Chapter 82: The Smoke and Clouds of Beijing (Part 1)

In the third year of Huaxing, Beijing.

Like this rapidly developing country, the city in midsummer seemed to have a fire-like enthusiasm.

Since the following year of Huaxing, Beijing City has also begun a large-scale urban infrastructure renovation like other major cities. The electrified road lighting system has replaced kerosene street lamps imitated from the UK. Every night, Fuxing Avenue, Arc de Triomphe, and major business districts are decorated with various neon lights carefully arranged like crystal palaces. Looking down from the air, the entire city is like a brilliant sea of ​​light.

The originally dilapidated Sanhe dirt road, cement road, and brick road were unified and the asphalt and gravel road surfaces were rebuilt. The roads were greatly widened and the urban road system was upgraded and renovated. All houses were equipped with tap water and household electricity, and flush toilets were installed. Coking gas was also more popular, replacing the traditional honeycomb coal stove.

The urban layout planning has been improved, and the reconstruction of the well-protected old city has continued to maintain consistent caution, while the new city has adopted a new design drastically. The city's residence, office, shopping, and education have been more closely coordinated. The entire outer new city has developed into a satellite city like a chessboard, forming a system.

Although many projects are still under construction, catching up with the wind and the city is even more dusty, as the ancient city transitions step by step towards modern civilization, the history and culture of the old city and the modern industrial and commercial civilization of the new city are perfectly combined, the residents of Beijing still feel a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

This is our capital, this is our country.

Just two years after the end of the National War, many things seemed to be very long. The school education full of Spartan military under the wartime system had quietly given way to the military and national education before the war, and there were no murderous content such as "war application questions" and "war compositions" on the test papers. There were almost no passionate patriotic speeches on the streets, and there were no voluntary propaganda teams to raise funds for the country. Walking on the streets, soldiers no longer received bows and cheers from the people when they passed by. Everyone returned to their pre-war state, and they were still in a hurry, leisurely and leisurely. But every face showed more pride, more confidence, and more expectations.

With the country's major disarmament, many soldiers returned to their daily lives and came to their familiar or unfamiliar positions, working hard for the daily oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. In the parks, in the streets and alleys, there are often some disabled veterans wearing medals of honor, leaning on crutches or pushing wheelchairs, and passers-by pay tribute.

The war has ended, but the spirit of the soldiers will not die. People are still grateful to these veterans who have shed blood, been injured, and sacrificed their lives of normal happiness.

After the emperor's wedding, he continued to host the "Beijing Peace Conference" and then brought a group of people to "vacation".

Although the Beijing Peace Conference did not determine a clear disarmament plan, it was also considered to have issued a "joint communiqué" that expressed its common hope for peace, and countries have indeed begun to formulate plans to reduce arms expansion.

At this point, the string that the Chinese people were originally struggling finally relaxed.

Since I don’t want to fight, I guess I may not be able to fight anymore.

Although many people, especially young young people and junior soldiers, inevitably missed the vigorous national war and hated that they had no chance to go to battle or did not gain enough merit, most Chinese people still did not want to be involved in such a dangerous and unpredictable war again.

This country has already mastered the entire East Asia, doubled its territory, became one of the world's most powerful countries, and even mastered the key to the victory or defeat of the two major camps of European and American powers. The economy is taking off rapidly, the country's various systems are gradually improving, people's lives have improved greatly, and culture is also thriving. Does anyone really hope that all this will turn into rubble in the roar of cannons?

Looking at the comfortable residence, brand new cars, a variety of clothes in the wardrobe, a beautiful wife, a child with jade carvings, the staff and citizens don’t want to fight again;

Looking at the green crops in about 30 acres of land, counting the Huayuan that had been saved, thinking about building a few large tiled houses after the New Year, marrying a wife for his eldest son, and buying a horse to pick up. The younger son is promising and has already been in junior high school, so he doesn't have to spend money. Thinking that life is getting better and better, the farmers don't want to fight again;

Looking at the public rental housing with clear windows and looking at the happiness on the faces of my wife and children, the workers didn’t want to fight again;

Seeing the stocks in hand keep rising, their company's business is becoming more and more prosperous, and their exports are becoming more and more smooth, business owners do not want to fight again.

After all, this battle is not about stomping on a small barbarian country. The newspaper analyzed clearly that once a war begins, it is a life-and-death battle that the whole world will be involved in. The winner is the world overlord, and the failure is the endless doom!

How many people are willing to take that risk in such a good day?

Next year is the year of Congress' re-election, and this re-election has changed drastically from previous years.

As early as a few months ago, after repeated debates and repeated revisions, the new "Parliamentary Elections Act" was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

According to the new election law, the conditions for voters are greatly relaxed, and the annual tax payment conditions have been reduced from 50 Huayuan to 30 Huayuan, either they have served in the military and have an annual tax payment of more than 10 Huayuan, or they have donated more than 300 Huayuan at one time.

Although there is still only one voter in the family, according to estimates, the number of voters in the empire still surged from the previous 7.6 million to 18 million.

The sharp expansion of the voter base mainly comes from the increase in income of ordinary workers, peasants, workers and citizens, as well as the decline in the threshold for suffrage. The changes in the structure of voters have attracted more and more attention from voices from the bottom of society.

The increasingly large labor-management relations coordination meeting in the Baaking Party finally announced the establishment of the ** Party in early June, named the Chinese Socialist Party. Zhou Minggen was appointed as the Secretary-General and the chairman was vacant. He exercised leadership functions with the Central Executive Committee, committed to "improving the well-being of the working class", "improving fairness and justice in the whole society" and "promoting better coordinated development of society."

Unlike the previous Liberal Party, Peasant Party, Yanhuang Party, etc., the Socialist Party’s success caused an unprecedented earthquake to occur from top to bottom.

The reason is nothing more, just because the potential of the Socialist Party is too terrible. His predecessor, the Labor and Capital Research Association, originally included most of the most ideal, talented, and practical backbone members of the Boxing Party, as well as a large number of middle- and lower-level clerks. This ** will naturally be supported by major trade unions, even farmers' association organizations, and the Youth League, which is equivalent to poaching half of the Boxing Party.

What is even more incredible is that such blatant acts of undermining the Taiwan Strait were not stopped or severely punished, and such a large-scale intra-party connection was not stopped by the Baxing Party Central Committee in advance.

Regarding the reporter's questioning, the Secretary-General of the Baxing Party, Zheng Jingen, just said lightly that "The members of the Baxing Party have the freedom to leave, which is their choice." Zheng Yu, as the leader of the party, went to Lake Baikal with the queen for a vacation to cool off. The Cabinet's elders simply refused to comment on the grounds of "busy business."

The meaning behind this has made many people think a lot and worried. It is said that some people have already made a fuss and will prepare for constitutional amendment in the near future. The original appointment methods of members of the Senate and House of Representatives must be adjusted, and the proportion of elected people has been expanded, and the same is true for the local Senate!

Under these storms, many veteran members of the Baeking Party were naturally worried about the next year's parliamentary election. The long-term dominance of one party and the actual one party in the ruling alliance made the Baeking Party have already subtly equated itself with politics and the country. Although when Zheng Ying passed away, Zheng Yu once beat the Baeking Party hard, carried out a major purge from top to bottom, and expanded the power of other minority parties, the situation of the Baeking Party being dominant was not substantially changed even in the so-called "Huaxing Party Branch" movement in the late period of the National War. Whether it was the Peasant Party, the Yanhuang Party, or the Liberal Party, although they gradually established their own national foundation and expanded their influence in some places, they were not on the same scale as the Baeking Party.

With the victory of the National War and the subsequent series of expansion, reforms, economic development, cultural reforms, and even religious reforms, Emperor Zheng Yu's reputation was beyond re-establishment, and the Baaking Party, with Zheng Yu as the leader, naturally regained its prestige. The dominance of the Baaking Party in Tang Shaoyi's cabinet is proof of it, and no one thought that the Baaking Party would face a real challenge in the next Congress re-election.

But the challenge came suddenly.

Although in the Socialist Party's** statement, Zhou Minggen, one of the elders of the Baath Party, praised the Baath Party hard and humbly said that "it is just to fight for more legitimate rights and interests for the working class and contribute to the people of the empire", anyone can see clearly that this party, which has expanded to one million members within two months and is still continuing to expand, has become the largest and most direct opponent of the Baath Party.

Especially after the promulgation of the new election law, everyone could see that these newly added voters of the lower and lower classes have natural closeness in the face of the Chinese Socialist Party, a party that directly serves the "working class" as their direct service, first of all, emotionally and secondly, rationally.

Although the Party Constitution announced by the Socialist Party is largely similar to the Baaking Party and does not directly put forward digital requirements on labor rights and interests, the meaning is clear enough: more fair and reasonable labor salary, more scientific labor time, better labor security guarantee, more perfect social security system, more rights to participate in politics and make more attention to social fairness and justice.

Before the election program was officially announced, the newly established political party had already received a lot of donations from trade unions, which naturally meant that it had mastered those astonishing votes. Political observers knew in their hearts that they chose this time to target the re-election of Congress next year. When they showed their election program, it would inevitably trigger a sharp change in the domestic political landscape.

However, even commentators who have many negative views on the Baak Party have to admit that this new socialist party has too many similarities to the Baak Party in terms of organizational structure, operating rules and ideas. Putting aside the emphasis on labor policy, the two parties can even be regarded as twin brothers. Even the propaganda strategies are exactly the same: mass meetings, propaganda cars, flyers, speeches, parades, slogans, party newspapers and magazines, editorials...

Although it seems that a faction is not invading the rivers, at the grassroots level, the competition between the two parties, especially the open and secret struggles in propaganda, have begun.

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This political trend in the third year of Huaxing has been involved in much simpler than a Baath Party or a Socialist Party.

The Liberal Party, which calls for liberalism, has also begun to strive to expand its political territory.

Although during the war, liberals such as Liang Dunyan were severely criticized by the Emperor Han faction and other factions for their "anti-war" stance, the "retro-reviving Han faction" was severely damaged after the war. With the development of the country's industry and commerce, the resumption of the Congress, the relaxation of public opinion control, the undercurrent of the post-war anti-war thoughts, and the natural liberal tendencies of the emerging bourgeoisie and the middle class all made the liberals begin to gain an increasingly relaxed development atmosphere.

The early backbone of the Liberal Party, in addition to the liberals within the Baath Party such as Liang Dunyan, there were also many university and high school teachers, famous scholars, especially elites from all walks of life who had studied in Europe and the United States, as well as the middle and upper-class people who received new higher education in China. The reason why they promoted and supported liberalism was not only based on their beliefs, but also on their own interests.

Although they are also fascinated by the strength of the country and have no denying respect and worship of the two generations of emperors, they still find it difficult to accept that the current system called Junxian, which is actually the emperor's authoritarian rule continues for a long time. Although the political system is undergoing reforms in reforming the electoral system, the liberals are not satisfied with these achievements and are eager to gain greater voice in this process, have a greater impact on the development of the country and society, and thus naturally gain advantages in resource allocation.

Similar to what Zheng Ying before the founding of the country, Wang Minghan, Zhou Minggen and others did during the National War, liberals such as Liang Dunyan also introduced a large number of works by European and American liberal scholars, and printed them widely and spread them at their own expense. Thomas Hobbes, William Godwin, Joseph Priestre, Thomas Paine, Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith and Edmund Burke, Montesquieu and Rousseau in France all became the darlings of the intellectual world.

With the help of the natural forum and academic autonomy of universities, liberalism has taken root and sprouted among young people. Although passionate students from various schools, especially nationalist societies, also launched counterattacks against each other, and even took various hats to incite the audience's emotions with moral attacks, liberalism did not fall at a disadvantage in the confrontation. Using various liberal newspapers and publications, the Liberal Party began a large-scale propaganda work, focusing on the main focus of the middle and upper classes in the country.

However, as an elite influenced by the Baath Party, Liang Dunyan did not fall into the laissez-faire rudeism, that is, the "laissez-faire". As a politician who was deeply influenced by Zheng Ying and had been practicing government practice for a long time, Liang Dunyan knew that simple laissez-faire was useless to the country, especially in China, and knew that his opponents were very accustomed to denying all foreign ideas by inciting national feelings, putting them on the hat of "Western" and "foreign slaves" and evolving academic discussions into personal attacks, starting from directly denying the opponent's "stance" to avoid complicated academic debates.

This sophisticated politician and thinker imitated Zheng Ying's "China New Learning" back then and proposed "Chinese liberalism" and deliberately collected a few words from various ancient books as support. Huang Zongxi's book "Mingyi Waiwenlu" made Liang Dunyan feel like hesitant, but it directly attacked the emperor's system and even proposed that the emperor was a big thief in the country made him hesitant. In the end, he could only delete and publish it, thinking that the local "original origin" of liberalism.

In this "Chinese liberalism" theory, Liang Dunyan suggested politically improving civil rights, suppressing "unrestrained supreme authority", and avoiding the state falling into superstition of those who are powerless and being used by some power-minded people who are "insufficient in talents, ambitious, and have low vision" to bring the nation into the abyss.

However, Liang Dunyan also admitted that during the period of leapfrog development of the country, the "a certain degree of centralized decision-making system" has its advantages and is "more efficient" under the control of wise rulers and ruling groups.

Liang Dunyan pointed out that this kind of "centralized decision-making" can certainly ensure the rapid development of the country and the efficiency of decision-making during the turning point, but if it continues for a long time, it will lead to the country leaving an overwhelming tradition of **ism in this crucial turning point, thus laying hidden dangers for the long-term stability and coordinated development of the country in the future.

He believes that the purpose of national development, and even the development direction of the entire human society, is to achieve human rights and freedoms with a wider scope and a deeper degree. To ensure the realization of this purpose, in the long run, constitutionalism, democracy and the rule of law are necessary means, and the individual wisdom of the enlightened ruler may be effective quickly for a while, but in the end it is likely to suffer bad consequences. Japan is an example.

Liang Dunyan cited the examples of Britain, the United States and France, believing that these countries have achieved the unity of national prosperity, people's stability and prosperity, and civil rights and freedom, while Germany is "too strong in **ism, and the fate of the country is manipulated in the hands of a few rulers" and "can be involved in a dangerous war of hegemony at any time."

Liang Dunyan then analyzed the current situation in China and believed that the current strength of the country depends on military strength and industrial and commercial development under authoritarian rule, but the foundation of all this depends on imperial power. As the people's wisdom is opened and the sense of equality becomes stronger, this "divine power" nature will inevitably be questioned and even challenged. Once conflict breaks out, the order that has been worked hard for many years may be destroyed.

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Chapter completed!