There is no chaos in the capital, there is always a place where wealth gathers at the feet of the Son of Heaven, there are many rich people here, they have the ability to survive any famine, this is not an industrialized city, there are more handicraft workers, the income is relatively higher, there are some savings, so as not to immediately run out of food, then again, even if you want food, you can't starve to death at the feet of the Son of Heaven.

The reason why industrial cities such as Songjiang Prefecture are in chaos is that after all, they are not poor. The officials in the capital also understood these situations, and the only solution they could think of was relief and soup kitchens to deal with natural disasters in the agricultural society, and everything that should be done had already been done, but the trade unions did not give up.

This is a chaotic situation unlike any previous famine, and what the rebels are asking for is not a temporary way to live, not a bite to eat, but power. So from the very beginning, there were officials who advocated repression, believing it to be a rebellion.

The bureaucracy generally hates the trade unions, because no one wants to have too many masters on their heads, the bureaucracy has been running for thousands of years, there is only one emperor on the head, and now the trade unions are demanding the establishment of a parliament that will oversee the government.

They were killed from the thousands of troops and horses in the imperial examination, but not for people to ride on their heads, those group of mud legs, who don't need to study hard, or were born with a group of stupid people, who couldn't pass the imperial examination, but wanted to ascend to the sky in one step, and really let them do it, then who is willing to be an official, and being an official is not to be a master, who will exhaust his voice and exhaust his head.

Zhou Lang understands the basic situation, and he also knows the existence of trade union organizations. He was not hostile to trade unions, but on the contrary, he believed that a well-organized trade union was an indispensable part of social management. An agrarian society could rely on the patriarchal system to manage the countryside precisely, while an industrial society could not keep the workers in a state of lack of management. The three major balances in an agrarian society are the imperial power, the bureaucracy, and the rural gentry, and an analogy is whether an industrial society can form a balance between the imperial power, the bureaucracy, and the parliament.

To put it bluntly, it is to use the framework of a constitutional monarchy to balance the three forces of the industrial age. The good work is mainly done in Britain and the Nordic countries, but the same design, in some countries, has encountered big trouble, such as Italy, Greece, Austria and other countries have completed the industrial revolution under the framework of the constitutional monarchy, but it has been turbulent, and finally it is a republic, France, Spain in the monarchy and the republic in many changes, to the next millennium.

China, a country with a long tradition of imperial power, rashly entered the republican system, the step is too big, it is easy to pull eggs, and a constitutional monarchy is the best choice.

"Their demands can be grouped together, but these two points are the opening of a parliament and the other is the creation of a constitution. The purpose was nothing more than to limit the imperial power and supervise the government. ”

The first thing he did when he returned to the capital was to convene a cabinet meeting, and after listening to the reports of various ministries, Zhou Lang concluded.

The officials nodded in approval, and it was indeed these two things.

Zhou Lang smiled: "Let me see, it's not unacceptable." ”

As soon as the words fell, the crowd objected.

"Your Majesty, by all means, the parliament and the constitution are the system of the Western Yi, and I am a country in the sky, how can I imitate the barbarians."

"That is, this move is tantamount to changing Xia with raze, what kind of system will it become!"

"Follow the barbarians, there is no ancient time, and the country will not be a country!"

Zhou Lang took a deep breath, officials don't want to be restrained by power, it is an instinct, a prejudice, they can accept another official to replace their positions, but they can't accept other people from other backgrounds rashly jump above them, insisting on not only power, but also a ruling ideology, whether it is a meritocracy system, or a parliamentary system in the West, whether it is meritocracy, or collective wisdom.

Zhou Lang was unhappy in his heart, but he knew that the country had come to a crossroads, why didn't he come to another crossroads, even if he was dissatisfied with these officials now, he couldn't choose to confront, just like when Wang Fuqian was alive, he used the imperial examination system, he thought that he was the founding emperor, and his authority was heavy, enough to suppress any opposition, but the officials were opposed and did not hesitate to resign en masse.

This time is no longer true, this is no longer a reform of the content of the imperial examination, but a fundamental change in the way the imperial examination determines power.

"Your Majesty, if there is a hole in ancient times, the country and the people will be safe, and if there are many ways, there will be disasters and chaos, and we must learn from it!"

The prime minister finally retorted.

The idea of making a hole of profit, from the pipe to the martingale, has been passed down as an important power technique, which refers to the channel that determines the interests of the world, and the narrower it is, the more it can restrain the people. The interest hole set up by Guan Zhong for the people of Qi is to do business, and the interest hole set up by Shang Ying for Qin is farming and warfare, so the people of Qi can make money and the people of Qin can fight.

In "Guanzi National Accumulation", it is said, "Those who benefit from a hole are invincible in their country." "The Book of Shang Jun: The Weak People" said, "If you make a hole, the country will have many things." ”

The fundamental reason is that if a hole is sharpened and it is easier to control, then the country can control more resources. The current imperial examination system is actually a political ideology that makes a hole in the world, and the distribution of power in the world depends on the imperial examination, who can read, who can endure hardships, who is intelligent, who has high understanding, and who is an official.

Just this hole, if you want to be an official, you have to drill it. The king relied on this hole to gather all the talents of the world.

Now the group of workers, the group of people who were eliminated when thousands of troops crossed the single-plank bridge, they want to build a parliament, challenge the authority of the imperial examination officials, and want to ride on the heads of the officials, which is not in line with the idea of making a hole in the sky, and the government will not be able to control the country in the future.

"This is not to change Xia with Yi, and it is not possible to talk about imitating Xiyi. It's nothing more than what we think is good, we do, and what we think is bad, we don't do. It's just a matter of conforming to the will of the people, since the people want to suggest the meeting, then let them build a parliament, the government is above board, and they are not afraid of the people's supervision! ”

Zhou Lang used euphemism to try to persuade the officials to accept.

The prime minister is a stubborn person named Zhou Guanhai. His surname is Zhou, but he has no blood relationship with Zhou Lang, but he is nominally related, and he is an orphan adopted by the queen. When he was still in infancy, he was sent to the charity hall. Studying and studying, choosing to study abroad, and returning to China to be an official are a typical faction of foreign relatives.

The number of such people in the officialdom is so great and their influence that even the emperor has to avoid their edge. The reason why they can become big is an inevitability. In the early days, Zhou Lang was faced with the need to compete with the Manchu Qing Dynasty for the world, and he could not show his will to reform, otherwise the scholars in the world would not support him. But if he does not reform and learn Western technology, he will not succeed. Therefore, only the hundreds of thousands of orphans who are lonely and helpless can be sent to the West to study, and it is impossible for ordinary children to be sent out. Later, the Manchu Qing Dynasty sent young children to the United States to study abroad, and even had to sign a deed of sale with their parents and give them a generous pension. It is conceivable that Zhou Lang's situation at that time was impossible to send children from ordinary families overseas on a large scale.

These children, who first completed their basic studies in China, were sent to the West to learn more systematic scientific knowledge, and after returning to China, most of them worked in government agencies, through which they brought back to China a set of Western technology and management methods. The eternal truth is that people who contribute a lot often gain more, unless they have a good father, they can't be exempt. These people contributed greatly to China's industrial revolution, and it is not surprising that they rose to high positions as a result.

But Zhou Lang had been balancing before, at least in terms of the selection of the six high-level officials and prime ministers, he did not place a single Zhou orphan.

Zhou Guanhai was able to become prime minister, which is inseparable from the crown prince's supervision of the country, these orphans sent foreign relatives are the loyal of the crown prince, if the crown prince does not promote them, who will be promoted? Therefore, when the crown prince came to power, he quickly transferred his relatives who were local officials to the central government, and held important positions in the six ministries.

Zhou Lang also knows these situations, and he does not prevent the crown prince from using his cronies, which is human nature. This can also play a role in making the crown prince's control over the government more tightly and the relationship between the monarch and the minister more harmonious.

But at the same time, the current cabinet does not care too much about the emperor's attitude, even they respect the imperial power, but Zhou Lang's balanced policy for so many years has made the foreign relatives and factions follow the crown prince even more desperately, they know that the crown prince does not want to be restrained.

This caused Zhou Lang some trouble, and he was very sure that if the balance was not good, the collective resignation of these relatives would be more concerted than the bureaucrats in Wang Fuqian's time, and the chaos caused would be more serious.

"Then how does the prime minister plan to deal with the current chaos?"

Zhou Lang asked unhurriedly.

Zhou Guanhai said: "Your Majesty." In ancient times, the chaos was nothing more than suppression. Fu can't go down anymore, this group of thieves is stubborn, so they can only be suppressed. Suppress thieves, so as to make sure that one is fast, and later it will change. Wechen implored His Majesty to give an order to disperse the workers as soon as possible and arrest the thieves. ”

Zhou Lang sighed: "It's easy to kill them today, but next time." As long as the workers remain poor, this kind of thing will appear again and again, and it will be suppressed secondarily. ”

Zhou Guanhai said: "Now that the chaos is beginning to arise, if you can't cut the mess quickly and give it a small punishment and a big commandment, you will make trouble again and again." ”

Zhou Lang was puzzled: "Prime Minister." Isn't there any possibility of reconciliation with the union? ”

Zhou Guanhai said: "Your Majesty, if it is not for Weichen to kill them all, but the other party is too deceitful." With the art of razing people, mess with my dynasty. If you don't use thunderous means, where is the majesty of the court? ”

Zhou Guanhai studied in France, studied law, and was upright, but he was very disgusted with the parliamentary system and had no good impression of the workers' movement.

Zhou Lang knew that it was difficult to persuade this kind of person, and a major change in government and government might not be avoidable.

"I would like to invite representatives of the trade union to come to the capital to talk, and then make a decision after the talks."

The meeting was adjourned.

The establishment of the parliament means the general resignation of the cabinet, which Zhou Lang heard from Zhou Guanhai's tone.

Then it depends on the attitude of the unions.