Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1236 The King of Pleasure

A few days later, Charles II was formally crowned. He truly became King of England when the archbishop placed the crown on his head and the nobles attending the ceremony knelt before him.

After his coronation, Charles II issued several decrees as king, including pardoning the opponents from the time of Charles I and the leaders of the subsequent English Civil War. Of course, this pardon was limited; Charles II did not spare the Roundheads, the main culprits. He ordered the dissolution of the Roundheads and the execution of nine Roundhead leaders. The nobles and clergy did not object to this action. In their view, these executed Roundheads were the main culprits in Charles I's death, and it was their insistence that led to Charles I's execution. As Charles I's eldest son and the current king, there was nothing wrong with this action, whether from the perspective of national rule or avenging his father.

Besides, Charles II has already generously pardoned all the nobles except for the Roundhead Party, so why should everyone oppose this matter?

Furthermore, Charles II listened to the advice of nobles in appointing officials, bestowing considerable benefits upon some of his supporters and entrusting them with ministerial positions in important government departments. During this period, Charles II made three demands: the establishment of a cabinet system in the court, the implementation of a system for training and evaluating civil servants, and the appointment of Prince Hugh, who had just been granted a baronymny by the king, as Minister of Education and a member of the House of Lords.

The first point delighted the nobles. Initially, they didn't understand the cabinet system proposed by the king, but after Charles II explained the structure and powers of the system in detail, the nobles were instantly swayed by his explanation.

They never expected that the king would voluntarily relinquish power. Everyone originally thought that after Charles II ascended the throne, he would strengthen the king's power like his father Charles I, thereby suppressing the power of the nobility, and at the same time suppressing the nobility by controlling the elite soldiers he brought back from the East as the basis of military strength.

After all, Charles II’s actions after returning to London show that he did not agree to any nobleman’s suggestion to reorganize the royal guard, nor did he intend to recruit noblemen’s sons to participate in the palace guard. Instead, he had the thousand elite soldiers he brought back serve as his personal guards and stationed in the palace to ensure his own safety.

This move disappointed many nobles, but upon reflection, it was understandable. After all, Charles II had been in exile for many years, and it was normal for him to feel insecure upon his return. Perhaps as time went on and he became more secure on the throne, he would gradually lower his guard.

However, everyone also saw this as Charles II's wariness of others, believing that he might, like Charles I had, vie for power with the nobles. But to everyone's surprise, not long after his coronation, Charles II proposed in front of everyone the establishment of a cabinet system in the government. After understanding the core of this system, the nobles' previous concerns vanished instantly, replaced by ecstatic joy.

Under the cabinet system, the highest power in the kingdom's government shifted from the king to a system of shared governance between the king and the cabinet. The cabinet, composed of ministers from various government departments, is a special institution that sits above the government departments but slightly below the king.

The cabinet consists of one prime minister, one deputy prime minister, and the rest are cabinet members. In this way, once the cabinet is established, it can basically replace the king in directly managing the government. All the operations of government departments are the responsibility of the cabinet, which in turn is responsible to the king. The king's previous method of directly commanding the government has been changed to a structure in which the cabinet directly commands the government and is responsible to the king. This is equivalent to transferring some of the king's power to the cabinet, which is naturally a good thing for the nobles.

Even though Charles II imposed restrictions on the cabinet system at the same time, the cabinet only exercised the king's authority to a certain extent to manage government departments, and the real royal power was still in the hands of the king, a point on which the nobles had no objection.

Secondly, government affairs will be handled by the cabinet, but the king, as the highest military commander, will still control the military. The Grand Secretary, who will serve as the Minister of War, will assist the king in managing military affairs, and the prime minister will coordinate these matters. The nobles also agreed to this.

Finally, the cabinet, including the prime minister and its members, was appointed by the king and formed by various ministers of the government departments. Those holding positions had fixed terms, and a new cabinet had to be re-established upon the expiration of their terms. The king possessed the power to appoint and dissolve the cabinet, but not to abolish it. If the cabinet proved incompetent, both the king and the British Parliament had the power to impeach the cabinet or even dissolve and reorganize it. The nobles, after careful consideration, agreed to this, as the cabinet was only one part of the government and should naturally follow the same structure. Moreover, such a large pie couldn't be held indefinitely by a few people. Setting term limits and allowing for no-confidence motions or even dissolution and reorganization in case of cabinet incompetence or erroneous decisions were also quite necessary. With this significant benefit offered to the nobles, Charles II's remaining two conditions became insignificant.

Everyone knows Prince Hui; he was a foreigner who accompanied Charles II from the Ming Dynasty to England. Before Charles II returned home to become the true king, Prince Hui was one of Charles II's most trusted ministers. During Charles II's restoration, Prince Hui also did many things for him. Given this, now that the king has been officially crowned, it is only right to reward Prince Hui with a title of nobility in recognition of his contributions. Moreover, Charles II had previously communicated with the nobles and made concessions on the title of nobility, reducing the originally intended earldom to baron. Even for a member of the nobility, a mere barondom is not much, so if the king wants to grant it, then so be it.

The proposal to implement a civil service system, establish a new Minister of Education in the government, and allow Prince Hui to enter the Cabinet and the Senate was deemed acceptable after much consideration.

Moreover, Charles II was not entirely wrong in some respects. Due to the solidification of class, there were many incompetent members among the hereditary sons of nobles. Even if these people obtained high positions by relying on the glory and status of their ancestors, their actual abilities did not match their positions, which was indeed the current reality.

Moreover, Britain was one of the first countries in Europe to establish universities, and it already had many universities and academies. However, before the Renaissance, these academies taught courses that were too focused on religion and aristocratic culture, and lacked secular courses such as politics and natural sciences, which was indeed a problem.

Furthermore, the issue of upward mobility for noble children, including those from collateral branches, also needed to be considered. A family couldn't simply prioritize the heir to the title; what about the other children? This problem existed in most noble families, and the king's suggestion essentially opened up upward mobility for them. Once implemented, it would be a good thing for all the nobles. After careful consideration, they felt there was no need to oppose it, and some even expressed strong support.

Finally, Charles II smiled and told the nobles that his restoration to the throne was an unexpected joy, and that the future governance of the country would require their hard work. He admitted that his governing abilities were insufficient, and that being a king was already a stretch. Moreover, he was not good at handling political affairs, but rather more interested in art and entertainment. He decided to hand over the management of the government to the cabinet, which would make his reign much easier and give him more time to pursue his interests, something he had always longed for.

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter. They hadn't expected Charles II to be so agreeable, and so unconcerned about controlling royal power, voluntarily handing over some authority to the soon-to-be-formed cabinet. Wasn't this exactly what the nobles had hoped for? As for everything else, it was no problem at all. What did it matter if the king had his own hobbies? Which noble didn't have hobbies? Some liked women, some liked horseback riding, some loved hunting, and some were extremely skilled at painting. Some even had eccentricities, spending their free time milking goats on their country estates. This was nothing unusual in noble circles. The king was also a noble, just like everyone else; personal hobbies were no big deal.

Besides, if the king doesn't manage affairs, isn't that the same as delegating all power to the cabinet and the government? This is a welcome development for the nobles, so how could they possibly refuse?
Thus, Charles II persuaded the nobles with little effort, and soon established the first cabinet system in Britain while forming a government. After a series of struggles, the nobles selected the members of this cabinet, which were then submitted to the King for review and approval.

As he had said, Charles II readily approved the submitted cabinet list and then appointed the Prime Minister and other cabinet members in the name of the King. Thus, the British cabinet system was born under Charles II. Compared to the establishment of the cabinet system, the entry of Prince Hui, the newly appointed Baron Secretary of State for Education, into the cabinet and the House of Lords did not cause much of a stir. No one thought that it would be of any use for a foreigner like Prince Hui to serve as the Secretary of State for Education and to join the cabinet. In everyone's eyes, this was nothing more than a disguised form of compensation from the King to Prince Hui.

After the cabinet was formed, Charles II, as he said, did not interfere much in the affairs of government departments. Apart from regularly receiving reports from the cabinet and meeting with the prime minister to discuss matters, he basically left the affairs to the cabinet.

Most of the time, Charles II was busy with his hobbies, either discussing art with artists in the court or going hunting and playing with his guards. Even ordinary ministers often found it difficult to see the king. For this reason, the king, who was not "enthusiastic" about politics at all but busy with play, gradually earned a not-so-good nickname among his subjects—the Happy King.

(End of this chapter)