The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

"It's not born yet..."

Seeing Liu Bang suddenly erupt in rage, Liu Heng was both amused and exasperated.

The emotional shift before and after was far too drastic.

Of course, the discrepancy between the figures displayed on the screen and the actual situation was also too great.

The first half of his life was dedicated to governing diligently, expanding the territory, and successfully unifying the country through the Edict of Grace, making him a great emperor of all time!

In the latter half of his life, he suddenly became tyrannical, suspicious, ambitious, and wasteful of resources.

Of course, some of them may have had such a smooth life in the first half that they felt they had worked hard all their lives and that there was nothing wrong with enjoying themselves.

As for the enthusiasm for the Fengshan ceremony, perhaps it's for the same reason.

But no matter how you explain it, you can't escape one result.

Emperor Wu of Han in his later years could not be considered a wise ruler.

If the witchcraft accusation is added, implicating more than 100,000 people, and even causing the Crown Prince's entire lineage to be unjustly killed, then...

Each of these traits, taken individually, could serve as a model of a tyrannical ruler.

He ended up getting all of them!

Not to mention that the Kanto region alone had more than two million refugees!

It should be noted that at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the registered population was only a little over ten million.

Even during consecutive prosperous periods, the population doubled but still only reached a little over 20 million.

However, in the Kanto region alone, refugees already accounted for one-tenth of the population.

What Lao Zhu said was not unfounded.

Without the efforts of the two wise rulers who followed, the Han Dynasty might have truly been on the verge of collapse!

"Even Lord Nai knew that after years of war, the people needed to rest and recuperate. Lord Nai knew to be frugal, and in order to give the people more time to recover, he didn't even dare to personally avenge the siege of Baideng!"

"How dare he?"

"What a boastful and ambitious man! He even performed the Fengshan ceremony. Of all people to emulate, why did he have to imitate Qin Shi Huang!"

"Even your father doesn't have that kind of face; his face is much bigger than your father's!"

As the words on the sky listed Liu Che's actions in his later years one by one, Liu Bang almost lost his composure.

Deep love and responsibility.

The more I admired them before, the angrier I am now.

Since we are striving to improve the situation, can't we stick to it from beginning to end?

Why do they have to cause all this trouble in their later years!

“Emperor Gaozu, if you put it that way, then we really do think that Emperor Wu of Han and the First Emperor are somewhat similar.”

"The First Emperor unified the six kingdoms, and the Han Dynasty was also unified under Emperor Wu."

"Both of them were recorded by historians as tyrants."

Liu Bang: “…”

Old Zhu, you just have to rub salt in my wounds, don't you!

"He has both merits and demerits, but merits and demerits cannot offset each other. We cannot deny his life's achievements because of his senility in his later years."

"I still believe that Emperor Wu deserves his place on the list of wise and virtuous rulers."

"Even if you hadn't made those foolish decisions in your later years and had paid a little more attention to restoring people's livelihoods, you might not have been able to surpass Emperor Gaozu of Han."

"And who can guarantee that they won't make mistakes in their later years?"

Li Er sighed.

Now that everyone is full of energy, they naturally feel they have plenty of time to realize their aspirations.

But when one reaches old age and time is running out, no one can guarantee that they will not become suspicious, tyrannical, or a completely different person.

Especially those who wield absolute power.

The words on the sky also confirmed his words.

No matter how wise one is in youth, no one can guarantee that they will still hold the same ideas in old age.

Those who stand at the top of power can cause countless people disaster if they change their mindset even slightly.

Emperor Wu of Han (Liu Che) spent his life on conquests, and in his later years, his ambition and love of achievement led to an extremely extravagant lifestyle.

After the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, plus the early reign of Emperor Wu, the population reached approximately 36 million.

However, in the later stages, the heavy corvée labor and heavy taxes led to a large increase in the number of refugees, and the registered population was reduced by more than half!

He achieved the unification of the Han Dynasty, but he also plunged the Han Dynasty back into its deepest abyss!

Many people in later generations even believed that, compared to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, he was only better off having a good son and a good great-grandson.

In many people's minds, it was Emperors Zhao and Xuan who revitalized the Han Dynasty.

But is that really the case?

Upon seeing this, Old Zhu blushed.

He felt that his previous boastful remarks were about to be proven wrong.

Since the immortal has said such a thing, he will surely refute it next.

"Old Zhu, didn't you say the same thing before?"

"I think you're about to be proven wrong by the immortals."

Li Er immediately felt a sense of schadenfreude.

He never thought that way.

Even though Li Longji was his descendant, he never thought that person could be compared with Emperor Wu of Han!

Many people believe that Li Longji created the most prosperous era in the history of dynasties, the Kaiyuan Prosperity!

However, the difference becomes clear when the two are compared side by side.

With a single decree of grace, Emperor Wu of Han directly resolved the long-standing problem of the vassal kings that had existed since the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Han.

Whether Li Longji's change from the Fubing system to the mercenary system was right or wrong, this move certainly sowed the seeds for the An Lushan Rebellion and other future disasters.

Although Emperor Wu's reign was not a golden age, it truly allowed the entire Han Dynasty to stand tall and proud.

Although the Kaiyuan era was hailed as the most prosperous period, it was merely the beginning of its decline after reaching its zenith.

If we only consider his achievements in the first half of his life, Li Longji certainly deserves to be ranked among the wise rulers, but this does not mean that he could surpass Emperor Wu of Han!

Old Zhu: “…”

As long as we don't say anything, we won't be embarrassed!

"Looking at it this way, Lao Zhu, what you said earlier was indeed a bit too kind."

"Even setting aside the An Lushan Rebellion in his later years, Li Longji's achievements in the first half of his life are still unmatched."

"Or do you really think that the money and supplies Emperor Wu spent on his campaigns throughout his life were entirely due to the resources left by Emperors Wen and Jing?"

Cao Cao said he needed to speak up for Emperor Wu.

Even though the Confucian scholars of the entire Han Dynasty did not have a high opinion of Emperor Wu, he felt that he had to vindicate Emperor Wu!

"The reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing are indeed not to be ignored, but they were more about allowing the people to recuperate and grow, resulting in a large-scale population increase. As a result, the national treasury was not as full as you think."

"As far as I know, after the conquest of the Hetao region, the wealth left by Emperors Wen and Jing was already depleted."

"Therefore, it is a bit far-fetched to say that Emperor Wu of Han was not good at domestic affairs and could not manage the people's livelihood."

If Liu Che (Emperor Wu of Han) was indeed as most people speculated, only interested in military expansion and warmongering, then the Han Dynasty would not have lasted until his later years.

It may be the exact opposite of what most people guess.

In terms of making money alone, he did it even better than Emperors Wen and Jing!

Not only did he persevere in fighting a war for decades, but his personal standard of living did not decline at all.

If an ordinary emperor squandered his wealth like this, let alone fighting for decades, he would have squandered it all in just a few wars, like Yang Guang.

But through his various maneuvers, he managed to keep the Han Dynasty afloat until the later years of Emperor Wu's reign before problems began to emerge.

This alone shows that Emperor Wu of Han was by no means an incompetent and mediocre ruler.

He truly deserves the praise that the Liu family are all born emperors!