Chapter 674

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“Chang’an!”

The generals in the camp all showed complex expressions.

Chang’an was the capital of the Great Yu Empire. As long as Chang’an remained untaken, the Great Yu Empire would always be under Prince Zhao’s shadow.

“Prince Zhao has been entrenched in Chang’an for over two years. It’s time to make him get out of Chang’an,” the Prince of Huainan said.

Niu Ben nodded. He said, “This time, the Zhao army suffered a great defeat and is powerless to stop us from advancing towards Chang’an. After a few days of rest, we will drive Prince Zhao out of Chang’an and restore the capital.”

“Yes, General,” the generals said in unison.

The Prince of Huainan showed a hint of a smile. Prince Zhao had also been defeated this time, which further solidified his choice. Prince Yan and Prince Liang were dead, and Prince Zhao was merely a trapped beast in a cage. He would eventually become the most glorious vassal prince in the Great Yu Empire.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but think of his daughter, wondering if she had entered the palace yet.

…

Qingzhou.

The debate against abolishing the four social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, and unifying all the common people of the Great Yu Empire under the term “commoners,” continued, and it seemed to be escalating.

Due to the successive conquests of Wei, Yan, and Liang, the vast majority of the northern territories were now under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

As a result, scholars from these three areas flocked to Qingzhou. After all, Qingzhou was now the capital of the Great Yu Empire, and also the political and commercial center. The prosperity and flourishing of Chang’an were destined to shift here.

“Yu Ming is still kneeling in the council hall?”

In the study of the traveling palace, Xiao Ming shelled melon seeds while looking at memorials. Since his enthronement, he felt he was not as busy as before.

Although the scope of court administration was expanding, with Fiji and Pang Yukun’s diligence, government offices in various prefectures and counties were also established.

Now, everyone in the court performed their duties, presenting a flourishing scene. The only drawback was perhaps the conflict between old systems and old ideas, and new systems and new ideas.

In contemporary times, reforms in feudal dynasties often ended in failure for no other reason than that the reforms infringed upon the interests of the powerful.

Even if a powerful figure appeared and forcefully pushed for reform during their lifetime, after this person’s death, things would immediately revert to their old ways.

Even the Qing Dynasty, facing the invasion of Western powers, failed to complete reforms under humiliation and was ultimately completely overthrown.

Therefore, in Xiao Ming’s view, the reason for the reform’s obstruction was simply that it infringed upon the interests of those in power.

This time, he abolished the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. The scholars were the most affected by this, and the scholar class included officials, powerful families, and scholars among the common people. It was precisely for this reason that he encountered fierce opposition this time.

Simply put, the current court was full of representatives from the scholar class. The farmer, artisan, and merchant classes had no voice in court, which also led to this decree being popular among the common people but unpopular in court.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Minister Yu is still kneeling. It’s been seven days! He doesn’t even go back to handle government affairs every day, alas!” Qian Dafu sighed.

Xiao Ming remained indifferent. “Then let him continue to kneel.”

Qian Dafu smiled bitterly. “Your Imperial Majesty, Minister Yu kneeling is nothing, but the government affairs in his ministry are not being handled and are piling up.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ming frowned. This Yu Ming would attend court as usual, and then he would bring up the matter of withdrawing the decree. If Xiao Ming didn’t agree, he would kneel.

However, Xiao Ming couldn’t see Yu Ming kneeling anyway, and naturally couldn’t be bothered to pay him any mind. It was just that his behavior was a form of strike, and the government affairs under his purview couldn’t be left unhandled.

“We can’t let Yu Ming continue to make trouble, otherwise, what will become of my imperial authority?” Xiao Ming stood up, his tone resolute. “These old officials from Chang’an are truly hateful. In that case, I will dismiss him.”

If the Great Yu Empire were likened to a company, then for Xiao Ming, whether it was Pang Yukun, Fiji, or Yu Ming, they were merely employees.

He was the chairman, while Pang Yukun and Fiji belonged to the board of directors. Yu Ming was a layer below, belonging to senior management.

Now, one problem was that he clearly understood the current ailments of this Great Yu Empire company and wanted to reform these ailments so that this company could compete with the companies of Western powers.

However, the management led by Yu Ming still insisted on sticking to methods that caused the company losses and openly opposed him. In this situation, he had no choice but to make an example of someone and dismiss him.

‘Four-legged chickens are hard to find, but two-legged officials are everywhere for the taking.’

Qian Dafu was startled. He knew Xiao Ming was genuinely angry this time, but this Yu Ming was truly lacking in foresight, simply running headfirst into trouble.

“Issue an imperial decree! Yu Ming, Minister of Revenue, neglecting government affairs and disrupting court order, his conduct and virtue are unworthy of the responsibility of the Minister of Revenue. From this day forward, he is dismissed from office and awaits further assignment.” Xiao Ming said word by word.

Qian Dafu immediately brought brush, ink, paper, and inkstone and wrote down the imperial decree according to Xiao Ming’s words. After Xiao Ming reviewed it, he stamped the imperial seal on the decree.

“Go to the council hall and proclaim it. I will certainly put an end to this unhealthy trend.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Qian Dafu took the imperial decree and headed towards the council hall.

After Qian Dafu left, Xiao Ming frowned. He now doubted whether Fei Ji and the other Chang’an officials had truly accepted the new political ideas from Bowen Academy.

Or perhaps they had only learned the methods of governance, but their thinking had not kept pace with the times at all, and it was precisely their thinking that was the most difficult for him to control.

If that was the case, he had to strengthen the ideological education at Bowen Academy, cultivating a group of officials who were ideologically aligned with him. Otherwise, these conservative officials would become obstacles to his reforms.

Although he could kill all these officials, without officials, no one would work for him. So now he had no choice but to continue coexisting with these officials.

And for him, this situation would clearly continue for some time, and he also did not want to take too big a step, after all, reform was a double-edged sword.

If he suppressed the gentry class, the capitalist class would inevitably rise, and later generations’ experience told him that if the capitalist class truly gained power, it would no longer be reform but revolution.

To prevent this situation, he decided not to favor any one side while implementing reforms.

While he was contemplating, a eunuch announced, “Your Imperial Majesty, Secret Guard Commander Wang Xuan seeks an audience.”

“Let him in!” Xiao Ming said.

The eunuch left, and soon Wang Xuan walked in.

Xiao Ming smiled and said, “Your visit to me surely brings no good news.”

“Your Imperial Majesty, this subordinate has truly become an annoying crow now,” Wang Xuan said with a bitter smile.

Xiao Ming shook his head. “However, what I need is precisely a crow like you. Speak your piece.”

Wang Xuan nodded, his expression grim. “The barbarians and Japan have been fighting in Goryeo for several months, with victories and losses on both sides. This subordinate has received news that Beshan is prepared to cede two southern prefectures of Goryeo to Japan in exchange for Japan no longer advancing northwards, so that they can concentrate on dealing with us.”