In our version, the Emperor throws BS stories and he finagles people into blackmail situations.
I suspect they knew this but they thought they could use the media to weaponize the public and aristocracy into destroying each other. The hitch was that the media didn’t have much credibility by the time they launched the Great Big Lie of 2020.
This reveals desperation and a lack of self awareness.
Gandhi had the same problem, different country, different era. There is a group masked by the English government that needs a big bright spotlight.