A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 101 Since ancient times
Within days.

Weiyang Palace, Chengming Hall.

Liu Ju summoned Zhao Yingqi, the crown prince of the Nanyue Kingdom.

Having spent twelve years in Chang'an, Zhao Yingqi had long since abandoned his native accent from his hometown of Nanyue and could now speak Qinqiang opera with great fluency, proclaiming, "May Your Majesty live a thousand years and enjoy endless happiness."

Zhang Qian, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, was to translate immediately. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, even if a foreign nobleman spoke Chinese fluently, they still had to communicate through an interpreter.

Liu Ju waved his hand, refusing the ridiculous game, and said with a smile, "Bring me an embroidered stool."

The eunuch Jiang Bo obeyed the order and moved an embroidered stool, placing it beside Zhao Yingqi. Zhao Yingqi appeared extremely apprehensive.

Zhang Qian was about to speak again, but Liu Ju glanced at him and swallowed his words.

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Zhao Yingqi thanked the emperor and took his seat.

It's more like squatting than sitting, just slightly touching the front half of the stool so you can stand up easily.

"Zhao Yingqi".

"The minister is here."

Zhao Yingqi immediately stood up, and Liu Ju, feeling helpless, gestured for him to sit down.

"Having served in this country for so many years, how do you feel?"

"Your Majesty, it is very good."

Zhao Yingqi was extremely hesitant to sit or stand, but his reply was full of sincerity: "I am fortunate to have entered the Celestial Empire and to have received the care of Your Majesty and the Emperor. Not only am I well-fed and clothed, but I have also married a woman from Handan and been blessed with a son, Zhao Xing. All of this is thanks to the great fortune of Your Majesty and the Emperor."

Do you feel a sense of belonging to our dynasty?

"In my heart, I am already a member of the Han family!" Zhao Yingqi knelt on the ground, supporting himself on an embroidered stool, and said sincerely.

"Are you willing to lead the people of Nanyue to submit to our dynasty?"

"..."

Zhao Yingqi hadn't expected the Lord's question to be so direct. He stood there, stunned, stammering and unable to answer.

Liu Ju did not blame him, and continued to ask, "Then do you know the true thoughts of my people towards the Nanyue Kingdom?"

"I know."

"how?"

“…Indignant,” Zhao Yingqi replied with difficulty.

The relationship between the Han Dynasty and the Nanyue Kingdom was not harmonious from the very beginning.

Taking advantage of the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the Chu-Han Contention, Zhao Tuo, the King of Nanyue, set up checkpoints, cut off transportation, amassed an army, annexed three commanderies, and declared himself King of Nanyue.

After Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, he enfeoffed Wu Rui as the King of Changsha. Wu Rui was the only non-royal vassal king whom Emperor Gaozu did not punish during his lifetime. This was because Changsha was located in a low-lying and damp place, which was not a good place. In addition, the Kingdom of Changsha was adjacent to the northern part of the Kingdom of Nanyue. Emperor Gaozu placed this person and this place between the Han Dynasty and Nanyue as a buffer.

Moreover, in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu's reign, when Wu Rui was enfeoffed, the imperial edict stated, "The former King of Hengshan, Wu Rui... has made great contributions... He is hereby granted the fiefdoms of Changsha, Yuzhang, Xiangjun, Guilin, and Nanhai, and is appointed King of Changsha." Among the territories granted to Wu Rui, the three commanderies of Nanyue, which were actually controlled by Zhao Tuo, were prominently featured. This practice of granting out territories that the Han Dynasty did not control in advance has a professional term: "remote enfeoffment."

The remote enfeoffment was a political implication. Emperor Gaozu, as the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty, did not recognize the royal power of Zhao Tuo of Nanyue. He and the Han Dynasty only recognized the three counties in Lingnan as Wu Rui's territory. However, he said that Wu Rui had to take back this territory himself.

A single imperial edict manipulated the hostile relationship between the Kingdom of Changsha and the Southern Yue Kingdom.

However, just six years later, Emperor Gaozu sent the debater Lu Jia to Nanyue to formally establish Zhao Tuo as the King of Nanyue in the name of the Han court.

The reason is simple: Emperor Gaozu's plan to eliminate the vassal kings of different surnames had entered a critical stage. After successively killing Chen Xi, Han Xin, Peng Yue and other meritorious officials, Ying Bu directly rebelled.

Wu Rui was Ying Bu's father-in-law, Taishan. Emperor Gaozu worried that the father-in-law and son-in-law would join forces to raise an army and recognize Zhao Tuo's royal power in order to join forces with Nanyue, which in turn would involve Changsha Kingdom, leaving Wu Rui with no time to lend a helping hand to his son-in-law Ying Bu.

Enemies and friends can turn into enemies; that's politics. There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

Faced with Emperor Gaozu's overtures, Zhao Tuo was not polite. In addition to demanding numerous benefits, he also requested the opening of the Nanyue market, the most important of which was to allow Han ironware to flow into the Nanyue Kingdom.

With the help of Han iron weapons, Zhao Tuo wreaked havoc in the Nanyue region, causing many small tribes such as Minyue and Xiou to submit. The power of the Nanyue Kingdom reached an unprecedented level, extending to "more than 10,000 li from east to west", and it seemed that it had the potential to become a formidable enemy of the Han Dynasty in the south.

Therefore, Empress Lü, who was in power, decisively ordered "the relevant officials to ban the trade of ironware in Nanyue" to restrict the development of Nanyue. Zhao Tuo completely rejected the Han court's sanctions and took a series of countermeasures.

Even in terms of title, he changed "King" to "Emperor," calling himself Emperor Wu of Nanyue, no longer referring to himself as a subject, and wanting to be on equal footing with the Emperor of Han.

After receiving further sanctions from the Han court, Zhao Tuo launched an attack on the border of Changsha, thus initiating a war between the two countries.

It wasn't until Emperor Xiaowen ascended the throne from his position as a vassal king that the Han Dynasty and Nanyue restored their old friendship and ended the external threat.

In the years that followed, the Nanyue Kingdom outwardly complied with the Han Dynasty but inwardly defied it. When the two countries interacted, the King of Nanyue would acknowledge the Han as a vassal, but within his own country, he still considered himself an emperor and even possessed an imperial seal.

After Liu Che ascended the throne, the dissatisfaction of the Han people with the Nanyue Kingdom was rampant, and the court and the public were filled with warlike voices calling for "to storm into Panyu City as soon as possible".

After all, compared to the Xiongnu, who were difficult to find and kill, it was easier to gain military merit from the declining and fixed people of the Nanyue Kingdom.

During his more than ten years in Chang'an, Zhao Yingqi witnessed firsthand the unparalleled national strength and military power of the Han Dynasty, and saw how much the Han emperor was willing to expend manpower and resources for military achievements and virtue. If war were to break out again, it would be something that the Nanyue Kingdom could not withstand.

Moreover, Zhao Yingqi clearly knew that in the battle of the sixth year of Jianyuan, the Han Dynasty claimed to be rescuing Nanyue, but in reality, after the battle, His Majesty opened the Southwest Yi Road under the leadership of Tang Meng. The purpose was precisely to launch a military offensive against Nanyue from the upper reaches of the Zangke River.

Now, the southwestern route has been basically opened up, and the areas that are not yet open do not affect the army's progress.

"You know that the main focus of the Han Dynasty is on the Xiongnu and on building the Shuofang Commandery. But that doesn’t mean that the people of the Han Dynasty have forgotten the Nanyue Kingdom. Since ancient times, that has been the land of China, the land of our ancestors. I dare not give away an inch or a foot of it."

Liu Ju mentioned the Southern Strategy of the Han Dynasty, and Zhao Yingqi's panic was evident. If the Han Dynasty really wanted to deal with the Nanyue Kingdom, no matter what the Nanyue Kingdom did, it would inevitably perish. As for the charges and reasons, decades of friction could be summed up with a simple "punishment for the people's suffering."

"Please forgive the Zhao family and Nanyue for their mistakes, Your Majesty," Zhao Yingqi said, bowing his head.

"Next, Lu Bode, the Commandant of the Strong Crossbowmen, will lead tens of thousands of troops to Guiyang County. Whether the Southern Yue Kingdom is a vassal state or a foreign power, it is a matter of great importance to the Southern Yue Kingdom. I will give you time to consider, but I hope it will not be too late," Liu Ju said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, the decision to submit to the Southern Yue Kingdom is not something that can be made by the royal family alone. The matter of submission is of great importance, and my former prime minister, Lü Jia, would find it very difficult to agree..."

"When the army enters Nanyue, any member of the Lü clan who is taller than a horsewhip shall be beheaded!"

The Lü family.

This is a taboo of the Han Dynasty and must not be allowed to remain!

(End of this chapter)