Du Zhou spoke very cautiously and did not directly mention Liu Qumao's name, but everyone present basically knew who he was referring to.
Liu Tan raised his eyebrows slightly: "Really?"
Du Zhou had the confession delivered and said, "These two people had no contact with each other. Liu Chaoping's correspondence was with Liu Yi and others, and had nothing to do with anyone else. As for Liu Qi... Liu Qi's correspondence was with Liu Zhong."
After listening to this series of names of the Liu family, Liu Tan suddenly realized that after all this trouble, it was actually the Liu family that was having an internal conflict. If it were an ordinary family, this would be a fight over the family property.
It’s a pity that when ordinary families fight for the family property, they will only cause unrest within their own family, but when it comes to the royal family, the whole world will be buried with them if they are not careful.
He nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Du Tingwei. The fox's tail will be exposed sooner or later. As long as we capture Liu Yi and Liu Zhong, we will know."
Du Zhou's spirits brightened: "Is Your Highness going to lead the troops to quell the rebellion?"
Liu Tan nodded: "I will send the order to mobilize the troops soon, and we will set out tomorrow."
Du Zhou's brows relaxed, and he bowed deeply to Liu Tan and said, "I wish Your Highness a successful start."
After Du Zhou left, Chen Ajiao, who had been silent the entire time, asked, "How could those two traitors be so stubborn as to refuse to confess? What kind of magic potion did Liu Qumao use on them?"
Liu Tan said, "There might really be something wrong here. It's not necessarily that they are stubborn. Even the toughest bones can be broken in Du Tingwei's hands."
Du Zhou was a cruel official. Apart from anything else, he must have his own set of torture methods, otherwise how could he deserve the title of a cruel official?
It's hard to say about Liu Chaoping, but Liu Qi doesn't seem to be a mighty and unyielding person at all. Liu Tan didn't do anything but let someone put him horizontally on the horse, face down, and shook him all the way until he almost collapsed. Such a person has nothing to do with the word "hard-boned" at all.
Chen Ajiao sighed and said, "It's my mother's fault. She should have sent someone to beat Liu Qumao to death at that time, so that my son wouldn't be in such a difficult situation now."
After hearing this, Liu Tan was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He had to admit that Chen Ajiao's methods were always so simple and crude.
Simple and crude, but effective.
If possible, Liu Tan also wanted to kill Liu Qumao directly, but unfortunately Liu Qumao was very cautious and was always accompanied by more than a dozen guards when he went in and out, so it was not easy to assassinate him.
The most important thing is that Liu Tan is now in charge of the government, so he cannot carry out things like assassinations. Not only will it lower his face, but it will also easily make people feel disheartened.
When dealing with Wu Shilu, everyone would applaud him, but if he used this method against his own people, not to mention that there was no evidence of Liu Qumao's rebellion, even if there was, it would be too vicious.
However, the only thing to be thankful for is that Liu Qumao dared not act rashly while he was here. The longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for Liu Qumao, because Liu Tan could obtain evidence of his rebellion at any time.
Thinking of this, Liu Tan directly called people to discuss the matter.
The meeting place was a side hall next to the Weiyang Palace. He would not go to the main hall as it was not a formal court meeting.
Even in the side hall, Liu Tan did not sit in the main seat. Instead, he left the seat vacant and sat in the second seat from the bottom - the first seat was reserved for the crown prince.
When Liu Tan came in and sat in this position, all the three dukes and nine ministers exchanged glances. Both the prince's faction and the faction that was only loyal to the emperor felt relieved at this moment.
On the contrary, Liu Qumao was even more wary of Liu Tan - if they were in each other's shoes, Liu Qumao could not guarantee that he could remain stable.
You have to know that the emperor has been ill for more than a month, and the prince has been ill for several days. He has not appeared in public until now, so he might be in serious condition.
Prince of Yan Liu Dan died a long time ago, Prince of Changyi Liu Bo has not shown up yet, Prince of Qi Liu Fuling has also disappeared, the Seventh Prince can't even walk steadily now, and His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory is only one step away from the supreme throne.
In today's situation of internal and external troubles, even if he ascends the throne directly, I'm afraid not many people will object.
But this young man is so patient, which is not something that ordinary people can do.
If Liu Tan knew what Liu Qumao was imagining, he would probably burst out laughing. Self-attack is the most fatal thing.
First of all, he was sure that his father would come back, and secondly, he didn't want to be emperor at all. Yes, there were emperors without heirs since ancient times, but those emperors were unable to have children, not unwilling to marry.
If you can't have children, even gods can do nothing about it, but if you don't marry, the ministers can force you to get one.
He was living a carefree life in the Northern Border Country. When he was unhappy, he would beat up the Huns, or hang out with Lu Xuan. At worst, he would play a trick on Huo Guang. His life was more carefree than that of a god. Why did he have to make himself uncomfortable?
After Liu Tan and the others had taken their seats, he took out the tiger talisman used to dispatch the Chang'an garrison and said, "I have just ordered the troops to be dispatched tomorrow to eliminate the rebels. The rest of the matter will be left to you all."
After he finished speaking, the scene fell silent. Liu Tan looked around, trying to discern any difference from the faces of these old foxes. After a long while, he saw nothing. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's wrong? Don't you all agree?"
Before Liu Qumao could say anything, the Imperial Censor beside him coughed lightly and said, "No, it's just...wasn't Your Highness's expedition a little hasty?"
Liu Tan said, "As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. Yesterday, I led my troops to raid Liu Chaoping's route. They will surely have received the news today. They might also think, like you, that Chang'an won't send troops again so soon. Wouldn't that be a perfect opportunity to catch them off guard?"
Everyone looked at each other, feeling that they couldn't refute it. Of course, it was actually very easy to refute if they wanted to, but the Chief Censor was loyal to the emperor, and although Sang Hongyang was also loyal to Liu Che, he had a better impression of Liu Tan because of Sang Qian, so he didn't say anything.
Liu Qumao's followers couldn't help but say, "Your Highness has never led troops in Chang'an before. I'm afraid it would be bad to rush in like this."
Liu Tan didn't even glance at the man and said lazily, "Since you've asked, I'll be frank. Chang'an's soldiers are just smokescreens. The real main force is still my elite regiment."
Everyone was a little surprised after hearing this. Liu Qumao's followers even chuckled as if they had found a topic to talk about, "Your Highness's elite regiment is indeed powerful, but it only has 500 people. I'm afraid it's not appropriate to use it as the main force, right?"
Liu Tan said, "What's inappropriate? You all have nearly 10,000 people under your command, but you were trapped in the siege. I, with 500 men, defeated Liu Chaoping. What do you think is inappropriate?"
Everyone: ...
Liu Qumao, who had been sitting there quietly, saw his men blushing and unable to utter a word, so he had to stand up and say, "Your Highness, you launched a surprise attack before, but now you are going to engage in a full-scale battle. It's completely different."
Liu Tan looked at him calmly and asked, "So? Are you teaching me how to fight?"
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