Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 20: Further Training

Lu Ze reached down with his left hand and stroked Liu Ying's head. A smile appeared on his cold face as he said affectionately, "Ying'er, don't worry, your uncle will stand up for you."

"Thank you, Uncle Xie," Liu Ying said sweetly.

Lu Ze's smile vanished, replaced by a chilling expression. He pointed his stick at Liu Bang and roared, "Liu Bang, how dare you! Ying'er is so young, yet you forced her to drink! Do you know the gravity of your crime?"

Liu Bang put on a fawning smile and said to Lü Ze, "Brother, don't listen to his nonsense. He wanted to drink the wine himself; I didn't force him."

"I'm so young, even if I wanted to drink, couldn't you stop me?" Liu Ying raised her small face and turned the tables, "It was you who forced me to drink."

"Excellent!" Lu Ze agreed with this statement.

Liu Bang felt an urge to explode: "Brother, why don't you believe me?"

"You're capable of such despicable acts as breaking into a widow's house and digging up a dead person's grave, so what wouldn't you do to force Ying'er to drink alcohol?" Lu Ze sneered.

"Brother, don't slander me. Let me tell you, only Zhou Bo would do something like digging up a dead person's grave." Liu Bang refused to take the blame.

Zhou Bo was poor and made a living by weaving thin silk fabrics and doing odd jobs to support his family. In Liu Bang's words, he became a tomb raider who specialized in digging up graves.

"So you like breaking into Widow Cao's house?" Lu Ze's face was frosty, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Widow Cao was the mother of Liu Fei. She was Liu Bang's mistress before he met Empress Lü, and had already given birth to his son, Liu Fei. Empress Lü's family was extremely displeased with this.

Of course, Lü Gong, the unscrupulous father who forced Empress Lü to marry Liu Bang, is not included in this list.

Although Empress Lü had been married to Liu Bang for many years, Lü Ze still harbored resentment whenever this matter was mentioned.

"I..." Liu Bang, who was usually quick-witted, didn't know how to answer at this moment. He glared at Liu Ying, implying that Liu Ying had caused him great suffering.

Liu Ying grinned, full of anticipation, hoping that Lü Ze would give Liu Bang another good beating.

"Is that right?" Lü Ze struck Liu Bang's thigh heavily with the wooden stick in his hand and asked in a deep voice.

The force was considerable, and Liu Bang was caught off guard. He forced a smile and said, "Brother, I am the King of Han, how could I do such a thing?"

"So you mean you could do such a thing before you became King of Han?" Lü Ze slapped Liu Bang on the thigh again.

Liu Bang vehemently denied it: "There is no such thing."

Lu Ze pointed the wooden stick at Liu Bang, about to strike him but then stopped.

"How did Liu Fei come to be here?" Liu Ying stirred up trouble.

Snapped.

Lu Ze slammed the wooden stick in his hand heavily onto Liu Bang's leg, venting his anger.

"I'll fight you to the death!" Liu Bang roared through gritted teeth.

Then, Liu Bang met his tragic end, being brutally beaten by Lü Ze before being released.

"You unfilial son!" Liu Bang said through gritted teeth to Liu Ying before leaving.

Liu Bang came to Liu Ying to rekindle their father-son bond, but ended up getting a good beating. He felt utterly wronged.

"Thank you very much, Uncle." Liu Ying was extremely satisfied.

"You dare to drink alcohol? You're incredibly audacious!" Liu Ying was also in trouble. Lü Ze grabbed Liu Ying's ear with his right hand and twisted it hard, saying fiercely, "How old are you? How dare you drink alcohol? I'll beat you to death!"

"Uncle, he forced me to drink it, it wasn't my choice," Liu Ying argued.

"He's forcing you, so you just drink it?" Lu Ze scolded. "Why don't you call for help? If you call for help, I'll come right away, and he won't be able to force you anymore, understand?"

"I understand, I understand," Liu Ying quickly admitted her mistake.

"If you dare to drink again, I'll beat you to death." Lu Ze twisted Liu Ying's ear hard again before letting her go.

After seeing Lü Ze off, Liu Ying rubbed her reddened ears and muttered, "My uncle isn't cute at all. From now on, I'll have to drink behind his back."

Today, Liu Bang was tricked twice, and the old rogue Liu got two good beatings. After venting his anger at being kicked off the carriage, Liu Ying was in a good mood and slept especially soundly until dawn.

When I woke up the next day, a servant brought me toiletries and hot water. I first used a silk towel with fine salt to wipe my teeth to clean my mouth.

In this era, without toothbrushes, oral hygiene was achieved by wiping with a cloth and salt. Wealthy families used silk scarves, poor families used linen, and the destitute used their fingers.

After taking care of oral hygiene and washing his face, he left the room and met up with Liu Bang, Lü Ze, Xiahou Ying, and Liu Le to have breakfast together.

Breakfast consisted of rice porridge with flatbread, along with pickled vegetables and meat.

Liu Bang was fond of wine and loved to drink. Upon seeing that there was no wine, he was very dissatisfied: "Where's the wine?"

Lu Ze's face darkened, and he shouted, "Do you know how many tasks are waiting for you to handle, and you're still drinking? You might as well just get drunk and die, so as not to cause the soldiers to lose their lives."

"You have to meddle in this too?" Liu Bang retorted.

"King Han, please bear with it," Xiahou Ying also advised. "It has been quite a few days since the defeat at Pengcheng, and you have many things to deal with."

"Drink if you want," Liu Ying said.

"Ying'er is truly filial." Liu Bang was overjoyed.

"It would be best if he died drunk, then I'll be the King of Han." Liu Ying curled his lip.

"You unfilial son!" Liu Bang roared in fury.

Everyone objected to his drinking, so Liu Bang had no choice but to suppress his craving for alcohol, quickly eat breakfast, and rush to the government office to handle official business.

Lü Ze, Xiahou Ying, Liu Ying, and Liu Le followed, arriving at the same room as yesterday. When they arrived, there were already quite a few people inside, including Lü Ze's advisors.

Liu Bang knelt down behind the long table, asking Liu Ying to sit to his right and Liu Le to sit to his left. Lü Ze sat at the head of the table on the right, and Xiahou Ying sat at the head of the table on the left.

"Dangjun is a crucial location and must not be lost. We must defend it to the death." After kneeling down, Liu Bang glanced at everyone and began to arrange the urgent military affairs.

"Yes, sir." Lü Zexiahou Ying and his advisors accepted the order.

"King of Han, you must not!" Sui He stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Liu Bang, objecting.

"You pedantic scholar, do you know how important Dang Commandery is?" Liu Bang glared, his gaze unfriendly. "To the southeast, it threatens Pengcheng; to the south, it threatens Xiang Yu's supply lines. How can such a vital place not be defended?"

"Good!" Lü Ze agreed.

"Good!" Xiahou Ying agreed.

Dangjun was a strategically important location, connecting four provinces. To its southeast lay Pengcheng, the capital of Xiang Yu, which posed a threat to him. To its south was a vital passage through the Central Plains; if Xiang Yu were to launch a westward attack on Liu Bang, his supply lines would have to pass through here, posing a serious threat to Xiang Yu's supply routes.

At such a crucial juncture, holding out to the death is inevitable.

"Your Majesty, Sui He studies the art of diplomacy, not Confucianism. I wanted to tell you this yesterday, but I didn't have the time. Now I solemnly tell you, Your Majesty, do not compare Sui He with a pedantic scholar who only knows how to read books to death." Sui He clasped his hands together and solemnly told you.

"You're a strategist?" Liu Bang asked, somewhat surprised.

"Indeed." Sui He nodded heavily.

"Fine, I won't call you Confucian scholar anymore." Liu Bang hated scholars more than anything else in his life, and among scholars, he hated Confucian scholars the most. If a Confucian scholar saw him and he was unhappy, he would take off the Confucian scholar's hat and urinate in it.

Sui He was a strategist, not a Confucian scholar. Although he was also a scholar whom Liu Bang hated, he was still better than a Confucian scholar, so Liu Bang treated Sui He with some disdain.

"Thank you, King of Han." Sui He clasped his hands in a salute and insisted, "Precisely because Dang Commandery is extremely important, before King Xiang advances westward, he will surely launch a major attack to capture Dang Commandery and secure his rear. Therefore, it is not feasible to defend it to the death. With the King of Han's current military strength, if you were to defend it to the death, you would certainly not be able to hold it and would only increase casualties."

"You brat, you only know empty talk. You've never been on the battlefield, so how would you know anything about military strategy?" Liu Bang completely looked down on Sui He.

"Your Majesty, you are mistaken," Sui He said without backing down. "Although I have no experience in battle, I can see clearly that Your Majesty will not be able to hold Dang Commandery. It would be better to abandon it and concentrate our forces to defend Xingyang."

"You brat, how dare you speak of military strategy?" Liu Ying curled his lip.

"I think what you say makes sense," Liu Ying said.