Chapter 77: At 48 Watching Dogs Fight, at 54 Claiming the World!

However, before he could act, the sky banner had already started drifting bullet comments.

【Ying Zheng (First Emperor of Qin): @Liu Bang a thug, how could he replace my Great Qin! I... I don't know what to say!】

Liu Ji was startled: the First Emperor of Qin, Ying Zheng?

That tyrant who swept the Six Directions? He actually… greeted him first?

This… this tone, why does it sound a bit sour?

He was pondering, and another line floated across the bullet screen:

【Liu Che (Emperor Wu of Han): @Liu Bang Grandfather, your tongue is still that slick! But when you killed Han Xin back then, you weren't so polite!】

Liu Ji's face flushed.

Liu Che? His great‑grandson? And he dares to point out his flaw?

Killing Han Xin… wasn't that unavoidable! That fellow's achievements eclipsed the ruler; you had to kill him!

He was about to retort, when the bullet screen continued:

【Come, fire the bullet comments at "The Pavilion Chief's Counterattack" or "Your Grandfather Is Still Your Grandfather"!】

【Liu Bang, born in 256 BC. He was the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. His birthplace was in Pei Commandery, Fengyi, Zhongyangli (now Feng County, Jiangsu).】

【Liu Bang's childhood? It's the classic rags‑to‑rich reversal story.】

【His father Liu Taigong was an honest farmer, had four sons; Liu Bang was the third, hence called Liu Ji (the third Liu).】

【He disliked farming from a young age, idled all day, calling friends around, freeloading food and drink everywhere.】

【Liu Taigong, angry, scolded: "You rascal! At least your second brother knows how to build a family fortune!"】

Liu Ji twitched the corner of his mouth; it's true—his father often berated him like that.

But could he be blamed? Farming leads nowhere. If you act, act on great deeds!

What environment was he in at that time?

In his youth, Liu Bang admired the Prince of Xinling, Wei Wuji, and wanted to join him, but only upon reaching Daliang did he discover the Prince of Xinling had already died.

Later he became the pavilion chief of Si Shui in Pei County, equivalent to a modern township police station chief.

Don't underestimate his low rank; Liu Bang rose to become Pei County's "big brother of society"—befriending Xiao He, Cao Can, Fan Kuai, the local clerks and dog butchers as brothers, and even marrying Lv Zhi, the daughter of Lv Gong.

When Liu Ji was pavilion chief, he indeed got around well.

Xiao He, Cao Can, Fan Kuai were all his brothers.

Lv Zhi… that was because his father‑in‑law Lv Gong thought his facial features were auspicious and insisted on marrying his daughter to him.

Although he was so poor his pockets jingled, Lv Gong said he had the "countenance of great nobility"; looking back, it was indeed accurate.

【Once, Liu Bang, as pavilion chief, escorted laborers to Xianyang for corvée, and happened to witness the First Emperor of Qin's grand inspection procession, unable to hold back a timeless quote: "Alas, a true man should be like this!"】

Liu Ji's mouth corner lifted slightly.

He indeed said that.

Seeing the First Emperor's display, a thought rose in his mind:

I'll be like that too! Never thought it would actually…

On the bullet screen, another line drifted:

【Cao Cao (Emperor Wu of Wei): @Liu Bang Grandfather, your luck truly has no equal.

I, Cao Cao, have struggled my whole life and only managed to carve out three percent of the world. You raised troops at 48, became emperor at 54; I at 54 am still getting beaten at Red Cliff! Unfair!】

Liu Ji: "……"

Cao Cao? That "capable minister in times of peace, villain in times of chaos"? He also envies him?

And the Battle of Red Cliff? What's that? Getting beaten? What's all this nonsense?

He was confused, and the bullet screen continued:

【However, ideals are plump, reality is skinny.

At age 48, Liu Bang escorted convicts to Lishan, but half the way they ran away.

According to Qin law, that was a death sentence.

Liu Bang, unwilling to stop, simply freed all the convicts, took a dozen brothers willing to follow him, and hid in Mangdang Mountain.

There, he staged the spectacular "Slash the White Snake Uprising"—

Legend says he encountered a giant white snake blocking the road, drew his sword and slew it, after which an old woman wept:

"My son is the White Emperor's son, killed by the Red Emperor's son!"

From then on, Liu Bang became the "Red Emperor's son", instantly skyrocketing his reputation in the jianghu.

The illustration, paired with narration, showed dynamic footage:

Heavy rain poured as Liu Ji stood before a cave, eyeing the bowl‑wide white snake in the middle of the road.

He drew his sword, sliced it down, and the snake's head hit the ground.

Immediately, an old woman appeared, lamenting "The Red Emperor's son slays the White Emperor's son."

Liu Ji watched the scene, his heart a swirl of five flavors.

The slaying of the white snake indeed happened.

But that old woman… was a fake played by Fan Kuai.

It was to create momentum, to make those brothers believe him.

Who would have thought later generations would turn it into a myth.

He was reflecting, when a bullet line drifted across the sky banner:

【Liu Bei (Emperor Zhaolie of Han): Grandfather! Though I, Liu Bei, am a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan, my family fell into decline, weaving mats and selling shoes for a living; each time I recall your humble rise, I feel I too could restore the Han!】

But… but Sun Quan and Cao Cao are too wicked, I ultimately couldn't…】

Liu Ji was startled: Liu Bei? A descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan?

He's a descendant of the old Liu family? Also starting a business? But… it seems he hasn't succeeded?

He feels a sudden heat in his heart and bows his hands toward the sky screen,

"Bei'er? You… you've worked hard. It's fine, whether it succeeds or not, having that intention is enough."

Although I don't know who this Liu Bei is, from his tone he also seems to be a struggling entrepreneur, not an easy path.

He is sighing, and the sky screen shifts, moving to the main topic:

【Great Talent and Grand Strategy: The man who went from 'watching dogs fight' to 'challenging the world'】

【In 209 BC, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled.】

With the support of Xiao He and Cao Can, Liu Bang killed the magistrate of Pei County, raised three thousand young soldiers, and called himself "Lord of Pei". That year he was 48.】

【In the following seven years, he allied with Xiang Liang, formed an alliance with Xiang Yu, entered Guanzhong first, escaped the Hongmen banquet, appointed Han Xin as a great general, secretly repaired a supply road to Chen Cang, and the siege at Gaixia forced Xiang Yu to commit suicide… In 202 BC, the 54‑year‑old Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor at Dingtao, establishing the Han dynasty.】

【From then on, the first unified dynasty in Chinese history founded by a commoner was born.】

Liu Ji's heroic spirit suddenly surged within his chest.

Seven years—just seven years—he went from a fugitive to a founding emperor.

This speed, this efficiency—how many have achieved it in antiquity?

He feels smug as the sky screen begins to tally his achievements:

【Achievements: A rogue knows martial arts; no one can stop him】

【Politically, Liu Bang's Han inherits Qin's system.】

He learned from Qin's rapid downfall, yet retained its core institutions—the commandery‑county system and the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system.

At the same time he implemented parallel commanderies and kingdoms, establishing commanderies while enfeoffing kings of the same surname.

This move both solidified central authority and appeased meritorious officials.

Historians call it "Han inherits Qin's system, with gains and losses."】

Liu Ji nods.

The Qin dynasty's system was good, but too harsh and too strict.

He makes slight adjustments, loosens it a bit, and the common folk can finally breathe.

On the sky screen, another barrage of comments drifts by:

【Li Shimin (Tang Taizong): @Liu Bang, the High Ancestor of Han, is open‑minded and magnanimous, taking advice as it comes; this is the bearing of an emperor.】

Yet executing meritorious officials is also a flaw; I, however, preserve all meritorious officials and employ them, for the circumstances are different.

Liu Ji's old face flushed red: Li Shimin? That Tang Taizong? Also says he killed meritorious officials?

Yes, he did kill them, but wasn't that unavoidable?

That kid Han Xin kept demanding military command for command, fiefdoms for fiefs, never satisfied, even wanted to become King of Qi!

If you don't kill him, are you waiting for him to rebel?