Liu De felt that he was about to die, he was wearing a tattered linen clothes, sitting on the steps at the door of a restaurant in Chang'an East City, looking at the street with people coming and going, hungry and without any strength.

After Renshou Family Banquet came out of the palace, he did not find the royal car he was riding in, and was set up by several guards in front of the palace gate and thrown aside. When Liu De walked back to Beique Jiadi with an angry face and wanted to enter his palace, he was stopped by the guards sent by the lieutenant's mansion, with a hateful face that the uncle didn't know you.

It is said that no one dared to be so bold, and the crime of offending the prince is not light. But the guards and the guards all had good reasons - Liu De did not have a ribbon and could not prove his identity as a prince. To be precise, Liu De's seal ribbon was lost. In the Han Dynasty, which only recognized the seal ribbon but not the person, this was a ten million times more terrible than losing the ID card in later generations.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the position of the seal was more important than the head, as it was a symbol of power. Because the Han seal is to be used for sealing on the sealing clay (that is, after the slip is rewinded, the first and last slips of the roll are glued together with a cement block, and then the seal is stamped on the cement to show sealing. Those who receive the slips must first check whether the sealing mud is in good condition. If the slip is forcibly dismantled, the mud seal will inevitably be destroyed, and it can be seen that it has been opened). Therefore, the size cannot be too large, generally only the size of a fingernail, usually when not in use, carry it with you, put it in the sac hanging around the waist, and then hang a ribbon on the outside.

Since the Han Dynasty court clothes did not distinguish ranks by color, as in later generations, they all wore soap clothes (black clothes), so the material of the seal, the shape of the seal button, and the color of the ribbon were the only signs to distinguish the rank of the official. The prime minister has a purple ribbon with a golden seal, and the imperial doctor is the deputy prime minister, wearing a silver seal and a blue ribbon, and there are equal differences among the following. Another is the shape of the seal button, the emperor and queen use the button (the dragon is a kind of dragon), and the kings and prime ministers use the turtle button.

Because the status of the seal ribbon in the Han Dynasty was very high, in the last years of Xinmang, after the merchant Du Wu killed Wang Mang, he did not cut off his head, but first untied his seal ribbon and hung it on his body, which shows that in the subconscious minds of the Han people, the status of the seal ribbon is far more valuable than the head. Because the head is just a bounty, and the ribbon symbolizes power. For example, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Liang took his nephew Xiang Ji to start an incident, killed the Hui Shou, and untied his seal and hung it on himself, so that he could command the soldiers and horses of the whole county.

Since then, Liu De's tragic career has begun, as long as he is slightly close to the mansion of the prince or courtiers he knows, he will be interrogated by some unknown guards, and he will not be allowed to approach on the grounds of protecting the prince and courtiers. And at night, he suffered the first robbery in his life, he was kidnapped by several masked men to Chang'an East City, except for underwear, the robbers only left him a tattered linen clothes and a broken bowl.

Liu De is not stupid, of course he knows that all this is the ghost of the crown prince Liu Che. Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence, wherever he went, he would meet nosy soldiers. But he knew that even if Liu Che starved himself to death, no one could use this as an excuse to attack Liu Che. The Han Dynasty just recognized the seal but not the person, you lost the seal yourself, and you starved to death and complained to others.

For three days, Liu De hadn't eaten a bite, and at night he learned from the beggars on the side of the road, finding a sheltered corner and curling up in a ball. Although it is almost summer, the nights in Chang'an are still very cold. Now he was disheveled, his face was withered, and his body exuded a foul smell like carrion, and even the beggars in the vicinity were far away from him. Of course, it is not that the beggars are cleaner than him, but he can feel that there is a lifeless richness that envelops him and he cannot dissolve his resentment.

Boom! The guy at the restaurant kicked Liu De fiercely, spat in his face, and scolded: "Stay away from Lao Tzu!" Don't let people do business? ”

There are usually beggars in the vicinity of the restaurant, and as long as they don't go too far, the guys never make it difficult for them, and sometimes even bring out some leftovers and put them in their bowls. But the beggar in front of him was really hated, and he refused to eat the leftovers brought by the man, and he refused to leave, and put on the appearance that he was going to die at any time, so that the pedestrians who came and went did not dare to eat and drink in the restaurant.

Liu De, who was already dying, was kicked on the thigh by the guy, only to feel a sharp pain, and he was incredibly sober. He wiped the spit from his face, let out a low roar in his throat, rushed up like a beast to protect his man's thigh, and bit down hard......

In the main hall of the Lieutenant's Mansion, Zhi Du frowned and looked at Liu De, who was beaten and covered in blood and lying on the ground silently like a dead dog, and asked the restaurant guy who was carried on a stretcher: "Is this beggar biting off a piece of your meat?" ”

The pale-faced guy burst into tears and said, "Exactly, please let the adults call the shots for the villains!" The villain didn't mean to beat him like this, but he didn't let go, and almost hurt the villain to death, so he didn't have a serious start! ”

Zhi Du looked at the slip on the table about the guy's injury, nodded and said: "It is indeed not lightly injured, it is not your fault in this matter, you go back to recuperate, this beggar will be handed over to the official to deal with, and you will definitely be repaid." ”

The man was immediately grateful, and even said thank you, after all, although the beggar hurt people first, if he really beat him to death, he would not be able to escape prison. Now the lieutenant's words are for him.

Instructed the scribe to take the man away, and recorded the confession in detail, Zhi Du looked at Liu De on the ground expressionlessly, and said to the guard: "Take it down, clean it up, and find a few clever people to watch, don't let him die." ”

The official answered, picked up the beggars on the ground, and went out of the hall. Although they didn't know why the lieutenant wanted to save the beggar, they didn't dare to disobey it in the slightest. The strictness of the Zhidu Imperial Majesty is notoriously harsh, and those who dare to disobey the order are beaten half to death.

In the prince/palace, in addition to the three princes born to Li Ji, Liu Che's six brothers have all arrived, and they are having a banquet with Liu Che in the main hall to celebrate the official signing of the "Royal Industrial Group Shareholding Agreement".

In the past few days, under the regulations provided by the crown prince Liu Che, the Shaofu has made a detailed assessment of the taxes and various immovable properties of the princes and feudal states in previous years. According to these assessments, Liu Che gave the brothers an extremely generous valuation, and the premium reached more than 20%. The princes are naturally very satisfied, and since the wood has been completed, it is naturally good to take advantage of it.

Especially Liu Fei, who owns two counties, has obtained a property valuation of up to 1.5 billion yuan, which really makes him excited. You must know that even if the weather is good in these two counties, the tax he can receive will not exceed 40 million yuan, and he will have to pay the salaries of a large number of staff and subordinates in the government, and the real income is only more than 20 million. 1.5 billion is enough for him to save for nearly a hundred years without eating or drinking, just imagine which prince and king can live for a hundred years? The annual income of the Han court last year was less than 6 billion yuan, what is the rich country? Liu Fei now feels that he is rich and rivals the country.

Although these valuations will be counted as shares, and no real money can be obtained, it is obvious that the emperor's father is aware of this matter, and the prince will not be able to rely on it in the future. Besides, the powerful and powerful in Chang'an City, who doesn't know that the so-called Tian business group is secretly the prince's industry. People with good things privately estimated that these industries reached a terrifying income of nearly one billion dollars in just a few months last year! Liu Fei knew very well that if he followed the prince's brother to do business, he would never lose money. Even if he earns less, the prince has enough money to make up for the promised "minimum income". Of course, the dignified son will not go into business, but those powerful families, which one does not have their own business behind their backs, "sneak into the village, don't shoot guns" is fine.

When the wine was hot, Liu Rong broke into the hall with Liu Yan with an angry face, and said urgently: "His Royal Highness the Prince, please let the second brother go." ”

The princes were stunned when they heard this, and they all looked at the crown prince Liu Che on the throne, guessing whether he really did something to Liu De.

Liu Che smiled slightly and asked, "Why did the eldest brother say this?" Why did the lonely king ever want to deal with Liu De? ”

Liu Yan rushed forward and snorted coldly: "The second brother is in the Lieutenant's Mansion at this time, I don't know if I live or die, and the prince really doesn't know about it?!" ”

"Oh? And what else is there? What did Liu De commit? Actually arrested and taken to the lieutenant's mansion? Liu Che's face was full of ridicule, and he said quietly: "Lieutenant Zhidu has always enforced the law impartially, if Liu De is not very wrong, all brothers can rest assured." ”

Liu Rong's face turned red when he heard this, how could he tell that Liu De bit a small civilian while begging on the street? This is a scandalous thing that greatly damages the dignity of the heavenly family, and when it spreads, Liu De will be executed by the Zongzheng Mansion to enforce the family law, and it is not impossible to be expelled from the clan and demoted to a commoner.

"How can the prince be willing to let go of the second brother?" Liu Rong stopped Liu Yan, who was about to crack beside him, and asked with a blushing face.

Liu Che was unmoved: "Big brother's words are wrong! I am a Han who admires the learning of Huang Lao, and the prince is guilty of the same crime as the common people. If Liu Dezhen commits a crime, the eldest brother should ask Dali Qing how to deal with it according to the law. came to ask the lonely king, but he really found the wrong way. ”

The princes at the table also heard it, thinking that Liu De was found in the wrong place, and now he is being detained by the Lieutenant's Mansion. couldn't help but sigh secretly that the prince was quick and decisive, and he was also glad that he saw the situation clearly early and didn't die. For a while, they all silently held the wine bottle and tasted the wine, and they had no intention of coming out for Liu De.

Liu Pengzu sneered even more: "The prince is reasonable, since the second brother has committed a crime, it will be handled according to the law of the Han Dynasty, if the eldest brother and the third brother want to show favoritism, they can go to their father and emperor." What do you do when you come to the prince/palace? disturbed the wine of the prince and his brothers for no reason. ”

When the princes heard this, they couldn't help but laugh, this guy's shameless appearance was very much the style of the emperor's father. Liu Pengzu didn't think it was angry at all, anyway, they were already standing in line, so he simply offended Liu Rong and the others to death, so as to show loyalty to the future emperor. Show yourself that you are shameless anyway, you can only follow you, and you must not treat me badly in the future!

Liu Rong and Liu Yan were so angry that they almost wanted to go crazy because of this, and the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became even more tense.

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