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

Chapter 48: Liu Che's Ambition

"Boom boom boom!"

Xu Zhen, who was sleeping under the peach forest, slowly woke up. It seemed that something big had happened again.

He took a quick glance using the "Sky Eye" function and knew what stage the big man was in now.

"Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che ascended the throne? That is indeed a big deal."

Xu Gong said thoughtfully that according to the trajectory, many major historical events, such as the conquest of the Huns, the annexation of the Baiyue, the respect for Confucianism, and the witchcraft disaster, would happen.

If one is not careful, an accident may happen, so it is normal for the system to remind him.

Then he began to watch closely.

.........

Rumble!
Violent thunder flashed in the sky, heavy rain poured down, and a tall figure stood in the darkness.

His face was full of determination, and he seemed completely unwilling to yield to the people inside.

"Your Majesty, please come in soon. We can talk about anything." Queen Mother Wang Zhi pulled him with a worried look on her face. As a mother, how could she want her son to be caught in such a heavy rain? What's more, this was the emperor, the supreme ruler. It was even more inappropriate.

"As long as the Empress Dowager wants to kill Zhou Yafu, I will not return the favor!" Liu Che's tone was very decisive. If an emperor cannot even protect a minister who supports him, then what qualifications does this person have to be a monarch?
If we cannot even guarantee the safety of our own subjects, how can we guarantee the safety of the people of the world?

"Hmph..." A cold snort came from inside. Grand Empress Dowager Dou Yifang did not intend to give up: "This Zhou Yafu is arrogant and rebellious, and privately discussed the affairs of the royal family. Shouldn't he be killed?"

"Your Majesty is wrong! What the Princess is trying to do is against the rules. How can the funeral of Prince Liang be held in the same manner as that of the Emperor? Even Grand Tutor Xu Zhen, who helped the Han Dynasty to save its life, is not allowed to do so."

"My grandson thought that Zhou Yafu's advice was what a loyal minister did! If the Empress Dowager kills him at will today, wouldn't it chill the hearts of the world's talented people? Zhou Yafu must not be touched!"

Liu Che's tone was very firm, because this was his own man. Now the Empress Dowager was in control of the government, and he didn't have many people he could use. If he let him go this time, who would dare to work for him in the future?

Zhou Yafu was also very miserable. He was indeed very powerful and was one of the most powerful people under the prime minister. But the problem was that he did not have the military merit of quelling the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms. Guarding Chang'an alone was not enough to compete with the empress dowager. Moreover, he was Xu Gong's solid ally and the emperor's confidant.

His advice this time angered the Princess Chang and Dou Yifang. In addition, Xu Gong was leading troops in Taiyuan, so he naturally became the target of attack.

In fact, Zhou Yafu's biggest problem was not this, but his advocacy of the New Deal! This was the most fundamental problem, which offended the interests of the old meritorious officials and also annoyed Dou Yifang, who loved Huang-Lao doctrine.

The death of this man would certainly greatly weaken the power of Prime Minister Xu Gong, the voice of the new policy would also decrease, and Liu Che's control over the government would also decrease. Therefore, he was in great danger as he was facing the gun.

Now that he has been arrested and imprisoned, he will probably be seriously injured if he doesn't die.

"Alas...child, you are still young and cannot distinguish between loyalty and treachery."

"Grandmother, please don't treat me like a child. I know very well what is loyal and what is treacherous in this court! Prime Minister Xu and General Zhou are both loyal ministers. On the contrary, Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingzhai, whom Grandmother uses, are the real treacherous ministers!"

Although Liu Che was young, he had a very strong character and would not easily change his mind once he made up his mind about something.

The main supporters of the new policies in the court now are the Xu family. However, the new policies advocated by the Xu family are different from those advocated by Dong Zhongshu. They do not agree with the supremacy of Confucianism.

"Xu Gong took control of the government, breaking the tradition of several generations of emperors of the Han Dynasty. Was he doing this for Your Majesty? No, he was doing it for himself! Or rather, for his family!"

Dou Yifang walked out of the palace angrily. She was blind so her eyes were dull and she was supported by the maids. Liu Che also stood up and said, "Then I dare to ask, am I also a traitor for supporting the new policy?"

"You...you are so outrageous!" Dou Yifang glared at the other person. She was so angry that her body couldn't stop shaking and she was a little breathless.

"Mother..." Wang Zhaojun hurried over to support her.

Liu Che, who was standing by, felt a little guilty and knelt down again, letting himself get wet in the rain. Although he was dissatisfied with Dou Yifang's dictatorship, the Han Dynasty ruled the world with loyalty and filial piety, and the status of the Empress Dowager was almost absolute authority, and no one dared to challenge it.

Of course, if I must say something, there is one more person...

"See the prime minister."

"Meet Prime Minister Xu."

As the palace maids and eunuchs saluted, heavy footsteps accompanied by heavy rain spread throughout the entire palace, and everyone held their breath.

Unexpectedly, Xu Gong came back early! In fact, Dou Yifang and others dared to touch Zhou Yafu because Xu Gong was not there, otherwise she would not be able to exercise absolute power, not to mention that this matter was not enough to kill an important official of the dynasty.

"What does your Majesty mean? Just go back." Xu Gong stood beside Liu Che. His eagle eyes seemed to hide thousands of stars, which made people feel daunted.

"Teacher, am I a cowardly emperor who can't even protect my own ministers?" Liu Che said self-deprecatingly.

"Your Majesty is still young and has no ability to handle the country, so the Empress Dowager is temporarily taking over the government. What does this mean? The Holy King cannot judge success or failure by a short period of time." Xu Gong comforted him with a few words. Now that Liu Che has not yet taken power, it is normal for him to be suppressed by the Empress Dowager.

"What the teacher taught me is that my character still needs to be tempered." Liu Che stood up with his help.

Xu Gong looked at Dou Yifang again and bowed: "I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I came back in a hurry and didn't have time to inform you. I hope you can forgive me."

In response, she just looked at him coldly and did not reply.

"I already know what happened. Zhou Yafu defied heaven. His crime is unforgivable. The Empress Dowager would not be too harsh even if she cut him into pieces or tore him apart."

Xu Gong was very humble. After all, she was the mother of the late emperor, and he should give her all the courtesy she deserved.

Suddenly, he changed the subject: "But Zhou Yafu is the current Grand Commandant. He had made great contributions in defending Chang'an and pacifying Wu and Chu. Moreover, he was an important minister entrusted by the previous emperor and a veteran of three dynasties. Killing him would be disheartening."

"I have a compromise. We can demote him to the position of governor of Shangdang and general of Zhenbei, and make him the commander of the frontier counties and prefectures, responsible for defending against the Xiongnu invasion. This will allow him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence. This will not only solve the problem of Xiongnu harassment, but also stop the people from complaining."

Dou Yifang glanced at Xu Gong. She knew that it was just a demotion in name only and a promotion in reality. He would be transferred back sooner or later after the storm died down. His military achievements would be even more substantial and he would have direct control of the military power.

But there was no better way. It was not wise to confront Xu Gong head-on, and in fact, she was unreasonable and it did not stand up to scrutiny. It was impossible to kill an important official of the dynasty for such a small matter. In fact, Dou Yifang just wanted to demote him to an insignificant prefect or prime minister at most.

Although going to Shangdang is not very safe, at least it can temporarily weaken Xu's influence in the court and thus prevent the new policy, which is not bad.

"Then let's do as Prime Minister Xu said."

In the end, everyone took a step back, and Zhou Yafu stayed away from government affairs to avoid the spotlight temporarily, and also accumulated military merits for the future.

(End of this chapter)