Mi Han

Chapter 688: Hitting Liu Feng and Vow to Kill Wu Gou

Chapter 688: Hitting Liu Feng and Vow to Kill Wu Gou

The sky gradually darkened. Liu Feng, who had been staying indoors for many days, did not drink to drown his sorrows in wine in the mansion as most people would have thought.

Just a while ago, Liu Feng, contrary to everyone's expectations, submitted a memorial to Liu Chan.

The content of the memorial was not complicated. It was a request to Liu Chan to abolish the Protectorate of the Western Regions and to appoint princes to guard the Western Regions instead.

Perhaps in the eyes of the King of Cheshi, this memorial was Liu Feng's attempt to dig up their roots.

But what the King of Cheshi did not know was that when this memorial was circulated from the Secretariat, it caused an uproar throughout the court and the country.

The post of Protector-General of the Western Regions was established during the reign of Emperor Xiaoxuan. Over the past hundreds of years, it can be said that the establishment of the Protector-General of the Western Regions was just one of the many ancestral systems of the Han Dynasty.

Putting aside how much benefit "abolishing the protectorate and establishing a king" could bring to the Han Dynasty, the four words "violating the ancestral system" alone were enough to stir up the nerves of many Han ministers.

Of course, since Liu Bei became emperor, the Han Dynasty has made many changes to its ancestral system, but the promoters of those changes were either Mi Yang, who was the most meritorious in the world, or Zhuge Liang, who helped the Han Dynasty to be rebuilt.

In addition, the two of them often had the support of Liu Bei behind them, so when they proposed to change the ancestral system, many ministers did not show any intention of opposing it even if they were unwilling in their hearts.

But the question is, can Liu Feng be compared with Mi Yang and Zhuge Liang?

That is absolutely impossible.

Another concern was that as Liu Feng was the eldest son of the previous emperor, as long as he did not commit any serious mistakes, Liu Chan would one day make him a prince in order to demonstrate the brotherhood within the royal family to the world.

In this foreseeable situation, Liu Feng still risked great disapproval and proposed to "abolish the title of protector and establish a king", which really makes it difficult not to doubt his intentions.

In the past few days, many court officials have used the above two doubts to continuously criticize Liu Feng.

Under the constant criticism from many court officials, Liu Feng had no choice but to stay indoors and gradually disappear from everyone's sight.

Liu Feng's retreat was also seen by others as a sign of frustration and giving up.

But what others don’t know is that Liu Feng’s current situation is exactly the opposite of what they think.

Under the dim light in the room, Liu Feng was concentrating on looking at a map on the desk in front of him.

This map shows the entire picture of the Western Regions.

The Western Regions are vast and rich in resources, but the map is too small to clearly depict every feature of the Western Regions.

But despite this, Liu Feng's gaze towards the map was still full of passion.

He remembered what Mi Yang had promised him before, and he also believed that with Mi Yang's methods, the matter of "abolishing the protector and replacing him with a king" would definitely have a follow-up.

Just when Liu Feng was having endless fantasies in his mind, the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door attracted his attention.

"General, the Grand Marshal has sent someone to invite you."

The person who came was Liu Feng's personal guard, and he spoke in a very low voice.

But after hearing these words, Liu Feng stood up suddenly.

He has endured so much criticism recently and even stayed indoors. Isn't this what he has been waiting for?

"Tell the person who came that I will be there immediately."

There was a hint of undisguised restlessness in Liu Feng's low voice.

Mi Yang didn't wait too long.

About half an hour later, Liu Feng, led by a servant, walked into the hall where he was.

In response to Liu Feng's visit, Mi Yang asked him to sit down first.

After Liu Feng sat down, Jiang Ji understood and told Liu Feng the intelligence he had obtained.

Liu Feng, who had just sat down, learned about what the envoys from the Western Regions were plotting.

Like Mi Yang, Liu Feng laughed out loud when he first heard the thoughts of the envoys from the Western Regions.

This sound was a mockery.

But then Liu Feng let out another relieved laugh.

Perhaps the envoys from the Western Regions seemed quite stupid to Liu Feng, but their stupidity actually helped him a lot.

After laughing twice, Liu Feng also knew that Mi Yang would summon him tonight.

Thinking of this, Liu Feng did not hesitate for a moment. He quickly stood up and bowed to Mi Yang who was sitting in the upper seat, saying:

"I wish to follow the Grand Marshal's lead!"

Liu Feng did not rashly ask for orders to suppress the rebellion that was brewing among the envoys from the Western Regions. He first clearly expressed his attitude to Mi Yang.

Because Liu Feng knew that what kind of benefits he could gain from the upcoming rebellion of the envoys from the Western Regions depended entirely on Mi Yang's thoughts.

Liu Feng's obedience was beyond Jiang Ji's expectations.

Because long before Jiang Ji joined Mi Yang, he had heard of Liu Feng's reputation for toughness.

However, Liu Feng's current performance does not match his reputation for toughness!

It was normal for Jiang Ji to have this doubt in his mind. After all, he joined the army late and had not seen some past events.

When he was in Jieting that year, Mi Yang came to Jieting without telling anyone.

At that time, Mi Yang had not yet taken out Liu Bei's edict, but just by showing up, he easily took away the military power from Liu Feng.

The spectacular scene of Mi Yang accepting the sincere support of tens of thousands of Han soldiers on the high platform that day was always reflected in Liu Feng's mind.

He is indeed tough, but that doesn't mean Liu Feng is a fool.

After seeing Liu Feng's obedient look, Mi Yang did not express his opinion immediately.

He stretched out his hand to signal Liu Feng to come closer to him.

At Mi Yang's signal, even though Liu Feng had some doubts in his heart, he still obediently took a few steps towards where Mi Yang was.

In this way, the distance between Mi Yang and Liu Feng is no longer so far.

This distance also allows Mi Yang to see the expression on Liu Feng's face more clearly.

Looking at Liu Feng, who had a respectful look on his face, Mi Yang leaned forward and asked with a smile:

"Do you really want to be crowned king in the Western Region?"

Mi Yang's words were like a thunderclap exploding in Liu Feng's ears.

Liu Feng, whose deepest desires were seen through, suddenly showed a look of panic on his face.

He quickly lowered his head, not daring to look directly into Mi Yang's eyes.

But even though he did so, he still felt that Mi Yang's gaze was becoming more and more fiery.

That fiery gaze seemed to dry him up.

"Your Majesty, I dare not."

After a long time, Liu Feng could only stammer out this pale answer.

Don't dare?

As a member of the royal family, who wouldn't want to divide the land and be crowned king?

Liu Feng's answer was not convincing enough for Mi Yang.

However, compared to selfless people, Mi Yang prefers to use selfish people.

"You should know that there was a dispute between you and His Majesty over the succession."

During the Battle of Xiangfan, Liu Feng ignored Guan Yu's order and refused to send troops to support, which showed his intention of maintaining his own military strength.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see why we need to maintain our military strength.

What's more, with the title of deputy general and the title of Liu Bei's adopted son, even if Liu Feng did not maintain an army and was not self-reliant, he could not escape the suspicion of "competing for succession".

After all, according to etiquette and law, Liu Feng is Liu Bei's eldest son, which is a recognized fact.

The reason why Liu Chan became the crown prince was because he was the legitimate son.

Mi Yang's slightly heavy tone of voice made Liu Feng even more flustered.

"You should also know that many people in the government and the public have opinions about you."

Mi Yang's words ruthlessly revealed Liu Feng's current embarrassing situation in the Han Dynasty.

Due to the Rebellion of the Seven States, the Han Dynasty has had a tradition of suppressing the royal family since Emperor Xiaowu.

Apart from the emperor, it is best if other members of the royal family have no talent or virtue and just enjoy their retirement in their fiefdoms.

But Liu Feng happened to be a very talented person.

What’s important is that when Liu Bei was alive, Liu Feng, who was loved by Liu Bei, got into a lot of trouble because of his tough character.

Apart from anything else, in the Battle of Xiangfan, Liu Feng directly offended the ministers of the Yuancong and Jingzhou factions.

It is precisely because of this that the court officials’ criticism of Liu Feng was so fierce this time.

If Mi Yang hadn't been secretly manipulating things, it would not have been so easy for Liu Feng to stay indoors even if he wanted to.

Mi Yang's two factual words directly aroused Liu Feng's panic to the maximum. At this time, he didn't know what to say.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty is terrified."

At this moment, Liu Feng no longer dared to think about anything else. The power emanating from Mi Yang almost suffocated him.

Now Liu Feng only hopes that he can get through tonight's meeting safely.

Just when Liu Feng thought that Mi Yang's next sentence was to continue to intimidate him, Mi Yang suddenly changed the subject and said with a smile:

"But when the late emperor was alive, he asked me to take good care of you."

Mi Yang's words passed across Liu Feng's face like a spring breeze. While gradually calming Liu Feng's inner panic, it also made Liu Feng look up at Mi Yang in surprise.

When Liu Feng's gaze met Mi Yang's deep eyes, Liu Feng suddenly realized why Mi Yang said this to him.

Mi Yang wanted to tell him one thing: Currently, he was the only one in the court and the country who was willing and able to protect himself.

As for what Liu Feng would think after learning this meaning?

Liu Feng, who originally did not dare to resist Mi Yang, quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind and lowered his head directly in front of Mi Yang.

"Feng, I will never disobey the Grand Marshal until my death."

Compared with the previous sentence "follow your lead", Liu Feng's current sentence "I will never disobey you even if I die" seems to have more weight.

And this is what Mi Yang really wanted.

Mi Yang burst into laughter immediately after hearing this.

He reached out his hand, patted Liu Feng on the shoulder and said:

"Because you always have doubts about the envoys from the Western Regions, you secretly send people to keep track of their movements.

By investigating, you can promptly discover the unusual movements of the Western Regions envoys, and when they rebel, you can lead your army to suppress them successfully."

"This will be recorded in future history books. I also hope that you can explain this to the court officials and the people of the world in your memorial in the future!"

"how?"

Mi Yang seemed to be asking Liu Feng for his opinion, but Liu Feng knew that at this point, he had only one answer:

"My lord, take your orders!"

After receiving Liu Feng's reply, Mi Yang waved his hand and said, "Go back and prepare."

"Someone will help you tomorrow."

After hearing Mi Yang's words, Liu Feng left the hall with mixed feelings.

After Liu Feng disappeared, Jiang Ji stood up and asked Mi Yang:

"The Western Regions are thousands of miles away, and General Liu has a strong character. I'm afraid no one other than the Grand Marshal can control him."

In Jiang Ji's opinion, Mi Yang wanted to give Liu Feng a warning tonight in order to send Liu Feng to the Western Regions and make him a king in the future.

But Jiang Ji felt that this move still involved risks.

How could Mi Yang not know about Jiang Ji's worries?

But everything has its pros and cons.

In Mi Yang's view, as long as the army had a legitimate reason to go to war, it would not be difficult to conquer the Western Regions with the current strength of the Han army.

However, it is easy to take over the Western Regions, but it is not easy to govern them well and completely turn them into a part of China.

The best way to do this is to learn from our predecessors.

At that time, Jingzhou and Yangzhou could be considered as barbaric places, and their local customs, language, and habits were very different from those of the Central Plains.

But to this day, although Jingzhou and Yangzhou are still different from the Central Plains in some aspects, the people of the two states have already regarded themselves as part of China from the bottom of their hearts.

It was the princes appointed by Liu Bang in the early Han Dynasty that caused this change.

Those princes were not necessarily wise men, but for their own interests, they would do everything they could to slowly assimilate the local people after arriving at their fiefdoms.

This kind of subjective initiative is unique to the princes and not possessed by any other minister.

Don't underestimate a person's subjective initiative, especially when that person's subjective initiative is supported by strong military strength.

Good policies should not be buried, and if we want to make this good policy play its due role, we must be cautious in choosing the first person to be sent to the Western Regions.

Of course, Mi Yang actually had no choice.

Liu Chan's children had not yet been born, and his two younger brothers were too young. After choosing and choosing, Mi Yang could only focus on Liu Feng.

Putting aside Liu Feng's personality, his personal military ability could greatly benefit Mi Yang's ideal of "transforming the region into a state."

As for Jiang Ji's worries, Mi Yang would not sit idly by.

"It doesn't matter.

As long as I am here, he will not dare to have any second thoughts.

Besides, I never promised him that he could inherit the throne in the Western Regions."

What Mi Yang wanted was to transform the region into a state, not into a country. Transforming the region into a country is just a transition.

Jiang Ji finally felt relieved after hearing Mi Yang's last words.

As long as the throne is not passed down from generation to generation and Liu Feng can form an unbreakable power base in the Western Regions, the risk that Liu Feng can pose to the central government can basically be ignored.

"The great Sima is wise."

Time quickly came to the second night.

When night fell, Zhang Wen and Zhou Qian, who lived in Sifang Pavilion, suddenly felt a little palpitation.

It seemed as if under the cover of darkness, some force was gathering strength to harm them.

Of course, the reason why Zhang Wen and Zhou Qian had such a feeling was not because they could predict the future, but purely because they lacked a sense of security in Sifang Pavilion.

Originally, when they set out from Jiangdong, they were accompanied by more than a hundred guards, but those guards had to be left behind during Liu Yin's welcoming gesture earlier. Now, Zhang Wen and Zhou Cang have only three or five followers.

Being in the enemy's capital city with extremely weak guarding forces around you, anyone facing this situation would feel uneasy.

The dark night deepened their uneasiness.

What Zhang Wen and Zhou Qian didn't know was that their intuition was correct.

Because in a courtyard not far from them, more than a hundred guards were swearing an oath in an orderly manner.

"We must take Wu Gou's head tonight!"

　Chapter One.

　　Chapter 2 continues to write ~

(End of this chapter)