Joy of Life: I am a Han Dynasty succubus, and I rebel from the beginning

Chapter 420: Strengthen the vassal states to strengthen their ambitions, weaken the vassal states to reduce their power
Yang Jian wrote the letter in tears, which caused everyone to reflect.

If we conquer overseas territories, there will be no benefits, and we will have to spend a lot of silver, grain and soldiers every year to maintain our rule.

In addition to satisfying the emperor's ambition, there are also fiefs for nobles with military merit.

Is there any benefit to the entire Han Dynasty?

Liu Che had a blank expression on his face and stared at Yang Jian coldly.

"Are you finished?"

"That's it. You can go now. You are no longer the Minister of Revenue, and you don't have any title."

"The affairs of the world depend on me and my ministers, not on a common person like you."

Yang Jian was filled with grief and anger, his face changing from gloomy to bright.

Still, a few friendly ministers could not help but step forward to persuade Yang Jian to leave by dragging him away.

Liu Che gently stroked the voting list of military nobles and glanced at the names of his opponents.

When meeting the Liu clan members, Liu Che's eyes became slightly more serious.

On a carriage outside Kyoto City, Yang Jian, accompanied by several Hu slaves, looked deeply at the city gate and prepared to return to Shangjing City.

Although his fiefdom was taken away from him, his Yang family still had great influence in Shangjing City.

"Lord Yang, His Majesty is waiting for you in Shazhou."

Several eunuchs with feminine faces came over, stuffed Yang Jian into the carriage without saying a word, and rushed towards Shazhou City.

Yang Jian was a little flustered at first, but soon calmed down.

Liu Che held the wine glass, looked at the river in Shazhou City, and couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.

"With such a vast country, if an emperor cannot achieve great things, how can he stay on the throne safely?"

Yang Jian, dressed in plain clothes, remained silent.

"You have a very good personal relationship with King Wu Liu. Did you negotiate King Wu's behavior to start the meeting of military nobles this time, or did he instruct you to do so?"

Speaking of this, Liu Che's heroic face was filled with murderous intent.

After getting rid of the great threat from the northern aristocratic families, the Han Dynasty had forgotten that there was also an enemy named Dongyi City.

During the reign of Emperor Gao, Dongyi City was the number one city in the world, with a prosperous economy, abundant population and convenient transportation.

Relying on the geographical advantage, it can also establish its own territory.

Therefore, Emperor Gao promised Dongyi City a certain degree of autonomy, and also appointed his eldest son Liu Fei as King of Wu, with a population of one million.

When Yang Jian heard what Liu Che said, he became so angry that his face turned red and he shouted loudly.

"Your Majesty, do you not trust Yang's loyalty?"

"In that case, I will write a letter and all the people in the Yang family will commit suicide to express their gratitude to the Emperor Gao for his kindness."

Yang has always been like this, always loyal to the emperor and loyal to whoever is the emperor.

He assisted two generations of emperors, Emperor Gao and Emperor Hui.

Liu Che immediately changed his expression and put on an apologetic smile.

"This is my mistake. How can I let the loyalty be disappointed?"

"But King Wu Liu Jiao thinks he is the eldest of the clan and always calls me a brat. He has an army of 100,000, and I have to worry about him!"

Yang Jian's angry expression slowly faded away, and he looked at Liu Che with a complicated expression.

"Your Majesty, you look a lot like the Emperor Gao, but you are not the Emperor Gao after all."

Liu Che fell silent, then spoke softly,
"There are only a few emperors like Emperor Gao, who never doubt others, can tell loyalty from treachery at a glance, and are good at employing people."

Yang Jian shook his head, extremely sincere.

"Your Majesty, that's not the case! We, the Yang family, were among the first batch of ministers to follow Emperor Gao, and our grandfather kept detailed records of him."

"Emperor Gao was able to rule the country not only because of this, but he also often insulted others, beat his subordinates and sometimes was unclear about rewards and punishments and was indecisive."

This was the first time Liu Che heard these words, and he couldn't help but become interested.

"Everyone in the world praises Emperor Gao as a god, otherwise he would not have been able to conquer the world as a commoner."

"You said this, isn't it the work of a mediocre master?"

Yang Jian shook his head vigorously, his expression showing an unprecedented fanaticism.

"Your Majesty, that's not the case! Many times, the Emperor only needs to stand there, and countless people will follow his lead." "Heroes don't have to worry about their achievements being too great for the Emperor, enemies don't have to worry about their descendants being extinct, and soldiers don't have to worry about their silver and grain being withheld."

"The people also spontaneously followed the Emperor Gao because they believed that he would allow them to have enough food and a peaceful life."

"He only needs to stand there, and we will be willing to serve as his lackeys."

Liu Che was absent-minded, he was missing his great-grandfather.

Thousands of people have thousands of faces, and Liu Hong taught him the days.

Liu Che was impressed by Liu Hong's erudition and broad-mindedness, but he did not expect that in the eyes of the military nobles, Emperor Gao was like this.

"Go! Let your children join the army. The title of Shangjing Hou is gone. As long as your children have military merits, they can also get the title."

Liu Che waved his hand, looking a little lonely.

Yang Jian hesitated for a while and bowed three times to Liu Che.

"Your Majesty, take care of your dragon body."

"I still do not recommend that Your Majesty send a large army to conquer overseas. The army and the nobles with military merits have all gone overseas. The clan members are powerful, so who will guarantee your throne?"

Liu Che just sat in the chair, his eyes blank.

Yang Jian sighed, he knew what Liu Che was worried about.

The clan members must be used! If the vassal kings were treated like pigs, a hundred years later, would the Han Dynasty's foundation be protected by outsiders who had no blood relationship with them?
But relatives should not be given important positions, otherwise they will be like King Wu Liu Jiao, who was sharpening his sword.

Just waiting for the country to be empty, or for Liu Che to make a big mistake and seize the throne!
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

Gou Yi, the grandson of Ergouzi, the General of Chariots and Cavalry of the King of Chu, bowed his hands with an imposing manner and a proud look.

After Ergouzi was driven back to his fiefdom by Emperor Wen Liu Heng, he kept cursing Liu Heng in his fiefdom for being mean and ungrateful and not valuing his meritorious officials.

But by that time Liu Heng had already completely grasped power.

Er Gouzi would not mobilize the troops in his fiefdom to rebel against Emperor Gao's children, so he could only gather scholars to scold Liu Heng.

As a result, the illiterate Chu family became the military aristocracy with the highest literary accomplishment.

As for Er Gouzi scolding him, Liu Heng had always been reviewing the memorials with great interest, and would make a comment from time to time.

After a while, the relationship eased.

Liu Che became interested when he saw Gou Yi's confident attitude.

"What's your plan?"

Gou Yi's eyes flickered for a moment, and he took out two memorials from his arms.

"Build up many vassal states to strengthen their aspirations."

"Weaken the princes and reduce their power."

On the one hand, favors were extended to the princes, allowing their descendants to be marquises. This was weakened generation after generation until the title of marquis was abolished when the fiefdom fell below 500 households.

On the one hand, the royal family had to marry into the various princes, and on the other hand, the emperor's close clan members had to be made kings to keep watch over the restless princes.

Liu Che's originally nonchalant expression became solemn, and when he saw the end, he suddenly slapped his thigh.

"You have the talent to be the Prime Minister!"

With this sentence as a guarantee, after Fan Zhongyan retires, Gou Yi, the grandson of the King of Chu, will be the well-deserved prime minister.

Gou Yi was also very excited, and his voice choked with sobs.

After decades, his Chu royal family could finally stop holding noble and idle positions in the court and step into the center of government.

Of course, Gou Yi also has his own selfish motives.

Although he was the legitimate son, he was not the eldest son. After his father died, he could not inherit the title and could only share part of the family property.

After a few generations, his branch would probably become small landlords, with no guarantee of wealth.

Substitute your own heart for the sons of other princes.

Gou Yi didn't think that other people wouldn't have this idea.

As for the seventh or eighth generations later, even the most basic title of Marquis of Wubaihuting cannot be guaranteed.

Who cares? After I die, I won’t care about the flood.

(End of this chapter)