"You! You actually colluded with the rebels?!" The emperor looked shocked.
The eunuch lowered his head and said nothing, standing respectfully behind An Jingzhi.
An Jingzhi swaggered the emperor down from the dragon throne and sat down in his seat.
The emperor's face was ashen as death. He slumped to the ground and muttered, "Hey, where is my beloved concubine?"
"I want to eat grapes."
He got up from the ground and hugged the eunuch, "My dear, why don't you feed me grapes?"
Shi Ziming said, "Brother, is he crazy?"
An Jingzhi snorted, "No matter if he's really crazy or not, there's always a price to pay for making the people's lives miserable."
The emperor had been on the throne for thirteen years, and taxes had been collected until forty-three years later.
With large-scale construction projects every year, the burden on the people became increasingly heavier. A large number of people were drawn away to build new palaces, and much land was forced to become barren. Taxes continued to increase, and more and more land was abandoned. Under this vicious cycle, the people had no way to survive and could only raise the flag of rebellion.
In the same year, the emperor issued a self-criticism edict and announced his abdication. An Jingzhi ascended the throne and named himself Da Chu.
Ge Sanniang led troops to quell rebellions in various places and was promoted to the rank of general. Bian Tianlei became more powerful because of his wife.
The brothers who followed An Jingzhi all received the rewards they deserved.
An Jingzhi spared the lives of the princesses and princes of the previous dynasty as promised, but they could only be commoners for the rest of their lives.
If anyone dared to rebel under their banner, they would be so scared that they would run to the government to surrender at night and declare that the matter had nothing to do with them.
Duke of Qi's Mansion.
After An Jingzhi ascended the throne, Chen Dan was conferred the title of Duke of Qi. He was so happy that he fainted on the day of the conferment.
After waking up, he immediately worshipped his ancestors and muttered to himself.
"Ancestors, please show your spirit! My son truly has the appearance of a mother who will model the world for me!"
"My Shen family has really changed its fortune! Hahahaha, my good son-in-law!"
"That expert was right back then, right! Hahahaha!"
An Jingzhi reigned for 35 years, and Shen Xianyi became the only woman in his harem. He thanked Shen Xianyi and Shen Dan many times in public and never concealed his own background.
…………
Time flies, a thousand years pass in a flash, crew.
The director clapped his hands and called everyone over.
"Everyone, please pay attention. We have invited a specialist to direct the drama The Great Chu Empire. Professor Chen is our director. We will broadcast this drama on Channel One and we will try to stick to historical facts. Everyone, come and listen to Professor Chen's talk."
Professor Chen said politely, "The screenwriter of the play Great Chu is very good. Only a few parts are different from history."
The director smiled and said, "I did some research on history before writing this play, but I'm definitely not as knowledgeable as a professional like you."
Professor Chen said, "I believe everyone has learned about the history of the Chu Dynasty from textbooks, but the textbooks focus more on the governance of our founding emperor, Chu Gaozu An Jingzhi."
"Today I will tell you in full about An Jingzhi's road to unification, so that you can better understand that period of history and the charm of this figure."
The actors clapped their hands in support.
Professor Chen began to speak.
"Looking back through the dynasties, An Jingzhi, the founding emperor of the Chu Dynasty, has the most legendary deeds. Even unofficial history favors this legendary figure."
"Before An Jingzhi married Shen Xianyi, who later became the first empress of the country, he was actually an unknown scoundrel."
"Ah? How could An Jingzhi be a scoundrel?" one actor asked, "Isn't he a yamen runner?"
Professor Chen smiled and said, "Before he married Shen Xianyi, he was indeed just a scoundrel, an orphan, with no one to feed him, and he was always begging for money."
"Does that make you feel disillusioned? In fact, this is indeed the case. His life story was discovered from his tomb. This legendary figure was never shy about his origins, and he even detailed everything that happened before he became famous."
"Some people also suggested beautifying An Jingzhi's birth story, but An Jingzhi directly refused. He said:
I am just an ordinary person. I was lucky to become the emperor. If I don't do my job well, I will be overthrown by the next generation. There is no need to beautify it. The emperor is also a human being and will make mistakes. "
"All of the words I said are recorded in An Jingzhi's biography. These are the original words."
The middle-aged actor who played An Jingzhi asked, "It's indeed different from what we read in history books. I didn't expect our legendary emperor to be so down-to-earth."
Professor Chen laughed heartily. "The reason why historical figures give us such a sense of seriousness is because they are so far away from us. All our deeds can only be examined through various ancient artifacts. In reality, they are just ordinary people like us."
"However, An Jingzhi is indeed very different from the founding emperors of other dynasties. Every founding emperor, regardless of their noble or humble birth, always hopes that everyone will respect the position of emperor after becoming emperor."
"He was the only one who was different. He told everyone that the emperor was just an ordinary person and would make mistakes, so people didn't need to be too reverent."
"At the time, this was seen as an affront to imperial power, but the person speaking was the most powerful person. He took the initiative to ask everyone not to be too reverent towards him, and did not deify his own rights. He simply said that he was an ordinary person."
The middle-aged actor who played An Jingzhi asked, "Professor Chen, isn't An Jingzhi afraid that someone will despise his imperial power and rebel? Ancient emperors used a policy of keeping the people ignorant and elevating their power as high as possible."
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