The original edition of the book "The King of Kings - The Biography of the Great Emperor of China" was written in French.

Like "Jin X Mei", it was forbidden to be published by Louis XIV, so he had nothing to do and read it himself. Because this writing is too real, the content of the "Datong Collection" is analyzed and explained in detail.

However, the Medici scholars, like the Russian envoys, translated the book into Italian and brought it back.

It is now popular in Italy, but it was soon banned by more than a dozen states. Only the Republic of Venice dared to continue printing, and even the Pope could not stop it—Venice was fighting the Ottoman invasion, the Cretan War had been going on for more than a decade, and the states were hoping that Venice would win.

Alexey I, sitting alone in the study, opened the Latin version of "King of Kings - Biography of the Khitan Emperor".

"There have been many rumors about this great emperor in Europe, and the story of the prince's restoration has been widely circulated. Even in the Khitan country, there were many people who believed that their emperor was a royal descendant of the Song Empire. But His Majesty the Great Emperor openly refuted such statements, claiming that he was only of ordinary civilian origin......"

"However, His Majesty the Emperor is visibly humble. In Khitan, there are some very old surnames that have been passed down in families for thousands of years. His Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Family of the Song Empire had the same ancestors more than a thousand years ago. By the time of the Ming Empire, His Majesty's ancestors were reduced to ordinary scholars. In the Ming Empire, the people were divided into many professions, including military households, civilian households, stove households, artisan households, astrologers (yin and yang households), and so on. His Majesty the Emperor belonged to the Confucian family, a family of officially recognized scholars......"

"This may be the reason why His Majesty the Emperor can have profound knowledge and wise thoughts, because his ancestors were all scholars, and his family has inherited excellent secrets of oriental culture......"

"The Ming Empire used to be powerful, but a few decades ago, there was an emperor who ignored government affairs (Wanli). The officials of the empire retired and died of illness, he did not let new officials take office, the huge country lacked official governance, and the gentry began to steal the power of the empire. ”

"By the time our great emperor was born, the Ming Empire was already on the verge of decline. Barbarians from the north, constantly invading the borders of the empire. Heavy taxes caused a mob to rise within the empire, and people rebelled against the rule of the Ming Empire. Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Empire, was recognized as a hardworking monarch, but his talent obviously could not save the huge empire......"

"Even the families of scholars, in the face of tyranny and natural disasters, have become homeless due to hunger. Yes, His Majesty the Great Emperor, who once worked as a wandering beggar. And he was just a child at the time, his father and mother died of starvation, his sister was sold to be a maid, and he had to take his sister to beg and wander......"

"Such a man cannot become a monarch in Europe, and he will eventually die for various reasons. After a long and painful ordeal, His Majesty the Emperor was taken in by a benevolent scholar and allowed to become a servant as an adopted son. The daughter of this scholar, who later became the Khitan empress. ”

"If you understand this, you can understand why His Majesty the Emperor treats the common people well. No, not to the commoners, but to everyone, including prostitutes and slaves. His Majesty the Great Emperor believed that all men are created equal, and that the only thing that is truly noble is virtue, not family, titles, and official positions......"

The author is obviously not very good at writing popular books, and begins with a large paragraph about the social situation in the late Ming Dynasty. He even gave various commentaries to explain what Confucianism was. The explanation of the lattice theory is several pages long, and it is written like a treatise.

After Zhao Han ascended the throne and became emperor, he spent a lot of time expounding on the content of political reforms and analyzing the differences between these systems and those in Europe.

Alexey I read it for more than half a month before he read this biography cursoryly. Then, start reading again, incorporating those notes for a detailed understanding.

The author concludes the book by writing:

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor is still in the prime of life, and his body is so healthy. Under his rule, the empire will be even more vast and the people will be richer, and the story of His Majesty is far from over......"

"But we can already conclude that His Majesty the Great Emperor is an unprecedented, unique existence. Aside from his illustrious status, His Majesty was first and foremost a philosopher, who, like an all-knowing, all-permanent, knew all the learning of the world. He has groundbreaking achievements in the fields of mathematics, geometry, and physics. He was a poet, a man of letters, and his poetry was praised by all nations......"

"He is merciful. His mercy is true mercy, not false kindness. He made it equal for everyone, even the lowest of the common people. He gave all children, regardless of gender, the opportunity to receive a free education. ”

"Just like his title, he is called the First Emperor of the People's Republic of China. Elaborating on this title, it is from him that all people are equal. He is not an aristocratic emperor, he is the people's emperor. Is there such a monarch in Europe? ”

"He is the King of the Philosophers, the King of kings. His dignity lies not in ruling the most powerful empire in the world, but in his noble soul that surpasses all men. ”

"Praise be to the Great Emperor, may God bless him with all blessings, and may his body always be in good health. The wealthy Khitan has the most wealth in the world. And His Majesty the Emperor himself is the greatest wealth of the empire! ”

Alexei I read it twice, and then gave the book to Prime Minister Nashokin.

After reading it carefully, Nashokin said to Alexei: "Your Majesty, this book cannot be passed on. No one but the royal family is allowed to read it, or it will turn into a plague-like existence. If a down-and-out aristocrat reads it, it may lead the serfs to revolt and eventually dismantle the rule of the Russian Empire. ”

"I know," Alexei lamented, "but I sincerely admire this Khitan emperor, he is the benchmark of all monarchs, and no monarch can surpass him." He can make the common people happy, while ours can only keep taxing the people. I know that the citizens of Moscow are complaining because the taxes are heavier this year. But what can be done? ”

Nashokin said: "The greatness of the Khitan emperor lies in the fact that he is free from the shackles of noble lords, and the emperor can directly rule the people." The most important thing we should do is to weaken the power of the aristocracy and centralize tax revenue. ”

Alexei shook his head: "It's too difficult. ”

"But we have to do it, don't we?" Nashokin said.

At this time, the tsar had not yet completely completed the centralization of power.

During the time of Ivan IV, the great nobles were strong. Ivan IV constantly weakened the influence of the great nobility by reusing those who served (officials, soldiers, craftsmen, etc.). Through the gentry council, the servicemen, monks, minor nobles, and merchants were united to confront the great nobles.

By now, the Gentry Conference has become more and more powerful, and has even become a national congress.

However, in addition to the Gentry meeting, there was also a Duma meeting. The Duma is the highest authority in Russia and a tool for the great aristocracy to oppose centralization. This is similar to the House of Lords and House of Commons in the United Kingdom, where the Duma is the House of Lords and the Gentry is the House of Commons.

It is also different from the British in that the great nobles of the Duma Conference can participate in the Gentry Conference. This is equivalent to the House of Commons in session, and the first three rows are all occupied by the nobles of the House of Lords.

In his entire life, Alexei could not change this status quo, and even reverted to the situation of more than a hundred years ago. The key is that the tsar has no money, agricultural production is reduced during the Xiaoice River period, the treasury is empty, and he can only acquiesce to the counterattack of the big nobles.

It wasn't until Peter the Great came into power, brazenly canceled the Duma meeting, and concentrated the supreme power in the Privy Council, that the tsar really began to say the same!

Alexei sighed: "The Khitan is so rich, but the land in Russia is too barren. But if there are not so many natural disasters, and the treasury is a little richer, I don't have to look at the faces of the Duma nobles. ”

Alexei's most important work was the promulgation of the Code of Conferences.

But the Code was also the product of a compromise, which succeeded in removing the tax exemption privileges of nobles and monks at the cost of turning the time limit for the hunt for fugitive slaves into ...... No deadline!

Local nobles and lords can arrest civilians indiscriminately according to the "Code", as long as they identify the person as a fugitive slave, and then legally occupy the property of the commoners. There are also a large number of serfs, who originally escaped and reclaimed the wasteland, but were caught by the nobles and took the land for themselves. Even the grandfather fled, arrested his grandson as a serf, and seized all his grandson's land.

"Let's mint copper coins," said Nashokin, "and the Khitan can use copper coins, and we can try it too." Perhaps, this will solve the fiscal crisis. ”

Alexey said: "That's all there is to it. ”

The pair was whimsical, because there had never been a copper coin in the history of Russia.

Two years later, they will have consequences. Inflation increased dozens of times, and not only the citizens of Moscow rioted, but other cities were also rioting, and after the suppression, the issuance of copper coins was quickly canceled. Helplessly, he once again targeted the peasant class and continued to raise taxes, which eventually led to a years-long peasant uprising in Racine.

At night, Alexei fell asleep holding "The King of Kings - The Biography of the Khitan Emperor". He thought a lot about the disappearance of the Russian aristocracy, the transformation of all serfs into peasants, the possession of land by every peasant, the taxation of every peasant, and the concentration of all power in him.

The tsar asked craftsmen to make beautiful boxes, keep the book safe, and take it out to read a few pages when he encountered troubles, as if he could become a great Khitan emperor himself. His sorrow lies in his hard work, and he doesn't have so many troubles when he lies down.

This old man, a bit like Chongzhen, has been raising taxes all his life and suppressing uprisings all his life. The more taxes were levied, the more frequent the uprisings, and then taxes continued.

Thanks to the excellent regional matching mechanism and the backward state political system, some of the big nobles are dedicated to quelling the rebellion, otherwise Tsarist Russia will be completely finished in the bad Xiaoice period like the Great Ming!

This book became Alexey's exclusive reading.

And far away in Italy, the book has gone crazy. More than a dozen states joined forces to ban it, but the more it was banned, the more famous it became, and even the nobles quietly got it to read it, just wondering why this thing was banned.

(End of chapter)