Chapter 492: Prince Liu He
Behind the eunuch were two warriors, approaching him with their swords pointed at him.
Huo Guang would never let people who didn't know their own limits get close to the emperor, so he stepped forward to stop the eunuchs and warriors.
He was a very attentive person. He immediately recognized that this was the eunuch beside the prince, and his heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that the always restless prince has done something wrong again?
He asked anxiously, "What's the hurry? Tell me right here."
The anxious eunuch was trembling all over, his face covered in cold sweat. He knelt on the ground and said with fear, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince was assassinated by a traitor and is seriously injured. I am here to report this to Your Majesty."
Swish!
The faces of several people in the hall changed.
In an instant, the hall fell into silence. A chill swept through the entire hall, and everyone felt a chill from the soles of their feet, which then rushed up the spine to the back of their heads, making them feel chilly.
The crown prince of the Han Dynasty was assassinated in broad daylight?
Who would believe this if I told them?
Although the ministers often abused the prince, this was completely different!
Huo Guang shouted, "Do you know what you are saying? If there is even a trace of falsehood, I will kill you."
The eunuch had been at a loss since the prince was assassinated. He had been holding on all the way, but when Huo Guang stabbed him, he kowtowed and cried, "I dare not lie. The prince was indeed assassinated. The Imperial Medical Bureau has sent people to go there."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xun closed his eyes and then opened them again. He had just been delighted at the gradual prosperity of the world, but now his heir had given him such a big surprise.
No one in the world knows a child better than his parents. They know their son Liu Xun best and are the most likely to cause trouble.
His first reaction was even to feel that the evil boy was causing trouble and was being retaliated against.
However, the assassination of the crown prince is a matter that concerns the reputation of the country. We cannot sit idly by and do nothing. No matter the reason, we must get to the bottom of this matter.
Liu Xun controlled his emotions and said coldly, "Zi Zheng, the crown prince was assassinated in broad daylight. This is a shame for the court.
I'll leave this matter to you, and Zimeng will assist you. You must bring the murderer to justice."
The two of them quickly agreed, and Liu Xun apologized to Luo Qing again: "Sir, it seems that I can't sit and discuss with you today. We can only discuss it another day."
After something like this happened, neither the emperor nor the father could sit still. Luo Qing and his companions left the hall together. As soon as he left the emperor's sight, his face instantly turned gloomy.
The prince was assassinated!
This was something no one had expected.
The current crown prince is the emperor's eldest son, a typical example of a son being nobler because of his mother. The second son was born in the 14th year of Yuanfeng and is only three or four years old now, still a baby. The crown prince's position is as stable as Mount Tai and can be said to be unshakable. It is almost certain that he will be the next emperor of the Han Dynasty.
The emperor did not expect that the prince would be assassinated at this time. He must be filled with anger.
The current emperor is not a benevolent monarch. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xun is definitely ranked first in terms of the number of bureaucrats and nobles killed. Liu Xun's revival was built on the corpses and flesh and blood of nobles, powerful officials!
Everyone had already sensed that this would be another bloody storm. After all, since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the highest-ranking bureaucrat who had been assassinated was the Imperial Censor Sang Hongyang during the reign of Emperor Li, and the highest-ranking nobles were the princes. This was the first time that the undisputed heir to the crown prince had been directly assassinated.
Huo Guang's face was so gloomy that water was about to drip from it. He said in a deep voice: "Is there another group that is plotting against the Han Dynasty and secretly planning this, just like Wu Ni? After all, if something happens to the prince, the Han Dynasty will definitely be in turmoil.
Your Majesty's second son is too young. If you make your illegitimate son the heir, I'm afraid your Majesty will not be happy. There will definitely be heated debates between the government and the public. This is really a treacherous act."
As a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, Huo Guang had involuntarily begun to consider Liu Xun. Another reason was that Queen Xu Pingjun admired him very much and even married one of her sisters to him. He had to consider not only the emperor but also the queen, so he was a staunch member of the prince's party.
Luo Qing was also thinking about the political turmoil that this incident might cause. He was very satisfied with the current situation. Liu Xun was a capable emperor who strongly suppressed the unlimited growing ambitions of the world's powerful.
When Liu Xiang heard what Huo Guang said, he saw Luo Qing thinking, but his expression was different from the other two, even a little weird, because among the three, only he and the prince were more familiar with each other.
Although Huo Guang was the prince's uncle, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the two of them as unfamiliar.
Liu Xiang shook his head and said, "The most urgent task now is to find out why the assassin wanted to assassinate the crown prince. Was it because someone instructed him to do so, as Minister Huo said, or was it because the crown prince was simply too harsh on others and was retaliated against.
If it is the former, then the matter will be serious. I am afraid that it will be another Wu rebellion disaster that will spread to all counties and kingdoms in the world.
If it is the latter, then we must think of a way to deal with it and not expand it, otherwise the hard-won situation will be ruined in an instant."
Huo Guang was stunned when he heard this, but when he thought of the prince, the anger on his face subsided a little. Luo Qing's gloomy expression also eased a lot. They both felt that they might be confused by their own situation.
"Mr. Zi Zheng is right. It was Guang's negligence. The prince's character is like this. Alas, this is bound to happen sooner or later. There are many righteous people in the world now. If he doesn't restrain himself, he will suffer the consequences sooner or later."
The prince who could make Luo Qing and the other two shake their heads and sigh was certainly not an ordinary person.
Liu Xun was a very steady person. Although he was ruthless, he seldom showed it. On the contrary, he was considered a benevolent king by the people and was called "Little Taizong" and "the reincarnation of Emperor Xiaowen".
Xu Pingjun was also a very gentle and virtuous lady.
As a result, the son born to these two people has a completely different personality!
Because the prince was born in the New Year, Liu Xun named him He.
Liu He had a bad temper and liked to fight with others. He would be happy if he won and angry if he lost. He would even beat and scold others. Most people would not have the energy to do such a thing, but he enjoyed doing it.
He treated his ministers and subordinate officials like cattle and horses, beating, scolding and humiliating them at any time, and would not stop until his ministers cried bitterly and were extremely humble.
Moreover, he did not beat or scold people indiscriminately, but treated people differently according to their needs. He gave benefits to those who were willing to obey him, and transferred those who were unwilling to obey him out of the Prince's Palace.
It didn't seem like he was selecting his subjects and subordinates, but rather training a dog.
Liu Xun naturally devoted countless efforts to his eldest son, and sought out various great Confucian scholars to teach him to read. Liu Xun practiced both the way of hegemony and the way of the king himself, so he not only taught him to read Confucian classics, but also taught him the way of criminal law and the way of being a monarch.
Liu Xiang was his criminal law teacher at first, but this prince seemed to be born with an evil nature.
Liu Xiang had worked so hard to improve the criminal law, but he was able to easily change it back and incorporate into it the ways of governing that Liu Xun had taught him.
Liu Xiang's evaluation was that this prince should have been born when the Legalists were flourishing, and perhaps he had a lot of common topics with Han Fei, Li Si and others.
In the end, Liu Xiang directly resigned to the emperor because he could not bear the responsibility of corrupting a country's crown prince. The criminal law family was a small family, unlike the Confucian family with a large influence, and could not bear the responsibility of this great god.
It is normal for a prince with such a personality to provoke enemies, and it is also reasonable for someone to fight back out of unbearable humiliation.
The three of them looked at each other, and they all saw some hidden worries in their eyes. If the crown prince is unstable, chaos will surely occur.
The three of them left in a hurry. Liu Xiang and Huo Guang went to handle the matters assigned by the emperor, while Luo Qing returned to the Imperial Academy. Being the chief academic officer of the Imperial Academy was his current main job.
Liu Xun naturally went straight to the Prince's Palace. With such a major event as the Prince's injury, the entire palace became busy.
Today's imperial palace is much more magnificent than before, thanks to the trees planted by Liu Dan's ancestors and the shade provided by Liu Xun's descendants. It took Liu Xun a quarter of an hour to ride out of the palace and go to the palace built specifically for the crown prince's palace.
As soon as I arrived at the Prince's Palace, I could see palace maids busy coming in and out. All of them had pale faces and deep fear in their eyes, just like the eunuchs who had gone to report the news earlier.
When Liu Xun walked into the hall, he saw the prince lying on the bed wrapped in white cloth. His face was pale from blood loss, and even had a hint of gray under his rosy complexion. It was obvious that he was seriously injured.
Queen Xu Pingjun was sitting in the room. She was over 30 years old and had a good figure. She was certainly not as good as the new beauties in the harem, but she was dignified, graceful and elegant, worthy of being the queen of the Han Dynasty. Now she bowed her head and cried secretly, which made Liu Xun feel sad.
The woman in front of him was the reason why he wanted to keep Liu He's position as the crown prince even though he clearly didn't like him. Liu He was a rare person in the world who could be so noble because of his mother.
Seeing Liu Xun appear, Xu Pingjun wiped her tears and saluted. Liu Xun held her hand, and the queen wept and said, "Your Majesty, how did He'er end up in this situation?"
Liu Xun said bitterly, "Don't worry, Queen. I have asked the Imperial Censor Liu Zizheng to investigate. I believe the results will be available soon. Whoever hurt the Crown Prince will be made to pay the price."
Xu Pingjun opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. She was Liu He's mother and knew Liu He's character very well. She suspected that this was Liu He's fault.
Outside, the news that the prince had been assassinated gradually spread!
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The crown prince He was violent and loved punishment. He was fond of magic and was suspicious. The emperor pardoned his clan and released them. The crown prince said, "The monarch used punishment to rule the world. This is why the Qin emperor wielded the weapon of life and death and could take whatever he wanted. The Han Dynasty values Confucianism. Confucian scholars like to talk about ancient sayings. They always talk about the ancient sages and Confucius. They are incompetent and powerless. They hate the imperial power and should be abandoned.
Your Majesty has enforced strict criminal laws, and the whole country is at peace. However, there are still some shortcomings: the legal system is not tight, the punishments are not severe, and the deterrent is not strong enough. Therefore, there are criminals in the country, traitors in the court, and the people of the world are dissatisfied. "
The emperor was angry and said, "The Han Dynasty has its own system, which was originally a mixture of hegemony and kingly way. Why do you rely solely on punishment and follow the Qin system? The Qin system was tyrannical. The second emperor died and the Li Emperor took over. He died and the government was destroyed. Your nature is evil, so I use Confucianism and Legalism to reconcile it.
Alas!
The one who caused chaos in my family is the crown prince!" - "Book of Han·Biography of Emperor Xiaoxuan"
Le, Ah He has been demoted
(End of this chapter)
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