The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 922 After the War
Taking advantage of the downfall of meritorious officials and settling scores with nobles after the fact were traditional skills of the Qi dynasty.

Zhang Ruoting was disrespectful to Emperor Liu Ye and repeatedly disobeyed the emperor's orders. Not to mention, he had offended countless powerful figures from various regions during his years in power.

Therefore, the consensus among all factions is that Zhang Ruoting must die.

Just as the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty swiftly purged the powerful minister Zhang Juzheng, Liu Ye's purge of Zhang Ruoting was also lightning fast.

The only difference is that Zhang Juzheng's family was raided after his death, while Zhang Xiang had already lost the support of the people while he was still alive.

Some people die but still live on, while others live but are already dead.

Someone must be held accountable for the defeat.

Although everyone regarded Zhang Xiang as a scapegoat and many people wished they could tear him apart, the purge could only be carried out in secret for reasons of maintaining the legitimacy of the empire and the authority of the parliament.

At the very least, it cannot be made public.

The public must not be informed that Zhang Xiang has been purged.

Because that would be tantamount to telling the world that the Great Qi had been defeated.

The Great Qi cannot fail.

For the past hundred years, the Great Qi has either been winning or on its way to winning.

Liu Zhaosun and his descendants never made any mistakes in their rule.

Even if there are setbacks, they can only be described as "setbacks on the road to progress, growing pains of development, and necessary sacrifices."

In early May, strange phenomena appeared in Liaodong.

Specifically, after a storm one day, about a thousand people from Kaiyuan witnessed a flying dragon soaring through the clouds above their heads.

Dragons appear in the sky at the place where dragons rise.

This is nothing short of a bizarre and absurd situation.

Therefore, some people said that this was a sign that something bad was about to happen.

The imperial upper class has always abhorred such supernatural and wild matters.

Stability is the top priority.

Any uncontrollable and unstable factors must be nipped in the bud.

Even if it is a real dragon?

Only by consistently winning can we stabilize people's morale.

Thus, while the Emperor of Qi was visiting the Kingdom of Britain, and while Liu Ye was signing the humiliating Treaty of London with his Parkinson's left hand, the mainstream newspapers in Tianxin City continued to use "great victory" as the tone of their domestic propaganda.

According to some experienced advisors, it was the British, not the Qi, who first proposed peace talks.

In order to uphold world peace and justice and safeguard human well-being, Tianxin City, after much deliberation, finally reluctantly agreed to Old George's request.

"Peace and development have become the mainstream. Let's give the British a chance to turn over a new leaf. After all, the Empire is always so modest and magnanimous in its foreign affairs," said a senior staff officer from a think tank who declined to be named.

According to Pravda, on the second day of the London peace talks, when British Chancellor of the Exchequer Samuel Semperett was asked by reporters who initiated the talks, the senior bureaucrat, perhaps due to nervousness (and mainly because of a guilty conscience), stammered and couldn't speak, becoming a classic laughing stock of the talks…

In short, this peace talk can be seen as another victory for the empire.

As for the retreat of the imperial army in the eastern provinces, the staff emphasized that it was merely a withdrawal.

Changing the direction of the attack is to achieve a greater victory.

Liu Ye was very dissatisfied with the imperial propaganda machine.

The propaganda machine represented by Pravda is adept at distorting the truth and spreading lies. This kind of propaganda is inferior and stupid, which reminded Liu Ye of his great-great-grandfather Liu Zhaosun.

During Liu Zhaosun's reign, everyone was silent and lived in fear.

Not to mention ordinary people, even imperial officials had to say goodbye to their families before going to court, a goodbye so profound it was like a separation of life and death.

It is said that some officials who could write quickly wrote a will every day, explaining the distribution of their property after their death (in fact, they didn't have much property; Liu Zhaosun believed that officials whose property exceeded five hundred taels were considered imperial rats and should be executed).

In this atmosphere, the official gazette transformed from a news tool into a propaganda tool.

Whether the news published in it was true or not was not important; as long as it could sing praises to the emperor, it was considered a first-rate newspaper.

"At this moment, just like at that moment, after a hundred years of twists and turns, we finally return to the starting point. What is the meaning of a hundred years of struggle and sacrifice?"

In the dead of night, Liu Ye questioned himself in this way.

No one can give an answer.

In his dream, the murderous Liu Zhaosun loudly rebuked his unfilial descendants:
"If you don't want to win, then get out!"

~~~~~~~
Within a month of reaching an agreement with the Kingdom of Britain, the pro-war faction was brutally suppressed.

Unable to withstand the pressure, Zhang Ruoting resigned.

The lawmakers were unwilling to let go of this opportunity to wipe them out completely.

Although there was no evidence to prove that Zhang Ruoting was treated unfairly in the imperial prison (i.e., tortured to extract a confession), Zhang Xiang eventually confessed to all his crimes.

This includes, but is not limited to, treason, endangering public safety by dangerous means, sedition, corruption, dereliction of duty, harboring criminals, etc.

In total, there were more than thirty-eight capital offenses, as well as countless civil offenses.

He was sentenced to death by hanging.

The trial and the verdict were both conducted in secret.

Two weeks later, Pravda published a news item in a corner of the newspaper, stating that the Prime Minister of the Empire was currently receiving proper treatment at a spa hotel on the Crimean Peninsula due to personal health issues.

The author concluded by wishing Zhang Xiang good health.

May Zhang Xiang enjoy good health forever. Two weeks later, the newspapers quietly reported that Zhang Xiang had passed away in a sanatorium in Crimea.

~~~~~

Imperial politics remained largely clandestine.

Liu Ye had no choice but to accept it all.

Because he knew that if you didn't want to win, you should leave.

His eldest son, who is now the crown prince, began to plead for Zhang Xiang shortly after Zhang was imprisoned.

Zhang Xiang was once the Crown Prince's teacher, instructing him for many years.

The relationship between the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Zhang was similar to that between the young Wanli Emperor and Zhang Juzheng, a relationship that was both that of teacher and father.

"I beg my father to spare Mr. Zhang's life."

Do you know how many people want him dead?

Liu Ye suppressed his anger.

The young prince, fearless and bold, retorted sharply:

"Your subject only knows that Zhang Xiang was not the only one who agreed to send troops to Ezo! Why is all the blame being placed on him alone!"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "With so many people dying, someone has to take responsibility in the end. It's either Zhang Xiang or me!"

"Do you want me to issue an edict of self-reproach? Do you think such an edict would be useful?"

"But..." The crown prince hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

The edict of self-reproach was indeed useless.

This was not an era of absolute imperial power; the Emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty received less than one-tenth of the votes in the parliament when making decisions.

When everyone is getting along well, it's fine to do things that add to the good things, but if it goes against the parliament, no one will care about you.

"At least, we can let Zhang Xiang leave with dignity, without damaging his reputation."

The crown prince looked puzzled.

Liu Ye patiently explained, "The responsibility for the defeat—I mean the specific responsibility—will be borne by others."

"Who are the others?"

"For example, some frontline officers, and some pro-war figures in the country. Newspapers will direct public hatred toward these people."

"Oh..." The prince wanted to say something but ultimately couldn't.

"Perhaps this is the essence of an empire. Right and wrong are not important; what matters is that everyone must be used by the empire. I am not forced into this situation."

The crown prince fell into a long silence.

Liu Ye stared into his son's eyes and asked, word by word, "Are you very disappointed? Mr. Zhang didn't mention these things when he taught you the classics, did he?"

"How can the Great Qi Dynasty last long if it continues to fool the people like this?"

Liu Ye chuckled twice: "The question you raised is too complicated. Let's leave it to future generations and trust their wisdom."

~~~~~~~~~
The war ended with both sides declaring themselves the victors.

In other words, both the British and the Qi people simultaneously declared themselves the victors.

Of course, the declaration of the Qi people was mainly aimed at the domestic audience, that is, the so-called internal propaganda.

Because in the eyes of Europeans, the Great Qi had already been thoroughly ridiculed. Promoting the victory in suppressing the rebellion in the east to Europeans would only increase their mockery and risk protests from the British.

From its inception, the empire focused its propaganda efforts not on external forces, but on its own people.

The people of Qi did not understand the truth behind the news and public opinion.

No matter how impressive the figures are in the newspapers, no matter how much steel production has increased this year compared to last year, no matter if the British backed down or if old George wet his pants again, none of that matters.

In the past, people in Qi were skeptical of the news; now, many people don't believe a single word of it.

Pravda continues to report on social news from various European countries for decades, and recently, the embarrassing incident of old George's dentures flying out while eating has become the focus of the country's newspaper.

Within a very short time, the media of Qi launched a full-scale attack, mocking the old man thousands of miles away, ridiculing his senile, declining, and fading youth...

It seems that by mocking old George, Britain could be defeated and all of Great Qi's problems could be solved.

Perhaps that's true.

Under pressure from the British, the emperor was forced to further reduce imperial power.

The provincial governors and viceroys were granted direct access to the prime minister, and the national tax revenue levied on the various vassal states was reduced by one-third.

Merchants from Guangdong and Fujian were able to resume trading with Europeans overseas, but many chose never to return, abandoning the Great Qi Dynasty...
Governors and viceroys greatly appreciated these reforms by the British and actively supported them.

However, Liu Ye and his son felt very frustrated.

Because imperial power has once again fallen.

The emperor comforted the crown prince, saying that the policies proposed by the British were actually the late emperor's wishes.

Yes, that's exactly what the late emperor wanted.

Return power to the people.

Of course, this was just comforting. Liu Ye worried that the empire would fall apart in a few years, returning to the chaotic state of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

Although Liu Ye had a strong aversion to the concept of unification during his studies in Europe, he is now the emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty, and an emperor must be responsible for his country.