“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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“Forgive me, but… am I not to understand that one of the Empress Dowager’s first acts in her new role was to have Consort Tian put to death…?” Chen Fan said with concern. “That was a crime of vanity, needless and potentially self-destructive. The Tians were of poor standing, so it is unlikely that anything will come of it, but why kill a love rival when there is no love to fight for?”
Dou Wu shook his head and said, “I cannot forgive or reproach her for the act… but I must overlook it and guide her as best I can from now on. Were I to raise the subject, then…”
Dou Wu fell silent.
“…Then the eunuchs might do what they do best: help her to justify her actions, and turn her against you…?” Chen Fan supposed.
Dou Wu grunted as an acknowledgement and said, “I must still be cautious, yes.”
“Which was my point exactly,” Chen Fan chortled. “We’re in a difficult place: there is no boy to create as an Emperor, so we must consult the records and find a Liu somewhere that is suitable, as was done when selecting the late majesty.”
“And, Heavens forgive me for saying this, but… we must do a better job than our predecessors when making that choice,” Dou Wu sighed. “We need someone that will be influenced, but only by those who intend good for the whole state, not just one small faction.”
“We also need someone that will allow us to pardon the ‘partisans’,” Chen Fan suggested. “Those people of talent have languished in a virtual netherworld for long enough, and must be allowed to return to society and take up the roles that they were born for.”
“Which will also mean that we need to remove the wretched people that were installed by the eunuchs,” Dou Wu mused. “We have a lot of work to do… but as a Dowager Regent with emergency powers, my daughter can begin the process of replacing chaff with wheat… new talents can be brought to court at first, and then we can gradually forgive and restore the ‘partisans’ as time goes on, since the eunuchs will try and obstruct us if we act too aggressively.”

Aiee… again, you admit that I am right, and they are still a threat!” Chen Fan said with despair. “Surely killing them is the only answer…?”
“…I hate to admit it, but I agree,” Dou Wu sighed. “But in that, we should show caution too… they have grovelled and schemed their way out of everything else, and if they knew we had tried to kill them, their revenge would know no bounds. We must be seen as mediators, looking to end the days of factions at court, and bide our time, waiting for the right moment…”
“…And all the while ensuring that the eunuchs to not use our own ‘show of unity’ against us and get close to the Dowager, as they have done before,” Chen Fan muttered. “Again and again… again, and again, and again… what can a man do to prevent the repeat of the old mistakes…?”
Dou Wu smiled sadly, and said, “Pray.”

Dou Wu quickly restored the disgraced former Commander-in-Chief Chen Fan to the court in the position of ‘Grand Tutor’, gave him the appearance of authority that almost equalled his own, and filled posts with talented men of his own choosing, as he had once implored the late Emperor Huan to do. And then, in a final sign that they intended no further power to fall into the hands of the eunuchs, Dou Wu and Chen Fan acted on behalf of the scholar elite and steered Empress Dowager Dou toward the successor to the imperial throne: the 12-year-old Marquis of Jieduting, Liu Hong.

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