After determining the name of the country, the next question is naturally the national flag and emblem.
Before the meeting, all parties had submitted more than 30 designs of national flags and emblems and related explanatory texts. These contents were bound into a not-too-thin book, and each representative present had a copy.
Lin Youde looked through the booklet in his hand and saw many familiar patterns, such as the blue sky, white sun, red ground, five-color five-pointed stars, etc. Lin Youde was prepared for this and his mood was normal. Not only was his mood normal, he also looked back leisurely.
He asked Xun, who was staying in the back row: "Which pattern do you think is more appealing to you?"
"Eh?" The girl was startled. After a brief moment of confusion, she blushed, "Mr. Lin, please pay attention to the occasion. I am just your bodyguard..."
"Yeah, I just asked casually. It's okay if you don't blush."
After Lin Youde finished speaking, Chen Haihui, who was sitting next to Lin Youde in an official manner, laughed loudly, which made Xun even more embarrassed. Obviously, this girl is very bad at dealing with teasing from the opposite sex, especially this kind of teasing regardless of the occasion.
Completely unlike Lin Youde's other two guards, they were able to remain calm and deal with all kinds of big scenes calmly.
Lin Youde's teasing of Xun may have just been done casually, but other representatives at the meeting saw it and it had a different meaning. Some people were simply unhappy with Lin Youde's childish attitude, but more people took it as a joke.
This is interpreted as Lin Youde's deliberate approach, thinking that Lin Youde wanted to emphasize that he was well-informed.
The discussion lasted for about half an hour and began to enter the stage of speeches by all parties.
The first person to take the stage was the representative of the revolutionary military government that occupied Beijing at this time, but this time it was not Sun Wen but Chen Qimei. Chen Qimei spoke impassionedly on the podium about the ins and outs of the "Guangzhou First Uprising" and the painting of the Blue Sky and White Sun Flag.
The heroism of martyr Lu Haodong when he died also implicitly hinted at the indifference of the "local wealthy families in Guangdong" to the revolution at that time.
Lin Youde shook his head after hearing this.
After Chen Qimei left, Tang Shaoyi took the stage to explain the meaning of the five-color and five-element flags. This famous orator and diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty adopted a completely different approach from Chen Qimei, focusing on the "republic of the five ethnic groups."
It went around like this, and finally it was the turn of the representative of the naval system who submitted the national flag plan at the latest to take the stage.
The representative sent by Lin Youde was Cai Yuanpei, who was famous in the previous time and space as "the first director-general of education in the Republic of China".
The national flag plan submitted by the Navy System was not its own eighteen stars, but a redesign by Lin Youde - the design was said to be inappropriate because the pattern was actually a copycat of the Phoenix Chinese Station logo from the previous time and space, except that the dot in the middle was changed.
It turned into a five-pointed star, and the "feathers" of the two birds were lengthened at the same time, making it look a bit like a cantilever of the Milky Way. Lin Youde gave this flag a resounding name: the Flame Rising Sun Phoenix Flag.
"This flag symbolizes that China, like a phoenix, is ushering in new life and will surely illuminate the world like the rising sun in the new century."
As soon as Cai Yuanpei finished his speech, Lin Youde saw Yuan Shikai sighing and was the first to applaud.
In fact, Lin Youde originally planned to submit a national flag design with a dragon theme, but was jointly opposed by his own staff: At this time, the Qing Dynasty had just fallen, and using a dragon as a flag would easily remind people of the Qing Dynasty, which was not pleasing in all aspects. Although Lin Youde
I feel that the dragon has been my Chinese totem since ancient times, and it is ridiculous to be tied to the Tatars, but I have to admit that the staff are right.
He didn't want to let the ugly blue sky and white sun cover the ground or the five-color flag become the national flag, so he had to change his plan.
In addition, another advantage of using the flaming rising sun phoenix flag is that other forces will strive to use their own marks as the national flag and national emblem, and Lin Youde's mark of eighteen stars has become the trademark of the Nanyang system and the naval system. If Lin Youde does not
It is proposed to use eighteen stars, which will be very advantageous in the voting...
Yuan Shikai knew this and reluctantly took the lead in applauding.
In the final vote, the Phoenix Flag indeed won the majority of votes. Correspondingly, the national emblem plan based on the Phoenix Flag was also approved.
After the national flag and national emblem were determined, the national anthem came, and this was actually an internal decision. At this time, there were not many songs suitable for the national anthem in China, so everyone agreed to change the lyrics of Lin Youde's copycat song "Singing the Motherland".
Think of it as the national anthem. In fact, this "generation" is just to comfort the anti-Lin Youde forces in the country. Everyone knows that it will be difficult to change the national anthem once it is played.
In this way, all the issues on the first day were passed smoothly, and the rest was a dinner meeting held happily by representatives of all parties. By the way, since almost all the maids of the Qing court were cleared and returned to their places of origin, the Congress Preparatory Committee
Those people couldn't find so many beautiful, well-educated maids who were willing to do other people's work, so they had to use Lin Youde's maid team.
**
The second day of Congress entered the stage of substantive confrontation between the parties.
Even Lin Youde put away his exaggerated behavior on the first day and looked serious.
As early as the preparatory stage, several larger forces in the country have reached a consensus that the new country's state system will be a federal state similar to the United States of America. The reason is of course not for the universal value of freedom, but because of this.
The system has minimally weakened the forces of all parties. Although Sun Wen is opposed to this, she can't do anything about it. At this point in time, Lin Youde does not have the power to unify China, and Yuan Shikai does not have the power to unify China. Naturally, other forces do not have such power.
Strength. So everyone knows that after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the way forward is either to get together as a family and fight secretly, or to have a civil war.
As for the civil war, regardless of the two powerful dragons of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Navy, the various local forces are definitely unwilling to fight. Will they agree to Yuan Shikai's proposal, which is originally to eliminate Lin Youde's righteousness of attacking the Central Plains and try their best to avoid the occurrence of civil war?
In addition, there is another wonderful thing about this time, that is, the foundation for warlord separatism in various places has not yet been formed. It is said that Rome was not built in a day, and it did not freeze three feet in a day. This also applies to the kind of warlords in the previous time and space.
The situation of melee. In addition to the economic roots of the self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy mentioned in political textbooks that the self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy has not yet been completely disintegrated, the formation of the situation of air-lord separatism in the last period also had a large number of social and political factors.
Starting from the era when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom prompted the Qing government to encourage local regiment training, even if the social and political seeds of warlord separatism were planted, the situation would not have turned out the way it did without the wave of training of new armies in the early 20th century.
Like that.
In this time and space of 1902, Shu and Jin did not even have many new armies. Although the local forces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang had self-strengthening armies, the Yangtze River could carry armored cruisers. The forces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were more afraid of the navy in the hands of Lin Youde than Yuan Shikai.
Under such circumstances, local forces are definitely not willing to fight a civil war, but they are obviously unwilling to have their power weakened too much, so federalism has become an option acceptable to everyone.
It was precisely because the state structure had been decided that Lin Youde proposed that the country be called the "Federation of China".
Therefore, the first topic of the second day's meeting, "National Sports", was quickly passed unanimously.
The second topic on the second day was the most substantive issue of "military power."
If the two issues of military power and tax power are not resolved, the establishment of a new country will be out of the question.
Zhang Jian, the head of the Zhejiang delegation, first launched an attack and demanded that Lin Youde hand over the command power of the navy and the power to appoint and remove personnel.
Lin Youde laughed three times and replied: "Yes, but our navy is currently implementing the second five-year shipbuilding plan. It is estimated that the cost of shipbuilding will exceed 50 million taels. In addition, there will be crew training and military pay. Currently,
If the national treasury pays all the expenses for ship maintenance and renovation, etc., I, Lin Youde, will be happy to hand over the command and personnel appointment and dismissal rights of the navy.”….
As soon as Lin Youde finished speaking, someone in the seats of the revolutionary military government shouted loudly: "Lin Youde, you will be infamy for thousands of years if you ignore the overall situation!"
Lin Youde took a look and saw that the person standing up was Chen Shaobai.
So Lin Youde felt a sense of change over time. The last time he saw this young and energetic follower of Sun Wen, he, Lin Youde, was just a local wealthy gentry. Now he has become a powerful man, and one move can change the situation in China.
Big shot, but Chen Shaobai has not changed much and is still Sun Wen's follower.
So Lin Youde replied calmly: "Brother Shaobai, it has been five years since I last saw you today, and you are still as young and energetic as you were then."
In fact, Lin Youde is much younger than Chen Shaobai. It is clear that he wants to be hostile to him.
Chen Shaobai was about to have a fit, but Lin Youde didn't give him a chance to speak: "Brother Shaobai, you said that I don't understand the overall situation, but the fact is exactly the opposite. I know that the government of New China cannot afford huge naval military expenditures, but the construction of the navy is
At a time when big powers like this are eyeing you, we must not stop. I, the Lin family, use our own money to build the Great Maritime Wall for the country, and you actually say that I don’t understand the overall situation? "
"Then why don't you hand over the command of the navy and the power to appoint and remove personnel to the country?"
"Why can't the country trust me, Lin, and leave the command and personnel appointments and dismissal of the navy to me?"
"Because then you would be using the navy for personal gain!"
"Hahaha, Brother Shaobai, if you put it this way, no one in this Golden Palace can entrust the command and personnel of the navy. Then this right will naturally belong to those who pay. What's more, compared with you,
Get up, I, Mr. Lin, have never pointed my gun at Chinese people. How do you think I am more trustworthy?"
Chen Shaobai was so angry that his cheeks trembled.
Everyone knows that if this republic fails, Lin Youde will one day open fire on the compatriots, but the problem is that he has never pointed a gun at his compatriots. This is Lin Youde's fault.
The navy's military expenditures hit the Achilles' heel of the anti-Lin Youde alliance brokered by Yuan Shikai. On the surface, this alliance had almost as much financial resources as Lin Youde, but most of Lin Youde's financial resources were in his own hands. Yuan Shikai's
But they are all separate. It's not that they can't afford so much money, it's just that they can't unify their opinions.
Assuming that they are really prepared to take over the recruitment and bear the naval funds, then how to distribute these expenses is a big problem. If they are shared equally, some people will definitely not be happy, because the financial resources of the parties are inherently unbalanced; if they are shared according to financial resources, those with stronger financial resources will
I'm not happy, why should I give more?
What's more, the money was originally provided by Lin Youde, and Yuan Shikai and the others took it, which was like enriching Lin Youde in disguise. Not to mention that most of the ships in the navy's shipbuilding plan were ordered from Lin Youde's own shipyard - now all in China.
Almost all shipbuilding capabilities were concentrated in Lin Youde's hands.
And now that Lin Youde's reputation within the navy is so high, what if the command and personnel appointment and dismissal powers are returned to the state? Lin Youde still has to be the minister of the navy, otherwise the navy will mutiny.
So after Lin Youde finished this combination of punches, everyone in the venue fell silent, and there was a dead silence.
Chen Shaobai stood there with a very ugly expression on his face.
At this time, Sun Wen spoke: "Shaobai, sit down."
Chen Shaobai sat down reluctantly.
Sun Wen continued: "I fully trust Mr. Lin, and please continue to fulfill your responsibility of guarding our country's sacred waters in the future."
Sun Wen's words stirred up a thousand waves with one stone, and everyone was shocked.
It was not because Lin Youde continued to control the navy - in fact, everyone could more or less predict this result - what surprised everyone was the attitude Sun Wen expressed when he said this.
Sun Wen's ability is to make everyone understand her sincerity and use it to infect everyone, so the 100% trust she showed when she spoke made everyone think...
Especially now, Luo Tianyi is sitting behind Lin Youde.
Xun's external name is Lin Youde's head maid, and she wears a maid uniform, while Luo Tianyi is wearing the pure white uniform of Lin Youde's Guards Goddess, with the word "justice" written on the cloak.
Although the name of Luo Tianyi's sister has not yet appeared in Lin Youde's notebook, he himself has never had any physical relationship with Luo Tianyi - the girl is too young, and Lin Youde likes lolita but doesn't like to push lolita -
-But, but! What others think is not up to Lin Youde.
Besides, Lin Youde arranged for Luo Tianyi to wear this outfit and sit behind him today. He really had the intention to make others think wrong, because this military power also includes the control power of Shen Ji. This control power of Shen Ji is not the same as the naval military power.
Likewise, if Congress votes to take back Lin Youde, there will really be no other way to deal with it other than launching a civil war.
Therefore, this proposal must be stopped before the vote. And Luo Tianyi is the best card in Lin Youde's hand: high-level goddesses can influence the middle and low-level goddesses downwards. Who dares to put these goddesses who have slept with Lin Youde?
Go to the Shenji Camp!
At this moment, everyone was shocked by Sun Wen's speech for the same reason: What's going on? Are these two people having an affair a long time ago or something?
Even Lin Youde was surprised: Could it be that I had already set the flag five years ago? Darling, I am so awesome.
But Sun Wen ignored all the criticism around her and calmly proposed that the meeting continue.
In this way, the military power of the navy is still in the hands of Lin Youde for the time being.
With Lin Youde as a precedent, there is no suspense about Yuan Shikai retaining control of the Army... This is also the reason why Yuan Shikai has been silent just now. He is actually worried that Lin Youde is too considerate of the overall situation and will hand over the Navy all at once. Then Yuan Shikai will have to hand over the navy.
army.
After identifying these two "big issues", the rest is a discussion of details.
Finally, the military system of the Federation of China was finally determined: in principle, each province can establish a "Federal National Guard Division", and the border provinces can establish an additional "Federal Border Guard Division". The funding for the National Guard Division will be temporarily handled by each province.
Ten years later, the state will uniformly bear the cost of equipment, but each province will still be responsible for its own maintenance funds; the border guard divisions will be supplied by the state, and the state will have the power to command the troops and appoint and remove personnel, and the troops will mainly be stationed along the border.
The central government has the Army Department, which manages and commands the federal army. The federal army is mainly stationed in Gyeonggi, the three northeastern provinces and the Korean Peninsula. Accordingly, the provinces in these areas will not have National Guard divisions and border defense divisions. The corresponding funds and central government
The allocated army funds will be used as military expenses for the federal army.
In terms of the navy, naval funds are handled by the Ministry of the Navy. The corresponding Ministry of the Navy has obtained taxing rights over the Philippines, Taiwan, Ryukyu and Japanese Islands. As a substitute for naval military expenses, the administrative funds for the above provinces will be allocated by the central government, and each district will establish autonomy.
Institutions. These provinces are collectively referred to as the "Special Areas directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Navy." In fact, Lin Youde exchanged the nominal sovereignty of the area under his control, as well as the administrative and taxation rights of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian, for the military power of the navy, while the central government was exempted from
A lot of naval military expenditures were spent, which reduced the financial burden.
Yuan Shikai and other inland tycoons are very satisfied with this result, because this result is equivalent to limiting Lin Youde's power overseas, and the central government only pays a low administrative allocation. If it is not willing to allocate too much, it can find reasons to get stuck;
Lin Youde is also very satisfied with this result. His money was not originally collected from taxes, but now he can collect taxes. Not only that, he has also exempted all administrative expenses in the control area. Don't look at the appearance of losing Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, but in fact
The economic ties between these three provinces and Nanyang are so close, and Lin Ji's roots are so deep. If the administrative power is released on the surface, he will still have a lot more votes when the Congress votes on it.
Finally, the focus of the debate finally turned to Shen Ji.
For several days after that, the meeting continued to argue over this issue. Finally, a consensus was reached: the central government has the right to identify the bloodline of newborns in all territories, including the special areas directly under the jurisdiction of the Navy Province, and all new-born gods will be identified by the central government.
Unified raising and redistribution. All existing Shenji who have not yet reached the age to join the Shenji camp will be dispatched by the central government; and in the existing Shenji camp, high-level Shenji above the capital will have the right to
He decided to follow the instructions of the central government and accept a new appointment, or to retain his current position until his death.
In this way, the matter of military power came to an end, at least most people present at the meeting thought it had come to an end - although Lin Youde had won two wars with new weapons, those in the country who were not sensitive to scientific progress did not realize the power of the military.
Equipment update is also a very important issue, so it was not discussed.
Next, the founders of the infant Chinese Federation had to face the second important issue: the tax system.
Lin Youde was classified outside the national tax system because he was strong. But for others, including Yuan Shikai, the tax system was an important issue that they had to face.