"You're crazy! You're really crazy! "
In the study of the royal palace, Aurelia was mumbling to herself while running around in circles. As soon as the new laws and regulations were announced, even her secretaries were too busy to deal with them. Now, almost everyone was working around the clock. The feedback from various places was a mess, and the magical telephones never stopped ringing.
She cried and laughed at the same time. "You're crazy, and I'm crazy with you!"
If someone who didn't know what was going on saw this, it was hard to imagine what they would think.
Olina had almost the same feeling. She looked at Tang En with a face full of despair. "Dear, we all know what you want to do for the future of this world. We also know that you come from a more civilized and harmonious world. You really want to make this world more civilized as soon as possible. But what you're doing now is too exaggerated. You're taking too big a step! — You're robbing those people of their interests. It's easy to provoke them to fight back! "
Aurelia said with a sobbing tone, "This time, I agree with mother. I really shouldn't be crazy with you. Now, they're not crazy, but I'm going crazy."
Olina and her mother both knew Tang En's identity and mission, so they also knew that the world where Tang En came from was a more civilized world. The Prandal social reform was indeed imperative, but the reform shouldn't be carried out like this! Suddenly releasing so many new laws and regulations, and most of them were against the nobles who had the right to speak in the society, was absolutely courting death!
— It was a bit unpleasant to say that the officials were forcing the people to rebel, but at least there would definitely be people who would revolt for their own interests!
Tang En shook his head and said, "You're worrying too much. In fact, it's necessary to go through pain during the reform. Especially, the entire government of the Irus Empire hasn't experienced a huge internal revolution. It's a social reform that we initiated spontaneously during the development of our society. Therefore, it's normal to encounter resistance."
Olina couldn't help saying, "Now that you know, why did you do it so suddenly …"
"It's precisely because I know, that's why I need to make such a decisive decision," Tang En said very seriously. "I've experienced a lot of reforms. To be honest, if you don't have the courage to cut your wrist, the determination to cut ties with the past, and the decisiveness to completely sever ties with the old society, it's impossible to succeed."
"Social conflicts generally exist in any social class. The intensification of these conflicts will become more and more serious as the social class solidifies. Now, the entire society is undergoing tremendous changes because of our actions. The conflicts between the classes have weakened. This is a great opportunity for us to take action."
"If we don't take the opportunity to solve the problems left behind by the old society in one go and leave them to deal with slowly in the future, these problems will sooner or later become terrifying time bombs that will explode at a moment that none of us can imagine."
Tang En looked at the two of them seriously and said, "My idea is to solve all the potential problems as soon as possible instead of waiting until they're about to explode. In fact, if it weren't for the fear that those people would be stimulated by taking the land back to the state, I would even directly turn the land into state ownership instead of taking it back in my own name. "
Aurelia also knew that with the development of the Datang Chamber of Commerce, the productivity of the entire society was constantly improving. At this time, the contribution of the people at the bottom of society was far greater than that of the aristocrats. At this moment, the aristocrats had done more harm than good to the entire society. They occupied a large amount of social resources, but made no contribution to the development of the society. What was more terrible was that they took this treatment for granted.
In the past, due to the inconvenience of transportation and communication, the aristocrats were the tools used by the rulers to maintain their rule. The rulers only needed to manage the aristocrats well, and their rule would basically not have too many problems.
But now, there were magical mobile phones, artificial soul quantum computers, magical fax machines, magical networks, and various other convenient communication tools. The central government's control over the local areas was unprecedentedly strong. There was no longer a need for the aristocrats to assist in the management. Their existence had dispersed the central government's control, and they had too many privileges. Instead, they were an unstable factor.
Therefore, revoking the aristocrats' privileges, releasing resources to the entire society, increasing the rights of the people, and giving them a way to rise was almost inevitable in the future. However, Aurelia did not expect this day to happen so soon.
Thinking about it carefully, Tang En's words were actually very reasonable. The reform of society was bound to be full of all kinds of resistance. No one with vested interests would be willing to let go of the rights in their hands. They would do everything possible to stop the reform from happening. The process itself was extremely difficult and full of obstacles. It was impossible to complete the reform process gently.
Normally, only a complete revolution, the overthrow of the previous regime, and the complete overthrow of the privileged classes, could create a new order.
But Tang En had come.
He had established a new order, brought about the productivity revolution of society, and created one miracle after another. The most incomprehensible thing to the people was that he had taken the initiative to give up his own interests and chose to give back to the whole society!
Others did not know, but the people around Tang En knew very well that he did not need the so-called wealth, and he did not care whose hands the wealth was in. The Datang Chamber of Commerce was just a channel for him to gather the resources of the whole Prandal. The identity of the Regent was just a tool for him to redistribute these resources. He only wanted to achieve one goal, and that was to promote the overall strength of the whole Prandal as much as possible, whether it was agriculture, industry, commerce, or the most important military strength.
Tang En wanted to lead the whole Prandal to launch a class revolution in the way of sacrificing his own interests. He wanted to completely abandon the old ideas of the past and welcome a new social concept. Everyone would work hard for a glorious future and a lofty ideal together. The ideal situation in Tang En's mind was to complete this reform within one or two generations, and standardize the laws, customs, morals, education, and other standards of the whole society as much as possible. Only in this way could a stable, efficient, harmonious, and civilized modern society be formed.
Otherwise, after a long time, it was hard to guarantee that those people would not distort this idea in the future and eventually be dragged back into the abyss by those social garbage who were unwilling to make progress and were like cancerous tumors. Everything would return to the original state.
As the well-deserved emperor of Prandal, Tang En was indeed qualified to do so. He had set an obvious example. At least Aubry, Aradeline, Duke Taris, and those new lords supported by Tang En had publicly declared that they fully supported Tang En's decision. Additionally, they had taken the lead in returning all the lands owned by their families to Tang En. Meanwhile, in compliance with the new laws and regulations, they would allow the farmers who were using those lands for farming to use them for free. They would no longer collect rent from the tenants in their fiefs. The tenants were also completely free. However, according to the new laws and regulations, they had to accept the jurisdiction of the chief executive of the administrative district where they were located and register their identities.
Aurelia, Olina, and even the other people around Tang En knew that Tang En was doing this for the sake of the future of the whole society. However, they all had the same concern — — Tang En's action was too fast. He didn't give the whole society any time to prepare before throwing out such a heavy bomb, which shocked everyone.
"Aren't you afraid that they will revolt?"
Olina was deeply worried. Tang En was a very benevolent person. He didn't have the heart to do anything to those people. Those people might not remember his kindness. If they were really anxious, they would really revolt. Especially now, the education level was still very low. Those people were too easily fooled. No matter how one looked at it, this was not a good time for a social revolution.
"Don't worry. Most people don't dare."
Tang En said with disdain, "90% of the people who occupy the whole society are the low-level civilians. Now that the low-level civilians are all on my side, how can they fight with me?"
"Now everyone knows that Jean and the City of Silver are on my side. Dwarves, gnomes, elves, nagas, even goblins and giant dragons are all my allies. They all support my decision. How much courage do those who are not reconciled have to stand out and revolt?"
"Yes, it's true that some people are easily brainwashed and fooled. Some people will be anxious because of the loss of benefits, so they will impulsively want breakfast. But don't forget that I'm the king. I have the righteous cause. If they dare to stand out and revolt, they must be ready to die for their ideals. Then I can take the opportunity to clean up these unstable factors."
Tang En laughed very happily, "They think I'm forcing them to revolt? That's right. I'm avoiding those people from jumping out on their own. Then I don't have to bother to find them one by one … "
"They think I'm too benevolent to do anything to my own people? Then let them continue to misunderstand. "
Tang En laughed even more happily, "Although I don't know who gave them this misunderstanding, it's a kind of affirmation for me. I feel honored."
Tang En was benevolent?
Yes, in a general sense, he was indeed benevolent.
But you stood out and wanted to revolt, and you still think he would continue to be so benevolent. Not only would he let you go, but he would also choose to forgive you …
How magnanimous do you think he is?
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