Chapter 67 Liu Fu, the Loyal and Martial King, Acts as Emperor

"this……"

The emperor was sitting in the main hall, just separated by a door. Now, the eighth prince ordered him to kill the Japanese envoy. The old eunuch who delivered the decree turned green with rage.

"Your Highness... His Majesty is holding court in the Golden Palace. Shouldn't we ask His Majesty's permission before we are executed?"

Seeing that the old eunuch dared not make a move, Liu Fu directly took out the imperial gold medal bestowed upon him by Liu Laowu:

"Stop talking nonsense."

"Drag him away and execute him!"

ah???

Upon seeing the imperial gold medal, the old eunuch was in a very difficult position.

Looking at the commander of the Imperial Guards beside him, his face had also turned green, and he froze in place for a moment.

At this moment, the Japanese envoy understood the meaning behind Liu Fu's words and immediately expressed his dissatisfaction:

"We are envoys from the Great Japan, representing His Majesty the Emperor. Do you dare kill us?"

"Are you declaring war on His Majesty the Emperor of my Great Japan?"

Snap!

What awaited him was a resounding slap from Liu Fu.

This slap sent the messenger flying four or five meters away, causing him to see stars and spit out blood and teeth.

"If you're so capable, what kind of great Japan are you?"

"You dare to challenge me?"

Liu Fu sneered:

"You might as well change your name to the Kingdom of Dwarfs."

"With the imperial gold plaque here, His Highness can execute first and report later. Guards, drag all these Japanese envoys out and execute them!"

Upon hearing this, the old eunuch immediately knelt down:

"Your Highness, the Emperor is inside the Golden Palace. Even if you want to kill someone, you must ask His Majesty's permission first!"

Liu Fu sneered:

"I already said to execute first and report later, execute first and then report. Guards, drag him out and execute him!"

With Liu Fu's firm words, the commander of the Imperial Guards had no choice but to bite the bullet and arrest all the Japanese envoys, drag them outside the Meridian Gate, and behead them as a warning to the public.

The people had long suffered from the harassment of Japanese pirates, and when they saw several Japanese envoys beheaded, they immediately clapped and cheered.

Then, Liu Laowu's voice came from the main hall:

"Summon our eighth son to the palace!"

Upon seeing Liu Fu approach, Liu Laowu was overjoyed.

"I hereby bestow upon my eighth son, Liu Fu, the title of Prince Zhongwu!"

Upon hearing Liu Laowu's imperial decree, all the officials were taken aback.

Generally speaking, the fewer titles a king is given, the more prestigious his status is.

For example, princes with one-character names like Prince Fu, Prince Ping, and Prince Shan were much more prestigious than princes with two-character names like Prince Huaiyin and Prince Huainan.

But Liu Fu was different.

The word "loyalty" is specifically used to commend ministers who serve the state, and it cannot be obtained without outstanding merit.

Liu Laowu should have conferred the title of King Wu upon Liu Fu, and then specially bestowed upon him the title of "Loyal". Such a Loyal King Wu's status actually surpassed that of the other one-character kings, making him the highest-ranking among all the sons who were conferred the title of king.

Moreover, when Liu Fu returned the imperial gold medal, Liu Laowu personally presented him with a Longquan sword, a symbol of power:

"Eighth Prince, this Longquan Shangfang Sword is now yours. From now on, when you are out in the world, you can use this sword to travel around the country in place of the Emperor, and execute first and report later!"

Upon seeing that Liu Laowu had bestowed the Shangfang sword, the officials were even more envious.

The Shangfang sword was usually only briefly possessed by imperial envoys who were ordered to carry out imperial decrees; it was the sole symbol of power below the emperor.

But Liu Fu was different.

While others' imperial swords have time limits, Liu Fu's imperial sword is permanently in his own hands, which is almost equivalent to the emperor giving him the greatest power besides himself!

"I hereby bestow upon Liu Fu, the King of Zhongwu, the prosperous lands of Jiangnan as his fiefdom. That is settled."

Jiangnan was the most prosperous region in the entire Later Han Dynasty.

The fact that such a precious land was granted to Liu Fu as his fiefdom has driven the courtiers mad with jealousy.

Even Liu Fu's older brothers showed expressions of envy, their eyes filled with extreme jealousy.

However, to his surprise, when Liu Fu heard that Jiangnan was to be granted to him, he actually stepped forward and declined.

“Father, my seven brothers have all been appointed to the border regions to guard the country’s gates in place of the emperor. How can I be an exception?”

"Now is the most difficult time for our Han Dynasty. I am unworthy to be granted the most prosperous Jiangnan region. Moreover, I also want to go back to the battlefield to make contributions, help the people live in peace and prosperity, and strengthen the national power of our Han Dynasty."

The emperor's decree could not be refused, so Liu Fu came up with a clever solution:

"Father bestowed the land of Jiangnan upon your son, and now your son wishes to make another exchange with your father. Please allow your son to exchange the land of Jiangnan for the land of Liaodong, and grant your son a fiefdom in Liaodong to defend against the southward raids of the Later Jin."

Liu Laowu really didn't expect this.

Others are given power by others, and they are afraid that they are not given enough, so they want to be greedy.

My own eighth son is quite something; he was offered such a fertile land as a fiefdom, yet he refused it.

Moreover, to save face, he did not directly disobey the imperial decree, but instead accepted the fiefdom of Jiangnan first, and then exchanged it with me for Liaodong as a fiefdom to establish a country. This child is really lovable!

Upon seeing how sensible Liu Fu was, Liu Laowu felt even more guilty.

Firstly, Liu Fu did not receive maternal love from a young age; secondly, he was sent to the Liao Kingdom to suffer at an early age; and thirdly, he has now made such great contributions, yet the rewards bestowed upon him have been returned by him.

However, Liu Laowu also knew that Liu Fu was acting in the best interests of the entire Han Dynasty, and he nodded with satisfaction:

"Good, your filial piety is commendable!"

"We will enfeoff you in Liaodong and establish a fiefdom there, granting your request."

A piece of fine, fatty meat was bestowed upon him by the emperor, but Liu Fu returned it.

But in reality, Liu Fuzhen didn't suffer any losses.

His goal was never as simple as just becoming a prince or a nobleman.

If you want to be emperor, you should start to become "sensible" now. Besides, although the tax revenue from Jiangnan seems like a lot, Liu Fu doesn't care about it.

If he really wanted gold and silver treasures, he could simply release the treasure-hunting rats to search for them, then use the prairie ground otters to clear a path and load them directly into the animal breeding ranch.

All the wealth of the world can be put into one's own pocket, let alone the tax revenue of Jiangnan?

On the contrary, Liu Fu's decision to decline the offer and then volunteer to go to Liaodong was handled exceptionally well.

In the imperial court, it immediately garnered praise, inspiring admiration in many civil and military officials.

"It is rare that the Eighth Prince is not greedy for gold and silver, but is entirely for the sake of our great Han Dynasty. He is truly a model for our dynasty!"

Even Liu Fu's brothers were completely impressed by him at this moment.

If Liu Laowu's investiture initially made them envious, then Liu Fu's decision to retreat from Jiangnan and choose Liaodong completely made them feel inferior.

The princes, who had previously complained about Liu Laowu's favoritism in sending them to the border to guard the country and endure the wind and sun, no longer complained. Even Liu Fu was able to turn down such a generous reward and personally request to go to the harsh land to guard the country's gate.

What do they have to complain about?

At that moment, they felt only shame and had no more complaints.

Liu Laowu was very excited, and at that moment, he remembered that the Japanese envoy wanted to have an audience with him:

"Guards, summon the envoy from Japan to the palace."

Upon hearing that the envoy from Japan was present, the old eunuch and the commander of the imperial guards trembled with fear and entered the Golden Palace together, kneeling before Liu Laowu.

"Your Majesty, the Japanese envoys... were just dragged out and beheaded by Prince Zhongwu!"

Liu Laowu: ? ? ?