BXBX NOVEL Chapter 256 - 1911 Admire His Courage 1
Lu Chen is merely a Seignior after all.
Lu Shuyun didn’t quite believe that Lu Chen could have said such things as “Under the heavens, all land belongs to the King; along the edge of the land, all are subjects of the King.”
Wang Yong said, “Your Highness, regardless of whether this is the North Prince’s own idea or His Majesty’s wish, as long as anyone dares to initiate this precedent, we Aristocratic Families will never let them off easily.”
“The person who came up with this reform measure is malicious in intent; they are aiming to completely eradicate our Aristocratic Families.”
It’s no wonder Wang Yong reacted so fiercely, for the land reform measures in North City had clearly touched the most sensitive nerve of the Aristocratic Families.
The current Aristocratic Families are all beneficiaries of land accumulation, and suddenly someone had the idea to reclaim the ownership of the land to the supreme ruler, or to turn it over to the state, and to even prohibit future land trades—isn’t this digging at the roots of their Aristocratic Families?
Although this is still just a spark, the Aristocratic Families would absolutely not allow such a trend to emerge.
At this moment, Lu Shuyun said, “Since I have already received the news, I estimate that others have too. It seems that tomorrow’s imperial court will be extremely lively.”
The powerholders of land do not only include those Aristocratic Families but also the Scholar Official class, those officials’ families, not one without tens of thousands of acres of fertile fields.
The North Prince openly reclaims the land ownership of his fief to himself, a Seignior—and if he dares to do so, might the Sum Emperor also follow suit in the future? Therefore, the officials will inevitably oppose the North Prince’s actions, even if the North Prince only does this within his own fief.
Lu Shuyun seemed to have already foreseen the scene of the entire court condemning Lu Chen.
At the same time.
In the Great Xia Imperial Palace, within the Royal Garden.
The Sum Emperor looked over the report in his hands again and again, his gaze not moving from the report for a long while.
Murmuring to himself, the Sum Emperor said, “Under the heavens, all land belongs to the King; along the edge of the land, all are subjects of the King…”
“Domineering… quite domineering…”
“Could this really be something Chen could say?”
At this point, the Sum Emperor threw the report in his hand toward Situ Ce in the pavilion, who casually caught the report thrown by the Sum Emperor and then glanced over it.
After seeing the contents of the report, Situ Ce understood why the Sum Emperor had stood in place after reading the report and why his gaze kept sweeping over it.
Undoubtedly, the North Prince’s sentence “Under the heavens, all land belongs to the King; along the edge of the land, all are subjects of the King” would definitely cause a stir in Great Sum.
Although nominally the Great Xia Dynasty was founded by the royal house of Great Sum and all land under heaven belongs to the Emperor, it is only in name.
Not a single emperor has dared to directly legislate that all land in Great Sum belongs to the Emperor, because if anyone dared to act on this, their imperial throne would likely come to an end.
No one in this world, no King, has ever said, “Under the heavens, all land belongs to the King; along the edge of the land, all are subjects of the King.”
The general meaning of this sentence is that all the land under heaven belongs to the King, and all commoners are subjects of the King.
While this principle holds, you, as a King, as the ruler, must never utter this sentence.
If all the land under heaven belonged to the royal family, those who had fought alongside Sum Ancestor to establish the dynasty would have labored in vain.
It is precisely because this sentence has never been uttered that the Sum Emperor felt such an immense shock upon seeing it.
Especially after reading about the reform measures in North City in the report, he found the North Prince to be a thousand times more radical than himself as the father.
Although he is still not sure whether Lu Chen is his own biological son, the sentence instantly filled him with a favorable impression of Lu Chen.
Since the very beginning of the Great Xia Dynasty, many Emperors ascended the throne full of ambition, planning to emulate the Sum Ancestor in expanding the empire’s territory and achieving greatness, thereby making the Great Xia the most powerful dynasty in the world.
However, they all ended up constrained by various powers, obstructed by the Aristocratic Families, and eventually, the court was controlled by these families, leaving the Emperors with no outlet for their talents and ambitions. They could only indulge in the pleasures of the Imperial Palace and finally die of old age.
When Lu Xingqiu took the throne, he too was full of passion, believing he would surely become another Emperor like the Sum Ancestor who expanded the empire’s borders.
He managed to expand the territory indeed, having wiped out the Chen Nation, but afterward, he realized that his orders were increasingly disregarded. Whatever he wanted to do would constantly be met with resistance from the Aristocratic Families in the court.
As an Emperor, to actually be unable to control the entire court was an immense humiliation for him, and he finally understood one thing: as long as the Aristocratic Families weren’t eliminated, the Great Xia would never truly be his; he was merely a puppet they had elevated to power.
Seeing his Princes mingle with those Aristocratic Families, Lu Xingqiu was deeply disappointed in them. He also thought that if this continued, it was likely that the next Sum Emperor, and the one after that, generation after generation, would still be puppets of the Aristocratic Families.
At this moment, the Sum Emperor had some complex emotions. He never expected that the first Prince who dared to openly confront the Aristocratic Families would be the one he had the least faith in, the one he disliked the most.
After reviewing the intelligence in his hands, Situ Ce put it down on his desk and then asked, “This old servant once said that the North Prince has the ambition of the Sum Ancestor, Your Majesty did not believe it; do you now believe what this old servant said before?”
Hearing Situ Ce’s words, the Sum Emperor scoffed, “He dares to say this, and I admire his courage, but exposing his intentions without having the strength is a foolish act. Next, he will not only face collective impeachment from the Aristocratic Officials and Scholar Officials but also endless assassination attempts.”
Lu Chen’s reform measures in North Country had already aggravated the Aristocratic Families and the Scholar Official class; they would not let him continue to live, even if the Sum Emperor might be behind him.
Land interests are their fundamental interests; they would not allow anyone to touch their core interests, not even the Seignior, let alone the Sum Emperor himself.
It is for this very reason that the Sum Emperor greatly admired Lu Chen.
Lu Chen stepping forward to raise the issue of land ownership was almost akin to disregarding his own life and death.
At the same time, the Sum Emperor was also curious; with the destruction of the Heavy Cavalry of North City, why would Lu Chen dare to reform North City at this time, and not only reform, but even address land ownership rights.
Did the mysterious force behind Lu Chen not fear him being killed? Or did they have such confidence in their strength that they believed they could protect him? Hence, they let him act recklessly?
At that moment, the Sum Emperor looked at Situ Ce and asked, “State Preceptor, what do you think I should do about the impeachment of Chen by the Aristocratic Officials tomorrow? Should I order a halt to the reforms in North City, or should I directly strip him of his Seignior title?”
Lu Chen had touched on a taboo, and impeachment was inevitable; the key was how he, the Emperor, should respond.
If there were no punishment for Lu Chen’s actions, the officials would certainly think he shared the same ideas as Lu Chen. He had already offended the Aristocratic Families; if he further angered the Scholar Official class, it would not bode well for his reign as Emperor.
Hearing the Sum Emperor’s question, Situ Ce smiled faintly, and then said, “The Seignior is reforming within his own fiefdom, which is legitimate and proper.”
Dissatisfied with Situ Ce’s response, the Sum Emperor said, “State Preceptor, you’re pretending to be confused while understanding the situation perfectly.”
“It’s not a problem for him to reform within his own fiefdom, but he has touched upon the issue of land ownership. If we do not provide an explanation to the Aristocratic Families and Scholar Officials, I fear it might cause instability in the Great Xia.”
Situ Ce replied, “Then Your Majesty can recall back the twenty thousand Imperial Army from North City, leaving the North Prince to defend the north alone, and declare that no further aid or supplies will be given to the North Prince. Without a secure environment, his reforms will naturally be unable to proceed.”
While he said this, Situ Ce did not actually believe it. In his view, since the North Prince had already raised the issue of land, he must have prepared to deal with the Aristocratic Families and Scholar Officials.
This also indirectly suggested that the Heavy Cavalry of North City was very likely unharmed, and all of this was a smokescreen released by the North Prince; otherwise, he would not dare to take such action. Thus, even if the Imperial Army was recalled, it would not affect North City in any way.
In his heart, Situ Ce greatly approved of Lu Chen’s actions. He believed that not only were Lu Chen’s reform measures without fault, but they were also introduced at just the right time, because the court simply didn’t have the resources to concern itself with whatever he was stirring up in North City.
Of course, in the coming period, it was likely that a lot of assassins would head to North City to cause trouble for Lu Chen.
However, Situ Ce believed that Lu Chen, the young Grandmaster, should have no problem coping with the assassination attempts by the Aristocratic Families.
The Sum Emperor thought over Situ Ce’s words and agreed that this method could indeed be a temporary solution.
Being in a war period with two great dynasties, if the Seignior’s title were stripped, it might very well push the Seignior to rebel. Using the war as a pretext, a slight punishment for the North Prince would suffice, just to make a show of it.
With the war serving as an excuse, those Aristocratic Families and Scholar Officials, uncomfortable as they might be, would not complain. If they forced the Seignior into rebellion and caused a greater crisis for the Great Xia, those officials would not be able to bear the responsibility.