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

Liu Heng, citing feeling unwell, requested the delegation to stop and rest, and sent his trusted confidant Song Chang to contact his uncle Bo Zhao, who had gone to Chang'an ahead of time, to inquire about the situation ahead.

This guy is practically a master of the art of cunning, a true inheritor of the secrets of the art of cunning.

When Song Chang saw that all the ministers, led by Wei Ping and Cao Can, were waiting for Liu Heng outside the city gate, and learned from Bo Zhao about the recent events in the capital, he finally realized that the court officials truly wanted to usurp the throne.

Upon returning to the mission's location, Zhou Chang told Prince Liu Heng of Dai everything he had learned. Liu Heng's worries turned to joy, and he recovered without medication.

The emperor's claim to the throne is viewed with 70% caution!

The mission set off for Chang'an again.

Outside Chang'an City, at the Wei Bridge.

Wei Ping, accompanied by numerous ministers, paid homage to Liu Heng with the respect due to a subject.

Liu Heng turned to accept half of it and humbly returned the gesture.

Zhou Bo knelt before Liu Heng, carrying the Imperial Seal and the edict of succession, and asked Liu Heng to ascend the throne and become emperor.

Liu Heng felt that this matter was highly credible, but did these ministers really submit to him?

The emperor's claim to the throne is viewed with 60% caution!

As expected, Liu Heng once again refused to declare himself emperor immediately.

He declined, saying, "Please come to the Kyoto residence to discuss this further."

Thus, Liu Heng cautiously led a large group of ministers to the Dai residence in the capital.

Upon arriving at the residence, Wei Ping presented Liu Heng with the tiger tally of the Northern Army and the Imperial Guards, along with the Chixiao Sword, the Imperial Seal, and the edict of succession.

Liu Heng's eyes lit up when he saw the tiger tally.

Only those who control the military are true emperors; otherwise, they are merely puppets.

He took out the tiger tally so easily, it seems he is still safe, and his subjects are still loyal.

At least the Marquis of Yan was very loyal.

The emperor's claim to the throne is viewed with 50% caution!

Then, after two more refusals to the west and three more refusals to the south, the situation changed again.

Seeing that all his ministers were respectfully urging him to ascend the throne time and time again, Liu Heng finally relented and agreed to succeed to the throne.

However, it was requested that Song Chang and Zhou Wu first take control of the imperial palace guards and the northern army.

All the ministers agreed to this.

The incident of the emperor's ascension to the throne raised suspicions at 30%.

A few days later, Liu Heng officially ascended the throne and became emperor, known in history as Emperor Wen of Han.

After ascending the throne, Liu Heng began to bestow titles and rewards upon the ministers who had followed him.

Cao Shen, being old and frail, requested to resign. Liu Heng granted him an additional fief of 3000 households.

In an attempt to divide and win over the enemy, Liu Heng appointed Wei Ping as Right Chancellor and Zhou Bo as Left Chancellor, a promotion in name only, effectively demotion, and thus took military power away from Zhou Bo.

He appointed Guan Ying as Grand Commandant, but Guan Ying, not wanting to become a puppet, had to eliminate Zhou Bo's confidants.

He appointed Zhou Wu as General of the Guards and Song Chang as Lieutenant, thus giving them control of all the military forces in the capital.

Bo Zhao was appointed Grand Censor, ranking among the Three Dukes.

But Bo Zhao was very dissatisfied. Zhou Bo barely knew any characters; how could he be qualified to be prime minister?!

He then began to resent Zhou Bo for taking his position as prime minister.

Han Xin was granted an additional 3000 households of fiefdom and the privilege of not having to bow to the emperor.

To see if he would really refuse to bow to the emperor, and to test Han Xin's loyalty to him.

Finally, he rewarded many ministers to win their hearts and minds.

After this series of rewards, everyone who followed the dragon was promoted and made a fortune, and everyone was satisfied.

Liu Heng was also very satisfied. He had regained control of the military, decentralized power, won over capable ministers, created conflicts, and secured his throne.

The incident of the emperor's ascension to the throne raised suspicions at 20%.

Although he had officially proclaimed himself emperor and had tried to divide and win over his ministers, he was still somewhat uneasy and felt that he might not be able to hold onto his position.

They remained wary.

The following day, Liu Heng issued an edict, appointing his newborn eldest son Liu Qi as Crown Prince and his mother, former Queen Dou Yifang, as Empress.

The courtiers offered their congratulations.

Previously, Liu Ying died suddenly without any offspring, and the country was in turmoil for a long time.

The situation was not completely stable until Liu Heng ascended the throne.

For these ministers, whether the emperor had an heir was of utmost importance!

With an heir, their wealth and honor would be guaranteed; otherwise, other emperors wouldn't care about a former official of the previous dynasty.

Choosing the wrong side means death.

When dynasties change, choosing the wrong side often leads to the extermination of one's entire clan.

Those who can stand here are all high-ranking officials, and they wouldn't want to risk their whole family's lives if things were stable.

The incident of the emperor's ascension to the throne raised suspicions at 10%.

In the first year of Emperor Wen of Han's reign, Liu Heng, citing his young age, became a student of Grand Tutor Wei Ping to learn the ways of governing the country.

The affairs of state were handled by the left and right prime ministers, and he learned from them.

In Weiyang Palace.

Liu Heng was somewhat surprised to see Wei Ping handling both major and minor affairs of the court with such ease.

He needed to carefully study Wei Ping's methods to appreciate their subtleties.

Zhou Bo, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Wei Ping. He handled matters in a simple and crude manner, relying entirely on personal preferences and close relationships.

He can spot the mistakes and oversights in many things.

Even after Wei Ping pointed out these mistakes, Zhou Bo did not correct them and continued to act arbitrarily, relying on his status as a meritorious official who had followed the emperor.

He abused the power of the prime minister.

This was exactly what Liu Heng wanted; sooner or later, Wei Ping and Zhou Bo would fall out.

This will make it easier for him to reclaim power in the future.

What Liu Heng didn't expect was that Wei Ping, as one of the leaders of the meritorious group, was not only senior and capable, but also so loyal.

He never overstepped his bounds; all political matters were discussed with him and approved by him.

Every now and then, they want to return all the power to him and let him rule in his own right.

They have absolutely no attachment to power.

Liu Heng did not believe that such a saint existed in the world.

This period continued until the sixth year of Emperor Wen of Han, when Liu Heng was 20 years old and officially came of age.

On the first day after Emperor Wen of Han came of age, Wei Ping personally invited Liu Heng to lead the army, and Liu Heng began to formally handle state affairs.

The incident of the emperor's ascension to the throne raised suspicions at 8%.

After officially assuming power, the constraints imposed by the group of meritorious officials greatly troubled Liu Heng, who wanted to make his mark.

Even though Wei Ping delegated power to him during the process of assuming personal rule, he could still feel subtle resistance because Wei Ping had handled state affairs flawlessly for six years.

He knew that he had to produce results to gain the trust of his ministers so that his decrees could be passed on without hindrance.

It doesn't necessarily refer to achievements in government affairs.

Liu Heng glanced at Zhou Bo in court, thinking that making an example of someone was a good option.

On this day, in the imperial court.

Liu Heng looked at Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, and Wei Ping, and began his first step in consolidating power by striking down Zhou Bo, the Left Chancellor.

According to the division of responsibilities, the Left Chancellor was in charge of criminal justice, public security, and the assessment of officials.

"Prime Minister, may I ask how many cases are adjudicated in the court each year?"

Zhou Bo was stunned and speechless, unable to answer at all.

He always delegated government affairs to his subordinates or Wei Ping; he had no idea about this.

Liu Heng pressed on, "How many officials in the imperial court received a top-tier performance evaluation this year?"

Zhou Bo was covered in cold sweat, but he was at a loss.

Despite being the Right Chancellor, Zhou Bo was completely ignorant of these basic questions.

The ministers in the court remained silent, wishing they could forget about hearing anything at home.

Seeing that he had achieved the desired effect, Liu Heng then asked Chen Ping why Zhou Bo, as the prime minister, did not know these things.

Using his intelligence, Chen Ping mentioned the officials in charge of criminal justice and official evaluation, suggesting that they be summoned to answer Liu Heng's questions.

Liu Heng sneered upon hearing this: "Since there are designated people in charge, what use is the Left Chancellor who is responsible for handling these matters?"

Upon hearing this question, Chen Ping immediately panicked. He knew that Liu Heng was trying to sow discord between him and Zhou Bo, his political allies.

He was also asked to betray Zhou Bo.

During this period, Zhou Bo became increasingly arrogant and acted spoiledly, which displeased His Majesty.

The emperor is about to take action against Zhou Bo!

What should he do? Should he protect Zhou Bo?