February 24th is the Lantern Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. It is also the first traditional festival after the Spring Festival and has always been very important.

In previous years, Huang Keqiang would eat Yuanxiao with his relatives on this day, and then go to the Qinhuai River to enjoy lanterns, watch temple fairs, etc.

But during this year's Lantern Festival, Huang Keqiang ate his brunch in a hurry and took the airship to Chang'an at 11:30.

New Changan, Borneo.

He was going to take over a new job - Imperial Minister of Civil Affairs.

As for his original position, it was given to a character who was gradually marginalized from the Nanhua system-Chen Simin.

There will be many problems with the merger, the most important of which is that after the two teams are combined into one, there will definitely not be as many people in the position.

How to balance? This is a science.

After thinking for a long time, Liu Yiming still believed that the position of Prime Minister should still be left to Xu Hui, and Sun Zaizhi would take over Chen Siyuan's position, that is, the Speaker of the Imperial Parliament.

This is obviously against the provisions of constitutional politics and the Constitution, but there is no way to treat people specially at special moments.

Just like the issue of rights, Liu Yiming still holds many rights in his hands, and he needs to use these rights to ensure that Nanhua can move in the right direction.

Why can he ensure it? It's like if a person goes back to the 1980s, the most important thing to him is not how to earn billions, but how to earn his first million or one hundred thousand.

After all, the general trend is basically certain.

On February 26, Huang Keqiang was appointed Minister of Civil Affairs of the Empire, in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, during the war, the powers of the Ministry of Civil Affairs were reduced - this was also done deliberately by Liu Yiming.

To be honest, if the publicity channel was not too important, Liu Yiming would have sent Huang Keqiang to do publicity. After all, he had an indomitable will. As for the rest, Liu Yiming didn't know much about it.

As early as February 25, Chen Simin had already assumed the post of Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of China.

The turnover of high-level personnel was the last shot before the government merger. Starting on February 25, Sun Zaizhi used the special powers of the provisional government and the highest wartime powers to make the final replacement of officials in various departments.

Officials in important positions (with great power, regardless of high status) in the internal affairs, industry, education, transportation, railway and other departments were all replaced by officials from Nanhua or the Nanhua faction.

If you don't do this, you can actually force the merger. After all, the four departments of finance, military affairs, navy, and diplomacy are completely controlled by the pumpkin faction. If you don't accept it, you can conquer it.

But this may cause trouble and leave hidden dangers if it is publicized by bad media again.

As we all know, good things never go out, and bad things spread thousands of miles.

By February 28, the last day of February, the reshuffling of the high-level power agencies of the interim government had been completed.

Coupled with the reshuffling of grassroots rights organizations and the military, the interim government has actually been brought under Liu Yiming's rule.

On March 1, Sun Zaizhi, as the supreme head of the Chinese Provisional Government, signed the "Return Agreement" with the South China Empire, announcing the return of the South China Empire to China.

The treaty stipulates that the politics, economy, military, and diplomacy of the South China Empire will obey the leadership of the future government and gradually integrate into the Chinese family.

The Chinese territory is 11.35 million square kilometers and the Nanhua Empire is 6 million square kilometers. Adding the two together, the total area is 17.35 million square kilometers.

It surpassed France and became the world's third largest territorial power after Britain and Tsarist Russia.

Unlike the territories of Britain, France and Russia, which are distributed on several continents, China's territory will still be concentrated in Asia in the future.

Nan Hua gave up almost everything, and what did he gain?

First, in the future, China should retain the imperial family, with Emperor Liu Yiming of the Nanhua Empire as the new emperor, implement a constitutional monarchy, and Sun Zaizhi be appointed as the Speaker of the Imperial Parliament.

Second, because it was in the middle of a war, the parliament directly followed the regulations of the South China Parliament and added seats from various regions in China. After the expiration of the current parliament, re-election would be held.

Third, if the government conducts a direct merger, the personnel to be appointed should be discussed by both parties and unanimously approved by both parties, but without undue delay.

Fourth, no large-scale changes will be made to the existing overall architecture.

It seems that both sides have made huge concessions and reached a compromise, but in fact the officials on both sides are one family, and they are doing this just to show the people and foreigners.

On March 1, Sun Zaizhi issued a declaration to terminate his activities as a provisional government and to conduct provisional management as the Speaker of the Imperial Parliament.

On March 1, Liu Yiming gave a radio speech, calling himself the emperor of all Chinese people and establishing the Chinese Empire.

Afterwards, Liu Yiming ordered the comprehensive integration of the government, military, and state-owned assets.

Then Liu Yiming, as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the supreme commander of the navy, ordered the navy to merge, cancel the Chinese Navy and the Nanhua Imperial Navy, and establish the Chinese Imperial Navy.

The former Chinese Navy's Pinghai-class battleships stationed in Ryukyu and the former Nanhua Empire's Xuchang-class and Arabia-class battleships were ordered to form a battle fleet to guard against Japan taking this opportunity to make a sneak attack.

Originally, this fleet was incorporated into the Nanhua Empire sequence, but it was still the Chinese Navy in name only, so this order was implemented very smoothly to the end.

In the eyes of outsiders, this was the first order issued by the emperor. Integrating the army was a big deal, not to mention taking away two Chinese battleships at once and waiting to see what happens next.

Then, this order was completely implemented. Experts who knew the inside story would have no feelings at all, but most ordinary people were surprised by this.

On the second day of March, Liu Yiming sent Minister of Civil Affairs Huang Keqiang to Jinling to organize public opinion representatives to discuss some key issues, such as where to establish the capital, land issues, etc.

Also on the same day, Sun Zaizhi took hundreds of senior government officials on a fast cruise ship and sailed toward Borneo under the escort of two cruisers.

…………

China and Nanhua completed this series of operations in a short period of time, and the final treaty was ratified and implemented before Britain and France even figured out what was going on.

When Zhu Erdian rushed to Sun Zaizhi's office, Sun Zaizhi's secretary was "renovating", that is, replacing all expired nameplates.

"Is Mr. President here?" Zhu Erdian gasped and asked in a very gentlemanly manner.

"Is it Sir Zhu Erdian? Come in, come in, I still want to find you." Sun Zaizhi happened to hear it and invited him in warmly.

"Mr. President, has South China threatened China with force? Don't worry, the British Empire will stand behind you and support you in rejecting the South China Empire's unreasonable demands." Zhu Erdian said quickly.

"Threat of force? No, no, no, you are joking. The office will be moved soon. Please forgive me for the poor hospitality." Sun Zaizhi poured two glasses of boiled water himself and gave Zhu Erdian one.

Zhu Erdian took it and the two sat on the sofa.

"You know, in the past few years, information about the two countries becoming one has been circulating among the people."

"In recent times, as wars have broken out one after another, we have discovered that we cannot guarantee national security and cannot defeat all enemies."

Zhu Erdian knew that Sun Zaizhi was accusing the British of not expressing their attitude towards the Japanese sneak attack on China.

This is really an injustice to the British. The British are the ones who most want to cease the war now, and even hope that this war has never happened.

On the day the war broke out, the British were still secretly chuckling and thinking about how they could give the Japanese some help.

Then the next day, the European War broke out. The Germans were overwhelming on the battlefield, and the British were already beginning to consider the possibility of failure.

But would Britain sit back and watch a Napoleonic empire reappear in Europe? No, so it turned to other allies.

For example, the Russian Empire was urged to launch an offensive on the Eastern Front, a large-scale offensive. For this reason, the Tsar lost two army groups, two army groups loyal to him.

Another thing is to bring in countries that have not yet participated in the war, such as Nanhua and Japan.

Britain and Nan Hua had several private talks, but Nan Hua always ignored it and Japan had to pay a price, but Japan could not afford this price.

Then, the situation on the battlefield improved, and the British were not so anxious - they still didn't know how long this war would last.

"Mr. President, I am very sorry that the British Empire is in the middle of a war in Europe and has ignored the situation in the Far East and ignored the feelings of our friends."

"Don't worry, I will help the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put pressure on the Japanese to stop the war as soon as possible." Zhu Erdian's serious look is easy to trust.

"Sir Zhu Erdian, I have stopped all activities in my capacity as president." Sun Zaizhi drank water tactically, and then said calmly.

"Mr. President, I hope you will consider this carefully. This is really unheard of." Zhu Erdian leaned forward and stared at Sun Zaizhi.

"Sir Zhu Erdian, I just want to catch up with you. Since you insist on listening, I will tell you." Sun Zaiyi put down the water glass helplessly.

"Before the Japanese attack, and even on the day the war broke out, a large amount of financing was carried out on the exchanges in London and New York."

"All these bonds were issued by British and American banks. On the day of the attack, the bonds experienced a sharp rise."

"And when the Japanese failed to attack the Chinese fleet and dragged the South China Empire into the war, bonds fell accordingly."

"I don't believe that no one in the UK knew the news, but no one even reminded us in any form."

"After the war started, we estimated how we could resist the Japanese with just us, and the answer we came up with was very..."

Having said this, Sun Zaizhi shrugged, looking particularly innocent.

"To this end, we have thought for a long time about how to ensure development while ensuring security in this world. You must know that we still have a large amount of debt to repay."

"My comrades and I, who are the officials and think tank advisers of the provisional government, have discussed for a long time and found that absorbing the South China Empire is the fastest and safest way."

"So, we contacted Nanhua, and Nanhua also offered more favorable treatment, including that I myself would serve as the speaker of the parliament who can restrain the emperor and the prime minister."

"You know, I started the revolution just to make my country strong so that it would not be bullied. To make the people rich so that they would not go hungry. This requirement is not high, but it is difficult to achieve."

"And Nanhua, a Chinese country with the same origin as China, can do these things."

"That's all. If you still want to discuss this topic, please talk to the future Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire."

Sun Zaizhi talked a lot, his mouth felt a little thirsty, and he drank a large amount of water.

"Mr. President..." Before Zhu Erdian could say his anxious words, he was interrupted by Sun Zaizhi.
Chapter completed!