Zhang Shaoting has been described as the "founder of the modern Tang Empire", and some even call him the "Father of the Nation" (because the empire is an imperial system, this title is not recognized). Zhang Shaoting made outstanding contributions to the empire during his lifetime, such as the formal establishment of the political system of "constitutional monarchy", the cabinet was in charge of the executive power, and the emperor was completely hollowed out. The army and navy were formally established, with the prime minister as the supreme military commander, and a modern military system was established. The House of Lords was reorganized, with the House of Lords becoming a symbolic House and the House of Commons holding real power in the Empire. The establishment of the Supreme Court, the promotion of the "principle of safe trial", the establishment of the basic legal system of society, and so on. It can be said that the major things Zhang Shaoting did in his life were all laying the foundation for the prosperity of the empire for hundreds of years to come. Among them, one of Zhang Shaoting's most significant contributions is the formal establishment of the two basic political systems of the empire and peacetime.

At the beginning, when Zhang Shaoting became prime minister, the first thing he would do was to end the civil war and restore the stability and peace of the country. Under these circumstances, after Zhang Shaoting became prime minister, he first realized that the political system of the empire must be divided into two modes: peacetime and wartime, most of the time, and wartime. It can be said that the foundation of the current imperial government's peacetime and wartime models was laid by Zhang Shaoting. When Zhang Shaoting established the wartime political system, he had already considered that some people would use the privileges of the prime minister under the wartime system for personal gain, so Zhang Shaoting decided to establish a wartime parliament at that time. Use the wartime parliament to constrain the power of the wartime cabinet. However, during Chang Shaoting's tenure as prime minister, the environment in the empire was very turbulent, and most of the cabinet ministers believed that the stability of the country should be the first priority, and the establishment of a wartime parliament should not limit the power of the government. Moreover, at that time, the emperor also gave Zhang Shaoting great privileges, and the first task of Zhang Shaoting's cabinet was to quell the domestic turmoil and restore the people's livelihood. Therefore, Zhang Shaoting did not set up a wartime parliament at that time. It was only decided that the establishment of a wartime parliament would be established.

The formal establishment of the wartime parliament was already the time for the third prime minister of the empire after Zhang Shaoting left office. At that time, the empire was intervening in a large-scale foreign war. The Prime Minister at the time demanded that the Empire enter a state of war, while Parliament did not approve the Prime Minister's proposals several times, believing that the country was not in a state of total war. In the end, it went to the Supreme Court and asked for the Supreme Court to make a ruling. After mediation by the Supreme Court, Parliament and the Cabinet reached an agreement, and the Prime Minister formally approved the establishment of a war parliament, which subsequently approved the Prime Minister's motion, and the country officially entered a state of war.

Fundamentally speaking, the greatest significance of the wartime parliament is that it can effectively limit the prime minister from taking advantage of the country's entry into a state of war for personal gain, and it is an effective regulatory force, if the war ends, then the wartime parliament has the right to apply to the Supreme Court to end the state of war and return to normalcy. That is, to take power back from the hands of the prime minister, which is also the original intention of Zhang Shaoting when he decided to establish a wartime parliament. In order to maximize the country's war strength, the parliament has no decision-making power in wartime. The Prime Minister's war policy cannot be interfered with, and the Prime Minister cannot be impeached. Therefore, in wartime, the parliament has only the power to make recommendations in the internal and foreign affairs of the country. The problem lies in this "right to suggest".

The wartime parliament would not have had much influence if it were just a "suggestion", but many people overlook a key point, which is that the wartime parliament is composed of proportional members of the major parties in the parliament, while the members of the imperial parliament are elected by the provinces according to their proportion to the population. In other words, the members of the wartime parliament are still the representatives of the provinces of the empire, and they are the most influential and powerful people in the empire. In peacetime, the parliament will have nothing to discuss, but in wartime, the parliament discusses major national policies, and the suggestions put forward to the prime minister have a huge influence, even if Xue Xiyue is a notoriously hard-line prime minister, he cannot ignore the suggestions put forward by the parliament during the war. Moreover, the Prime Minister will certainly make appropriate changes to his domestic and foreign policies in accordance with some of the recommendations made by the Wartime Parliament.

Now, the Imperial Navy is in such a predicament. At that time, the Prime Minister received a "proposal" for the Navy from the Wartime Parliament, which was more accurate, the Wartime Parliament's questioning of the Navy's performance during the war. This is also the reason why Nie Renfeng said that this matter can be big or small. If the prime minister takes a tough stance, then it is impossible for the "proposals" put forward by the wartime parliament to affect the navy, but as long as the prime minister loosens his attitude, then the "proposals" of the wartime parliament will have a serious impact on the navy.

"Actually, I've been reflecting on this issue for a long time." Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "After so many years of war, I have also been the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Navy for more than three years. In the past three years, the Imperial Navy has won many major victories on the battlefield, but the question is, what have we gained? This time, the question raised by the wartime parliament was that the navy had invested a lot of material and manpower in the Pacific Ocean and worked hard for more than four years, but what did it get in the end? If nothing else, in the southwest Pacific, we have been fighting the US military for nearly two years, and have we achieved any major victories or strategic advances? ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, now he understood what kind of trouble the navy was encountering. The wartime parliament must have been very unhappy with the huge investment of the Navy in the southwest Pacific and the modest benefits it received. That's why the Prime Minister was questioned about the Navy in the form of "advice". This is indeed quite serious, and if the prime minister's attitude is a little softer, then the navy will face a lot of trouble. And the president made a special trip to the capital for this matter, and he must have explained to the prime minister the great significance of the navy's actions in the past few years.

"There are many things that I haven't thought about in detail before, and now that the wartime parliament has raised this question, I have time to reflect on it." Nie Renfeng looked at Tan Renhao's surprised look, and then laughed, "Maybe, you won't believe it." Since the second half of 24 years, our investment in the Southwest Pacific Theater has accounted for 70% of the Navy's investment in the entire Pacific Theater, and 40% of the Navy's total military expenditure in recent years! As a result, however, we still did not have a major victory, and it is no wonder that the members of the wartime parliament were skeptical. ”

"Headmaster, the problem can't be seen that way." Tan Renhao quickly grasped the crux of the matter.

"Yes, that's what I explained to the Prime Minister. Our offensive in the Southwest Pacific is like making a big deal, like investing in a huge infrastructure project, such as a hydroelectric power plant. The upfront investment is certainly huge and takes a lot of time to build. And after it is built, the investment can be recouped year by year. And make a profit. Nie Renfeng made a more appropriate analogy. The problem is that few people will agree with us. Especially before you won a crucial victory in the South Atlantic, there were already doubts about how much the Navy had won in recent years. So, your victory over there was very timely, and it blocked a lot of people's mouths. ”

Tan Renhao sighed secretly. The Principal's patients were very good and certainly convinced quite a few people. The problem is that the Navy's victory in the South Atlantic is actually only making up for its previous defeats, and there is no progress compared to the previous ones.

Nie Renfeng also sighed, "You are a smart person, you should know very well that victory in the South Atlantic is not a problem, and we have to convince others that the navy has not worked in vain in the past few years of hard fighting." Then we need a major, decisive victory that will bring obvious benefits to the Empire! ”

"That now it seems. The only way to do this is to take Australia as soon as possible. Tan Renhao immediately added. To put it bluntly, this is someone putting pressure on the Navy.

"Yes. At present, the only way out for us is to lay down the Australian continent as soon as possible. Nie Renfeng nodded slightly, "Actually, there is a lot of turmoil in the country this time, and this is not putting pressure on the Navy alone, but someone is putting pressure on the Prime Minister." ”

"Prime Minister?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly.

"The 'espionage case' involved in Japan last time has touched the interests of many people, and the prime minister wanted to take this opportunity to crack down on a group of passive anti-war elements, so as to unite the anti-war forces within the empire. This will inevitably cause the interests of many people to suffer. "Now, the prime minister continues to confront the opposition at home, and it is not surprising that some people are taking advantage of the slow progress of the navy in the southwest Pacific." ”

"But the question is, is it only the Navy's actions that are being questioned?"

"You're right! In addition to the navy, the army has also been seriously questioned, and it can be said that Yan Dingyu is even bigger than me now. Relatively speaking, the victory of the Navy is much more obvious than that of the Army, at least we have conquered the Mariana Islands, defeated Japan, recovered the South Seas, opened up sea lines of communication, and are advancing further and further across the Pacific Ocean. However, the army has not yet completed the war against Russia, and its performance on several other ground battlefields is also unsatisfactory. Nie Renfeng suddenly laughed, "You don't know, when I saw Yan Dingyu in the capital, his expression surprised me. It can be said that the navy is implicated, and those who mainly attack the army, not the navy. ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and then laughed too, but he didn't think there was anything funny about it.

"But then again, we don't have anything to bully about. This time it was a attack on the prime minister, and the navy and army were just starting points. Nie Renfeng's expression had sunk, "The Prime Minister's attitude is still so tough, when he was in the capital, the Prime Minister had already issued a clear order, the Army must kill Russia this year, and the Navy must at least win a decisive victory on the battlefield on the Australian continent at the end of the year!" The prime minister will not compromise with any opponent, and we can only support the prime minister unconditionally, if the prime minister is brought down, whether it is the army or the navy, there is no benefit. What's more, if the compromisers were to take power, it would directly threaten the fundamental interests of the empire! Therefore, what we can do now, and what we must do, is to complete the operation of attacking the Australian continent as soon as possible, and use practical actions and clear results to silence all the opposition! ”

When the principal said this, Tan Renhao probably knew it in his heart. At this time, the contradictions and conflicts exposed within the empire were not accidental, but inevitable.

Whether it is the "espionage case" or the assassination case of the prime minister, it is actually a direct manifestation of the contradictions within the empire. Xue Xiyue used the "espionage case" to attack the passive anti-war faction in the country, that is, the opposition, in addition to achieving the prime minister's own political goals, the main reason is to unite the anti-war forces in the empire. And this touched the interests of too many people, and the prime minister encountered a huge challenge, and the other side directly used the wartime parliamentary system, borrowing the mistakes of the army and navy on the battlefield to put pressure on the prime minister, forcing Prime Minister Xue Xiyue to make concessions, and even forcing Prime Minister Xue Xiyue to resign, and finally protect their vital interests, and even bring down the imperial wartime cabinet.

This already falls squarely into the realm of the internal political struggles of the Empire. In peacetime, the military would not have been involved in political struggles, which were clearly bound by the Empire's constitution and various relevant laws. However, the problem is that it is impossible for the armed forces not to participate in political activities in the time of war, so the armed forces should take safeguarding national interests as the fundamental principle. Nie Renfeng and Yan Dingyu are both on Xue Xiyue's chariot, so Nie Renfeng and Yan Dingyu can only unconditionally support all the decisions of the prime minister, which is also the task of the navy now.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao also knew it in his heart. When Nie Renfeng went to the capital to meet with the prime minister, he must have already had a specific idea of the navy's next strategic offensive, otherwise, he would not have gone to the capital and would not have brought back so much news. And the needs of the prime minister will also have a direct impact on the combat operations of the Navy.

"It's not too early, you should go back and rest early." Nie Renfeng didn't keep talking about Renhao anymore, "Early tomorrow morning, let's go to the headquarters to talk again, if you have any ideas, tell me tomorrow." ”

Tan Renhao also immediately walked to leave, although the conversation with the principal this time was very brief, but he had fully understood what the principal meant, and also thought of the Navy's combat operations in the Pacific. It seems that the headmaster already has a concrete idea.

……