Chapter 1054

Ge’s Mansion.

Ge Yiren slammed the newspaper on the floor and stomped on it several times.

He had thought that Wang Chengye’s death yesterday would make Xiao Ming reconsider the harm caused by this government decree, but he never expected that Xiao Ming would be so resolute and would still officially announce this government decree this morning.

“Elder Ge, do you see? The Emperor is clearly not giving people a way to live.” Beside Ge Yiren, a middle-aged man in his forties was drinking his morning tea. At this moment, his face had a hint of sarcasm.

Ge Yiren glanced sideways at the middle-aged man. This person was his old friend from the south, and was also a famous great Confucian scholar in the south before. However, after the New Confucianism was implemented in the Empire, his status plummeted.

Later, when he was truly down and out, he came to Qingzhou and said that he wanted to study New Confucianism with him. So he took him under his wing and even arranged a classroom for him to teach New Confucianism.

“So what? This world is his. What he says goes. Who dares to disobey?” Ge Yiren said indignantly.

Although he was in the Cabinet, he was the grand secretary with the lowest status and no real power.

The others held great power, in charge of industry, economy, and government affairs, while he was only in charge of the Confucian classrooms in the world, responsible for overthrowing the Confucianism that he had studied for most of his life, and promoting New Confucianism.

Most importantly, the more he promoted New Confucianism, the more he understood one thing, and that was that his status was getting lower and lower.

In the past, great Confucian scholars were highly respected. Emperors in all dynasties almost always invited them to serve as officials and dared not offend them easily.

The officials in the court did not dare to be presumptuous in front of him. It could be said that even if these people were not in the court, their influence on the court was still very great.

But New Confucianism was a completely different matter, because it was a purely academic theory. It no longer had the power to influence court affairs and govern the country. It was far inferior to ruling the country with Confucianism.

It was at this time that Ge Yiren, who had thought it was just a matter of changing the name while keeping the same content, suddenly realized that he had fallen into a trap that Xiao Ming had dug.

“So this is the danger of absolute imperial power,” Ren He said lazily.

Ge Yiren frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Taking a light sip of his tea, Ren He said, “During those years when I was down and out, I acted as a middleman for trade between Western merchants and domestic merchants. I gained a little understanding of the imperial power in their countries. Although their countries also have emperors, their emperors cannot act recklessly according to their whims.”

Ge Yiren immediately became wary when he heard this. “Why do your words sound so familiar to me?”

“Of course they sound familiar to you, because the Merchant Parliament once said the same thing. They demanded that the Emperor’s power be restricted, but they were ultimately annihilated by Xiao Ming, which is a real shame,” Ren He said with a smile.

“How audacious.” Ge Yiren almost jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. This Merchant Parliament was a heresy, and anything related to the Merchant Parliament would bring bad luck. He said, “Ren He, I pitied you for being down and out, so I took you in and gave you food. I never expected that you would try to harm me.”

Ren He also put away his smile at this time. He stood up and faced Ge Yiren directly. “Brother Ge, there’s no need for us to test each other. If I wanted to harm you, why would I wait until now? I could have just submitted a secret memorial and truthfully reported the private goods in this Confucian classroom.”

Ge Yiren’s expression changed, then he smiled. “I was just joking, just joking.”

Ren He sat down again and said, “We have known each other for many years. How could I not know what you are thinking now? With this government decree being implemented now, your Ge family will probably gradually disappear from the court.”

After a pause, he said, “The Emperor has already introduced many similar government decrees over the years. These decrees have certainly made the Empire much stronger, but they have come at the cost of our interests. Now that the Empire has fought in the north and south and has a vast territory, we still cannot gain any benefits from these lands. Does Brother Ge not have any complaints about this?”

Ge Yiren’s eyes were deep. He said, “What can I do even if I’m not reconciled? Now all the officials are praising him as a great emperor of all time.”

“Since he is a great emperor of all time, he should be even less reckless. Only by restricting the imperial power can we protect our interests.” Ren He said.

“Restricting the imperial power?” Ge Yiren suddenly laughed. “Are you kidding? Who in this Empire can restrict the Emperor’s power?”

Ren He sneered. He said, “Is this something you need to fight for? Do you expect the Emperor to restrict his own power? How did the parliaments of the Western countries come into being? Have you never thought about it?”

Ge Yiren was stunned for a moment. In fact, with the Empire’s foreign campaigns, what the Western countries were like was already known to everyone.

They naturally knew the situation of various countries in the world now.

“The world is not just the West. And the fact is that the empire under the Emperor’s rule is stronger than the West. How do you explain that?” Ge Yiren said.

“Because of technology. If the West also had technology like the Empire’s, the Empire might not be able to gain much advantage in front of the European countries now.” Ren He said, trying to incite him.

Ge Yiren suddenly laughed at this time. “What is your purpose in so strongly advocating for the European countries? Although the Emperor’s government decree has harmed the interests of many people, it is impossible for me, Ge Yiren, to do something that betrays my country.”

Ren He looked at Ge Yiren in surprise. He said with a smile, “Brother Ge, you must be joking. I am also a person of the Empire. How could I do such a spineless thing? I am only feeling sorry for the tens of thousands of nobles in the Empire. Now that the government decree has been implemented, your days ahead will probably not be easy.”

When this was mentioned, Ge Yiren’s mood immediately became terrible. He was now indirectly forced by Xiao Ming to go home and retire. His experience was exactly the same as Wang Chengye’s, which made him lose all his face.

Thinking of this, he felt that Ren He’s words made some sense. “This government decree will certainly cause great dissatisfaction among the nobles. But the Emperor’s authority is too high. I’m afraid no one can stop it, and no one dares to step forward.”

Ren He saw that Ge Yiren’s expression had softened. He continued, “Brother Ge, there is no need to rush. Now that the people of the Empire have been enlightened, we only need to slightly take advantage of them to achieve an unexpected effect. Brother Ge has great influence in the Confucian classroom. You only need to continue promoting New Confucianism. After my research these past few days, I have discovered that this New Confucianism, which has made Xiao Ming’s achievements possible, can also be used to make him choke on his own policy. We just need to wait for the right moment. At that time, by uniting with the nobles, we can certainly succeed in restricting the imperial power, and making every decision he makes subject to the approval of the majority of the nobles before it can be implemented.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Ge Yiren had never seriously studied New Confucianism. Ren He’s words surprised him a little.

“There will be no mistake. If you don’t believe me, I can explain it to you one by one. But before that, Brother Ge must be patient. Tell the nobles to absolutely not get into a conflict with the Emperor.” Ren He said.