Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 24 Scholars are not human.

Liu Ying was surprised; Sui He's reaction was incredibly quick, being the first to see through her thoughts. Liu Bang then praised him highly. Liu Ying, somewhat skeptical of the old rogue's swift response, looked at Liu Bang and asked, "Do you know what's so clever about it?"

"What's so special about it?" Lü Ze said dismissively.

"Excellent!" Xiahou Ying echoed, "The King of Han's letter is full of insults. Even if Liu Ying were to smear it, what good would it do?"

Bing and the others echoed this.

"You all don't understand Ying'er's brilliant plan, do you? Then I'll reluctantly tell you." Liu Bang was extremely pleased with himself. He looked around and said, "Ying'er always applies it to the most important places, making it irresistible. If this letter falls into Xiang Yu's hands, he will definitely suspect Ying Bu, and Ying Bu will have no way to defend himself."

Liu Ying glanced at Liu Bang in surprise, and Liu Bang actually saw through his intention. His reaction was too quick.

Liu Bang's reaction speed was always fast, and it can be said that few people could match it.

After conquering Qi, Han Xin wanted to declare himself king there, so he sent someone to tell Liu Bang that he only wanted to be a temporary king. Liu Bang understood Han Xin's meaning perfectly well and was about to curse him.

Zhang Liang and Chen Ping happened to be beside him. One tugged at his sleeve, and the other stepped on his foot. Liu Bang immediately understood what was going on and changed his mind. He praised Han Xin for doing the right thing, saying that a true man should be a real king, not a fake one. So he appointed Han Xin as the King of Qi.

Then Zhang Liang was sent to announce the matter, and while Han Xin was in a good mood, the troops from Qi were transferred away.

"Your Majesty has great insight," Sui He exclaimed sincerely. "When we arrive at Jiujiang Commandery, before we meet Ying Bu, it would be best to let the Chu envoy know that we have arrived. As long as we deliver this letter to Ying Bu first, the Chu envoy will surely demand to see it, and then the Chu envoy will definitely be suspicious. Even if Ying Bu jumps into the Yellow River, he will not be able to clear his name, and the possibility of him rebelling will be much greater."

"Excellent...plan!" Lü Ze understood, looking at Liu Ying with boundless admiration: "Ying'er, you have great insight!"

"That's right! Don't you even know whose son he is!" Liu Bang said proudly, head held high.

"The prince is young, but his insight is extraordinary. The King of Han has a worthy successor." Bing suddenly realized and praised Liu Ying highly.

Liu Ying's move was a stroke of genius. With this letter in hand, the possibility of Ying Bu rebelling was extremely high. Everyone was delighted and praised Liu Ying profusely.

"And the third thing?" Liu Bang asked, looking at Sui He.

"This journey will inevitably involve expenses, including bribes and favors. I would be grateful if Your Majesty would grant me a thousand taels of gold," Sui He demanded, making an exorbitant demand.

"How...how much? A thousand taels of gold?" Lu Ze's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he rebuked, "Sui He, do you know how enormous a sum of a thousand taels of gold is?"

"Good!" Xiahou Ying agreed.

Gold, by its very nature, is a currency used in large-scale transactions and is of considerable value. To demand thousands of gold coins so readily is truly outrageous.

"If I gave you a thousand pieces of gold, what are your chances of winning?" Liu Bang asked Sui He.

"Once we reach Ying Bu's territory, we'll need to bribe officials at all levels, so the thousand taels of gold will be slightly insufficient. I think the King of Han is currently in a predicament, and a thousand taels of gold would be barely enough." Sui He pondered for a moment and then said, "As for the odds of victory, we have a fifty percent."

"If I give you two thousand gold pieces, what are your chances of winning?" Liu Bang asked again.

"With two thousand gold coins, we have a 100% chance of winning." Sui He was very confident.

"Very well, I'll give you four thousand gold pieces." Liu Bang waved his right hand, displaying boundless generosity.

"How...how much? Four thousand gold?" Sui He thought he was hallucinating and picked at his ear with his right hand.

Not to mention Sui He, even Bing and the others thought they had misheard.

"Four thousand gold pieces! If that's not enough, we can add more," Liu Bang affirmed.

"If I really had four thousand gold coins, I could go all out and make a big splash. Even if Ying Bu didn't want to rebel, he would have to!" Sui He patted his chest with his right hand to make his promise.

"Alright, I'll give you four thousand gold pieces." Liu Bang made the final decision.

"Thank you, King Han." Sui He was overjoyed.

Lu Ze said with dissatisfaction: "Liu Ji, you're used to spending money like water. You don't know the value of money when you're not in charge of the household. Do you know that I only have a little over four thousand two hundred taels of gold here? If I give it all to him, we'll have no money left."

"This..." Sui He was at a loss.

Lu Ze was not lying. As Lu Ze's advisor, he naturally knew that Lu Ze did not have much money. If he took four thousand gold coins with him, Xia Yi would be starving.

"Please forgive me, brother." Liu Bang clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying to Lü Ze, "How can we be stingy with such a matter of life and death? Of course, we must spend thousands of gold coins. Only in this way can Sui He and the others go all out and do their thing."

"You make it sound so easy, giving Sui He so much money, what are we supposed to do?" Lu Ze said, dissatisfied.

"Brother, you must understand that only by holding back Xiang Yu and preventing him from advancing westward for the time being can we regroup and stabilize our position. This matter is more important than anything else, so please don't worry about this small amount of money," Liu Bang insisted.

"Small change? Four thousand gold coins is small change in your eyes, then what is big change?" Lu Ze was very dissatisfied.

"Brother, as long as we hold back that scoundrel Xiang Yu, I can conquer the world. At that time, let alone a mere four thousand gold pieces, even four hundred thousand or four million gold pieces will be no problem." Liu Bang showed no intention of backing down.

"You..." Lu Ze gritted his teeth.

"Uncle, the most important thing right now is to hold off Xiang Yu. It's worth spending any amount of money." Liu Ying agreed with Liu Bang's approach.

If Liu Bang can hold Xiang Yu back, he can buy himself some breathing room; if he cannot, Xiang Yu will immediately launch a major westward offensive, and Liu Bang will surely be destroyed. Therefore, this is not the time to save money.

"Okay... then." Lu Ze finally relented.

"Thank you, King Han! Thank you, Marquis Zhou! Thank you, Prince!" Sui He was overjoyed.

"What a magnificent spirit of the King of Han!" Bing clasped his hands together, bowed deeply to Liu Bang, and was completely convinced of his virtue.

"What a magnificent spirit of the King of Han!" The advisors greeted Liu Bang.

Liu Ying looked at Bing and said jokingly, "He just hit you."

"Those are all trivial matters, not worth mentioning. King Han is not bound by petty rules and has a great spirit, which is why we are willing to follow him." Bing had good emotional intelligence, describing Liu Bang's rudeness as being unconventional.

"Excellent!" Sui He and the others agreed.

Liu Ying: "..."

Liu Bang was arrogant and rude, fond of insulting people, and treated his generals like children. He was, in a sense, the epitome of a rogue. However, he was never ambiguous on important matters.

This is why many people were willing to follow Liu Bang.

At this point, it was agreed that Lü Ze would bring out gold, piling it up like a mountain of gold, which was awe-inspiring to behold.

The matter of holding off Xiang Yu was urgent, so Sui He and his men set off immediately.

Bing and a group of more than twenty staff members followed He to handle this matter.

This was a momentous matter, and Liu Bang personally saw them off, which made Sui He and his men even more excited. They patted their chests and promised to complete the mission.

After seeing Sui He and the others off, Liu Ying and Liu Bang returned to the house. Liu Ying looked at Liu Bang and asked, "Aren't you afraid they'll rebel against you because you treat scholars with such disrespect?"

"Scholars aren't human beings, of course they should be insulted!" Liu Bang said matter-of-factly.

"..." Liu Ying was getting a little frustrated: "If you don't treat scholars as human beings, then what do you treat them as?"

"Dogs!" Liu Bang exclaimed triumphantly, "Scholars are dogs, the most despicable dogs in the world!"

"You're saying this to me too. If others heard this, they would definitely curse you to death," Liu Ying retorted to Liu Bang.

"They dare not," Liu Bang said proudly. "The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for gain. What is the purpose of scholars studying so hard? Isn't it to sell their knowledge to those who can afford a high price? Xiang Yu is an unlearned and incompetent man, displaying only the courage of a commoner. He doesn't know how to use scholars. If scholars want to rise above others, the only way is to serve me and be used by me."

"..." Liu Ying thought about it carefully. There were quite a few famous military generals under Xiang Yu, but not many famous scholars.

Only Fan Zeng could be considered a scholar. As for Chen Ping, he had already submitted to Liu Bang.

At that time, Liu Bang looked down on scholars, but he also employed the most scholars.