Читать книгу The Great Empire - Joaquim Augusto Barbosa de Melo - Страница 13

Aimlessly 19th century

With the first rays of sun the city slowly woke up for another day. Everywhere there were signs of gradual awakening. The morning was fresh and bright. The girls and other palace staff began their preparations for another event very early in the morning, so that there was nothing missing for the main meal of the day for the about nine thousand guests. For the widowed Empress, it was just another day among many, since these events represented the way she had to present herself in the social and political life of the nation.

When the Emperor passed away, the palace’s finances were under control, so Empress Xi did not have to worry about financial management. Luxury extended to all the Empress’ acts and were now the golden rule. Meals acquired an additional reason for pleasure and extension of her social life. More than ten thousand guests often gathered at the table with a rich and varied menu - sometimes more than a hundred different dishes were served. In social life the Empress had an open attitude; however, in political activity she tried to be restrictive. At first, she made an effort to keep a daily agenda similar to that of the Emperor. In the morning she dealt with the affairs of the State, received noblemen and provincial authorities and foreign delegations. Over the years she gradually delegated the Palace Administration and a large part of her public functions to Zhu. As a result of this gradual detachment from the realities of governance and increased influence of the eunuchs in the life of the palace, the discontent of the noblemen and military as well as the provincial representatives grew.

A few years later...

As a result of the Empress’ growing self-disengagement from public life, an event would mark her reign forever, initiating a profound political change with devastating consequences for the entire Empire. Still very early, the officials had not even started their usual tasks and already a large number of senior military officers entered the palace, being led by the deputy of Zhu to the palace of Harmony to be received. The Empress had once again delegated the task to her advisor, to the displeasure of all the participants. The hearing began shortly afterwards, presided over by Zhu. For the uniqueness of the meeting, here we leave some of the records:

- I ask your understanding for the absence of Her Excellency, the Empress, who, for very particular reasons, could not be present. However, all matters dealt with here will be known to her and decided as quickly as possible.

After several considerations Zhu gave the floor to the Admiral in charge of the Navy who, after giving a brief description of the conflict that occurred in territorial waters with foreign forces, moved on to the main subject.

-We need a reinforcement of facilities, particularly in warships. The defense of the empire and the best interests of the Nation demand urgency in the treatment of this matter. The new boats will make it possible to effectively repel the attacks by foreign armed forces we’ve been subjected to. Our petition includes a comprehensive description of all urgent needs and respective cost estimates, involving both material and human resources.

Zhu, after having received from the Navy Chief of Staff the large number of documents detailing the request, then gave the floor to the Army Chief of Staff who listed the weaknesses of land defense, adding:

-On our part, the situation does not have the Navy’s urgency, but it does have operational importance. We cannot allow the opposition forces to settle in our territory, so we must be prepared to neutralize them. Most of the existing equipment has not been upgraded in the last forty years - a good part is now obsolete or non-operational. We cannot sustain the situation much longer. I have with me a set of budgets to meet the most basic needs, for which I ask Her Excellency’s attention. We also attach a strategic plan for the restructuring of the ground armed forces, to which we have received the assent of the Council of War, here present.

When Zhu collected the documentation delivered by the General, he was assured by the members present that the matter had been widely discussed. For Zhu that military petition was not easy to answer to. The state coffers had long been empty and the Empress’ personal financial resources were now beginning to show many weaknesses. When the hearing was over, Zhu took care to express the promise that the Empress would respond as soon as possible. Knowing financial situation as a whole, Zhu understood that it was a good idea to make an appointment with the head of the Imperial House and look for possible solutions to cope with all those expenses - the financial difficulties had been growing with the increase in the court’s sumptuousness and were now growing at a much faster rate than the revenue. When the head of the Imperial House spoke about the military’s petition, following Zhu’s information, he responded with the obvious:

- You can’t get out of a depository what is not in there.

The position of the head of the Imperial House did not surprise Zhu, since he knew his pragmatic side very well. Zhu himself had long suggested to the Empress a strong restraint on the expenditure side. Zhu knew that the matter brought up by the military would give the Empress some headaches, but he had no other choice. Whenever he faced a difficult situation, it was already his practice to let the matter mature for three days before informing the Empress. This way he had more time to think about a possible solution. In such a way the Empress got used to this practice of Zhu that, consciously or unconsciously, she started using it herself too. So, however serious the issues, they had no imperial decision before nine days had passed. The high court leaders got used to this delay, so they always added the elements considered necessary to a detailed analysis, thus reducing the decision time. When days later the Empress learnt of the military’s petition, she immediately expressed her opinion to Zhu.

- I’m glad I wasn’t at the meeting, so I always have a little more time to think...

- Yes, but the matter is serious! If we don’t move quickly, the country is in danger of invasion by foreign forces!

- Don’t let yourself be influenced by what the military says.

- But...

Zhu had not yet expressed his opinion and the Empress was already interrupting him in an unreasonable manner.

- What they want is to surround themselves with “equipment” to better justify their wages to their “boys”. Do not forget that until today no one has dared to challenge my Empire!

- This is serious...

Once again Xi did not give Zhu the opportunity to finish his thought.

- What the hell! It’s not with half a dozen or so boats that our enemies will respect us more! Let me think about it!

Those matters were particularly unpleasant for her, as she did not share the opinion of the military chiefs, who thought that the court was closed in on itself. In the past, some of these petitions had already been examined. At that time the conclusion had been reached that there was no need for any modernization of military resources. For the Empress, expenditure on military means was only necessary in wartime. Now, and for more than four hundred years no one had dared to question the sovereignty of the Empire. And even if that were to happen, they had more than enough means to repel the intruders. For her it was out of the question to manufacture new boats for the Navy, even more so now that the state coffers were empty and the personal financial resources were not so great as to allow one more loan. Thus, taking into account the appeals of the head of her Imperial House and because she felt that this matter could not be postponed forever, she had decided to invite three dozen noble conservatives of her confidence to obtain their opinion. For that she used the already customary lunches.

Whenever the Empress had to decide on Administrative or State matters of a certain importance, she used the famous lunches to surround herself with advisers and informally obtain their opinions. For a long time she had shown herself to be an excellent manipulator and cunning person. It was thanks to these qualities that she succeeded in destroying the former Empress in title and little by little access to her current authority. Contrary to the thought of her whistleblowers, the lunches were for her an ideal moment to gather information for her causes, to influence aristocrats and to find out their opinions without being politically exposed. Through the years and by this way she managed to progressively increase alliances with the conservatives, who gave her a broad base of support for decisions and opposed the influence of foreign powers.

When the Empress put the problem of the military on the table, the matter divided the advisers. Some were in favor of military reinforcement of the Navy and Army, others, fearing the inevitable loss of foreign trade improvements, were in favor of maintaining the current situation. It was clear to the Empress that this issue had acquired in time a growing complexity of interests and, if no measures were taken, the gap would inevitably widen. She therefore had to deepen the issue through the hearing of State Councilors and Provincial Governors. However, before moving on to this strategy, she first wanted to hear some of them informally. So, once again she sent out invitations for lunches, grouping them by nearby regions. First those from the seafront and then those from the inland regions. The Empress went from plan to action, listening first to the Governors and then to the State Councilors, using a dynamic but informal strategy. She listened to each one of them but without expressing her opinion. At the end of these hearings, and to their great perplexity, several months had passed without the Empress having taken any decision on the matter raised by the military chiefs. When she finally called the meeting of the Governors and State Advisors to formally examine the matter, the decision was taken to create a special fee to remain in force for a period of ten years. As a result, by national representative means, she brought an edict to every nook and cranny of the empire - “We hereby make known the creation of an additional tithe on income, to be applied on holders of land and for a period of ten years. The money collected is for the renewal of the equipment of the armed forces. The tax that has now been created is distributed in the proportion of one third for the land forces and two thirds for the naval forces. The tax has immediate effect, so it applies to income already obtained in the next harvest”.