It is obvious that the anti-Northern Expedition faction is now divided into two categories: the "temporarily no Northern Expedition faction" and the "never Northern Expedition faction."
Xiang Xiaoqiang's purpose is very clear: first target the "Never Northern Expedition Faction", and in the first sentence he must destroy the new moral advantages of the "Never Northern Expedition Faction", and at the same time regain the moral high ground for his own Northern Expedition Faction. This new appearance
The "Never Northern Expeditionists" of the Ming Dynasty must not be tolerated, and they must not be allowed to become a force influencing the political situation of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty's unification of China will not be said to be feasible, but will not even have legitimacy. Unless the Manchu Qing successfully invades the south, otherwise
China will forever be divided into two countries.
As for the "no Northern Expedition faction", we can let it go for now.
Xiang Xiaoqiang made up his mind and asked the Minister of Commerce Xu Xiaozu with a smile:
"Sir Xu, you said that people's happiness is above all else. I think everyone has no objection to this. People's happiness is indeed and should be above all else. At the same time... Haha, I also want to ask Mr. Xu: What about the occupied areas in the north?
Are the people of the Ming Dynasty counted as our people of the Ming Dynasty?"
As soon as Xiang Xiaoqiang opened his mouth, the venue fell silent. When Xiang Xiaoqiang finished the crucial second half of his sentence, the entire hall was even more silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The Minister of Commerce and Industry's throat was rolling, and he stared at Xiang Xiaoqiang fiercely. His face slowly turned red, but he couldn't say anything for a while. He could only scold this boy in his heart for being so despicable. This move was too damaging.
If we admit that the people in the occupied areas in the north are also the people of the Ming Dynasty, then the population in the north is much larger than that in the south. For the "people's happiness", this war must be fought.
But it takes a lot of courage to openly deny that the people of the north belong to the "people of the Ming Dynasty". That is simply braving the disapproval of the world. If this spreads out and is caught by the media and sensationalized, it may not be possible for the entire people to
There is no advantage in voting.
The Never-Northern Expeditionists were just happy that they had found the "invincible shield" of "the happiness of the people above all else". Then they discovered a fatal weakness of their own side: that is, for the Ming Dynasty, the so-called "the happiness of the people above all else" was only
It can only be talked about, but it cannot rise to the level of legal principles.
If we admit 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 consistent.
If the people of the north do not belong to the people of the Ming Dynasty, then which country do they belong to? Anyway, they cannot belong to the "people of the Soviet Union", nor can they belong to the "people of Japan". Obviously, they can only belong to the "people of the Qing Dynasty".
This is not the end of the story. If you admit that the people of the north belong to the "Qing people", then you have to admit that the "Qing Empire" is legal. If you admit that the "Qing Empire" is legal, then you have to admit that the northern land is not
What is an "occupied area" is the legal territory of the Qing Empire... If we trace it back, we might have to admit that the invasion of the Qing Dynasty in 1644 was also legal. We can even trace it back to Nurhachi's rebellion in Liaodong.
legal...
After admitting these, the Ming Dynasty has made many efforts now - such as actively developing resistance organizations in the rear of the Northern Qing Dynasty, instigating people's uprising in the Qing Dynasty, spending huge sums of money to support the Taihang Mountain Column, risking offending Britain and France, and recognizing Danzig in exchange for Germany and peace.
The severing of diplomatic relations between the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, and other efforts to contain the Manchu and Qing Dynasties internationally... are all meaningless. Moreover, if they are done again in the future, it will be the Ming Dynasty that is "illegal"...
If the people of the Southern Ming Dynasty were to see all this, it would be no different from the time in the Southern Song Dynasty when Yue Fei was recalled with twelve gold medals, which resulted in all efforts to regain the motherland being wasted. This has already exceeded their moral bottom line. Especially now that the Ming and Qing wars have just been fought, the people are patriotic. While emotions are still high, if the people of Ming Dynasty knew that the referendum was asking them to recognize this, they would probably rather fight a war.
…
Shen Rongxuan suppressed his laughter and lowered his head while drinking tea. As expected, Xiang Xiaoqiang was a young man after all. He retorted so fiercely in his first sentence. Without saying a word, he threw a big hat at him. , it depends on whether you pick up or not. If you don’t pick up, I will win, and if I pick you up, I will be criticized by everyone. Anyway, whether you pick up or not, I will choke you for a while first... Anyway, this is finally a temporary relief. Take back the moral high ground.
The first move Xiang Xiaoqiang made knocked the opponent to the ground. Then he could calmly draw his bow left and right, completely refuting the opponent's reasons layer by layer.
He continued:
"There is also the issue of the referendum that Mr. Xu mentioned. Mr. Xu seems to have made a small mistake here...or an omission. Regardless of the fact that the referendum allows the people to recognize that the people of the north belong to the 'people of the Qing Dynasty', will our people Will accept... No country in the world today allows a referendum to decide whether to engage in a foreign war. No, from the most authoritarian countries to the most democratic countries.
"Even Britain and the United States, whose excellent political systems have always been the example that our Ming Dynasty strives to emulate, will not leave the question of 'whether to engage in a foreign war' to all citizens to vote. They are still voted by the head of state (the king, President), the head of government (Prime Minister, President), and the government (Cabinet, Federal Government) decide.”
"Your Excellency!" The Foreign Minister keenly caught a loophole in Xiang Xiaoqiang's mistake and immediately said, "The biggest difference between Britain and the United States is that their parliaments can play a key role! Yes, the 'whether to war' type Britain and the United States do not hold referendums on issues, but such major issues must be heard in parliament. Parliament can vote to decide whether to agree to war funding, that is, to decide whether to allow the government to launch a war. My lord, you said that there is no question of war. Those who are conducting a referendum, you see, you also made a small mistake or omission.
"Members of the United Kingdom and the United States are elected by voters in their own constituencies, and they must be responsible to their own voters. In order to keep their votes, they must speak for their voters in parliament, otherwise they will not be able to become members of the next term. If he Knowing that the voters in his constituency are unwilling to go to war, if he still votes for war funding, he will ruin his political future. Therefore, your Excellency, in this sense, although a real democratic country does not directly decide whether to vote by the whole people, war, but it is also decided by a parliament controlled by the people."
Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't waste a second and immediately replied:
"But unfortunately, Mr. He, Ming Dynasty is not the 'real democratic country' you said."
As soon as he said this, everyone was in an uproar. There was a "buzz" in the whole hall, and everyone started talking. Everyone looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, whispered to each other, and some ministers directly scolded him.
Zhu Yourong was sitting in the front seat, and his face became a little embarrassed. He looked around and moved his butt slightly. Many generals and ministers standing on Xiang Xiaoqiang's side also sighed secretly at this moment.
Xiang Xiaoqiang reacted quickly, knowing that he had said the wrong thing, and immediately continued without changing his expression:
"...But we are working hard towards the goal you mentioned. And it is very promising. For example, I just said that sentence, but at the moment I don't feel any fear, because I don't have to worry about saying this I was called "treasonous" because of my words, and I didn't have to worry about being arrested and thrown into a concentration camp because of my words. I wasn't even in danger of being fined. Why? Because I didn't step on the Manchus. , on the soil of the Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy, but on the soil of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, as long as what I say is the truth, I can be absolutely calm.
"According to the standards stated by Master He, in Ming Dynasty, the parliament currently plays a very small role. According to this standard, we are indeed not a 'real democratic country' yet. ... Don't get me wrong, I agree with He This is your standard. However, we are constantly working hard and innovating. Now our Ming Dynasty is a pearl in Asia. I believe that one day, our Ming Dynasty’s political system will be the envy of the most advanced countries. .At that time, even in the whole world, our Ming Dynasty will be the brightest pearl."
After these beautiful words came out, the atmosphere in the hall relaxed a lot. Zhu Yourong breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again. The ministers who had scolded Xiang Xiaoqiang also stopped their words.
Fourteen Gege observed what was happening, made a prompt decision, and took the lead in clapping. Soon several ministers also followed suit. Within a few seconds, the entire hall burst into warm applause.