The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 943 Abolition of the Imperial System
On the second day of the twelfth month, the annual cabinet meeting was held in Tianxin City, where the emperor and the prime minister listened to reports from all sides on the overall situation of the empire this year.

Militarily, the disarmament process in various vassal states is slow and the resistance from all sides is increasing. The target of reducing the army by 300,000 set last year has only been one-third completed. Moreover, the troops to be reduced announced by various vassal states are mostly old, weak and disabled soldiers. Tianxin City is helpless in this regard. If the matter is pursued further, it may cause more vassal rebellions.

In terms of finances, the total revenue of the various vassal states and colonies of the Great Qi this year was 120 trillion Qi Yuan, while the various expenditures of the imperial court amounted to 148 trillion Qi Yuan, resulting in a deficit of 28 trillion Qi Yuan. The extra expenditures were mainly concentrated on suppressing the rebellion in Annam and paying reparations to British merchants. Of course, the largest expenditure was on Tianxin City, which cost a staggering 18 trillion Qi Yuan in a single year.

Culturally, there's not much to report. The only notable achievement is that the Tianxin City Song and Dance Troupe's performances in European countries were wildly popular with foreign audiences, with their classic rendition of "Mandarin Duck Lake" running for over 300 shows, and tickets being extremely difficult to obtain…

~~~~~~~
After three long and tedious days of meetings, Liu Xuan rested for two days in the palace. On the third day, he ordered an audience with Prime Minister Liu Tongxun and Finance Minister Zhou Dashan.

Liu Tongxun was in a very low mood. Various vassal states had many complaints about the cabinet, and people generally believed that the cabinet had too little power and was too weak in the face of imperial authority.

Liu Xuan offered a few words of comfort to his relative and then invited the Minister of Finance to step forward.

Zhou Dashan handed over the imperial financial revenue and expenditure report for this year. The report was not good, mainly consisting of complaints from the vassal lords, who said that it was becoming increasingly difficult to support the high operating costs of Tianxin City.

Under European sanctions, the economic situation of Daqi can no longer be described as pessimistic; it can be described as dire.

Holding a telegram sent from Guangdong the previous day, Zhou Dashan reported to the emperor with great concern:
"The lord of the Guangdong vassal state said that it would be difficult for the vassal state to complete its tribute of three trillion Qi coins this year unless Tianxin City could reduce or exempt taxes on pearl harvesting, fishing, and shipbuilding. The lord of the Fujian vassal state said that the tea from Wuyi Mountain was sold to Europe and the profits far exceeded those in China. Therefore, the Fujian vassal state decided to reduce the supply of tea to Tianxin City this year. Similar situations have also occurred in the Jiangzuo and Xiang vassal states."

Every year, Tianxin City consumes tens of thousands of tons of rice and flour, as well as mountains of vegetables and fruits. Oil and cotton from the northwest are continuously supplied to the Han River and the Yangtze River, and tea from the southeast. The amount of other supplies is unimaginable.

Fish alone was supplied to the royal family in lavish fashion by various vassal states, including Zhenjiang shad, Taihu silverfish, Haimen herring, Jiangyin anchovy, Huguang fish vinegar, Fujian razor clams and scallops... In addition, Fujian lychees and longans, Zhejiang Huangyan and Jiangxi Nanfeng tangerines, Hangzhou Longjing tea, Fujian Wuyi tea, Yunnan Pu'er tea, Liaodong bear paws and deer tendons, Annam areca nuts and jackfruit, all of which cost a considerable amount.

"Your Majesty, if the requests of the various vassal states are ignored, Tianxin City may not last long!"

"I understand."

Liu Xuan gestured to the Minister of Finance to remain calm.

The situation was worse than the emperor had imagined. The various vassal states were showing increasing centrifugal force, and the people of Daqi were beginning to open their eyes to the world. They opposed the imperial system and all privileges. Why should the entire nation's resources be used to support Tianxin City? Why should the Liu family be able to continue the imperial line for ten thousand generations?

The monarchical system has been abandoned by the majority of the people of Qi. Tianxin City has also been abandoned by the world.

In the eyes of most vassal lords, Tianxin City was a burden, a burden that dragged down the entire country. This capital city, whose geographical location was not particularly advantageous, required a huge amount of imperial resources to maintain its existence every year.

Continuing the rule of the royal family was clearly no longer appropriate, and Liu Xuan faced a difficult choice: either maintain the imperial power until the empire was on the verge of collapse, or abdicate gracefully and allow the parliament to play a greater role.

Liu Xuan asked Liu Tongxun for his opinion on the current situation. The Prime Minister expressed concern about the future of the Qi Kingdom. The various vassal states no longer trust Tianxin City, and the implementation of every policy of Tianxin City will encounter unprecedented resistance. This resistance is fatal to the entire empire.

“The various vassal states felt insecure, fearing that Tianxin City could dismantle them at any time, and they needed a guarantee.”

"What guarantee?" Liu Xuan knew what the various vassal states wanted, but he still asked the question knowingly.

"Your Majesty needs to guarantee that you won't retaliate against them later, which is probably difficult to guarantee, so the only feasible solution is,"

The only feasible solution is for the emperor to abdicate permanently.

The era of unification is over. As it turns out, unification caused too much harm to the State of Qi, and all the drawbacks of unification are evident here.

"Abolish the privileges of Tianxin City, Your Majesty, and announce your abdication. This is the only solution."

Liu Xuan fell into a long silence.

The century-old legacy of our ancestors was ultimately destroyed in our own hands.

“If,” Liu Xuan asked cautiously, “if after I abdicate, the various vassal states wage war against each other, and the Great Qi degenerates into the states of the Eastern Zhou, what then?”

"No, that won't happen." The Prime Minister patiently explained, "After the Great Qi abolishes the imperial system, the parliament will continue to play its role. The parliament will maintain a considerable army to suppress any possible rebellions." Furthermore, the republic has taken root in people's hearts, and no one is willing to support the warlords' struggle for power anymore.

Everyone is starting to plan for the future, but where does the future of Tianxin City lie?

Liu Xuan decided to visit the mausoleum of Emperor Taizu.

~~~~~~~~~
On August 11, 1787, Wen Meng, a renowned scholar, finally arrived with his family at Shuainan Village, Shijie Town, Dongguan, which is the hometown of Yuan Chonghuan, after countless planning sessions.

The daughter slept at the inn until almost five in the afternoon. As the sun began to set, we woke her up several times and the whole family took a horse-drawn carriage to Yuan Chonghuan's mausoleum.

Before even reaching the memorial park, I caught a glimpse of the word "Chonghuan" on the road sign and my eyes welled up with tears.

Yes, at this very moment, I am finally in the hometown of Yuan Shikai.

A hundred years ago, Yuan Chonghuan walked from here to the capital, embarking on a gamble with his fate.

Wen Meng wandered alone in the cemetery.

"Many things happened to me in 1787. The Great Qi was in a precarious situation. One step forward was uncertain, and one step back was an abyss. I have opened the national history book countless times and spread out Xuan paper, wanting to write its story carefully, but my jumping fingertips suddenly stopped. I don't know where to start."

Yes, Wen Meng had written countless stories before this, although those stories had little to do with Yuan Chonghuan, and although those stories were fading into obscurity.

However, when he was about to write a story about Yuan Chonghuan, he hesitated.

Wen Meng was not a perfectionist; he simply wanted to write better and more realistically. In the words of the founding emperor, he simply wanted things to be as they were originally intended.

The evaluation of Yuan Chonghuan among contemporary scholars is difficult to describe in a few words.

Many people can recite memes like "It took three years to pacify Liaodong and then the capital" or "Peking duck".

Criticizing a famous figure like Yuan Chonghuan—whom many people may only know by name—is a way to gain attention.

Such is the way of the world; there's nothing we can do about it.

For Wen Meng, however, this trip to Shuainan was a pilgrimage.

He was not from Guangdong, much less a fellow townsman of Yuan Chonghuan from Dongguan or a member of the Donglin Party. He had just recently consulted a large amount of information about the State of Qi, and the more he studied history, the deeper his respect for Yuan Chonghuan became.

Some mysterious force compelled him to come here.

Therefore, when the enormous statue of Yuan Chonghuan, which was five or six meters tall, came into view, tears immediately blurred his vision.

The emotions came from the bottom of my heart, and I couldn't help but feel them.

Even after death, there will be no shortage of valiant generals; their loyal spirits will continue to guard Liaodong.

As the cemetery closes at dusk, only a few tourists are scattered throughout the vast grounds.

Let's come again tomorrow.

I had hot pot for dinner and walked two kilometers. I passed a flower shop and bought five flowers to take to Yuan Chonghuan's cenotaph tomorrow to pay my respects.

It's getting late. May you have sweet dreams tonight, and may Daqi have sweet dreams too.