I really don’t mean to say they were liberal and democratic at all. They perhaps just that compared to other their predecessors and some autocrats we’ve seen since, they both showed different tendencies. Above all of course, they were singular leaders and the reason the family was overthrown was exactly that.

I think the parent comment’s question of how autocratic it was is relevant though. Things had changed. Emperors from previous generations had been far more autocratic and ruthless as I recall.