The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 944, ranked ninth.
On December 19th of the fifteenth year of Tianbao (1837 AD), the Qi State Parliament held its seventh plenary session. A total of 3,687 members of parliament from various vassal states and colonies gathered in Tianxin City to discuss the abolition of the imperial system.

The imperial system has existed in the Great Qi for two hundred years. The empire was established with an emperor system from the very beginning, and most of the power in the empire still belongs to the emperor.

Like most time travelers, Liu Zhaosun was incapable of developing any system other than the imperial system; this was beyond doubt.

To maintain the greatness of the State of Qi, various grand narratives were used, emphasizing giving over taking, with the state being everything... Such things were the mainstream culture during the reign of Emperor Taizu. At that time, the Great Qi was an extractive state, and the people were merely fuel or cannon fodder for Emperor Taizu Liu Zhaosun's eternal hegemony. Of course, Liu Zhaosun never realized this.

Fortunately, the cannon fodder were all aware of their role. At that time, for most people, it was not so much that the State of Qi chose the imperial system, but rather that they themselves chose the emperor.

Before Liu Zhaosun established the Great Qi, the imperial system had existed on this land for two thousand years, from the unification of the six kingdoms by Qin Shi Huang to the martyrdom of the Ming emperor Zhu Youjian.

The imperial system had long been deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people of this land, and it was the choice of the majority. To put it more simply, the people of Qi needed to be governed, and that person was the emperor.

Whether the emperor chosen by everyone is a sage or a tyrant is not important.

The important thing is that people need to become slaves themselves, stable slaves.

As the saying goes, in times of chaos, a dog is better off than a human.

However, the public has now "awakened," and they feel that...
As for the extent to which this awakening originated from themselves, that remains unknown.

Importantly, the various vassal lords and local powerful figures now unanimously believe that Liu Xuan and the imperial system he represents must be consigned to the grave.

The empire is about to turn a new page.

The vast majority of councilors demanded the immediate abolition of the imperial system, generally believing that the various vassal states had neither the obligation nor the need to continue bearing the expensive daily expenses of Tianxin City.

People have discussed the heavy burden that Tianxin City placed on the various vassal states from different perspectives.

“The Pearl River system needs to draw hundreds of millions of tons of water from Tianxin City every year because tens of thousands of factories in Tianxin City have polluted the Han River to the point that it is unusable. If it weren’t for the Guangdong vassal state supplying water to Tianxin City, Tianxin City would have dried up long ago.”

Chen Jiong, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Council from Huacheng, submitted a detailed expenditure report. The report mainly included the various efforts made by the Guangdong Provincial Council to support the water supply of Tianxin City, including building dams, dredging canals, digging moats, and hiring river workers. The report showed that the Guangdong Provincial Council had to bear an expenditure of 300 billion yuan per year just for maintaining the dams, which was a huge expense.

Moreover, this number continues to grow as the population of Tianxin City continues to increase.

"In conclusion!" Chen Jiong concluded, "The Yue Fan is now incapable of handling these affairs. If they continue to exploit us to the bone, they will inevitably be unable to stop supplying Tianxin City in time, and the Yue Fan will probably no longer belong to the Great Qi."

Chen Jiong's last few words were less of a threat and more of a declaration of war against conservative forces and imperial power.

This statement immediately drew agreement from others. Indeed, the various vassal states had long suffered under Tianxin City's control, and to break free from its control, they had to abolish the imperial system first.

“Every year, 30% of the tea produced in Longyan is supplied to Tianxin City, and the price of the tea is almost half that of the tea sold to Europe. Despite such a low price, Tianxin City has never paid on time. If the tea supplied to Tianxin City were sold to foreigners, the Fujian vassal state would earn at least 80 billion yuan more every year.” Before the Fujian vassal state’s report had finished, a member of parliament from the Shandong vassal state also began to complain.

The conference lasted for three whole days, most of which was spent by representatives from various vassal states denouncing and criticizing Tianxin City, accusing the capital of having excessive and unsustainable expenditures.

As for the solutions proposed by the councilors, they generally fell into two categories. One was to immediately relocate the capital to North China, a region with a large population, convenient transportation, and developed commerce, such as Yanjing (Beijing). Of course, only a small minority advocated for relocating the capital. The majority of councilors strongly demanded the immediate abolition of the imperial system and the removal of Tianxin City's privileged status, allowing this inconspicuous county town at the end of the Danjiang River to return to its rightful place.

They generally believed that Tianxin City was just an expanded Junzhou, merely a former Ming dynasty prefecture. If it weren't for the presence of the Wudang Mountain royal Taoist temple, how much value would this small city have?

To some extent, the imperial subjects have fallen into the Tacitus Trap. They now harbor deep suspicion towards any order issued by Celestial City (and of course, all nations). Some have even completely reversed right and wrong. When Celestial City said that oil prices would rise, the oil merchants who had stockpiled oil did not earn a penny and instead emptied all the oil from their warehouses.

The so-called Tatau Trap is nothing more than a political science law, which states that when a government department or organization loses credibility, whether it tells the truth or lies, does good or bad deeds, it will be perceived as telling lies or doing bad deeds.

Perhaps this is what they mean by losing the hearts and minds of the people!
The public believes that the reason they work so hard yet receive such low incomes is that it's time to correct this.

Ultimately, the 19th century did not need an emperor. The privileged class centered around Tianxin City had become a veritable burden on the empire, and it was time to end all of that.

The parliament ultimately passed a resolution to abolish the imperial system and the capital city of Tianxin City with 3,320 votes in favor, 283 votes against, and 120 abstentions.

The councilors have only half a month to give the current emperor a chance to make a decision. If Liu Xuan can do it gracefully after half a month, that would be best. If he can't, someone will naturally help him to do it gracefully.

What if the emperor insists on not abolishing the imperial system and refuses to step down from the throne?

Considering that the emperor still commands a powerful and loyal central guard force, the imperial councilors have prepared for the worst and are urgently drawing troops from various vassal states as a precaution.

Everyone was terrified, because war might break out very soon.

On the day the parliament made its final decision, December 15th, the emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty, Liu Xuan, was not in the palace, nor even in Tianxin City.

This morning, Liu Xuan, accompanied by two personal guards, went straight out of the city. They traveled ten miles west and arrived at the Great Qi Imperial Mausoleum.

Several emperors did not pay much attention to the construction of the imperial tombs, so both the tombs of Liu Zhaosun and Liu Kan are now in a strange state. Forget about being magnificent, they are clearly dilapidated and do not look like the places where the emperors of the Great Qi Dynasty would reside after their deaths.

Liu Xuan and his entourage stopped in front of a mausoleum. Liu Xuan ordered his guards to neatly arrange the various offerings prepared beforehand in front of Emperor Taizu's tombstone, then dismissed the guards and knelt down with a thud before Liu Zhaosun's tombstone. He muttered to himself.

"If Emperor Taizu were alive, perhaps he would have a better solution... or perhaps, these are all unsolvable problems."

Liu Xuan did not show the admiration he should have for Emperor Taizu. In his view, Emperor Taizu's successful rebellion was due not only to luck but also to his own abilities.

“If necessary, I can abolish the monarchy,”