Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 752 Existence Determines Consciousness
As he grew older, Jia Lian gradually spoke less in public, because as people get older, they don't like to hear what young people say.

One thing was inevitable: the seed that Jia Lian had planted had sprouted.

When the original Dragon-Slaying Technique was transmitted to Europe, European scholars made numerous additions to it based on their local observations, which then benefited the country.

I don't know which guy brought back the relevant books from Europe, translated them, and published them.

The copyright fee was even specially sent to Mr. Ma in Europe.

The Paris Commune's feat not only inspired the people of Europe, but also gave young people in the country a new direction and path.

Empires may be powerful, but are they necessarily right?
The ideas of Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science, along with some other chaotic European ideologies, inevitably spread back.

Many people only discover this during archaeological digs, thinking, "Is that all? We've had this for ages, this is just a copy." Well, it's not exactly a copy; your system is more complete, but it's still geared towards Europe, and it doesn't match domestic systems.

In any case, at this historical stage, humanity's thinking about institutions entered a completely new era.

The Spring and Autumn Period saw the contention of a hundred schools of thought, and the same is true today, only this time it's the European era of the contention of a hundred schools of thought.

There are many virtuous and righteous people in China who, after reading, summarizing, and comparing some of the earliest versions in China, have come to the conclusion that the two civilizations are fundamentally different.

It is clear that Europeans are lagging behind; they are still stuck in the feudal era, and because of the more than 1,000 years of the Middle Ages, religion has a profound influence in Europe.

In contrast, after the separation of heaven and earth, a unified monarchical and divine power was achieved, and the indigenous civilization followed a secular path.

In Europe, however, things were divided: what belongs to God belongs to God, and what belongs to Caesar belongs to Caesar.

The two should not be confused; localization and adaptation are necessary.

Some people have raised this viewpoint, but it hasn't had much impact. However, a considerable number of young people in China have accepted this new idea, since it originated in China, was modified in Europe, and then returned. Most people are still discussing issues such as the relationship between the nation and the individual, efficiency and fairness, and so on.

It's hard to believe no one pushed this forward; after all, when it comes to power, frankly, the emperor's absolute power, the concept of absolute authority in law, is something many Chinese people, without witnessing the power struggles in the outside world, might accept without question. The problem is, if other countries, also industrialized and powerful, can establish constitutions to limit the emperor's power, why can't we?

It's hard to accept that the hard work and struggle of an individual and a family can be overturned overnight by a single word from the emperor.

Especially after the emergence of new social classes, they have amassed enormous wealth and are even more worried about their interests being taken away at any time. If such a situation occurs, it will not only be their wealth that is plundered, but also their lives.

And then there's that saying, "I am the state." The younger generation believes more that what belongs to the state belongs to the state, and what belongs to the emperor belongs to the emperor.

Crucially, another event occurred that had a significant impact.

The Donghua Federation was established, and from its inception, it was divided into the Northern Federation and the Southern Federation. In his seventieth year, Jia Zhi, the Chairman of the Northern Federation, officially announced that the Northern Federation would adopt a public ownership system, with all land and mineral assets belonging to the state. Private ownership was also permitted, resulting in a system where public and private ownership coexisted.

The Southern Federation still operates under an absolute private ownership system dominated by the Donghua royal family. Legally, land and minerals belong to the royal family.

It is truly one federation, two systems. Not only are there two systems, but there is also a Northern Federal Constitution.

That's right, the Northern Federation has established a constitution. Everyone believes that the Northern Federation's independence is only a matter of time.

This event had a huge impact domestically, and Jia Zhi was seen as a constitutional pioneer. The Donghua Federation was, in principle, still a vassal state of the Central Empire, and would still send tribute every few years.

But no one believed that this federation could continue to be a subordinate state and would eventually become an equal to the suzerain state.

The new emperor turned a blind eye to the actions of the Donghua Federation and continued with the status quo.

Let alone this new emperor, from Li Yuan to Li Wan, they never considered Donghua to be their own territory. Everyone knows the root of the problem.

Initially, the Jia family sent people to cultivate the land, gradually building it up bit by bit. Li Heng was there to reap the rewards. This was originally the Jia family's private plot, their escape route, their backyard.

The Jia family, built by Jia Lian, is seen by many Chinese as the most dazzling trendsetters of an era.

The main body of the Jia family is still in China, and Jia Zhi is just a branch. But everyone knows that the descendants of the Jia family have settled down and spread in Donghua, so the Jia family members will have choices in the future.

As for the calls to impose sanctions on the Donghua Federation, there are some domestically, and some even say that the Jia family are traitors.

The newspapers naturally erupted in debate about this matter.

The opposing side clearly argued that the system announced by Beidonghua, which disregarded hierarchy and social status, was an act of usurpation and treason. The supporters, on the other hand, stated that every blade of grass and every inch of land in Donghua was earned by all the people of Donghua, and that Jia Zhi, as the leader, was willing to relinquish his own interests—this was truly putting the public good first.

Arguments naturally involve mutual attacks! What's there to say?

The royal family's reaction has been unpredictable, as they have remained silent.

In reality, the new emperor summoned his trusted ministers to discuss how to deal with the situation, including whether to first eliminate the Jia clan members within the country. It's important to understand that Jia Zhi had set a precedent, fundamentally undermining imperial power. Even if he had declared himself king, the emperor wouldn't have been in such a sorry state. It's said that after the news was published, the emperor cursed and swore for an hour.

The emperor was persuaded by his trusted advisors to calm down, saying that Donghua is Donghua and Jia is Jia.

The emperor angrily rebuked his confidants, asking, "Does this mean I have absolutely no way to deal with the Jia family?"

The confidant told the emperor this: if the Jia family were to be harmed, the highly probable consequences would be as follows. First, the provinces of Southeast Asia, including Australia, Burma, and Anxi, would likely rise up to purge the emperor of corrupt officials. The emperor has treacherous ministers around him; otherwise, why would he have taken down the entire Jia family? The navy would most likely stage a coup. The princes of Dongping and Mobei would probably also encourage this. Second, the cause would be illegitimate; the Donghua Federation is still a vassal state, so there would be no legitimate reason for the uprising. Finally, once an uprising occurs, the vast majority of officials, gentry, and factory owners within the country would stand idly by, siding with whoever wins.

In short, taking action against the Jia family would be far too costly. With the new emperor on the throne, let alone suppressing dissent, the priority should be addressing the calls from emerging domestic powers to limit imperial authority.

The emperor could only keep quiet and even asked his trusted ministers not to speak.

No attitude—that's the emperor's attitude.

When the supreme imperial power is challenged, especially a challenge that strikes at its core, it would be strange if the emperor didn't grit his teeth in hatred.

But it was no use. After decades of development, no sector in the country was truly aligned with the emperor. Officials, the military, and civilian forces were all of one mind. To put it bluntly, while everyone could tolerate a supreme emperor in the past, now, after seeing the world and the situation in Northeast China, who wouldn't be tempted?

This is what the people want, this is the general trend.

The ban on the book "The Art of Dragon Slaying" back then ironically boosted its spread among the people, something Jia Lian had anticipated when he initially advocated for its ban.

With the popularization of education and the enlightenment of the people, this step will naturally come to fruition.

Social existence determines social consciousness. When new groups exist in large numbers, new consciousness will naturally emerge. They will naturally speak out for their own interests and will not sit idly by and wait to die.

Of course, the situation varies from place to place within China.

Coastal provinces, with their developed industries and commerce, have a stronger call for change. Central provinces, influenced by the coast, are roughly split in half, while western and northern provinces naturally tend to be conservative, preferring to maintain the status quo indefinitely. This is impossible, but once new ideas spread, young people are bound to be inspired.

During this period when calls for institutional reform were growing louder domestically, Europe experienced a brief period of peace. Countries began to focus on development and managing their colonies.

Of course, many things cannot be accomplished overnight; they require a period of preparation. In addition, this is an era of great development, and the pace of change in the intellectual sphere is not fast.

Initially, the requirements were quite simple: the imperial court must clearly protect private property from arbitrary encroachment by imperial and public power.

Similar calls initially appeared in the media, but the media outlets were quickly censored. The emperor's attitude was clear: you still want to rebel? Dream on!
I am the state, and no one else can influence me.

During this period, Jia Lian was truly quiet, and the Jia family was also very quiet. Jia Quan also retired from the navy, and Jia Yin rose to the position of Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, wanting to advance further, but he was unable to return to the capital for a long time.

The reason is simple: the emperor suppressed it, so he decided to let the officials serve outside the capital instead of serving as officials in the capital.

Many signs were evident. After Jia Yin retired from his position as governor, many of Jia's descendants chose to leave their homeland and develop their careers in places like Australia, Southeast Asia, Donghua, and Anxi. A considerable number of Jia Lian's grandchildren also chose to join the military. They were stuck in the navy and army, some reaching the rank of major general, others remaining as colonels, with little chance of advancement.

The emperor no longer bothered to hide his wariness of Jia Shi.

The Jia clan members did not cause any trouble and remained peaceful in the army. With their ancestors still alive, no one dared to cause trouble, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't. As soon as they made an attempt to organize, they were arrested and beaten by their own cousins.

Jia Shi, Jia Quan, and Jia Yin had a total of fifteen sons. Half of them were in the navy, with the worst being a ship captain and the best being the commander of the Nanyang Fleet. The other half were in the army, stationed in the Anxi Military Region and the Nanyang Military Region, which were Jia Lian's base of operations.

To put it simply, even when Jia's daughters got married, they would prioritize these places, and only secondarily choose people from the inland areas who had no official position.

The Jia family was not short of money, and the girls could choose their marriage partners at will. After marriage, the family would give them a dowry, and they could also receive a basic living allowance every year.

In fact, most of Jia's sons-in-law work in the business and education sectors.

Ten years later, Jia Lian turned one hundred and finally began to show signs of old age. He could still walk quite fast on his own without assistance, but he had to pretend he couldn't walk anymore.

Jia Lian's greatest pleasure now is writing something every day. He publishes what can be published domestically, and what cannot be published domestically, he takes to Donghua University for publication.

However, the very few items belonging to Jia Lian that cannot be published are actually quite rare.

Therefore, people often see Jia Lian's articles in newspapers every now and then, and the issues he discusses are usually historical issues.

In the last decade, Jia Lian's articles have focused on studying the differences between Eastern and Western civilizations.

When Jia Lian was 100 years old, something big happened in Africa: a giant gold mine was discovered in South Africa.

This time, the Boers and the British clashed. The British initially wanted to ask questions, but the Boers wouldn't listen.

The key point is that Germany has now risen to power, and Wilhelm II wants to compete with Britain in terms of navy and shipbuilding speed.

After this naval arms race began, the whole world was affected. All sorts of new ideas, which had been making waves for a decade, suddenly had their attention drawn to the global arms race.

The British declared that their fleet must be twice the size of Germany's. Let's get started.

When the Middle Kingdom saw this, they wondered, "What are you trying to do, Britain?"
No, we must keep up. So it was declared that the size of the Central Empire's fleet would always be 3:2 compared to the size of the British Navy.

Across the ocean, Donghua said, "It's less than double; we'll make up the rest. If the suzerain state wants to do something, just give the word, and we'll be there."

As a result, the value of Australian iron ore began to soar, and the Xue family became the richest family by selling iron ore. The emperor did consider taking away the Xue family's iron ore operating rights, but after testing the waters, he discovered that the army, hehehe, the navy, hehehe, and the cabinet, hehehe.

Then they had no choice but to stop and instead demand that the Xue family's iron ore be put on the market.

The Xue family stated that Australia was clearly recognized as their private territory during the reign of Emperor Qianzheng, and they have no plans to list it on the stock exchange.

The emperor's power had been restored, and he was furious, but it was to no avail. Now the emperor realized that only members of the imperial family and his maternal relatives supported his ideas and actions in order to implement them.

No wonder he targeted the imperial clan and relatives of the empress before he ascended the throne as crown prince. These people always encouraged the emperor to seize what belonged to others.

The saying goes, "All land under heaven belongs to the emperor," but in practice, it's a different story. You can become emperor because everyone approves of your right to be emperor.

When no one approves of you, the emperor's throne becomes unstable.

The emperor saw the crisis, but was helpless. The country was not only different from what it was fifty years ago, but even from what it was ten years ago.

Now, a problem is troubling the emperor. Since the time of Li Wan, the representative of the military within the cabinet has always been a member of the imperial clan. Now, some within the military are calling for a change, arguing that since the imperial clan's representative in the cabinet is not advocating for the military's interests, shouldn't they be replaced?
The emperor was terrified!

The unrest wasn't just happening domestically, it was happening abroad as well. The British formally made demands of the Boers and threatened to use force.

(End of this chapter)