The constrained nature of power is not unique to Europe.

In China, which seems to be under centralized power, there have always been similar problems. The emperor's authority seems to be supreme, but in fact it is still restricted - of course, most of the time, when the imperial power is faced with a certain courtier or common people, it can show incomparable power, life and death, all within the words of the Son of Heaven! But when the imperial power faced a class called "scholars", the emperor often belonged to the weaker side.

The so-called scholars, the Han, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and even the Sui and Tang dynasties, were scholars, and after the Tang Dynasty, they were scholars. These two are actually a kind of adaptation of the feudal aristocracy. The kings of Europe were constrained by the feudal aristocracy and could not enjoy supreme dictatorial power. The emperors of China, on the other hand, were subject to the constraints of "scholars" everywhere, and also did not have unlimited power.

As a result, the internal affairs of European countries often revolved around the struggle between the feudal lords and vassals, and then gradually spread to other classes, such as the merchants, the clergy, the peasants, and the proletariat. In China, the struggle between the emperor and the "scholars" also lasted for nearly 2,000 years, from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Of course, the Chinese emperor and the "scholars" did not come up with the method of holding meetings to fight, but used the methods of foreign relatives interfering in politics, eunuchs chaotic government, or the tribal government of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to foster one after another interest groups different from the "scholars" to restrain the scholars or scholars. In terms of effect, it seems that the Manchu tribal government was the most successful in restraining scholars......

And in this time and space, Zhu Jishi, who had neither eunuchs to rely on nor tribes to take advantage of, introduced the parliamentary government of Europe. The bourgeoisie has been fostered to act as another interest group that restricts the scholars. As for the downward shift of authority that Zuo Zongtang thought of. may end up leading to a lose-lose situation for both the emperor and the scholars. Zhu Jishi could only take what he thought was the most effective way to prevent it -- to set a tax limit on the right to vote.

With the first rays of winter morning shining on the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City, Zhu Jishi, the great son of tomorrow, had just been in Maria. Clementina lay down on the bed in her company. In the past night, Zhu Jishi had a deep conversation with his favorite concubine and foreign affairs and political adviser. The content of the discussion, of course, has to do with who votes.

The decision that the Ming Empire would hold the first referendum with voting rights to elect some of the members of the Public Bureau (implemented only in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Yingtian, and the two provinces of North Borneo and West Borneo) was announced by Emperor Zhu himself at a meeting of the Constituent Assembly three days earlier.

Contrary to what was expected, such a seemingly epoch-making decision did not immediately cause much of a stir. The members of the Constituent Assembly, as usual, applauded and cheered with thunderous applause. They expressed their support for the emperor - a third of these councillors were ministers, a third were elected by the Zhu Jishitong Guò royal consortium, and the remaining third did not know what this election would bring to the Ming Empire.

As for the major newspapers of the Ming Dynasty, enthusiasm for the matter does not seem to have risen. During this period, due to the gradual fermentation of the "petition against compulsory education incident". A big discussion began in the newspapers about whether compulsory education should be more reasonable and whether it was useful to read.

And the mainstream opinion in the newspapers is naturally that "compulsory education is charged and reasonable" and that "it is very necessary for the children of ordinary people to study" -- who made the editors of these newspapers bend their waists for five buckets of rice? Moreover, after Zhu Jishi announced that he would rely on the squires to run compulsory education, the scholars in Yingtian, Shanghai, and Guangzhou stood one-sidedly in support of compulsory education...... The stance of these scholars has changed so quickly!

The emperor, who was lying on the big bed, squinted his eyes and leaned on the soft pillow, as if he was not sleeping. It seems that he is still thinking about something. The development of the countries of the world in later generations has proved that parliamentary democracy is certainly extremely wrong! Belch. But it may be a little better than "sharing the world with scholars". Otherwise, how could the Manchu Qing Dynasty be beaten by so many imperialists with parliaments in history, how could the former Ming Dynasty lose the world to the Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers with a population of only a few hundred thousand, and how could the rich and prosperous Great Song Dynasty be replaced by the barbaric Mongols?

Moreover, now that the economic base of the Ming Dynasty has begun to shift rapidly from the traditional small-scale peasant economy to capitalist industry and commerce, the economic power of the scholar class is being overwhelmed by the emerging bourgeoisie...... Their time will eventually pass. Although the Ming Dynasty cannot completely abandon them, they cannot be used as the only basis for government. From this point of view, a parliament representing the interests of the bourgeoisie more broadly is probably also inevitable, and for the Ming court, it is only a matter of taking the initiative to start this era, or being forced to accept it.

But...... In any case, we must avoid the emergence of such an erroneous political system as parliamentary democracy in China. China can have a parliament – and there will be in later generations – but China's parliament must be undemocratic! Only in this way can we truly protect the interests of the state and the nation. Like the British Parliament, which now represents only a few bourgeoisie and aristocratic interests, it is the political guarantee of the British Empire's hegemony over the world.

At this time, Maria, who was beside Emperor Zhu, found that her husband was still pondering, so she put a hand over and asked in a low voice, "Why don't you sleep yet?" You've been discussing for a night, and you still have to meet people to do errands in the afternoon, how can you do it without sleeping? What should I do if my body is about to collapse? ”

Emperor Zhu turned his head sideways, smiled at Maria, who had been upgraded to a charming, and sighed, "I can't sleep...... Always thinking about the parliamentary elections...... This is a major event that has never happened in China, and it is likely to be on the wrong path. ”

Maria. Clementina had been talking to him all night, and was now sleepy, but she still pulled herself together and smiled, "I don't think it's the wrong path, at least not the most wrong of all. And...... Haven't you already found a solution? The tax amount of voting rights is linked, and only Ming citizens (males over 18 years old) who have received meritorious service or an annual tax amount of more than 10 silver dollars have the right to vote, and individuals or companies who pay taxes more than 50 silver dollars and 500 silver dollars per year (the tariffs paid by the company are not included in the tax amount), and a certain number of Ming citizens (males over 18 years old) are designated as voters according to the amount of tax paid...... I think such a system should ensure that every vote will be cast very responsibly. ”

Listening to Concubine Ai's soft mulberry voice comforting herself, Zhu Jishi just smiled bitterly. The voting system he designed can probably only be described as wonderful! In other countries around the world, voting rights are tied to wealth. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jishi believes that paying taxes should be linked to the contribution of citizens to the country, if a citizen owns a large amount of property, such as a ton of gold or a large piece of land, but has not dedicated a copper plate to the country, why should he have the right to vote?

Based on this line of thinking, in Zhu's undemocratic election method, there are only two kinds of people who have the right to vote: one is a meritorious person with the state, who must receive at least one medal (it is not difficult to obtain, all soldiers who participated in the war against Russia have a minimum medal) or a citizen who pays a certain amount of dù every year. Of course, both persons must be males at least 18 years of age and must vote in their place of residence.

And considering that citizens do not necessarily have no taxes as individuals, Zhu Jishi also came up with the idea of letting all the firms registered and pay taxes in Daming, and the main shareholders are also Daming citizens, after paying taxes more than a certain amount, they are eligible to set a certain number of voters according to the amount of tax paid (must be Daming citizens and employees or shareholders of the firm), and Daming citizens also have similar powers, and can designate a voter after paying more than a certain amount of taxes...... The reason for this provision is said to be that Emperor Zhu believed that the taxes paid by these companies or individuals also included the contributions of other Ming citizens, such as the more than 20 million silver dollars paid by the royal consortium every year, including the contributions of a large number of employees and shareholders of the consortium (Zhu Jishi), how could he not give them the right to vote? (To be continued......)