Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 382 Wearing the seals of three kingdoms at his waist, only I, Wang the Great Deceiver, am worthy of the name.

While "Wang Fugui" was wreaking havoc outside, "Wang Cheng," who remained in Donghai Kingdom, was not idle either.

One of the most important tasks was to chat with three "book lovers" of extraordinary status.

I chatted with Elizabeth of Britannia about Colonialism 2.0 and Mahayana Buddhism.
He chatted with the Crown Prince Yu, Han Zaiji, about the industrial revolution, navigation skills, and various overseas experiences.
He chatted with Philip II of the Franco-Frankish Empire about administrative reform and how to achieve centralized power.

His job, taken together, can be summed up in three parts.

Wang Cheng was initially a little confused. The first two were book lovers who highly agreed with his ideas and often chatted with him, which was fine.

Why would Philip II, the monarch of an enemy state, also join in the fun?

A mere title of Frankish nobility is not enough to easily sway a monarch's mind and make him truly consider him one of his own.

He later discovered that it was all thanks to the Supreme Crown.

Catalyzed by Alzheimer's disease, Philip II's memories of everyone else began to fade and become tarnished, but his memories of Wang Cheng, the creator of the crown, remained vivid and lively.

For Philip II, this had a natural guiding force, and coupled with his initial desire to seek help from Eastern wisdom, it was enough to make him lean towards Wang Cheng.

Of course, the king's logical thinking is still intact. If Wang Cheng wants to take advantage of the situation to trick him, he will have to put in more effort and go through a few more detours.

"Civil service examination system?"

Seeing Philip II across from him chewing on this new term, listening intently, Wang Cheng straightened his expression and began to give him a political lesson:
"As a monarch, you must know that one person cannot rule all people."

In order to achieve the goal of ruling over everyone, a monarch will weave an entire ruling class from top to bottom.

In this system, the monarch is the supreme ruler, and the highest interest group surrounding him is the supreme ruling group represented by him—the royal family.

The next group down constituted the middle and lower strata of the ruling class, namely the nobles and officials.

They are both the ruled and the ones who actually do the work. All the policies of the empire ultimately need to be implemented by this group of people, who hold a lot of power and opportunities for rent-seeking.

Therefore, for a monarch, the biggest problem is how to manage this group of people.

The feudal system in Western countries lasted much longer than that in China. Two thousand years ago, we already had a centralized system and had long gone through the stage of the Frankish Empire. We have also faced all the problems you are facing.

To summarize the crux of the problem in just six words: "Governing a country is about governing its officials!"

Philip II's eyes grew brighter and brighter, sensing that his core authority, the monarchy, was stirring restlessly.

Although the Western countries had many monarchs who ruled over countries roughly the size of the Great Zhao, no one had ever transformed the secrets of such rule into a systematic discipline.

Then, Wang Cheng continued:

Throughout history, dynasties have carried out countless reforms, all of which were essentially aimed at curbing the annexation of the means of production and limiting the ruling class and rentiers from exploiting the "producers" and hollowing out the foundation of the country.

However, no matter which reform is implemented, it will inevitably affect the interests of many vested interests, encountering significant resistance and even a bloody backlash.

Philip II instinctively sat up straight, straining his ears to hear the "true teachings" from Wang Cheng:
"In any top-down, moderate reform, the monarch or prime minister must replace one minority interest group with one interest group that can unite the majority."

Only by using one group to fight against another can one possibly succeed.

Otherwise, even a supreme ruler like the Son of Heaven, a true dragon, would be powerless; force cannot solve all the world's problems.

"Based on this, I suggest that the Empire first begin to centralize its administrative and bureaucratic systems!"
Administrative units at all levels selected and appointed a large number of civil servants who were not heirs of powerful noble families but were well-educated, through examinations.

These people usually come from the fringes of the empire's power, such as children without inheritance rights in noble families, unfavored offspring of minor branches, or heirs from wealthy families who have the means to receive an education.

Once it reaches a certain scale in the future, it can be further expanded to the elite among the common people, providing them with scholarships to support their studies and absorbing them into the ruling class.

These people's power and status depend entirely on you, and they will certainly be more loyal and efficient than hereditary nobles, making them an excellent tool for you to counter the great nobles.

Wang Cheng spoke eloquently, imparting all the political ideas he had summarized for later generations.

No one could tell that he was the same person as the killer who slaughtered all the Franks in Manila.

Philip II, as if receiving divine pronouncements, took a long time to process them before excitedly praising Wang Cheng:

"Your Majesty, you are very honest."

If you tell me you're going to immediately implement the "Decree of Grace" on the nobility, I'll definitely suspect you're harboring malicious intentions just like them.

Even though Philip II knew little about the history of China, his monarchical intuition told him one thing.

The prerequisite for using the Edict of Grace was that the central government must have sufficient military superiority and authority to suppress the resistance of the vassal kings, and it also required the supporting political system.

Otherwise, we will definitely face a fierce counterattack from the vested interest groups!
If the emperor of the Great Zhao Dynasty was easily soluble in water, wouldn't the king of the Frankish Kingdom be easily soluble in the sea? The inherent flaws of human nature are universal, and the underlying principles are the same.

"If we can first promote the formation of another professional bureaucratic group as you said, then we can compete with the great nobles."

When the time is right, we can truly promote the "Decree of Grace".

Because many of the former's groups are descendants of noble families without inheritance rights, they would go crazy and tear apart their fathers and brothers for their own benefit!
There's absolutely no need to worry about them teaming up.

Brilliant! That was a brilliant move! Hahaha!

Wang Cheng smiled modestly.

This time, the trap he dug was not obvious, but he successfully lured Philip II into it.

A theory that appears to be perfectly correct may be quite different in practice.

The Sui Dynasty was the first to implement the imperial examination system, and selecting talented individuals was a key step in weakening powerful clans.

And then?
There's no after that.

Emperor Yang of Sui acted too hastily, leading to the collapse of the empire, which lasted only two generations.

Sending Philip II, an Alzheimer's patient, to carry out this plan would absolutely cause major problems.

If there were no external enemies, he could have taken decades to gradually adjust.

But when surrounded by wolves, the beginning of internal strife marks the end of his hegemony!
Coincidentally, he was also the second monarch of the Franco-Habsburg dynasty.

However, just as Philip II himself said.

The Franco Empire was a complex monarchy that included Castile, Aragon, the Netherlands, parts of Esperia, the New World, and colonies in Southeast Asia.

Without a highly centralized bureaucratic system and unified command from the capital, it would be impossible to maintain the continued operation of this vast empire.

He has to jump into this pit whether he likes it or not.

So, Philip II was laughing, and Wang Cheng was laughing too:

"The most crucial thing is..."

Unlike the self-sufficient traditional aristocracy, most officials from humble backgrounds would inevitably choose to align themselves with economic interests and associate with merchants of lower status.

As long as this new class, represented by economic power, rises, it doesn't matter whether it succeeds or fails.

"Anything that creates a huge historical impact will elevate me, the holder of supreme economic power, to a divine status."

Therefore, this was not only Philip II's "royal ritual", but also Wang Cheng's "ascension ritual" prepared in advance for himself!
Even if it's too late to reach the third rank, it will still be useful for advancing to the second or first rank.

You might make a small profit, but I will never lose money.

At this moment, Wang Cheng added another assist:
“Your Majesty, I will have my mother-in-law, the real Princess Paleorog, replace my dukedom as a vassal of the Empire, setting an example for the imperial nobles.”

The fact that the legitimate heir of the Eastern Roman Empire could join Francis's imperial system was the best option Philip II could accept, second only to marriage.

I agreed without much thought.

Smiling warmly, she extended a heartfelt invitation to Wang Cheng:

"How can you govern an empire with those insects? Your Majesty, be my advisor and be in charge of building a new interest group."

This position is called the Cabinet in Da Zhao, right?

Wang Cheng readily accepted good advice.

"It's my wish, but I dare not invite you."

With a single sentence, he transformed himself, becoming a prime minister of three kingdoms, destined to become an international capitalist and a leader of the emerging class.

As Philip II disappeared into the two-way mirror, a slight smile played on his lips:

"How dare you make a move on my fox sister."

"When I enter the court without bowing, praise without using my name, and wear my sword and shoes in the palace, and even spend the night there, when you are abandoned by all, you will sooner or later find your blade on the walls of Xuanwu Gate!"

(End of this chapter)