For Wang Chenhao, he holds the military and political power, and holds all the lifelines of the country, and he is a talent reader. There is not much difference between being an emperor and being a president.

However, the international pressure is very great, because China, as a big country and a rising power, will affect the whole world.

At present, the world is in a period of serious confrontation between the two major political camps, the imperial and the republic. Republicans constantly propagate their ideas to other monarchies for political purposes, in order to disrupt the politics of the monarchies, and even to provoke civil wars in the monarchies. As a result, the imperial states of Europe were very sensitive to the republics of other countries.

The emperors and kings of the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Spanish Empire, and dozens of other countries with supremacy of imperial power have sent telegrams to the Chinese Foreign Ministry one after another, expressing serious concern about the trend of China's political system, expressing support for China's implementation of the imperial system, and opposing the implementation of the republican system.

It can be said that the imperial system is still the mainstream of the current world, and the strongest Britain is also an imperial system, but the rights of the British king are limited, and the rights of the emperors and kings of other countries are not as great.

Britain itself is a constitutional monarchy, and Britain opposes the implementation of a republic in China, but also does not support the imperial system, hoping to keep the current constitutional monarchy unchanged. But Britain knew that Wang Chenhao would not let others be the emperor and ride on his head, even if it was a powerless emperor, so the British Foreign Office made it clear that it supported Wang Chenhao as emperor, but demanded that the constitutional monarchy be retained.

Similarly, diplomatic pressure from the French Second Republic and the United States of America is no small amount. France and the United States are both republican presidential states, and although they are the only two countries, they are not small. The United States, as the world's largest economic power, and France, the world's third military and economic power, jointly exerted pressure on China, expressing support for China's implementation of a republican system and opposing imperialism.

External pressures are strong, but they are not the main ones. Regardless of whether Wang Chenhao ultimately chooses to be emperor or president, it is impossible for other countries to become completely hostile to China because of their different political systems.

Whether Wang Chenhao is the emperor or the president depends on the attitude of the people. At present, the Chinese people's idea of the imperial system is still deep-rooted, and the results of the cabinet survey from various provinces and localities show that more than 75% of the people support the imperial system and support Wang Chenhao as emperor, believing that Wang Chenhao can bring them a happy life. Twenty percent of the people do not oppose the monarchy, believing that it is none of their business who becomes the emperor, but they do not support a republic for the simple reason that they do not know what a republic is. The rest of the population supports a republic, and these groups have their own political agendas, in other words they want rights.

For the internal government of Beiyang, there is also no basis for a republic. Although Wang Chenhao transferred the system of the United States and Britain to China, with the central parliament and the local parliament, and the people have a great right to participate in and discuss state affairs, there is no political party that can rise to the status of a state.

Wang Chenhao and his Beiyang clique do not belong to political parties, they are just a group of forces that rely on interests and are combined, their core and belief is that Wang Chenhao can bring them power and wealth, once Wang Chenhao is gone, this group will collapse in an instant.

From this aspect alone, a republic is impossible. Of course, Wang Chenhao can rely on his iron-fisted politics, a lifelong president, and his son and grandson will take over as president in the future, and the family-style power will alternate, so it is better to be the emperor directly, at least the emperor can read the talent in the name of righteousness, and will not be blamed by future generations when he is the president for life.

But another question in front of Wang Chenhao is, if he becomes emperor, what will happen to his children and grandchildren in the future? Maybe Wang Chenhao's aftermath will make his children and grandchildren okay in a hundred years, but what about a hundred years later? One of the reasons why one generation is not as good as one generation is one of the reasons for the frequent change of dynasties in China for thousands of years, and at that time, Wang Chenhao's aftermath could not protect his descendants.

The Prime Minister's Office, Minister of the Interior Zhang Feng made a speech. Before him, the ministers of the Beiyang political axe came one after another, and they all had the same purpose, that is, to persuade Wang Chenhao to become emperor.

"According to Weichen, you don't have to think about the future first. For the time being, it is the best choice for you to be called emperor, you can integrate the country's forces and unite with the outside world, and the first priority is to make China stronger. As for the future, you have plenty of time to think about it, and when the time comes, you can emulate the British constitutional monarchy and the royal descendants can continue in peace. You really don't want to be the emperor, and when the time comes, the quality of the people will also improve, and you can change the imperial system to a republic. ”

Wang Chenhao thought about it, and couldn't help but say helplessly: "You have already called yourself Weichen when you talk to me now, it seems that I have no choice." ”

Zhang Feng hurriedly bowed and said, "The ministers don't dare." The ministers will not object to any decision you make, and even if you want to implement a republic now, the ministers will willingly assist you. The current Chinese imperial system will be very stable, which will be conducive to the country's economic recovery and the prosperity of the people. If it is a republic, not to mention that the common people don't understand it, 90% of the political axe officials also don't know anything about it. At that time, I am afraid that the country will not have the energy to build prosperity and strength, and the time of the officials will be wasted in the struggle for party power. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, Zhang Feng's opinion can be described as unique, so he said: "You are right, you should take care of the present first, and the future will naturally go straight to the bridge." ”

Zhang Feng asked, "You agreed!" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, Zhang Feng was immediately overjoyed, and was excited to see the emperor's bow, Wang Chenhao immediately stared and stopped. In Wang Chenhao's heart, the people in front of him are all ancients who are more than a hundred years older than him, and let them kneel down for themselves to lose their lives. Therefore, Wang Chenhao never allowed others to kneel for him.

Zhang Feng saw Wang Chenhao's glare, and remembered Wang Chenhao's rules, but he had an idea, so he knelt on one knee, covered his heart with his right hand, and greeted Wang Chenhao as a knight of European standards to meet the emperor, and said loudly: "Minister Zhang Feng participates in my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled helplessly, accepting his new etiquette.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao ordered Zhang Feng to notify others to go to the Prime Minister's Office for a meeting.

All the Beiyang political leaders stayed near the Prime Minister's Office, and each of them waited for the good news to come out from inside. When Zhang Feng came out to tell them that the persuasion was successful, everyone immediately cheered, hurriedly sorted out their clothes, and lined up together to enter the Prime Minister's Mansion in the order of official positions.

Hundreds of civil and military officials poured into Wang Chenhao's office together, but fortunately, the office was spacious, and more than 100 people did not seem crowded.

"You're all here, let's discuss ...... together"

Before Wang Chenhao finished speaking, Tang Shaoyi, Wang Shizhen, Zhou Fu, Cai Yuanpei, Zhang Feng, Song Hanzhang, Zhang Jian, Zhan Tianyou, Ruan Zhongshu and other ministers of five provinces and nine ministries took the lead, and hundreds of civil and military officials knelt on one knee to pay tribute to Wang Chenhao.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Wang Chenhao knew that this must have been discussed by Zhang Feng with them, and this way was used to replace the traditional Chinese three-bow and nine-bow ceremony. However, this method is used as a standard audience ceremony in the European royal family, which only represents respect and love, and does not carry the surname of forced slavery, so Wang Chenhao accepted this new etiquette of monarchs and ministers.

"Uh...... You guys...... All the ministers are flat! ”

Wang Chenhao stuttered a little for the first time, perhaps because this kind of battle made him too nervous and excited. Being able to become an emperor may be a dream for most men.

"Your Majesty Emperor Xie!"

Everyone got up one after another, all smiling all over their faces, as if they were as excited as they were emperors.

Wang Chenhao then said something to thank them for their support and trust in Wang Chenhao, but what these civil and military officials like to hear the most is Wang Chenhao's words of "Don't forget each other's wealth", it was precisely because Wang Chenhao put this sentence on his lips that Wang Chenhao has such a huge chasing team and a large group of people who are loyal to Wang Chenhao.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao discussed the matter of becoming the emperor with everyone, and everyone expressed their opinions.

Wang Chenhao's claim that the emperor does not affect the existing operational functions of the Beiyang political axe, except that Wang Chenhao needs to give up the position of prime minister of the cabinet when he becomes the emperor, there are no other major personnel changes, and the original operation mode of the Beiyang political axe is still maintained.

The new Prime Minister of the Cabinet is the former Minister of the Interior Zhang Feng, and the Minister of the Interior is the Secretary General Nguyen Trung Shu, and the other personnel have not changed.

In terms of the distribution of power, Wang Chenhao appropriately delegated power in internal affairs, but tightened power even more militarily. Wang Chenhao ordered the cabinet to amend the constitution on the grounds that the emperor of heaven was the emperor of the imperial army, and the general staff was upgraded to be directly responsible to the emperor, and the Ministry of National Defense could only command the National Guard, police force, and military police. At the same time, the Janissaries and the Imperial Forest Army in the Gyeonggi region were directly under the command of the emperor. These amendments to the new constitution have ensured that Wang Chenhao has steadily grasped military power, and only in this way will Wang Chenhao rest assured that he will gradually delegate power to the cabinet and the National Assembly in the future, and gradually carry out power reform in accordance with the national conditions.

Subsequently, on issues such as the name of the empire, the emperor's honorific title, the era, the year name, and the title of the harem concubines, Wang Chenhao discussed with the civil and military officials.

On March 15, 1900, Wang Chenhao officially ascended the throne as emperor in the Qianqing Palace of the Forbidden City in Yanjing, changed the name of the country to the Chinese Empire, and the year name was Guanghua, and 1901 was set as the first year of Guanghua.

On the day Wang Chenhao ascended the throne, he issued several holy decrees in succession, the first of which was to grant amnesty to the world, and criminals in domestic prisons were allowed to join the army to atone for their crimes, and the service time was stipulated according to the severity of the convict's sentence. This move increased the reserve force of the Imperial Chinese Army by more than 100,000 at once, and they will be sent directly to the northern Xinjiang region to prepare to participate in the war against Mongolia or Russia. In order to gain freedom, these criminals often work harder and dare to work harder than others, and with a little training, they are a powerful fighting force. However, most of these hundreds of thousands of criminal armies were used as cannon fodder.

The second decree was to universalize the six-year compulsory education, with 180 million dragon dollars from the Imperial Treasury to provide free access to education for 20 million children and teenagers across the country.

The third decree is that the Ministry of Finance will allocate 220 million dragon coins to build 20,000 large, medium and small hospitals across the country, plus the original traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and western hospitals in various regions, so as to achieve 98% of the country's coverage of the medical system, and thoroughly improve the situation of national medical treatment.

The allocation for compulsory education and medical and health care reached 400 million dragon coins, this money was actually only 40 million dragon coins from the Ministry of Finance, and the other 360 million dragon coins were obtained from the previous raid of the Manchu nobles.

Going to school and seeing a doctor has always been the biggest burden on the people's lives, and the people of the whole country cheered for Wang Chenhao's two holy decrees, and strongly supported Wang Chenhao's claim to be the emperor.

In this way, after Wang Chenhao became emperor, the new political axe of the Chinese Empire smoothly transitioned amid the cheers of the people. No one misses the political axe of the previous dynasty, and no one is willing to risk the world's great disobedience to attack the new political axe.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire successively issued requests to countries around the world to re-establish diplomatic relations. Because Wang Chenhao chose to be emperor, which was in line with the mentality of the emperors of most European countries, the German Empire took the lead in recognizing the Chinese Empire as the sole legitimate political axe of China, and re-established a treaty with the Chinese Empire on the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level between China and Germany.

Then came Britain, which, despite the fact that the British government discovered that the Chinese Empire was in fact an imperial state with a constitutional monarchy, had to rely on the Chinese Empire against Tsarist Russia, so Britain recognized the legal surname of the Chinese Empire almost simultaneously with Germany.

Subsequently, the Kingdom of Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Spanish Empire and other large and small imperial centralized states recognized the legitimate surname of the Chinese Empire and established diplomatic relations with the Chinese Empire. The two sides have established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial, minister, and consular levels respectively according to the strength and weakness of each country.

Relations between the Russian government and the Chinese Empire were strained, but this did not affect the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level between the two countries, as both sides were trying to disguise the danger of war so as not to affect domestic economic development and foreign investment. However, Tsarist Russia did not recognize the legitimate surname of the Chinese Empire, because the Tsarist political axe was ready to make a fuss about the Outer Mongolia issue under the pretext of Tsarist Russia.

Finally, France and the United States, although disappointed and regretful at the adoption of the Chinese Empire by the imperial system, could not affect the diplomacy of national interests, so the two countries quickly recognized the Chinese Empire and established diplomatic relations with China at the ambassadorial level.

After Wang Chenhao ascended the throne and became emperor, he officially moved from the Prime Minister's Office to the Forbidden City. And Wang Chenhao has always promised to build a super garden for Li Youyi, and now Wang Chenhao has become the emperor, and the Summer Palace belongs to him, so Wang Chenhao gave the Summer Palace to Li Youyi as a congratulatory gift to congratulate her on becoming the queen.

Li Youyi was naturally very happy to get the Summer Palace as a gift. But he knew that Wang Chenhao was deliberately currying favor with her, because Wang Chenhao had two lovers outside, and now he was going to bring them into the palace, so he would do everything possible to please her. Li Youyi knew that Wang Chenhao could go to other women for fun regardless of her feelings, and she knew her status in Wang Chenhao's heart, so she was more generous and took the initiative to help Wang Chenhao take Yun Tong and Qiao Yuying into the palace.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao canonized Luo Xier as Concubine Shu, Yun Tong as Concubine Ning, Qiao Yuying as Concubine Xian, Ling Lin as Concubine Gong, and Linglang as Concubine Chen. And Wang Chenhao's two daughters were also named Princess Xin Fan and Princess Rou Fan, of which Princess Xin Fan is the eldest princess. Empress Li Youyi's four dowry girls, Huqin, Shishu, Siqi and Picturesque, were also entitled, and became female officials of the four departments of the bookkeeper, the secretary, the emcee, and the inner palace of the gate.

Considering the safety problem, the palace maids and eunuchs of the previous dynasty were sent home, and now there are only 100 female officials and palace maids in the huge palace, according to the regulations, there are 10 palace maids around the queen, 6 palace maids each serving the other concubines, and two people each around the princess.

(To be continued)