Yes, that does speak more to his active influence.

I suppose by comparison I might posit that if I were to kill a king, I would only have killed a king. Even if it were my intent to destabilize the nation, I could claim nothing more than foresight were it to then fall into ruin. I would not be responsible for creating the conditions which made it so precarious, only for seeing them.

It would seem your Emperor saw clearly the conditions of his world, and took repeated advantage to steer it along his desires. I might not call that chaos, under a guiding hand, though it would seem it to others.