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

Chapter 310: Taming the Dragon
Spring returns to the earth, and the grass grows and the orioles fly.

Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi Hall.

Privy Council Ministers: Gongsun Hong, Wei Qing, and Xu Le.

The Grand Councilors were Huo Qubing and Yan An.

He was presented to the emperor for the first time in his capacity as a reformer.

Apart from Yan An, the other four need not be discussed further. Yan An was one of the people who, along with Zhu Fuyan and Xu Le, submitted a petition to the court in the first year of Yuanshuo.

He submitted a memorial to His Majesty entitled "A Treatise on Current Affairs," using the fall of the Qin Dynasty as a lesson. He criticized Qin Shi Huang's aggressive military campaigns, which led to "the northern calamity caused by the Hu and the southern calamity caused by the Yue." He advocated for an end to war, pacification of the people, and reduction of border expansion to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Qin Dynasty.

His Majesty adopted some of his suggestions and appointed him as a Gentleman of the Palace. Later, he was promoted to Cavalry Commander, in charge of the Emperor's horse-riding affairs. After the Crown Prince took power, Yan An entered the Prime Minister's Office and served as the Prime Minister's Secretary.

When Zhu Fuyan died after the "Five Tripods" incident, and Xu Le "collapsed" and rose to the position of one of the Nine Ministers, and then went further to become a cabinet minister, Yan An finally saw the splendor of the royal family and learned about the beautiful stories of lanterns and brocades. He then became a minister of the Grand Council and served by the Crown Prince's side for a long time.

The Grand Councilors were on duty day and night, but Huo Qubing was often not in Chang'an. Therefore, the duty of guarding the city, regardless of day or night, fell on Yan An's shoulders.

After the system of foreign and domestic courts was abolished without a word, the Privy Council and the Grand Council became the de facto foreign and domestic ministers.

The Grand Secretary of the Privy Council, also known as the "Foreign Minister" or "Grand Secretary".

The chief minister of the Grand Council, also known as the "Inner Minister" or "Grand Secretary".

Gongsun Hong was a Grand Secretary.

Huo Qubing, however, was a man of humble origins.

With a superior who had been a hands-off manager, Yan An tearfully took on the real role of the Grand Secretary.

In terms of power, Yan An, who came later, surpassed Xu Le, who held the position of Grand Councilor, and was a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. Their fates in the same year were truly miraculous.

As was customary, Liu Ju bestowed upon them embroidered stools, and the five men sat down to express their gratitude.

Following Liu Ju's instructions, Jiang Bo presented the "Conditions for His Majesty's Abdication" to the five ministers.

The five ministers' biggest feeling was that His Majesty was truly not polite.

The achievements of past political and military reforms, such as consolidating the power of the prime minister, implementing the recommendation system, reducing the power of kingdoms, reforming the military system, and establishing governors, must be fully acknowledged. The achievements of economic reforms, such as unifying currency and monopolizing salt and iron, must also be acknowledged. Furthermore, the Crown Prince and the court must publicly admit that Your Majesty's previous aggressive military campaigns were due to the fact that the Han dynasty was newly established and that the surrounding barbarians were invading and causing unrest. Your Majesty was forced to raise a kingly army to fight against them. Even if there were some excessive taxes and levies in the process, they were done out of necessity.

The expansion of territory was done by Your Majesty; the selection of talent was done by Your Majesty; national security was achieved by Your Majesty; popular unrest was due to the fluctuating state of the nation; and the golden age was created by me!
In short, Your Majesty, are you a wise and virtuous ruler...?

No.

Young men like Xu Le and Yan An, disregarding their own lack of decorum before the emperor, were scratching their heads in bewilderment.

Your Majesty has made contributions to the reform of the imperial system; this is true and no one denies it.

The victories achieved in the campaigns against the four barbarian tribes during the early years of the Jianyuan, Yuanguang, Yuanshuo, and Yuanshou reigns are also recorded in the national history.

The imperial court could acknowledge the preliminary contributions made to the unification of China, including the recovery of Hexi, Dai, and Baiyue territories.

However, to expect the Crown Prince and the court to acknowledge that all the military campaigns and extravagant military expeditions of the past twenty years were for the benefit of the Han people and not for their own selfish reasons, is a question that requires a lot of effort. They may not know how thick-skinned the Emperor is, but surely he can't be that thick-skinned?

Furthermore, to attribute all the chaos among the people in the past to necessary sacrifices before the empire's golden age, Your Majesty, have you never thought of sacrificing yourself?
When Your Majesty indulges in extravagance and debauchery, imposes harsh punishments and heavy taxes, builds extravagant palaces, believes in superstitions and myths, travels to scenic spots, exhausts the people, and causes them to turn to banditry, when has Your Majesty ever thought of the Han Dynasty or its people?

How is Your Majesty any different from Qin Shi Huang?
Fortunately, there was a crown prince, who saved Qin from its demise despite the mistakes that led to its downfall!
This is blatantly using abdication as a condition to blackmail the crown prince and the court, demanding the title of a sage ruler! Besides, if they force a "sage ruler" to abdicate, wouldn't they become rebels?
Even now, Your Majesty, you still show no remorse.

"May I ask Your Majesty, how can we respond to His Majesty?" Gongsun Hong asked in the lead.

"I replied to Father Emperor with the words 'The national history records the facts,' but Father Emperor was displeased and said nothing more."

Liu Ju shook his head and smiled.

He and the court could acknowledge the emperor's contributions to centralization of power, talent selection, and military campaigns during his reign, but they could not forget the mistakes made during that period.

Problems included extravagance and debauchery, excessive military spending, heavy corvée labor, sharp population decline, distorted government policies, accumulated public resentment, superstition towards sorcerers, heavy reliance on cruel officials, court instability, and incompetent rule.

The emperor, however, could not accept the mistakes and denials made during his reign and chose silence as a form of resistance.

I will never abdicate if I do not agree to the conditions.

The five ministers revealed expressions of certainty; His Majesty, such an arrogant and indulgent person, could not possibly accept criticism from his subjects and descendants, whether before or after his death.

The problem is, if His Majesty doesn't accept criticism, then they have to accept it.

Your Majesty can only suffer a little longer.

"Your Majesty, we cannot allow His Majesty to continue to act so willfully."

Gongsun Hong stood up, which took a lot of effort; he couldn't wait any longer.

Liu nodded and sighed, "Let them continue."

The five ministers remained silent.

"They" refers to Mozi Mo, Huo Guang, and Chen Mo.

Do you really think that the "strangeness" of the Divine Dragon Palace can be hidden from everyone?
The "Sound Transmission Technique" left by Mozi is very powerful, capable of transmitting sound over a distance of tens of feet to a certain area.

The three even resorted to psychological tactics, coordinating with the Imperial Guards to precisely time Chun Tuo's entry and exit from the palace, and then creating the illusion that only His Majesty heard the "ancient sound".

This would not have been possible without the cooperation of the guards of Chang Le Palace and Shenlong Hall who pretended to be deaf and dumb.

However, the three of them have done a pretty good job in terms of ability and coordination.

"Then I will have Sima Xiangru carry out Zimeng's plan," Huo Qubing replied.

Since the Battle of Hexi, after Sima Xiangru traveled all over the battlefield and obtained the title of Marquis of Guannei, he became his most loyal supporter, composing one poem after another, the content of which was almost flattering, using mythological imagery such as Taigong, Bai Qi, and even stars falling to the ground and dragons soaring into the sky.

Huo Qubing was annoyed and often scolded him, but Sima Xiangru was happy to do so. A few days ago, Sima Xiangru came to him again and reported that Huo Guang had asked him to write a grand poem to ask the emperor to abdicate. The implication was that if the general said to write it, then he would write it; if the general said not to write it, then he would not write it. Apart from the emperor, there was no one else in the world who could make him write a poem.

Liu Ju nodded.

Since the emperor is unwilling to maintain a dignified appearance, the son has no choice but to help him achieve that.

Sima Xiangru's poem was not a disgrace to his father.

(End of this chapter)