Chapter 537: The choice to move the capital and the change in policy direction (first update)
At the beginning of 1860, the whole of Taipei fell into a sad atmosphere. Because at the beginning of the year, the imperial government officially announced that it would move the capital to Nanjing in ten years. In other words, in five years, Taipei will no longer be the center of political power in the Chinese Empire.
Once such news was announced, the whole of Taipei was in an uproar. Many people held demonstrations many times to ask Xiao Mingqian to cancel the decision to move the capital.
But all the upper-class people know that the relocation of the capital is irreversible. At the beginning of the founding of the Chinese Empire, everyone knew that the capital of the Chinese Empire could not always be located on the small island of Taiwan, and the capital would be moved sooner or later.
It¡¯s just that everyone thought Xiao Mingqian would move the capital to Beijing, but they didn¡¯t expect that he would eventually choose Nanjing.
In fact, Xiao Mingqian also wanted to regard Beijing as the capital at the beginning, but looking at the map of the Chinese Empire, most of the territory was in the south.
Beijing can be said to be the center of mainland policy, and if the Chinese Empire does not want to lose control of Southeast Asia, Australia, and even the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it cannot choose Beijing as the center of mainland policy. In the end, Xiao Mingqian chose Nanjing.
Although some people say that the dynasties that chose Nanjing were short-lived, even the Ming Dynasty eventually moved its capital to Beijing.
But at that time, because China¡¯s politics in the past were North-South politics, it was land politics. Xiao Mingqian never believed that the center of the Chinese Empire was on land, and that the vast ocean was the stage of the Chinese Empire. Nanjing, located on the west side of the Pacific Ocean, is undoubtedly the best capital choice.
Taipei is in mourning, while Nanjing is filled with joy.
Five years of development have made most people forget about the Ming Dynasty and completely accept the Chinese Empire.
At the same time, new education methods have also greatly improved people¡¯s national identity. At this time, the news that the Chinese Empire was about to move its capital to Nanjing made the people of Nanjing very excited. So for a period of time, there was a trend of wanting to live in Nanjing.
But the imperial government quickly stopped this trend, announcing that Nanjing was about to undergo large-scale reconstruction, and moving in was prohibited within ten years.
The original people in Nanjing were also required to cooperate with the empire's urban reconstruction plan and undergo temporary relocation. After the renovation is completed, they will be allowed to move back. Of course, they will receive extremely generous compensation during the ten-year relocation process.
It¡¯s just a temporary relocation. When you come back, you will get a house with three times the original housing area and generous compensation. Only a fool will not agree.
After all, although the Chinese Empire claims that citizens¡¯ property is inviolable, if someone refuses to move, theoretically the imperial government can¡¯t do anything to him. But don't forget that Nanjing has been under the rule of the Chinese Empire for only five years, and the people do not yet have such a strong sense of personal rights.
Since ancient times, people have not fought with officials, and they are still the emperor and the government of the entire Chinese empire. Therefore, after receiving generous compensation, all the people moved into the temporary resettlement center specially established on the east side of Nanjing City.
It is said to be a temporary resettlement site, but it was built as part of Nanjing City from the beginning, so its planning is also very good.
All the houses allocated to the people are three-story buildings, with transportation, commerce, education, factory distribution, etc. all available.
So all the people who moved in said that this was not a temporary resettlement, it was just for them to come and enjoy it for five years.
No matter what, the relocation of the capital is already a certainty, and no one can do anything about it. Whether it is the lost people of Taipei or the people of those cities that were expected to become the capital but failed to do so, they all finally accepted such a result.
By March, another major news spread across the world again. The sixty-eight-year-old Tang Hongsheng, the chief political officer of the Chinese Empire, submitted a request to the emperor to resign from the post of chief on the grounds that he was too old.
The emperor also accepted Tang Hongsheng's resignation request, and followed the trend, announcing that from now on, the post of chief political officer of the Chinese Empire would be held for a maximum of ten years, and he would have to resign after ten years.
This news shocked the entire Chinese Empire.
In the past, only officials who lost power would be dismissed by the emperor, especially officials who were subordinate to one person and more than ten thousand people. If there was no special reason, they would continue to die, just like in the Tang Dynasty. Du Ruhui.
Now Tang Hongsheng actually resigned without losing power, and the emperor also set such a rule, which puzzled many people.
In fact, Xiao Mingqian originally wanted to stipulate that there should be two terms, each term of five years. But when establishing the Chinese Empire, Xiao Mingqian wanted toIt was able to maximize the power of the entire Chinese Empire without introducing a parliamentary system, and the democratic system was also very backward, let alone political parties. From this perspective, Xiao Mingqian is also a dictator.
Therefore, in the end, the ten-year term limit could only be rigidly stipulated. However, Xiao Mingqian did not include it in the emperor's power when it came to selecting the commander-in-chief. Instead, the former chief minister and the chief ministers of each department will nominate three to four people.
Then let them compete in front of the emperor and all government and ministerial-level officials to select the chief of government. Generally speaking, it is still a kind of centralized democracy, at least better than before.
After Tang Hongsheng resigned, the new chief of government was won by Yu Yuxuan, who succeeded Wu Yundong as the chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a new campaign method.
The first thing Yu Yuxuan did when he took office was to formulate a large-scale military expansion plan for the Joint Staff. According to this plan, the empire will expand the army to 2.5 million men and the navy to 500,000 men within three years, and build and deliver more than 80 steam ironclad ships in five years.
Increase immigration publicity, promulgate new preferential policies on land use rights, encourage people from the Central Plains to migrate to Australia, increase investment in the Australian mainland, and comprehensively cancel industrial restrictions on the Nanyang region and the Australian mainland to achieve full control of the Nanyang islands. and the purpose of mainland Australia.
In terms of diplomacy, the Chinese Empire will appear in front of all countries in the world in a more tough stance. Increase the military power of the Chinese Empire along the Indian Ocean coast and march into Burma to seek a closer outlet to the Indian Ocean.
Strengthen military power in the Middle East, subdue the Iranians, and expel the power of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East.
In addition, the Chinese Empire will organize a Pacific Ocean Fleet within five years and begin exploring the North American continent. Seize the greatest benefits on the North American continent.
The last point is to formally declare war on Japan on the grounds that Japan signed an offensive and defensive alliance treaty with Ming Dynasty.