We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Li Che's words were deafening, like the sound of a huge bell, booming in everyone's ears.

The apology from a prince undoubtedly had subversive power in this era.

Since ancient times, imperial power has been granted by heaven and is supreme. Will the almighty heaven apologize to humans?

The previous emperor Yang was licentious and immoral. What kind of disaster did he bring to the world?

Even so, even at the moment when his country was destroyed and he died, the people of the world did not receive an apology from him.

In Li Che's time and space, Emperor Wu of Han came to his senses in his later years, turned over a new leaf, and issued the Luntai Edict of Criticism, which made him the greatest emperor of all time.

From this we can see that under certain conditions, the royal family's apology is not incompetence, but bravery.

Zhuge Zhe took a deep breath and gradually regained his composure.

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, go and do your work. Remember, this matter must be kept secret."

Everyone agreed in unison, looked at Li Che with complicated expressions before leaving, and then dispersed.

"Your Highness," Zhuge Zhe said respectfully, "How about we go in and discuss it in detail?"

Li Che had no objection and walked into the cave. Everyone behind him tried to follow him, making the already narrow entrance even more crowded.

"Okay, you guys just stay outside and guard." Li Che said.

"But..." Yan San said anxiously.

"Nothing to worry about." Li Che paused slightly and looked at Zhuge Zhe in front of him, "I believe Mr. Zhuge will not harm me."

Everyone was hesitant, but Hu Qiang was already squatting at the entrance of the cave, carrying a stick.

Hu Qiang was Li Che's confidant. Seeing him act like this, everyone decided not to insist and just stood guard at the door.

Zhuge Zhe heard it clearly and paused for a moment, but said nothing.

The two men walked into the cave, and with the faint light of the torches on the cave wall, Li Che looked around curiously.

The cave was filled with books, with carefully protected boxes placed everywhere, and there were even some ancient bamboo slips among them.

Books were family heirlooms in ancient times. From this, it can be seen that Mr. Zhuge seemed to have an extraordinary background and a considerable background.

Li Che asked curiously, "I wonder what family Mr. Zhuge comes from?"

Zhuge Zhe turned around with a wry smile on his face, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Highness. I'm from the Zhuge clan of Langya. Due to family matters, my entire clan moved here."

Li Che was secretly amazed when he heard this.

The Zhuge clan of Langya, a family of prime ministers from the previous dynasty! Three prime ministers from one family, a truly prestigious family!

After Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty burned himself to death in the palace, the glory of the Zhuge family came to an end.

The Zhuge family followed the previous dynasty's Taizu in the rebellion and had close ties with the royal family. After Emperor Yang died and the country was destroyed, the Zhuge family naturally could not escape liquidation.

However, the Zhuge family had too much prestige among the aristocratic families, and even Emperor Qing did not dare to exterminate the clan, so he could only exile them all to Ninggu County.

"The Zhuge family moved to Ninggu County with their entire clan, but how come I only saw you, sir?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Zhe looked ashamed and suddenly fell to his knees.

"Sir, why is this happening?" Li Che asked in surprise.

"The Zhuge family... is guilty." Zhuge Zhe gritted his teeth, overwhelmed with shame. "Except for Zhe, the entire Zhuge family lives in the inner city. Everything they have done is rebellious!"

Li Che was shocked when he heard this.

No wonder I didn’t see any other members of the Zhuge family. How could such a century-old family have all run to the inner city?

Originally the whole clan was going to move north, but unexpectedly the whole clan surrendered to the enemy!

Three prime ministers from one family! Even if we don't ask you to save the world and the people, at least you can't willingly surrender to the barbarians, right?!

He took a deep breath, looked at Zhuge Zhe, and slowly asked, "Sir, why don't you go?"

Zhuge Zhe gritted his teeth and raised his head: "I would rather be a ghost of Daxia than a slave of the barbarians!"

Li Che showed admiration on his face. Fortunately, there was still a tough guy, so the backbone of the Zhuge family was not completely bent.

He stood up and helped Zhuge Zhe up, saying softly, "The affairs of the Zhuge family have nothing to do with you, sir. Why don't you tell me in detail about the affairs of the inner city."

"As for the Zhuge family's affairs, this king will make his own decision."

Zhuge Zhe stood up and opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately swallowed back the words of plea.

Blood is thicker than water. No matter how bad his people are, he cannot sit idly by.

He could only calm his mind and describe the general situation of the inner city:

"There are three forces in the inner city today: the government, the remnants of the previous dynasty, and the envoys of the various barbarian tribes."

"Since the founding of Ninggu County, the imperial court has sent officials and troops to garrison there. Initially, they were able to control the city and arrange for the arrival of new criminals in an orderly manner.

However, the Ninggu County City was in constant conflict with various barbarian tribes, soldiers suffered casualties, and there was no reinforcement, which led to the government's control becoming increasingly weak.

Later, the government declined, and the army was practically non-existent, becoming a puppet in the hands of the old guard and the barbarians, at their mercy."

Li Che nodded silently, understanding.

To put it bluntly, good people don't get good rewards. Those Daqing officers and soldiers who dared to fight the barbarians were killed in the battle, while the cowards survived.

The bodies of the loyal heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country are still warm, while those who live in disgrace have stolen high positions.

How can such a government have any prestige?

"As for the old people from the previous dynasty, they constitute the largest force in the inner city.

After the fall of the Huan Dynasty, Your Majesty successively convicted more than ten aristocratic families and exiled them all to Ninggu County.

Although these noble families were in decline, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. They had many servants, tenants, and retainers who were loyal to them, and almost all of them came with their families.

This led to the growing power of the old guard from the previous dynasty, gradually developing into the largest force in the city and the real rulers.

The corners of Li Che's mouth twitched.

Thinking of his previous life thinking that this group of people were suffering outside the Great Wall and often interceding for the old people of the previous dynasty, he couldn't help but slap himself twice.

What kind of suffering is this? If we don't care about these people anymore, they will establish another Huan Kingdom outside the pass!

"Could it be that those who colluded with the barbarians were these old men from the previous dynasty?" Li Che asked.

Zhuge Zhe nodded: "That's right."

“After the old men of the previous dynasty came to power, they did not want to fight with the barbarians, so they invited the leaders of various tribes into the city to discuss peaceful coexistence.

The barbarians took advantage of the situation to rob and extort countless money, and also made various unreasonable demands: the city defenses were not allowed to be repaired, the county soldiers were not allowed to leave the city, the people were not allowed to raise horses, etc.

In order to maintain their own peace, these old men from the previous dynasty actually agreed to all of their requests.

They also spent a huge amount of money to build an embassy in the inner city, allowing dignitaries of all ethnic groups to enter the city at any time to commit crimes and seek pleasure in the city!

And those ordinary barbarians, whenever they are short of food and grass, will cross the border to plunder the outer city, and the group of county soldiers in the inner city will not care about them! "

Li Che couldn't help but sneer when he heard this, and his heart was burning with anger.

The Daqing version of the humiliating and unequal treaty, right?

Being so spineless, it was no wonder that the Huan Dynasty was destroyed!