An interview with Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty in Ancient China

Today I have been lucky ennough to have been able to have an interview with Ancient China's emperor Wudi. I was unfortunately only able to ask him five questions because of his busy schedule. He said that "I would love to stay and answer more of your questions but, unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow that.
The questions I asked him are as follows as well as Mr. Wudi's responses.

Q: Mr. Wudi, how old are you?
A: Well, considering it is 97 B.C, and i was born in 141 B.C, I am about 44 years old. Yes that is a long time to be living but I assure you I am living and feeling perfectly well. I bet some people are jealous about how old I have lived to.

Q: This is a question frequently asked by the public: do you enjoy paper?
A: Oh, I love paper! I really love the feel of paper when I write on it. In fact I know the man who invented it myself! He is a very good man, very focused, and very good at what he does... make paper.

Q: How easy is it to be emperor of China?
A: People may think it would be easy, but it's not. Being emperor means you have to take care of many responsibilities. You have to talk to neighboring kingdoms, you have to defend your own empire, you have to enforce and create laws, you have to worry about invasions, and you have to take care if the person that will take the throne right after you! It is a very exhausting job, but I know that I was meant for this, so I will not complain about it.

Q: Why did you decide to continue the Great Wall of China?
A: Around 127 B.C I commissioned a construction project for extending the wall. The wall would block our enemies, the Huns, to our north. This allowed the connection between them and their allies, the Qiang people. This made China a lot safer than it previously was from the Huns.

Q:Why did you expand China to the west to cover the Silk Road?
A: Honestly I thought this would be quite obvious but I will still answer the question. I sent my generals to the west to go and secure more land around the Silk Road. This would increase trade and would decrease thieves and deaths.

 

 

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