Chapter 295 The Deposed King
In the first month after the birth of the emperor's eldest son, a grand full moon banquet was held in the palace.
The kings who have been staying in Chang'an City for quite some time are finally going to meet the regent queen dowager who has never appeared before.
The princes of the Liu clan were very reluctant to see Lu Zhi.
They were unwilling to admit that deep down, they were afraid of Lu Zhi.
The reason why Lü Zhi was able to serve as regent was because of the power of the Lü family and the clan system, and of course the support of meritorious officials such as Han Xin.
In other words, Lu Zhi's prominence was achieved by the Lu family.
The Liu clan became princes because of bloodline, and because Liu Bang came from a humble background, there were too few talented people in the Liu clan.
Therefore, the throne was arranged for all close relatives.
But even in the Bang Zhou era where bloodline determined everything, talented and untalented people were treated completely differently.
The reason why King Wu could pass on the throne to Ji Zhao and he could become regent after refusing it was because he had outstanding talents among his brothers.
King Wu believed that only if Ji Zhao succeeded to the throne could the Zhou Dynasty be stable.
Among the Liu clan princes, only the King of Chu and the King of Huainan were talented.
The others cannot be said to be good-for-nothings. After all, there is no critical incident in the world to test the quality of these Liu princes.
But even so, it can still be seen that most people can only be regarded as ordinary people.
The Han Dynasty's imperial palace was built magnificently.
When Luo Yi was building this city, he was determined to restore the former supremacy of Haojing City and build it into a big city that would complement Luoyang in the east and west.
If the imperial palace is not magnificent, it will not be able to intimidate the ministers, it will not be able to demonstrate the majesty of the emperor and the supreme ruler of the world, and the central government will not be able to intimidate the local kings.
At least judging from the expressions of the people who came to Chang'an for the first time, the city built by Luo Yi was very successful.
This time, the princes, dukes and ministers did not enter the hall in scattered groups as usual, but were led directly into the hall by a large number of palace maids.
This is a hall built specifically for holding banquets. It is wide and lofty.
After entering the hall, no one talked much and was led directly to their seats by the palace maids.
The teams of palace maids shuttled between the seats like butterflies among flowers.
Lu Zhi, Liu Ying and Queen Zhang Yan appeared last. This was the full-month banquet for the eldest son, so the eldest son naturally had to appear. His wrinkled skin had shed when he was just born, and he was a very beautiful baby.
Luo Xin was the prime minister, ranking above the princes and naturally before all the ministers.
As Lu Zhi took her seat, the sound of stringed instruments rang out in the hall, and all the ministers sang praises together.
This was one of the changes brought about by Ji Zhao, and a large number of hymns to the emperor were produced in Luo State.
These poems could be sung directly, and were performed to praise ancestors during every sacrifice, eventually evolving into a specialized form of hymn.
"May your majesty live forever, and may you always have light."
The ministers sang three times, the hall was filled with solemnity, and then the little prince was taken away.
After all the ministers took their seats, Lü Zhi smiled and said, "Thanks to the blessing of heaven, the queen successfully gave birth to a prince. This is a happy event for the Han Dynasty, so the emperor and I want you to come to Chang'an to share our joy.
Moreover, it has been more than ten years since Emperor Gaozu conferred titles on kings and princes, and I can hardly even remember your faces.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet you all now that the Emperor has an heir. If the Emperor Gao knew about this, he would probably be pleased too.
Previously in the imperial edict, I have told you that the Emperor and I want to know the current situation in various countries.
After more than a decade of rest and recuperation, has the once exhausted world recovered?
Prince of Changsha, you are the youngest brother of Emperor Gao, so you should speak first."
The King of Changsha never dreamed that Lu Zhi would call his name first. He couldn't help but think that something was wrong. The other princes of the Liu family were also shocked. They actually asked the King of Changsha, who was the weakest, first. Was this to make an example of him?
Changsha King Liu Yu had no choice but to stand up and say as he had prepared: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to the Regent Empress Dowager.
Since I took over the throne of Changsha, I have worked diligently, but Changsha is too remote and sparsely populated. Currently, the entire country has only 40,000 households. "
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi frowned instantly. The King of Changsha was still there slowly reporting the situation in Changsha and did not notice Lu Zhi's expression.
Until a loud shout came from above: "King of Changsha, what are you talking about?"
The entire hall fell silent in an instant. The King of Changsha was stunned by the loud roar. When he looked up, he saw Lu Zhi looking at him angrily, with even murderous intent in her eyes.
"King of Changsha, do you know how many households there were in Changsha when you took office?"
The King of Changsha felt something was wrong, and then he heard Lü Zhi say in a cold voice: "When you were crowned king, Changsha had 50,000 households. After nearly ten years, you are now telling me that Changsha only has 40,000 households left?
Do you think I am a fool? Do you think all the officials in this court are fools who can't even count one, two, three, four?
How dare you deceive me? Who gave you the courage?
Do you really think that I dare not depose you because the throne was bestowed upon you by the late emperor?
If you can't give me a reason today, I will not only dethrone you, but I will also kill you in front of everyone in the world, so that you will know that the majesty of the emperor cannot be violated."
As soon as Lu Zhi uttered these murderous words, the temperature in the entire hall seemed to drop to zero. The meritorious officials looked at the King of Changsha with smiles, as if they were staring at a piece of fat meat.
The King of Changsha never expected that just two sentences would bring disaster upon himself and even lead to his death. He could already feel the murderous aura coming from all around him.
This horrifying scene instantly exposed his foolish nature. He even said directly: "Queen Dowager, it is because of my incompetence that the population of Changsha has decreased..."
Before he could finish, Lü Zhi shouted, "Take down the King of Changsha. He is just sitting there doing nothing. The country is exhausted and it is time to make great efforts to restore it. But he has even reduced the population of his fiefdom. What qualifications does he have to be a king?"
Pass on my decree, from this day forward all titles and official titles of the King of Changsha shall be stripped away, and he shall be driven back to Pei County, and shall not be allowed to leave for the rest of his life.
Immediately send people to Changsha to confiscate all the seals, official seals, and tiger talismans bestowed by the Emperor Gao.
Liu Yu, if it weren't for the fact that you are the brother of Emperor Gao, I would have to kill you today for the people of Changsha.
Emperor Gao was a hero throughout his life, and it is a disgrace to have a loser like you as a relative."
The hall was instantly in an uproar. No one expected that a prince could be deposed so easily.
But even the princes did not dare to speak for the King of Changsha. Lu Zhi always called him Emperor Gao. And whether the matter about the King of Changsha was true or false, it was too outrageous and there was no way for him to argue.
The King of Changsha wanted to say something but was dragged away by the guards. Lü Zhi then turned her attention back to the other kings and Marquis Che and snorted coldly, "I am very angry now. I hope that something like what happened to the King of Changsha will not happen again.
Everyone here is a relative of the emperor, an elder of the emperor, but it turned out like this. The emperor trusted you so much, how can I not feel sad? "
When the kings heard Lu Zhi's words of both defense and attack, they immediately raised the level of their report in their minds. At least they had to get through this hurdle first.
(End of this chapter)
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