At the Royal Palace, the study room.
"Your Highness, Prime Minister, asked me to send you this report," Qin Bo handed over the documents to Zhao Lingxin.
"So, Tongzhou is accomplished, right?" Zhao Lingxin received the documents. During this time, the most important matter of the empire was the Tongzhou. It is only a matter of time for the city of Tongzhou to return to the center.
Right now, the Imperial Army had about three divisions. The 1st Brigade was in the north under Major General Song Zihua. The 2nd Corps was under the command of Major General Li Fengyang. As for the 3rd Brigade, the Military Commission allocates troops and maintains order within the kingdom, both the capital and the occupied districts.
The territory that just returned to under the supervision of the federal government. It is necessary to take time to dissolve. During the transitional period, these districts' regulations must be in line with the capital to have the same standards throughout the country.
Most people are familiar with the old rules. If left for a long time, it will become a big problem like a time bomb waiting to explode. Therefore, it is an important duty of the government and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take care of it closely.
Also, the government has laws and policies that conflict with the interests of many people. Such as labor law, which covers labor protection and sets the minimum wage rate. As a result, capitalists outside the capital are very dissatisfied with this law. If they comply with this Labor Law Act, it will cost many capitalist traders. Which is something they cannot accept.
They took action against this law very much and called for the government to protect capitalists, causing a lot of humor to Zhao Lingxin if Zhao Lingxin was mad to enact a law to protect capitalists, fear that soon the country would have developed a communist ideology to overthrow the capitalists.
In the south, there are also big problems. The Basic Education Act is a catalyst for intense conflict. Intellectuals have been dissatisfied with this law since the government announced it allowed the general public to send their children to have an education.
This law directly has an affect on the intellectuals. They cannot accept an ordinary person to get an education because it will diminish their identity and status. These intellectual groups are much more difficult to deal with than the capitalist traders.
Intellectuals protest in many cities in the south, especially centers such as Tsinghua City. Calling for the emperor to obey the royal law to repeal this law and bring the chancellor system to replace the cabinet system.
They also demanded that Zhao Lingxin reopen the exam to accept intellectuals to become nobles. They all claim that only intellectuals can rule and develop the country.
Protests spread to many cities. Intellectuals groups assemble a list of petitions asking the emperor to support the intellectuals once again.
As a result, the military must be in charge to secure the peace. All these duties became the duty of the 3rd Brigade, tens of thousands of soldiers controlling the crowd to keep the peace.
All these made Zhao Lingxin a shortage of troops in the suppression of the Eastern region. Don't look at how easily Zhao Lingxin could summon soldiers; it cost a lot of money. Despite high fidelity, the summoned soldiers were still human beings. They had to drink to eat, and needed to allocate a large amount of salary. Now the imperial army is the government sector that consumes the most budget.
Even though the empire was wealthy but it can support only three divisions. If there are more soldiers, afraid that the government will take too much of the financial burden and cause problems. The empire had just merged, and the two regions were in great trouble to deal with.
Which is very lucky, Tongzhou seized power. The Council for Peace of Tongzhou took a compromise and returned to the center again. The government would gladly use the diplomatic force to fix it. It would be better than sending out troops. Dongzhou is the most distant city from the capital. If an army is being sent out, a large supply of maintenance will be required.
Zhao Lingxin read a report on the negotiations between the government and the peacekeeping mission. It was found that the Council for Peace took many steps back and agreed to pay substantial damages. This matter, the government has gained and can integrate the Eastern region back in hand again.
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs is doing very well. Captain Li Wei, who was sent to negotiate, gave the best for the government," said Zhao Lingxin.
Both sides reached a preliminary agreement. The leader of the Peacekeeping Council of Tongzhou Gu Heng agreed to the signing of the Council of Peace's termination, assigning administrative power to the government. In exchange Zhao Lingxin issued an amnesty decree, no court trial, and the merchants in the town of Tongzhou to pay up to 12 million yuan in damages.
This money will allow the government to fund many large projects.
"Your Majesty, I do not agree to allow merchants to take part in politics," Qin Bo objected. As the secretary-general minister. He knows some of the terms with the peacekeeping corps. Qin Bo disagreed with Zhao Lingxin agreed to allow merchants to enter the political arena.
Since ancient times, there has never been a merchant to rule the country before. Only the Third Prince breaks this custom. Although Zhao Lingxin would implement a law that favored many capitalists, Zhao Ling Xin had never let the capitalist come to power once. Also, the power of the empire centered on the cabinet. Qin Bo could not imagine what role the capitalist merchants would play.
Zhao Lingxin knew that Qin Bo was opposed to this, so he said,
"Qin Bo, do you know what the state economy is like now?"
"Of course I know. The empire's economy flourished like never before. It was indeed, His Majesty's capability," Qin Bo replied.
Now everyone is aware, the empire's economy is taking a relentless leap. The living conditions of the people have never been better in the history of the Yanhuang Continent. Even if you go back thousands of years to the human empire before the Martial Artist's birth. The living conditions of the people of that time could not compare with the people of the empire. But there is also an underlying danger. Which ordinary people do not notice this matter. It's a problem tucked under the rug without people paying attention.
"Qin Bo, do you know about the three major companies of the empire?" Zhao Lingxin asked.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid there is no one in the empire who doesn't know them," Qin Bo replied.
The three companies are Sun Technology Company, Wan Shing Industry Group, and the Deng family shipping company Industry. Monopolies most of the empire's merchandise now. All over the place in Shenzhou City, there were only products of these three companies. Even many government concessions are in their hands.
"Qin Bo, they are growing too fast, there will be a problem soon. I want to bring the merchant of Tongzhou to join this group," said Zhao Lingxin.
The three big companies are the most powerful capitalists right now. If they continue to remain a competitive monopoly, free trade is hard to come by. As a result, the product is inferior in quality, and its price will go up. This was something that Zhao Lingxin did not want to see the most. But it's hard to find anyone to compete with them. However, now that Zhao Lingxin had a choice, it was the merchant of Tongzhou. They lived in a port town, doing business, as rich as the people of the capital.
If they compete in the market, the three big companies could no longer monopolize. Creating an atmosphere of free trade competition Zhao Lingxin wanted to push the eastern capitalists to balance the empire's power again.
Tongzhou City merchants, if they had obtained the production technology, would certainly not be inferior to the three giants. These merchants will help the empire to grow at great speed. In other words, the territory of Dongzhou was the area that Zhao Lingxin wanted the most right now.
"Your Majesty, if this is the case, I would have understood. But why do we need them to enter the circle of power?" Qin Bo was still skeptical of this point.
"At some point, the capitalist traders will have more and more assets, and at that time, they will be a problem."
Modern free trade will give capitalists a terrifying wealth. When that time comes, they will crave power, use the money to bribe the top leaders. However, Zhao Lingxin's minister was entirely loyal to him. They will never do anything treacherous. When merchants are powerless, they will secretly take on resistance. Looking for a way to undermine the country to gain power, they will hide behind events to shake up national security. If they succeed, the capitalist will become the ruler instead of Zhao Lingxin.
Zhao Lingxin did not want such an event to happen. So he opened a path for capitalists to play a political role. Show that even though he is the Emperor, he can allow them to have some of his powers.
"Your Majesty, how can we empower them?" Qin Bo said curiously. Because today the Cabinet is full of people of the Emperor. It is difficult to share this power with outsiders. All positions are perfect. Qin Bo couldn't figure out how Zhao Lingxin would solve this problem.
Zhao Lingxin had long prepared a way out. By cabinet discussions, they decided to conduct domestic business in a modern monarchy. Still retains the Emperor's power, the supreme ruler of the empire.
"I will establish the Imperial Parliament. It was part of the power within the empire. Elect them to be members of the council. This will be a platform that allows them to enter the circle of power," said Zhao Lingxin.