My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 555 The Eastern Palace, After All, Is Not the Real Emperor
According to Empress Dowager Dou's understanding, the most important thing in the world was neither the stability of the Han dynasty's ancestral temples and state, nor the national interests of the Han dynasty.

Instead, it reads the six large characters "Emperor Taizong's Legacy Virtues".

This is also easy to understand.

The reason why Empress Dowager Dou is Empress Dowager Xiaojing and the current Empress Dowager of Liu Rong's reign is rooted in her status as the "Empress Dowager of Emperor Taizong".

For Empress Dowager Dou, this identity was even more important than that of the "birth mother of the late Emperor Xiaojing"!
So, everything makes sense now.

Empress Dowager Dou was the Empress Dowager of the previous emperor's reign and the Grand Empress Dowager of the current Liu Rong's reign because she was the principal wife of Emperor Taizong.

Therefore, in order to uphold her legal basis, Empress Dowager Dou naturally had to protect Emperor Taizong—even though Emperor Taizong had long since passed away and the Han imperial throne had already been passed down to Emperor Taizong's grandson.

Or to put it another way: even for her own sake, Empress Dowager Dou had to protect Emperor Taizong and ensure that his 'legacy' was not damaged in any way.

Emperor Taizong's virtuous legacy remains intact; he is still considered a living saint. This allows Empress Dowager Dou to maintain her authority as the "wife of a living saint."

In Empress Dowager Dou's cognitive system, or rather, in her ranking of positions, national stability, which is listed alongside "Emperor Taizong's legacy," is actually still inseparable from the former.

—The legacy of Emperor Taizong is that Empress Dowager Dou was protecting her deceased husband's reputation both during his lifetime and after his death, thereby indirectly protecting her own legal status.

Maintaining the stability of the Han dynasty's ancestral temples and state was Empress Dowager Dou's way of proving that she deserved her current power and status.

In short: protecting Emperor Taizong was Empress Dowager Dou protecting herself.

Maintaining national stability was Empress Dowager Dou's way of protecting Emperor Taizong by proving herself, thus preventing him from losing face.

The two complement each other and lead to the same goal, albeit through different paths.

Once you understand this, it's not hard to see that for Empress Dowager Dou, the most important thing was never the present or future of the Han dynasty.

It was Empress Dowager Dou herself.

Whether it was upholding the legacy of Emperor Taizong or doing what she could to maintain the stability of the Han dynasty's ancestral temples and state, Empress Dowager Dou's ultimate goal was to safeguard her own position.

Look down again.

In Empress Dowager Dou's mind, after Emperor Taizong's legacy and the stability of the ancestral temple and the state, which were ranked first, her personal interests and the interests of the Dou clan, her maternal relatives, were ranked second.

The former needs no further explanation—it naturally includes, but is not limited to, Empress Dowager Dou's own political interests, personal reputation, and substantial interests including power and wealth.

The latter, on the other hand, indirectly supported the Dou family, which could act as his right-hand man, by seeking or protecting the interests of the Dou family.

The ultimate goal is to help consolidate one's position and power.

Finally, and lastly, is the national interest of the Han dynasty.

Even the national interest, which was ranked last, was also due to Empress Dowager Dou's certain degree of 'ambition'.

Of course, it was not an ambition to overthrow the Han dynasty;
Rather, it was to leave a mark on history as a 'virtuous empress' of the Han dynasty, thereby gaining spiritual satisfaction and harboring ambitions to further benefit herself and the Dou family.

Once these points are understood, the differences between the late Emperor Jing of Han (Liu Qi), the current Empress Dowager Dou, and the present-day Liu Rong become immediately clear.

Emperor Xiaojing (Liu Qi) knew that he was not a brilliant and exceptional ruler, but he did possess a fairly mature political skill that was certainly up to par.

Therefore, Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, would prioritize the stability of the country in order to ensure that he would not become a foolish or incompetent ruler who would bring chaos to the ancestral temples and the state.

To put it bluntly, it's about raising the lower limit.

As for pursuing the upper limit, that is, seeking benefits for the country, it was placed in the second tier by the late emperor, on par with his own personal interests.

The reason is as mentioned above—a person should have self-awareness.

The late emperor knew that he was not a brilliant and exceptional ruler, a sage and great monarch who appeared only once every thousand years.

Especially since he ascended the throne after the age of thirty and knew that he would hardly be able to make any outstanding contributions or achievements for the Han Dynasty in his lifetime, the late emperor made "stability" his top priority and placed progress in a secondary position, focusing on "seeking progress while maintaining stability".

As for the radical "Policy to Reduce the Power of the Feudal States" and the Rebellion of the Seven States that it triggered, these were measures taken out of necessity.

It is necessary to adopt a radical strategy temporarily in order to achieve long-term stability.

After the Wu-Chu Rebellion was quelled, whether in the original historical timeline or in the world Liu Rong was in, the late emperor's actions were primarily aimed at maintaining stability.

As for personal interests—that's a point worth discussing.

In most cases, for a not-too-dull emperor, there is often no clear dividing line between national interests and personal interests.

Because in feudal dynasties, the country itself belonged to the emperor.

National interests are equivalent to the interests of emperors—except that they are not direct interests, but indirect interests.

This is similar to the relationship between a company's profits and the profits of the owner personally.

The emperor's personal interests are like the personal income and stock dividends of a company CEO.

National interests, on the other hand, are like the company's own profits.

The company's CEO naturally cares about his salary and bonuses.

But the company is making a lot of money, so isn't the boss very happy?
Although strictly speaking, the company's money does not belong to the boss, the company itself belongs to the boss!

If the company makes money, doesn't that mean the boss's profile makes money?
The same principle applies—national interests, although not equivalent to the direct interests of the emperor personally, still belong to the emperor;
Therefore, any ruler who is not extremely incompetent, indulging only in extravagance and pleasure, and disregarding the lives of the people, will try to keep the interests of the country and his personal interests on the same track.

In fact, the emperor didn't need to do anything deliberately.

As long as the requirement of "not being muddleheaded" is met, the emperor's personal interests and national interests are inherently highly aligned.

For a wise and capable emperor, even a mediocre one, his personal interests, or rather his personal aspirations, will inevitably prioritize the stability and further prosperity of the nation.

This ensures that the emperor's personal desires and aspirations are highly aligned with the national interests.

When the emperor achieves his goal, the state benefits.

When the emperor achieves his ambitions, the country prospers; conversely, when the country prospers and the people are at peace, the emperor can also gain many personal benefits such as reputation, prestige, and power.

And these things that seem to belong to the realm of personal interests will ultimately be used by the emperor to seek benefits for the country.

This constitutes a virtuous cycle.

In stark contrast, there are naturally incompetent rulers.

The reason why a foolish ruler is a foolish ruler is simply because his distorted desires cause him to separate personal interests from national interests.

The country needs a diligent emperor, but a foolish ruler "from then on, the emperor no longer held morning court";
A nation needs a simple and frugal emperor, but a foolish ruler indulges in extravagance and debauchery.

A nation needs its people to be treated well, but a foolish ruler has made the situation of "the rich feasting while the poor freeze to death on the streets" a reality.

A foolish ruler will not do what the country needs.
What the nation fears, a tyrannical ruler will give it to you.
What are the people of the world, what are ancestral temples, what are social order, what are historical evaluations? In the eyes of a foolish ruler, none of them can compare to the taste of two ounces of horse urine, or the dirty things that happen in his crotch.

Clearly, Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, may not be considered a sage ruler, or even a truly wise ruler, but he was certainly not a foolish one.

Therefore, Emperor Jing of Han's cognitive system and stance were based on the premise that he was aware of his own limitations and that he was unlikely to be able to reign for too long (he inherited the throne at the age of 31), so he punished the emperor based on facts to ensure the stability of the Han dynasty to the greatest extent possible.

Furthermore, on this basis, we should do what we can and what must be done to facilitate the transition between Emperor Taizong Xiaowen and the current Liu Rong dynasty.

As for national interests and personal interests—in other aspects, the late Emperor Xiaojing may have things that are worthy of slander and criticism;

But Liu Rong dared to say with his hand on his chest: For the late emperor, the degree of alignment between national interests and the late emperor's personal interests reached at least 80%!
Therefore, Liu Rong often did not need to hide anything from the late emperor, nor did he need to beat around the bush or conceal his true intentions.

Because Liu Rong's cognitive system and stance were similar to those of the late emperor.

For Liu Rong, the stability of the country is naturally above all else.

However, unlike his predecessor, Liu Rong placed national interests, namely development and progress, alongside national stability, making them the top priority.

The reason for this was not that Liu Rong was arrogant or thought himself to be much wiser and more brilliant than the late emperor;
Rather, it was simply that the time traveler had his own cheat codes, the age of twenty-something when he inherited the throne, and the pivotal moment in history that gave Liu Rong the confidence to lead the Han dynasty to great progress in his lifetime.

If the late emperor sought progress while maintaining stability, Liu Rong sought both stability and progress simultaneously.

When things are difficult to make progress, it's better to play it safe.
When there is an opportunity to make progress, it is perfectly acceptable to temporarily sacrifice stability within an appropriate range.

The two are in a dynamic equilibrium, depending on the specific circumstances.

As for personal interests—like the late emperor, Liu Rong believed that his personal interests were highly consistent with the national interests of the Han Dynasty.

As the ruler of all under heaven, Liu Rong, who possesses all things in the world, what personal interests could he possibly have?
Liu Rong didn't need to worry about food, clothing, or even reasonable luxuries, nor did he need to strive for them.

The emperor's status naturally satisfied all of Liu Rong's material desires within the realm of his imagination.

Material desires can be satisfied in every way without any effort, so what remains is only spiritual desire.

There are many kinds of spiritual desires.

In later generations, many noble children, after satisfying their material desires, felt an extreme spiritual emptiness and chose many negative and pessimistic spiritual precautions.

Those who are more conservative may engage in extreme sports such as skydiving and paragliding in pursuit of thrills;

Some go even further, such as speeding, promiscuity, or indulging in the act of pretending to be weak while actually being strong.

The most egregious cases involve drug use, coercion of women, and even extreme instances of seeking thrills through killing.

But everything has two sides.

Spiritual desires have both negative and positive aspects.

For example, Liu Rong today doesn't think at all that the playboys of Chang'an, dressed in fine clothes and riding spirited horses, coming and going in groups, or galloping wildly through the streets of Chang'an and killing a few people, are cool or satisfying.

On the contrary, farmers who were originally starving were able to barely have enough to eat under Liu Rong's rule;
One by one, the unfortunate people who were almost frozen to death survived thanks to Liu Rong;

Or perhaps, people from the lowest rungs of society, who originally had no future and no prospects at all, were able to live in a social system with a promising future through Liu Rong's meticulous design.

All of this would make Liu Rong feel very proud and greatly satisfy his spiritual desires.

Furthermore, Liu Rong hoped that during his decades in power, the Han dynasty could wash away many past humiliations and become even stronger.

It is hoped that fewer and fewer Han people will starve or freeze to death, and more and more will die of natural causes or at an old age.

It is hoped that fewer and fewer soldiers of the Han Dynasty will die in battle or from injuries, and that more and more will retire with honor, witnessing the Han Dynasty grow stronger and more prosperous, sharing in its glory, and passing away with a smile.
It is hoped that fewer and fewer Han officials will be dismissed or even executed for corruption, harming the people, or holding their positions without performing their duties. Instead, more and more officials will retire to their hometowns, be loved by the people, and enjoy their old age surrounded by their children and grandchildren.

Liu Rong hoped that the Han dynasty would get better and better.

Liu Rong hoped that his decades in power would be the fundamental reason for the Han dynasty's growing strength.

Liu Rong also hoped to be loved by all the people under heaven and to receive heartfelt praise from future generations: "Emperor Liu Rong of the Han Dynasty was truly a sage and great ruler who appears only once in a thousand years!"
Having Emperor Liu Rong of Han is a great fortune for all of China!
This is Liu Rong's spiritual desire, and it can even be said to be all of Liu Rong's personal interests.

Clearly, everything Liu Rong wanted was almost entirely tied to the national interests of the Han dynasty.

This explains why Liu Rong was often able to be frank with the late emperor.

Both father and son hoped for national stability and, to varying degrees, hoped to bring benefits to the country.

At the same time, both father and son regarded the Han family as their own personal property, whether now or in the future, and highly tied the national interests of the Han family to their own personal interests.

What's the point of hiding this?

Just say what you think.

If it weren't for the father-son relationship between them, they could be considered like-minded friends, or even comrades!
But Empress Dowager Dou was different.

In Empress Dowager Dou's cognitive system, whether it was the first-tier legacy of Emperor Taizong and the stability of the ancestral temple and the state, or the second-tier personal interests and the interests of the Dou family;
Even the last thing on the list—the national interests of the Han dynasty—was all shaped around Empress Dowager Dou herself.

What is particularly crucial is that, even if Empress Dowager Dou's personal interests and the national interests of the Han dynasty were not completely unrelated, they were certainly not as "highly aligned" as those of the late Emperor Liu Qi and the current Emperor Liu Rong.

(End of this chapter)