of politics.

The art of politics lies in compromise.

No matter where you are, you will have to compromise sometimes, or the higher your status, the more you need to compromise.
In the sixteenth year of Jingyuan, winter.

When the emperor's condition improved and he could handle state affairs, the prince personally went to Guandu Chen's house, apologized with a thorny stick on his back, and invited Chen Qiu, who had already resigned and returned to his hometown, to come back. At this time, the court of the Han Dynasty resumed operation again.

The seventeenth year of Jingyuan, the spring of that year.

The emperor fell ill again.

This time, everyone knew that the emperor was truly seriously ill.

Emperor Xiaojing, who should have died in the fourteenth year, persisted for three years until Emperor Liu Che was able to assist in government affairs.

At this time, he could finally leave peacefully.

The Han Dynasty is finally about to open a new chapter and enter a brand new era!

That is: the era of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che!

(End of this chapter)