Chapter 338: The Debate

“We don’t have a Stalin here,” someone shouted from their seat.

Ma Jia banged his gavel and reminded the speaker, “Please speak according to the rules of procedure. Clerk, please record: seat 131, one violation of speaking rules.”

The clerk was a man named Mu Quan, who currently worked under the Industrial and Energy Committee as an unremarkable technician—unremarkable because his technical skills were very average. He could only operate simple machine tools and a three-coordinate measuring machine, which made him seem insignificant among the mechanical powerhouses of the Industrial and Energy Committee. When Ma Jia was organizing the preparatory committee for the general assembly, he needed a clerk to record the speeches. He found him through Xiao Zishan’s personnel cards. Mu Quan had shorthand skills.

So Mu Quan was temporarily seconded to the preparatory committee to be specifically responsible for the general assembly records. Mu Quan was very happy about this secondment—his future prospects in the Industrial and Energy Committee were very limited. It was better to try his luck elsewhere.

“So strict!” the interrupter said. The supervisory committee members banged their gavels together, creating an impressive sound. The transmigrator in seat 131 fell silent, and the surrounding representatives burst into laughter.

Sun Li responded, “That’s right, we don’t have a Stalin here, but Stalin wasn’t Stalin when Lenin was alive…”

Ma Jia banged his gavel again. “Speaker, please note: do not respond to unauthorized speeches.”

Sun Li continued his topic: “As for deliberately destroying productivity—if I’m working in a factory and accidentally damage a CNC machine tool—according to this ‘destroying the production capacity and technological data of the Transmigration Group, causing irreparable losses,’ I could also be shot. As for whether it was deliberate or not, who can prove it? As long as a few witnesses come forward and say that someone has expressed dissatisfaction with the Transmigration Group in the past, wouldn’t that be ‘having a motive’? Dig a little deeper, and it immediately becomes ‘deliberate.’ Doesn’t this mean that the more you do, the more likely you are to be shot? According to this charge, if the chemical plant explodes, wouldn’t the technician on duty also have to be shot? If the Fengcheng ship catches fire, wouldn’t all the crew on duty have to be executed as an example?”

A “buzz” of agreement rippled through the seats. Seeing the enthusiastic response to his speech, Sun Li’s spirits were greatly lifted—this was much more exciting than writing long-winded rants on the BBS.

“As for the last article: conspiring for independence and splitting the Transmigration Group,” Sun Li said passionately. “This assumes a premise—that the Senate will always represent the interests of all the transmigrators, not the interests of a few transmigrators in power. If there comes a day when the Senate is just a rubber stamp, a tool for the dictatorial rule of a small group of elders, the broad masses of transmigrators must obey unconditionally. With this article, not only do we have no right to resist, but we don’t even have the right to leave! If you can’t afford to provoke them, you can’t afford to hide either. If you try to hide, you’ll be shot! Everyone, tell me, isn’t this so-called ‘intention to split’ the same thing?”

A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from below, lasting for a full minute. Ma Jia secretly nodded. This Sun Li looked like just an ordinary worker and technician, but his words carried some weight. Marx and Engels’ hope for the new society in the working class really had its reasons.

He banged his gavel. “Speaker, please note: do not address the attendees directly.”

Sun Li said, “I’m sorry,” and then went directly to his concluding remarks: “I believe that the only reason to execute an elder is if he has deliberately murdered another elder. There is no other crime! My speech is over.”

Another burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the seats.

According to the rules, Ma Jia chose an elder who supported the four charges to speak next.

The speaker was Wu Mu, who called himself a militarist. In fact, he had a gloomy and dark personality. He was essentially a pragmatist and worshiped totalitarianism, which could be seen from his ambition to become a secret policeman in the new world.

Like all totalitarians, Wu Mu believed in a philosophy of “ruthless” struggle. In this philosophy, there was no right or wrong, only friends and enemies. He was a firm “believer in the supremacy of the interests of the Transmigration Group” and held a “ruthless crackdown” mindset towards all matters that harmed the interests of the Transmigration Group.

Wu Mu had originally wanted to join the Political Security General Bureau to satisfy his desire to be a “soldier on the secret front.” But after observation, he came to a conclusion—the Ran Yao in power at the Political Security General Bureau was more of a “policeman” than a “secret policeman.” He hoped to join a political security department similar to the Reich Security Main Office, the Cheka, or similar organizations known for their darkness and ruthlessness.

According to the information he had gathered, the current work object of the Political Security General Bureau was the natives, which was far from his ideal—this could only be called a “counter-espionage bureau.” A true political security department must first target “internal enemies,” that is, to monitor the inside of the Transmigration Group.

He had never told anyone his thoughts—this topic was quite taboo, almost “politically incorrect.” Wu Mu would naturally not make such a low-level mistake. But Wu Mu believed that there must be a few ambitious people within this group. Their purpose in joining this group was nothing more than to use the group to achieve their own goal of becoming a king. When the power of the Transmigration Group expanded to a certain extent, there would be a possibility of a transmigrator rebellion. There were many people in this world who believed it was better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox, and the dissatisfied elements within the Transmigration Group were also an unstable factor—they might not have the courage to set up their own shop or defect to an external enemy, but they could create turmoil internally—the Maid Revolution fully confirmed his idea.

After the so-called “Cheka” of Yi Fan was established, Wu Mu was excited for a while, but soon found that this department, although it looked very powerful, was actually just a mixture of an audit office and an anti-corruption agency. It had nothing to do with the four words “political security,” and his major was neither auditing nor accounting. He could not hold any position in this newly established department with strong professional and technical skills.

Wu Mu continued to be disappointed, but he continued to maintain a forbearing attitude. After all, his views would not be welcomed by the majority. Exposing his views too early would probably make him a public enemy.

But on the matter of the power of the elders, he believed that the original scope of application of the death penalty must be adhered to. Otherwise, even if there was a real political security department in the future, it would not play any role.

If the most severe punishment for a traitor was just house arrest—and they would still “enjoy a living standard no lower than the average of other elders”—then every elder would rebel as long as they had the chance.

“Comrades!” He was interrupted by Ma Jia’s gavel as soon as he opened his mouth.

“Please state your position first,” Ma Jia said. “Just state your point of view.”

“I oppose Sun Li’s proposal.” His voice trembled a little, but he quickly calmed down. “Severely punishing traitors who defect to the enemy is the most basic principle of any country and political organization. This principle must be adhered to. To be lenient with traitors is not only endlessly harmful to the entire transmigration cause, but also a great harm to our own interests—why do we all work so hard here? Is it so that one day some ambitious person can use the army, cannons, and warships that everyone has worked so hard to accumulate to establish an independent kingdom for themselves?”

A commotion ran through the transmigrators.

“As we all know, the harm caused by a traitor is a hundred times greater than that of an enemy. Whether a traitor establishes himself as a king or defects to another power, the damage caused is immeasurable and may even endanger our entire transmigration cause. To be lenient with such a traitor, and even to provide them with good food and drink, ‘enjoying a living standard no lower than the average of the elders,’ is there any such way to treat a traitor in this world?” Wu Mu waved his arm. “If this is the case, it is encouraging rebellion! If you fail, you are at most under house arrest; if you succeed, you are a king who can do as he pleases. Betraying the Transmigration Group would be the most cost-effective investment project in all of time and space. If I have the chance, I would also like to betray once—low risk, high return, it’s a no-brainer!”

A burst of laughter came from the crowd. At this moment, everyone felt that Wu Mu’s words also made sense and applauded.

“As for the last anti-secession clause, it is even more necessary to exist!” Encouraged, Wu Mu continued to speak loudly. “Setting up one’s own shop is secession, which is equivalent to treason! I would like to ask Sun—”

Ma Jia reminded again, “Do not address people! Stick to the facts!”

Wu Mu changed his tone: “I would like to ask everyone, where did everything we have in Lingao come from? It was bought with everyone’s joint investment, and it was created with everyone’s hands. If someone wants to use the excuse of ‘if you can’t afford to provoke them, you can afford to hide’ to leave the organization and set up their own shop—I think that’s fine! You can take your own things and get lost! Don’t take away a single blade of grass or a single piece of wood from the Transmigration Group!”

These words also received enthusiastic applause.

“As for the claim that these two articles will be used against the elders, if that day really comes, retaining only the first article cannot guarantee the absolute personal safety of the elders—can’t a murder charge also be falsified? Once the system is broken, the so-called charges are just a formality. Therefore, the point that the last three charges will be used against the elders is not valid.”

Then a few more people asked to speak, some in support and some in opposition. Finally, someone moved to amend this clause appropriately, to delete the one about “deliberately destroying the production capacity and technological data of the Transmigration Group, causing irreparable losses.” The charge of defecting to the enemy would be maintained. As for the last one, “splitting the organization and setting up one’s own shop,” the controversy was relatively large, and the two sides could not reach a consensus. Finally, Ma Jia decided to put the retention or abolition of this article to a vote.

The result of the vote was that the side in favor of retention won with a 63.47% advantage, and it was resolved to retain this article. Thus, the capital crimes for elders were officially retained as three.