"Your subjects dare not. We only hope Your Imperial Majesty reconsiders. Now, with the formidable power of the musketeers, if any general should harbor ill intentions, it would pose a grave threat to Your Imperial Majesty."
Fei Ji said loudly.
Pang Yukun also expressed some worry. He said, "Your Imperial Majesty, continuing to raise the status of the military will only make the generals more arrogant, and arrogance in their hearts will lead them to disregard imperial authority."
Xiao Ming naturally understood their words. This was a common ailment of feudal armies; after all, in this era, the army was merely the private force of its generals.
What these officials failed to see, however, was that he was in the process of imperializing the army. In the future, he could completely punish generals without the army acting rashly.
Moreover, these two were clearly avoiding the main issue. The decree he proposed was to raise the status of soldiers, allowing them to enjoy more conveniences among the common people.
These conveniences were similar to modern policies such as special lanes for military personnel at train station windows and priority in military employment.
After a moment of thought, he said directly, "My dear ministers, I fear you have misunderstood my intention. This decree is absolutely not to foster the arrogance of generals, but to allow more ordinary soldiers to feel the court's consideration for them, to make them understand that while they fight on the front lines, the court cares for them. In this way, the common people will eagerly join the army to expand the court's territory and defend the Great Yu Empire against foreign enemies."
Fei Ji and Pang Yukun exchanged glances. He said, "Your Imperial Majesty, it is enough for soldiers to receive their monthly pay. I believe that even without these benefits, soldiers can still fight for the court. Moreover, granting soldiers so many conveniences, what will the scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants think? Do they not also exert their efforts for Your Imperial Majesty?"
Speaking of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, Xiao Ming chuckled. The Western countries had now clearly entered a modern state model, while the Great Yu Empire still had rigid social strata, which would severely restrict the vitality of the Great Yu Empire's development.
He said, "Elder Fei Ji mentioned scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, and it reminded me: I have decided to abolish these titles of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant. From now on, all people of all strata in the Great Yu Empire shall be called commoners!"
"Commoners!" Fei Ji was greatly alarmed. He said, "What is a commoner!"
"All subjects under my rule are equal in status; they are commoners," Xiao Ming said blandly. He had anticipated the shock of Fei Ji and the others.
Since ancient times, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants have been fixed social strata in every dynasty. Scholars held the highest status, hence the saying, "All other professions are low, only scholarship is high." Merchants held the lowest status, which led to the suppression of commerce in feudal dynasties.
Of course, Xiao Ming did not deny that this hierarchical system was very beneficial to the development of feudal dynasties. After all, a feudal dynasty based on agriculture needed grain, not unproductive, cunning merchants.
However, times were changing. For him, many systems in the Great Yu Empire were no longer suitable for competing with the Western state systems of this era.
Perhaps he could defeat Western countries with his technological advantage, but a backward feudal system would ultimately drag down his hard-won unification of the Great Yu Empire.
"How can this be? How can these lowly merchants be on equal footing with scholars?"
"Yes, indeed. Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants are ancestral laws passed down. How can they be changed so easily?"
"Your Imperial Majesty, absolutely not!"
"..."
As soon as Xiao Ming's words fell, the court immediately erupted. Especially the officials from Chang'an, each looked as if their parents had died.
Pang Yukun and other reform-minded officials, though inwardly displeased, were more accustomed to Xiao Ming's peculiar ideas.
But even so, they now had some thoughts. Previously, Xiao Ming had only raised the status of merchants and artisans, but now Xiao Ming directly negated the status of scholars.
The council hall was a noisy mess. Xiao Ming remained unmoved. These two matters were the main things he intended to promote next.
Before mentioning these two matters, he had anticipated fierce opposition, so at this moment, he understood that it couldn't be achieved overnight. He probably had to argue with these officials for some time.
Now, with only Prince Zhao remaining, the north would be unified. His promotion of these two policies at this time was precisely to prepare for development after unification.
Raising the status of soldiers was to foster a martial spirit in the Great Yu Empire. Excessive literariness was a flaw of feudal dynasties, and he had to correct it.
Abolishing the four strata of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants was for balanced development, so that becoming an official was no longer the only path for scholars.
So for Xiao Ming, these two points were crucial.
In contemporary times, both the Qing Dynasty and Japan were only passively forced to undergo reforms and learn from the West after their gates were breached by Western artillery.
Because they suffered greatly and faced the danger of national subjugation, at this time, from the imperial family to the common people, everyone realized the need for reform. But now, the Great Yu Empire had not yet suffered the invasion of advanced Western civilization. At this time, neither officials nor common people could actively participate in reform.
This kind of reform could only be actively pushed by him, which was also why he became emperor.
Only by holding supreme imperial power could he implement reforms, otherwise, those who demanded reform would only perish without a trace.
After all, even with his imperial authority, he faced so much opposition from officials when issuing such decrees. One can imagine the horror of touching others' interests.
However, the officials' reaction further solidified Xiao Ming's determination for reform. These days, he had been analyzing the current situation of the Great Yu Empire.
Now, generally speaking, it was still a stage where the gentry class had not declined, and the commoner class had not yet grown powerful. Therefore, his implementation of this policy met with collective opposition, because he touched upon the interests of these gentry.
"All of you, shut up!" The council hall had become a marketplace, Xiao Ming suddenly roared.
His angry words instantly silenced the court. At this moment, Xiao Ming stood up. He said loudly, "Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? No matter how you twist it, you're still doing it for yourselves! Ten years of hard study in poverty just to reach a high position one day. You're unwilling, right? Why should these merchants, covered in the stench of copper, and these dirt-footed farmers be on equal footing with you? Am I right?"
Xiao Ming said as he walked from the dragon throne to the officials like Fei Ji.
"But you also don't think about it. Without these merchants contributing money and effort, could Youzhou, could Jinling City have been taken so smoothly? Without the common people joining the army, how could I fight Prince Zhao? What a mess the Great Yu Empire used to be, have you forgotten? Am I still supposed to follow the old path of the late emperor?!"
Turning to Pang Yukun, Xiao Ming pointed at him and cursed, "Chief Grand Secretary Pang, you've wasted so much time studying at Bowen Academy; you've given it all back to me! Do you still have any of your former enterprising spirit?"
Pang Yukun hung his head in shame. Now that the war was going smoothly and the north was unified, many officials began to think about their own status and interests, forgetting their proactive spirit during difficult times.
After Xiao Ming's scolding, he felt as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt.