Lord of M'i
The Hon. Kjung Mrus, Lord of M′i PC J (Shinasthana: 迷侯, m′i-go; Jan. 2, 1810 – Oct. 30, 1889) was a Themiclesian aristocrat, civil servant, jurist, and Conservative politician, twice Prime Minister of Themiclesia from 1878 to 1880 and 1886 to 1888. M′i is most noted for his attempts to stay the rise of the Lord of Krungh and his New Conservatism; due to disunity in his party and a preference for reaction, his government's achievements in other fields were considerably limited.
He was born the third son of Kjung Hus-ning (恭好年), the second Lord of M′i. He was first educated privately then at Academia Shinasthana, becoming a master of laws and called to the bar in 1844. Though not expected to inherit the title, the House of Lords convicted his father and elder brother for embezzling money in the Themiclesian Navy in 1851, disinheriting both of them and causing the title to pass to him by default.[1] That his father was alive and a commoner while he a peer was a life-long cause for shame and anxiety for him, and he chose not to take his seat in parliament. He was made sixth justice of the Supreme Court in 1863, and at the behest of the Lord of Nja′-′rjem (女陰侯, nja′-′rjem-go) entered politics as Secretary of State for Public Works in his short-lived ministry. His opponents were not prepared for his sharp mind and deep involvement in public projects, judging them not for the affiliation of their sponsors but tangible merits, such as expected expenses and opportunistic savings. On the other hand, he believed that a willingness to disregard aristocratic rights also was one for commoners' rights. In court and in parliament, he sought to harmonize Themiclesian legal traditions with Casaterran thought, defending those accepted in both and critically assessing where they disagreed.
Becoming the leader of the Conservative Party in 1869, his relative youth was sometimes an impediment to leadership. After the Liberal Party, under the Lord of Sng'rja and Lord T'jang-mjen, maintained their majority in the election that year, M′i used his oratory eloquence to critique the govenrment, and the Liberal government responded to M′i's acrid criticism by moving ministers from the upper to lower house and introduced most policies in the House of Commons, where they dominated. M′i then relied on Krungh (who sat as Lord Gwrjang-goi in the Commons) to offer opposition to the government. Yet the death of Krungh's father in 1871 moved him to the upper house, M′i losing his ally in the lower. In the election of 1873, Krungh was convinced that contemporary Conservatives were too skeptical of a larger role for government. Both were cognizant of calls to expand the franchise in various degrees, but M′i believed the time was too early for "franchise for every man", while Krungh though they should be enfranchised at a debt to the Conservatives. As a result, the party essentially ran two campaigns appealing both to skepticism that Liberal involvement in industry was too risky, and to cohesion between capitalists and labourers. The Conservatives lost to Lord T'jang-mjen's Liberals, who convinced the electorate the Conservatives had a contradictory platform.
Notes
- ↑ The second legitimate son died in infancy.