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

This was not what excited Liu Che.

Instead, we were finally able to weaken the great princes and royal families without bloodshed.

Emperor Gao did not take action against his meritorious officials or his descendants.

Empress Sang Wen, Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, and Regent King Liu Chan, none of them had it.

If he, as an emperor, used military force against the princes, wouldn't it be telling the world that he had no tolerance at all?

But it was necessary to reduce the number of fiefs! At the beginning, Emperor Gao was too generous, granting fiefs of two to three thousand households.

It is also called by the names of counties, townships, and counties.

Just take Yang Jian, Marquis of Shangjing, for example. His nominal fief was five or six thousand households, and he had fifteen thousand private soldiers.

But in reality, there are probably tens of thousands of households in the fiefdom, and no one knows how many private soldiers he has.

The country has been recuperating for so many years, and the original fiefdom people have multiplied, so the population will only increase.

What’s more…Liu Che’s eyes flickered.

The Council of Nobles with Military Merit has been a major concern for several generations of emperors.

If the military nobles unite and vote with more than two-thirds of the votes, they can depose the emperor.

It was the ancestral system established by Emperor Gao himself.

Although it is aimed at tyrants and incompetent rulers, if the military nobles unite under the instructions of several great princes, even a wise ruler can be dismissed!

Since Liu Che had no way to change the ancestral system, he decided to muddy the waters.

Military nobles, right? When they conquer overseas, the policy of extending favors will be decentralized.

There will probably be thousands of military nobles in the Han Dynasty. With so many people, even the emperor cannot control them all, let alone the slightly stronger princes.

Liu Che withdrew his thoughts and took a step forward.

"Let's go back to Kyoto."

"Shazhou City, the people of Kyoto are exempted from taxes for one year, and are given wine and meat as gifts."

Gou Yi smiled and obeyed loudly.

Starting from Emperor Gaozu, there was a tradition for Han Dynasty emperors to leave the palace.

You can leave the palace, but you must pay from the royal treasury, and the people along the way must also feel the royal grace.

How does it feel? That's real money, and it's tax-free.

In the long run, the people of the world were eager for the emperor to travel so that they would not have to worry about anything, could drink wine and eat meat, get silver for free, and would not have to pay taxes for a year.

Where can I find such a good thing?

But the emperor was unwilling to go out, and every time he went out, the royal private treasury would shrink visibly.

Increasing taxes was not enough. Successive Han emperors had always reduced taxes and levies, so taxes only decreased and never increased.

If Liu Che did this, the next day nobles with military merits and gentry would probably write to him and accuse him of wanting to be a tyrant like Emperor Qing.
Ministers in the court who opposed sending troops overseas were kicked out.

Countless nobles with military merits led their troops and rushed towards Dongyi City.

Under the pretext of borrowing the port of Dongyi City to advance overseas, they would implement the Emperor's Enfeoffment Order.

"Asshole, bastard!"

"All the ministers in the court are my nephews and nephews. Even the emperor is just a child. Now they are so suspicious of me. Do you think I am planning a rebellion?"

King Liu Jiao of Wu, who was in his sixties, was panting and smashing things in the hall.

The ministers, sons, and concubines of the kingdom trembled in fear and dared not utter a word.

If Liu Jiao didn't want to be emperor, it would be impossible. He was the grandson of Emperor Gao and relied on his own talents.

He forced his father, King Liu Fei, to depose the eldest son and enthrone the youngest son, and he ascended the throne of King of Wu.

But at that time, the Han Dynasty had a clear political situation, the emperors in power were all wise rulers, and the treasury was full, so only some of it was used to attack the grassland.

Liu Jiao was not a fool. He certainly knew that using the power of Dongyi City to confront the entire Han Dynasty would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

So he kept waiting.

As a result, they waited for 500,000 Han troops, more than 30 nobles with military merits, and hundreds of children of meritorious service to pass through the port.

This is nothing.

But the problem is that the emperor wants to make all his children princes.

Liu Jiao glanced over and saw that except for the Crown Prince Liu Neng who looked indignant, the other dozen or so children were all secretly delighted.

At this time, Liu Jiao only hated himself for having so many sons, and was afraid that there would be incompetent kings in the future.

"Guayu mobilizes all the troops in the country to bring charges against the emperor. What do you think?"

Liu Jiao finally calmed down his anger and glanced at all the ministers and princes.

Unexpectedly, these ministers and princes agreed readily and were eager to try.

Liu Jiao looked at the group of people suspiciously.

How come the ministers, who usually scheme against each other, are now united?
This is not the style of this group of people!

The next day, Liu Jiao was tied up from the king's bed, along with the crown prince Liu Neng.

Kneeling outside the Dongyi city, feeling the cold wind, waiting for the arrival of the Han army.

Several leading princes and ministers were whispering to each other, without any sign of shame.

"As a subject and a son, if you don't serve your master loyally, what are you?"

Liu Jiao finally understood what his men were thinking and immediately started cursing.

Unexpectedly, the chief minister smiled contemptuously.

"We are all Han officials, and it is natural for us to be loyal to Your Majesty. As for my father, the royal family is the legitimate son, the eldest of the clans in the world."

"We are just bringing order to chaos!"

These righteous words left Liu Jiao speechless and he almost died of anger.

When Huo Qubing saw King Wu Liu Jiao, especially his disheveled clothes and messy hair, he sneered.

"It is said that the King of Wu has a good reputation, but in fact he is just a person obsessed with profit. Take him to Kyoto and wait for your Majesty's decision."

The Han army did not even look at the King of Wu and his son who had failed in their rebellion, and set off directly, relying on steam iron ships, to march overseas.

With some of the rough plans drawn up by Liu Che, the army would not be so confused if it were stationed overseas.

Liu Che reviewed memorials in the imperial palace and allowed merchants to build roads and bridges in the Han Dynasty. As for the price, it was just five years of tolls.

The news of Liu Jiao's failed rebellion reached Liu Che's ears.

Liu Che also disdained this and was even a little angry at his lack of fighting spirit.

"If you want to rebel, then you rebel. You want everyone in the fief to know about it. You have lived a lot of life in vain."

Queen Wei came rushing over with medicine and was a little hesitant when she heard Liu Che's words.

"Then your majesty, how should we deal with the King of Wu and his son?"

Liu Che was stunned. According to the law, of course, rebels should be executed.

However, the King of Wu is his uncle, and now most of the Han army is overseas, so he still has to take into account public opinion.

"Demote them to commoners and grant them several dozen acres of land to cultivate near Kyoto."

"As for the princes of Wu who have made contributions this time, they will be granted the title of king, and the ministers will be granted the title of marquis."

"The Dongyi City of Wu State, which has more than 200,000 households, can be eliminated today."

Severity, coldness, and a touch of tenderness: this was Liu Che's governing philosophy.

Reward if you have made contributions, punish if you have not.

The Han Dynasty has its own laws. Instead of living in fear and trying to please him every day, it would be better for ministers to win Liu Che's respect with their abilities, just like Huo Qubing did.

Queen Wei nodded slightly and told the eunuch to arrange the matter.

The Han Dynasty didn't know why, maybe it was fate, but the dynasty had been around for almost a hundred years, and there had not been a single incompetent ruler.

Even Emperor Jing only had a good reputation among the people, and he destroyed the political unwritten rules and alienated the military nobles.

Emperor Jing did a pretty good job in other aspects as well.

Liu Che took a sip of the medicine and looked at Queen Wei with a much tenderer look.

Queen Wei blushed slightly.

Liu Che had been in power for six or seven years, but he had no offspring, which caused some of his relatives to have doubts.

"It will definitely be possible today!"

Liu Che laughed loudly, picked up Wei and walked towards the bedroom.

As for the King of Wu and his son, they are quite old and have never learned farming, so they might starve to death in Kyoto.

This point was not taken into consideration by Liu Che. If he heard it, he might even scold him angrily.

Rebellion, governing the country, winning people's hearts, these things are not possible, and farming is not possible either.

Living is a waste of food, it is better to die. (End of this chapter)