Chapter 101

To achieve a smooth transition from top to bottom, the first thing to grasp is power.

Throughout history, whether it was civil officials, military generals, or eunuchs and sycophants, the prerequisite for doing whatever they wanted was to hold power. In an era where policies of keeping the people ignorant were prevalent, ordinary people would not revolt unless they were desperate. Political struggles were mostly concentrated among court officials and aristocratic families. When a person in power wanted to change something, it became very easy; often, it was just a matter of issuing a policy.

Secondly, a large talent pool is needed. This way, in the event of a coup, there is no need to worry about certain old fogies. Whether those who are disobedient are imprisoned or executed, the vacated positions will be filled by new people to ensure the normal operation of the state apparatus.

Xue Jin'an wanted to be emperor, and he wanted to be a good emperor. After all, cultivating immortality is about cause and effect, and acting recklessly can easily lead to karmic entanglements and clouded moral character, especially since the person he was targeting was the emperor.

Although the emperor's destiny is not the "divinely ordained son" as today's political propaganda suggests, the emperor's fate is intertwined with the fates of countless people. It is truly a case of one move affecting the whole situation. Therefore, the karmic consequences of regicide are extremely heavy, and ordinary practitioners would never dare to associate with members of the royal family.

Xue Jin'an became emperor in order to cultivate immortality and ascend to heaven. Naturally, he could not allow becoming emperor to become an obstacle to his cultivation. Therefore, he had to be a good emperor. The first step to being a good emperor was to focus on the people's livelihood and stabilize the political situation.

Zhou Yushu was prepared for his nephew to lose his temper and vehemently refute him. After all, Xue Jin'an was also of royal blood, and he had no reason to agree to rebel against his own family's rule. Moreover, Xue Jin'an was determined to seize the throne and become emperor. This goal of changing the dynasty would obviously make his future path more difficult, and to a hellish level at that.

It was normal for the Seventh Prince to object. However, Zhou Yushu did not expect that his good nephew would be so easy to talk to. He agreed as soon as he confirmed that he could become emperor, and even wrote an article entitled "On the Feasibility of a Top-Down Dynastic Change Plan (First Edition)".

"It's a plan, not an article," Xue Jin'an corrected and explained: "A plan is like doing a math problem. You just need to list the steps to implement the plan as needed and attach references at the end to support your argument. An article, on the other hand, is like a policy essay. You need to explain each step of the solution with reason and emotion. The writing also needs to be beautiful and compelling. The most basic requirements are symmetry and rhyme. This literary technique is also known as antithesis."

Xue Jin'an has yet to write a policy essay that satisfies Cui Pengfei, and Cui Pengfei, in order to avoid teaching him how to write, has been "sick" since the snowy December until now, when the spring chill is almost over.

Zhou Yushu didn't see any difference between the two genres at all; at most, they were just different schools of thought. One was the realistic and simple school, and the other was the romantic and ornate school. He only found a key point in Xue Jin'an's calm and unwavering words: "Nephew, you seem to have a lot of opinions about the policy essay topic?"

"No." Code Life was simply not good at strategy discussions, so he wouldn't let personal emotions get the better of him. Xue Jin'an firmly denied this and asked Zhou Yushu, "Do you have anything to add?"

"Let me think about it." Zhou Yushu, who had been so stunned that he had only half-listened to Xue Jin'an's words, immediately put the previous question out of his mind and picked up the densely written paper on the table to read it.

At first glance, Zhou Yushu couldn't help but frown. He was sitting opposite Xue Jin'an, and with a glance down, he could see the paper lying upside down. He immediately noticed that Xue Jin'an's handwriting was a bit stiff and rigid, with all the strokes being very proper. However, due to the angle, he didn't take it seriously and just assumed that his nephew was learning the official style of calligraphy.

Officials are all skilled in the official script, which they use when writing official documents. Many people dislike it, but Zhou Yushu is easygoing. He didn't come up through the regular imperial examinations, so he has no objection to the official script. In his view, a good cat is one that catches mice, regardless of its color. An official's quality should not be judged by his literary talent, but by his competence and achievements as an official.

On the contrary, Zhou Yushu was quite proud. His nephew was bullied and ostracized in the palace and had never even been to the study. It was already quite remarkable that he could master the Taige style at his age.

However, when Xue Jin'an took the paper in his hand, he immediately noticed that the handwriting was unique, even more rigid and stiff than the official script. Its advantage was probably that it was too regular and easy on the eyes.

Zhou Yushu followed the article with his eyes, and after getting used to the rigid text, he quickly became immersed in it, reading ten lines at a glance and not even missing the references listed at the end.

Zhou Yushu looked Xue Jin'an up and down in amazement, his gaze shifting from one of unprecedented interest in a prehistoric rare animal. "Are you really only seven years old?"

This article is divided into three parts: planning steps, planning results and a success probability analysis report combined with the actual environment, and a BCD plan that can be used after possible adverse situations.

The plan mainly details two aspects: controlling power and controlling a vast pool of talent. The part about controlling power is practically a textbook, no, a sacred text, on "how to become a powerful minister and control the government."

It references the "regency kings" of various dynasties, including Empress Lü, Cao Cao, and other schemers who climbed to the pinnacle of power and cultivated their influence for a long time. It is a sacred book that even a pig could make a name for itself by following the methods written in it. If it were released, it would surely be looted and banned by the emperor.

What so many court officials failed to grasp, a mere seven-year-old child casually wrote down. Zhou Yushu didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

With a sense of awe, Zhou Yushu sat up straight and read the entire article. His confidence soared, and he felt that he could bring down the emperor and destroy the entire Xue dynasty in the next second.

He barely managed to suppress his excitement and, after much thought, asked, "What kind of death does the Emperor intend? Poisoning, execution, or something else?"

Zhou Yushu was very eager for the future outcome, his hand clenched into a fist under the table, full of anticipation.

"The success rate of poisoning is not high," Xue Jin'an replied.

The emperor is currently in his prime, though his mind is not sharp. He is physically strong, and while he doesn't care about the lives of his concubines and princes, he is very concerned about his own. Every meal must undergo strict poison resistance testing before it is served to the emperor. Given that the palace is a place where poisonous creatures are raised, there are naturally many people who want to kill him, and there are definitely more than one person who has thought of ways to poison him.

Yet the emperors are still alive and kicking, and in such good health that they rarely get sick, which shows how strict the measures were in place.

When it comes to emperors being poisoned, the most reliable explanation is still elixirs. They are the only thing that emperors would willingly and eagerly consume, and countless emperors throughout history have fallen victim to them.

However, when Xue Jin'an read through the original book, he discovered that the cowardly emperor was incompetent, easily angered, and extremely suspicious in the later stages. He did all sorts of outrageous things, but he was clear-headed only when it came to elixirs.

Of course, he inevitably ate a few, but he wasn't enthusiastic about them. Once, he didn't know which Taoist priest offended him, so he killed the man in a fit of anger and then arrested all those Taoist priests and sent them to Lingnan to reclaim wasteland.

No wonder she lived so long and outlived so many of her sons. Xue Jin'an felt only regret.

The story still has to follow the route of forcing the emperor to abdicate. The main plot of "I Want to Be Emperor" is the struggle for the throne, so the plot mainly focuses on the princes and princesses. In order to better highlight the tension and cruelty of the struggle, some characteristics will inevitably be amplified. For example, the number of princes and princesses consumed by the harem infighting is indeed a bit too much. However, this is a novel world, so it is quite reasonable.

Although in Xue Jin'an's eyes, the emperor was cowardly, useless, stupid, and vicious, and every day when he saw him he just wanted him to abdicate and give way to a worthy successor so as not to ruin this great country, from an objective point of view, apart from the emperor's character problems and his incomprehensible indifference towards his concubines and princes, his other flaws were actually minor.

In the eyes of the court officials, the fact that the emperor allowed his officials to "rebel" was enough for them to protect him. So far, the emperor's achievements have included recuperation, reforms and recruitment of soldiers, treating soldiers and civilians well, stabilizing the border and society, and not engaging in large-scale construction projects. If he were to die now, he would surely be given a good posthumous title.

The emperor's position is still quite secure. It wouldn't be difficult to kick him off or kill him, but we still have to proceed slowly and methodically.

Xue Jin'an and Zhou Yushu, uncle and nephew, exchanged a glance and reached a consensus. Then they began to have a heated discussion about the 108 ways an emperor could die.

If someone were to pass by their private room at this moment, they would be terrified by their bold remarks, and those with less courage might even be scared to death.

Fortunately, the people from Jiu Tian Yi were quite perceptive. This person had come with the owner's (Cui Zui's) token. Boss Cui's token could command everything in the card room. Even if the holder said to smash the store immediately, they would still do it.

Moreover, the first thing this young master did after waking up from his nap was to have someone open a private room and then sit inside waiting for someone. It was clear that he had something important to discuss. They all wisely emptied the nearby private rooms, creating a space where no one could pass through.

In addition, the soundproofing of this private room is also very good. Since asking Xue Jin'an about the business issues he had accumulated over the years, Cui Zui has learned about KTVs. Although they don't have the energy or money to run a KTV right now, he can make preparations in advance, such as researching soundproofing technology for buildings. After all, the noisy environment of a KTV really needs this technology.

Just as Zhou Yushu was still discussing the emperor's death, Xue Jin'an suddenly stopped talking. He heard a commotion outside, and even though it was drowned out by the noise, he could clearly tell where something had happened.

“Something’s not right. Someone’s causing trouble.” Xue Jin’an told Zhou Yushu truthfully, who was looking at him with a questioning gaze as he got excited about the conversation.

Zhou Yushu was taken aback. "You seem to have no internal energy." How could someone be so perceptive without internal energy? Or is it that his nephew isn't too strong, but rather that he, Zhou Yushu, has become weaker?

Zhou Yushu was shocked and horrified by his own guess. He focused his inner strength on his ears and tried to listen to the situation outside. Finally, he could hear that there was indeed arguing. After he tried to understand what was going on, his face turned dark. "It seems that a foreign merchant wanted to hire prostitutes here, but the manager refused him repeatedly, so they started arguing."

Their argument grew increasingly heated, when suddenly the Hu man shouted a word. Zhou Yushu's expression instantly darkened, and his voice was filled with gritted teeth: "Rongdi people."

"So this is Rongdi language." Xue Jin'an had already realized that the troublemakers were foreigners, but he didn't know where they came from. He asked Zhou Yushu, whose expression was unfriendly, "What did he say?"

Zhou Yushu's grim expression wasn't solely due to the Rongdi people causing trouble. In fact, at this critical juncture, it was quite normal for the Rongdi to cause trouble, given that their envoy had already arrived in the capital. The reason he looked so bad was simply because that person had uttered a very offensive curse in Rongdi language.

"He cursed them as 'two-legged sheep.'" The Hu people once regarded the Han people as two-legged sheep, beating, humiliating, eating their flesh and bones, which can be described as very inhumane.