Hobbes walked to the center of the room with an interpreter, tried to compose himself, and then spoke slowly, as if he were in a university lecture:

The universe originates from nature, everything exists in a tangible way and constantly repeats mechanical movements, and the so-called intangible things cannot exist, but they are just illusory imaginations, so human beings can understand the universe. Man is also a product of nature, equally enjoying the right to all things, but at the same time having a natural nature, such as seeking advantage and avoiding disadvantage, endless pursuit of profit, power, etc., it is impossible for human beings to get rid of greed, violence, so they are always in danger, and if there is no common sovereign, the natural state of human beings is a state of war. For the purpose of peace and self-defence, men agree to contract with each other out of reason, voluntarily relinquishing their rights to all things, including the right to govern themselves, and entrusting all power and power to a single person or a collective capable of turning the will of all into a will, which is the sovereign, who is able to use all its forces and means in such manner as it deems conducive to peace and common defence, and therefore the sovereign is as powerful as the biblical beast, the Leviathan. The sovereign has unlimited authority, the people must obey absolutely, and it must also abide by the contract with the people to fulfill its obligations, including resisting foreign aggression, maintaining national order, and ensuring that the people get rich through legitimate labor ......, organizing and administering the country is undoubtedly a secular power belonging to the sovereign, the Pope has no right to interfere, and the church should also submit to secular power, according to Aristotle's doctrine, the monarchy is the best state system, and the subjects can only obtain civilization and security by relying on the monarch with absolute authority, So the monarch is the best sovereign and the greatest Leviathan.

Hobbes calmly watched the crowd, this doctrine has always had mixed reputations, he knew what was going to happen next, and sure enough, someone shouted: "You say that everything in the universe exists physically, then there is no God in the world, and the church should not exist at all, is that right?" ”

"At least we have never perceived the existence of God, and the evil deeds of the Holy See and the Church prove that they are not qualified to rule over the world." Hobbes glanced at his compatriot, England's ambassador for trade, Kent.

"Nonsense, God is omnipresent and omnipotent, Mr. Hobbes, you wait to go to hell!" Kent yelled.

"Not perceiving God is because human beings are not capable enough to understand the universe, and it does not prove that God does not exist, Mr. Hobbes, you are an atheist, you don't understand how important God is, we used to be very difficult, we were constantly killed by famine, plague, war, and in despair, we can only get the courage to live by praying to God, so we firmly believe that God not only exists, but is with us." Namur, a devout Christian, also stood up against Hobbes.

Hobbes hurriedly waved his hand and said: "I am not an atheist, and I have always believed that the Anglican of England can save the souls of the world, but render to God what is God's, and to Caesar what is Caesar's, and in a secular society, the Pope and the Church must obey secular power." ”

"But your doctrine denies the existence of gods, which will have terrible consequences, people have a natural desire to create gods, deny the existing gods, and they will spontaneously recreate gods," Namur shook his head, pointing to the Zodiac and the Jiangnan scholars, "They created gods, which you call Leviathan, the Ming Emperor, but the subjects not only did not gain civilization and security, but fell into deeper suffering." ”

"How can this be reasonable, the gentleman respects the ghosts and gods and stays away, what ......do you have to do with the chaotic gods and the Ming Emperor" Huang Daozhou jumped up and wanted to have a seizure again, but was held down by Liu Zong on Monday - Huang Daozhou and others fell out with Hong Chengchou and followed him to Datong, but this group of people was ignorant and fearless, so they had to take care of it.

Liu Tianren, the chief judge of the Supreme Court, whispered a few words to Wang Ying, stood up and said: "Mr. Hobbes, we have discussed the view that all laws originate from natural law, and in fact, the Datong Federation implements precedent decisions precisely to maintain the good customs that have long been accustomed in various places, the most important of which is the people's right to freedom, but how can this right be maintained under the rule of a Leviathan monarch?" ”

"Natural law cannot accomplish any end on its own, unless there is an external force to compel obedience, and I must confess that under Leviathan the liberty of the subjects is very limited, and exists only in things prescribed by the sovereign, such as buying and selling, or other contractual acts, but without the force of Leviathan, the contract is a dead letter." Hobbes replied.

Wang Ying laughed: "If Leviathan does not fulfill its obligations and adopts tyranny against the people, then should the contract be invalid or the people continue to endure tyranny?" ”

Hobbes was a little embarrassed, thought for a while and replied: "It should be that the contract is invalid, but the contract cannot be terminated of course, we must understand that the loss of Leviathan means that mankind will return to barbarism, that will be the most terrible thing, Mr. Liu, Mr. Wang, I know what you will say, I have translated the "History of the Peloponnesian War", the fall of the Athenian Federation proves that the democratic state is very fragile, and it is worth considering how long the Datong Federation can last!" ”

Wang Ying shook her head: "You are wrong, Datong is different from Athens, the votes in the hands of citizens are just a stick to restrain the government from doing whatever it wants, and it does not show that ordinary citizens are qualified to participate in national politics, our federal parliamentarians are local elites who work hard through county and provincial councils, they are related to the interests of the federation, although they will be confronted in the parliament, but they will never destroy their own country, so the Datong federation is a representative system of checks and balances with sovereignty in the people rather than a Greek-style democracy as Aristotle said, It's a beautiful system that can last long without a Leviathan, and I'm sorry that your doctrine makes me feel like England is lagging behind. ”

Hobbes was about to retort, but his compatriot Gordon shouted, "Mr. Hobbes, you should be ashamed that the people of England are against tyranny, and that you sing praises to the king!" ”

"I am loyal to the king, but I would rather fight for my freedom than accept Leviathan!" Kent shouted with a fist.

Hobbes was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said, "You can oppose me, but Leviathan will still appear," and then walked back to his seat with his head down.

"I support Mr. Hobbes," Ma Guozhu, the former Qing ambassador for trade, suddenly stood up, this guy lied about being detained during the war between Datong and the Qing State, and actually hid in the Datong Bookstore to read books every day, and after the war, Xifu, Qi Chongge, Luo Xiujin and others also went to Datong, and the four of them used Datong University as a base while studying knowledge while waiting for the opportunity to become officials.

Ma Guozhu continued, "I have a large number of people of the same race, and it is all because of the president's prestige and virtue that they are united, but the House of Representatives has done everything possible to limit the power of the president, and even the previous clause of 'the president is always in line' is not written into the Constitution. ”

"We are full of people who only serve Prince Jin, and we don't recognize anyone who is president except for the Li family!" Shifu also exclaimed.

Feng Quan hurriedly jumped out and said: "Zhu Ming has been destroyed, the Qing family should be established, and the Qing Dynasty has returned to Datong, and the orthodoxy of the world has changed to the Li family, and we should offer a table to persuade the president to ascend the throne and become emperor." ”

"Feng Quan, you first attached yourself to the rebel party, then descended to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and now you are flattering the Li family, so shameless!" Wan Yuan Ji roared angrily.

Gu Jiang rushed to the center of the venue and said loudly: "I have studied the world's accumulated shortcomings, the reason is that it is specialized, so it is impossible for the people to 'rule alone', and when the power of the world is entrusted to the people of the world to implement the 'rule of the people', the gentry, the root of the 'rule of the people', but they were slaughtered and expelled by Datong, it can be seen that it is cruel and tyrannical, and there is still my Ming court in the south, how can the Li family be enthroned and called the emperor?" ”

Datong does not distinguish between right and wrong, thinking that protecting the people is to protect the country, Feng Quan and his gang of the Northern Party because they assisted the Qing court to pacify the local people, depose the excesses and miscellaneous taxes, and crack down on corrupt officials and corrupt officials, not only innocent but meritorious, and there will be a chance to become an official in the future, thank Li Yu from the bottom of his heart, and cry out for the gentry is just a rabbit and a fox, of course, the Northern Party is not allowed to take advantage of the topic, Li Ruolin excitedly waved his fist and shouted: "I, the remnants of the former Ming Dynasty are stubborn and deserve to be slaughtered and expelled, we northerners are to serve the Li family as the emperor, you will go back to your hometown if you don't accept it!" ”

"Kill these rebels!" Someone shouted, the southern scholars roared and rushed out, and the northern party elements did not show weakness, rolled up their sleeves and prepared to meet the battle.

"Inspection, whoever makes trouble will be caught and whipped!" Na Mu'er shouted loudly and suppressed the two groups, and sneered and mocked, "Isn't the emperor great, I have four emperors in Datong - King Ding, King Fu, King Lu and the little emperor of the Qing Kingdom, and the Pope is still in a hurry to crown the president as the Holy Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire!" ”

The people of Datong were accustomed to seeing the emperor running around the streets, and did not take the emperor seriously, but they must have taken it for nothing, and when they heard that the president had a new title, they immediately excitedly talked about how much benefit the federation could get, and the Muslims even clamored for troops to attack the Ottoman Turkish Empire in order to clear the pilgrimage road.

"Okay, no wonder you have long wanted to turn China into Yidi when you revised the History of the Mongol Khanate," Huang Daozhou trembled with anger, and pointed to the Gentiles in the crowd and shouted, "Li Hanmin is willing to be with Yidi, and he is extremely shameless, are you Datong also willing to follow him as a barbarian?" ”

"We are free citizens, you are uncivilized barbarians, go back and continue to be the emperor's minions." Li Zhengyi roared angrily.

"Yidi's monarch is not as good as Zhuxia's nothing, we would rather be enslaved by the Han emperor than the freedom of Datong." The southern scholar replied solemnly.

Datong people burst into laughter, and the Dutch trade ambassador Caron couldn't help but shake his head: "What an incredible group of crazy people, freedom is the most precious, it doesn't matter who is the ruler of the country, the Prince of Orange is a German, but we trust him very much, and we also elected the Orange family to govern the Dutch Republic for generations." ”

"The revision of the history book is just a review of the past to warn future generations, why bother to talk about it with Huayi's argument, I repeat, the "History of the Mongol Khanate" is my private book, and it has nothing to do with the federal government, you can also revise the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Datong will never help people to say, you go back to your own country, so as not to stay here and think nonsense." Ortai said angrily and amusementously to the southern scholars.

Wan Yuan Ji smiled: "I am from Jiangxi, a serious citizen of the Federation, and I want to stay in Datong and fight you to the end." ”

"We're not going to go, do you dare to be guilty of speech?" Huang Daozhou also replied, Jiangnan scholars laughed, they are pedantic but not stupid, when they return to Jiangnan, they will definitely be plotted by Hong Chengchou, and it is safest to stay in Datong.

"This meeting is pointless, adjourned!" Ortai was so angry that he turned around and left.

Li Fugui hurriedly said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Chinese imperial system has accumulated deep defects for 2,000 years, and has completely lost the power of internal innovation. The Datong Federation is trying to find a new road, once this road is cleared, it is China's great fortune, all the monarchs are concerned about the world, should know the people-oriented truth, and must not repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasties, we might as well make an agreement, each reserve its own point of view but do not argue, do not dismantle Taiwan, do more practical things for the country and the people, and come here again after 20 years, then who is who is not to be argued. ”

The group of people in the Northern Party never wanted to turn their faces with Datong, Feng Quan preemptively said: "Mr. Qingshan is right, we must do more practical things for the people, and don't talk about misleading the country, we have always done this." ”

"I agree that people's livelihood is fundamental, and doing more practical things for the people is the most important." Liu Zongzhou finally spoke, Huang Daozhou and his gang didn't know anything about the world's major affairs, but they thought they were talking about it, which made him blush and didn't speak for a long time.

Cai Maode also smiled: "I am afraid that many of us will not be alive in 20 years, but this is fine, some things will be left to the younger generation." ”

"I don't agree, the four dimensions of courtesy, righteousness, honesty and shame in the country, the four dimensions are not the destruction of the country, how can you do it without arguing about the result!" Huang Daozhou shouted, but Liu Zongzhou, Cai Maode and others ignored him and left.

The participants quickly dispersed, and the remaining group of Jiangnan scholars looked at each other, Gu Jiang said carefully: "I heard that there are many people in Datong who are demonstrating, do you want to go and see it?" ”

"Go back to Datong!" Zodiac waved on Monday and led the southerners to set off.

Datong, the people seem to have developed a habit, where the House of Representatives meets must go to Liberty Square to join in the fun, in fact, they don't care about the content of the meeting - Datong these young people pay thin taxes, hide wealth from the people, the people want to farm and have fields, want to earn money to work, want to make a fortune to do business, want to be an official examiner, the burden of slight free development, the days are getting more and more prosperous, and it is not easy to fight a big battle, and the situation is very good, everyone still trusts the House and the government, and it is the businessman who supports the federal government the most. But the finger was pointed at the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce and the Liberal Party, on the grounds that these big businessmen were preventing them from making a fortune.

Huang Daozhou and others rushed into the square, and the news that the president was named the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire spread immediately, but the Datong people did not realize it, and their provocation was useless, but people were thunderous and smiling - the president's resume is clear to everyone, he was named the Mongolian Great Jinong, got the authority of the Mongolian Great Khan, was named the Prince of Jin of the Qing State, annexed the Great Qing State, was named the Duke of the Jin State of the Ming State, and squeezed the Ming Kingdom to the south of the Yangtze River.......

However, some people are unhappy, the president has made great achievements in the world, and even the pope who is thousands of miles away has admitted the account, and we must not forget our roots when we live a good life, and we must also add a big title to the president - this proposal was unanimously approved, and the people racked their brains to discuss it for a while, and then elected representatives to go to the House with the petition.

In the hall of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the House of Representatives are clearly divided, the elected members of the House of Representatives will never allow the center to meddle in the localities, oppose all the tax sharing bills, and refuse to raise taxes on the grounds that they must not increase the burden on the people, and the members designated by the presidential office give face to the government and support the reform of the tax system by the center, but they only have one-third of the seats and are powerless to confront the elected members of the parliament - at this time, the party is not important, the members of the parliament can speak for which end of the butt sits, and it is useless for Zhou Su and Li Jianji to secretly greet the leaders of the Liberal Party and the Civic Party.

Wang Jimo went back to his hometown Fugu to retire, and the wealthy Khalkha businessman Derge took over as the speaker of the House of Representatives, and said to Li Jianji with a wry smile: "Erzeng, the House of Representatives agreed to change the teaching fee originally allocated by the center to be borne by the local state capital, this is the biggest concession, and it has also saved four or five million for the Prime Minister's Office, don't make any more trouble, go back and think of other ways." ”

"I can't help it, the debt bill is nearly 30 million, I don't dare to issue it again, there is nowhere to digest the silver money printed too much, the federal tax revenue is less than 20 million a year, how can I be such a big family, you just re-elect the prime minister, I won't do it!" Li Jian regretted it, when Wu Xian was the prime minister, he didn't say a lot of cool things, and now he tastes great.

The Datong Federation has been unable to make ends meet for a long time, relying on borrowing and printing money to meet huge expenses, issuing bond bills is to eat grain, and the printed silver money is quietly imported into the Ming and Qing countries, in fact, plundering people's property, but now the situation has changed, and the debt bills are issued too much, resulting in difficulties in payment, and the previous injustices of the Ming and Qing countries have become poor eggs, and one has become their own people, and the trick of printing silver money is also ineffective.

Wang Dengdao had been the head of Ma Zheng in charge of the Taifu Temple of the former Ming Army, and had just been transferred to the head of the branch, and his mind turned to come up with a solution: "Guan Zi said, taxes should be 'taken from the invisible, so that the people are not angry', maybe salt, iron, wine, vinegar, tea, cloth, etc. can be changed to official camps to solve the urgent need." ”

Huang Da, director of the General Administration of Silver Banknotes, immediately retorted: "Nonsense, big old Wang, your old problem has been committed, the Xu Guanfu is doing business to quench your thirst, and within three years, the government and businessmen will compete with the people for profit, corruption and bribery will prevail, and all industries in the market will be depressed, and the people will have no way to make a living, and the federation will carry a heavier burden, and it will be too late to regret it at that time." ”

"But all dynasties have done this, and it really works!" The big old king was not convinced.

"That's the Han dynasty, they have always been prey on the people, my Datong is a new country based on the people, how can I learn from them!" Deputy Senate Speaker Tulubaihu waved his hand.

The eldest king was a little angry: "Standing and talking doesn't hurt your back, you have an idea!" ”

The council hall fell silent again, and after a while, Zhou stood up and said: "When I was in Fengzhou, the council passed a resolution that all private individuals and trading companies with an annual income of more than 5,000 taels should pay 10% income tax, do you remember? ”

It seems that there is such a thing, but this kind of tax collection is too difficult, and it will be implemented in less than half a year, and everyone will almost lose sight of it.