Chapter 1290: A Sharp Stab

Urban Reform!

This had never been carried out in Longyan before.

So, as soon as this proposal from Liu Zheng came out, the whole room immediately began to buzz.

Everyone knew that after the constitutional monarchy, Liu Zheng was gradually and slowly stripping away the privileges of the royal family and the Noble class, as well as their influence over Longyan.

But...

Facing the powerful Liu Zheng, no one had any Method to refute him.

Community System.

This was the reform Liu Zheng intended to implement in Youzhou, including the administrative center of Youzhou.

He proposed establishing a small-scale parliament in Youzhou as well, with a parliamentary structure modeled after the Longyan parliament. This was not exactly a novel thing, because Liangzhou was doing the same thing nowadays. It was just that Liangzhou was Liu Zheng's base, so no one paid too much attention to how he tossed things about. Today, he intended to start such a reform pilot program nationwide, and that was a different matter entirely.

In Youzhou, there would no longer be any princes; an Inspector would be appointed, but the Inspector would no longer be a dictator as before, and the Prefect would be equivalent to the Cabinet Chief Minister of Longyan.

It would also be equivalent to a provincial governor in modern society.

And the various cities and counties under Youzhou would be the same.

Below the Inspector would be the Prefect.

And so on and so forth.

More importantly, there was the Community System.

From now on, there would no longer be any distinction between Noble districts, commoner districts, commercial districts, or ward districts.

Wards and markets would be interspersed.

And the Inspector and Prefects would no longer be appointed by the imperial court, but elected by parliaments at various levels. There would no longer be excessive requirements regarding the background or education of the candidates. Once the Inspector and Prefects were elected, the list would be sent to the imperial court; although the court would have veto power, it would also respect the choice of the people of Youzhou to the greatest extent.

Once this proposal was made, the whole room was in an uproar.

However, facing the repeated rebellions in Youzhou, those who opposed it also fell silent.

Indeed.

They had had princes in Youzhou before, but what had they done in Youzhou?

Not only did they give the people of Youzhou a profound sense of insecurity, but they also led their soldiers and the people to live in misery every day. But since ancient times, the orders of a prince were law. If he said to fight, they fought, which ultimately only led to their own soldiers dying at the hands of fellow Longyan people.

The people were naturally full of grievances, but they could not make decisions for themselves.

But if Liu Zheng's Community System were implemented, the situation would be different.

You want to fight a war?

Fine, you must first pass a vote in the parliament.

Youzhou wants to fight a war?

Fine, then you must first get the consent of all the cities and counties.

If the people feel it is a just war, then they will fight no matter what, but if it is not, then this war will certainly not be fought. This, to the greatest extent, put an end to the "tradition" of rebellion in Youzhou.

Liu Zheng had, of course, also considered the drawbacks of this system.

That was that it was easy for policies to be changed overnight and for them not to be implemented thoroughly enough.

But there was no help for it; to gain something, one must lose something.

After arduous negotiations and arguments.

Liu Zheng won, of course.

A decree was issued to the whole country.

The people of Youzhou were all excited.

When the Prince of Jin received this decree, he also let out a long sigh of relief. Recently, he had been stationed in Youzhou, and frankly, he had originally lost all optimistic thoughts about the situation in Youzhou. It was too chaotic; several rebellions had left deep scars on Youzhou. It was not just that the imperial court no longer trusted Youzhou, or that Longyan no longer considered Youzhou as one of their own. More importantly, it was the loss of the people of Youzhou's trust in the government.

While the Prince of Jin was waiting for orders from the imperial court, his Think Tank had actually been discussing this matter all along.

Youzhou must be saved.

Longyan could not abandon Youzhou, but how to save it?

To put it bluntly, however others tried to save it, it

would be in vain.

Only self-salvation would work.

But how to achieve self-salvation, that was unknown.

When he saw Liu Zheng's decree, he could not help but exclaim: "The Chief Minister is indeed the Chief Minister; his political wisdom is extraordinary!"

The others also echoed his sentiments one after another.

The Prince of Jin did not discount it at all and sent Liu Zheng's reform plan to the entirety of Youzhou.

In this way, Youzhou became lively.

Everyone became excited.

So their Youzhou could still be saved!

The imperial court had not abandoned them! They could still be a part of Longyan! They could still be Longyan people!

Moreover, Chief Minister Liu's Urban Reform was even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

In the past, the distinction between Noble districts and commoner districts had caused huge harm to the people, but starting from today, all of this would cease to exist.

They could walk on any street with their heads held high.

More importantly, of course, was the parliament!

They, the common people, could elect the governing officials they wanted! This was what they really wanted.

Since the imperial court still regarded Youzhou as one of their own, the common people treated this matter as a major event. Almost every corner had people discussing the reconstruction of the Youzhou administrative center.

It was bustling with excitement.

Liu Zheng looked at the letters in his hand; the current world landscape had already emerged in his mind.

Peter the Great had just died like that.

Then Longyan would have at least a few decades of breathing room. Why say this? Because Menshikov would be stirring up trouble in Tsarist Russia for a few years, and during this period, it would be impossible for Tsarist Russia to do anything to Longyan. Afterward, Peter the Great's grandson, Peter II, would take the throne, but this fellow was also short-lived; he reigned for only three years before catching smallpox and dying. Following that, Peter III's wife, Catherine II, would take the throne. Only then would Tsarist Russia continue to revitalize its power.

Catherine II, this was another resounding name.

She was the existence who, in history, proudly declared, "If God gave me another five hundred years, I could conquer the whole world." To become the second Great Emperor in the history of Tsarist Russia as a woman was quite impressive.

Of course.

Catherine II had absolutely no relation to Catherine I.

Catherine II's original name was Sophia.

She had a blood connection to the Rurik Dynasty of Tsarist Russia, and her father was a Duke of Germania.

Yekaterina was a name of the Eastern Orthodox Church, so Catherine I had also converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church before changing her name to this. Catherine II was naturally the same.

Of course.

These were all matters for later.

Since Tsarist Russia had already entered a chaotic phase, it would not receive Liu Zheng's special attention.

Because he knew that in the current world landscape, two great men were about to appear.

One was Napoleon of France.

One was Washington of America.

Washington should be making a name for himself in the near future.

At the Suez Canal, Britain was still constantly harassing the troops of Jiang Xuan and Nashadier.

Currently, Longyan's greatest enemy was still Britain.

Liu Zheng certainly would not mind stabbing Britain hard in the back.