The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 925 Counter-urbanization
Liu Ye was unaware of the changes that were happening to Prince Liu Xuan.

Once the seeds of rebellion sprout, they will break through the soil and grow strong when the time is right.

If the emperor had known even a little about the prince's ambitions, he would surely have taken action, most likely exiling this "ambitious" prince to Beihai in advance to avoid a future tragedy.

Fortunately, empires are never short of tragedies.

According to later historians, since Liu Zhaosun established the Qi state, the Qi state experienced a catastrophe on average every ten years.

Although these catastrophes had different names—some called them "New Policies," some were hailed as "Construction," and some were referred to as "Suppression of Rebellion"—…

However, one thing is certain: each catastrophe has resulted in devastating losses, with hundreds of thousands or even millions of people killed or injured.

The empire had a population of trillions, with over fifty densely populated provinces, not to mention vassal states like Annam and Korea.

Therefore, the empire could still bear the loss of hundreds of thousands of people.

Little did Liu Ye know that twenty years later, when Prince Liu Xuan ascended the throne, the empire would face an unprecedented and truly devastating catastrophe.

That would be far more than just the deaths of hundreds of thousands or millions of people.

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Liu Xuan dreamed of Master Qian more than once.

Master Qian's parting words gave the young prince much to ponder.

One of these questions is whether a large-scale "counter-urbanization" movement can be implemented in Daqi to destroy machinery and cut off various technologies from Europe.

According to Master Qian's view (a new view formed after Master Qian was demoted), all technologies and raw materials from Europe are evil, and if used for a long time, they will be controlled by Europeans, just like the trade war between Qi and Ying that occurred earlier.

This was clearly unacceptable to Daqi.

Military technology should be in our own hands, and key machinery should not be entirely dependent on imports; otherwise, we risk being held hostage by foreign countries. If we want to produce key machinery technologies ourselves, we must start from scratch. Simply put, we must first make the people suffer…

The above views came from most of the councilors, and similar arguments actually have a considerable following in Daqi, being accepted by almost the majority of the people, especially those at the bottom of society.

Although the common people bore the enormous pain and cost of the empire's operation, the thought of Qi's airships roaming freely over the East India Company and Australia made them feel even more proud.

~~~~~~~~
When his father, Emperor Liu Ye, was on the throne, Liu Xuan naturally had no opportunity to realize his great ideals.

Not only that, Liu Xuan also sent people to monitor the prince's every move at all times, because in the emperor's eyes, the prince's behavior was too strange, so the emperor had reason to suspect that his son had gone mad.

The troubles didn't end there. Shortly after Master Qian was exiled to Nagasaki, Prime Minister Li Wei fell seriously ill and died. It was said that he had not eaten or drunk anything for two days, and his family had begun to prepare for his funeral.

The current prime minister is on his deathbed and could pass away at any time. However, the various factions are unable to promptly put forward a prime ministerial candidate who can coordinate the interests of all parties and be recognized by all.

When all sides were fighting tooth and nail for the position of prime minister, the emperor finally intervened.

As Lee Wei's condition worsens day by day, the position of prime minister remains vacant.

Rumors then spread from the palace that the current emperor intended to reclaim the prime minister's power.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Although this rumor may have been just the emperor testing the waters to gauge public reaction, it spread so widely that it became so widely believed that everyone thought it was true.

Not to mention that Emperor Liu Ye was of noble character and would never do such a thing as kicking someone when they're down, many people also know that Liu Ye has always advocated limiting imperial power, that is, limiting his own power, and has never thought of seizing power from parliament or the prime minister. The rumors persisted for a long time, and the emperor was quite worried.

During the Prime Minister's serious illness, many important matters could only be submitted to the Emperor for review. In other words, according to relevant laws, the Emperor has become the best substitute for the Prime Minister.

Many major domestic events were decided independently by Liu Ye.

In this way, imperial power began to gradually erode the power of the prime minister.

On the eighth day of the first month of 1726, Li Wei, who was seriously ill, came to the end of his life. On his deathbed, Emperor Liu Ye, along with his son Liu Xuan and a group of ministers, rushed to the Prime Minister's residence and came to Li Wei's bedside.

Liu Ye gripped Li Wei's withered, old hand tightly, his voice trembling as he asked, "Prime Minister Li, after you die, who will take on this great responsibility?"

The surroundings fell silent. Li Wei strained to look up, his gaze sweeping halfway around the room before finally settling on Prince Liu Xuan, who stood beside the emperor.

The councilors certainly did not want the emperor's power to be restored or even expanded. If imperial power were to spiral out of control, it would not only signify the complete failure of decades of reforms in the empire, but also symbolize the beginning of a regression...
Seeing Li Wei's throat move slightly, Liu Ye knew that the Prime Minister had something to say, so he quickly leaned forward.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty," Li Wei said weakly.

"Go ahead and say it, I'm listening," Liu Ye said, his face grim, trying to keep his voice down.

“What has the decentralization brought about, Your Majesty? Look, what has the decentralization brought about…” Li Wei coughed violently twice, and blackish-red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"Prime Minister Li, please take care of yourself, don't..."

Before the emperor could finish speaking, Li Wei suddenly interrupted him.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, perhaps the Great Qi really needs one, one..." Li Wei took a breath, as if he had gathered a lot of strength, and after a while he continued, "The Great Qi needs a monarch who can make decisions on his own, not dozens of ambitious people with ulterior motives."

Liu Ye knew, of course, that the ambitious people Li Wei was referring to were the dozens of governors and viceroys scattered throughout the various provinces of the Great Qi.

Although these people all agree with the current system of the empire, they will not hesitate to rebel against Tianxin City if the opportunity is right. If they can take control of the capital, they don't care whether they can become the second Dong Zhuo. Of course, such an opportunity would be the best.

Liu Ye wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin.

Li Wei's words were not without merit; the emperor himself had had similar thoughts countless times, and the idea of ​​change...
The only saving grace was that the Prime Minister of Qi was often ill, so Liu Xuan began to fulfill the duties of the Prime Minister, and he could help with things that the Prime Minister could not do.

The prime minister's power was gradually replaced by the emperor, who wanted more power and no power to be affected.

Liu Xuan knew that he had to make changes after his father's death.

"The empire is becoming increasingly urbanized, and changes are needed. Cities cannot support too many people, while the countryside still has vast land to cultivate."

The emperor called it a path of freshness and purity, which alleviated food pressures through population relocation and also prevented various crimes... In short, it preserved the empire's dignity to the greatest extent possible.

The migrants and officials were covered in sweat. One official secretly unbuttoned his wet shirt when no one was looking.

Hundreds and thousands of people crowded together, ignoring their exhaustion and hunger, just wanting to see the sun they spoke of as soon as possible.

Liu Xuan spoke loudly into the microphone to the craftsmen on the construction site:

"The so-called counter-urbanization involves relocating a portion of the population to rural areas, which shows that the countryside is vast and has great potential! Great potential!"