A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

The 22nd year of Emperor Wu of Han.

Emperor Wu of Han had been on the throne for 22 years, and his crown prince Liu Ju was already 6 years old.

On this day, Empress Wei Zifu went to see Emperor Wu of Han.

They hoped that Emperor Wu of Han would find a teacher for Liu Ju.

"Ju'er, who would you like to take as your teacher?"

Emperor Wu of Han affectionately picked up Liu Ju and asked him a question.

Although Liu Ju is no longer his only son, as his first son, the eldest legitimate son, and the child who proved his fertility, he still holds a special place in his heart.

"I would like to become Mr. Wei Fu's student."

Empress Wei Zifu had long ago told Liu Ju that Wei Fu was his best teacher.

Wei Fu is now over 50 years old and has held a high position in the court for many years. He has countless protégés and former officials. In addition, the Grand Minister of Agriculture, which is firmly controlled by the Wei family, will be the most powerful assistant for Liu Ju to ascend the throne.

Over the years, as Emperor Wu of Han had more children, especially Lady Li, who was said to be a beautiful woman in the north, with unparalleled beauty and graceful bearing, whose glance could topple a city and whose second glance could topple a country.

It was this year that Lady Li gave birth to Emperor Wu of Han's fifth son, Liu Bo.

Because of his fondness for Lady Li, Emperor Wu of Han also showed great affection for this child, which made Wei Zifu feel threatened.

She knew Emperor Wu of Han's inherent tyranny. Even though Liu Ju currently had an absolute advantage in terms of the power of his maternal relatives, Emperor Wu could easily change the heir if he wanted to.

She must ensure her son receives stronger support.

If he can successfully become the disciple of the Marquis of Yan, then even Emperor Wu of Han would have to think twice before changing his heir.

However, Wei Zifu underestimated Emperor Wu of Han's suspicious nature. Now, Liu Ju already had two generals, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, behind him.

These two generals are especially young, and they will surely achieve even greater merits and command more troops in the future.

Now they're trying to win over the Wei family. What are they trying to do?

Do you want him, the emperor, to step down early?

Emperor Wu of Han no longer had such affection for Wei Zifu, or rather, Emperor Wu of Han never truly loved a woman.

He only falls in love with one person at a time.

Therefore, it's natural to think that Wei Zifu had ulterior motives.

But when Emperor Wu of Han saw the adorable little Liu Ju, his heart softened a little.

If we're talking about people who are qualified to be the teacher of Crown Prince Liu Ju, there are plenty of them.

However, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, believed that there were very few people who were worthy of being his son's teacher.

Only the Wei family has this qualification.

More importantly, the Wei family placed themselves in opposition to many schools of thought this time, which greatly increased Emperor Wu of Han's trust in the Wei family.

It's hard to say how long this trust will last, but it's there for now.

The Wei family had always been part of the emperor's faction. Even if the crown prince became his student, Emperor Wu of Han believed that as long as he gave the order, the Wei family would choose him over the crown prince.

Liu Ju's words even reminded him of when Wei Qing and Wei Yu were still alive, and he had studied under them.

How free and unrestrained he was during that time! Although Emperor Wu of Han believed that he was a man of destiny, he never denied that the teachings of Wei Qing and Wei Yu had played a significant role in his life.

His current abilities are largely due to that teaching.

Now his son wanted to become the student of his teacher's son, and Emperor Wu of Han eventually agreed.

He had been thinking that when the son that Lady Li bore for him turned six, he could have his fifth son become Wei Lu's student.

At that time, we can take the opportunity to sow discord between the two branches of the Wei family. The two branches of the Wei family will certainly not fight each other too much, but they still have a lot of power under them.

As long as he stirs things up, there's no worry that these forces won't fight each other.

In any case, the Wei family's power will be greatly reduced by then.

Wei Fu is 58 years old this year. In an era where people in their 30s are considered old, this is an extremely advanced age.

If they live to be 70, they will receive condolences from the local government.

The average lifespan of ordinary people is only 30 to 35 years.

The aristocratic class was slightly higher, but not many of them lived past 50.

At 58 years old, Wei Fu was approaching 60, and Emperor Wu of Han was starting to worry about his health.

He is now striving towards a peaceful and prosperous era, and the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture cannot be allowed to fall.

He controls the entire nation's purse strings; without money, how can he build a peaceful and prosperous world?

Emperor Wu of Han and Empress Wei Zifu brought Crown Prince Liu Ju to the residence of the Marquis of Yan.

After explaining his purpose to Wei Fu, Wei Fu nodded and accepted the disciple.

The emperor and empress have both come in person, and this is the current crown prince; it's not unreasonable for him to take on disciples.

Even if the crown prince fails to become emperor and another prince succeeds him, Wei Fu has nothing to fear.

They were not afraid of the emperor.

Moreover, they will not participate in the struggle for succession; they will only observe silently.

Even though Liu Ju was his apprentice.

The fact that the Crown Prince had taken Wei Fu as his teacher caused a great uproar in Chang'an.

Does this indicate that the crown prince's position is secure?

Many people flocked to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's ranks, hoping to gain merit by following the emperor.

Lady Li, who had just given birth to a son, was filled with resentment. She had given birth to a son, and from the moment he was born, she and the Crown Prince were in an adversarial relationship.

She also hoped that her child would become emperor in the future, and that she would become empress dowager.

In this way, her chances are greatly reduced.

Unless Liu Ju makes a stupid mistake and commits a heinous error.

However, the probability is extremely small.

The 24th year of Emperor Wu of Han.

The debate among the various schools of thought in Chang'an finally came to an end.

Wei Sheng, with his cheat-like abilities, ultimately achieved victory.

It successfully integrated all schools of thought into Taoism.

Thus, the ideology of the Central Plains was also unified.

Emperor Wu of Han officially completed the unification of the Central Plains region.

Our next target: the Western Regions.

Emperor Wu of Han continuously dispatched missions to the Western Regions.

In the Western Regions, the influence of the Han Dynasty was growing, especially as some countries, failing to grasp the situation, dared to attack Han envoys. The Han Dynasty swiftly dealt with them, conquering their territories and incorporating them into its empire.

Of course, sometimes it might not be their fault, since they were indeed a little bit arrogant.

There's a tiny bit of arrogance in him.

There's a tiny bit of trouble-making involved.

But even if we put aside the facts, are you Western Region countries without fault?

How could you kill someone? How could you kill a Han envoy?

If you don't kill him, you might be able to reason with the big man a little.

But if you kill the Han Dynasty's envoy, then you can only talk to the Han Dynasty about war.

There was no choice, really no choice.

In the thirtieth year of Emperor Wu of Han's reign, a major event occurred.

Marquis Wei Qing, a trusted general of Emperor Wu of Han, passed away.

Crown Prince Liu Ju's power has lost an arm.

Over the years, everyone in the imperial court has come to understand the Wei family's stance.

That is to support only the emperor and not get involved in the struggle for the crown prince.

Even if the crown prince with the highest probability of succession is the disciple of the current head of the Wei family.

The Wei family will still not show him any political favor.

Therefore, Liu Ju could only rely on the two major groups of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

With the Wei family holding such a prominent position, the achievements of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were no longer as dazzling.

Even so, they are still two of the biggest figures in the military.

But this did not make Madam Li feel suffocated.

Because after Emperor Wu of Han discovered Huo Qubing, a great general, he felt that Huo Qubing had the talent of a talent scout.

He was thinking of finding new generals to counterbalance the growing power of the Wei Qing and Huo Qubing factions.

He chose his new favorite concubine, Li Guangli, the elder brother of Lady Li.

It was because of Li Guangli that he realized that it wasn't because of his excellent teaching, but because Huo Qubing himself was so amazing.

Compared to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, Li Guangli was a complete waste.