Chapter 339: Du Wen's Strategy

As for the obligations of the elders, there was not much controversy. It was nothing more than the civic duties in a general constitution: abiding by the constitution and laws, maintaining national security, and so on. The program did not stipulate that the elders had the obligation to perform military service, but added another article, that is, the elders had the obligation to take up arms to defend the Transmigration Group when necessary.

At this time, Lin Chuanqing asked to speak. He proposed a motion: to demand that the right of the elders to bear arms be written into the common program as a sacred and inviolable right.

“Weapons are the last resort for the elders to resist tyranny and defend their own rights. No person or organization has the right to deprive or restrict the right of the elders to possess and use weapons, otherwise it is an attempt at dictatorship!” Lin Chuanqing said loudly. “I demand that this article be included in the ‘Common Program’.”

Most of the attendees did not know why Lin Chuanqing specifically raised this point and made such a big deal about demanding it be written into the “Common Program.” Weren’t everyone carrying guns now? Everyone had a pistol that they never left their side.

The North American branch and some other people, of course, knew the significance of Lin Chuanqing’s proposal—only when the masses possess weapons and enjoy the right to use them can the state organs not monopolize violence, giving the people the possibility to resist tyranny. This is a typical American democratic way of thinking.

This motion was immediately strongly supported by the North American branch and firearms enthusiasts. Since no one objected, the motion was quickly passed and this article was included in the common program.

The only controversy occurred on the tax clause. The program clearly stipulated that the elders had the obligation to pay taxes. A part of the people rose up in opposition, believing that this would cause the future government to use taxation to exploit and plunder the elders; the supporting side believed that the political and economic power held by the future elders would be unimaginable. If the elders also had the power to be exempt from taxes, a huge amount of wealth would be precipitated in the elder class, which would be extremely harmful to the stability of the entire social economy and social order.

The two sides once again entered a debate on this issue. Those who supported taxation were mainly financial and economic professionals represented by Yi Fan, while those who opposed it were a motley crew of all kinds of people.

For the masses, most people believed that for the long-term stability of the Transmigration Empire, the elders should bear the obligation of taxation and should not be exempt. But they were also worried because of their experience in the other time and space—something that started with a lofty and reasonable purpose would eventually degenerate into a means of accumulation.

The debate on the tax issue lasted for a long time. Finally, Yi Fan proposed a compromise clause. It stipulated that the elders would enjoy national treatment in indirect taxes, but the direct taxes levied on the elders must be reviewed by the Senate, one tax at a time. Only the inheritance tax passed at the first general assembly would remain unchanged: after an elder died, half of the shares of the Transmigration Group they held would be returned to the state.

Just as the discussion on the rights and obligations of the elders was about to end, Du Wen suddenly asked to speak. Ma Jia wondered what kind of high-minded argument this one would have.

Du Wen walked to the podium with a particularly firm and powerful step. Ma Jia found that Du Wen, who usually wore training clothes and appeared in a masculine, proletarian manner, was actually wearing a well-fitting women’s coat. Her hair was neatly combed, and she even wore a colorful hairpin. Her face seemed to be lightly powdered, and she had lipstick on. On closer inspection, she had a certain feminine charm.

“Comrades—” she began habitually. Just as Ma Jia’s gavel came down, she corrected herself. “I’m sorry, I misspoke. I propose that the rights of the elders should include the freedom of association, procession, and demonstration.”

This proposal caused a stir among the attendees. This right was so cliché that no one had taken it seriously. In the common program drafted by the drafting group, there was only freedom of speech, publication, assembly, and association. The latter two were deleted.

As for why “procession and demonstration” were deleted, the drafting group’s explanation was that the elders did not need this right of appeal: since every elder had a seat in the Senate, they could directly propose their own or their group’s appeals in the Senate. There was no need to adopt the method of the common people directly expressing their appeals.

This was not the case. The original intention of the Law Club was to use this method to eliminate the possibility of the transmigrators engaging in street politics. Dong Shiye reminded Ma Jia that the possibility of getting away with it was extremely small. Even if they could get away with it, it would probably have to be included when the formal constitution was drafted a few years later, but Ma Jia decided to give it a try.

“At least in the first few years of our group’s development, we can eliminate the possibility of street politics. After these few years, when the operation is bigger, everyone will lose interest in this kind of thing,” Ma Jia sighed. “In the beginning, the conditions are limited, and the masses are particularly easy to incite.”

Of course, Du Wen knew the answer the drafting group had given to the questioner on the BBS—she had done her homework on this issue. She proposed that most constitutions in the world listed “procession and demonstration” as a basic right of citizens, and the Transmigration Group should be no exception. As for the drafting group’s claim that with the Senate, a supreme power organ for direct appeal, these rights were not needed, it was wrong.

Du Wen’s tone was very calm, and her language did not habitually quote classics or list a large number of figures. She was like a different person from her sharp speeches at meetings and other public places in the past—which made Ma Jia secretly surprised.

“…the Senate does not meet every day of the year. It has its recess. And given the situation of our Transmigration Group, there will be more and more comrades dispatched to various places in the future, and fewer and fewer comrades will remain in Lingao. And there is a limit on the number of people required to hold a general assembly and pass a valid resolution. This means,” Du Wen emphasized her tone, “the Senate can only be convened on a limited number of days in a year. But in our daily lives, we cannot wait a single minute to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our masses!”

The transmigrators were originally not interested in Du Wen’s speech, thinking she was going to talk about some ism or women’s rights protection again. But this speech made many people open their eyes wide. That’s right! If Du Wen hadn’t brought this up, it would have really slipped by! A “buzz” of discussion immediately broke out in the venue.

Cheng Mo had been waiting for this moment. He immediately raised his hand and shouted, “I second it!” Then many people also raised their hands. Ma Jia noticed that Shan Liang raised his hand with an inconspicuous gesture to second it—a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Ma Jia was helpless. From the moment they raised their hands, he realized: Du Wen and Shan Liang were in collusion! Shan Liang, who had started with street politics, obviously did not want his most powerful weapon of struggle to be cancelled. And he himself did not come forward to fight for it to avoid being too conspicuous. This guy was really smart.

The answer was quickly revealed. Du Wen’s motion did not receive any opposition. Even the members of the Law Club could not think of a convincing reason to oppose Du Wen’s motion, so the motion was quickly passed. Subsequently, Du Wen continued to propose: in order to implement the “association” in the basic rights of the elders, a “Law on Associations” should be specially formulated.

The general assembly then voted on this proposal and passed it with an overwhelming majority.

“I have brought the draft of this ‘Law on Associations’. I request the general assembly to review it,” Du Wen said, pressing her advantage, and handed a file bag to a supervisory committee member.

Du Wen’s law on associations was not very new in terms of its articles. Ma Jia glanced at it and found that she had directly copied the Austrian law on associations, but there were important modifications in some places. The most important point was that the Transmigration Group had an obligation to provide funds and venues to support associations.

Shan Liang jumped out again to second it. Not only him, but also Cheng Mo and others also spoke one after another, supporting the passage of this “Law on Associations.” At this point, the Law Club was completely powerless against it. Under the clamor and advocacy of Shan Liang’s group, the “Law on Associations” was quickly passed in principle. Of course, there would be certain modifications to the legal articles in the subsequent legislative review meeting, but the general direction could not be reversed.

Ma Jia now understood completely. This was Du Wen’s real demand—she was not interested in any right to procession and demonstration. She was trying to get a Women’s Federation through a roundabout way! That’s right, a Women’s Federation should essentially be a kind of social organization, not a state organ. Du Wen obviously realized that it was impossible for her to get a proposal to establish a Women’s Federation directly reviewed and passed at the general assembly, so she achieved her goal through such a circuitous way.

Subsequently, it entered the stage of how to ensure the distribution of benefits. This was a very sensitive issue. Although the stock dividend system and the subsidy and welfare system had been established at the first general assembly, this system had not been perfected in the past, and it was too complicated. Many people did not understand it and had great opinions.

The meeting first reaffirmed that the original stock dividend system would not be changed, and it provided an explanatory note on the source of the dividends, which was originally vaguely defined as “the total income from the profits of the commercial institutions of the transmigration organization and the spoils of war of the military institutions.”

“Commercial institution profits” was not difficult to understand: from the profits of the Leizhou Sugar Industry Company to the 20% share dividend paid by the Women’s Cooperative, these were all profits. This time, a clear definition of profit was given: it referred to the “net profit paid” after the enterprise had set aside the funds needed for expanding operations and production from its annual net profit. And the spoils of war of the military institutions were limited to captured gold, silver, treasures, and luxury goods—a specific list would be published.

Dividends would be calculated once a year in the legal tender of the Transmigration Group—at this stage, it was the grain circulation coupon—and the ill-defined “point coupon” system would be abolished. Since the total amount of dividends for all the elders might be very large and would immediately cause the monetary system to collapse if it were invested in the market, it was stipulated that each person’s dividend account would be temporarily frozen, could not be used for consumption, and could not be withdrawn. The frozen accounts would pay a certain amount of interest.