Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 391 Lightning Strikes the King of Huainan! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Upon hearing Liu Che's question, Liu An stopped crying, wiped away his tears with his robe, and asked:
"Can you really leave me a decent posthumous reputation?"

Liu Che nodded:

"I plan to rename your book 'Wild Geese,' which you presented to the court, to 'Huainanzi,' as a reward for your work. What do you think?"

In ancient times, "子" was an honorific title, and only people who had achieved a certain level of success could be called "子," such as Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi. Now, hearing that his own honorific title could also include "子," Liu An was completely convinced.

He sat on the threshold, looked up at Liu Che, and asked:

"That ice cream... right? Can I have another one?"

Liu Che waved his hand at Huo Qubing:

"Go, get two more, I'll eat with my uncle."

Soon, the two were sitting side by side at the palace gate, eating ice cream together, looking at the wind turbines in the courtyard, and talking about their secret contact with court officials.

However, after listening for a while, Liu Che discovered that all those who corresponded with Liu An were lowly sycophants, none of them of any importance, let alone the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and none of them even replied to Liu An's letters.

"Uncle, what are you thinking? You're gathering a bunch of nobodies and you want to rebel? If our Liu family were like you, we wouldn't be able to hold onto this empire."

Liu An sighed:

“Since my father died, this empire has been out of my family’s reach… By the way, my younger brother Liu Ci and your nephew Liu Jian are also recruiting soldiers and preparing to rebel. If you’re bored, you can arrest them.”

Liu An's father was Liu Chang, the younger brother of Emperor Wen of Han. Liu Chang was arrogant, unreasonable, rude and domineering. He was eventually stripped of his title for treason and committed suicide during his exile.

Liu Chang had four sons, all of whom were enfeoffed as marquises by Emperor Wen of Han. After Emperor Jing ascended the throne, Liu An inherited Liu Chang's title and became the King of Huainan, while his younger brother Liu Ci became the King of Hengshan.

During the Han Dynasty, Hengshan referred to Tianzhu Mountain in eastern Hubei. Hengshan Kingdom was adjacent to Huainan Kingdom, which allowed the two brothers, Liu An and Liu Ci, to meet frequently. However, both brothers actively plotted rebellion.

However, both brothers were ambitious but incompetent, thinking that rebellion was simply a matter of bestowing a bunch of official titles. Historically, not long after Liu An's rebellion, Liu Ci was reported for treason, and then the whole family reported each other. Emperor Wu of Han was so annoyed that he simply executed them all at once. Hengshan Kingdom was renamed Hengshan Commandery, and soon after, it was renamed Lujiang Commandery, completely erasing any trace of the King of Hengshan.

As for Liu Jian, he was Liu Che's elder brother and the son of Liu Fei, the Prince of Jiangdu.

Liu Jian is similar to Liu Dan, the crown prince of Zhao. They are both keen on colluding with their own family members, whether it's stepmothers, concubines, sisters, or relatives. As long as Liu Jian sets his sights on a woman, she can't escape his grasp.

After Liu Fei's death, on the day of the vigil, Liu Jian engaged in close combat with a group of Liu Fei's favorite concubines in the mourning hall, and even his own sister who had returned home for the funeral was not spared.

Besides his teddy bear-like traits, Liu Jian also enjoys seeking thrills, often throwing people into lakes and watching them drown. He is also keen on conducting cross-species experiments; the mule is one of the things he created.

Historically, after Liu An and Liu Ci's rebellion failed, Liu Jian also joined the rebellion, but he was arrested in the early stages and committed suicide before being tried. The Jiangdu Marquisate was incorporated into the Han Dynasty and became Guangling Commandery.

Hearing Liu An tell him these things, Liu Che sighed:

"The imperial clan is getting more and more corrupt. I may kill a batch of them, but your son Liu Buhai will be spared so that your lineage will not end."

Liu An bowed to him:
"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After finishing the ice cream, Liu Che gave Liu An a demonstration with a drone, letting him experience this cross-dimensional weapon of war. The more Liu An watched, the more uneasy he felt.
"Your Majesty, please stop using your supernatural powers and get to work!"

Looking at these wonderful things is more painful than killing Liu An.

Liu Che took out the token and introduced it carefully:

"This is a black iron token, which is lower in level than Qu Bing's, but it can still summon divine thunder. Farewell, Imperial Uncle."

After speaking, he stood up, bowed to Liu An, and slowly raised the token in his hand.

A bolt of lightning struck from the sky, turning Liu An, who was sitting on the threshold, into a charred corpse, and the King of Huainan bid farewell to this world forever.

Liu Che said to Huo Qubing:

"You heard what Liu An just said, right? Arrange for people to deal with Liu Ci, the King of Hengshan, and Liu Jian, the King of Jiangdu. Just let them commit suicide out of guilt. There's no need to escort them to Chang'an anymore; it's too much trouble."

Huo Qubing suggested:

“An Guo Shao Ji has already pledged his loyalty to the token, and is willing to give his life for the Han Dynasty at any time.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Che immediately said:

"Then let him serve as the deputy envoy, accompanying the Imperial Censor to these two countries. After the kings and nobles are executed, Hengshan will be renamed Lujiang, and Jiangdu will be renamed Guangling... The Han Dynasty has been at war for years, it's time to reclaim some territory."

Huo Qubing wrote it down, raised his wrist to check the time on his tactical watch, and said:

“I plan to visit my master. If Your Majesty needs anything, I can bring it along.”

Liu Che thought for a moment and said:
"Bring back some of those sweet sorghum and alfalfa seeds I mentioned last time. I'll have people start planting them. You can also bring back any farming techniques, books, and the like. Our Han Dynasty is really lacking these things right now."

After Huo Qubing agreed, he left the palace and went to the Marquis of Champion's residence that Liu Che had prepared for him. He took a bath, changed into a Taoist robe, picked up his whisk, and excitedly went to Hunyuan Palace to see Zhou Yi: "Master, I have just returned to Chang'an today."

After so many days away, Huo Qubing suddenly noticed that the weather here had gotten colder. Last time he came, he only needed to wear a single layer of clothing, but this time he felt chilly.

Zhou Yi pointed to his room and said:

"There's a set of thermal underwear that's still unopened in the closet. Put it on so you don't catch a cold."

Huo Qubing went inside, changed his clothes, and told Zhou Yi about what he had seen and heard along the way, as well as the story of how Liu An was killed by a sword.

Zhou Yi also mentioned the recent developments at Hunyuan Palace. Upon hearing that Manchu Tartars had come to Hunyuan Palace to cause trouble, Huo Qubing slapped his thigh. He had already missed several battles to defend Hunyuan Palace and hoped to catch up next time to earn some merit.

When he heard that Liu Che wanted seeds, Zhou Yi thought that alfalfa seeds might have to be bought online, but sweet sorghum seeds didn't need to be bought, as the autumn harvest had just ended and sweet sorghum seeds were easy to buy.

He called Brother Wang and said he wanted to use sweet sorghum seeds for a ritual. In less than ten minutes, Brother Wang helped him arrange for two thousand catties of sweet sorghum seeds, which were delivered to Hunyuan Palace that afternoon.

Two thousand catties may not seem like much, but after harvesting the grain, the area that can be planted becomes quite substantial.

Zhou Yi said to Huo Qubing:

"This kind of feed requires silage. I'll get you some relevant books and equipment so you can take them back and have the officials of the Han Dynasty study them."

Huo Qubing had finally come all this way, so he had to eat something good. After chatting with him, Zhou Yi drove to town to buy a fat goose, slaughtered it, and stewed it in an iron pot in the yard.

Although it hasn't snowed yet, we still have to make sure to have braised goose in an iron pot.

Zhou Yi inquired about Huo Guang. Huo Qubing planned to return to Pingyang County this time, take his younger brother back to Chang'an, and live in the Marquis of Champion's mansion, where he would be exposed to the powerful and influential people of the Han Dynasty from a young age.

The Book of Changes suggests:
"Let Huo Guang get to know the Crown Prince more. Your brother will be Liu Ju's right-hand man in the future, so they need to get to know each other from a young age."

This time, there's no Liu Fuling, no witchcraft scandal, and none of the messy things that happened in Liu Che's later years. Let's see how high Liu Ju can lead the Han Dynasty.

In the afternoon, Wang Ge delivered sweet sorghum seeds and a truckload of unsold wheat seeds from this year, which Huo Qubing transported all to Emperor Wu's world, much to Liu Che's delight.

“I read in the book the immortal gave me that autumn plowing is better than spring plowing, so I’ll try it this year. After autumn plowing, I’ll plant winter wheat to see if the harvest can be increased next year. If it is, I’ll promote it throughout the entire Han Dynasty.”

Huo Qubing suggested that he stay at his father's house in Pingyang County for a few days, and wait for Wei Qing's army to return. He then took Huo Guang with him and returned to Chang'an with the army.

Liu Che was worried that Huo Qubing would be wronged:

"How about we bring the emperor's entourage to bolster your prestige?"

Huo Qubing refused:

"No need. I am a disciple of a deity. If anyone is blind, I don't mind killing a few people in Pingyuan County... By the way, Confucius's carving knife has become my master's magic weapon. It can be used to change the landform of mountains and rivers, but only great Confucian scholars and people with merit can activate it."

Upon hearing the words "great Confucian scholar," Liu Che became interested:

"Bring the carving knife when you have time. I've been unable to determine the quality of several great Confucian scholars in the court. I'll use the carving knife to test their skills and see just how good they really are."

To be able to connect the act of urging a carving knife to testing the quality of a great Confucian scholar, it must be said that Liu Che truly mastered the art of governing people.

On the other side, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, at the Left General's Mansion.

Liu Xin brought Yang Xiong as guests, and Wang Mang, on behalf of his adoptive father Chen Tang, received the two. Crown Prince Liu Ao accompanied them, and Consort Xu and Wang Qiang learned to make dumplings from Chen Tang's wife.

In the living room, Yang Xiong knelt on the couch, intently watching a science education film about the universe playing on television.
"I never imagined that our planet is but a drop in the ocean in the vast universe."

After watching the short 90-minute educational film, Yang Xiong felt as if he had gained a third eye, as if he had lived several lifetimes, and gained a completely new understanding of life, the universe, and so on.

Liu Xin said:

“My mentor doesn’t recommend that we watch documentaries and educational films about the universe. He said that if we watch too much about the universe, we will feel that humanity is insignificant and then we will give up on ourselves. It’s better to focus more on the Earth itself. Hold on a bit, and I’ll take you to watch the documentary ‘Planet Earth’ later so that you can understand our planet in all aspects.”

Historically, Yang Xiong and Liu Xin were old acquaintances, but they did not get along.

Liu Xin was quite pragmatic. When annotating Confucian classics, he liked to include his views on current affairs, which led Yang Xiong to regard him as a utilitarian person.

In Liu Xin's view, Yang Xiong's "Tai Xuan" and "Fa Yan" were a complete waste of effort; no one would even want them as table legs.

The two are now as close as brothers. In the past few days, Liu Xin has taken Yang Xiong to visit many relatives and friends, praising Yang Xiong's great talent to everyone he meets... It's really amazing that he was able to adjust the position of the river in the city.

Wang Mang boiled a kettle of water, brewed several cups of milk tea, and brought them over to everyone:

"I wonder how my godfather is doing in the north. There's been no good news lately, and I'm a little worried."

As he spoke of Chen Tang, this great Han general had just arrived in the Hetao region and was leading his army to the royal tent of the Right Guli King:
"Don't let a single one escape. If anyone dares to traffic Han people, even the earthworms in the royal tent will be dug up and chopped in two!"

(End of this chapter)