Diqin Designer

Chapter 291 Wang Mang usurps the Han Dynasty (two in one)

After Wang Jian and others left, Li Nian and Meng Tian stayed. Seeing that the First Emperor kept him and Meng Tian, ​​Li Nian guessed that the First Emperor might want to hear about future events again.

Yes, it has been some time since he last talked about the Western Han Dynasty, and today happened to be the day when both he and Meng Tian were gathered together.

We've been busy lately, and the four of us don't always have time to get together.

As an emperor, the First Emperor was busy dealing with various government affairs; Meng Yi had to protect the safety of the First Emperor and sometimes had to run errands for him and perform some confidential tasks;
Meng Tian went to study at the Naval Academy; Li Nian was the busiest person among the four. Not only did he have to advise on many policies of the Qin Dynasty and guide various technical issues, he also had to copy materials from later generations...

If the First Emperor had not deliberately summoned them together, it would have been difficult for the four of them to have time to get together.

As expected, the First Emperor said, "Last time you mentioned Wang Mang usurping the Han Dynasty. Who was Wang Mang? What virtue did he have to usurp the Han Dynasty?"

Li Nian sorted out his thoughts and said, "Your Majesty, the main reason why Wang Mang was able to usurp the Han Dynasty was that the Western Han Dynasty was gradually declining at that time and had serious problems. The secondary reason was Wang Mang's background and other factors. Even without Wang Mang, the Western Han Dynasty would have perished!"

"In fact, the Eastern Han Dynasty was able to resume the Han dynasty and continue the dynasty under the name of 'Han' for nearly two hundred years. Wang Mang had a 'contribution' to this. If the Western Han Dynasty had really been allowed to perish on its own, there might not have been another Eastern Han Dynasty, and it would have been replaced by another dynasty."

The First Emperor immediately understood what Li Nian meant and said, "Is it because although Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he also solved the problems accumulated in the Western Han Dynasty?"

Li Nian nodded, but his answer was: "To be precise, Wang Mang did not solve those problems. He just took over the problems of the Western Han Dynasty because he usurped the Han Dynasty."

"It's like there's a branding iron. This branding iron was originally made by the Western Han Dynasty. It was made by the people of the world out of their resentment and dissatisfaction with the Western Han Dynasty. Sooner or later, it will burn the Western Han Dynasty to death."

"But when the Western Han Dynasty was about to be scalded to death, Wang Mang snatched it away and took it into his hands. The people's original resentment and dissatisfaction with the Western Han Dynasty were immediately transferred to Wang Mang and his new dynasty. And because of the decrees issued by Wang Mang, the people began to miss the Western Han Dynasty."

"The final result was that Wang Mang and his new dynasty vanished, and many problems left by the Western Han Dynasty were alleviated, but the debt was clearly placed on Wang Mang's head, and Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu happily established the Eastern Han Dynasty."

Hearing Li Nian's words, the First Emperor and the other two looked strange. It seemed that Wang Mang was indeed a wronged creature. He didn't gain much from usurping the Han Dynasty, but instead took the blame for the Western Han Dynasty and paved the way for the Eastern Han Dynasty. All the benefits went to the descendants of Liu Ji.

Meng Tian asked curiously, "Why can the problems left by the Western Han Dynasty be alleviated?"

Li Nian glanced at Meng Tian and said, "Some problems exist because of people. If you can't solve the problem, but if you can solve the people, the problem will naturally be solved."

"Many, many people died during the demise of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty and the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After so many people died, many problems that had accumulated during the Western Han Dynasty disappeared."

Meng Tian was stunned after hearing this, as this was actually the way to solve the problem.

But that was a problem that accumulated when a dynasty was at its end, and I'm afraid a lot of people died.

After answering Meng Tian's question, Li Nian continued: "Among the many problems in the Western Han Dynasty, the biggest one was 'land annexation'."

"This is also the main reason why many dynasties in later generations perished and were unable to escape the 'historical cycle'."

Upon hearing that "land annexation" existed in many dynasties in later generations and was the main reason for their demise, Qin Shihuang and his two men became serious.

The history of later generations can serve as a lesson for us!
"The issue of land annexation can usually be understood as the fact that there is a limited amount of land in the world, but the population continues to increase over time."

“When a dynasty is first established, the relationship between people and land is often that there are fewer people and more land.”

"At this time, there is a lot of land in the world, but not enough people to farm it. Everyone has enough or even abundant land to farm, and they can live in harmony with each other."

"Therefore, this period is often the rise of a dynasty. There is more land but not enough people, so it can accommodate more people. As the population increases, more food can be produced, and the dynasty's national strength will also rise accordingly."

"But land is limited, and population growth continues. The relationship between people and land will gradually change from a situation of few people and much land to a situation of many people and little land. In particular, some people will seize other people's land. For example, princes and nobles will try every means to seize the land in the hands of ordinary people, causing the relationship between people and land to become increasingly tense."

"As the saying goes, 'the rich have fields stretching for miles, while the poor have no place to stand', and the majority of people in the world are the lower class. What will happen when they lose their land or the land they have can no longer produce enough food for them to survive?"

"What would happen if we were to encounter a natural disaster or a harsh imperial decree at this time?"

The First Emperor and his two companions did not answer, but they could think of the answers to these two questions.

Since we can't even survive, what is there to be afraid of? We might as well rebel, kill those princes and nobles, and steal their land and food.

Li Nian did not wait for the three to answer this question and continued, "Their only way out is to rise up in rebellion. If they can't survive, then let those princes and nobles die too. Let's stir up chaos and let the dynasty be buried with them!"

"When the war is over, many people die in the chaos, the relationship between people and land eases, and a new dynasty enters this cycle again."

"Your Majesty's Great Qin was the first unified dynasty in Chinese history, but because it was the first, many aspects were not mature, and therefore it failed to reach the end of a dynasty."

"So, the Western Han Dynasty was the first dynasty to complete the historical cycle!"

"In the late Western Han Dynasty, the problem of land annexation was serious. In addition, natural disasters continued, the government was corrupt, the imperial power declined, and the power of foreign relatives became stronger. If no one could change this situation, the Western Han Dynasty would have fallen. However, it was almost impossible for people in that era to change it."

"This was originally a dead end for the Western Han Dynasty, but Wang Mang took over this dead end!"

The First Emperor asked a question: "Since the demise of dynasties is due to the relationship between man and land and the law of historical cycles, what does this have to do with Confucianism?"

Li Nian said: "Your Majesty, because the Confucianism of later generations will hinder the method of easing the relationship between people and land and breaking out of the historical cycle."

"The relationship between people and land is tense. The main reason is that land is unevenly distributed. Common people have little land, while the nobles and powerful have much land, and the land does not produce enough food."

"So if we want to solve this problem, we can adopt the method of rationally allocating land and increasing food production."

"The latter is also the important reason why the Qing Dynasty was able to have the 'Kangxi and Qianlong prosperous era'. The Qing Dynasty had high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, which enabled the Qing Dynasty's population to reach tens of millions. It was not because the Manchu monarchs were wise and capable, but because the crop yields were much higher than in other dynasties!"

"The way to increase land productivity is not only to find high-yield crops, but also to develop science and technology, and use more advanced technology to increase crop yields, such as using technology to improve crops, create more advanced agricultural tools, and produce fertilizers that can greatly increase yields."

"These are solutions from within, and the solution from outside: China has limited land, but there are still vast lands outside China. The relationship between people and land is tense inside China, but not outside China."

When the First Emperor heard this, he understood what Li Nian meant. Li Nian continued, "But later Confucianism finds it difficult to support these solutions. They find it difficult to think outward and to allow new technologies to emerge."

"During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Oceans under the order of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty. He sailed earlier than Westerners, but the sea charts he brought back were hidden by Confucian officials and eventually lost."

"Although some of them thought that it would be a waste of money and manpower for the Ming Dynasty to continue sailing, they did hinder the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going development. They were unwilling to see the outside world and were unaware of changes in the outside world. They were always confined to their own world, calling themselves the Celestial Empire, and causing China to be slowly caught up with and surpassed by the West."

Li Nian turned the topic back to Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty: "In fact, Wang Mang's success in usurping the Han Dynasty was also related to Confucianism."

"Wang Mang was a relative of the Western Han Dynasty. His aunt was the empress of Emperor Yuan of Han, Liu Shi. Liu Shi was the son of Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, who described him as 'the one who caused chaos in my family is the crown prince.'"

"Because my aunt was the queen, Wang Mang naturally became a relative of the Western Han Dynasty."

"Of course, in the beginning, there were many people in the Wang family, and Wang Mang was not particularly outstanding among them, but people are most afraid of comparison. As long as he behaves differently from his peers, he will definitely attract attention."

"The Wang family was a family of foreign relatives at the time. They were wealthy and powerful, and very prominent. Therefore, the people in the family lived a more luxurious life, and many of them indulged in sensual pleasures."

"But Wang Mang is different. He lives a simple life, is humble, hardworking and studious, respects his mother, and is courteous to others..."

"He stood out among the group of Wang family children who indulged in sensual pleasures. It was hard for him not to be noticed. Moreover, he did this for a long time, not just for a short period of time. As a result, people regarded him as a moral role model, and his reputation spread far and wide. People thought he was a morally perfect person!"

"That is, a person who is perfect in morals. Emperor Yuan of Han, Liu Shi, was a great believer in Confucianism. Confucianism was able to develop rapidly at that time and became quite powerful. Your Majesty is also aware of the situation of Confucianism. They highly value morality."

Li Nian didn't need to say much, the First Emperor had guessed what would happen next. How could a morally perfect person like Wang Mang not be praised by Confucianism and set as a role model?
Confucianism was still powerful because of Liu Shi's belief in Confucianism. So once Wang Mang entered the official career, wouldn't he be able to soar?

What's more, Wang Mang's aunt was Liu Shi's queen, so he was surrounded by glory. It would be unfair if Wang Mang didn't take advantage of the situation.

"Under such circumstances, Wang Mang was promoted quickly after entering the court as an official, but he did not show his ambition at this time. Instead, he worked hard and continued his moral path. When his son got into trouble, he was also selfless and even handled the case himself."

"This has deepened Wang Mang's image as a perfect man of morality in people's eyes. Comparing him with ancient saints, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty left a poem, 'Zhou Gong was afraid of rumors, Wang Mang was humble before he usurped the throne.'"

"But, at that time, although the Western Han Dynasty was gradually weakening, it still had some strength. Wang Mang had always concealed his ambitions until he gained power in the court. Then he began to eliminate his political enemies and started his journey to usurp the Han Dynasty. Even then, Wang Mang still had a good reputation."

Meng Tian was surprised and asked, "Why does he still have a good reputation? Those people can't see Wang Mang's ambition, and there is nothing evil in what he did?"

Li Nian said: "Because he hid it well, people didn't know about the evil things he had done, and he would cover up some things with the excuse of 'sacrificing relatives for the greater good, forgetting personal interests', people instead thought that Wang Mang was a model of morality."

"Moreover, Wang Mang had a very good relationship with Confucianism. He was extremely friendly to Confucianism and was highly supported by Confucian scholars. It was because of the Confucian scholars' propaganda that Wang Mang was regarded as a saint by the world."

"In fact, if you look at some of the things Wang Mang did, you can know that he had ill intentions, such as enfeoffing Emperor Ping of Han's mother, Wei, and her family to Zhongshan State, making his daughter the empress of Emperor Ping of Han, and after Emperor Ping of Han's death, in order to better control the power of the court, he made the two-year-old Liu Ying the crown prince."

It was normal to establish a two-year-old emperor, so that he could continue to hold power and later usurp the Han Dynasty...

Wait, the crown prince is not the emperor?
Meng Tian thought that Li Nian might have made a mistake, so he confirmed, "Appoint the two-year-old Liu Ying as the crown prince?"

Li Nian nodded and smiled, "In order to control the government more conveniently, Wang Mang did appoint the crown prince, but he promised that after Liu Ying grew up, he would return the power to Liu Ying and retire to his hometown."

This is nonsense. Anyone who listens to it is a fool. If Wang Mang could really do this, he would definitely be highly praised in history books and regarded as a model of loyalty by future kings. Even Wu Hou might have to stand aside.

The person standing before us is a perfect man of moral integrity, a model of loyalty, and comparable to the ancient sages - Wang Mang!
Li Nian added: "Wang Mang, who held great power, was regarded as the emperor by people even though he did not proclaim himself emperor. Because Liu Ying was young, he acted as the government official and was called the 'fake emperor' or 'regent emperor'."

"Wang Mang has now completed all the accumulation before usurping the Han Dynasty!"

"So, on the first day of the twelfth month of the first year of the Yuanshi era, Wang Mang forced his aunt to hand over the imperial seal and accepted the abdication of the four-year-old Liu Ying as emperor. He changed 'Han' to 'Xin', 'Chang'an' to 'Chang'an', and named the reign 'Shijianguo'."

Meng Tian asked again: "Then no one among the royal family and ministers of the Western Han Dynasty came out to oppose it?"

Wang Mang was about to usurp the throne, so the Western Han royal family should have had some reaction, and there should have been some loyal ministers who stood up, right?
At this point, it’s impossible for everyone to be deceived!

"The Western Han royal family was naturally unwilling to be usurped by Wang Mang and they opposed it. Unfortunately, their resistance was suppressed by Wang Mang. As for the ministers..."

Li Nian said in a strange tone: "Many subjects actually hope that Wang Mang will usurp the throne, because Wang Mang's reputation is so good. Many people believe that under the leadership of the great moral man Wang Mang, they will definitely be able to get out of the predicament of the Western Han Dynasty and usher in a prosperous era."

"Among them, the Confucians supported Wang Mang in usurping the Han Dynasty and replacing the Liu family!"

"There were many natural disasters in the Western Han Dynasty at that time, and Confucianism developed a kind of thought that linked natural disasters with the emperor, that is, natural disasters occurred because the gods saw that the emperor on earth was immoral, so they sent them down."

This made the First Emperor raise his eyebrows slightly. Now, because of Li Nian, he would not take this theory seriously, but if it were in the past, he really couldn't say that he would not be deceived by this theory.

Qin Shi Huang could naturally see that Confucianism developed this doctrine to limit the power of the monarch, but this would also lead to some bad consequences.

Confucianism must indeed restrict its development and not allow it to grow wildly.

"The Confucian scholars' idea is very simple. Since the gods send down natural disasters because the king is immoral, then if we choose a morally perfect person as the king, won't the gods stop sending down disasters?"

"As it happens, Wang Mang is this perfect moral man!"

"Although Confucian scholars advocate loyalty to the emperor, they believe more in their own doctrines and ideas. They believe that the Liu royal family has lost its morality and is on the verge of extinction. For the sake of the country and the people, they should abdicate to Wang Mang!"

“So not only did they not object, they were quite supportive at the time!”

"There is another reason why Wang Mang was able to gain the support of Confucian scholars. Wang Mang believed in Confucianism, and the policies he wanted to implement in the new dynasty were in line with Confucian scholars."

"Wang Mang was nicknamed a time traveler in later generations, which was also due to the new policies he implemented in the Xin Dynasty."

At this point, Li Nian explained: "A 'time traveler' is someone like me, who comes from the future or other time and space, and goes to a time and space that does not belong to him."

(End of this chapter)