Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After the imperial court makes a decision, it will inform the local authorities.

The current imperial court has a well-established procedure: after each court assembly, the events that occurred and the decisions made at the assembly, as long as they do not involve secrets, will be published in the "Imperial Gazette".

The Imperial Gazette was a mandatory subscription for all government offices, and it would be delivered to them regardless of distance.

At the same time, in order to publicize the court's policies, the Office of Transmission would publish articles in newspapers such as the *Beijing Daily* and *Ming Pao* under the name of the Great Ming News Agency.

The content in the official gazette is generally allowed to be reprinted.

Major newspapers would select articles according to their needs, and some would even arrange for writers to interpret and explain the court's policies.

It can be said that in issuing this order, the Ming Dynasty News Agency had already achieved Zhu Youjian's goal.

If ordinary people are interested, they can collect most of the decisions made in the imperial court.

In addition, the preparation for parliamentary proceedings gave ordinary people the power to participate in politics and deliberate on state affairs. Newspapers that introduced national affairs were very popular, and many people even subscribed to the "Official Gazette".

Sometimes, when the mood strikes, some people will even submit comments.

Newspapers mostly praised the court's standardization of the official system and the replacement of officials according to regulations, believing that this was the proper way to restore the rites and music.

Some people have also made various suggestions regarding the current official system. They even went to the preparatory office of the National Assembly to request members of various committees to put forward relevant bills.

Under these circumstances, Liu Lishun returned to Beijing from the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area.

He was commissioned to establish the Shuntian Prefecture Council, and the emperor, his officials, and the common people all hoped that he would successfully establish it.

It can be said that Liu Lishun now carries the hopes of the emperor, his subjects, and the people. Everyone hopes that he will use his experience in preparing for the establishment of the Shuntian Prefecture Council to build a successful council.

However, after arriving in the capital, Liu Lishun did not immediately take action on this matter. Instead, he asked the emperor what powers should be given to the National Assembly and local councils.
"What kind of power?"

"Wasn't that made clear before?"

"It refers to the powers of formulating laws and regulations, reviewing taxes and corvée labor, and supervising officials."

"You can look at the fifteen committees under Congress; they all have relevant powers."

The role of the parliament was very clear: Zhu Youjian wanted to use this institution to collect taxes, thus granting them financial power.

Then, in order to reform the system, the parliament was given the power to formulate etiquette laws.

The new system of rites and laws was established through a process of joint discussion among the emperor, his ministers, and the people.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian also wanted to use the parliament to check and balance officials and divide scholars, giving them the power to supervise and impeach officials.

Besides this, parliament has limited power. It is not the highest authority, nor does it have the power to elect officials.

Only the senior ministers of the Advisory Council are qualified to participate in court deliberations and trials.

The imperial court was the highest authority in the Ming Dynasty, an institution that handled state affairs under the emperor's supervision. The parliament was merely one of the court's institutions, with a status equivalent to the five branches of government.

Liu Lishun was certainly aware of this, and he reported to the emperor:

"In that case, I believe these powers should be clearly stipulated in the Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention."

"How the National Assembly and Parliament convene should be recorded in the Great Ming Code, just like the court assembly."

Upon hearing this request, Zhu Youjian immediately understood that Liu Lishun needed institutional guarantees from the parliament to prevent the project from being abandoned halfway.

Although the "Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention" is still being drafted, it is unlikely that the articles that have been finalized will be abolished.

Including the powers of Congress and Parliament in it will become common knowledge.

The future Ming Dynasty parliament will certainly not oppose these provisions.

After pondering the reason why Liu Lishun raised this point, Zhu Youjian asked him:
"Are there any criticisms of the parliament from the public?"

Are there many people who oppose this?

Liu Lishun gave a wry smile and explained:
"There aren't many who oppose parliament, but there are various debates about how parliament should be organized and what powers it should have."

"Some officials believe that the parliament is only responsible for assisting in tax collection and are unwilling to accept public oversight or listen to public opinion."

“Some people believe that all power should be given to the parliament, just like the parliament in Heung Shan O, which can control the appointment of officials.”

"There are far too many arguments. I believe that the powers of parliament should be defined before a larger parliament is formed."

This cautious attitude earned Zhu Youjian's approval.

He had also heard of related debates, such as those by Huang Zongxi, a disciple of Liu Zongzhou, who proposed that "all power should go to the parliament."

However, in the capital, where the imperial court held the most power, this view had no place at all.

The general consensus was that the imperial court governed the country, and that the parliament and parliament were merely institutions for reflecting public opinion.

Zhu Youjian hadn't paid much attention to this before, but now that Liu Lishun mentioned it, he realized that these ideas weren't without a market.

Those in Jiangnan who did not obey the imperial court probably agreed that "all power belongs to the parliament."

Some officials who are used to acting like local tyrants do not want the parliament to check and balance them.

The two groups have very different attitudes toward parliament, and they may even come to blows.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian's attitude towards these debates was to suppress them as much as possible. He didn't want endless arguments, and his conclusion was to implement a parliamentary system, even without an emperor.

Huang Zongxi, a historical figure, wrote "On the Origin of the Ruler," arguing that the monarch was a great scourge to the world.

If this major discussion is initiated, this viewpoint will likely emerge in the world as well.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian had no intention of discussing this matter. His attitude was to do without speaking, to organize the proposal meeting according to his own will, and to ignore the debates.

Given the Confucian attitude towards loyalty to the emperor, the people of the Ming Dynasty would generally accept the emperor's actions as long as they didn't go too far.

Zhu Youjian only needed to choose a suitable system to implement it before the controversy erupted.

He prefers a semi-parliamentary system, which is the model for the operation of state institutions established in France, a revolutionary base area, over hundreds of years of revolutions.

However, unlike the semi-presidential and semi-parliamentary system of the Fifth French Republic, the Ming Dynasty had a monarch and did not require voters to elect a president.

The future monarch of the Ming Dynasty should be considered a hereditary president, with the power to appoint cabinet members, preside over cabinet meetings, promulgate laws and regulations, and command the army.

At the same time, the cabinet is accountable to both the emperor and parliament. When parliament impeaches a cabinet minister by passing a vote of no confidence, the minister should resign, and a new cabinet minister should be appointed.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Zhu Youjian said:
"The powers of Congress and Parliament should indeed be discussed."

"Therefore, members of Parliament will be invited to participate in the morning assembly on April 16."

"Feel free to share any ideas you have, and let's establish the overall rules."

"The National Assembly is the court's assembly, part of the new ritual and legal order, and its power should be guaranteed by the 'Great Ming Ritual and Legal Convention'." The proposal from Liu Lishun was accepted, and a court assembly was held to resolve this issue.
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Liu Lishun was overjoyed to see that the emperor had adopted his suggestion.

Then he heard the emperor ask:

"I am transferring you back to Shuntian Prefecture, not only for the sake of the parliament."

"We also hope that you can extend the policies of the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area to Shuntian Prefecture."

"In the future, the development of Shuntian Prefecture will focus on industry and commerce, and all institutional aspects must be cleared to remove obstacles to the development of industry and commerce."

"While you are preparing for the parliament, you will be in charge of the industrial and commercial planning, and you will be in charge of etiquette and law and industry and commerce in Shuntian Prefecture."

Liu Lishun hadn't expected the emperor to have this reason for recalling him, but thinking about the development of the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area over the past two years, he understood why the emperor did this.

Compared to agriculture, the growth rate of industry and commerce is too fast—

Increasing agricultural production is very difficult. Improved seeds, irrigation, and fertilizers are all indispensable. Apart from large-scale land reclamation, the annual growth rate can only be a few percentage points at most.

The industrial and commercial sectors are different; they can grow by more than ten percentage points, or even double.

Especially after pooling funds and industries from various regions, the speed of development is astonishing.

The Suzhou-Songjiang New Area has expanded from an ordinary county in southern China to a major industrial and commercial hub with an annual output value of millions of yuan in just two years.

This is because the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area has gathered advantageous industries in the Jiangnan region, and more and more people are relocating their workshops there.

If all the districts and counties of Shuntian Prefecture were developed into the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, all the wealth in the world would gather here.

Realizing this possibility, Liu Lishun suddenly understood why the emperor, under the guise of "emphasizing agriculture," had established high-standard farmland standards—

Apart from Shuntian Prefecture and Susong New Area, other places are not allowed to compete for high-standard farmland with industry and commerce, nor are they allowed to pollute the soil, water sources and air.

This is clearly forcing the world's industry and commerce to gather in these two places. Shuntian Prefecture will, like the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, usher in a period of great development in industry and commerce.

How to receive these people was a concern for Liu Lishun. After pondering it, he said to the emperor:

"The reason why the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area has developed so rapidly is mainly due to the establishment of various industrial parks, which brings together the surrounding businesses that operate in the relevant industries."

"Like the Mingzhi Press Park, we will gather talent and improve technology. Then, the association will coordinate prices and reduce the cost of raw materials, and with the support of the imperial court's procurement, we will develop rapidly and defeat related industries in various regions."

"If Shuntian Prefecture wants to develop like the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, I believe that it should also establish industrial parks of this kind."

Zhu Youjian nodded, approving of the strategy.

The industrial park economy developed under his guidance, and the Mingzhi Press Park, which almost dominated the news industry, was the most significant achievement.

Mingzhiyuan has almost become synonymous with the press. Even after the printing workshops moved out due to pollution problems, a large number of newspaper offices and newsrooms still gathered here, and the area has expanded into the publishing industry.

This area is the most well-informed place; they know more about everything, big and small, that happens in the imperial court than even the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Because of this, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who were assigned by Zhu Youjian to protect the safety of reporters, paid more and more attention to this source of information, and placed a large number of people in the press to develop peripheral influence.

The taxes paid by this industrial park are also staggering. Because of this, various districts in Beijing are planning industrial parks.

Similarly, the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area planned various industrial parks when it was established to support the already prosperous textile, shipbuilding and other industries in the Jiangnan region.

Now that Liu Lishun intends to do this in Shuntian Prefecture, Zhu Youjian asked him:
"Does Liu Qing think that the industry and commerce of Shuntian Prefecture are concentrated like the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, or scattered across various districts and counties like the sand and gravel industrial park in Zhuolu District?"

"A sand and gravel industrial park?" Liu Lishun was taken aback. He hadn't expected that Zhuolu District, where he had previously worked, had also established an industrial park.

This industry was developed under his leadership, and thanks to the large-scale road and city construction undertaken by the imperial court in recent years, the industry has flourished.

Therefore, after Zhu Youjian appointed Shang Zhouzuo, the Minister of Works, as the Governor-General of Beizhili last year to promote the development of industry and commerce in Beizhili, Zhuolu District was approved to establish a sand and gravel industrial park.

Even Yihezhuang in Zhuolu District is planning to build a pigeon cage industrial park to provide cages for the booming pigeon breeding industry in Beijing.

This all started during Liu Lishun's tenure, so Zhu Youjian specifically asked him whether he wanted to build industrial parks in all districts and counties of Shuntian Prefecture, following the example of Zhuolu District.

Liu Lishun thought for a moment and said:

“If a county has an industry, it is not impossible to establish an industrial park.”

"However, I believe we should be cautious in places where there is no foundation."

"If all districts and counties rush to build the same industrial parks, they will compete with each other and waste resources."

"I will visit various districts and counties to investigate whether we can establish corresponding industrial parks based on the existing industries in each district and county."

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with his cautious attitude and praised him, saying:
“Industrial development should not be rushed, so I have ordered the Ministry of Works to plan industrial parks in various regions.”

"Zhuolu District has advantages in the sand and gravel and pigeon cage industries, and it is easy to develop on this basis."

"Whether other places have similar advantageous industries needs to be carefully investigated."

"If so, we will plan industrial parks to promote them."

"If we don't have it, then we'll cultivate it and strive to have one industry per county."

"I hope that each district and county in Shuntian Prefecture will have its own distinctive industries, and that these industries will serve as the core to drive the development of the district and county."

Upon hearing the phrase "one county, one industry," Liu Lishun had a flash of inspiration and understood why the emperor had made this arrangement.

This approach treats Shuntian Prefecture as a larger Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, dispersing industrial parks across various counties.

This approach should have advantages, as manpower and land are hardly a problem.

However, there are also disadvantages. If industries are related but far apart, logistics costs will be high, which is not as good as the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area where they are clustered together.

Therefore, Liu Lishun requested that an industrial park similar to the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area be established in Shuntian Prefecture. Industries with significant connections could be located there.

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and said:
"I know that industrial clustering has its advantages."

"Industrial parks can be planned along the Beijing-Tianjin Grand Canal and railway and highway lines."

"In this way, the various industrial parks can be connected by water and land transportation, and develop in cooperation with each other."

"In the future, all districts and counties in Shuntian Prefecture will be connected by highways and railways to facilitate the transfer of products."

"Shuntian Prefecture can discuss transportation planning schemes with the Court of Imperial Stud."

This was another policy of support for Shuntian Prefecture, allowing it to use the funds from the Imperial Stud to improve internal transportation.

Furthermore, with the Minister of Works concurrently serving as the Governor-General of Northern Zhili, the imperial court's support for Shuntian Prefecture was quite evident.

As the deputy prefect in charge of etiquette, law, industry and commerce, Liu Lishun's task was to make good use of the imperial court's policies and develop the industries of Shuntian Prefecture.

The formulation of various rules and regulations should also remove obstacles to the development of industry and commerce. (End of Chapter)