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

Chapter 211 What Does the Prime Minister Eat?

The emperor had special times for offering sacrifices, especially to his ancestors. The Han Dynasty generally offered sacrifices to the Temple of Emperor Gaozu in August every year, with solemn ceremonies and a grand scale.

Except for August, it does not mean that sacrifices cannot be made at other times. The Book of Rites says: "The sacrifices made by the emperor and the princes in the ancestral temples are called 礿 in spring, 禘 in summer, 常 in autumn, and 政 in winter."

That is, the four seasons sacrifices.

There can be grand sacrifices in every season. On holidays, or when the country encounters great joy or sorrow, the emperor can also hold sacrifices to comfort the ancestors.

The emperor announced to the world that the name of the ancestral temple was——

Conquer Nanyue and tell our ancestors!
Sacrifices are held every year, and everyone, including the people of the world and the officials in the court, are accustomed to it. The emperor wants to show off his achievements to his ancestors, so he does.

What should everyone do?

The water was flowing gently, the waves were rippling, the poplar trees on both sides of the Kunming Canal had sprouted green buds, and in front of the gate of Bowang Garden, two scholars in simple clothes bowed and kowtowed:
"Your Highness, take care!"

"No need to be polite, let's go."

Liu Ju raised his hand to support them and watched the two men lead the horses away. When they were on the official road, the two men turned around and bowed again before mounting their horses and whipping them into the woods.

"It's not easy." Liu Ju sighed and turned back to Bowang Garden.

"Your Highness, if you treat me sincerely today, there will definitely be a response tomorrow." Su Wu, who was following beside him, said softly.

"hehe--"

Liu Ju smiled and said, “I hope so.”

Paper has been popular for many years, and Bowang Garden has always stood here. The seeds sown by Liu Ju in the past have finally bloomed into refreshing flowers.

Because of paper, Liu Ju offended many wealthy families, but everything has its pros and cons. Countless children from poor families benefited from it and could afford to go to school and learn literature.

If only one in a thousand of them could be grateful to Liu Ju, he would benefit greatly from it. In recent years, many people have come to Bowang Garden for its reputation of "treating everyone equally".

There are people who kill pigs and dogs.

There are also poor scholars who are down and out.

Liu Ju always keeps his word. No matter how humble a person is, as long as he has a skill, he will treat him with courtesy.

If there are still some who are far superior to ordinary people, such as the two people Liu Ju just recommended - they are even more determined even in poverty and never give up their ambition to rise to the top.

Such people.

In addition to courtesy, Liu Ju will also provide strong support!
There is a saying that goes, "Don't be an official if you don't have anyone in the court." This saying was fully reflected in the Han Dynasty, where the systems of recommendation and recruitment were dominant.

But once you have someone in the court, it becomes much easier to become an official. The prince cannot directly arrange an official position, but he has a former tutor who serves as the Chief Censor, who is equivalent to the prime minister.

Just a passing note.

The two county magistrate positions were also arranged.

"Who else is coming today?" Liu Ju turned around and asked as he stepped into the Naxian Hall.

Apart from attending court and performing duties as the Water Commissioner, he was the most frequent visitor to Bowang Garden. If he was lucky, he could pick up a piece of "gold" every ten days or half a month.

Day after day, although it is still not as many as the 3,000 retainers that Liu An, the King of Huainan, had back then, he was able to add some extraordinary people.

At least the new guards are all big, strong, fierce and fierce...

but.

Among those who come to surrender, those who rely on force are a minority, and those who rely on their brains are more. Among them, Confucian disciples are the largest, and today is no exception.

"Your Highness, a letter of invitation has been sent from the Imperial Academy, with three Confucian scholars recommending themselves." Su Wu added, "Duke Zhuang has examined them and found them to be talented."

Liu Ju nodded and groaned, "Okay, let them..."

Before he could finish what he was saying, he saw a figure suddenly running outside the hall. Jin Midi walked over quickly and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, something has happened!"

"Your Majesty, there was a problem with the sacrifice!"

……

A little earlier.

Weiyang Palace, on the Chidao Road.

The emperor's face was filled with gloom. He got off the carriage and walked away quickly. Two officials behind him hurriedly followed him. One of them said anxiously, "I have failed in my duty. I will investigate it strictly."

"Strict investigation?"

Liu Che didn't even look at Zhao Yu, and said in a cold tone: "Such a big mistake has happened. Which of you can I trust? Who will investigate!?"

Zhao Yu and Li Guangli, who followed closely behind, looked at each other and read each other's inner thoughts -

Bitter!

Who could have known that there would be problems with the tributes paid by the kings and marquises assisting in the sacrifices?

Furthermore, the quality of the tribute is entirely a subjective issue. If the emperor says that the quality is not good, it is a crime of disrespect. What can the ministers do?
The person in charge of collecting the gold was Shaofu Zhao Yu, and the person in charge of the affairs of the kings and dukes was Daxingling Li Guangli. At this moment, the former was just feeling frustrated.

But the latter. Li Guangli felt that he had suffered an unprovoked disaster. He had just taken office as a new official for a few days when he encountered such a thing. Who could he go to for justice?

to be frank.

Zhao and Li were puzzled by your Majesty's anger. Why did it come to this?

When the emperor offered sacrifices to the ancestral temple, according to the remuneration law, a rule formed during the reign of Emperor Wen, the princes and dukes had to offer gold to assist in the sacrifice.

According to the population of the feudal state, the tribute was four taels of gold per thousand people.

This decree has more symbolic significance than practical meaning.

Take Li Guangli's Pingnan Marquisate for example. The fiefdom included 1,300 households. Assuming there were six people in one household, there were 7,800 people in total, and the tribute required was 32 taels of gold.

It’s only two kilograms, not much.

All the kings and dukes could afford to pay the tribute, and they just treated it as a procedure. The subordinates paid it on time, and the court accepted it as usual.

Who could have thought that one day this thing would go wrong? Judging from the emperor's furious look, it was still a big mistake?
Yes.

It was a bigger mistake than they had imagined!
After entering Chengming Hall, the emperor's anger did not dissipate, but instead tended to intensify. Just as Zhao Yu and Li Guangli looked at each other.

Bang!
The emperor suddenly kicked over a candlestick next to him, pointed outside the palace, and angrily said, "Such a big mistake, what is the prime minister doing for a living?"

"He is in charge of all the officials, how could he not know about it? If he knows about it and doesn't report it, he will be thrown into prison immediately!"

The voice just fell.

Li Guangli, who was originally standing with his head bowed, suddenly looked stern and his back bent several degrees unconsciously. Even Zhao Yu, who was the emperor's confidant, looked shocked.

Put the prime minister in jail?
The eunuch was stunned for a moment, and when he saw the murderous look in the emperor's eyes, he quickly replied, "Yes, yes, I will pass the order right away!"

If you don't draw a line, others won't know how angry the emperor is at the moment and how serious the situation is.

Unfortunately.

Prime Minister Zhao Zhou became that line because he fits in well...

"What are you doing standing here? Why don't you go check it out?" the emperor said through his teeth.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, to what extent have you investigated?" Zhao Yu asked carefully.

"Investigate thoroughly, no matter who it is!" The emperor said without thinking, "You and Li Guangli go immediately!"

"If the tribute is not of sufficient amount or quality, the princes will be stripped of their counties and all marquises will be stripped of their titles!"

"Today, I want to see the list!"

The prime minister had been imprisoned before, and even though they had anticipated the emperor's unreasonable rage, the words "delisting" still left Li and Zhao speechless.

After leaving the hall.

Li Guangli pondered for a moment and spoke first: "More than two hundred kings and dukes want to check the quality and amount of the tribute. Can you check it today?"

"No, if there really is a mistake, we won't even have time to leave Beijing for investigation." Zhao Yu said coldly.

"That……"

"Your Majesty doesn't want a real investigation, he wants a list!"

Zhao Yu and Li Guangli thought of the same thing. They looked at each other, and Li Guangli, who was still relatively young, asked, "Excuse me, Shaofu, who can be on the list?"

Zhao Yu had a dark face and said nothing.

The marquises who were on the list would be stripped of their titles. Could they just pick a few people at random? They were marquises, not cabbages!

At this moment.

You can only pick the softest ones first.

Zhao Yu flicked his sleeves and said in an irritable tone: "Write down the names of the Liu clan members to calm His Majesty's anger first."

That’s right, the Liu clan members are just easy targets.

Among all the marquises, compared with the founding marquises, military merit marquises, and foreign relatives marquises, the Liu family has the largest number of marquises, the least power, and is the least favored by Your Majesty.

Notice.

Under the Enfeoffment Order, the eldest son would inherit the throne, and the other sons of the princes would be granted the title of marquis.

Take the example of the sixth son of Emperor Jing, Prince Ding of Changsha. After his death, fifteen more marquisates appeared in Changsha overnight!
With so many targets, who else would Zhao Yu choose if not them?

however.

Is it really that easy?
Zhao Yu guessed wrong. The two of them didn't even go back to the office. They prepared the list outside the Weiyang Palace, but when they handed it over, the emperor just glanced at it and rejected it directly!

This is the first time.

The second time was the same!
They were still somewhat confused, but when they were beaten back for the third time, although the emperor did not say it explicitly, the other party's grim eyes undoubtedly said:
"There won't be a fourth time!"

(End of this chapter)