Chapter 317 From shallow to deep

Although Cao Chong is old, he still understands the importance of imperial power.

When Cao Chong heard Wu Fan say he wanted to cut off his imperial power, he was very surprised and looked up at Wu Fan and said in confusion:

"Uncle Eight, Chong'er knows that you must have thought about it after repeated consideration. However, Chong'er was young and dull, and did not know the painstaking efforts of Uncle Eight, and hoped that Uncle Eight would know it."

The three people Cao Chong trusts the most now, one is his biological mother Huanshi; the second is his adopted mother Cai Yan; the third is his eighth uncle Wu Fan.

What Huanshi and Cai Yan gave Cao Chong naturally was maternal love, including taking care of food and daily life, driving away the cold and warmth, etc. What Wu Fan gave Cao Chong was a kind of care similar to a life mentor. Almost every time the uncle and nephew met, Wu Fan would tell Cao Chong some deeds and principles of benevolence and serving the people, ask Cao Chong’s views on some political issues, and teach them appropriately.

For Cao Chong, a genius who likes to think in nature and is not lacking in benevolence, Wu Fan's various actions are undoubtedly more profound in his appearance and get closer to each other's hearts.

Moreover, because Wu Fan's baby daughter Wu Ying and Cao Chong are undoubtedly a childhood sweetheart, Cao Chong especially likes his one-month-old sister. Therefore, the relationship with Wu Ying's father Wu Fan is naturally closer.

Wu Fan was the main initiator and executor who supported Cao Chong to take office. From this, based on various considerations, Cao Chong could feel that although Wu Fan wanted to cut off his imperial power, he was definitely out of some painstaking efforts and had no malice.

Wu Fan was silent for a while and did not directly answer Cao Chong's words. He thought that although Cao Chong was smart, his age was still there. If he directly told him what he thought, he might not be able to fully understand.

If you can use something around you as an example, from shallow to deep, and use things to insinuate profound truths, that is the best.

Based on this idea, Wu Fan was silent for a while and then had an idea in his mind.

Then he and Cao Chong walked out of Xuanhe Hall and came to the deep palace of the Tongque Platform behind the hall. There were many eunuchs and palace maids here. After seeing Wu Fan and Cao Chong, they retreated to the roadside and bowed their heads and stood there.

Wu Fan called a palace maid and ordered her to do this... He said to the palace maid's ear. The palace maid looked at Wu Fan with a strange expression, but he did not dare to express his doubts. He said a word and then walked away quickly. After a while, the palace maid hurried back in her steps, holding a beautifully packaged brocade box in her hand and handed it to Wu Fan.

Cao Chong was quite confused when he saw this and asked his eighth uncle Wu Fan what he was doing. Wu Fan smiled slightly and asked Cao Chong to continue looking down.

Then, Wu Fan called several eunuchs nearby, held the brocade box with one hand, and said to the eunuchs:

"Today, Your Majesty ascended the throne, Long's heart was very happy, the whole country was jubilant, and all the ministers were rewarded. Since you entered the palace, you have been exhausted every day, and Your Majesty has always been sympathetic. Therefore, I took this opportunity to celebrate the good news and gave you a brocade box."

Speaking of this, Wu Fan deliberately thought about the brocade box held in his hand. In the sun, the brocade box wrapped in exquisite yellow silk was extremely eye-catching, which made several close servants look straight and swallow their saliva in secret, all guessing that it must be a valuable treasure inside.

After thinking about Jinbo, Wu Fan continued:

"However, there is only one brocade box, and the winner can only be one of you. Next, you will use the fight to judge the winner and lose, and the winner can get this brocade box alone."

When the eunuchs heard this, they looked at each other, somewhat unexpected. However, in order to make the emperor happy, the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace have done ten or a hundred times more than this. Therefore, after a moment of a moment, these eunuchs did nothing wrong, and then began to roll their arms, roll their sleeves, pull them open to prepare for a fight in the palace.

Cao Chong became more and more confused when he saw this, but when he saw Uncle Eighth Wu Fan looking at several eunuchs with a smile on his face, it seemed that all this was under the control of Uncle Eighth. Thinking of his previous questioning Uncle Eighth why he wanted to cut off his imperial power, Uncle Eighth did not directly answer, but instead made such a seemingly irrelevant scam.

Could it be that this is related to the eighth uncle's depriving of his imperial power?

Cao Chong thought suspiciously.

He didn't say anything, but looked at everything in front of him quietly.

Next, after a roar, several eunuchs hugged their legs and waists and quickly rolled together. Although they were full of momentum, everyone roared so hard that their necks were swollen, they were naturally no match for the army that killed them to the death on the battlefield. If the nose was blue or the face was broken or a little skin was broken, it would be a big injury. If any unlucky guy knocked off a front teeth, it would definitely sound like a pig-killing howl.

This is because the yellow brocade box held in Wu Fan's hand was too tempting. If it weren't for this, the scene of this chaotic fight would be far from reaching such a "strength".

Soon, the battle ended, and several eunuchs were in a mess, and their noses and faces were swollen, and their eyes were full of envy and jealousy.

The eunuch standing in front of Wu Fan finally won the battle, but his nostrils were bleeding and his face was blue and purple. He wiped his nose with his sleeves, and the blood stained half of his face. He was indescribable and embarrassed, making several nearby palace maids want to laugh but dare not laugh.

Although he was a little embarrassed, the eunuch was so excited when he thought of getting the brocade box alone. He twitched his nose tightly and smiled so hard that the corners of his mouth were almost grinning on the back of his head. After standing in front of Wu Fan, he first bowed his head to the new emperor Cao Chong, then gave a bow to Wu Fan, and then waited for Wu Fan to hand over the brocade box to him.

Wu Fan fulfilled his previous promise and happily handed the brocade box to the eunuch. The eunuch held the brocade box in both hands, so happy that his eyelashes bloomed, looking overjoyed.

At this time, Wu Fan said to the eunuch:

"Do you want to know what's inside the brocade box?"

The eunuch sniffed and replied happily:

"think."

Wu Fan smiled, turned his head to look at Cao Chong, and said:

"Your Majesty, can you allow him to open the brocade box in public?"

While speaking, Wu Fan signaled Cao Chong with his eyes. Cao Chong knew that Wu Fan asked him to cooperate in the play, so he replied that he allowed him.

When the eunuch heard this, he was so excited that his whole body was shaking. His hands were trembling. After a long time of hard work, he finally opened the brocade box.

When I opened the lid, the eunuch's eyes immediately became straight, and the inside of the box was empty.

The eunuch immediately blinded his eyes, unable to believe his eyes, and put his hand into the box and touched it for a while, and there was indeed nothing inside.

Holding the empty box, the eunuch raised his head and looked at Wu Fan and Cao Chong helplessly.

Wu Fan smiled again and asked the eunuch:

"The box has been opened, what do you see inside?"

The eunuch pounced on his knees, his whole body trembled like a sieve, and stuttered:

"I'm so clumsy, I haven't seen the things in the brocade box... I hope your majesty forgives me."

Of course, the eunuch did not know Wu Fan’s intention, and thought that he was about to betray the emperor when the disaster was approaching, so he was afraid of death.

Wu Fan shook his head and said:

"You have no problem with your eyes, there is nothing in the brocade box."

As soon as these words came out, the kneeling eunuch and the eunuchs standing behind them were all stunned. In their opinion, the brocade box with such exquisite appearance was given by the emperor, and the things inside must be very precious. Even if they were not priceless, they should at least be worth dozens of taels of gold.

It is precisely for this reason that several eunuchs were motivated to stage the fierce battle just now.

At this time, Wu Fan glanced at several eunuchs and asked:

"Next, I want to ask you a question, asking you to answer truthfully. Can you do it?"

The eunuchs looked at each other again, wondering why Wu Fan asked this. In terms of Wu Fan's identity and status, do we still dare to lie when asked us questions? However, it was strange that after several eunuchs looked at each other, they still nodded unanimously saying that they could do it.

Wu Fan asked:

"If you knew in advance that the brocade box was empty, would you still beat each other fiercely like you did just now?"

As soon as these words were said, the eunuchs were really stumped.

To be honest, of course they wouldn't be beaten with a blank face for an empty box. Who hasn't seen an empty box in their lives? But if we tell the truth, will we be guilty for our words? After all, the brocade box was given by Your Majesty. Even if it is empty, we have to pretend to be very happy and fight for it. Only in that way can we highlight the bodies of Your Majesty's ten thousand gods.

Several eunuchs were stammering, and no one dared to speak first. They were both in trouble now. They were worried that they would be punished for their words, and they would not tell the truth, and they were afraid that they would offend Wu Fan.

Of course, Wu Fan knew that several eunuchs were worried, and it was precisely because of this reason that he said that sentence in front. Seeing that several eunuchs were stammering, Wu Fan turned around and whispered a few words in Cao Chong's ear. Cao Chong understood and said to the eunuchs:

"You just need to express your true thoughts in your heart, and no matter what you say, you will not be punished for it."

With Cao Chong's words, the eunuchs finally relieved the burden of being guilty for their words. It was the eunuch who stood in front of Wu Fan and held the empty box, and he mustered up the courage and said the first:

"Sir, if I had known this box was empty for a long time, I wouldn't have hit my friend so hard."

As he said that, the eunuch turned around and looked at the eunuchs behind him apologetically. The eunuchs behind him also said one after another:

"Sir, I won't beat you hard."

"Sir, I will stop at the right time."

"Sir, you will pretend to be injured and withdraw from the fight."

"Sir, I'll be sick and say I'm not feeling well and will not participate in the competition.

...

Wu Fan turned his head and looked at Cao Chong. This time, Cao Chong did not go to see Wu Fan, but stared at several eunuchs blankly.

Through this scam just now and the words said by the eunuchs, he seemed to have understood Wu Fan's true intention. However, it was not very clear.

Wu Fan turned around and looked at the eunuch and asked again:

"If, before the competition, not only will you know that this brocade box is empty, but you are also allowed to voluntarily withdraw from the fight for brocade box, who among you will voluntarily withdraw? Those who intend to plunder their hands."

Several eunuchs raised their hands at the same time.

However, when they saw that everyone raised their hands, they immediately realized that this seemed not good, so they looked at Cao Chong, hesitated and put his hand down again.

Despite this, Wu Fan's expected goal has been achieved.

Then he took out more than a dozen scattered silver from his arms and distributed it to these eunuchs, asking the eunuchs to retreat. Then, Wu Fan and Cao Chong continued to walk along the road.

While walking, Wu Fan said:

"Your Majesty, you have seen it. In the eyes of the world, the throne is like that tempting brocade box, but the brocade box is not empty, but contains endless power and endless wealth and glory. Therefore, the world never stops the world's victory over brocade box. When the world is peaceful and the country's strength is strong, the world will hide this kind of penis in the heart; and when the world is in turmoil and the country's strength declines, this kind of penis hidden in the heart will burst out. Is it said that kings, princes, generals and ministers? Isn't that the emperor the same? People with a little strength want to compete for the throne, and all examples of the changes of dynasties from ancient times to the present prove this truth."

After pausing, Wu Fan continued:

"Even when the world is peaceful and the country is strong, there are many people who have a snooping for the throne. Those princes, generals, and ministers who hold real power and military power may become snooping for the throne. Even the emperor's relatives are here. The root cause is that the throne is too tempting. As long as you sit in this seat, you can do whatever you want, and even tamper with history, erase your own disgraceful deeds of fighting for the throne, and display it in front of the world with a high-sounding manner for future generations to worship."

When Cao Chong heard this, he fully understood Wu Fan's painstaking efforts. Weakening the imperial power, on the surface, is taking away his own power, but in fact, it can eliminate the world's over the imperial power and make himself and his descendants sit in this seat more securely.

However, Cao Chong was confused about how to weaken the imperial power. Therefore, Cao Chong raised his head and looked at Wu Fan and said:

"Uncle Ba, you have understood your hard work. However, I still don't understand how to weaken the imperial power. I hope Uncle Ba gives it to me in detail."

As mentioned earlier, Cao Chong is still old and still very weak in power. Now that he suddenly becomes the emperor, Cao Chong is far more at a loss than joy. It is precisely for this reason that after Cao Chong understood that Wu Fan weakened the imperial power just for the sake of the throne to be more stable, he immediately stood on Wu Fan's side in his heart.

Seeing that Cao Chong was not only not at all resistant to his words, Wu Fan was very interested in how to weaken the imperial power in the future, and was extremely comforted. As long as Cao Chong was willing to stand on his side, even if others opposed it, he would be sure to overcome the resistance and settle it.

As for how to weaken the imperial power, Wu Fan already had a contour in his mind. However, this contour cannot be outlined at once, and it is necessary to give Cao Chong and others a process of adaptation.

In short, Wu Fan's ideal imperial power is like a constitutional monarchy in later generations - the emperor was not completely powerless, but was strictly restricted by the constitution; the people were not slaves to the country, but masters of the country. Of course, this ideal system can only be regarded as an ideal in the current world where feudal concepts of imperial power are deeply rooted. Wu Fan knew very well that he could not see the transformation of this ideal into reality at all.
Chapter completed!