The State Depends on an Elderly Ruler; stability comes first.
The Great General meant those words sincerely.
He did not want to enthrone an immature emperor and then become the man who controlled him.
He did not believe he possessed such formidable ability. He hoped for an outstanding, exceptional, heroic ruler like Emperor Xiaowu, who would lead the Meritorious Military Nobles in conquering one peak after another and accomplishing one great undertaking after another.
People were complicated. Pursuing power and loyally serving the state were not contradictory. Huo Guang, Zhuge Liang, Yu Qian, and Zhang Juzheng had all been powerful ministers, but they had also been loyal ministers-at least loyal to the altars of state.
The Great General naturally fell short of those men, but he always remembered that he was a subject of the Great Han.
Back then, Marquis Wu Lie of Changping had chosen him from among the High-ranking Marquises as his successor to the position of Great General, entrusting the Meritorious Military Nobles to him and charging him with becoming the Great Han's sharpest divine sword. For these past ten years, he had always stood on the front line.
He considered himself a supremely loyal minister.
At this critical moment for the Great Han's altars of state, even if it meant offending some people, he had to say that a youthful Lord King like the ninth imperial son could not be enthroned.
They ought to choose a Lord King with enough ability to keep the state and its affairs under control.
In fact, the moment he said this, it was not just the ninth imperial son who was placed at a disadvantage in the struggle for the Imperial Throne. The Late Emperor's seventh and eighth imperial sons were also put at a disadvantage.
Both had only just