Liu Shuang looked a little disappointed. Without waiting for Su Ren's invitation, he sat down opposite Su Ren, grabbed a wine bottle and poured himself a drink. He drank five large glasses in a row without any intention of stopping.
Su Ren pressed the wine glass and said, "This is the best Erguotou. If you drink any more, you will get drunk. Being drunk is not good for your health!"
Liu Shuang smiled miserably: "It's better to be drunk. Didn't you say that getting drunk will solve a thousand worries?"
"Who has made our prince unhappy again? In the Hengshan Kingdom, you are the most important person except King Hengshan. Oh..., have you been scolded by the king again?" Su Ren looked like he was not afraid of big troubles and rested his arms on the table.
: "Tell me why I scolded you again and how you did it. Tell me quickly and let us be happy too."
Liu Shuang rolled his eyes, poured himself another glass of wine, and poured it into his stomach as soon as he raised his neck. Su Ren grabbed the wine bottle: "I told you not to drink too much, but you still drink!"
"Hey!" Liu Shuang sighed: "You said, how can there be such a father in the world? Even if I am useless, I am still his child. Since the death of my mother, I have never seen his good face. Over the years, no matter what I do
Everything is wrong, Liu Xiao and Liu Guang are good at everything. In order to please him, I try harder and harder, constantly examine myself, and do my best in everything. But the result? He still doesn't like me.
"
"What's going on?"
"The matter of going to Chang'an to meet His Majesty is our Hengshan Kingdom this year. If everything goes well, my father should set off around May."
"Oh! What's going on? The kings of every vassal state are going."
"Hahaha!" Liu Shuang smiled: "You have only been an official for a short time, so you don't know the secret. I am a Han Dynasty with hundreds of princes, big and small. Some princes have names and fiefdoms, and some princes have names but no fiefdoms.
There are some without names and no fiefdoms. Take our Hengshan Kingdom for example! Hengshan Kingdom was granted by the late emperor, with a royal title and a seal. It borders Huaihe to the north and Dajiang to the south. This is the fiefdom of King Hengshan, so Hengshan
The king belongs to the princes who have names and fiefdoms."
"There are also those with names and no fiefdoms, such as the Marquises of Chang'an, Wei Qihou, Bai Zhihou, etc. They have lived in Chang'an for a long time and never go to fiefdoms. Therefore, it makes no difference to them whether they have fiefdoms or not; the last kind is nameless.
Those who have no fiefdom are the Marquises of Guannei like you. Although they are said to be marquises, in fact they only get a little more salary than others and do not get any benefits. Compared with marquises with names, they are far inferior to kings."
Su Ren thought for a while, and it seemed that he really said: "Are there any other differences between these types of princes?"
"Of course, the princes with names and fiefdoms are the most feared by the imperial court; those with names but no fiefdoms are the next best, and you are the worst! For the princes who are fearful, it takes three to five years at most and one year at least to go to Chang'an to have an audience with His Majesty.
Loyalty and respect, if not, you will be reprimanded, fined as little as copper, or reduced in rank, and in the most serious case, your fiefdom will be confiscated, and you will be questioned."
"Is it so serious? Then King Hengshan really should go."
"Hahaha!" Liu Shuang said with a smile: "But no one dares to go now. If you want to say the reason, it lies with you."
"I, the princes and kings meeting Your Majesty, what does it have to do with me?"
"Do you still remember the acting king?"
"Acting King? Remember, what happened?"
"How did he die? Don't say you don't know!"
Su Ren understood, smiled and shook his head: "So King Hengshan is worried about this! I'm in Lu'an, he should be able to go there with confidence, right?"
Liu Shuang waved his hand: "The matter is not as simple as you said. Because of past mistakes, some people suspect that I am harming my father by supporting him to go to Chang'an and want to seize the throne. Do you think it is ridiculous?"
"Hahaha, is it Liu Xiao?" Su Ren laughed.
Liu Shuang was stunned: "You know?"
Su Ren shook his head: "I don't know, but I just saw Liu Xiao's carriage from the window just passing by, in the direction of the palace. Not long after, you came, and you had a look of resentment on your face. I guessed it might have something to do with Liu Xiao, and sure enough,
.”
"My second brother is the least likely to deal with me. He always likes to fight against me. I wish my father would kill me now and let him be the heir apparent."
"Nothing surprising! Men pursue three things in this life, power, money and women. Speaking of which, they can get everything, and that is power. Although the King of Hengshan is not a big man, he is still a figure above tens of millions of people in Hengshan.
, the court's laws can't control him, as long as he is in the fiefdom, he can do whatever he wants. Sometimes I envy you princes and princes."
"Envy? With Mr. Su's intelligence, you can't see the hardships involved?"
Su Ren smiled: "Hardship? Life is not difficult for anyone. Common people have the hardships of ordinary people. They are willing to risk their lives just for food. Rich people have the hardships of rich people. They work hard to earn money to support their families, just for their wives and children.
Live a better life; you young masters naturally have your hardships, they are all the same! However, you have to admit that when you envy others, others also envy you, envy you with gold in your mouth, envy you for your fine clothes, fine food, and good life.
Don’t be afraid of hardships, hardships are stepping stones to growth!”
Liu Shuang raised his head and sighed: "I don't have Brother Su's experience. I just ask others not to target me and everything will be calm."
"Hahaha... It seems that the prince was born in the wrong place." Su Ren laughed: "You are the eldest son of King Hengshan. Even if King Hengshan no longer wants to have sons, he will have three or five. Who wouldn't want to?
After what happened to Lao Wang, can I sit on the throne of King of Hengshan? But there is only one person for this position, unless the prince withdraws now and finds a place to live in seclusion for the rest of his life, and maybe he can live in luxury for the rest of his life."
"Quit? Why? The throne of Hengshan was originally mine."
"This is not the end. Now that you have confirmed it, don't be afraid of being robbed." Su Ren turned around and glanced at Man Niu: "This is my personal guard, called Man Niu. I wrestled with a few people a few days ago, and I got a piece of it."
The broken jade was the prize, and he snatched it away from more than a dozen people. A piece of broken jade is like this, let alone the title of King of Hengshan."
Liu Shuang raised his head and looked at Man Niu. After listening to Huang Shisan's words, Man Niu glared at Liu Shuang with a dark face. Liu Shuang swallowed: "What a strong man!" He nodded and said to Su Ren: "Brother Su.
What I said is true, but now I am a little unable to do what I want, I don’t know..."
Before Liu Shuang could finish his words, Su Ren waved his hand quickly: "No, I will not interfere in the affairs between your brothers. Firstly, I am a minister of the imperial court. Secondly, I still have matters to deal with resettling the Yue people. The people of Hengshan Kingdom
The more things get mixed up, the more disaster I will suffer. Not only will the court be criticized, but people in Hengshan will also be resented. Doesn’t the prince have someone to help me?"
Liu Shuang frowned: "Oh? Who can be called an expert by Brother Su?"
"Wei Qing! Isn't this person closely connected with the Crown Prince? He will help the Crown Prince out at every critical moment."
"Oh, hahaha..." Liu Shuang smiled: "Wei Qing is a visitor to Hengshan. I just asked him to come up with some ideas. He is not one of mine."
"Really? Perhaps because I am an outsider, I have a thorough understanding of your affairs. Apart from your brothers, there are three people who are most trusted by your Majesty, the Prime Minister Xi Ci, the General Zhang Guangchang, and the Visitor Guard.
Qing, based on my observation, Xi Ci and the second young master are very close. Zhang Guangchang is the most loyal to His Majesty. In other words, whoever will sit on the throne in the future, Zhang Guangchang will still be loyal to the person on the throne. This person can be ignored, and Wei
Qing, he should choose the crown prince."
Liu Shuang looked at Su Ren in shock: "Brother Su..."
Su Ren smiled: "However, don't be happy too early. Let me analyze it for you again. Xi Ci is the Prime Minister of the country, and he supports Liu Xiao, which means that Liu Xiao has a high status among civil servants; and Liu Guang,
Liu Guang's biological mother is the current queen, and Xu Lai keeps giving the king a blow for his own son. This is also very scary. Apart from these two people, the other young masters can be ignored."
"Let's talk about you again. As the crown prince, you have great righteousness, but you don't have any power. The civil servants are controlled by Xi Ci, and the generals are in the hands of Zhang Guangchang. The only think tank is Wei Qing, but even if he can influence His Majesty, he is a small visitor.
Limited! More importantly, the prince is too upright and won't flatter you. He always likes to stop things that he doesn't like, which inadvertently creates more enemies, so you will find it difficult."
Liu Shuang nodded repeatedly after hearing this. When Su Ren finished speaking, he quickly stood up and bowed deeply: "Brother Su, please give me some advice!"
Su Ren also stood up and returned the courtesy: "Your Majesty, please sit down. I can't talk about teaching. I only have a few words to send you. I do things in a high profile and behave in a low profile."
Liu Shuang thought for a while and shook his head.
Su Ren smiled and said: "Working in a high profile is to let the prince gain popularity among the people. He will work hard for the people in everything, even if he is beaten up by the king, he will not hesitate to let the people know that the prince is the future of the King of Hengshan.
, is the future of their good days, so that the prince will also have his own power! From now on, the people of Hengshan should be grateful to the prince. With such popularity, even if the king wants to abolish or establish the throne, he must take the people into consideration. "
"It's hard for the Crown Prince to keep a low profile. Don't think that you are still the Crown Prince. Just think of yourself as a carefree young master. Be polite to everyone you meet, even the soldiers at the city gate! Turn a blind eye to matters in the court.
Eyes, intrigues, intrigues, the prince should not get involved, even if the king asks, try to be as diplomatic as possible, no one will be offended, hello, me, hello, everyone, let everyone feel that the prince is already discouraged, by then Liu Xiao and Liu Guangcai
If a fight breaks out, wouldn't it be good for the prince to reap the benefits?"
Liu Shuang listened and thought: "Is this okay?"
Su Ren smiled: "Anyway, the Crown Prince is already at the end of the world, so what's the harm in trying? Even if it doesn't work, how far can it go?"
"That's right!" Liu Shuang smiled awkwardly, "Okay, just listen to sir, and I will repay you for your kindness!"
"No need to tolerate me, I have something to ask for now. The prince has a large piece of land in Jianghuai. Can the prince sell it to me?"
Liu Shuang was stunned and rolled his eyes: "After saying so much, you are just doing it for my piece of land, right?" (To be continued)