135 Chapter 135
◎Determination.
By mid-September, the pilgrims began arriving in Chang'an. This year, Chang'an was particularly bustling, with not only the princes but also several diplomatic missions staying there. The Emperor specifically ordered increased security to prevent any unlawful acts of violence.
The princes gritted their teeth and bought the white deerskin coins, and then gritted their teeth and paid tribute to His Majesty the Emperor. Many of them were caught by His Majesty the Emperor for making mistakes in their fiefdoms. Not only did he scold and punish them, but he also used this as an excuse to reduce their already limited fiefdoms.
But no matter how much the princes complained, they would immediately give in when they saw the Grand Marshal and the Grand Marshal Hussar General beside His Majesty.
As for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who is related to the two Grand Marshals and has caused the princes to suffer, no one dares to make a move on him. After all, the Crown Prince is as bad as his father!
This was a very miserable year for the princes.
For His Majesty the Emperor, this is a year of pride.
There was singing and dancing in Chang'an for nearly a month. As the New Year faded away, winter officially arrived and Liu Che began to pay attention to cotton.
Soon, the results were reported to the Xuanshi Hall. It was found that cotton's warming effect was indeed very strong and it could be planted on a large scale to meet the winter warmth needs of ordinary people and even high-ranking officials.
His Majesty the Emperor looked at this memorial for a moment, then took out the memorial about the caravan and read it for a long time.
To ensure food production and sufficient taxes, these are not enough now. Large-scale cotton planting is not allowed, and the law restricting the area of cotton planting must continue.
While Liu Che was pondering, the eunuch tiptoed in and reported, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience."
"Hmm." His Majesty the Emperor moved his fingers.
A moment later, Liu Ju came in and greeted his father: "Greetings, Grandfather."
Liu Che said, "Ju'er, come and take a look at this."
Liu Ju stepped forward and took it with both hands. After carefully examining it, he said, "Aunt, the root of the problem is still the food production. Then... let's think of more ways to deal with food."
Liu Che nodded and said, "I think the same thing. When Ziwen returned from the Western Regions last time, he brought back a lot of seeds. Some of them are edible, but none of them can be used to fill the stomach. However, the world is so vast, and there are obviously lands that our Han Dynasty has not yet set foot on. I plan to send people to explore more."
Liu Ju said with a smile, "Since you have an idea, why are you still frowning?"
Liu Che said: "After all, it's just a prediction, and we don't know how many years we have to wait!"
Liu Ju then asked, "How long did you wait for your uncle and cousin?"
"Hmm?" Liu Che was confused for a moment. "When I first met your uncle, he was only this tall, thin, and small... Oh!" At this point, the Emperor couldn't help but smile. "Although I didn't have to wait a few years to have a general like your uncle, I waited for many years for the Battle of Dragon City."
However, the result of waiting was finally what Liu Che wished for. When the good news resounded throughout Chang'an City, many people did not realize that it was just the beginning.
Liu Che never lacked the patience to wait.
It’s just that Liu Che was a young emperor in his twenties at that time, and now he is about to enter his forties. Perhaps... Liu Che is worried about this, perhaps he can’t wait any longer.
Of course he was afraid of death, but what Liu Che feared more was that the prince was still young and might not be able to control the old fox-like courtiers in the court and the princes from all over the country who were eyeing him covetously.
Although the prince has his uncle and cousin to rely on and trust, in the end... Liu Che is more confident in his own protection of the prince.
Thinking of this, Liu Che patted Liu Ju's shoulder and said with a smile, "I heard that you gave your uncle a health and wellness encyclopedia and also gave your cousin a recipe book for medicinal foods. Calculated, I'm older than them all. Ju'er, why don't you give me a copy?"
Liu Ju was stunned. Although the emperor's tone was very relaxed, if you look deeper into the meaning of these words, it seems a bit disloyal and unfilial.
Liu Ju quickly explained, "I was thinking that my uncle and cousin had been fighting for years, and their health must be weakened. They needed to be replenished so that they could better serve the Han Dynasty and my grandfather in the future. My grandfather has no shortage of imperial physicians, so there's no need for me, who only has a superficial understanding, to say anything."
"I've tried your medicinal food, it tastes good." Liu Che said with a smile, "Give me another portion, I won't mind that you only know the basics."
Liu Ju hurriedly smiled and said, "Okay, Grandpa, wait for me to go back and think about it."
Liu Che nodded with satisfaction and added, "I have to take better care of my health. After all, I am old. Look, I have white hair."
"White hair?" Liu Ju's stereotyped smile froze, and he quickly straightened up to look at his father's hair that was tied up with a crown.
If you don't look closely, the emperor's hair is still black and shiny, but Liu Ju took a closer look and found that there were indeed one or two white hairs among the hidden hairs.
Liu Ju hadn't considered teaching his father about health preservation, just as he hadn't considered teaching his mother about it. This supremely noble couple, who ultimately disliked each other, were both long-lived. In Liu Ju's view, there was no need for them to practice health preservation. Forcing them to practice it might even backfire!
But when Liu Ju saw his father's white hair with his own eyes, he still felt quite complicated.
His father was getting older, and Liu Ju felt heartbroken, sad, and...
More pressure.
My father is getting older, and the emperor is becoming more and more unpredictable.
Liu Ju has faced it once, he can't make the same mistake again!
Since his rebirth, Liu Ju has changed the outcome of the Battle of Mobei. Last month, a penicillin product was completed. Liu Ju believes that he can change the outcome of Huo Qubing's death.
Of course he can change his own ending!
Liu Che, however, thought he had frightened his son, so he reached out and pulled him down, saying cheerfully, "It's just a few gray hairs. Look at those old ministers in the front hall of Weiyang Palace. They have even more gray hairs, and they're still so energetic that they can piss me off! It turns out that having gray hair isn't a bad thing after all."
The words were originally meant to comfort the prince, but as he spoke, His Majesty the Emperor seemed to have convinced himself. It was just a few white hairs. The Huns have bowed to me, so why should I be afraid of a few white hairs?
Liu Ju smiled and said, "Aunt, I know that growing gray hair is just like losing hair every day. It's a very common thing."
"That's right." Liu Che smiled, "This is a very common thing."
…
When spring came, the Weiyang Palace began to prepare for a new happy event.
Liu Qi was about to get married, and Wei Zifu started planning for it after the Chinese New Year. Although she already had the experience of having one of her daughters married off, doing it again did not ease Wei Zifu's mood at all.
Both happy and sad.
The favor shown to the eldest daughter cannot be replicated on every daughter, so this time His Majesty the Emperor did not personally visit the Princess's Residence to watch the ceremony.
Unlike His Majesty the Emperor, Liu Ju would of course go. To him, they were all his sisters, and he would not favor one over the other.
On the way back, Liu Ju thought of the argument he had with his father when Liu Yuan got married last time, which led to a small quarrel between them.
At that time, Liu Ju could still get along with his father very relaxed, even though there was still the shadow of his previous life. Fortunately, he had not thought about the problem that still tormented him today.
These days, Liu Ju was discussing with Fusu the issue of how to deal with the emperor's father. Fusu gave him an unexpected answer, which was something he would not say when they were facing each other.
Fusu believed that the three of them had the same problem as their father, which was the extreme lack of communication between them.
Especially Fusu and Liu Ju, they are all recorded in black and white in history books!
This made Liu Ju suddenly feel much more enlightened, just like what he had always admitted: his father loved him very much.
Perhaps he changed as he grew older, but did Liu Ju also become alienated from his father as he grew older?
The most important reason why a villain began to sow discord between the father and son was that they were not as close as when Liu Ju was young, so the villain had an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Liu Ju had a wife, children and his own small group, so he naturally became estranged from his father, which was undoubtedly fatal for a prince.
Liu Ju always believed that the current fatherly love and filial piety between sons would eventually have a time limit, and as his father grew older, their close relationship would gradually fall apart.
But this is wrong. As Fusu said, relationships between people need to be maintained. No matter how close the father and son are, if they never see each other or talk, they will gradually become estranged.
Fusu advised Liu Ju that the first thing he should do is to manage his father-son relationship well.
Liu Ju admitted that Fusu was right. He felt that he had lived in vain for more than 30 years as he could not even see through this problem.
Fusu said that it was common for bystanders to see things more clearly, and Liu Ju's situation was much more complicated than Fusu's, so it was no wonder that he couldn't figure it out for a while.
However, Li Chengqian refused to admit that Fusu's point of view was correct. He argued many points until Fusu asked him what he planned to do in the future.
Li Chengqian said, "Cold salad."
This seems to be a sign of giving up, but he had previously stated that he wanted to do something big, which is very contradictory.
Fortunately, everyone is used to his abnormality. As for what will happen after Li Chengqian really returns to the Tang Dynasty, that is Li Ying's headache.
Because of this discussion, Liu Ju has recently been thinking about how to maintain close communication with his father. For men in feudal society, it is okay for children, but when they grow up, they have to act like spoiled brats to their fathers. This scenario is really heartbreaking to think about, and Liu Ju cannot do it.
But Liu Ju thought it was still okay to ask his father to watch another shadow play.
As for the so-called emotional communication, Liu Ju thought, I have watched palace fighting dramas for so many years, it is impossible that I will not gain any experience at all. Isn't it just something impressive that can evoke people's long-lost memories?
He promised that even when his father was in his sixties, he would not forget the memories of shadow puppetry.
Facts proved that when Liu Ju returned to the palace and told him about it, the emperor had indeed not forgotten. Liu Che, whose embarrassing memories were brought back, rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, "Ju'er, can't you do something else interesting?"
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