Chapter 214: How Could the Human Sovereign Be Inferior to the Son of Heaven?

Talking about Dong Zhongshu inevitably brings up the predecessor of the Great Wei Dynasty—the Great Han Dynasty.
After founding the Confucian Sect, Dong Zhongshu was not content with the status quo. Wanting to expand Confucianism’s influence, he reached out to the Emperor of Han at the time, saying that the ancestor of the Han Emperor had slain a white serpent with his sword, an act aligning with Heaven’s will to establish the Great Han. It could thus be called the “Heavenly Han,” and naturally, a Heavenly Han should not be confined to just one province; its territory ought to encompass the entire Nine Provinces.
At that time, the Great Han’s national strength was immense, seemingly surpassing Great Zhou and ranking first among the Nine Provinces. The Han Emperor himself was an unparalleled genius who had cultivated to the Tribulation Stage. The Zhou Emperor at the time could not compare.
These two factors combined caused the Han Emperor’s ambitions to swell enormously, giving rise to the desire to swallow the Nine Provinces whole.
But the Stairway to Immortality had not yet collapsed; behind every great power stood Immortals. Even the ancestors of the Han were but one among many Immortals.
In such a situation, a compelling theory was needed to establish Han’s orthodox status and give legitimacy to its military campaigns. Dong Zhongshu’s “Heaven-Human Induction Theory” perfectly fit the Han Emperor’s needs.
After all, so what if others had Immortals? Behind Han stood Heaven itself.
The Han Emperor had already planned that he would not exterminate the other powers completely; he would leave their traditions and Dao lineages intact, merely requiring them to acknowledge Han’s supremacy.
By leaving them some breathing room, even the Immortals would turn a blind eye and not descend to trouble Han.
In the end, the Great Han still failed; they did not manage to dethrone all other states and exalt only the Han.
However, they displayed the overwhelming strength of the Great Han, making other powers envious. Han lost, but its defeat was glorious.
This war, which engulfed the Nine Provinces, did not shake Han’s foundations. The establishment of the Great Wei Dynasty was not due to this war.
Instead, the conflict helped spread Confucian ideology, establishing the Confucian Sect as one of the major powers across the Nine Provinces, rivaling the influence of Buddhism.
Thus, Dong Zhongshu achieved his goal.
Jiang Li figured that Dong Wuwei wanted to recreate the glory of his ancestor.
What a joke.
“Dong Wuwei, you knew that the Human Sovereign Hall would eventually recruit new commanders, but you didn’t know whether it would be decades or centuries later, so you made your preparations early, waiting for my arrival.”
“First you cut ties with the Confucian Sect, showing that you belong to no faction and are neutral—that’s a prerequisite for joining the Human Sovereign Hall. Of course, I believe you genuinely wanted to leave the Confucian Sect too, given that it’s now run entirely by Dong Zhongren.”
“I…” Dong Wuwei tried to argue, but Jiang Li cut him off.
“To become a commander, you also need upright conduct: no stealing, no robbing. That’s hard for many Fusion-Stage cultivators, but for you, it’s easy—it’s the basic standard for a Confucian disciple.”
All five current commanders had their little flaws, but overall their character was acceptable.
The quality of Fusion-Stage cultivators across the Nine Provinces varied greatly.
Some became strong to avoid being oppressed by stronger foes.
Some became strong to oppress the weak.
And some, after gaining power to avoid oppression, abandoned their original ideals and joined the ranks of the oppressors.
The last two types were absolutely unacceptable for the Human Sovereign Hall.
Groups like the Fearless Alliance of the Great Sui were full of those two types.
“But you felt that mere upright conduct wasn’t competitive enough. You chose to hide here and teach students, to prove you’re an admirable teacher.”
It was easy to figure out. Dong Wuwei dreamed of reviving his ancestor’s glory. How could he have fallen into obscurity, becoming just a humble schoolteacher after losing to Dong Zhongren?
He taught in order to prove to Jiang Li that he was a virtuous educator.
“Of course, actions speak louder than motives. No matter what your intentions were, you did teach several outstanding students. No one can deny that.”
“But you even forbade your own son from cultivating, using his future to demonstrate your loyalty, sacrificing him for the so-called opportunity to raise more ordinary cultivators!”
“Are you trying to be like Yi Ya cooking his son?”
In ancient times, a ruler half-jokingly told the famous chef Yi Ya that he was tired of exotic delicacies but had never eaten a baby. Yi Ya then cooked his three-year-old son and served him to the ruler, who was so moved by Yi Ya’s loyalty that he trusted him completely.
“I wanted to increase the number of cultivators, but I never said that talented ones should step aside for the untalented!”
“In your view, the gifted should yield to the mediocre, is that it? To be your son is truly the misfortune of a lifetime!”
“You forbid your son from cultivating, yet I don’t see you dispersing your own cultivation and passing your strength to others!”
Jiang Li was furious.
Others would push their sons to start cultivating at age eight. Dong Wuwei, on the other hand, stopped his son from cultivating at eight—ruining his entire life!
A fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator at eighteen, just like Jiang Li had been when he first transmigrated.
Did Dong Wuwei think everyone was like him, capable of late-stage miracles?
Dong Wuwei fell silent, unable to argue.
Every word Jiang Li spoke was true.
To promote his ideology, Dong Wuwei needed to get close to Jiang Li.
The closest position was to become a commander.
The Human Sovereign Hall would inevitably replace commanders eventually, so he prepared early, crafting the image of an upright, noble, Human Sovereign-worshipping teacher to earn Jiang Li’s favor.
Now it seemed he had overdone it, triggering Jiang Li’s disgust instead.
Dong Wuwei hurried to say, “The fault with my son is mine alone. I can change. But I am loyal to you!”
“You are the Human Sovereign, the strongest in the Nine Provinces. Have you no ambition to rule the world? My Three Bonds Order and Heaven-Human Induction Theory are all preparations for you to reign supreme!”
Jiang Li sneered, “Reign supreme? For whose sake? To make the Nine Provinces stronger—or to satisfy my own desires?”
“Competition is necessary for cultivators. That’s why the Human Sovereign Hall allows many factions to exist, to compete, to push each other forward.”
“Even when Outer World Demons threatened us, we didn’t choose to unify the Nine Provinces. Now that the demons are no longer a threat, and there are no external enemies, unification would only lead to stagnation. Without competition, the Nine Provinces would become a dead pool!”
“And your Three Bonds—are any of them right?”
“The ruler commands the subject absolutely. If the ruler errs, it’s the subject’s fault? You think every ruler is a saint who never makes mistakes?”
“The father commands the son absolutely. You’re the best example. Your son obeyed you, and you ruined his entire life!”
“The husband commands the wife. Discrimination against female cultivators—so husbands are gods and wives must submit? Are you serious? Shouldn’t you ask the women of the Mortal World Pure Land or the Buddhist nuns if they agree with your nonsense?”
“And your Heaven-Human Induction Theory is even more absurd.
The Human Sovereign is the leader of humanity, and yet you would make him the ‘Son of Heaven,’ subservient to Heaven?”
“How could the Human Sovereign be inferior to the Son of Heaven?”
“You call it loyalty, say it’s for my sake, but it’s laughable. It’s all for your own sake!”
After Yi Ya cooked his son, some ministers warned the ruler:
“If he cannot love his own child, how can he truly love his sovereign?”
The ruler ignored them.
In the end, Yi Ya really did betray him.