Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 10: Want to Depose the Crown Prince
[The Han Dynasty achieved a decisive victory in the Siege of Baideng. You are appointed Prime Minister in advance. Your name should go down in history. You are rewarded with a golden item - Xiantian Gathering Spirit Card.]

In this battle, the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu army head-on, and Maodun fled back to his country alone with some of his personal soldiers. The young and strong labor force and prestige accumulated over the years were almost destroyed. Xu Zhen also got a huge reward as he wished.

Soon after Maodun returned to his country, the Donghu used this as an excuse to rebel and took the lead in breaking away from the Xiongnu. The grassland was once again divided into two forces, and there was no time to take care of other things.

Lou Jing also suggested returning the old and weak as well as some of the young and strong captives to the Xiongnu, in order to show kindness and prevent the Donghu from taking advantage of the opportunity to become more powerful. At the same time, he sent palace maids to the Donghu and Xiongnu as princesses to marry.

Liu Bang accepted this suggestion. At that time, the Han Dynasty was too weak to pursue the victory, so a peace policy was the best solution.

In the summer of the eighth year of the Han Dynasty, Maodun and the King of Donghu sent envoys to declare their loyalty to the Han Dynasty, pay tribute regularly and promise never to invade the Central Plains.

The imperial court also opened customs markets to trade with the grasslands and also promised not to harass them easily.

After that, the chaos between the Xiongnu and the Donghu continued until the end of Emperor Wen's reign.

King Zhang Ao of Zhao was implicated by his subordinates, and the court deposed him and demoted him to Marquis Xuanping. King Dai Liu Ruyi was appointed as the successor to the throne of Zhao. However, due to Liu Bang's favor, he did not go to Zhao to take office as per convention.

This also made Queen Lu Zhi feel the crisis.

At this point, only the King of Huainan, the King of Liang and the King of Changsha remained among the seven kings of different surnames.

.........

On this day, Liu Bang held a family banquet as usual, gathering all the important ministers, princes, and concubines together to drink wine and eat meat.

Banquets were very common in the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bang liked the hustle and bustle, but Xu Zhen understood that today was far from simple.

Entering the banquet, Xu Zhen glanced to the side and saw Bo Ji, Madam Qi, Madam Cao and others were all there, as well as princes including Liu Heng, Liu Ying and Liu Ruyi.

Before, Liu Bang had been asking him indirectly about Liu Ruyi and whether he had the potential to be an emperor. The meaning of this was obvious.

"Greetings, Prime Minister Xu." Madam Qi came over with Liu Ruyi and bowed respectfully.

"My lady is your Majesty's concubine, and the King of Zhao is a prince. Why should you bow to a noble like me?" Xu Zhen behaved neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"The Prime Minister has made great contributions to our Han Dynasty and saved Your Majesty from danger. How can he not be worthy of this title?"

Madam Qi was very humble. She knew that if Liu Ruyi wanted to become the crown prince, the support of Prime Minister Xu would be crucial.

Even if it just leaves a good impression.

"Then I will accept your greeting. Madam, you don't have to feel guilty anymore." Xu Zhen didn't intend to pay attention to her, he just wanted to get rid of her quickly.

On the other hand, Lu Zhi had a cold face and looked at Concubine Qi with murderous intent.

Just then, Liu Bang finally walked in, and the originally noisy meeting room suddenly became quiet.

"Everyone, please start your meal."

As soon as Liu Bang sat down, Concubine Qi came up to him quickly and glanced at Lu Zhi arrogantly.

But Lu Zhi did not argue with her and still had a cold face.

The banquet was not affected by the emperor's arrival. Instead, it became even more lively. The ministers were having a great time drinking and eating meat.

However, some ministers such as Zhou Chang and Li Shang were relatively quiet, and logically speaking, not all the ministers would be invited to the family banquet.

I'm afraid Your Majesty is not interested in this matter.

When the banquet reached its climax, Liu Bang suddenly said drunkenly: "What do you think of the prince?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present suddenly fell silent.

"Just tell me when I ask you." Liu Bang's flushed face showed some impatience, and then he turned to look at Xu Zhen.

"Zi Fu, what do you think of the Crown Prince?" Xu Zhen had long guessed that the other party would ask him, so he bowed and said calmly: "The Crown Prince is kind and filial, there is nothing wrong with him."

At the same time, Lu Zhi immediately gave him a grateful look.

"What about Xiao He, Prime Minister Xiao? " Liu Bang was not annoyed and continued to look at another important minister.

"The world belongs to your majesty, and it is up to your majesty to decide who will inherit it. Why ask others?"

Xiao He's answer was more ambiguous. He was a pure civil servant and had no need to please the crown prince or the empress.

Because Xu Zhen had military power in his hands, he had to gain the trust of Lu Zhi, Liu Ying and others.

"Ying'er is weak and kind, and the empire has just been settled. I am afraid that she will not be able to inherit the Han Dynasty. Therefore, I intend to appoint Ruyi as the crown prince. What do you think?"

Although Xu Zhen did not support it very much, Liu Bang still said it. Over the years, there was nothing he could not accomplish.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, although I cannot speak, I know that deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest has always been a way to cause chaos since ancient times!"

Before Madam Qi could be happy, Fenyin Marquis Zhou Chang, who had a slight stutter, took the lead in speaking out to dissuade her.

Because he was too anxious, his stuttering became more and more obvious.

Most of the other ministers held opposing views, but Xu Zhen and Xiao He did not get involved.

Xu Zhen's idea was that he would not say anything unless Liu Bang asked him. As a meritorious official with military power, he could only save his life by keeping a low profile. As for Xiao He, who was just a pure civil servant, it didn't matter to him.

"That's enough. I have made up my mind. I will make Ruyi the crown prince. Please stop trying to persuade me!"

Liu Bang waved his hand and said angrily.

"Your Majesty, has Ying'er ever been indecent during these years as the Crown Prince? Have I ever done anything to let Your Majesty down in the slightest? If not for you, why would you be so heartless!"

Lu Zhi fell to her knees with a plop, her face full of grievance.

"Don't cry, don't cry." Liu Bang felt a little headache seeing her like this. It was indeed wrong to depose the prince without any reason.

"If Your Majesty still insists on deposing Ying'er, I will not get up from my knees!" Lu Zhi sobbed and pulled Liu Ying to cry with her, with no intention of getting up at all.

The ministers around him also tried to dissuade him, making Liu Bang feel a little embarrassed.

"In my opinion, we should discuss the matter of changing the crown prince another day. It would be better to observe him for a while. If he is really incompetent, we can depose him at any time."

Xu Zhen's words also gave Liu Bang a way out.

"Zi Fu is right. We can discuss this another day. Let's all go."

After saying this, Liu Bang left this place of trouble as if relieved, and Concubine Qi, with a grim look on her face, followed him.

However, after Liu Bang left, Lu Zhi did not get up immediately. Instead, she turned her head and looked at Zhou Chang and Xu Zhen, still kneeling.

"Thank you, Prime Minister Xu, and Doctor Zhou for speaking out for justice. I will never forget this!"

Lu Zhi was very grateful to the two of them. Although Xu Zhen did not object later, she was sure that the prince was actually protesting before.

"Queen, please stand up quickly." The two men were flattered and quickly helped her up.

Even though Xu Zhen was prepared, she was still a little surprised.

After all, she was the queen, and it was inappropriate for her to kneel down to her subjects. This shows how cunning Lu Zhi was.

(End of this chapter)