A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 34 Internal Governance
As the sun sets and dusk falls, the forests are ablaze with color.

The vast reeds, like golden waves, concealed the daytime clamor, while the long, mournful horn of the cow swept away all the disturbances.

The hunting grounds of the Yuhe River valley plain have temporarily fallen silent.

The Emperor's Separate Palace

"Autumn frost and white dew, grass and trees wither and turn yellow, Zigan, tell me, will even heaven and earth grow old?" Liu Che showed signs of fatigue.

Wuqiu Shouwang, courtesy name Zigan, respectfully replied, "Heaven and earth are vast, only the color of gray remains, not the color of age."

"Just like me?"

"Just like His Majesty."

Even though he knew it was flattery, for some reason, Wuqiu Shouwang's words always made Liu Che feel so comfortable, and his icy dragon face finally seemed to melt. "But there are always some people who think I'm old."

“That’s because they’re confused,” Wuqiu Shouwang replied without hesitation, knowing that His Majesty was referring to the morning hunt of deer.

"They're not confused. They just think that I can't lift a sword anymore, which is intolerable!" Liu Che said through gritted teeth.

As a skilled hunter, Liu Che could control the direction in which several muntjacs fled. Clearly, the muntjacs running towards the Crown Prince were deliberately directed by Liu Che.

Even Liu Che himself didn't know whether he truly harbored murderous intent when he saw the dukes, generals, marquises, and imperial clansmen closely united around the crown prince.

When Liu Che saw the Northern Army generals, including Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Gongsun Ao, subtly changing their defensive formations and vowing to protect the Crown Prince to the death, he was absolutely determined to kill them.

Afterwards, the Crown Prince, without saying a word, drew his sword and beheaded the emperor's "deer." At that moment, Liu Che, who was thirty-five years old, was filled with both relief and murderous intent.

This child is like me!

or.

This kid is better than me!

How can that work?

As the emperor, he never expected anyone to help him change course!
The dragon's might, sometimes chilling with murderous intent, sometimes gentle and warm, made Prince Wuqiu Shou's heart pound with fear. "But right now, Your Majesty, you still have to endure, you still have to endure!"

How can we tolerate this?

“There is unrest abroad, with bandits and greedy villains. We need to drive them away and fight them.”

"Yes, the Xiongnu are greedy bandits, but they are only a superficial threat. What's more terrifying now is the internal strife!"

Liu Che replied coldly, his voice filled with resentment, "Is there no one capable in the country?"

King Wuqiu Shou remained silent.

The internal troubles Your Majesty speaks of refer to many things, but if we were to rank them, the most significant would still be the various regional vassal kings. Although the deaths of the Kings of Huainan and Hengshan have diminished the grandeur of the early Han Dynasty—with vassal states occupying 39 of the 54 commanderies, leaving only 15 directly under the central government—there are still over a dozen treacherous kings within the kingdoms, such as the King of Chu, the King of Jiaoxi, the King of Jiaodong, and the King of Liang, plotting in secret chambers. They hope the court will wage a protracted war against the Xiongnu, keeping the court entangled with them and exhausting its limited resources. Then, they can step in to maintain order, occupy Chang'an, and legitimately usurp the throne, just like Emperor Xiaowen.

Next came the Crown Prince and the emerging military conglomerate.

Over the decades, the balance of power between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu underwent a dramatic transformation. Although the Han Dynasty was supported by trillions of dollars in wealth accumulated during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, the military victories were achieved through bloody battles fought by Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and their generals.

The group of founding heroes gradually disintegrated, and a new group of military meritors emerged.

Wei Qing had already led six campaigns against the Xiongnu. Nine of the colonels and officers who followed him in these campaigns were granted the title of marquis, and fifteen of them were made generals. These included Gongsun Ao, Li Xi, Li Ju, Li Cai, Li Guang, Zhang Cigong, Su Jian, Zhao Xin, Zhang Qian, Zhao Shiqi, Cao Xiang, Zhao Anji, Guo Chang, Xun Zhi, and Gao Bushi.

Two men followed Huo Qubing as generals: Lu Bode and Zhao Ponu.

Among them, Li Cai was already dead, sent away by the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister. Li Ju and Li Guang, two members of the Li family, turned against Wei Qing because of this, and Zhao Xin even surrendered to the Xiongnu.

Cao Xiang was a descendant of Cao Can, belonging to the group of founding heroes, and his interests were not entirely aligned with those of the emerging military merit group.

In other words, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, with their twelve generals, firmly controlled the Northern Army.

Originally, His Majesty intended to use Huo Qubing, whom he had raised, to rival Wei Qing. In the past two years, some generals had indeed joined the ranks of Marquis of Champion. It was thought that the Northern Army would be divided. But now it seems that the uncle and nephew were just fooling fools.

And His Majesty is among the fools.

When Wuqiu Shouwang caught a glimpse of His Majesty out of the corner of his eye, the flushed face he couldn't hide was too intense to conceal.

But just as Your Majesty said, there are really no capable people in the country. Your Majesty's most skillful method of supporting relatives of the empress is completely useless against those useless brothers in Lady Wang's family.

Currently, the only generals who are truly loyal to His Majesty are from the Li Guang family and the Han Shuo family. However, these two families are not particularly powerful and have personal grudges against each other.

Li Guang's eldest son, Li Danghu, once served as a court attendant and accompanied Emperor Wu of Han. When Emperor Wu of Han was the King of Jiaodong, Han Yan, the grandson of Marquis of Gonggao, Han Tuidang, served as his tutor. "They studied together and became fond of each other. When the emperor became the crown prince, he became even closer to Han Yan." Their relationship was so close that it was beyond words, to the point that "they often slept and rose together." After Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, Han Yan naturally became a sycophant in the emperor's court.

However, during a game between Liu Che and Han Yan, Han Yan was disrespectful and impolite. "Li Danghu struck Yan, and Yan ran away." Because of this incident, Liu Che believed that Li Danghu was brave and loyal, and thus replaced Han Yan in his position.

However, Li Danghu died of illness in his twenties, leaving behind a posthumous son, Li Ling. Han Yan's younger brother was General Han Shuo. Although he died, the hatred between the Li Guang family and the Han Shuo family continued.

Wuqiu Shouwang could not speak these things aloud, but he was full of complaints in his heart. How could he possibly overthrow Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's position in the military by associating with such scoundrels as the Li Guang family and the Han Shuo family?

"In any case, to repel the barbarians, we must first govern our own territory." Liu Che made up his mind.

He will try to undermine the crown prince's reputation.

According to the original plan, Wei Qing would be sidelined next spring, and Huo Qubing would lead the army north alone. The entire Han-Xiongnu battlefield would become Huo Qubing's stage, and Huo Qubing would become the most dazzling general of the Han Dynasty and even the whole of China.

However, feeling Huo Qubing's "betrayal," Liu Che's thoughts changed. Li Guang, Li Gan, and Han Shuo would all go on expeditions with Huo Qubing. Just like in the sixth year of Yuanguang, when the Xiongnu invaded from Shanggu County and "killed and plundered officials and people," Wei Qing was appointed as General of Chariots and Cavalry and went out from Shanggu County, Gongsun Ao was appointed as General of Cavalry and went out from Dai County, Gongsun He was appointed as General of Light Chariots and went out from Yunzhong County, and Li Guang was appointed as General of Valiant Cavalry and went out from Yanmen County. The four generals each led 10,000 cavalry and "attacked the Xiongnu at the pass and market."

If any one of Li Guang, Li Gan, or Han Shuo could achieve fame like Wei Qing in a single battle, he would, just as he dismantled the military power of the founding heroes, cultivate a new imperial general through continuous warfare to counter Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

Three against one, the advantage is in my hands!
(End of this chapter)