Chapter 269 The Dead and the Living

Early the next morning.

The Prime Minister’s “Memorial to the Emperor” appeared on the Emperor’s desk. Memorials issued from the top down were naturally reviewed and approved quickly.

As soon as the news came out, the attention of the dignitaries in Chang’an quickly shifted from the Korean War to this new event.

Notice.

The last time the emperor didn’t follow the rules and held ancestor worship on a whim, half of the nobles in the Han Dynasty were stripped of their titles! More than a hundred marquises!

Now, when a familiar scene reappears, those without titles are secretly shocked, while those with titles are worried, fearing that the title will be taken away by bribes again.

The emperor did not explain anything about the outside world’s speculation and seemed to enjoy seeing the nobles nervous.

There may or may not be more cases of people seizing the throne by drinking alcohol, but there will never be another large-scale one like the last time, otherwise it would shake the foundation of my own…

This time, we are worshipping our ancestors.

The emperor’s purpose is not to discipline or punish anyone, but to deter. With the emperor’s great achievements, he can intimidate his subjects and shock the princes!

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

After a military victory in expanding territory, a great sacrifice followed, and the deterrent effect it could achieve was undoubtedly the best…

As the main targets of the emperor, the princes should come to the capital to pay homage once every five years according to the etiquette of the Han Dynasty, unless there are special circumstances.

What are special circumstances?

For example – I haven’t seen my uncles and brothers for a long time, and I miss them very much.

The last time the princes came to the capital to pay homage was in the second year of Yuanding, and it has not even been five years yet. The emperor just said that he misses him dearly, so can your subjects really blame him?
In front of the current emperor, no.

Even though the emperor’s excuse was false and he didn’t play by the rules, the prime minister still made a point and submitted a memorial…

“As early as last autumn, Your Majesty wanted to summon the kings to the capital in the name of holding a grand sacrifice, but something went wrong along the way.”

The Prince’s Palace, inside the Jiaguan Hall.

The uncle and nephew, who still had some things to discuss yesterday, gathered together again. When they talked about the follow-up, they talked about the emperor’s worship of the ancestral temple.

“Last year, your majesty personally led the expedition, and the left wing of the Xiongnu surrendered. Then you went south to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to the gods, so that when you returned to the capital, you saw a prosperous scene.”

At this point, Wei Qing paused for a moment and said, “If Your Majesty returns to the capital and summons the princes to the capital in the first month of the first year of Yuanfeng, the timing will undoubtedly be better than now.”

Makes sense.

Liu Ju nodded as he played with the chess pieces. At the beginning of the year, the political popularity of his emperor father was much higher than it is now.

“Then why did Your Majesty wait until today?” Huo Qubing, who was sitting across the chessboard, raised his eyebrows and asked. Liu Ju also had the same question and turned to look at his uncle Wei Qing.

Unexpectedly, Wei Qing was also staring at Liu Ju. The Grand Marshal’s usually calm face showed a rare silence, as if to say:
‘You ask me?’

Liu Ju was a little confused at first, but after thinking about it, he immediately realized what had gone wrong that affected his emperor father’s ability to show off.

At this time, Wei Qing said indifferently: “If the Qi local scholar had not been struck to death by lightning for no apparent reason, disrupting the prosperous times, why would Your Majesty delay until today?”

Yes.

The ‘second thunderbolt’ that Liu Ju created had such a powerful force that it far exceeded his expectations!
After the Northern Tour and the Fengshan Ceremony, the emperor had decided to strike while the iron was hot and let his uncles and brothers admire his great achievements.

Unexpectedly, thunder struck from the sky, striking the prosperous scene he had created into a precarious situation. Not only that, to use a vulgar metaphor –

The emperor was almost frightened to death!
“Fortunately, Dong Zhongshu accidentally hit the mark and used a theory of the connection between heaven and man to help Your Majesty regain his faith. This is a good move at least.”

If we use a vulgar metaphor to describe Wei Qing’s words, it means that the emperor has found a logically consistent point –

It’s getting stronger again!

At this moment, the three people in the hall all knew the inside story of the “divine thunder from the sky”, so after Wei Qing finished speaking, Liu Ju touched his nose, feeling quite embarrassed.

“Your Majesty used military force against the Xiongnu and Korea at the beginning of the year in order to continue the momentum of the Northern Tour and Fengshan.” Wei Qing turned to look at his other nephew and nodded:

“When the Korean War was going badly, His Majesty asked you to take charge in order to ensure that nothing would go wrong.”

That’s all I have to say.

Wei Qing picked up the teacup and took a sip. “You killed Xun Zhui without authorization, which was inappropriate after all. Fortunately, it happened at the right time and His Majesty did not want to cause trouble.”

“You know the reason for the dispute.”

It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. The conversation between the uncle and nephew has continued from yesterday to today. What Wei Qing said at this moment is what he really wanted to tell Huo Qubing!
The words spoken in the prince’s palace at the moment were actually exactly the same as what the Imperial Censor Bu Shi had said, and they were both based on the same principle.

The only difference is…

One is watching the fire from the other side of the river, the other is giving guidance.

Huo Qubing had a serious expression on his face. He bowed to Wei Qing but said nothing. As for what he was thinking in his heart, only he knew it.

Liu Ju, who was listening in, also looked serious. While fiddling with the chess pieces, he took the initiative to change the subject and said, “Father agreed to your request and ordered the princes to come to the capital, but he did not specify the day for the ancestral temple sacrifice. Does uncle know?”

Wei Qing nodded slightly.

There were some things that the prime minister and the crown prince were not clear about, but as a subject and good friend, he could more or less hear some news from the emperor.

“From what Your Majesty meant, it should be when the Jianzhang Palace is completed.”

Strictly speaking, a magnificent and huge palace is also a means of showing one’s own strength to the outside world and intimidating outsiders.

obviously.

The emperor calculated everything he could about the people around him.

The construction of Jianzhang Palace began last summer. During this period, hundreds of thousands of civilian laborers and prisoners were conscripted one after another. Due to the tight deadline and heavy workload, they could only pile up the number of people.

Today, the project is nearing completion…

West side of Weiyang Palace.

This place is also on the west side of Chang’an City. In the past, the inner and outer areas were divided by palace walls and city walls. Now, there is an additional flying pavilion chariot road on the city wall.

Outside the city wall, there is also a continuous palace rising from the ground, connected by an aerial chariot road, which allows you to directly reach the Jianzhang Palace outside the city from the inside of the Weiyang Palace.

Standing on a high place, you can still see the flickering light on the roof of the palace, which is caused by the sunlight hitting the gilded bronze phoenix.

The bronze phoenix is ​​five feet tall and decorated with gold. It has a hinge at the bottom so it can turn with the wind.

There is also a gate, 250 feet high. On both sides of the gate, there are round towers, also 250 feet high. There is also a well-shaped building, made of piled wood, 50 feet high…

Looking from afar.

All I can see is its height, its breadth, its grandeur and magnificence.

Beside the battlements, Liu Ju silently gazed at the magnificent palace for a long time without saying a word. It was not until he raised his hand that Cai Cheng, who was standing behind him, said respectfully:
“The Jianzhang Palace has been roughly built, with only a few areas still needing carving. Several main halls have been completed. Your Majesty consulted the Grand Astrologer a few days ago and chose an auspicious day to move in.”

“Recently, he has often summoned the general, the general of chariots and cavalry, and others to the Jianzhang Palace for banquets.”

Hear the words.

Liu Ju remained silent.

The eunuch Wei beside him took a look at the prince’s expression and said softly, “I heard that the general suggested that your majesty should do the same as himself and seek medical advice from Bowang Garden to recuperate, and your majesty agreed.”

“Recently, Song Yi and Song Gong have been frequently in and out of Jianzhang.”

Hearing this, Liu Ju finally reacted and turned to walk towards the north side of the tower, asking as he walked: “How did he diagnose my father?” “This matter…”

The young eunuch didn’t know if he really didn’t know or was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so he said carefully: “I don’t know much about medicine, I’m afraid I need to ask Lord Song about this matter.”

“Your Highness, would you like to send someone to invite him?”

“No need.” Liu Ju said without turning his head: “I have to go to Shanglin Garden, so I can ask you on the way.”

South of the city, Bowang Garden.

When Liu Ju arrived, Song Yi was scolding his students. Since Tang An’s death, the white-haired old man had changed his usual behavior.

The mischievous and playful behavior of the previous old man disappeared, and he became calm and amiable, even having the demeanor of a famous doctor.

“I have met His Highness.”

“Song Gong, please don’t be too polite.”

Liu Ju waited outside the clinic for a while. After Song Yi finished teaching his disciples, he asked someone to invite him out for a chat. After a few pleasantries, Liu Ju got down to business.

“About entering the palace for diagnosis?”

Song Yi stroked his beard and thought, “During the time I was in the palace, I did treat Your Majesty and the general… Oh, the general had an old illness, and Your Highness knew about it. He had already recovered. I just gave him acupuncture as usual.”

“It’s the others.” Song Yi’s face darkened as he spoke. “The generals of the chariots and cavalry usually look healthy and vigorous, but in fact they have many hidden illnesses.”

“I prescribed a prescription for him and supplemented it with acupuncture.”

Liu Ju listened carefully without any impatience. When he heard that Li Guang was ill, his heart moved slightly and he took note of it silently.

At this time.

Song Yi talked about the one Liu Ju was most concerned about, “As for your majesty, you do have some minor health problems. After I diagnosed it, your majesty asked me if it was serious, haha.”

The old man smiled casually as if he was chatting with a younger generation, “It’s just a normal phenomenon of old age and declining blood and qi. It will be fine after some rest.”

He said it easily.

But if you think carefully about the information revealed in this passage and the person to whom it is revealed, none of them has anything to do with the word “easy”!

The person who asked the question about the emperor’s health was the prince.

What is intended?

Most people would have an instinctive reaction when they heard about such things. A doctor from Songyi was the personal physician of the King of Qi in his early years and had been working in the palace for most of his life.

How can you not react?
In fact, Song Yi’s relaxed and casual attitude was the biggest abnormal reaction. It was just that he was indebted to him and was confused for a while…

but.

Liu Ju asked about the health of his emperor father, but he did not have any dark thoughts. He was just trying to get familiar with and control the situation.

After returning to Beijing from the Fengshan ceremony last time, the emperor concealed his illness for various reasons. As a result, someone took advantage of the situation and caused trouble at the “Three Sacred Mountains”.

Liu Ju doesn’t want it to happen again.

An unexpected error correction often leads to a series of accidents. The battle situation where only victory is allowed and defeat is not allowed, and the belated “ancestor worship” are proof of this…

Thoughts are flying.

Liu Ju suddenly remembered another thing. He used to blindly believe that the emperor still had a long life ahead of him, and the information he got from Song Yi also confirmed this.

but……

‘Now that Huo Qubing, who died young, is about to turn 30, and the imperial examination system was introduced hundreds of years earlier, the familiar history has been completely changed.’

‘In this situation, who can be sure that people who already live long will continue to live long? For example, there will be some butterfly effect or some small accident? ‘

Cough!

Thinking of this, Liu Ju quickly withdrew his thoughts. It was too unlucky.

As he was thinking, he heard Song Yi beside him sigh again: “Alas, we are all old, your majesty is old, the general is old, and General Li Guang is even older.”

Liu Ju turned around and looked over. Old Man Song was pounding his waist and said with a wry smile, “Time is merciless.”

The old man’s hair and beard were all white, and the wrinkles on his face were like ravines. Liu Ju looked at him for a while and heard the hidden meaning in his words. He said earnestly: “Song Gong, why don’t you speak frankly.”

“hehe.”

Song Yi’s cloudy eyes flashed with emotion, and he bowed to Liu Ju, “Since I came from the west and entered your palace, I dare not say that I have done my best, but I have done my best.”

“In recent years, I have trained many disciples, and Your Highness has also printed many medical books for me, an old fellow.”

He smiled and said, “Now I am old too. I don’t want to end up like old man Tang. I always think about returning to my roots.”

Speaking of which.

Song Yi straightened his clothes, stretched out his hands, bowed solemnly to Liu Ju, and said slowly: “Your Highness, I would like to return home.”

That day, after Liu Ju helped him up, he did not try to keep Song Yi. Instead, he thanked him again and again, both on behalf of Liu Ju himself and on behalf of the people of the Han Dynasty.

One autumn morning, two ox carts and several disciples escorted Song Yi all the way back to his homeland in the east.

He cured patients as he walked.

Later, Liu Ju learned that Song Yi closed his eyes forever when he rushed back to Qi and entered Linzi City.

Afterwards, Liu Ju sought a posthumous title for Song Yi and found some jobs for his descendants, that was all…

The dead are gone, and the living must continue to perform.

Let’s talk.

After the beginning of autumn, there were two major events in the court. One was the end of the war, the war against the Huns and the war against Korea.

The latter was the main focus of the court’s attention. After checking the military merits, pensions, and treasury, the court focused its attention on the territory of Wiman Joseon.

After consultation with the ministers, the emperor decided to divide the territory of Korea into Lelang County, Zhenfan County, Lintun County, and Xuantu County, collectively known as the Four Han Counties.

In all newly expanded territories, Han people were sent to serve as county chiefs.

at the same time.

Just like the steps taken to swallow up South Vietnam back then, this time the imperial court made preparations in advance.

First, the few heroes who “knew the current affairs” and the surrendered ministers of Korea were sent to Liaoxi and Liaodong to take charge, so that they could recruit the old and young people of Korea at any time to prevent rebellion.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, time unknowingly entered late autumn, which meant that the time set by the emperor to worship the ancestors was about to arrive…

……

East of Chang’an City, on the official road.

Was it a coincidence that the two groups met unexpectedly that day? No, because the two groups were very close.

“Liu Dan, I’m here to meet my brother.”

“Haha, Third Brother, please don’t be too polite. Since we have met, shall we go to the capital together?”

“it is good!”

(End of this chapter)