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

Chapter 250 Little clever ghost
Chang'an, Weiyang Palace.

The slanting wind and drizzle in the early morning brought a sudden chill. Officials along the way quickened their pace. The situation improved a lot when they entered the Xuanshi Hall.

His Majesty had not yet arrived, and the court officials greeted each other according to their rank.

About a cup of tea later, the prime minister, the general, the prince and others came in one after another. The court officials gradually stopped chatting. Not long after, a shout came from the side hall:
"Your Majesty has arrived~"

"Your Majesty, may your Majesty live forever and enjoy eternal happiness."

The emperor waved his sleeves casually as usual, and the ministers returned to their seats. Before the officials of the regular court could report on government affairs, a voice came from the dragon couch:

"Yesterday, the battle report from Longxi came in. You should all know the general situation. Let's deal with it today and give the General of the Cavalry a reply as soon as possible."

When it comes to military affairs, the general has the final say.

Wei Qing was the first to report: "Your Majesty, in this battle, more than 47,000 Qiang people were killed. The Qiang people suffered heavy losses, but the remaining Qiang people and the Hehuang Qiang tribes still survived."

"In order to prevent rebellion after surrender, I would like to follow the example of the Protector of Wuhuan and establish a Protector of Qiang to lead troops to garrison in Fuhan City."

The emperor nodded thoughtfully and asked the other ministers, "What do you think?"

Prime Minister Shi Qing hesitated for a moment and said, "I think it is feasible."

"I second the motion." The Imperial Censor Bu Shi bowed. The other nine ministers had no objection, and naturally, all the officials had no objection either.

See this.

The emperor knocked on the armrest and ordered: "According to the general's plan, appoint a commander to protect the Qiang and send Li Xi to lead the troops to guard the place with the imperial seal."

As soon as he finished speaking, an official beside the palace began to write furiously, drafting an imperial edict quickly.

At this time.

Prince Liu Ju, who was standing beside the imperial steps, said, "Father, although this battle destroyed the Qiang people's manpower and there are garrisons there afterwards, I think this is only a temporary solution and not a permanent one."

"If the Qiang people recover their strength after many years and have the ability to rebel, it will still be up to them to decide whether or not to rebel."

“The court is too passive.”

The court officials were no longer surprised by the prince's words.

After serving as regent several times, the crown prince's position in court discussions has become as important as the three ministers, even if it is not as decisive as the generals.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the ministers came following his reputation.

"It is indeed passive." The emperor on the dragon couch also cast his eyes on the prince and asked, "Then what good plan do you have?"

"Go back to Father."

Liu Ju bowed and said, "I think that, first, we should follow the old policy of the Qin Dynasty and drive the Qiang people westward to the more bitter and cold areas of the West Sea and the Salt Lake."

"Squeeze the living space of the Qiang people."

"Secondly, the Qiang people are plagued by internal conflicts. Taking advantage of their defeat and surrender, the imperial court can use the name of the suzerain state to forcibly divide the territory for the Qiang people."

"If the tribes are equally powerful, let their spheres of influence overlap, and sandwich a fertile pasture or strategic location between the two tribes to provoke a fight between them."

"If the majority of the tribe is strong, they will be divided up, and the second and youngest sons of their leaders will be supported to set up their own factions. If the minority is weak, the court will give them status and support them to lead the entire Qiang people."

"If your strength doesn't match your status, there will be chaos!"

As the hall fell silent, Liu Ju made his final remarks with a normal expression, "The Qiang people have always been weak due to internal strife, so naturally they have no spare energy to harass the Han people."

“This is a fundamental solution.”

Treating the root cause does have some flavor of treating the root cause, but after the prince finished speaking, there was no immediate uproar and praise in the hall, but instead there was complete silence.

The ministers looked at the prince with a silent look of awe, mostly fear...

At this moment.

The response to the "strategy against the Qiang" proposed by Liu Ju in the Xuanshi Hall was consistent with that when "The Art of War" was first published.

It works, but morally, it's ugly.

When two countries went to war during the Spring and Autumn Period, they would agree on a time and place, arrange their battle formations, and then fight a ceremonial battle. But by the Warring States Period, it was all conspiracies and intrigues!

The Han Dynasty was not far from the Pre-Qin period. Although many etiquette and morals were not as strict as those in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, some shadows of them still remained.

nowadays.

The words of Crown Prince Liu Ju tore off a large piece of the little remaining "morality"...

"This is a great idea!"

Let’s put aside the empty talk about morality and righteousness for now. In the real world, the emperor fully affirmed his son’s strategy.

Liu Che's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, "The court's border military expenses are very heavy. If we can make the Qiang people weak, the court will not only save a lot of trouble, but also eliminate a threat."

"good."

"My Lords, what do you think?"

The prime minister, the chief censor and others looked at each other. The emperor had clearly stated that it was good and pointed out all the good points. What could they think?

"I have no objection."

"Okay!" The emperor made the decision and instructed Dongfang Shuo who was standing in the left front row, "Grand Herald, you should arrange for someone to handle the Qiang people's issue."

"Also, send someone to check on the Wuhuan in the north. If there is a chance, we can deal with them together." The emperor really liked this vicious strategy. Now, he has learned to draw inferences from one example...

"Yes."

Dongfang Shuo stepped out and took charge of the task.

Logically, by this point, the rebellious Qiang people had been "properly" arranged, and the discussion on the Longxi war had come to an end, with only the last step remaining, which was to reward the generals for their merits.

Speaking of rewards based on merit…

This word is not quite accurate, it should be evaluation of rewards and punishments!
"Your Majesty, during the battle of Longxi, the General of the Cavalry allowed his soldiers to slaughter the captives and used their heads as military merits, which is suspected of false merit."

Imperial Censor Guo Wu stepped out and said in a deep voice: "The court should conduct a thorough investigation!"

The words fell.

Everyone in the hall looked at him, and there was surprise in their eyes, but then a sense of it being a matter of course appeared in their eyes.

There was an incident of killing prisoners, and the number of prisoners may have been as high as tens of thousands. It would be strange that there was no splash in the court. Moreover, given the current situation in the court, how could there be no splash?
The person who was impeached was the General of Cavalry. Look who impeached him?
Assistant Censor!
His name is not important, his official position is very important, Imperial Censor. Unless he is appointed by His Majesty and has obvious characteristics of a different camp... I am talking about Huo Guang.

Apart from people like Huo Guang, the other Imperial Censors were undoubtedly the tentacles of the Chief Censor!

One emperor and one courtier.

It has been some time since Bu Shi was promoted to the position of Imperial Censor. In the small court of the Imperial Censorate, he has already placed all the trusted confidants he should have.

As soon as Guo Wu stood up, everyone knew who was causing the trouble, and Bu Shi did not hide anything, as there was no need to.

first.

His identity is clear. As a die-hard Qi Wang party member, it is normal for him to go against the Prince's party and he cannot hide it.

Secondly, there are problems with the General of Cavalry.

It is our duty to impeach him!
"Don't make false claims about military merit. Aren't the heads obtained adult males of the Qiang people? Are there women, children, the elderly and the young?" Weiwei Lu Bode refuted in court.

It is your duty to impeach me, and it is my duty to protect me. Lu Bode glanced at Guo Wu and said coldly, "And the killing of prisoners, you said prisoners are prisoners?"

"Humph!"

The Imperial Censor Guo Wu was not afraid and replied sternly, "Weiwei, the report from the Longxi army is not just from the General of the Cavalry. The report is from the governors of Longxi and Wuwei who also participated in the battle."

"The Qiang people knelt on the ground and begged for surrender, but the soldiers continued to kill them. Can some literary tricks still be used to make up a story?!"

Tens of thousands of people were defeated, and the pursuit stretched for dozens of miles. With so many people and eyes, some things could not be hidden.

Lu Bode's face suddenly turned cold, and he was about to scold...

"Wei Wei!"

Bu Shi suddenly raised his voice and shouted. Seeing Lu Bode turning his head to look at him, the Imperial Censor said indifferently:

"Given the relationship between the Weiwei and the General of the Cavalry, you should avoid suspicion in this matter."

Yes, given the relationship between Lu Bode and Huo Qubing, his words did imply favoritism, and no matter what he said, it would not stand up.

Now in the palace.

Whether it was Shangshu Pushe and Shiyushi Huo Guang who stood beside the hall with his eyes lowered silently, or the general who practiced silence again, or the prince who turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside the window and only listened to the idle talk.

They all seemed to be unable to keep their footing.

Of course.

Looking at their expressions, it seems that they have no intention of standing up to speak for the General of the Cavalry...

However, leaving Huo Guang aside, even if they were not in a position to directly protect Wei Qing and Liu Ju, at least they could move their bodies or legs and give a hint. Would the court still need people to fight for them?
There was no shortage of people, of course. But the two big bosses of the Prince's Party did not move at all, as if they had not heard that the person being impeached was the General of the Cavalry.

If they didn't move, Shi Qing, Dongfang Shuo, Wang Heng and the others would naturally not move either.

When Lu Bode saw the behavior of the prince and the general, he was a little angry at first, but then he thought of something, his face changed slightly, and he returned to his original position without saying a word.

He retreated.

However, the Imperial Censor Guo Wu did not retreat and reiterated that the matter of claiming credit should be thoroughly investigated.

The emperor who was listening on the dragon couch was somewhat displeased and frowned, saying: "The heads of military merits have all been inspected layer by layer. Who can fake military merits? As for killing prisoners..."

"What do you think, my Lord?"

When in doubt, ask the ministers.

In order of status, the ministers first looked at the crown prince, who was compared to the three dukes.

Among all the officials in the court right now, only a minority have taken sides, and most are neutral. In other words, most of the people who look at Liu Ju are just watching the show!
It is a pity.

The prince disappointed them. Liu Ju did not give any response and simply ignored him. He ignored the ministers' gazes and the emperor's questions.

Well, the main point is to be cool and aloof.

The officials were disappointed and looked at the general. Wei Qing was still quite considerate and reluctantly said, "I should avoid suspicion."

Now it was the prime minister's turn. Shi Qing pondered for a moment and said, "The killing of prisoners is probably true, but the general of the cavalry also made great contributions in this battle."

"It is inappropriate for the court to accuse the commander-in-chief of a crime before the army returns home." He gave an ambiguous explanation.

Upon hearing this.

The Imperial Censor wanted to reply: "Why? Now that he has been convicted, the General of the Cavalry is planning a rebellion while leading his troops outside the city?"

If Huo Qubing had shown any signs of rebellion, Bu Shi would have woken up laughing in his sleep!

however.

He knew that was impossible, so Bu Shi did not say this useless nonsense. What he said was:

"What the Prime Minister said is wrong. Military merit is military merit, and mistakes are mistakes. If the court ignores the crimes of military generals because of their merits, wouldn't that be disregarding the laws of the country?"

All the officials above the Three Dukes and the Three Dukes have expressed their opinions. The Minister of Rites Du, the head of the Nine Ministers, secretly grinned and tried to remain neutral:
"You deserve a reward for your contributions in the war, but the Prime Minister has said before that the killing of prisoners is probably true, and if you are guilty, you must be punished."

"The merits and demerits offset each other, so there is no need for reward or punishment."

Taichang is really a smart guy. He speaks out the answer that everyone wants as soon as he opens his mouth.

Zong Zhenghan nodded and said, "That makes sense."

Grand Minister of Agriculture Sang Hongyang followed suit and said, "It's feasible."

Then there was a chorus of “I second the motion!”

The ministers all spoke in unison, and even though the emperor's face was full of displeasure, he had no choice but to follow the crowd.

that's it.

The emperor's favorite general, General Huo Qubing, was neither rewarded nor punished in the Battle of Fuhan because he allowed the killing of prisoners of war.

Gongsun He was granted the title of Guannei Hou because he killed the most enemies. The others, such as Li Gan, Gongsun Ao, Li Xi, etc., were all rewarded with a certain amount of gold.

no way.

It was not that they were not brave enough in killing the enemies or did not behead enough people. It was really that the impression the Qiang people made on the ministers in the court and on the emperor was too bad, and their heads were not worth much.

If you want to be a marquis, you have to accumulate...

……

Mobei.

Nine miles west of the Chanyu Court.

Bang.

The thick door curtain was lifted, and the dusty Jin Midi came in and asked, "What's the matter with you calling me?"

This time, Qu Bi did not sit in the tent while waiting, but paced back and forth. When he saw the person coming, he immediately squinted and asked in a low voice:

"How many people know about my relationship with you?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Midi's expression froze slightly. "Not many. I have dealt with all those who followed me to work outside the Shanyu Court."

"There are only a few people in the south who know about your relationship with the Crown Prince's Palace."

"what happened?"

Qu Bi did not answer immediately, but stared at Jin Midi, with a strong murderous intent flashing in his eyes from time to time, and dense footsteps were heard outside the tent.

As soon as we meet, it is a disaster of murder!
"Don't do anything rash." Jin Midi said softly. The more dangerous it was, the calmer he was. "If I die, your situation will not be better. Believe me."

He stared into Qu Bi's eyes and said, "From what you said, you were discovered by the Great Chanyu... No, seeing that you are still safe and sound, are you suspected?"

"Whether you believe it or not, the Crown Prince's Palace will not sell you out now, at least not now. The loss outweighs the gain!"

"Otherwise, why would I dare to come to see you?"

Qu Bi's eyes flickered, and Jin Midi asked tentatively: "Could it be that there is something fishy going on with the people around you? Or did you reveal your true colors in this incident with the Qiang people?"

"No! No!"

Qu Bi answered with certainty. Jin Midi knew to keep it secret. Qu Bi's situation was even more dangerous. Once his collusion with the Han people was exposed, he would be dead.

He will only be more careful than Jin Midi!

As for Li Guang, who had responded to the Qiang rebellion not long ago and killed Yizhixie with an arrow, no one could find fault with his retreat.

There was no problem on his side, and there was no problem on the side of the Hanting Crown Prince who was cooperating with him...

"You are the most important partner of the prince." At this time, Jin Midi interrupted and said, "In order to help you get rid of suspicion, I can appropriately sacrifice some interests."

"Oh?"

Qu Bi put away his thoughts and looked at him seriously, "What do you mean?"

"The Great Chanyu should be suspicious of a spy among him, rather than directly suspecting you, right?"

“…I was affected.”

"That's easy." Jin Midi smiled and said softly, "Zuoguduhou, a fictitious official under the Great Chanyu, has some friendship with me."

"For your most important friend, I don't mind what you do with him."

Listen.

Qu Bi stared at Jin Midi for a long time, and suddenly, "Hahahahaha!"

The Xiongnu Right Wise King laughed heartily. He put his arm around Jin Midi's shoulders and said in a feigned displeasure, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you had such a good idea?"

"There was almost a misunderstanding earlier!"

"Yes, it is indeed a misunderstanding." Hearing the footsteps outside the tent moving away, Jin Midi also said with a smile.

The two of them exchanged hypocritical politeness and regarded the previous events as a misunderstanding and put them behind them.

"Ugh!"

After they reconciled, Qu Bi put away his smile and talked about business. "I thought about it carefully. There is no problem between us, but the problem still occurred."

"So..." Jin Midi delivered the message.

"Do you remember what I told you before, the Han man who delivered the message to the Qiang people on behalf of my Ada?"

"It's them?"

"It's almost right!" Qu Bi said sternly.

Jin Midi pondered for a while, "Have you found out their identities? I'll take care of it."

When Qu Bi heard the question, the expression on his face suddenly became strange. He looked at Jin Midi with a half-smile, and there was a hint of gloating in his sarcasm.

"The Great Chanyu is on high alert right now, so I can't find out anything. But when I led my troops south to support the Qiang people, I did find out a little bit."

"What is the other party's background?"

"Only one last name."

"Liu?"

"No, it's Wei, Wei Qing's Wei!"

(End of this chapter)