The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 946 Contract
In the winter of the seventeenth year of the Baoda reign, in Kaiyuan, Liaodong.

Snowflakes fell thickly on Kaiyuan City, transforming this famous city in eastern Liaoning into a silver-clad world. The streets were sparsely populated, and shops along the way closed early. Only the boilers of the steel mills in the north of the city were burning brightly, bustling with activity. Workers shoveled coal into the furnaces, and the high-quality coal from Australia, thousands of miles away, quickly turned into thick black smoke. This smoke billowed from the chimneys, meeting the dense snowflakes, and drifted towards the horizon. Black and white met at the edge of the sky, seemingly dividing the world in two.

At the entrance of the coal plant, Director Ao and Director Sun whispered to each other, "There has been so much rain this winter, it's not easy that Liaodong coal can be supplied on time."

"It's a pity the emperor has already abdicated. I wonder if there's been any attempt to summon the crown prince to the capital to discuss matters and restore imperial power."

"The Crown Prince and the Emperor hold differing political views, a fact known to all. This is difficult."

As the birthplace of the Great Qi Dynasty, Kaiyuan has a natural respect for imperial power among its local people. As a conservative force among the various vassal states, they still firmly support Tianxin City to this day, unaware that Tianxin City may soon become a historical term.

Under a sky of black and white, the Kaiyuan General's Office stood proudly, with people constantly coming and going at the main gate, and two chief stewards...
Crown Prince Liu Beiji craned his neck to look at the gray sky, sighing from time to time, and quickly walked through a long corridor in the backyard, with two advisors following behind him like tails.

Just half an hour ago, a letter arrived from Tianxin City.

Since Liu Beiji was exiled to Kaiyuan, the old emperor living in Tianxin City has never sent any letters to his son, to the point that Liu Beiji suspects that his father has already passed away, and he has no way of knowing whether the one sitting on the dragon throne in Tianxin City has also passed away.

It's absurd to expect someone to give up everything just because of a sudden order.

"The old emperor has relinquished all power," an aide succinctly stated the essence of the matter.

Another aide, not to be outdone, continued his analysis: "This is for the sake of the royal family, a pledge of allegiance to the various vassal states. Your Highness, no one dares to touch us now."

we?

"Why was such an important matter decided on its own without consulting me?"

When Crown Prince Liu Beiji heard about the changes or reforms that had taken place in Tianxin City while he was in Kaiyuan, he was shocked.

The crown prince, who had guarded the northern border for over twenty years, could no longer contain his anger. He grabbed his aide by the collar and roared:

"Is the Emperor so muddle-headed that the ministers of Tianxin City are also making the same mistake? Are they just going to hand over power to the regional military governors and wait for them to rebel?"

The staff were all astonished.

No one expected the old emperor to relinquish his imperial power so decisively, and the parliament passed the relevant bill at lightning speed, as if the whole incident had nothing to do with the crown prince.

"Giving them that little bit of money every year, is that like feeding a beggar?"

Out of anger, Liu Beiji's expression twisted into an exaggerated shape as he recalled his father's original intention in naming him.

Liu Beiji was to be kept in the Arctic, far away from the troublesome place of Tianxin City.

The emperor had always wanted to escape power, and he wanted his children to stay away from power and away from Tianxin City as well. Although Liu Beiji did not go to the North Pole, he did leave Tianxin City and came to Kaiyuan in Liaodong, a thousand miles away from the capital.

"Back then, my father sent me to the northern border, saying it was for me to gain experience. I finally succeeded in my training, but the Liu family's empire was gone!"

Liu Beiji was indignant; clearly, this matter couldn't be left like this.

The two advisors looked at each other, clearly unwilling to get involved.

The crown prince, having finally calmed his anger, turned around and saw his two advisors still standing behind him, so he shouted:

How many troops do we have available to mobilize in Liaodong?

"Our... soldiers?"

The two advisors exchanged a glance and hesitated, clearly indicating that "we" here might not include the two of them. As for how many troops could be mobilized in Liaodong, they were actually quite clear about that as well.

"The personal guards under Your Highness's command are truly capable of great use..."

Liu Beiji looked slightly disappointed, clearly this was far from what he had expected. However, he still spoke with anticipation:
"What about the other troops? If we were to raise our voices now and call for the king to be respected and the barbarians to be expelled, how many troops would respond?"

"This, I'm afraid there won't be many." What the advisor meant by "not many" was actually none. There were no reinforcements. Apart from the Crown Prince's few dozen personal guards, no one else would follow the Crown Prince in "honoring the king and repelling the barbarians."

In the present-day Great Qi, the parliament represents the law. Through the tireless efforts of generations of virtuous and righteous people, the rule of man has been gradually abolished and discarded. Now it is an era of the rule of law. All affairs must have rules and regulations. Government orders are no longer issued by the palace, but by the parliament.

Parliament is everything; it can decide life and death.

"You mean, Father has already signed his approval?"

His father, without consulting him at all, arbitrarily divided the imperial power into many parts, but omitted the royal family.

This is not just reckless and willful, it's downright insane.

Liu Beiji was not enthusiastic about the so-called reform policies, and even quite resistant to them. In his view, the new policies that relinquished power were nothing more than a matter that no one had informed the Crown Prince about until he learned that his father was about to completely lose power, at which point Liu Beiji realized that he had to take some action.

""

Liu Xuan refused the request from the old guard to retreat beyond the pass, choosing instead to remain alone in Tianxin City, the place where his ancestors' imperial ambitions began.

A large group of royalists, including Crown Prince Liu Beiji, assured the old emperor that as soon as they crossed the Shanhaiguan Pass and reached Liaodong, they could immediately raise an army. Those in the provinces within the pass who missed the Great Qi would also rise up in response. At that time, with just one edict from the old emperor, the ancestral foundation could be restored.

Liu Xuan laughed and said:

Here, he will receive the respect due to a monarch, and will have no worries about food and clothing.

As for what will become of his descendants, no one knows.

Parliament cannot support too many idle people.

Parliament is now unwilling to even continue protecting the royal tombs.

At least funding for the mausoleum has begun to be drastically reduced.

The wise members of Parliament believed that the contract should be honored and the emperor should be paid every year, not a penny less.

If they hadn't done that, the State of Qi might have paid an even heavier price.

As for what the cost will be, no one knows yet.

His sons, grandsons, and nephews were quite dissatisfied with the abolition of the imperial system, and a group of members of the royal family wanted to restore the imperial system, on the grounds that they wanted to restore the glory of the Liu family.

No one remembers the pact signed with Parliament, as if the pact never existed.

I call it Qi Juezong.

The saying goes, "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers." It is understandable that tens of thousands of people died, or rather, it is only right that some people should die in order to get rid of the tyrannical rule of the Ming Dynasty, regardless of whether these people were aware of their own sacrifice.

"So you all support the policies of the founding emperor? Even at the cost of half the population of the Great Qi?"

The princes fell silent. That was indeed what they were thinking, but they couldn't say it directly.

It is unlikely that the iron-fisted policy will be restored. People have long been disgusted with the previous system. If they could, many people would immediately excavate Liu Zhaosun's tomb without any mobilization.

"The parliament must give us an explanation!"

"You have broken the contract, what more do you want in return?"

"They broke the contract first!"

The old emperor regretted not sending his son to study in London. Although they were father and son, the difference between them was so great that it was almost unimaginable.