Just like yesterday morning in the Jinyiwei squad room, Xiang Xiaoqiang was also awakened by the chirping of birds this morning. But yesterday it was the chirping sparrows that woke him up, and today it was the thrushes and larks with their melodious and noble calls.
The "Constitution of the Ming Dynasty" held in Xiang Xiaoqiang's arms fell to the ground. He picked it up and patted the dust, thinking back to some chapters he briefly read before going to bed last night.
The constitution was written in traditional Chinese characters vertically, which made him feel dizzy. He mainly read the articles related to the emperor.
There are a few that left a deep impression on me, and I still remember them the next night:
...The Emperor is the symbol of the Ming Empire and the entire nation of the Ming Dynasty. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable...
...The throne of the Emperor is hereditary and must be inherited by the legitimate descendants of the Emperor...
…When the emperor dies, the throne will be inherited by his legitimate descendants in the order of eldest, youngest, male first, female first...
...If the emperor's eldest daughter has reached adulthood (18 years old) and the emperor has not yet given birth to a prince, he will make the emperor's eldest daughter the heir apparent...
...If the new emperor is a woman, the prince born to the queen must take the national surname, that is, "Zhu" as his surname...
…If the emperor has no heirs, the throne shall be passed to the legitimate descendants of the emperor’s parents and grandparents who are within the order of succession...
Thinking of this, Xiang Xiaoqiang understood why "Miss Zhu" could also inherit the throne. Presumably in the Ming Dynasty, there were more girls than boys, and the relationship between them was often cut off. The royal family was no exception, and it was a last resort to allow princesses to inherit the throne.
Although Zhu Yourong's own surname is Zhu, her husband will definitely have a foreign surname in the future. Then according to the constitution, a prince will be selected from her children, and his surname will be Zhu. The other children will follow their father's surname according to normal practice.
This means that starting from the generation of Empress Changping three hundred years ago, the blood of the Zhu Ming royal family has become impure. Empress Changping married Zheng Chenggong. It can be said that her next generation is actually a descendant of the Zheng family.
The surname Zhu was just a facade, ensuring that the Zhu Ming Dynasty would continue to have incense in name only.
The Zheng family in the Southern Ming Dynasty has been able to remain a holy family for nearly three hundred years. That's why.
What Xiang Xiaoqiang is more concerned about is the status of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He has barely become emperor now. It can be said that the emperor's power directly affects his status. Among the protagonists in the novel, which one has not climbed up to the emperor?
Become a famous person below one person and above ten thousand people?
This constitution gave him the impression that the power of the current Ming Dynasty emperor fell between the traditional feudal imperial power and the European constitutional monarchy. It was roughly equivalent to the status of the Kaiser before World War I and the Emperor of Japan before the end of World War II.
It should be the legendary "dual constitutional system". In other words, the power should be smaller.
For example, the Constitution stipulates that the Emperor of Heaven is the supreme commander of the country's armed forces. However, the deployment of the army in peacetime must be approved by the cabinet government.
The emperor has the right to declare war, end war, and conclude treaties.
The emperor has the right to travel on behalf of the country.
The emperor has the power of pardon.
In extraordinary times, the emperor has the power to dissolve and appoint the cabinet, the power to directly intervene in national affairs, and the power to directly command the army without the government.
This article is very critical and is the criterion for whether the emperor has real power.
It can be said that in normal times, the Emperor of Heaven is an honest constitutional monarch, but in "extraordinary times", he can transform into a centralized monarch with unlimited power.
But there are a lot of explanations for this "extraordinary period" below. Xiang Xiaoqiang remembered that there were wars, national divisions, large-scale turmoil, etc.
There is another article with Chinese characteristics: even in peacetime, the emperor can directly issue an imperial edict to the government, and the government must obey it in principle. Unless the government believes that this edict is harmful to the country, it can temporarily withhold the edict and attach a reason for sealing it.
Then there were lawsuits.
The minister returned the imperial edict, which is very traditional in the Ming Dynasty.
The rest, such as the emperor's various privileges, owning and inheriting the Forbidden City and all the treasures contained therein, owning and inheriting royal gardens and cemeteries, owning and inheriting large tracts of land and various industries, etc., also show the royal family's superior status.
However, the emperor no longer has the power to kill and kill his subjects at will.
This article marks that the Emperor of Heaven is no longer the feudal monarch of the past, but a constitutional monarch of a capitalist country.
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt a sense of empty loss: In this case, I am afraid that I can no longer be Wei Xiaobao. Unless...it comes to an "extraordinary period".
…
A thunderbolt flashed through Xiang Xiaoqiang's mind. Suddenly, his mind became bright and he understood why the cabinet ministers were reluctant to rescue by force, and why Lord Zheng was so enthusiastic about rescue by force.
It is because force rescue may trigger a war and bring the country into an "extraordinary period."
In extraordinary times, the royal family will return to power, control the country, and the army. As for the cabinet government, whether it is removed or replaced is a matter of the emperor's word.
Therefore, those ministers would rather watch their people kidnapped at the sticky pole than rescue them. They would rather have the morale of the submarine force severely damaged by this than rescue them. Even if there is a slight possibility of entering an "extraordinary period", they will
Not willing to take risks.
Needless to say, Mr. Zheng definitely hopes to rescue by force. What he cares about is not whether the rescue can be successful. What he cares about is whether the matter will get bigger. He definitely hopes that after the commando team passes, they will fight hard, preferably in the important areas of Beijing and Tianjin.
Blow up the railway and massacre the train. It's best to kill the fourteenth princess too.
Then there might be a war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and his niece would regain power. As the closest person to the Queen, he would then be inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people. He would become the powerful relative of Yang Guozhong, and become the most powerful figure in Yang Guozhong.
It can be seen that Dongchang also hopes to be rescued by force. As long as it enters the "extraordinary period", they will only be responsible to the emperor, their power will expand infinitely, and they will become the "Dongchang" that used to talk about it...
They don't care what triggering a war will bring to the country and the people. They only care about what they can get.
Perhaps, they believed that the Qing Dynasty could not defeat it. They were too superstitious about the so-called "Yangtze River Defense Line." Xiang Xiaoqiang heard Qiu Qiu briefly introduce it with a proud tone. This is a permanent defense belt built along the south bank of the Yangtze River.
It consists of steel elevating turrets, bunkers, underground warehouses, passages, machine gun positions, mines, mines, and barbed wire. The Ming Dynasty spent decades and countless money operating it. It is said to be impregnable. It is said that France is building a Mach Piao astronomy.
Beyond. What’s more, there is a river that wide in front of the defense line...
As for the Queen Zhu Yourong, Xiang Xiaoqiang had already seen it last night. She was just a spoiled girl who had never held any great power. Even someone like him, Xiang Xiaoqiang, could easily influence her.
Xiang Xiaoqiang clearly felt that there was a big problem with the Ming Dynasty's constitution. It was like hanging a fish between two greedy cats, making neither of them interested in catching mice. Of these two greedy cats, one was a cabinet minister.
One is the royal family. Their current consideration is not how to benefit the country, but how to seize power or keep power.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang turned over on the bed a few times and got dressed. He opened the circular flower-edge window, and the cold and damp air from outside soaked in. The canna tree in front of the window turned white.
Oh, it's snowing.
A girl's laughter could be heard faintly in the distance, but Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't hear it clearly, and his sight was blocked by cannas, so he simply opened the door and walked to the corridor. The maid at the door saw him coming out and hurriedly brought toiletries.
He was still not used to being served, so he quickly thanked and was brought in. Although the house was Chinese-style, it still looked like a Western-style suite, with a built-in bathroom. There was a Western-style wash basin, bathtub, and toilet.
Xiang Xiaoqiang saw that what was delivered was not the tooth powder he imagined, but a set of toothpaste and toothbrushes. So, there was already toothpaste at this time. The toothpaste seemed to be imported, and the complicated patterns on the tube were all in English.
Xiang Xiaoqiang tried to spell out the English trademark, and found that it actually read "Crest"! Sigh! I never thought that the awesome brand in later generations, with experts leading children to do experiments on TV all day long, now exists!
But the taste is okay, not as bad as expected.
…
After washing, he walked out of the room and went to the corridor to admire the garden in the snow. The snow in Nanjing in winter is very thin, with only a white layer. But after the snow, the garden is covered with silver, and there are still beautiful jade trees and beautiful flowers.
Some flavor.
Xiang Xiaoqiang walked along the winding corridor, admiring the garden after the snow, and followed the laughter. Every few steps, you can always see a burly man wearing a black coat and a top hat, standing among the bamboo bushes.
Or looming behind the Taihu Stone. Each of them was carrying a one-meter-long small box like a violin box, and I didn't know what it contained.
Turning around a bush of wintersweet, a pond came into view. The water surface was covered with a thin layer of ice, and snow particles clung to it. A small zigzag stone bridge spanned the pond. In the open space under the rockery on the other side, Zhu Yourong and Zheng Yucong
Playing with several puppies. They are six identical German dachshunds, with shiny yellow and black coats, short legs, and big ears. They are cheerful, lively, and cute.
Two girls were squatting on the ground, Zheng Yucong was holding a puppy, and Zhu Yourong was dressing the puppy.
Three of the remaining five puppies had already dressed up, and were surrounding them, wagging their tails and having fun. The puppy in their arms kept sticking out its tongue and licking the faces of the two girls, making them laugh.
Two maids were standing next to them holding furs and hand stoves. In the pavilion on the rockery, a condescending figure in black could be vaguely seen.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang shook his head and laughed secretly: These two girls are really crazy. Just as he was crossing the bridge to say hello, a big man in black appeared in front of him, blocking the bridge, and said sternly:
"Mr. Xiang, do you have something to meet with His Majesty?"