My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

After listening, Li Shimin nodded slightly: "Do you think I can be compared to Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang?"

"Even Liu Bang can't compare to Your Majesty," Xu Hui blurted out.

"Why is that?"

"Although Liu Bang rose from a lowly village head to become the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty after seven years of arduous struggle, he was too vulgar, disliked reading, and loved to curse people."

Moreover, he disrespected Confucian scholars; whenever he saw one, he would take off his hat and use it as a chamber pot.

On another occasion, while he was flirting with Consort Qi, Zhou Chang walked in from outside. Liu Bang was furious and actually rode on Zhou Chang's neck.

Do you think this is the behavior of an emperor?

When he was weak and had nowhere to turn, Xiang Liang took him in and lent him troops.

Only then was he able to reclaim Fengyi.

Xiang Yu and Liu Bang became sworn brothers.

After Liu Bang and Xiang Yu jointly destroyed the Qin Dynasty, they began to vie for supremacy over the world.

Unable to defeat each other, they stood in a stalemate at the Honggou Canal. Xiang Yu captured Liu Bang's father, Liu Taigong, set up a large cauldron, and said he was going to cook Liu Taigong alive.

Do you know what Liu Bang said?

"What did he say?"

Liu Bang said, "Xiang Yu, since we are brothers, then my father is your father."

If you insist on cooking your father, please give me a share of the soup.

Do you think this is something a son should say?

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin laughed heartily: "At that time, Liu Bang was also helpless. What else could he say if he didn't say it this way?"

Could he possibly disregard the objections of his civil and military officials and lead his army to surrender to Xiang Yu?

Actually, Liu Bang was very filial to his grandfather, Liu Taigong; in this respect, I cannot compare to him.

Xu Hui held Li Shimin's frankness in high regard.

"Although Liu Bang eventually seized power, he did not keep his word."

He deceived Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu returned Liu Taigong, Lü Zhi, and others to Liu Bang.

Both sides agreed to withdraw their troops, but Liu Bang did not withdraw his troops.

Instead, he heeded the advice of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, and secretly mobilized Peng Yue, Ying Bu, and Han Xin to besiege Xiang Yu.

Ultimately, this forced Xiang Yu to commit suicide at the Wujiang River.

Therefore, Liu Bang was untrustworthy and a hypocrite.

"Liu Bang was an emperor. When emperors consider issues, they do not consider whether they can keep their word, but rather act in the interests of their own group."

"Your Majesty, does this mean you approve of Liu Bang's actions?" Xu Hui was somewhat surprised.

Li Shiming explained: "Liu Bang was also helpless, because his main strategists, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, advised him to do this, and he had no choice."

Although Liu Bang was the ruler and Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were his ministers, a ruler should still appropriately consider the opinions of his ministers when making decisions. Being willful and stubborn will not work.

Moreover, the situation at the time was that Xiang Yu only had 100,000 troops under his command, and their food supplies had been cut off.

That was the perfect opportunity to eliminate Xiang Yu.

If we miss that opportunity, it will be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.

It would be extremely difficult to eliminate Xiang Yu in the future.

They might even be destroyed by Xiang Yu.

Therefore, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping's suggestions were correct, which only shows that Liu Bang readily accepted good advice.

Xu Hui hadn't expected that Li Shimin viewed Liu Bang in this way. It seems that there are many similarities between emperors, and perhaps only an emperor can truly understand another emperor.