Chapter 268: Restructuring

Everyone nodded. Yang Yun interjected, “I am opposed to explicitly establishing a system of slavery.”

“We’ll discuss that later, discuss it later, Comrade Yang Yun,” Xiao Zishan cut him off. Ma Jia continued:

“Secondly, there’s the legal status of the children born to maids and Elders. Many Elders, including myself, have raised the issue of the Elders’ inheritance system on various occasions. Our Law Society has also conducted special research on it. However, the legal relationship between Elders and maids, and the legal status of their children, remain undefined to this day. This prevents further research from proceeding.

“The Elder Council needs to enact an ‘Elder Inheritance Law,’ compile a ‘Gotha Almanac’ for the new state, and in the long run, even establish an institution like a College of Arms to specifically study and manage lineage and titles. The immediate priority is the marriage and inheritance laws for Elders. After all, we have been here for five years, and some of the older Elders from D-Day are entering their twilight years. With the upcoming mainland campaign, it’s probably inevitable that some Elders will die in the line of duty. This will inevitably involve the issue of inheriting Elder seats. As you know, most of the Elders’ children are born to maids, but in their hearts, many Elders do not consider the maids their sole or ‘legal’ wives.”

Xiao Zishan nodded. He knew from the General Office’s investigations that although most Elders were “deeply fond” of their life secretaries, the majority still considered the maids a “temporary measure.” In their hearts, they were still considering either marrying a high-born lady from a prominent family of this era in the future or waiting for the high school graduates from Fangcaodi, who were being educated with a modern aesthetic, to come of age.

“…Anyone with a slight understanding of inheritance law knows that inheritance systems are incredibly varied. It’s impossible to formulate one without first determining the Elders’ marriage system and the legal status of their wives and children. I suggest the General Office should communicate with the Executive Committee and the Standing Committee as soon as possible to hold a vote on this matter.”

Xiao Zishan wrote down the words “Inheritance Law,” “Gotha,” and “College of Arms” in his notebook.

He asked, “Your Arbitration Court should already have a relevant draft, right?”

“Only a preliminary draft from the Law Society. It’s being printed at Old Zhou’s place, ready to be distributed to all Elders.”

“As soon as possible. The new plenary session will be held soon. If your Arbitration Court wants to enact any new laws, it’s best to have the drafts out before the meeting. That way, they can be distributed for discussion in advance to strive for a quick passage.”

“We will try to prepare as many as possible.”

“Does anyone have any new views on the maid school?” Xiao Zishan asked.

Yang Yun said, “Actually, I have to say something about this maid business. A few Elders have this mindset of ‘I’m an Elder, so even if you abolish it, you have to provide for me in every way.’ This mindset is out of step with the current situation. As Elders, we certainly have higher guarantees than the naturalized citizens, and there should be industry support. But at the same time, we are a growing regime that needs useful talent. Therefore, the Elder Council has an obligation to guide, and even slightly compel, the Elders to grow into qualified members of the ruling class. If you don’t want to be a ‘soy sauce’ member, you have to show you’re not just ‘soy sauce.’ Otherwise, it’s unfair to the Elders who have made achievements. To put it bluntly, some capable Elders who don’t come out to work and just wait to enjoy the fruits of power need a little prodding. They’re already leaders and still have the Elder halo, yet they need the General Office to handle their dating life from start to finish. To put it crudely, the only thing the General Office isn’t doing is pushing their asses for them. We can create opportunities for you, but you’re a figure now, can’t you learn a thing or two yourself…”

Hearing the term “pushing their asses,” the crowd couldn’t help but laugh. Even Dong Weiwei smiled. Xiao Zishan coughed and said seriously:

“That’s going too far. Our Elder Council is a single entity. Or rather, we Elders are the only true ‘insiders.’ This is a relationship closer than that of brothers and sisters! Every single one is an absolutely trustworthy Elder who can never be abandoned. Since we are human, we have strengths and weaknesses. Courting women is a matter of talent: some can have a maid and court a female Elder at the same time; some can keep the red flag of a female Elder flying at home while having colorful flags of maids fluttering outside; others can’t even handle the administrative secretary in their own office. Everyone’s talents are different; we can’t force it.”

Ma Jia secretly admired this righteous speech. This is what you call skill.

Hu Qingbai said, “Well, many Elders in the Elder Council have high IQ but low EQ. And with their work being so busy, if they also have to go chasing women, I think it’s more reliable to have them draw a few more blueprints or write a few more papers. On this issue, it’s not okay for the General Office to not play a role. How did the ‘258th Regiment’ come about back in the day? It was because marriage was forbidden, and as a result, a large group of middle-ranking and senior cadres were bachelors and country bumpkins. If they were left to find wives on their own, it was mostly hopeless. In the end, a large portion of them got their wives through the ‘persuasion’ of the Political Department. Therefore, I personally believe the maid school cannot be abolished.”

His reasoning was sound. The Elders in the industrial and agricultural sectors working on the front lines simply had no time or energy to court women. As for the faculty Elders at Fangcaodi, they seemed to be in a garden of flowers, but dating female students was against professional ethics. So they had to endure the dual torture of mind and body, passing through a hundred flowers without being able to pick a single one.

“Do you know what it’s like to teach while holding it in? Standing behind the lectern, not daring to move around freely. Watching with your own eyes as the fragrant flowers of youth are plucked by pigs and others. The sacrifices of us Elders in the education sector are truly too great,” Hu Qingbai said with such emotion that he was on the verge of tears. “Abolishing the maid school would be a great injustice to them. If we’re afraid of wasting resources, we can reduce the scale of the maid school, strive for excellence, and only admit A-grade and above into the maid school to improve quality.”

“Now that the Elders are gradually entering the management level of enterprises, no matter what type of enterprise, won’t there be some clerical and administrative staff? If they can’t even handle them, how can they handle maids?” Yang Yun sneered.

“The maid school should not only not be abolished, but it should also not be downsized. It should expand its enrollment. Right now, it only accepts slaves. After the reform, it’s clear that naturalized citizens and natives can send their daughters here for training. After graduation, not only can Elders take them into their harems, but cadres can also marry them. Especially our core naturalized citizens like the Special Reconnaissance Team, high-ranking military officers, administrative cadres, and senior technical workers—they all need their marriage problems solved. A model like Huang Xiong finding a wife on his own has issues with safety and hygiene, so it’s not recommended. As the backbone of the Elder Council, their families must also be politically reliable. An orphan girl is much safer than a young lady from a good family with a bunch of relatives. Besides, being a soldier is not an attractive profession for women, not to mention the risk of being beheaded. I agree with reforming the maid school, but abolishing or shrinking it is not advisable,” Wu Mu, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “There’s currently a shortage of marriage partners for personnel in the military and the security forces. People are unsettled.”

Seeing that the mainstream opinion was not to abolish the school, Dong Weiwei began to hesitate again. In fact, she quite liked her job. If the school were really abolished and she had to go back to the Social Work Department to be “brainwashed” by Du Wen, life would be too terrifying. Moreover, since having a child, she was no longer willing to travel for long periods, and the Elders in the Social Work Department were on the road almost every day, and always to new, harsh-conditioned areas.

She hesitated for a moment and said, “If that’s the case, the maid school can be kept, but not in its current form. This form is the source of trouble. I propose to change it to the Lingao Women’s College. Enrollment can be expanded, and the pool of potential partners can be expanded to the upper and middle classes of the naturalized citizens. The Elders would have priority in choosing graduates.”

Sun Xiao, the representative from the Planning Office, coughed. “The maid school indeed cannot be abolished. Abolishing it would affect unity.

However, it does need to be transformed. I support the transformation, and of course, the name needs to be changed. The current ‘Life Secretary Training Class’ is already ‘famous.’ After the transformation, there’s no need to turn it into a dedicated ‘Bride School’ or ‘Concubine School.’ There are only so many Elders, and how many can each one take? They are already starting to be overstocked, which is a waste of time and manpower. As for supplying them to the upper echelons of the naturalized citizens, I think the current educational model is unreliable: the education at the maid school is essentially cost-indifferent. The amount of money, manpower, and resources invested is difficult to estimate. The number of Elders is very small compared to the naturalized citizens, even just the elite ones, and it won’t grow. This ‘won’t grow’ is very important. It’s a constant. No matter how high the cost, when the overall pie gets bigger, its derivative is zero. But the number of elite naturalized citizens will grow as the pie grows, perhaps in a quadratic or cubic relationship. The demand will always be strong. So, the current cost model of the maid school is definitely not feasible for supplying the naturalized citizens. Besides, it’s a bit too early to be giving the naturalized citizens these kinds of luxurious and decadent things. If such an institution exists for a long time, it won’t look good in the history books.”

Xiao Zishan pressed, “So what do you mean?”

“I tend to agree with Comrade Dong Weiwei’s view. The maid school can be restructured into something like a Women’s College of Arts and Sciences. There’s no need to merge it into Fangcaodi. As for the scope of enrollment, it can be expanded: it can be orphans and refugee daughters with potential selected by the General Office, or it can be primary and high school graduates from Fangcaodi. The school shouldn’t be made too aristocratic. It can be seen as a vocational training school where students primarily receive vocational training. Only those who are taken a fancy to by an Elder would receive specialized ‘life secretary’ project training.” The upper echelons of the Planning Office had already discussed this issue. In their view, the current expenses of the maid school were staggering, and the consumption of manpower and resources pained them. The current model could not be sustained; this was the consensus of the senior Elders in the Planning Office.