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

Chapter 113 Confucian Parade
Chen Nian slowly closed his eyes, his face a little gloomy, and fell into deep thought.

What is this? Famines continue to occur in various parts of the country, and Mars is dim. This is not because of treacherous ministers, nor is it because the emperor is incompetent, building large-scale projects, and pursuing pleasure.

The fundamental reason is that he has been incompetent in governing the country for many years!
Has he become incompetent in governing the country over the years?

This was the first time that the prime minister expressed dissatisfaction and doubt towards the big man whom he regarded as his spiritual support. Didn't His Majesty want him to commit suicide to apologize?

What on earth did he do wrong!
Chen Nian was shouting in his heart. He didn't know why this happened. He had been working diligently for many years, dedicating his life to the Han Dynasty, working hard and hardly slacking off for a single day.

In the end, the fate that awaited him was that the bow was put away after the bird was killed and the dog was cooked after the rabbit died!

There is another point that Chen Nian does not understand. He really cannot figure out why the emperor wanted to kill him. Is there any reason?

Lü Buwei of the Qin Dynasty was sentenced to death because he had great power and acted arrogantly. He was even involved in the Lao Ai Rebellion, which was beyond the scope of a subject.

Immortality is simply unjust.

Needless to say, Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin during the reign of Emperor Gaodi, chose not to send troops when the monarch was in danger, sat on the mountain and watched the fight between two tigers, and even used this as an opportunity to threaten to be named the fake King of Qi, which was a heinous act of treason.

After defeating the powerful Chu, he rebelled repeatedly, and was finally lured and killed by Empress Lu and Jinghou Xu Zhen.

But what did I do wrong? Or was there any need to kill him?

He considered himself a loyal and capable minister in the traditional sense. He had never done anything presumptuous and had always performed his duties as a minister. He did not have much real power, only the power to govern the country, and that was all.

Things like core military power, the power to select filial and honest people, and the power to appoint and dismiss officials had nothing to do with him.

If Your Majesty wants to kill Wang Feng, the powerful minister, then I believe no one in the world will say anything. Chen Nian doesn't understand, what reason do they have to kill him?
Chen Nian probably never dreamed that the reason Liu Ao killed was simply the slander of a Taoist priest, which had no basis at all.

Just with one sentence, a capable minister was sentenced to death.

How absurd.

"I accept the order and thank Your Majesty for your grace." Chen Nian smiled bitterly and took the death warrant with trembling hands.

Looking at the words symbolizing death, everyone felt despair.

But if the king wants his subject to die, the subject must die. Your Majesty has already said so, so what reason does he have not to commit suicide?
"Alas... Prime Minister Chen, please take care of yourself. You are a gentleman, but it's a pity... forget it." The eunuch swallowed the words back when they were on the tip of his tongue.

This is extremely treasonous. If it gets to your Majesty's ears, I will die.

"Hahaha... well, well, I have no attachment to this corrupt and decadent world. I just want to go see my teacher, Emperor Yuan, and the legendary and extremely wise Emperor Gao, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Xuan."

Chen Nian also came to terms with it. The big man had been suffering from a long-standing illness. In other words, he was incurable and his survival would only add to his troubles.

It would be better to die.

The eunuch bowed deeply and left.

"Prime Minister Xu, I have to break my promise today. I'll leave first." Chen Nian felt that there were four people he felt most sorry for: his parents who raised him, Wang Si who taught him, and Xu Bo who recognized and supported him!

He once swore to Xu Bo that they would work together to support the Han Dynasty and save this hopeless world.

But now it seems that it can't be done.

Chen Nian finally left a suicide note for Xu Bo, and then drew the sword from the scabbard.

The blue sword seemed particularly dazzling, as if there was a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Is this what death feels like? It's indeed not very comfortable. It seems that I am also a coward." Chen Nian smiled, forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart, and closed his eyes tightly.

With a crisp sound, this famous prime minister who dedicated his life to the Han Dynasty died.

The unclear death makes people sigh.

.........

Chen Nian's death shocked the whole world. You know, the prime minister system of the Han Dynasty has undergone tremendous changes. Before Emperor Kang, except for the son of Xu, the prime minister's term of office was generally a few years.

But since Emperor Kang, there have been many "centenary prime ministers" who have served as such for their entire lives. In the past, only the founding heroes Xiao He and Cao Shen, as well as the saintly teacher Xu Gong, had this honor. Apart from them, no one else was qualified.

After Emperor Kang, Xu Ye had already done it, and served as prime minister for more than 20 years! Extremely terrifying.

The same was true of Wang Si, who came later. Chen Nian was no exception. He had been prime minister for more than ten years, and his virtue and integrity were known throughout the world.

Why would His Majesty want to kill him? There is absolutely no reason. Unless he is a madman, it is impossible for him to do such a thing to dig his own grave.

"Absurd, absurd, it's really absurd!"

At the Imperial Academy, a great scholar in a long gown pointed at the sky and cursed angrily, quoting various scriptures at will.

It can be said to be a very high level of swearing.

"Humph, your Majesty is far inferior to Emperor Kang and Emperor Xuan. Not to mention these two, even Emperor Yuan, who appointed Shi Xian's eunuch party, is much better than him!"

"Such a person has stolen the great treasure for many years. How sad! How sad! This is the misfortune of our Han Dynasty and the shame of the people!"

Another great scholar was also very angry. He thought that it was barely understandable for His Majesty to kill Wang Feng. After all, Emperor Xuan had done the same thing in the past and forced the Imperial Academy Master Xu Ru to death.

But its fundamental purpose was to fight for power, and it later made achievements.

His Majesty's reason was too far-fetched and absurd. He killed an important official just because of the slander of an alchemist!
Such a scene has happened countless times in the Imperial College. Not only doctors, but even ordinary students can still curse the emperor for his inaction here.

Because no one dared to intervene. These great scholars controlled the power to promote and appoint officials and controlled public opinion. Even the emperor did not dare to do so.

Otherwise, he would have been criticized a lot. Emperor Wu was criticized a lot in his time, but because he supported the establishment of Imperial College, he was well evaluated in history books.

"Alas... The world is like this, and we are powerless to do anything. This really brings shame to the Saint Master! How dare we call ourselves Saint Master's disciples?"

A gray-haired doctor from the Imperial College sighed. Their Confucian Academy has always claimed to be the orthodox Imperial College and the eldest disciple of the Saint Master.

He has received the true teachings of the Holy Master.

But it is really unacceptable that such treacherous ministers are causing chaos, the emperor is incompetent, and capable ministers are humiliated, but nothing is done at all!

"Yes, if we remain silent, we would be unworthy of being disciples of the Holy Master! We must scold the Emperor to wake him up!"

"Parade and bloody protest!" The doctor was quite radical. He bit his finger and smeared the blood on his face, his face full of anger.

"Yes, bloody remonstrance!"

"Blood remonstrance!"

"Blood remonstrance!"

Everyone was very excited. They had reached the limit of their patience. His Majesty had really gone too far!
Chen Nian had always been a great scholar in the Imperial Academy and had many students. Most of the doctors in the Imperial Academy were his close friends. This persecution was the last straw that broke the camel's back!
In fact, some people wanted to do this a long time ago, but because of Xu Bo, they didn't go.

This time, we must not keep silent! The situation at the Imperial College is in full swing.

In Weiyang Palace, Liu Ao was very happy after learning that Chen Nian committed suicide. He believed that an important minister had been sacrificed to heaven in his place, so he would not have to die and could live a long life!

"Your Majesty, I congratulate you on your long life." The beautiful Zhao Feiyan next to her hurriedly congratulated him.

"Your Majesty, I hope you can live a hundred years so that you can always be with me." Zhao Hede also laughed so hard that her body shook.

Chen Nian had always been at odds with the sisters and had been impeaching them all the time, but they had no idea what to do with this young man.

Now, facing the decree of His Majesty, he will die even if he is fearless.

Perhaps no one could understand Chen Nian's feeling of shattered faith, as if a devout Christian saw God drinking, enjoying pleasure, and being extremely promiscuous.

Faith collapsed in an instant.

"Hahaha... Of course, of course, I will live to be a hundred years old, and you will live to be a hundred years old too!" Liu Ao was very happy and hugged his two beloved concubines excitedly.

He had considered the impact on the Imperial College. If the Confucian Academy were to march collectively, it would indeed be impossible to control. But didn't he still have Prime Minister Xu?

As long as he holds up the sky, it won't fall. If things really don't work, just quote a few words of Xu Gong and everything will be solved. The biggest weakness of these self-righteous Confucian scholars is Xu Gong!

"I will dance for Your Majesty to congratulate our great Han Dynasty for restoring order." Zhao Feiyan smiled charmingly, her body was soft and very attractive.

Liu Ao watched his beloved concubine dancing in front of him with great interest. The smile on his face never faded. Her twisting waist was like a fairy in the sky, making people salivate.

Coupled with the equally stunningly beautiful Zhao Hede in his arms, it was simply the ultimate enjoyment.

It is no wonder that Liu Ao ignored the affairs of state and doted on her excessively. She was truly a disaster for the country and the people. She was so beautiful that any normal man would remain indifferent.

The spring night is short and the sun is rising. From now on, the king will not go to court early!
This was Liu Ao's psychological activity. Since the government had been completely controlled by Wang Feng anyway, he simply stopped struggling and focused on accompanying his beloved concubine.

Why do we have to suffer so much?

In fact, Liu Ao’s ability was not bad. Although he failed to maintain checks and balances in his early years, he was still able to control Wang Feng and prevent him from becoming too rampant.

But he is a person who is too greedy for pleasure. Once he encounters setbacks, he will want to give up. This kind of life is pretty good, isn't it?

It's a pity that he is the emperor. How can it be enough for him to just eat, drink and have fun every day?

Just then, a eunuch came in trotting, with a panicked look on his face.

"Your Majesty, something bad has happened, something bad has happened..."

"Slow down." Liu Ao raised his hand impatiently and waited until Zhao Feiyan finished dancing and returned to his arms before allowing the eunuch to speak.

"Why are you so alarmed?"

"Your Majesty, those people from the Imperial Academy...they are marching outside, saying they want Your Majesty to abdicate and let someone else take over!"

The eunuch stuttered a little and his voice trembled.

"What!" As expected, Liu Ao widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Speak clearly, speak clearly quickly, these traitors, how dare they do this? This world is still mine, and the country is still mine!"

The eunuch hesitated for a moment, but still presented the bamboo slips with the words engraved on them.

Liu Ao's face turned increasingly green, and he angrily threw her to the ground, pushed the concubine next to him away, and stood up.

"Rebellion, rebellion, everyone is rebelling!" he roared hysterically.

The general meaning of the inscription on the bamboo slips is: "In the past, Hu Hai of Qin was tyrannical and despicable, and there was no one in the Qin family. Gaozu rose from a commoner to save the world. The current emperor is as tyrannical as Jie of Xia and as cruel as Zhou of Shang. He kills loyal people and indulges Bao Si like King You of Zhou. His crimes are extremely serious and God cannot be deceived. He should abdicate and give the throne to the crown prince to save the people of the world..."

In short, it was a long manifesto that severely criticized Liu Ao, calling him the ultimate tyrant who "combined the strengths of all schools of thought."

People like Hu Hai and Ying Zheng were considered pretty good in front of him. Liu Ao should be at the same table with Xia Jie and Shang Zhou.

So it is understandable that he was so angry, no emperor could remain indifferent.

The pen of a writer can kill people, and he will be infamous forever...

"Hoo, hoo, a bunch of rebels, rebels!" Liu Ao yelled, still very angry, "Emperor Wu didn't create the Imperial College to let them rebel! Xu Gong, the Prime Minister, once said, 'A gentleman is a friend but not a party'. Do these people have the appearance of gentlemen? Aren't they just great traitors!"

The young eunuch was trembling on the side. He had known that His Majesty would react like this. He hoped that he would not get angry and chop himself to death!

"Kill, kill! Tell Wang Feng to kill them all!" Liu Ao was so angry that he no longer cared about his reputation or the impact of anything.

If this manifesto gets out, will I still have any reputation? I will definitely be a tyrant on par with King Zhou!

"Yes, I'll go right away." The young eunuch felt relieved and crawled away.

Zhao Hede said softly, "Your Majesty, calm down. They are just a bunch of corrupt scholars. They will be fine after a little beating."

Liu Ao calmed down and sat on the ground. "No, you don't understand these people. If I really kill them, that would be what they want."

What do literati care about most? Reputation! Can you kill them all?

Their death could bring about the revival of Confucianism! These Confucian scholars could definitely do it!
.........

The imperial edict was quickly delivered to Wang Feng’s General’s Mansion. After all, it was an order issued by the emperor in a furious state, and it had to be delivered urgently over 800 miles.

General Wang Feng certainly couldn't do as he was told after receiving the imperial edict, as this was a desperate move.

If he really suppressed it, he would be infamous forever and it would be time to replace someone else. Wang Feng's base was originally composed of Confucian scholars, so if he did that, he would be close to death.

Liu Ao had to bear the infamy himself. Wang Feng was powerless. Unless he could persuade Xu Bo, it would be useless as no minister would dare to stop him.

"Brother, should we intervene?" Wang Jia, one of the five marquises of the Wang family, asked in a deep voice.

"Care? What care? Your Majesty is wrong to kill loyal people. Why should we go against public opinion? Just say I'm sick."

Wang Feng sneered and decisively chose to refuse.

In Weiyang Palace.

When Liu Ao found out, he was furious. He said, "I gave you so much power, but you took the benefits but didn't do anything. You are still a relative of the emperor! If anything happens to me, you will not be able to survive."

But Wang Feng refused, and he had no choice but to continue issuing decrees to Jinghou Mansion. In the past, Xu Bo had never been vague.

Unfortunately, I am destined to be disappointed this time.

(End of this chapter)