Chapter 369 A Cruel Father (1/2)
Chapter 369 – A Cruel Father
Liu Xie's faction within Tong's forces got weaker each day. With the news about Du Shi and Cai Wenji's pregnancy, Liu Xie's status as a crown prince was not that sacred anymore.
Han loyalist supporters switched sides to Tong's side, abandoning the sinking ship without hesitation. Only a few elders who loyal to Emperor Ling remained as Liu Xie's backers.
Although Liu Xie realized his shortcoming, he did not mind it because he was too young to care about politics. Also, Liu Ye and Zhang Min were beside him all the time, so he was never bored.
With Liu Ye's coaching, Liu Xie and Zhang Min understood a bit of the general trends about the country.
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January, 190 A.D.
Changes occurred. A messenger from Cao Cao snuck into Ye City and passed a secret letter to Liu Xie.
The content was too confusing to the child. Cao Cao simply informed him about the other provinces and the difficulty that peasants were facing. He pledged Liu Xie to help these people from the hands of the crooked politicians in the southern lands.
The innocent 9-year-old could not understand politic. Liu Xie ran to Tong with the letter and showed it to him.
Tong read the letter with a frown. Cao Cao tried to use a low blow.
'It's a shallow move for someone like Cao Cao. What is he doing, a distraction ploy? Liu Xie manipulation? Trying to move Liu Xie south? Bah, what is this nonsense?'
Even Tong could not understand the meaning behind this letter, so he returned it to Liu Xie. Tong wanted to burn it, but it might hurt his son's heart as it was his first letter he received.
”What is this about, dad?”
”It's nothing. Cao Cao is now working for me, so he is probably seeking an insider's aid for his military campaign.”
Liu Xie was taken aback, ”He is planning for another war?”
”He is going to fight against Yuan Shao soon.”
”Then, he is a bad buy?”
”I can't say he's a bad guy. He's doing this to protect the peasants and civilians.”
”By waging war?”
”Domination war. It unites the governance as one since all nobles refused to submit under others.”
”Can't we issue edicts and stop the war?”
”We can, but we will only delay the inevitable. Warlords will pretend to follow our order for a decade or so, but they will reveal their true color once they obtain enough power. It's easier to fight enemies in warfare than fighting invisible enemies in political infighting.”
Liu Xie got more confused. However, Xun Yu and Liu Ye, who was escorting them, had a stiff smile as they detected hypocrisies in Tong's words.
In reality, Tong promoted political infighting than direct warfare, but he was teaching his son to wage wars rather than a peaceful approach.
None of the advisors understood what Tong was doing.
”I see. So you are trying to weaken all hostile nobles in the wars?”
”Yup, that's about it. Those who submit to us will prosper, but those that resist will face doom.”
”What about the peasants and civilians?”
”Aren't they migrating to our territories?”
”Right! They can simply move to us by themselves, right?”
”Yup.”
”Thanks, dad!”
”Haha, sure.”
Liu Xie ran back to his courtyard, so he could play with Zhang Min.
On the other hand, Liu Ye and Xun Yu glared at Tong, ”You're being evil just now, your majesty.”
”He's not ready to handle the country if he comes to me every time he has a problem.”
”But why using this method, your majesty?”
”It was a trail for his future.”
”A trial?”
”If he's capable and smart, he will understand that I was a hypocrite, and he will confront me about it in the future. If he's too honest, he will hate me and think of me as an evil emperor, which I will celebrate if this happens. If he's inept, our status quo will remain as it is, and he will lose in the next election in 11 years.”
”What's the point of this trail, your majesty? Didn't you want him to grow as a good successor? Why didn't you teach him the righteous path?”
”Righteous path? No emperor or king is righteous. We all soaked our hands with blood. It's a matter of times when Liu Xie will get his first baptism. Until his world vision turns grey, I'm not going to teach him the right path. As long as he still sees this world as a colorful place, he can't be an emperor!”
Tong patted Liu Ye's trembling shoulders. It seemed he was scared of Tong.
”If he wants to be an emperor, he must earn his qualification. If he can't even bare fangs against an obvious evil relative, he is disqualified. How can I entrust my throne to him if he can't discern right and wrong? At least, he should have the ability to judge people's characters and question everyone's hidden motives. What will happen if a random eunuch plant a false believe into him as I did just now? What will happen to our civilians if this scenario becomes a reality? Well, for now, he fails.”
Tong gave Liu Ye an apological smile, ”Please guide my child, Ziyang. Don't be afraid to teach him the hard way. Let him face with difficulties and obstacles, or he won't grow.”
Liu Ye bowed and left in a panic. In his mind, he was astonished of how harsh Tong treated his son.