March 1, 1920.

The large conference hall of the chairman of the Nanjing National Government was already full of people at this time. Everyone was talking about something in a whisper. Among those present were important cabinet members of the Nationalist Government, responsible persons of the legislative and Senate houses that were in the process of being raised, leaders of the Kuomintang and GCD, and some high-ranking generals with straight military uniforms.

Government officials from the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, as well as the generals of the Wehrmacht who did not have a clear partisan position, sat together. But on this occasion, these colleagues, who usually have a good relationship, did not show a very harmonious atmosphere, and everyone only talked in whispers in their own circles.

The discussions focused on two aspects: the direction of the development of heavy industry and the length of discipline. These two issues were the focus of discussion at the meeting, and they have attracted the attention of the whole country and even the world. This can be seen from the Chinese and foreign reporters gathered in the auditorium of the presidential palace. China's reunification and the victory of the Chinese National Defense Forces in the war against the Soviet Union have made the whole world realize that China is at least already a regional power, and as for whether this country will become a member of the world's top powers in the next ten or twenty years, and the direction of China's development after its rise, the results of this meeting should be able to show some clues, right?

As for some well-informed people, they have long been aware of the recent consultations between the National Government and the National Defense Forces on these two issues, as well as the positions and attitudes of various quarters. Moreover, they also noticed a very interesting phenomenon, although the current national government claims to be a coalition of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, but it has two issues. The positions of both the KMT and the CCP are very vague. Or the two sides of disagreement are not divided by party affiliation.

In the direction of the development of heavy industry. There were some signs of land and sea disputes in the Wehrmacht. The navy seems to regard Japan as an imaginary enemy and hopes to build a large navy that can compete with the Japanese navy, so the layout of heavy industry should revolve around naval construction. Naturally, the Army's view was the opposite, emphasizing China's status as a continental state, and advocating the creation of a powerful army capable of fighting both Japan and Soviet Russia in terms of quantity and quality.

Although the current squadron has not yet expressed its intention to expand abroad, the international powers have still paid attention to the "battle between land and sea" of the squadron. Politicians in Europe and the United States all believe that behind the battle between China and the sea is the direction of expansion of the entire country! In this day and age. No one believes that a strong country will not expand externally! Whether the navy or the army should be focused on is a reflection of China's future expansion direction. If China is ready to expand to the south, it will inevitably have to build a strong navy. And confronting Japan or anything is just a pretext for building a large navy. On the contrary, if the direction of China's expansion is to the west and the north. Then what China needs is a strong army.

And the attitude of the three powers of Britain, the United States and France on this has also appeared a rare unanimity. Britain and France are now most worried about the red steamroller of Soviet Russia! Due to the defeat of Poland in Belarus and Ukraine. The plan to use a Greater Poland to block Soviet Russia was completely frustrated. Although Soviet Russia expressed its willingness to negotiate with Poland after recapturing Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, it did not launch a new offensive to the west. However, the politicians of Britain and France will not be deceived by this illusion of "peace-loving" in Soviet Russia. This Russian bear has always been unusually belligerent, and will stick its claws into the heart of Europe at every opportunity!

Now that Poland has proven that it is no match for Russia, and Germany has been reduced to only one breath by Britain and France, the German army of 100,000 men may not even be able to fight a slightly larger battle! But a rearmament of the German Empire. Although it was enough to block the westward advance of Soviet Russia, it was also a big trouble for Britain and France. So Britain and France now want China and Japan to play a role in containing Soviet Russia, which means that it would be better for both China and Japan to invest their main military spending on the army.

It is not Soviet Russia that the United States is worried about now. Rather, a Japan that had become stronger, turned their main forces to the Navy! The defeat suffered by a rising Chinese and Japanese armies in their expansion into Simperia was seen by American politicians. It has sealed the space for Japan's expansion on the mainland. So Japan will inevitably look to the sea! With the acquisition of the resource-rich Far Eastern State, the bottlenecks that had previously restricted the development of Japan's heavy industry have disappeared. In the foreseeable future, Japan is likely to build a fleet as powerful as the U.S. Navy! Unless there is some force that can draw their attention from the sea back to the mainland, and China seems to be such a force! A China with a strong army would be drooling over the resource-rich Far Eastern states, right? Although that land of nearly 400,000 square kilometers is not large for China, which has a territory of more than 10 million square kilometers. However, the abundance and convenient transportation there are not comparable to those of Mongolia, Xinjiang or Tibet. What's more, that land belongs to China in history! It was Russia that took advantage of the weakest time in China to force the Manchu government to cede it! Now that China is stronger, it should certainly consider recovering its lost territory.

Therefore, during this period, the diplomats, expert groups, and members of the military advisory group sent by the US government to China all openly and covertly told Chinese officials that the United States understands China's demand for the abolition of an unequal treaty! This also includes, of course, the abolition of unequal treaties that ceded territories. The U.S. advisers serving in the Chinese Navy also lost no time in selling Germany's wolf pack tactics to the Chinese admirals. They believe that the Chinese navy has lagged behind Japan too much, and it is very difficult to seize sea supremacy through a decisive battle with surface ships, and the only feasible tactic is to vigorously develop submarines. Attack Japan's sea lines of communication by breaking the belligerents and blockade to stifle Japan's war potential.

Although this method is vicious and effective enough, those high-ranking Chinese naval officials who are still stuck in the era of the First Sino-Japanese War are still keen on expensive battleships that are powerful in appearance, but in fact have little use. And Chang Ruiqing, the head of the Chinese National Defense Forces, is very concerned about this land and sea dispute. He has not expressed his opinion, and I don't know if he has not made a final decision. I still want to be as open-minded as possible. In the end, he decided to convene a meeting of the top leaders of the Nationalist Government, the National Defense Forces, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to discuss the direction of the country's heavy industry (in fact, to resolve the dispute between land and sea).

However, the "dispute between land and sea" within the Wehrmacht is not yet the hottest topic in China recently, nor is it the issue that the Chinese people (mainly the business community, intellectuals, and young people) are most concerned about. They are now most concerned about China's constitutional path and when Chang Ruiqing, the behind-the-scenes dictator, will come to the front of the stage as president or prime minister of the responsible cabinet.

Within the Nationalist Government and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, two diametrically different views have now emerged. One is to maintain the current system of discipline and government until the time is ripe to enter the constitutional era; One is to implement a constitutional government as much as possible, and Chang Ruiqing will be the president or prime minister to lead the whole country.

holds the former point of view. Mainly the establishment of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the current national government; The latter view is mainly held by a number of high-level leaders of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party who have been hollowed out or have little real power, as well as some people in the industrial and commercial circles and intellectual circles. In China, where the two parties are in coalition government, there now seem to be two factions, the "ruling DPRK" and the "opposition" factions.

The international community has expressed the greatest expectations for the issue of China's democratic constitutionalism. It is believed that this is the only way for China to truly become a civilized country, and it is also a guarantee for the country's stability and sustainable development. Of course, this is all on the surface. In fact, the politicians of Britain, the United States, France, and other countries all knew that China was currently practicing a system of state socialism, which was similar to the line taken by the German Empire before. Such a line is certainly a strong medicine for a strong country. However, it is also very easy to create a centralized ruler. And this centralized ruler is obviously Chang Ruiqing, as for whether he is a hidden dictator like Bismarck who seems to be iron-blooded and actually takes a moderate line, or a war maniac like Wilhelm II, it is very difficult to say! Therefore, it is best to promote China to embark on the road of democratic constitutionalism at an early date...... Everyone knows that a China is a democratic capitalist or a democratic socialist one. It will not have the war potential of a National Socialist China...... It is enough for this country to contain Soviet Russia or Japan, and these civilized countries do not want to see Napoleon's prediction come true!

There was a disturbance in the conference hall. All the people stood up. I saw Hu Hanmin wearing a set of civil official uniforms of the Nationalist Government - an ugly robe and a horse coat and Chen Duxiu in a suit walked in together. The presidents of the two parties were talking in a low voice as they walked. Seeing everyone standing up to greet each other, the two of them hurriedly smiled and greeted everyone. Then he walked towards Jiang Jshi and Li Dazhao, who came to the venue early. After Mao ZD came to the northwest on a business trip in the same week, the two of them assumed the responsibility of China's democratic standard-bearers. Every once in a while, the newspapers saw Li Dazhao's articles on democratic constitutionalism, while Jiang J-shi was busy with the affairs of "persuasion" and the "China Association for the Promotion of Democracy" -- in his capacity as a national hero. is supporting Chang Ruiqing as the president again, and Chang Ruiqing doesn't know what to do with him for a while. It's not good to cure other people's sins for this kind of thing, right? Chang Ruiqing now has a lot of characters who support him, but are not completely consistent with his own philosophy, and Jiang Jshi seems to be one of them! What's more, on the blacklist in Chang Ruiqing's pocket, Jiang Jshi is not the number one person......

The four of them smiled and shook hands with each other to greet each other, Jiang Jishi held Hu Hanmin's hand and said with a smile: "Zhan Gong, Zhang Jilao of our Association for the Promotion of Democracy recently put forward a plan for a responsible cabinet system, which can be formed by the cooperation of the two parties, and the prime minister will let Chang Yaoru do it, you will always be the president, and Mr. Zhongfu will be the deputy." ”

Li Dazhao, who was on the side, also echoed with a smile: "Our country has finally shown signs of rising, and now we should consider the issue of long-term peace and stability...... The advanced countries of the world are either democratic constitutional states or dictatorships with the integration of the party and the state, and there is no such nondescript intermediate state as ours. However, the Bolshevik-style dictatorship obviously does not conform to China's national conditions, so the early realization of democratic constitutional government is the general trend. ”

Hu Hanmin and Chen Duxiu glanced at each other, and their faces showed heartwarming expressions. To be honest, China's current political system is indeed a bit nondescript. Chang Ruiqing relied on the National Defense Force to control the big government, but he was unwilling to jump directly to the forefront...... I don't know what idea I'm playing? The two of them were put in front as the chairman and prime minister, although the officials are big to the limit, but how much power and how much responsibility they have to bear. It's really hard to explain clearly, so I shy back when it comes to getting things done. It's really better to let Chang Ruiqing be the prime minister of the responsible cabinet, and they will be the president and vice president who are high, have no responsibilities and have enough style.

But now Chang Ruiqing has not expressed his position, and the two of them had better not do much, even if they agree in their hearts, they can't say it. Hu Hanmin said with a smile: "Of course, democratic constitutionalism is the trend of the times, but it is impossible to achieve it in one step, and the first prime minister also means this!" ”

Chen Duxiu simply changed the topic, and asked Jiang J Shi with a serious face: "Brother J Shi." What do you think about the focus of heavy industry development? Should our country's heavy industry be built around the Great Navy, or around the Great Army? ”

Jiang Jishi glanced at Li Dazhao beside him, the two of them are allies in democratic constitutionalism, but there are obvious differences in foreign relations. Chiang J-shi is now pro-American, so he advocates focusing on the development of the army, with the Far East of Soviet Russia and the Far East of Japan and Korea as the main development directions. The navy, on the other hand, is mainly composed of submarines and small and medium-sized warships, and has taken the road of coastal defense and submarines to break up diplomatic relations. However, Li Dazhao advocated the joint liberation of all mankind with Soviet Russia in the future. For the sake of this lofty ideal, China should build a powerful naval fleet...... However, since they are all leaders of the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy, they still ask for common ground while reserving differences.

Jiang Jishi smiled slightly, lowered his voice and said: "I think both the navy and the army are very important, and China, as a mainland country, also has a long coastline. Therefore, we cannot ignore the construction of coastal defense, and my opinion is that we should pay equal attention to both land and sea. ”

Land and sea? Can it be done? Chen Duxiu secretly said in his heart: "Lao Jiang is not in power now, of course he is not willing to offend people by expressing his position." But Chang Ruiqing has to choose between sea and land after all, and most of them take the path of the Continental Army. ”

In fact, the Government Council has already made an estimate of the investment in developing the army and the navy during this period of time, and found that the investment in building a large navy is really too scary! If you want to build a capital ship tonnage with 300,000 tons. The navy with a gross tonnage of 2 million tons will have to invest at least 10 billion Chinese dollars! This is also on the basis of the willingness of Western countries to export key equipment and technology! If all the technology and key equipment had to be developed in-house. I am afraid that the amount of money to be invested and the time to be invested are too much to calculate.

In comparison, it is much cheaper to engage in the army. But it's just cannons, rifles, machine guns, and cannon fodder. France and the United States have already exported to China the production technology and related equipment for small and medium-caliber howitzer cannons, and the China Industrial Group and the Ministry of Armaments have also recruited many engineers in the metallurgical and military industry of Belarus. As for rifles, machine guns, etc., China already has the ability to produce them in large quantities, and there are almost infinite amounts of cannon fodder! Therefore, the development of the Continental Army will not put much pressure on the finances, and it should be a relatively reasonable line. Of course, building a strong army against whom it will be used is a matter worth pondering.

Just as Chen Duxiu was pondering, a roll call sounded outside the door: "The Standing Chairman of the Military Commission has arrived!" Everyone's eyes turned to the door, and they saw Chang Ruiqing, accompanied by his new adjutant Zheng Zhongyuan, striding in with a smile. I couldn't stop nodding to everyone. However, it is rare that he did not wear a military uniform today, but dressed the same as Hu Hanmin, wearing a civilian uniform with a robe and a horse coat. It seems to imply that he is considering becoming president or responsible prime minister.

Chen Duxiu nodded to Jiang Jshi, Hu Hanmin, and Li Dazhao beside him, strode forward, and shook hands with Chang Ruiqing with a smile: "Yaoru, this is the first time that our country has really decided major policies through democratic consultation, and it has received rave reviews at home and abroad." They all feel that this is the beginning of China's constitutional road, and even if we cannot implement constitutionalism in a short period of time, such a form of democratic consultation should still be adopted frequently. ”

Chang Ruiqing patted Chen Duxiu's hand with a smile: "Prime Minister, this is also my idea, even in the period of political training, the government should listen to the opinions of all sides, and it cannot be decided by a few people behind closed doors and having a small meeting." It is still not up to me, the chairman of the Military Commission, to dictatorship...... We must not adopt a system that concentrates state power in a few people or even one person. I, Chang Ruiqing, don't dare to be this dictator, and I can't be such a figure. My ideal is simply to put the country on a normal trajectory, with a system that ensures economic development and allows all strata to share the fruits of economic growth fairly. If such a goal can be achieved, someone can retire with peace of mind and do some research work on social theory, and by the way, spend more time with his family. The burden of a big president or a responsible cabinet prime minister, Chang thinks he can't pick it up. ”

Chang Ruiqing said as if he was sincere from the bottom of his heart, Chen Duxiu just nodded politely, but he didn't believe a word, he guessed that Chang Ruiqing's words might be implying that he wanted to reject the "support" of the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy, and at the same time refused to immediately implement democratic constitutionalism, right?