Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

The sky continues.

[When Emperor Ping of Han grew up, he became uncontrollable and died.]

[The cause of death remains a mystery, but historical records show that he was poisoned by Wang Mang. ]

[After Emperor Ping of Han died, Wang Mang was "deeply grief-stricken" and beat his chest and stamped his feet, pretending to die in place of the emperor.]

【Wang Mang had not yet chosen to usurp the throne. 】

【Because Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun strongly opposed it, Wang Mang also felt that the time was not yet ripe. 】

[So he adopted a 2-year-old boy named Ruzi Ying from the Liu clan as the crown prince.]

[Also known as the auspicious sign of people bringing good luck - a white stone with eight characters written on it: "Announce that An Han Gong Mang is the emperor."]

【Wang Zhengjun was very dissatisfied, but she could not stop it, so she appointed Wang Mang as the fake emperor. 】

【“Let Duke Anhan take over the throne as regent, just as Duke Zhou did.”】

【So, Wang Mang began to rule the country as a "fake emperor."】

[“假” in ancient Chinese means proxy, but this title became a key stepping stone for him to take the throne of the real emperor.]

[At this time, although Wang Mang did not have the title of emperor, he was already acting as an emperor.]

[All memorials from the court to the emperor referred to him as the "Regent Emperor."]

[When offering sacrifices to the heavens, the earth, and the ancestors, he also wore a crown and clothing of the emperor’s standard.]

[Even the reign title was changed to "Jushe". ]

[As if he regarded himself as the prince of destiny. 】

[In order to make his "reign" more legitimate, Wang Mang continued to make a fuss in public opinion. ]

[He instructed his cronies to create more auspicious "talismans" all over the country.]

[For a time, auspicious events reported to the court from all over the country emerged one after another:]

[These so-called "talismans" spread rapidly among the people and the court in the social environment of the time when people believed in the superstition of prophecies and divinations.]

[Many people began to believe that Wang Mang's enthronement was God's will.]

【At the same time, Wang Mang also used Confucian classics to find a basis for his actions. 】

[He instructed scholars to search for allusions to "Duke of Zhou's regency" in classics such as "The Book of Rites" and "The Book of History", and compared himself to Duke of Zhou.]

[He claimed that he was "taking over the throne" in order to emulate the Duke of Zhou who assisted King Cheng, and would return power to the 2-year-old Ru Ziying when he came of age.]

[However, Wang Mang's words did not convince everyone. ]

[Many people in the court began to resign and flee.]

[Some of the Liu clan members also rebelled, but they were too weak and were instantly suppressed.]

[Among the rest of the Liu clan, many were usually taken care of by Wang Mang. Now they all saw the situation clearly and supported Wang Mang.]

【However, some ministers loyal to the Han Dynasty firmly opposed his usurpation of power. 】

[Dongjun Governor Zhai Yi was the first to raise the banner of resistance.]

[He joined forces with Yanxiang Hou Liu Xin and others to support Liu Xin as the emperor, and issued a manifesto to denounce Wang Mang's crime of "poisoning Emperor Ping, taking over the throne, and trying to destroy the Han Dynasty."]

[Zhai Yi's uprising received responses from many local forces.]

【Many Liu clan members also joined in. 】

[In a short period of time, they gathered more than 100,000 troops and marched all the way to Chang'an. ]

[Faced with the sudden rebellion, Wang Mang panicked and even cried day and night while holding Ru Ziying.]

[He also kept expressing this to the ministers.]

[I am only a temporary emperor, and I will return power to Ru Ziying when he grows up.]

[But he soon calmed down and sent generals such as Wang Yi and Sun Jian to lead a large army to suppress the rebellion.]

[After a fierce battle, Zhai Yi's uprising was finally brutally suppressed. Zhai Yi was captured and torn into pieces by five horses.]

【Those who participated in the uprising were also subjected to bloody massacre.】

【After suppressing Zhai Yi's uprising, Wang Mang's prestige was not only not damaged, but was further enhanced. 】

[He attributed the victory to the blessing of heaven, claiming that he was able to quell the rebellion by following the will of heaven.]

[This made more people firmly believe in his "destiny".]

[No one can really take on Wang Mang now. ]

[In order to completely eliminate the opposition forces, Wang Mang began a large-scale purge of the Han royal family. ]

[He used various excuses to deprive Liu clan members of their titles and fiefs, demoting them to commoners, and even executing some.]

[The Liu royal family’s rule over the Western Han Dynasty for more than 200 years was on the verge of collapse under Wang Mang’s suppression.]

【As the opposition voices gradually faded, Wang Mang felt that the time was ripe to become emperor. 】

[In 8 AD, Ai Zhang, a native of Zitong, made a bronze box, which contained two documents with the words "Golden Box Diagram of the Heavenly Emperor's Seal" and "Golden Book of the Red Emperor's Seal Passed to the Yellow Emperor".]

[The book claimed that Wang Mang was the true emperor.]

[The Red Emperor is Liu Bang, which means that Liu Bang himself instructed to hand over the Han Dynasty to Wang Mang.]

[The book also lists the names of eleven ministers who assisted Wang Mang.]

【Ai Zhang himself also included his name among them. 】

【Ai Zhang sent the bronze box to the temple of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, in the evening.】

[The next morning, the temple officials reported the incident to Wang Mang.]

【Wang Mang said: "Oh, it was the Emperor Taizu Gao who personally appointed me, so I have no choice but to take on this important responsibility."】【So he immediately went to the Emperor Gaozu Temple to receive the bronze box.】

[A grand coronation ceremony was then held in the front hall of the Weiyang Palace, officially announcing the replacement of the Western Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Xin Dynasty.]

【The era name was changed to "Beginning of the Country". 】

[The 200-year Western Han Dynasty ended here.]

【After Wang Mang ascended the throne, he demoted Ru Ziying to the Duke of Anding and made Ande County in Pingyuan Commandery his fiefdom. He also set up a Han Dynasty ancestral temple there to show his "favorable treatment" of the Han Dynasty.】

[But in reality, Ru Ziying was kept under strict control, and no one was allowed to talk to him.]

[As a result, when Ru Ziying grew up, he could not tell the difference between the six domestic animals and could not even speak clearly, just like a fool.]

【After Wang Mang proclaimed himself emperor, he began to implement a series of reform measures in order to consolidate his rule, which is known in history as "Wang Mang's Reforms."】

【Objectively speaking, Wang Mang wanted to achieve political achievements.】

[They also wanted to resolve the serious social contradictions that had accumulated since the end of the Western Han Dynasty through reform.]

【To realize the Confucian ideal of "Great Harmony" in his heart. 】

[However, most of these reform measures are out of touch with reality.]

[During the implementation process, it encountered strong resistance from vested interest groups. Not only did it fail to solve social problems, but it caused even greater chaos, laying the groundwork for the fall of the Xin Dynasty.]

【Let’s look back at the process of Wang Mang’s usurpation of the throne. 】

【This usurpation of the throne was accomplished without bloodshed. 】

【In fact, it is the product of decades of operation. 】

[He was frugal and modest, and spent all his wealth to help the people. He was praised by scholars as "the Duke of Zhou of the present age";]

[He took every step carefully, rising from Huangmen Lang to Da Sima, and finally usurped the Han Dynasty and established himself as the emperor in the name of "the Mandate of Heaven".]

【It can be seen that the "corrupt scholar" Wang Mang is actually shrewd. 】

【He is well versed in the rules of the power game. 】

[And paid a price for it. ]

The video ends here.

Barrages of comments appeared one after another.

"Duke Zhou was afraid of rumors, and Wang Mang was humble before he usurped the throne."

"The throne can be seized but not stolen, so Wang Mang gave it up in the end."

"What do you mean by stealing? He is the emperor elected by the people, and he is the people's choice."

"Based on his reputation at the time, there was nothing wrong with Wang Mang being the emperor, except that he did not do a good job after becoming the emperor."

"He was the Holy King that everyone admired at the time, and even the Liu family recognized him. "

"New Dynasty, the novel "New Book" I'm reading recently, it's pretty good."

"The Liu family had to kowtow to Wang Mang. At that time, conflicts in the Western Han Dynasty had accumulated to the point that if Wang Mang had not usurped the throne, the Liu family would have been destroyed."

"As a result, Wang Mang emerged, diverted the contradictions, broke the old ones, and gave the Eastern Han Dynasty room to start anew."

"I resolved most of the conflicts, but I kept some."

"It can be said that Wang Mang single-handedly extended the Han dynasty's reign for nearly two hundred years..."

"Wang Mang is really good at pretending."

"If Wang Mang had not usurped the throne, he would probably be one of the top ten great Confucian scholars, right?"

And outside the sky.

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng also calmly made a conclusion about Wang Mang.

"What a hypocrite! He deceives the world with his petty kindness and righteousness, just like the nobles of the six countries who used hypocritical kindness and righteousness to confuse the people."

Li Si, who was standing beside him, saw that the Emperor Qin Shi Huang had a bad look on his face and said cautiously:

"Your Majesty, Wang Mang is well versed in the art of public opinion and is using auspicious signs to build momentum."

Ying Zheng was even more disdainful.

"What Wang Mang used was nothing more than a trivial trick."

"I swept across the six kingdoms by relying on strong troops and strict laws. How could I resort to such despicable means?"

"Only the later Han Dynasty, which was superstitious about Confucianism, could have been usurped by such a villain."

And in the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin watched Wang Mang's "performance" on the sky curtain with great interest.

Zhao Kuangyin was naturally no stranger to Wang Mang.

But watching it again through the skylight has a different flavor.

"Wang Mang's methods were too deliberate."

"It seems that he is taking every step carefully, but in fact, there are many loopholes. He relied on creating momentum to get to the top, but in the process of governing, he lost the support of the people. In the end, he could not achieve great things."

"Not like I was back then."

"During the Chenqiao Rebellion, the soldiers under his command sincerely supported him."

"Do not disturb the people, protect the royal family, and win the world with peace."

"If Wang Mang could be reincarnated, he would watch carefully and learn from me!" (End of this chapter)