Chapter 226 King James Decree

"King James Constitution"

Taking a sip of tea, Zhang Feng, who is the Minister of Justice and Minister of Justice, said.

"King James Constitution?"

Chen Moran, who had just lit a cigar chōu, said in surprise.

"Your Majesty, since there are now many voices of constitutionalism, it is better to promulgate a constitution than to wait for others to brew this attack."

At this time, His Majesty's office was filled with the smell of smoke, and in fact, before His Majesty invited him, Zhang Feng had already considered the voice of "constitutionalism" that had slowly occupied the mainstream of public opinion in the past year, and all this seemed normal to him.

"Your Majesty, for thousands of years, the local gentry have been the jīng ying of traditional Chinese society. On the one hand, they have a traditional imperial examination fame, or have served as political officials, and have a prominent position in the local society, and have a very great influence on the people. Take the Manchu period, for example, they maintained the rule of the Manchus and were the cornerstone of the rule of the Manchus. On the other hand, the Manchu Qing also granted the gentry various privileges, such as tax exemption, access to official offices, and participation in local trials. Therefore, the gentry and the Qing government can be said to be a relationship of mutual support and mutual use. In general, the gentry were conservative, and they were more inclined to maintain traditional institutions and ideologies, because this was consistent with maintaining their position and prestige in the locality"

Zhang Feng told his understanding of the social structure of China, and at this time, the speaker and the listener were full of interest.

"During the New Deal period at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the gentry class underwent tremendous changes. After the Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Nation Alliance, many gentry, like most officials in the Qing Dynasty, had realized that the system of closing off the country was no longer possible. Therefore, in the context of the New Deal, many gentry abandoned the conservative ideas of the past and devoted themselves to the establishment of new schools, new enterprises and other New Deal measures. During the Liberation Campaign, in order to win the support of the gentry, His Majesty ordered the establishment of advisory bureaus and courts in various places, and carried out the beginning of the gentry's participation in government affairs, and after the recovery of the country, His Majesty was elected emperor and announced that he was ready to establish a constitution, and most of these gentry who participated in the new policy of the empire joined the ranks of fighting for the constitution. ”

Thinking that the call for "constitutionalism" is getting louder and louder, Zhang Feng couldn't help but sigh in his heart, it was His Majesty who opened that opening, and there are many times when an opening is easy to open and difficult to close.

In the process, many of them went abroad to investigate, tour, or even study in new schools or study abroad, gaining new knowledge; There are also some people who participate in the establishment of enterprises and become industrialists, so their ideological concepts have gradually changed. Of course, although we gave the gentry the right to participate in politics, the fact is that we not only did not do so, but even imposed heavy taxes, and in the countryside where the gentry had a very strong influence, under the leadership of the government, we are replacing the position of the gentry with teachers,......"

Listening to Zhang Feng's narration, Chen Moran just sighed secretly in his heart, his attitude towards the traditional gentry is very clear, that is, to guide them into the "capital world", and at the same time support teachers to be the new gentry, through teachers and clans to jointly maintain the countryside, the imperial power does not go to the countryside, and rural autonomy is the easiest way to save government expenditure.

"If the new imperial policy transformed some of the old gentry into the new gentry, then the preparatory constitution proposed by His Majesty gave the new gentry the opportunity to enter the national political arena. Before the empire was founded, the gentry had a huge influence at the local level. However, they were scattered and separated, and they had little political contact with each other, and it was not until His Majesty announced that he was preparing for a constitution that a major change soon took place in the gentry group. As a result of the preparation for the constitution, the empire completely lifted the restrictions on assembly and association, so that the gentry everywhere had the opportunity to form a constitutional group of various shapes, and the openly established council and council of the empire also provided them with new legal places for their activities, coupled with the rapid increase in newspapers, magazines, telegraphs, etc., the jiāo communication provided by steamships and trains, which was much more convenient than before, also easily promoted the formation of a national assembly of the new gentry. ”

Zhang Feng glanced at His Majesty as he spoke, and now the reason why His Majesty feels a headache for the "royalist" constitutionalists is probably because of the strength they have shown, in the past two years, the Imperial Council, the Provincial Council, and the Prefecture and County Councils have been connected and are forming a force.

Especially after the end of the Sino-Japanese War, this force became more and more huge, and the real "royalists" even lagged behind it in comparison, which is by no means a force that His Majesty wants to see. ,

"Once there is a unanimous political demand, the whole country immediately echoes the call here. Therefore, as a politically important force in the country, the constitutionalists are the product of the new imperial policy and the preparation of the constitution, so if they want to completely destroy the constitutionalists, they must be dealt a fatal blow to the roots."

"Fatal impact?"

Chen Moran was stunned for a moment, the most fundamental reason why he was wary of the constitutionalists was because of the influence they showed, and even Yang Du, who was controlled by the Investigation Bureau, was also constantly advocating constitutionalism, it seemed that constitutionalism was really a panacea that would work at a try, but the most disturbing thing was that what they advocated was a British-style constitutional monarchy, which was tantamount to turning themselves into an ornament, which was absolutely unacceptable.

"The King James Constitution"

After some explanation, Zhang Feng's words still shifted to the incident he mentioned at the beginning.

"King James Constitution?"

"Your Majesty, the so-called King James Constitution refers to a constitution formulated and promulgated by the monarch from top to bottom, based on the idea of the sovereignty of the monarch. For example, the Constitution of the Empire of Japan promulgated by Emperor Meiji of Japan in 1889. The main principle of the King James Constitution is mainly to stipulate the supreme monarchy in the form of a constitution. ”

In the form of a constitution, the supreme monarchy was stipulated

Zhang Feng's words only made Chen Moran's heart flutter for a while, this ...... It seems that yòuhuò is not small, and the supreme monarchy

"......"

Although he had that desire in his heart, Chen Moran still seemed a little hesitant in the face of Zhang Feng's suggestion, after all, now those people are constantly supporting the British constitution and supporting the parliamentary resolution of the constitution, if he really promulgates a constitution, will it ......

"Your Majesty, are you worried that those people will object?"

Chen Moran didn't answer, just looked at Zhang Feng silently, he made this suggestion, naturally he had his plan or countermeasure.

"Your Majesty, the constitutionalists of our country, with the exception of a few, are intellectually inclined towards democratic politics, and their emotions and genuine deeds are inclined towards enlightenment and authoritarianism. To put it another way, the reason why the constitutionalists firmly advocate constitutionalism is because only by establishing a constitution can they have a place in the political power. Of course, on the other hand, they also firmly believe that only constitutionalism can save the nation from peril. In this way, the so-called constitution is only a means, a means to strengthen the country and resist humiliation, not their true beliefs. Therefore, the political propositions and beliefs of the constitutionalists can be summarized in the following points: first, oppose the aggression of foreign powers; second, a strong demand for participation in the regime; Third, believe in open-mindedness or authoritarianism. ”

In the past two years, Zhang Feng has come into contact with hundreds of "constitutionalists", and naturally knows a lot about those constitutionalists, who on the one hand advocate constitutionalism, and on the other hand, affirm the current enlightenment of His Majesty** and support a strong government.

"Supporting enlightened and strong government is actually the core of our country's constitutionalist political philosophy. It is not surprising that the origins of the constitutionalists and the education they received determined that they could not be true believers in democracy and the rule of law, and your majesty, let me ask if the constitutionalists in our country were more conservative, or were the Japanese constitutionalists in 1889 more conservative? ”

After a rhetorical question, Chen Moran remained silent, Zhang Feng may be right at this point, China's constitutionalists are all affected by traditional education, they don't know what "constitutional" is, the reason why they advocate British constitutionalism is only because they think Britain is strong, so they advocate it, and on the other hand, they believe in open-mindedness in their bones**, just like now, how are there a few people who praise their own merits?

Seeing that His Majesty was silent, he continued

"Your Majesty, the constitutionalists or the new gentry advocate the implementation of constitutionalism, but they will never want to see the monarchy seriously weakened, nor do they want to be unable to obtain the power of "constitutionalism". Although constitutionalism comes at the cost of weakening the power of the monarchy, they also understand that if the monarchy is severely weakened, it is likely to lead to the creation of a húnluàn in the country, at least in our history books. ”

Then Zhang Feng turned the conversation again.

"Constitutionalism, of course, is the wish of the constitutionalists, but it must be at the cost of the weakening of the imperial power, and it is the constitutionalists themselves who fill the gap of the weakening of the imperial power. In other words, the constitutionalists did not support the government unconditionally, but only on the condition that the government make concessions, that is, allow them to participate in the regime. Whether or not the constitutionalists support the government depends on whether the government agrees to this condition. Not only that, but the reason why the constitutionalists have repeatedly called for the opening of the parliament is because deep down they actually have an unspeakable desire: that is, to use the parliament to hold a part of the power, and of course there is also the law of controlling the government, as individuals, they may have all kinds of ideas, but as a social class or political force, their intentions are precisely this. Now the problem is ......"

As soon as he raised his head, Zhang Feng spit out a sentence.

"If the King James Constitution is promulgated, how much power is His Majesty prepared to give up"

"How much power is ceded?"

"As long as you can fulfill the wishes of the seven chéng people, it is enough, Your Majesty"