March 22, 1899, Zhongnanhai, Beijing, Republic of Seris.

The early morning sunlight shone in through the window on the second floor of Haitian Pavilion, and Chen Zeyu slowly woke up from his sweet sleep. It has been nearly 15 years since he came to this era, and it was only recently that he had a sense of steadiness, looking at the small shaker on the edge of the bed, Chen Zeyu suddenly felt that the world had become more beautiful......

Under Wu Xiatong's gentle service, Chen Zeyu put on a neat formal suit, and after washing, the two came to the first floor of Haitian Pavilion together, and a steaming breakfast was already set on the table.

At the dining table, Chen Zeyu's secretary Huang Hanlin was neatly arranging the newspaper summary of the day, and when he saw Chen Zeyu and his wife coming over, he immediately gave a military salute, and the former army captain couldn't change his habits.

Chen Zeyu waved his hand, "Okay, let's sit down and eat." ”

"Report to the Führer, your humble lord has already had breakfast." Huang Hanlin replied meticulously.

Chen Zeyu was not reluctant, nodded and pulled up a chair for his wife next to him, then sat down and began to eat.

While he was reading the newspaper while eating, Huang Hanlin, the secretary next to him, took out a schedule and explained it in detail, "Führer, today's arrangement is mainly a meeting, around nine o'clock, you have to go to the State House building to attend an explanatory meeting, the content of which is the exposition of various military departments on their respective military expenditure amendments, and you may need to be invited to speak on the stage at that time, and the Secretariat has prepared several ...... for the speech."

Chen Zeyu nodded, sat in his seat and muttered in a low voice in the dining room, "I know that I want money, and there is really no one who is worry-free." ”

The wife who heard his complaint returned a comforting smile to him, and Chen Zeyu shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat.

The secretary next to him continued to read with a straight look, "At two o'clock in the afternoon, according to the itinerary, you will also go to Yenching University to make an important speech for the Beijing intellectual youth present, by the way, the foreign affairs advisory group sent by Greece requests to attend......

Hearing this, Chen Zeyu paused for eating, and then motioned to the secretary to continue.

“…… As is customary, on the third weekend of each month, this evening, the Angkor Mansion in Beijing still holds a cross-dressing ball for ministers from all over the world. ”

Chen Zeyu shook his head and laughed, "Forget it, I won't go, that's right!" What happened to the injuries of the former Russian minister Britz? ”

"Britz ......," the secretary Huang Hanlin blinked as if he didn't remember.

Chen Zeyu reminded, "Hi! It's the one who was hit and injured by Sa Daoyi at the ball last year! ”

"Oh! The subordinates know ......" Huang Hanlin, who reacted, suddenly realized, "The Russians have changed their ministers, and hasn't the former minister Britz already returned to China?" It shouldn't be a big deal......"

"Hey, you guys!"

Chen Zeyu snorted, shook his head and said, "People are injured on our territory, go back and ask the embassy in Russia to send someone to condole, don't forget!" ”

"Okay, Führer!" Secretary Huang Hanlin couldn't help but smile and responded.

Chen Zeyu glared at him, waved his hand and said, "That's it, I'll make another arrangement in the evening." ”

"Understood!" Huang Hanlin nodded and stepped back......

……

At 9:30 a.m., in the building of the National Assembly of the Republic, Chen Zeyu, who was sitting in the special ruling seat, was holding his chin and helplessly watching the "childish" battle scene in the venue.

At this time, on the podium, the representatives of the government and the House of Representatives were foaming at the mouth and arguing fiercely......

"Why?! The Navy needs funding understandably! And what reason does the army have to apply for special annual funding! At present, there is no threat on land in our country, and the theory of defense of Zuo Zongtang of the former Qing Dynasty has long been outdated, and I think the establishment of 50 integrated divisions of the National Defense Force is still too much, oh, by the way! Now there are more than 50 divisions! Each military district also added 2 army aviation wings! Several major military regions in the north have also expanded 5 cavalry brigades!! Up to now, the total strength of the army has exceeded 1.2 million!! Not counting the military salaries of professional non-commissioned officers, the annual allowance for conscripts alone will cost tens of millions of Chinese yuan, and counting other expenditures, the annual military expenditure of the national defense force will almost reach 200 million! Accounting for more than 1/3 of the government's fiscal revenue......"

"I protest! Congressman Jiang is confusing concepts! Yes, last year's military expenditure of the National Defense Forces was close to 200 million, but that was within the special expenditure items of the previous clearing funds! Moreover, the majority is the Navy's warship appropriation costs, excluding the above factors, the actual proportion of the national defense army's military expenditure does not exceed 1/8 of the fiscal and tax revenue! The total amount is not even half of last year's government education funding, and in any case, our army has decided to allocate this amount today!! ……”

"Drink! Listen to all of you! These ruffians ......"

“TMD！ Who are you talking about!! ……”

"I'll just say you! What's going on?! How dare you hit me? There's a kind of you! …… I'm telling you we're going to disarm today, what's the matter!! ……”

"I'm CNM! Come with me!! ……”

"I'm afraid of you! There's a kind of you coming!! ……”

Seeing that the noise below was getting worse and worse, Chen Zeyu stood up with a wry smile, and kept pressing down with his hands, signaling everyone to be quiet.

Seeing that the Führer had something to say, the hot scene in the venue was temporarily rested......

"I have a general understanding of what you mean, some members of parliament think that the government's military spending is too high and want to cut the army's military spending, right? I can understand this, but I cannot agree with it, the expansion of the Wehrmacht to 50 integrated divisions was approved by all of us a few years ago, and now it must not be changed at will! ”

Chen Zeyu pondered for a while before continuing to speak.

"Today, our country seems to have a good external environment, but in fact it is full of crises, and I don't think the army's 1.2 million standing troops are not much! Belgium, a small country in Europe, still retains an army of 150,000 people in peacetime, our Seris is a large country, the national border is long, and the surrounding neighboring countries are complicated, and it is appropriate to retain 50 divisions of the Wehrmacht in peacetime...... I have also made a rough calculation myself, not counting the cost of the planned expansion of the military strength, and last year the National Defense Force spent only about 90 million yuan from the fiscal and tax revenues, which I do not think is a lot at all, and it has not crowded out the funds of other departments, nor has the government been forced to levy new taxes...... Do you all say yes? Well, now I propose to reopen the voting on several motions of the Wehrmacht! ”

……

On the podium, Song Yaoru, the speaker of the Republic of China, smiled with satisfaction and said loudly, "I announce that the 1899 Special Military Expenditure Bill of the House of Commons of the Republic of Seris has been voted on!" Now for the next item......"

On the special seat, Chen Zeyu, who had just sat down and hadn't had time to catch his breath, couldn't help but smile bitterly again when he saw that there were signs of chaos below......