Darkstone Code-Chapter 756 - 0754 Agreed
If the previous day’s news led some sensitive individuals to realize changes were coming in Gafura’s political landscape, the news early the next morning confirmed it.
Because in the conflict that occurred yesterday, there were casualties.
Whether the Emperor of Gafura and his ministers are willing to admit it or not, they cannot avoid one point: a certain awareness and power at the bottom of society is awakening. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
The education people receive, the knowledge they possess, the broadened horizons they have make them hold more mature ideas than in the past; they are no longer "ignorant masses," at least not entirely.
In the past, people’s lives were perhaps just seasons of taking seeds from the hands of the nobility, working in the fields during the day, and toiling in the fields at night, striving for more fruits.
The former harvest could allow the farmers to enjoy a period of comfort, and the latter could enable them to live comfortably in their old age.
Besides this, they didn’t actually have many pursuits.
But now people’s pursuits have increased, they become dissatisfied with the past way of living, and they want to strive for more, such as... some of the most basic human rights, their own life, their private property.
This is also why Gafura has courts and laws; in the past, these didn’t actually exist, law and courts only appeared after the unification of the state.
The importance of law is self-evident, and a death during suppression means it has risen to a certain level; more importantly, this matter is not simple.
This is not just an ordinary conflict resulting in a death, this is an issue between the civilian and noble classes, inherently becoming somewhat tricky.
In the Ruler’s Hall, the Emperor’s expression was unreadable, "expressionless" doesn’t suffice to describe his lack of expression, perhaps "numb" fits better.
As if every muscle had lost its strength, maintaining its most original, untouched form by any human force.
"I heard some people have already petitioned outside the Imperial Palace."
Facing each other, ruler and ministers sat silently for several minutes, followed by a stifling silence, when the Emperor asked.
This was what the Royal Grand Steward told him; early in the morning, some people were already standing outside the Imperial Palace holding signs to petition.
It was merely a petition, not a demonstration, hoping the Emperor would intervene, firstly identifying the police officer who caused the crime, then conducting a fair and just trial, next investigating the issues with the Minister of Finance and his subordinates, and recovering funds involved in the Yuanrong Capital fraud case, returning them to the victims as much as possible.
People lost direction and could only pray that the Emperor stood on their side.
However, they seem to misunderstand one point, the Imperial Family has never stood on the common people’s side; they only care about themselves, not so-called commoners.
The cause of this misunderstanding actually stems from another form of political necessity, such as the Emperor hoping not to be ridiculed by overseas news.
Or maintaining the good reputation of the Royal Family by doing trivial things on occasion—here lies a divergence.
The Emperor would handle some trivial matters because such matters don’t entail subsequent political stance issues or political conflicts.
No noble would oppose or trigger another round of political intrigue due to "the Emperor helping an old lady with her leaky roof"; such mundane affairs concern them not.
Because trivial matters either done or not done don’t bring uncontrollable outcomes, so sometimes, for certain needs, the Emperor would undertake small tasks.
But in the public’s eyes, if the Emperor even manages "an old lady’s leaky roof" issue, he presumably would handle bigger issues.
The reason he doesn’t handle it now isn’t due to reluctance, only because he doesn’t know, so everyone should petition.
Sometimes ideals are very beautiful, and people don’t want to accept that reality isn’t so, not because reality defies logic, but because they can’t accept it.
The atmosphere in the Ruler’s Hall became more oppressive once again, ministers saw those petitioners when they arrived, and they also saw the signs raised high in their hands.
Yet, evidently, this matter won’t be done by the Emperor, at least not now.
Even without words, even without action, the Emperor could perceive a peculiar atmosphere in the Ruler’s Hall today, as if something invisible flowed swiftly among the ministers.
He regarded them, without urging, without impatience, just watched.
The ministers acted as though they hadn’t heard, continuing to sit, this is not the time for them to take the lead.
The Minister of Finance was gathering resources to discuss what to do next, the Prime Minister convening personnel to discuss subsequent actions, other ministers were not idle either.
Anyway, they increasingly leaned towards letting the Prime Minister hold financial power.
This does not mean they are all supporters of the Prime Minister; it’s just that a Prime Minister who can contend with the Emperor is clearly preferable to a power-entrenched Emperor. This Emperor ascended the throne by killing siblings, born with the qualities of a tyrant. To let him hold all the power would be the worst situation.
The oppressive atmosphere persisted, and about seven or eight minutes after the Emperor finished asking that question, the Minister of Finance spoke up.
"Your Majesty, these matters all arose because of me. I’ve decided to resign from my position as Minister of Finance and accept the investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs..." he said, pulling out a resignation letter and handing it to the visiting Grand Steward, who then passed it to the Emperor.
The surrounding ministers were somewhat surprised, while others slightly nodded, seeing through the intentions of the Minister of Finance.
Sure enough, the Minister of Finance continued, "I know there are some issues with my work, but this job is very important. Before I relinquish my position, I recommend that the Prime Minister temporarily take over financial duties."
The Emperor casually took the resignation letter of the Minister of Finance, glossing over it without lifting his head to look at the Minister, as though he hadn’t heard what was said at all.
Everyone, whether an adversary or close friend of the Minister of Finance, praised his stratagem.
The Minister of Finance seemed to have no intention of stopping, continuing, "Gafura has always had the Prime Minister concurrently hold the position of Minister of Finance when necessary. It is not unprecedented for the Prime Minister to take over my duties, and it facilitates the Prime Minister’s work, while also making it easier for personal investigations. I implore Your Majesty to allow my resignation."
He didn’t mention his contributions to the country, didn’t say how important his work was, nor how important he himself was. He opened his mouth and gave the Emperor an impossible choice.
The Prime Minister sat aside, a trace of mockery on his face. Ultimately, he was a person greedy for power. This trace of mockery quickly receded, becoming ordinary.
"Written like dog shit..." The Emperor, expressionless, tore the resignation letter in half and tossed it on the ground.
He glanced sidelong at the Minister of Finance, knowing this was his way of self-preservation, but was somewhat displeased, "Your responsibilities are yours to bear. If you want to resign, it’s easy. Once you clean up the mess you’ve made, I’ll allow your resignation."
The Minister of Finance glanced at the torn resignation letter on the ground, knowing it was just a performance by the Emperor.
If he even tears up the resignation letter, wanting to resign just means writing another one. But if things really settle down, how could he be foolish enough to write another resignation letter?
The Minister of Finance sighed, glanced at the others, "Your Majesty, a crowd has already gathered outside the Imperial Palace petitioning to suspend my duties and investigate me. I will take responsibility, and I hope you will agree to their requests."
"The two matters won’t interfere with each other. I will continue my work, and those investigating me will continue their investigations."
As he spoke, he lowered his head slightly, indicating he had finished speaking.
The Emperor looked at the Prime Minister, who was still serving as a mascot, pretending to be innocent, and with a half-smile, asked, "Let’s leave this to the Prime Minister, shall we."
The Prime Minister slightly furrowed his brows; this matter should actually be entrusted to the Minister of Defense or the Minister of the Army. They have relevant security departments under them to investigate these matters, not to a puppet-like Prime Minister.
Everyone knows he doesn’t have people under him, and without financial authority, other ministers and institutions can disregard him because he can’t hold them by the throat.
To have him investigate everyone’s money bags is absolutely not an easy task; it involves too many interests.
Those at the top can maintain their stance, but the middle and lower tiers may have some thoughts.
If nothing is found, the Prime Minister’s authority would be lost. The Emperor gave him power, yet he couldn’t handle it, showing he was indeed only fit to be a mascot.
As for conducting a serious investigation, he doesn’t have any personnel and would need to borrow people from other departments. Whether these borrowed individuals have any dealings with the Minister of Finance, or his subordinates, is hard to say.
Furthermore, these borrowed individuals belong to a third party force not yet involved in the conflict. Their bosses would tell them to slack off, and it would be difficult to find anything.
This way, time stretches out, effectively giving the Minister of Finance a significant window of opportunity.
This is the downside of the Prime Minister lacking financial authority; anyone can ignore him.
The Prime Minister quickly relaxed his brows; sometimes political maneuvering hinges on just a few words. He pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and nodded to agree.
"I will take responsibility for this matter." Unexpected yet reasonable, he agreed.
In fact, not agreeing wasn’t an option either. Agreeing gave him a bit of initiative, whereas not agreeing would mean participating in the game from outside, losing some initial advantage.
Now it’s a matter of who has more people and more supporters.
Without borrowing people from other ministers, building a new department specifically to investigate these matters, as long as he can find those capable people, thoroughly investigating the Minister of Finance would mean winning this round.
Of course, the dropping of the Gafura Financial Index must still occur.
