While the Commonwealth was still celebrating its victory, the Presidential Palace and the Metropolitan Governor's Office were quietly stationed in the Datong President's Residence, which had won a decisive victory in the Qing War, and the War Office was about to return to the Parliament, before which the future strategic direction of the Federation had to be decided.

When the war in Shandong and Zhili subsided, Saigo Youjiang immediately rushed to Datong, but instead of going directly to the presidential palace and the prime minister's office, he went to Datong University to lecture for a few days. He was invited to give a speech at the House of Representatives, and his idea of establishing a Federal Republic of East Asia was also widely regarded as the trend of East Asia's future development. When Namur heard the news, he made a special trip to visit the old gentleman, and only then did he take out Wang Fang's letter of recommendation, and Namur apologized again and again, and pulled Itak, who had just been transferred back to the center from Khalkha, to accompany him to lobby the presidential palace.

"Mr. Jiuyang's name, he should have visited first, but he was entangled in government affairs, so he apologized to Mr. below!" Shen Shoulian, director of the General Bureau of Colonization, returned to Datong to report on his work, and mentioned Xixiang Youjiang to the presidential palace, and Li Fugui and Chen Qiyu heard that the distinguished guests were coming to greet them in person.

"I have read Mr. Aoyama's "Journey to the North" below, and I know that the Datong Federation is really extraordinary, and it is the great change in East Asia for thousands of years. Saigo Youjiang replied that this trip to Datong was indeed an eye-opener for him, because Datong has few federal officials and a small yamen, and the administrative cost is extremely low, but it uses the power of the people to control the most basic markets and villages, and along the way the water conservancy is perfect, the roads are wide, and factories powered by windmills and water wheels can be seen everywhere, the people are in good order, the transactions are active, and the people are not rich, but they are full of confidence in the future, and this young country is so full of vitality, and his belief is even stronger.

The two sides entered the lobby and sat down with Han salutes, and Xixiang Youjiang smiled: "Everyone said that Datong 'de-sinicization', and wanted to get out of China and enter Yidi. ”

"This is true, there are many people in the Datong Federation, and there will be chaos in the division of Huayi, and only by implementing the 'same race, different customs, and citizens of our nationality' can we abandon the paradox of taking the Quartet as the Yidi and Huaxia as China, so that all ethnic groups can identify with each other and integrate into one, but our 'de-sinicization' is not a complete denial, whether it is Sinology or foreign studies, as long as it is conducive to the prosperity of the people and the strength of the country, we will use it." Li Fugui replied solemnly.

"Mr. Aoyama is highly convincing, in fact, Japan also wants to get rid of the shackles of Sinology and find a new path of development, but it seems that it is not easy," Saigo Yujiang got up and bowed to Li Fugui, took out a newspaper post and said, "Today's "Journal of Practice" is a bit special. Please take a look at the two gentlemen. ”

The article believes that this move not only ignores tens of millions of people in the south, but also is a mere waste of national strength to cause trouble, calling on citizens to support the army to go south to accomplish the great cause of national reunification -- the president's letter has only been two days old, so why did the rumors come out? Someone must have leaked the news, Li Fugui frowned and asked, "What does Mr. Saigo think?" ”

"Mr. Qingshan should know that Emperor Meng Yuan Shizu 'practiced Han law' in order to seek great unification, Mongolia was divided, and the country was defeated and fled to the desert in less than a hundred years, and the past did not forget the division of the future, the number of Han people in the south is tens of millions, they can not be free but willing to accept the emperor's enslavement, how can Datong implement the new policy? How many battles will be fought and how much blood will be shed if the system is forcibly restructured? What about the final ending? The western expedition is also not advisable, the Rakshasa country, the evil and barbaric state, Datong spent thousands of miles of national strength to expedition, and the victory or defeat is unpredictable, I am afraid that the gains outweigh the losses! ”

Saigo Youjiang glanced at everyone, raised his voice and continued: "I don't have talent, I think that the development to the east is the best policy, the vast ocean contains countless wealth, Spain and Portugal have become powerful countries in one fell swoop, and the Netherlands has also become rich and rich by virtue of its navigation advantages, so the future opportunities of Datong are in the ocean, and the most important thing at present is not to go west and south, but to establish a strong navy to seize maritime interests." ”

"In the next look at the history books of China and foreign countries, except for the Roman kingdom of Taixi, none of the land powers can become a maritime power at the same time, the navy is too expensive, the strong ships and cannons rely on the pile of silver, and there are no decades of training and strong soldiers, I Datong at least for the time being only consider sharing maritime interests with the Taixi countries." Li Fugui shook his head slightly, and Shen Shoulian also mentioned the idea of establishing a navy, but the presidential office and the prime minister's office did not approve of it.

Saigo Yue waved his hand and said: "If the establishment of the Federal Republic of East Asia Minor will be different, Japan is not deeply sinicized, and the country is small and the people are poor, as long as the new policy is implemented to improve the people's livelihood, all people will be able to return to their hearts, with the perseverance of the Yamato nation and the familiarity with the sea, a strong federal navy will definitely dominate the sea in a maximum of twenty years." ”

Chen Qiyu laughed: "Your country is too poor, the president said that Japan's problems must be solved by ourselves, we can only provide help within our ability, in fact, Japan has emigrated more than 200,000 people to Shandong, Ryukyu, and Taiwan, and we have done a lot." ”

Saigo Yue shook his head, stood up and said loudly: "Japan is poor but has dignity, I am not here to beg, but wholeheartedly agree with the "Datong Constitution", and hope that the Datong Federation and Japan will jointly build a prosperous and powerful free country. ”

"Yes, the president is in Beijing, you can go and see him." Chen Qiyu replied coldly.

Saigo Yue snorted and turned his head to leave, when Namu'er and Ittak hurriedly got up and helped him back to his seat.

"Mr. Saigo, what you said may be right, but a big country has the difficulties of a big country, and many things have to be done step by step." Li Fugui comforted, at this time, Xue Zongzhou, secretary of the Presidential Palace, reported that Vice President Batur, the head of the Senate Ortai, and the Prime Minister Wu Yu led a group of officials out of the city to greet the Qing Prince Zheng Zierharang and the Yingjun King Azig and their entourage, and now they have arrived at the gate of Xingyuan, Li Fugui nodded, and said to Xixiang Youjiang: "We don't treat Mr. as an outsider, these Qing princes are also our own people, have a meal first, and then attend the meeting of the office together, please Mr. also give advice." ”

Xixiang Youjiang was a little hesitant, and Na Mu'er persuaded with a smile: "Mr. Xixiang, don't be careful, the Datong Federation only has a conspiracy and no conspiracy, so it's okay for you to listen to it." ”

The guests were accepted into the main hall, the banquet has been set up, everyone introduced each other and then sat down, Batur first recited a passage of the Song Dynasty Confucian Zhang Zai's "Ximing", and then said - "the people are my compatriots, the things are also with me", all the people in the world are compatriots, everything in the world is the same kind, Datong and the Qing Dynasty are now a family, should trust each other and care for each other, so the federal government respectfully invites Prince Zheng to take up the post of Senate affairs, Pingzhang military affairs, Yingjun Wang took office as the governor of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion Zuo Du Tongzhi, assistant to the affairs of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, and at the same time greatly aid LiaodongWe will strive to help the Manchurian compatriots rebuild their homes and improve their lives in the shortest possible time.

Just after passing the door, it was reused, and Datong was faster than Daqing - Zilharang and Azig were satisfied, and swore to be loyal to the Federation, Saigo Yujiang couldn't help but look at Batur, this Mongolian is really knowledgeable, and even understands the truth of the people's compatriots, in fact, Batur has long learned to find a gunman to write a speech.

At the beginning of the banquet, everyone talked while eating, Datong officials have always regarded Jierharang and other Manchu and Mongolian princes as moderates of the Qing court, and Jierharang and others have always believed that Datong is a big tribe with the Manchus.

Azig wanted to get Doduo's savings in hand, and quietly asked Lekdehun how to fight the lawsuit, but unfortunately although Lekdehun came a few months earlier, he was confused about the law, Azig was a little disappointed, and after a few glasses of wine, he lacked heart, pointed to Saigo Yujiang and said: "Isn't Japan a Japanese country, my father Khan almost went to Korea when he was young, I heard that you are very poor, and those who serve as soldiers are not paid military salaries and only have two meals of white rice a day, is that so?" ”

Saigo Yue looked gloomy, and only replied after a while: "Japan has many mountains and few lands, frequent disasters, and unusually high taxes and taxes, and the people work hard to cultivate rice, but they can only feed their hunger with miscellaneous grains and pickles, and many old people and children starve to death every year, but we never give up our efforts, and Japan will one day become a rich land." ”

Namur hurriedly played a round: "Don't be angry, Mr. Saigo, the king of Yingjun has drunk too much, the president once said that we can't watch our neighbors starve if we have a bite to eat, and we will help you." ”

"Mr. Saigo, you are a great talent, I am completely in favor of the establishment of the East Asian Federation, and I also agree with the establishment of the Federation Navy, but the Rakshasa country still has to fight, the Western Expedition is not as difficult as you think, I can beat the Rakshasa Ghost all over the ground to find teeth!" Batur came to Shigo Yue to toast in front of Yue Saigo, full of wine.

"Mr. Saigo, can you grow rice even in Japan's cold climate? What is the yield per acre of rice? According to your opinion, can Zhili and Liaodong grow rice? Li Fugui generally didn't speak at the banquet, and at this time he also came to his senses.

Saigo Youjiang drank and his face was flushed, thought about it and said: "Japan also grows wheat, but the yield is very small, mainly rice, according to the Han Dou calculation of the yield of about one stone per mu, good paddy fields can reach more than two stones, our rice is more cold-resistant, there is water can be planted, Zhili should be no problem, Liaodong must try to plant first." ”

Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry was originally the Ming State Yulin Soldier Road, Datong after the establishment of the country for a long time in the northwest, during the decisive order to resettle the water-scarce areas to return to farmland, and vigorously build water conservancy to expand fertile land, the political achievements were significantly promoted to the center, he had the most headache how to increase the grain production in the north, then he said: "Gyeonggi water is surrounded by the most suitable for growing rice, but unfortunately Emperor Shizu built the capital of Beijing on the grounds of 'the Son of Heaven guarding the country', so that a large area of land can not be cultivated, now the population of Beijing is one million, and the promotion of rice must evacuate the people, it is not easy to solve!" ”

Li Fugui waved his hand: "Regardless of the actual situation to build the capital of Beijing, every year from the south to transport four million stone of grain to feed the huge imperial court, we don't do this kind of stupid thing of working the people and hurting money, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry immediately sent people to investigate, draw up regulations to try to plant rice, if you can do it, you can do it boldly, what 'the Son of Heaven guards the country', do you keep it?" Nonsense, Shuntianfu was withdrawn, the population of Jingshi was moved to the coast, and Tianjin Wei was upgraded to Tianjin Mansion. ”

Zierharang was dumbfounded, such a major event for the Qing Dynasty had to quarrel for a few years, Datong actually decided on a meal, this is too fast, he hurriedly said: "There is another big thing, the green battalion army of Gyeonggi and Shanhaiguan has been concentrated in Miyun to take care of it, more than 100,000 people, eating is a lot of money, the president asked me to bring a word, how to deal with these people should come up with a way as soon as possible." ”

This is a bit difficult, the green battalion is derived from the Ming army, most of them are scoundrels, in addition to being a camp bastard who does not know how to make a living, let them go to be bandits, and they need a lot of money and food to settle them, and they have to send people to teach them to make a living, the House of Representatives is unwilling to pay, the government is unwilling to do much, and the Datong Army is mainly citizen soldiers, and they go back to their respective homes after the war, and they cannot contain prisoners, and the federal government takes this group of rotten soldiers as a headache, and often condones the soldiers in front to kill people.

Wang Tianxiang, Minister of Industry and Construction, suggested: "In the past, the Ming army of Datong and Xuanfu fled to the outside of the pass, and was organized into an auxiliary battalion to build roads and houses, and built a Baoketu without paying attention. ”

"Good idea, Lao Wang, you take the lead in handling this matter, and the Han army caught in the future will handle it accordingly." Batur said, patting his thigh.

"The old man is still surrounded by more than 200,000 green battalion soldiers in Wuhu, do you plan to drive them out of the gate?" Wu Xian asked with a faint smile.

"We don't raise idlers, we let them go, and let them plague south of the Yangtze River." Batur replied.

Wu Xian snorted, turned his face and said loudly to everyone: "The world is unified with the people's aspirations, how can the south of the Yangtze River abandon it, our army is not enough to conquer the south, and it can be supplemented by surrendering troops, we should allow the old commander to collect the green battalion and move south." ”

South or West? The officials exchanged heads and discussed, and Ortai frowned and said: "Don't talk about this issue now, a meeting of the office will be held in a while, and all the principal officials of various ministries and institutes will participate." ”

The sky gradually darkened, and all the officials entered the lobby, and the presumptuous appearance on the wine table just now was completely gone, and the smell of alcohol was gone, and all the official uniforms sat down quietly.

Xue Zongzhou first explained the current situation: the Mongolian and Manchurian compatriots in Karaqin, Xilamulun River, Laoha River and Liaodong wholeheartedly support the president and have started to reform the system in accordance with the deployment of the federal government. There were a small number of gentry and bandits in Zhili and Shandong, but they were about to be wiped out under the blows of our army and the Eight Banners Army, and the two places are currently making every effort to prevent and control the epidemic and prepare for the summer harvest; On both sides of the Yangtze River, Sun Fuhu's naval division met with Lin Feiyu's Wuchang naval division, completely cutting off the Yangtze River channel, there are still some restorationists in Jiangbei making trouble, Zhang Dingzheng assisted Zhun Tower to kill with all his might, Zhao Ji's reinforcements should be able to quickly pacify after they arrived, Hong Chengchou and Boluo in the south of the Yangtze River have not yet clearly stated that they are surrendering, and it is estimated that they are planning to bargain, and Li Huai, the governor of Wuchang, has rushed to Wuhu to contact him; Zhejiang, Fang Guoan responded to the local republic in Ningbo, our army and Zhang Cunren's department took advantage of the situation to recover the entire territory of Zhejiang, and the remnants of King Lu fled to Zhoushan, but were defeated by the Fujian Ming army entrenched here, and the whereabouts of King Lu are unknown; Emperor Shaowu of Fujian moved to Guangzhou, and the governor of Guangxi, Qu Shiyun, killed the king of Jingjiang who established himself as a prisoner of the country, and Ding Kuichu, the governor of Liangguang, supported King Gui as the emperor in Zhaoqing.

"A bunch of waste, at this time there is still infighting, ignore them, Chagui, you continue to explain." Ortai didn't want to hear it, and waved his hand and said contemptuously.

Cha Gui, the head of the Titang Station, who had returned from the Western Regions, stood up, put out a map and began to explain the military situation in the west.

The military and civilians of the Western Regions fought hard year after year, not only to curb the eastward invasion of the Rakshasa bandits, but also to advance the defense line to the Ob River, but after all, the strength was limited, when the Rakshasa army pressed the border, they were forced to transfer a large number of young and strong people from Hami, Turu Domain, Urumqi, Aksu, Ili, Tacheng and other guards to the west, which caused the exhaustion of manpower in the rear, and the heavy setbacks in agriculture and animal husbandry, industry and commerce, unable to provide sufficient supplies for the front, the Kyrgyz are allies, and the Datong Federation has the obligation to protect, but our army's advance to Lake Balkhash is the limit, and after contact with the enemy, we can only retreat, The foundation of the Western Regions is too weak, and it is difficult to protect itself without the support of the Federation, so the Grand Commander Batu, the political envoy Ma Qi, and the Admiral Asari jointly requested that the Western Expedition be launched as soon as possible to completely eliminate the great disaster of the Rakshasa Kingdom.

The young Chagui has been honing in the Western Regions for several years, and has obviously matured a lot, and the military situation is explained in an orderly manner, and he also asked his entourage to put a few weapons on the table, and contemptuously raised a fire gun and said: "The Rakshasa soldiers are more like bandits, mainly relying on looting supplies, and the battle array is scattered and the equipment is backward, only a few people are wearing armor, the artillery is not worth mentioning, the arquebus is their most powerful guy, but it is cumbersome and shoddy and there is no sword, if our army is an elite conquest, it will undoubtedly win." ”

Wu Xian said with a gloomy face: "Since the Rakshasa ghost is vulnerable, then it is even more necessary to wave the army to the south, and it is not too late to march west on the day of the unification of the world, and the old commander of Wuhu also means this." ”

"It's good to unify the world, but the south must be comprehensively reformed, and the seats of the Han people in the Senate and House of Representatives will remain unchanged, Wu Luyou, do you agree?" Batur chuckled, stared at Wu Xian and continued to ask, "If the southerners are stubborn and start a rebellion, how many officials and troops do you plan to send to the south to maintain order?" ”

"Batur, what do you know, if you miss the great fighter plane going south, the president can't spare you!" Wu Zhu replied disdainfully.

Batur still said with a smile: "I haven't read a book, but I'm not stupid, the president has shown his attitude if he doesn't return, and you can't restore it in disguise!" ”

"The Han people are not difficult to fight, but they are too difficult, regardless of them, Vice President, our Eight Banners are willing to send troops to the west." Azig was excited when he heard about the fight.

The hall was lively, and the officials who advocated going south and the officials who advocated the westward expedition quarreled, and Ortai slammed the table, stood up and shouted angrily to Batur: "Vice President, please pay attention to the words, there is no distinction between Hu and Han here, only federal citizens." ”