Chapter 44: The Core Issues

“Without unifying our thoughts, without a correct guiding direction, failure after the transmigration is inevitable!” Du Wen’s voice cut through the autumn twilight, soaring straight into the vast, clear night sky.

Among the group of people circling the athletic field, no one said a word. There were quite a few transmigrators playing basketball and badminton on the field, and the sharp-eyed ones had already noticed that this group walking around the track consisted of the five or six main members of the Executive Committee, along with a few others they didn’t recognize—these were the members of the currently undisclosed Policy Advisory Group, composed mainly of individuals specializing in history, law, and sociology. The young historian Yu E’shui was the group leader, and the deputy leader was Ms. Du Wen.

“Unify what thoughts?” After a long silence, Ma Qianzhu finally spoke. “Will everyone even buy what you’re selling?”

“What a joke! A political organization that doesn’t even have its own political goals, that can’t even unify its thoughts, and you still want to save the Chinese nation?”

“Save the Chinese nation?” said Wen Desi. “Let’s call that our ultimate ideal, then. At least it’s a bit more achievable than communism.”

“The goal at the current stage is probably corruption, right? I want to raise lolis—”

An ambiguous smile appeared on the corners of the men’s mouths.

“Low-class taste! The limitations of the petty bourgeoisie are on full display. History has proven…” Du Wen began her critique.

“Let’s not get sidetracked,” the young historian Yu E’shui said, steering the topic back. “We don’t need to consider short-term and long-term political goals right now. In fact, there are only three key points: the power structure, the distribution of benefits, and the bottom line of our conduct.”

“Isn’t the Executive Committee functioning very well at the moment? We can just improve it later,” Xiao Zishan said, clearly not interested in this issue.

“That’s administrative supremacism,” said Wen Desi. “The Executive Committee is just an administrative body, not a body of power.”

“But the current Executive Committee is very efficient. If we have a general assembly, everything will have to be voted on. What could we possibly get done then? Don’t be fooled, many of the people here who curse democracy and freedom online every day will be more enthusiastic about practicing it than anyone else. When that time comes, we’ll need to hold meetings for days just to dig a latrine!”

“That’s why we need it even more,” Wen Desi admitted that the Executive Committee was indeed efficient. “But this state of affairs will sooner or later cause problems. When the masses stand up to demand their power, the rulers will be in a passive position.”

Rather than being forced to accept democratic demands in the end, it was better to incorporate the still-unaware masses into a political framework favorable to the rulers from the start. At this moment, the transmigrators were still immersed in the fervent atmosphere of preparation. After the transmigration, when everything stabilized, wouldn’t everyone have their own little schemes? Who would want to be one of the masses for their entire life?

From the beginning of the Executive Committee, although the leaders of each group were all committee members, the core power was actually held by the triumvirate of Wen Desi, Wang Luobin, and Xiao Zishan. When they discovered that Ma Qianzhu was emerging as a prominent figure with growing prestige during the preparation process, the committee quickly integrated him into the decision-making layer. For Chinese people, playing political games is almost a natural talent; everyone understood the situation clearly. For now, there were no issues of benefit distribution or conflict of interest among the transmigrators. When being a leader only meant more work, most people were happy to be passive followers.

“What about our power structure? A representative system or a general assembly?”

“Obviously, a general assembly.”

There were only about five hundred transmigrators in total; two basketball courts could accommodate them all. A representative system would involve the issue of an election system, which was too complicated. For now, simplicity was better than complexity.

“What about the power of the, um, natives who join us in the future? You can’t ignore that.”

“In the early stages, we don’t need to consider the rights and interests of the natives. Our relationship with the natives will be one of utilization and suppression,” Dr. Zhong Lishi said leisurely. He was a naked pragmatist. “For those who are willing to cooperate, we will pay them for their work, land acquisition, and goods. For those who are unwilling to cooperate, we will suppress them severely until they are willing to cooperate.”

“How is that different from the Japanese devils? They are our compatriots.”

“They have to recognize you as a compatriot first. With our appearance, which native would think we are their compatriots?”

“In the future, we must certainly consider the interests of the local people who join us—let’s call them ‘naturalized people’. It is entirely appropriate to grant them political power. Without long-term benefits, why would people risk their lives for you?” Yu E’shui said.

“An integration policy?” Xiao Zishan worried. “There will be many naturalized people in the future. Even with a representative system, it could lead to the problem of our voice being marginalized.”

“A characteristic of the petty bourgeoisie is the fear of mobilizing the masses! Only by mobilizing the masses can we have a broad social base, and only then can we fight against the corrupt and backward feudal regime. But you people are just thinking about becoming masters yourselves. I object to such a discussion!” Du Wen was furious at their blatant discussion of how to control power and oppress the people—and more importantly, at how her own speech was being completely ignored.

“I haven’t finished. I envision a political system similar to ancient Rome,” Yu E’shui continued to explain. “An aristocratic republic or an oligarchic democracy—it’s all the same meaning.”

“The Senate?”

“Yes, all of us transmigrators will be Senators, and the Senate will hold all power. Within the Senate, we will have full democracy. As for the vast number of naturalized people, we can grant them limited political power and establish a lower house or a similar institution to represent their rights.”

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

“Exactly, that’s the meaning,” Yu E’shui said. “But that’s for later. In the early stages, we don’t need such a complex political system. Simply put: the General Assembly of all transmigrators elects the Executive Committee, which exercises administrative power. Major decisions and legislation are decided by a vote of the General Assembly. Every transmigrator, regardless of gender, has the right to vote and be elected, one person, one vote, for those over eighteen.”

“How do we determine a majority?”

“That’s a matter of detail. If we want to take into account the overall public opinion, we can stipulate that a vote is valid only if 90% of the transmigrators attend the meeting. On the basis of that 90% vote, two-thirds constitutes a majority.”

“Will such a grand democracy be problematic? The masses are sometimes blind and easily incited. What if, after a few years of smooth development and a few victories, someone wants to colonize Australia or exterminate Japan and America? If the vote passes, it becomes a resolution.”

“Hehe, that’s true,” Yu E’shui said with a smile. “If we implement democracy among the transmigrators, then there is a contradiction: if you find that the majority of the group holds a ‘wrong’ view, the result of democracy is that you should yield to that view.

“In a group where most people want to raise lolis, if you insist that raising lolis is the destruction of young girls and must be banned, you will only fail. Unless you can persuade everyone to accept your concept—which may take many, many years—or, more extremely, seize power through some means and become a dictator, thus gaining the power to reform others’ thoughts.”

“Public opinion, the key is public opinion,” said Xiao Zishan.

“That’s right. Public opinion can be used as a guide. To a certain extent, controlling public opinion is controlling the will of the people.”

The group walking around the track completed another lap, during which Du Wen continuously criticized the hypocrisy of bourgeois democracy.

“Will we implement a separation of powers among the transmigrators, with an independent judicial system?” someone asked.

“It’s not necessary, at least not at the beginning. The internal friction would be too great. We have too few people to need such a complex system of checks and balances. Even if we need checks and balances, it won’t be in the legal field.” Although Yu E’shui didn’t elaborate, everyone understood what he meant.

“Hehe, I think we’re getting a bit too detailed. In the end, isn’t the political system just a question of how to distribute benefits?” Qian Shuiting, representing the North American interest group among the transmigrators, finally spoke up. The 40-year-old with a master’s in biology had been listening silently for a long time. “Creating a leading core with a unified ideology is not very realistic. Modern people have all kinds of ideologies: left, center, right; pro-Russia, pro-Germany, Han-nationalist… If we have to unify their thoughts before we can do anything, we’ll probably all be killed by the Ming army—or starve to death. There are many highly educated people here, each with a high opinion of themselves, and many have already formed their own ideas. It’s impossible to establish a single core. Therefore, the cooperation of the transmigrators can only be sought through common interests, not ideological consistency. I personally believe that a joint-stock system is the most suitable basis and direction for the distribution of benefits. A joint-stock system means running a company. What is a company for? For the prosperity of the Chinese nation? That’s too noble. What are the interests or needs of the transmigrators? They are no different from ordinary people. Apart from a few selfless idealists, most people are after nothing more than money, fame, women, and power. So even if the group members have different political ideas, there is still a chance to seek common ground while reserving differences and cooperate.”

“By advocating for a core orientation of interests like this, won’t the transmigrators inevitably betray the revolution when their personal interests are not met?” Du Wen questioned. “History has proven that those who speculate in revolution for their own private gain are fundamentally unreliable—they will abandon the revolutionary cause at any time. Only those willing to sacrifice for their ideals can accomplish great things.”

“If our goal is to establish the first socialist society of the 17th century, are you willing to sacrifice your life for this cause?”

“I will cultivate many people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for this cause,” she said with unwavering conviction. Everyone instantly collapsed, and a few even foamed at the mouth. Only Ma Qianzhu’s expression remained unchanged.

“We need a basic constitution. Even the Mayflower had a compact.”

“Speaking of which, I have a very strange feeling right now—like this is a 17th-century ocean expedition,” Yu E’shui said, rubbing his hands in excitement. “A group of society’s losers and dreamers hope to get a new start in another world, to get rich, to plunder, to satisfy their desires. They have brand-new killing techniques and weapons. They have piles of hot commodities. They enter the new world ruthlessly. At first, they only ask for a small piece of land to live on. Later, they become the masters of an empire!”