Episode 142 The people of Beiming

Obviously, the anti-Northern Expedition faction is now divided into two categories: the "Temporary Expeditionary Faction" and the "Never Northern Expeditionary faction".

Xiang Xiaoqiang's purpose is very clear: first aim at the "Never Northern Expeditionary School", and the first sentence must defeat the new moral superiority of the "Never Northern Expeditionary School", and at the same time regain the moral high ground for his Northern Expeditionary School. The newly emerged "Never Northern Expeditionary faction" must not be tolerated, and they must not be allowed to become a force that affects the political situation of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty's unification of China will not be feasible, and it will not even have legitimacy. Unless the Manchus succeeded in their invasion of the south, China would forever be split in two and become two states.

As for the "temporary suspension of the Northern Expeditionary faction", we can put it aside for a while.

Xiang Xiaoqiang made up his mind, and asked the Minister of International Trade Xu Xiaozu with a smile:

"Lord Xu, you said that the happiness of the people is above all else, and I don't think everyone has any objection to this. People's happiness is, and should be, above all else. Meantime...... Hehe, I also want to ask Lord Xu: Are the people of the northern occupied areas counted as the people of our Ming Dynasty? ”

As soon as Xiang Xiaoqiang spoke, the venue fell silent. By the time Xiang Xiaoqiang finished the second half of the crucial sentence, the entire hall was even quieter, so quiet that even a needle could be heard falling to the ground.

The Minister of International Trade rolled his throat and stared at Xiang Xiaoqiang fiercely, his face slowly turned red, but he couldn't say anything for a while, so he could only scold this kid in his heart for being too despicable. It's too bad.

If it is recognized that the people of the occupied areas in the north are also the people of the Ming Dynasty, then the population of the north is much larger than that of the south, and for the sake of "the happiness of the people", this battle must be fought.

However, it would take considerable courage to openly deny that the people of the north belong to the "Ming people." That's a big disapproval. If this spreads, it will be caught by the media and stirred up, and even the referendum will not be able to take advantage of it.

The Never-Northern Expedition faction has just been happy that it has found the "invincible shield" of "people's happiness above all else", and only then has it discovered an Achilles' heel: that is, for the Ming Dynasty, the so-called "people's happiness is higher than national unity" can only be talked about, and it cannot rise to the height of legal theory.

If it is recognized that the people of the north also belong to the people of the Ming Dynasty, then on the issue of the Northern Expedition, the happiness of the people and the unity of the country are the same.

If the people of the north do not belong to the people of the Ming Dynasty, then to which people do they belong? In any case, it cannot belong to the "Soviet people", nor to the "Japanese people". Obviously, it can only belong to the "people of the Qing Dynasty".

And that's not all. Acknowledging that the people of the north belong to the "Qing people" is tantamount to recognizing that the "Qing Empire" is legitimate. If the "Qing Empire" is recognized, it must be recognized that the northern land is not a "fallen area", but the legitimate territory of the Qing Empire...... If we go back to it, we have to admit that the aggression that entered the customs in 1644 was also legal. It can even be traced that it is legal for Nurhachi to rebel in Liaodong......

Acknowledging this, many of the efforts that the Ming Dynasty has made now - such as actively developing resistance groups in the rear of the Northern Qing Dynasty, instigating the Qingdi people's uprising, supporting the Taihang Mountain Column with huge amounts of money, risking offending Britain and France to recognize Danzig in exchange for Germany severing diplomatic relations with the Manchus, and other efforts to contain the Manchus internationally...... It's all pointless. Moreover, if you do it again in the future, then the "illegal" one will be clear......

If all this is seen by the people of Nanming, it is no different from the Southern Song Dynasty's twelve gold medals that recalled Yue Fei and led to the abandonment of the previous achievements in recovering the homeland. This has already crossed their moral bottom line. Especially now that the Ming and Qing wars have just been fought and the people's patriotic sentiment is still very high. If the people of Daming knew that the referendum was for them to admit this, it is estimated that they would rather fight a war.

……

Shen Rongxuan couldn't help laughing, lowered his head and drank tea. Sure enough, as he expected, Xiang Xiaoqiang is a young man in the end, and he retorted so fiercely in the first sentence, without saying a word, he came up with a big hat and threw it over, to see if you could pick it up. If you don't pick me up, I'll win, and if you pick you up, you'll become a thousand people. Anyway, whether you pick it up or not, I'll choke you for a while. …… In any case, this is a temporary recapture of the moral high ground.

Xiang Xiaoqiang threw the opponent to the ground with the first move. Then he can calmly open his bow left and right, and completely refute the other party's reasoning layer by layer.

He continued:

"There is also the issue of the referendum that Master Xu said. Lord Xu seems to have made a slight mistake here...... Or maybe it's an omission. Regardless of whether the referendum allows the people of the north to recognize that the people of the north belong to the 'Qing people', will our people accept it...... Not even in any country in the world today has a referendum to decide whether or not to wage a foreign war. No, not from the most authoritarian to the most democratic.

"Even Britain and the United States, whose good forms of government have always been an example for us to try to emulate, will not leave the question of 'whether to wage a foreign war' to the whole people to vote. They are still determined by the head of state (king, president), the head of government (prime minister, president), and the government (cabinet, federal government). ”

"Excuse me!" The foreign secretary keenly grasped a loophole in Xiang Xiaoqiang, and immediately took over and said, "The biggest difference between Britain and the United States and us is that their parliaments can play a key role!" It is true that Britain and the United States do not hold a referendum on the question of 'whether to go to war or not', but such a major question must be heard in Parliament. Parliament, on the other hand, can vote on whether to approve war appropriations, i.e., whether to allow the government to wage war. Xiang Shang, you said that there was no referendum on the issue of war, you see, you also made a small mistake or omission.

"Members of parliament in the United Kingdom and the United States are elected by voters in their constituencies, and they are accountable to their own constituents. In order to keep the vote, they must speak for the voters in Parliament, otherwise he will not be the next MP. If he voted for war funding, knowing that the voters in his constituency did not want to fight, he would have ruined his political future. Therefore, in this sense, a real democratic-democratic state is decided by a parliament controlled by the people, although it is not decided by direct vote of the people whether or not to go to war. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't delay for a second, and immediately replied:

"But it's a pity, Lord He, Daming is not the 'real democratic-sovereign country' you said."

As soon as the words came out, there was an uproar. There was a "buzz" in the entire hall, and everyone began to talk. Everyone looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, exchanged heads and whispered. Some ministers directly reprimanded it.

Zhu Yourong sat in the first seat, his face became a little embarrassed, he looked around, and his buttocks moved slightly. Many generals and ministers who stood on Xiang Xiaoqiang's side also sighed secretly at this moment.

Xiang Xiaoqiang reacted quickly, knowing that he had said the wrong thing, and continued without changing his color:

“…… But we're working toward the goal you mentioned. And very promising. For example, I just said that, but I don't feel any fear at the moment, because I don't have to worry about being called a 'rebel' because I said it, and I don't have to worry about being arrested and thrown into a concentration camp because of it. I wasn't even in danger of being fined. Why? Because my feet did not step on the land of the Manchus, the Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy, but on the land of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, as long as I am telling the truth, I can be absolutely calm.

"According to the standards that Lord He said, in Daming, the current role of the parliament is indeed not much. By this standard, we are not yet a 'truly democratic-sovereign state'. …… Don't get me wrong, I agree with this standard of Lord He. However, we are constantly working hard and innovating. Now we are a pearl in Asia. I believe that one day, our Ming political system will be the envy of the most advanced countries. At that time, even in the world, our Daming will be the most brilliant pearl. ”

These beautiful words came out, and the atmosphere in the hall eased a lot. Zhu Yourong breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again. The ministers who scolded Xiaoqiang also stopped their words in a sneering manner.

Fourteen Gege observed the words and looks, made a decision immediately, and took the lead in slapping. Soon several ministers applauded. Within seconds, the entire hall burst into applause.