Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 200 - 184: The Ancients Trap Each Other_2

Chapter 200: Chapter 184: The Ancients Trap Each Other_2

"At the time of the Chu-Wei alliance, Sima Yi, who was over seventy years old, did just that, and he succeeded."

After reaching this conclusion, Chu Ge himself was a bit surprised.

But when comparing the experiences of the two, many problems indeed seemed to suddenly become clear.

Chu Ge somewhat understood why Sima Yan had to die.

He had been trapped by an ancient from centuries ago...

...

In the early years of the Great Chu Dynasty, a renown scholar once said a very famous phrase: When the realm is at peace, beware of the Prime Minister; when the realm is in danger, beware of the General.

That is to say, when the world is safe, the person who poses the greatest threat to the emperor is the Prime Minister, who is primarily in charge of governing the country; and when the world is in great turmoil, the person who poses the greatest threat to the emperor is the Great General leading troops outside.

It must be said, these are golden words, as those emperors who did not heed this warning have all been eliminated by natural selection.

And Sima Yi, at the time of the Chu-Wei alliance, was both.

Sima Yi was originally a minor official in the Prime Minister’s Mansion, step by step promoted because of his outstanding abilities. By chance, he began supervising the army and thus started his military career.

Unexpectedly, he was a military genius and gradually established authority, becoming the number one Great General of his time.

The Emperor, of course, realized the danger and gradually stripped him of his military power, assigning him to a high-level civil position.

Later, when the Emperor passed away and the Crown Prince succeeded the throne, Sima Yi was appointed as the regent minister, diligently assisting the new ruler. The entire transition of power seemed very smooth, with both sovereign and minister appearing to enjoy each other’s company and trust each other greatly.

But unexpectedly, within just a few years, this new ruler also fell seriously ill. And this new ruler’s son was only in his teens when he ascended the throne.

After that, Sima Yi endured another ten years before he finally made his move to usurp the throne, and he succeeded.

But speaking of Sima Yi, there are two things that must be mentioned.

One is, he was extremely good at acting.

The second is, he completely destroyed the credibility of political promises for the next thousand years.

At that time, the Emperor distrusted Sima Yi, so Sima Yi began pretending to be ill at home, enduring almost ten years, always looking like he was about to ascend to heaven. He fooled not only the Emperor and the Great General but even his closest friends and relatives.

Whenever the Emperor sent someone to inquire about his condition, Sima Yi would transform into an award-winning actor, pretending to be nearly blind and severely hard of hearing, unable to make out what the other party was saying, and when taking his medicine, he would spill the medicine and porridge all over his chest, constantly emitting noises as if he was about to faint from breathlessness.

He maintained this act for nearly ten years, finally convincing the Emperor that he was truly so old and weak that he had but a few days left to live.

Little did anyone anticipate, Sima Yi, under these circumstances, still persisted for another three years, clearing all obstacles for his descendants to usurp the throne.

What’s even more crucial is that during the process of usurpation, he also destroyed the credibility of political promises.

Once, an Emperor, facing a sworn enemy with whom he was irreconcilable, swore by the stream that he would absolutely not kill him, and afterwards, he indeed kept his word, thus becoming a legend.

And Sima Yi, too, made a pledge by the stream, but then turned around and directly betrayed his word, tossing aside all his previous vows and completely annihilated his political opponents.

Thus, a terribly bad precedent was set for the ensuing era of chaos. From him on, people only believed that whoever had the greatest military achievements could become the Emperor, and all oaths lost their credibility, leading to a long period of great disorder.

...

Chu Ge couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "Old guy, at over seventy years old you feigned sickness and returned home, but all your people were still in the court; it looks too much like Sima Yan..."

Chu Ge took a long detour but finally understood.

The reason he had not realized this issue at first was mainly that he had God’s perspective.

From the perspective of the later generations, Emperor Taizu of Sheng’s killing of Sima Yan seemed very far-fetched.

But if one could really cover up the mists of history and put oneself in their shoes, one would find that Emperor Taizu of Sheng had deep reasons for making such a decision.

Would Sima Yan rebel?

This question might as well as be, at the time of the Chu-Wei alliance, did Sima Yi’s sovereign ever suspect Sima Yi?

Clearly, he was suspected.

But Sima Yi managed to resolve these suspicions with very clever tactics.

The same feigned illness, the same appearance of being close to death as if he would pass away the next second; the same representation of a huge interest group, and many important courtiers had a close and friendly relationship with him.

If one carefully analyzes Sima Yi’s situation at the time, one finds that although he was an influential courtier, the power he held was still far less than the Emperor’s.

Yet, with an inexplicably clever maneuver, he succeeded in usurping the throne.

Of course, there are reasons such as the naivety and political stupidity on the Emperor’s part and Sima Yi’s shrewd planning and shameless brazenness, but as far as results go, he succeeded.

Would Emperor Taizu of Sheng dare to bet that after his death, his grandson would still be able to maintain the throne as steadily as he did?

Would he dare to bet that if the throne was usurped, it wouldn’t lead to an unprecedented era of chaos and foreign invasions like in the time of the Chu-Wei alliance?

Clearly, he dared not take that risk.

If one looks back after the event, suppose the Emperor of Sima Yi’s time, or the two Emperors before him, had decided earlier to find a reason to kill Sima Yi, then all the subsequent events might not have occurred.

Or it wouldn’t require the Emperor to act; if only Sima Yi had died a few years earlier, then the image he would have left in history books would probably be: capable of recruiting talents, governing the people with a balance of civil and military skills, entrusted by two dynasties, a loyal courtier for three generations.

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