Chapter 75: Luan Bu! Chop him!
The Han Dynasty no longer had the cumbersome rules of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In the past, the emperor, princes, officials, and common people were restricted by etiquette and laws on how many meals they could eat a day. But it was different in the early Han Dynasty. As long as you had money, you could eat as many meals as you wanted, and no one was bothered to care how many meals you ate.
The Han Dynasty picked up etiquette again after Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. If Liu Chang was born thirty years later, he would have been the best tool for the ministers to improve their reputation. At that time, the ministers kept an eye on the princes on the grounds of etiquette. If anyone did something that did not follow etiquette, they would jump out and reprimand him to improve their reputation.
In the late Western Han Dynasty, the restoration movement emerged and the etiquette and laws became increasingly stringent, almost skipping the Warring States and Spring and Autumn Period and jumping directly to the early Zhou Dynasty.
At this moment, the emperor is just a powerful noble, and the prince is just a noble son with a certain status. What's the point of talking about etiquette and laws when they can't even get enough food to eat?
Liu Ying had dinner with his servants. Liu Ying did not bring the four old men with him on this trip. They were too old to travel far. Liu Ying only brought six younger servants. And the term "younger" was only used in comparison with the four old men. They were only slightly younger than Liu Bang, and were definitely not young.
Liu Chang sat on Liu Ying's left, eating meat in big mouthfuls.
"Brother, why did you bring so much meat?"
"These are all the dried meats that the Queen Mother specially prepared for you..."
"Oh, well..."
Seeing Liu Chang taking the initiative and not showing courtesy to his brother, and just nibbling on the food, the servants sitting on Liu Ying's right became a little angry.
"Young people should learn to be polite to their elder brothers! Before eating, they should ask their elder brothers three times and only eat after they have given their permission!"
A guy with a goatee blew his beard and spoke to Liu Chang angrily.
Liu Chang was busy eating and didn't pay any attention to him.
Luan Bu, who was sitting next to Liu Chang, slowly raised his head and said, "Your Excellency is well versed in the etiquette of brothers, but don't you know the etiquette of monarch and minister? As a minister of the crown prince, you don't know how to maintain the friendship between your master and his brothers, but instead you lecture him in front of him and alienate the brothers. Is this something a minister can do?"
After hearing what Luan Bu said, the servant's face turned red. He glared at the young Luan Bu and cursed, "How can someone like you have the right to speak here?"
"Hey... stop arguing. If my eldest brother wants to eat, just eat. This is originally prepared for him..."
Liu Ying tried to persuade him, but Liu Chang still lowered his head and ate voraciously. He was very hungry.
Luan Bu sneered, "I thought you were both Confucianists, but I didn't expect you to be Shao Zhengmao's disciple!"
"You are so rude!"
The servants immediately stood up and put their hands on the scabbards. Liu Ying could no longer sit still, so he quickly stood up and continued to persuade them.
As the two sides confronted each other, Liu Chang finally raised his head helplessly. He squinted his eyes and looked at those people with disdain, "Luan Bu, take the meat in front of them!"
"Brother... this..."
"This was given to me by my mother. These people are not qualified to enjoy it."
Luan Bu also obeyed and went straight forward to take away the food in front of them one by one. The servants were completely angry and stared at Liu Chang fiercely. One of them said, "How can you govern the country if you are so rude?"
"You are ignorant of etiquette, which shows that you are a treacherous villain..."
Before the other party finished speaking, Liu Chang was already furious, "Luan Bu! Chop him up!"
At that moment, Luan Bu did not hesitate. He drew out his sword in an instant, leaped a few steps quickly, and chopped the man's neck with the sword in his hand. "Bang!" It happened in a split second. Liu Ying hurriedly stretched out his scabbard to block Luan Bu's chop. The sword in Luan Bu's hand pressed down on the prince's scabbard and hit the man's neck hard.
The servant groaned, took a few steps back, and looked at Luan Bu in fear. Where did this madman come from? The prince's servant, he said to chop and chop? ?
Seeing this scene, Liu Chang was also stunned for a moment, but soon calmed down, "Luan Bu, stop!"
"only!"
Luan Bu withdrew his hand, and Liu Ying's face turned pale. If he had not blocked it in time, the servant's head would have flown out long ago. Wasn't his eldest brother's servant a little too cruel?
"Let's go!" Liu Chang gave the order, wrapped up the dried meat in front of him, turned around and was about to leave. Luan Bu snorted coldly, stared at those people fiercely, then picked up the dried meat and followed Liu Chang. The two of them left here in a swagger.
Liu Ying sighed helplessly, "Alas, why bother?"
"Prince...I...I have no face to live in this world..."
The prince's attendant was about to draw his sword and commit suicide. Liu Ying hurriedly stopped him and tried to persuade him, but the man refused to listen. While the two sides were arguing, Liu Chang, who had already walked away, suddenly turned back and shouted loudly: "Hey! It's you! Listen to me!"
"Listen carefully to what my brother says! Otherwise, I will capture all your clan members tomorrow and cook them in a big pot!"
The servant opened his eyes wide with a look of fear, and put down the sword in his hand involuntarily. The other servants smiled awkwardly and were much more polite to Liu Ying.
Liu Chang led Luan Bu to a group of miners who were eating. The miners hurriedly wanted to salute him, but Liu Chang waved his hand and said, "It's okay, eat your food!"
Liu Chang simply sat next to them, not caring whether his clothes would get dirty, and Luan Bu also sat down with him.
"Come, come, let's eat meat together... Luan Bu, share the dried meat with them!"
Luan Bu distributed the dried meat that he had taken from Sheren to these people. They didn't even have time to say thank you, they just grabbed the dried meat and gobbled it up. Liu Chang ignored them and just looked at Luan Bu, "Why did you really chop him?"
"How can I not obey the orders of the young master?"
"I was just trying to scare him. Why did you really chop him? He is the prince's servant. If you chop him to death, won't mother beat me to death?"
Luan Bu said seriously: "He insulted your teacher, so what if you kill him?"
Liu Chang shook his head and said, "Well, from now on, you just look at my fingers. If one finger sticks out when I say I'll chop you to death, you scare me. If two, you just chop me to death. How about that?"
"only!"
"By the way, aren't you all Confucianists? Why are you arguing?"
"Sir, Confucianism also has many factions."
"So who are they?"
"You don't need to ask to know... Di Tuo wears his cap, and he recites the words of the emperor and the emperor. Yu walks and Shun walks. This is the lowly Confucian of Zi Zhang family!"
Luan Bu replied disdainfully, Liu Chang nodded and asked again: "Then who are you?"
“Uh…” Luan Bu’s expression suddenly turned a little ugly.
"Zixia's Confucianism."
In other words, Liu Chang did not read enough. If Liu Ying were here, he would definitely say, "He dresses properly, and looks elegant, but he keeps silent all day. He is a lowly scholar like Zixia!"
Why did the Confucian schools not dare to retort when they were criticized? Because the person who criticized them had a certain status in the Confucian school, and his name was Xun Kuang.
While the two were talking, the miners around them had already eaten up all the jerky.
Most of the people mining here are not good people. Many of them have shackles on their legs. Four or five people are tied together because they are afraid that they will run away. But the group of people chosen by Liu Chang are obviously a little different. They have no soldiers guarding them and no chains on their bodies.
They looked at Liu Chang cautiously, and Liu Chang was also looking at them. For a moment, Liu Chang didn't know what to say. He decided to find a topic and chat with these people while Zhao Huan hadn't come back yet.
"What do you do?"
Liu Chang asked with a smile.
For a moment, the miner sitting in front of him with a hoe beside him looked at the young master in confusion. After hesitating for a long time, he answered uncertainly: "Mining..."
The atmosphere was a little awkward. Liu Chang smiled disapprovingly and asked, "What crime have you committed?"
"We have never committed any crime. All of us are sons-in-law."
The man was very calm. There was neither shame nor hesitation in his words. He had already accepted his identity.
Liu Chang was a little confused, "What's wrong with being a son-in-law?"
Luan Bu had no choice but to explain: "According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, those who do these things are either criminals or sons-in-law."
"Why?"
"This..." Luan Bu looked at the people around him but did not continue explaining.
"Sir, it's because we are lowly..."
It was the miner who answered.
"Thank you for the meat... We haven't smelled meat for a long time... You'd better leave quickly, otherwise we will be laughed at..."
"Heh, with that group...what are they called Confucian?"
"Zi Zhang's Confucianism."
"Yes, being with that group of Zhang Zhiru is the only way to be laughed at!"
"How many people are there in your family?"
There was no contempt in Liu Chang's eyes. He asked about these people's family situations with a smile.
Everyone calmed down immediately, and they chatted with Liu Chang. Liu Chang started to brag loudly about what he had seen and heard in Chang'an. These people stared at the young master's mouth and listened very seriously. Liu Chang said, "Don't worry, soon you won't have to suffer anymore... I will tell my second brother that other people who do such dangerous work, except criminals, should be paid or promoted. My second brother is a good man, he won't disagree! "
Luan Bu looked at the hope burning in these people's eyes, but he didn't have the heart to refute Liu Chang.
