A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 213 Collapse of the Han Dynasty
Political assassination.

This seriously violated the rules of officialdom.

Once this practice becomes widespread, with everyone killing each other, all officials could potentially die. And since people's hearts are always inclined to rise, even the emperor, the supreme ruler, could become one of the targets of assassination.

This was the assassination attempt on the king.

But Liu Che felt nothing about it. What was the danger of assassinating the king or killing the emperor compared to his southern tour and entering Nanyang County, where he was surrounded by the common people and became one with them?
The cruel bureaucratic politics originated from him, and it is not something he cannot do to further create political turmoil.

Most importantly, even if he failed, as the Emperor of Han, his crime would be so-so; the Crown Prince wouldn't kill him, much less exterminate his clan.

As for Dong Zhongshu, the "culprit," he might destroy his clan and exterminate his family. If Dong Zhongshu dies, his family members will die. What does it have to do with him?

If successful, the crown prince's position in court will be shaken, giving him a chance to make a comeback. In short, the benefits of moving upwards far outweigh the negative consequences of moving downwards.

With his head bowed and eyes downcast, Dong Zhongshu knew that from this moment on, he had become a pawn that could be discarded at any time, but he didn't care much.

He was well aware of His Majesty's ruthlessness, and he didn't care about the lives of his people. His lifelong pursuit was the ultimate goal, even if it meant dying for it.

Even if all the schemes cannot change the future of the emperor ruling the empire, the seeds of "murderous intent" planted for the Han Dynasty will one day bear fruit.

If they can't bring down the emperor, they'll bring down the Han Dynasty in the future.

Inside the imperial tent, the expressions on the faces of the emperor and his ministers seemed to have become increasingly strange.

"Now, can you tell me how you brought down the Crown Prince?" Liu Che asked, gathering his strength.

Kill Gongsun Hong and then plot against the emperor, but you can't wait until the last minute to prepare; you have to do it beforehand to ensure that each step is interconnected.

"Your Majesty, since the reign of the Supreme Ruler, natural disasters and man-made calamities have frequently occurred within the territory of the Great Han. This cannot but make people doubt the truth of the legend of the Supreme Ruler's birth and the appearance of Chiyou's banner, and the punishment from Heaven. If someone were to record the calamities and changes in a book and combine them with the actions of the Supreme Ruler, the foolish men and women of the world would be able to easily find the 'root cause' of suffering." Dong Zhongshu blatantly lied.

Since the Crown Prince took office, natural disasters have not decreased, but man-made disasters have greatly decreased. Overall, compared with the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, there have been more than half fewer disasters.

However, during Your Majesty's reign, no one dared to link the disasters to Your Majesty's mistakes.

Liu Che looked at Dong Zhongshu, but his piercing dragon eyes were cold. Over the years, Dong Zhongshu had not deviated from the theory of "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man".

By using auspicious omens, the legitimacy of the emperor was deified by relying on divine will, and by using calamities to restrain imperial power, the Confucian scholars perfectly implemented the governing philosophy of "following the example of the former kings and practicing virtue and education."

This was the proposition advocated by Confucian scholars represented by Dong Zhongshu. They believed that in this way, everyone could live in peace and prosperity, the world would be at peace and well-governed, and the great era of sage kings would be revived.

Liu Che was well aware that once the theory of natural disasters was used, he and the emperors of the Han Dynasty would be bound by Confucianism. All natural disasters would be attributed to "the monarch's lack of virtue." Even if the monarch at the time of the disaster was a wise and virtuous ruler, his reputation would be undermined by the public opinion influenced by Confucianism.

The Confucian school could then profit from these "natural and man-made disasters," and the more calamities occurred, the greater the power of the Confucian scholars would become. However, after many years, Emperor Wu of Han (Liu Che) found a way to counter the theory of calamities: "Dismissing Confucian officials for calamities." When calamities occurred, a group of Confucian officials would be dismissed. Emperor Wu believed that with his methods, the theory of calamities would not affect him, and the Confucian school could not possibly occupy a dominant position in the court.

As for later generations, Liu Che believed that each generation of Han emperors was stronger than the last and would not allow Confucianism to succeed.

Liu Che's coldness vanished, and he asked, "Who will vouch for the secrets of heaven?"

Dong Zhongshu was originally the most suitable person to fabricate theories of natural disasters, but now, both Dong Zhongshu himself and his theories are being watched by Gongsun Hong, Zhang Tang, and the Imperial Censor, who are basically going to kill him if they show their faces. So they have to find someone else to do it.

"Does Your Majesty still remember the astrologers?" Dong Zhongshu asked quietly.

Liu Che was taken aback.

Astrologers have absolutely no connection with mystical schools of thought such as shamanism, yin-yang theory, the five elements, or geomancy.

This is a profound school of thought that "investigates the relationship between heaven and humanity." It is the eyes of heaven hidden in the mortal world, and also extraordinary people in the human world who can perceive the secrets of heaven.

From the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods onward, there were two schools of thought that took "heaven" as their direct object: one was called the "diviners" and the other was called the "astrologers".

Divination is the process of predicting human fortune and misfortune based on changes in the weather and atmosphere. Clouds, wind, sunlight, rainbows, weather phenomena, lightning, thunder, tides, lunar halos, dust, haze, and so on are all objects of divination.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of this dynasty, there was a fortune teller from Xinyuanping who manipulated politics with his mystical abilities. Emperor Xiaowen even changed the era name because of him, and Xinyuanping profited immensely.

However, the trickery of pretending to be a deity was eventually exposed, and Emperor Xiaowen exterminated Xin Yuanping's entire clan for the crime of treason.

When Liu Che had some free time, he once summoned a group of diviners and asked them if it was auspicious to marry on a particular day. The Five Elements diviners said yes, the Feng Shui diviners said no, the Jianchu diviners said it was inauspicious, the Congchen diviners said it was very inauspicious, the Calendar diviners said it was slightly inauspicious, the Tianren diviners said it was slightly auspicious, and the Taiyi diviners said it was very auspicious. The debate went on and on. From that time on, Liu Che knew that the diviners were unreliable.

Astrologers, also known as diviners, are scholars who use the changes in the stars in the sky to predict human affairs and the fate of the nation. Starting from the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, emperors usually had two fixed officials who were predictors: one was a divination wizard and the other was an astrologer.

Divination by shamans was relatively popular and easy to understand, especially after King Wen of Zhou developed the Eight Trigrams and Confucius wrote the commentaries on the hexagrams. Ordinary scholars also gained some understanding of divination, and the psychological deterrence and influence of the divination results on the Chinese people gradually weakened, as exemplified by Emperor Wu of Han (Liu Che).

Of course, there were also people who were superstitious about the "Heavenly King" hexagram and wanted to emulate Emperor Xiaowen's succession to the throne, such as Zhao King Liu Pengzu.

On the contrary, astrologers have always maintained their mysterious and esoteric nature, and ordinary scholars cannot fathom their secrets. From emperors and princes to commoners, no one knows even a fraction of what they know.

Because of its profoundness and difficulty for ordinary people to grasp, astrologers' predictions have always maintained a far-reaching and awe-inspiring influence on the world. They can be transformed into nursery rhymes, prophecies, various mysterious predictions, or even storms that sweep across the world. From ancient times to the present, no one has dared to challenge the authority of astrological predictions.

If an astrologer is willing to endorse the theory of calamities, and to vouch for His Majesty who has committed offenses against the state and is unforgivable by the common people, and to bestow calamities upon His Majesty, and to bestow good fortune upon His Majesty, then Heaven is so benevolent to the ruler, how could the common people not believe it?
Would those astrologers be willing?

"Your Majesty, the sky is vast, desolate and lonely, but there will always be 'wise immortals' who yearn to enter the world."

(End of this chapter)