Dare to Laugh at Wang Mang for Not Being a Husband

Everyone knows Wang Mang. Those who usurp the Han Dynasty, those who rely on ancient times to reform the system, those who die and destroy the country. The conclusion has been sealed for two thousand years, and there is no room for overturning it. But history is never just one path. Suppose Wang Mang had never proclaimed himself emperor. If he suddenly dies when he is in control of the world, he will die between "Zhou Gong" and "Wang Mang". So who is he? A powerful minister. A saint. A liar. A believer. But he didn't have time to choose anything. He is dead. The choice is left to the living. Among the living people, there are his political opponents, his disciples, his tribesmen, and the three thousand young people in the Taixue he built who were ignited by his ideals. Each of them has Wang Mang in their heart. Those Wang Mang contradicted each other and denied each other, but they all said it with certainty, and they all felt that the one in their hands was the real one. He left behind an empire. The surface of the empire was intact, the system was in order, and the officials were all performing their duties. But everything is loosening beneath the surface. Land is being annexed. The number of refugees is increasing. Food and wages on the frontier are decreasing. Four major families are fighting for a chessboard without a master. And the chessboard itself is decaying. This is a story about "If Wang Mang had not usurped the Han Dynasty". It's not to overturn Wang Mang's case. It's to ask a bigger question: When an empire reaches a moment when it must change, how many ways are there to change? What is the end of each road? Those who choose which path to take, what do they think they are doing, and what are they actually doing? The eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty. Chang'an. The story begins with the silence left by a dead man.