Chapter 271: Legal Status and Civil Relations (Continued)

“First, our marriage law and ‘new morality’ will inevitably follow the concepts of the old time and space. They will not advocate ‘lifelong fidelity’ but will grant the people the power of ‘freedom of marriage and self-determination in marriage.’ It is obviously not appropriate for the Elders to take the lead in enjoying special exceptions—this is a demand for setting an example, and it is also the foundation for building a society based on the rule of law.

“Second, there are very few Elders to begin with. Influenced by traditional concepts and practical concerns, it is unlikely that many life secretaries will actually propose to break up with an Elder. If an Elder mistreats a life secretary and life becomes unbearable, or if a life secretary decides she wants a new life and new love, we must provide a way out. Otherwise, it could easily lead to bloodshed, or at least constant turmoil. Finally, we must also consider the need for the Elders to ‘bring in the new and send out the old.’ Otherwise, the Elders’ harems will become increasingly large—keeping a large group of women whom the Elders are not interested in is a waste of resources, not to mention the risk of romantic scandals. Taking all these factors into account, there should be a ‘right to divorce’ between a life secretary and an Elder. That is to say, either party can propose to terminate the ‘regular sexual relationship’ at any time.”

Xiao Zishan nodded silently. The Law Society had considered everything very thoroughly. Indeed, the law reflects the interests of the ruling class.

“Clarifying this right can completely erase the impression that life secretaries’ personal freedom is controlled or that they are the Elders’ slaves. It makes our image much better. As for their whereabouts and speech after the relationship is terminated, that can be controlled through a ‘declassification period’.”

Xiao Zishan thought: An Elder who was consulted on the maid issue once proposed this “declassification period.” Roughly speaking, it stipulated that after a life secretary’s relationship was terminated, there would be a declassification period of 25-30 years. During this period, she would have to remain in Lingao, could not travel, could not marry, and her correspondence and friendships would be monitored. Of course, she would have no right to be interviewed or to publish anything. Her work and residence would be arranged by the General Office, sending her to a remote place to live out her old age. She would also have to pay double compensation for the food, lodging, and education expenses paid by the Elder Council during her time at the life secretary school, to be repaid in installments. Due to the debt, her credit would be damaged, and she would face various restrictions in her life, shopping, consumption, and credit. His opinion was that these two measures would deter 99% of the life secretaries who wanted to break up. Even if they were not deterred, it would ensure that the life secretaries could be controlled and would not cause any damage.

He shook his head. “This declassification period is too cruel. It’s basically making the retired life secretaries live as widows for the rest of their lives, in a prison—a form of house arrest.” He took a large gulp of tea. “If you were to make an analogy, how is it different from the emperor’s widows living in the cold palace, or the Tokugawa shogun’s wives and concubines taking the tonsure and living in a nunnery?”

“No, our Law Society’s declassification period is not handled this way,” Ma Jia said with a smile. “If it were, we would be worse than the Ming Dynasty and all feudal societies—only the emperor’s women were explicitly forbidden to remarry. There is only one emperor, but we have nearly five hundred male Elders. Wasting so many women of childbearing age would get us struck by lightning. Besides, if we were to simply put them under house arrest, that would be one thing. But not allowing them to marry while allowing them to move freely in Lingao is practically encouraging adultery. Little An, you can continue.”

An Xi continued:

The Law Society’s suggestion is a one-year declassification period. Within one year, they are not allowed to marry or leave Lingao. After one year, they can be employed and live like ordinary naturalized citizens. However, in addition to this, there is a lifelong confidentiality period. All life secretaries who terminate their relationship must make a “blood oath,” swearing not to disclose any details about the Elder’s life and work in any form, not to accept any interviews, not to publish such books, and not to privately write related diaries, notes, and so on.

This restriction is not only effective for the life secretaries of male Elders but also for all retired Elder life secretaries. It can be considered a “professional regulation.”

“…If they violate the oath, they will be dealt with accordingly,” Ma Jia added. “Of course, no matter where they go, they will be placed on the surveillance list of the General Administration of Political Security.”

“Do we have a secrecy law?” Xiao Zishan was a little puzzled; he didn’t seem to have seen one.

“We will, we will.”

“What if they already have children with the Elder? Who gets the children?”

“They belong to the Elder Council,” Ma Jia said calmly. “The children of an Elder are naturally the children of the Elder Council. It’s not that whoever is their mother has the right to raise them.”

Xiao Zishan deeply agreed.

“Your regulation on the declassification period can also be applied to divorce cases between Elders and their naturalized citizen wives.”

“Yes. In our laws, an Elder’s life secretary and his naturalized citizen wife are equal in civil status—the principle of equality for all under the rule of the Elder Council is not just empty words.”

As for the termination fee, it still exists—considering that the General Office has paid extra for the training of life secretaries, every life secretary must sign a five-year service contract with the General Office before starting her post. If she leaves after the contract is fulfilled, she does not need to pay. As for an Elder proposing to terminate the contract, he does not need to pay, since for every life secretary he selects, he has to pay a “training fee” to the General Office according to their grade.

This way, the degree of “political oppression, economic exploitation, and personal control” over life secretaries would be greatly reduced, and the Elder Council’s image would be much better, more glorious and righteous.

“What about the Western women?”

“They are temporarily non-nationals, so the law naturally does not consider their problems,” Ma Jia said lightly. “For now, they can be treated as slaves. Besides, their number is very small now; they are a scarce commodity, and there is no need to specifically consider their future.”

“Alright, I have one last question,” Xiao Zishan said. “What if one party proposes to terminate the relationship, but the other party disagrees?”

“I think that for at least the next twenty or thirty years, it will be extremely rare for a life secretary to actively request to resign. On the contrary, the rate and number of Elders abandoning their life secretaries for new loves will increase significantly year by year. If such a situation does arise, I think it would be very difficult for a maid to request termination, while it would be very easy for an Elder—it’s just a matter of submitting an application.” Ma Jia said, “The large-scale abandonment of life secretaries by Elders will eventually happen, even without relevant regulations. The General Office will surely come up with a way to arrange for the retired life secretaries. The Elders won’t be deprived of the right to replace a life secretary they are dissatisfied with, nor will they accept traditional constraints like the ‘seven outs and three not-outs’ to bind themselves. They will just submit a report or application to the General Office with some general reasons, and the General Office will naturally approve it. I don’t think it’s likely to be rejected: in that case, as some in the Elder Council say, it would be more convenient to just kill one’s own life secretary.”

Xiao Zishan nodded, looking at his notebook, where he had listed the key points he had recorded. “You’ve considered everything very thoroughly. My personal view is that the position of life secretary should be retained, and their relationship with the Elders should be clarified—they have received vocational training as life secretaries and have a ‘regular sexual relationship’ with an Elder. As for one-night stands where an Elder is ‘pushed down’ or administrative female clerks he has hooked up with, they are not to be classified as life secretaries. The Elders will have to solve those problems themselves.”

“That’s fine, but the way you put it seems to suggest our Elders are very thirsty.”

“I have my reasons for saying so,” Xiao Zishan thought. Are you unaware, or are you pretending to be unaware, of the Elders’ ‘pushing down’ incidents? While not widespread, they were not rare either.

“In the long run, this welfare system of life secretaries only needs to be maintained for one generation. By the second generation, they will naturally handle their male-female relationships according to the rules of the game for the upper class. After all, the life secretary system is a product of the social and economic background of our time; there is no need to preserve it as an ancestral law,” Ma Jia said with a smile. “This can also be considered a welfare of our Elder Council.”

“It would be great if everyone were satisfied with the welfare.”

“To get a foot and ask for a yard is human nature. It’s impossible to satisfy everyone,” Ma Jia took the opportunity to advise. “We’re having all these troubles because the cake isn’t big enough. Otherwise, if each of the five hundred Elders had a grand mansion and dozens or hundreds of life secretaries, who would have the inclination to cause trouble?”

An Xi saw Ma Jia and Xiao Zishan sitting closer and closer, their voices getting lower and lower. He quickly made an excuse to pack up the slides and left.

“True, the Elders’ living conditions are a bit too poor—worse than in the old time and space.”

“So my idea is to increase the life welfare for the Elders as soon as possible,” Ma Jia continued.

“Housing is very difficult right now. If each of you gets a grand mansion, how big is our green zone in Lingao in total…”

“Housing isn’t the main thing. Shouldn’t we upgrade the spiritual and material enjoyment?”

“You mean—” Several thoughts flashed through Xiao Zishan’s mind, and he immediately understood. “Is it about the professional classes in the arts direction?”

“Yes. The comrades work all day long. When they come home, besides doing that with their maids, they should at least have some spiritual and cultural enjoyment,” Ma Jia said. “Right now, it’s either watching movies or reading books, or playing chess and cards… There’s too much of a lack of cultural activities. The few professional groups of the Propaganda Department are all geared towards the naturalized citizens—too rustic, too mass-oriented. Shouldn’t we also have some high art and the like?”

“We lack professional talent…”

“We have them. Liu Shuixin is one. In fact, there are several others who can play instruments and sing. Now they are all idle, doing odd jobs. Although they are officials of some rank, it’s not as happy as doing their own profession. Our basic foundation is not small now. Opening a few professional art classes and setting up two cultural troupes won’t cost much. On the contrary, it will be conducive to the unity of the comrades—if you really feel the cost is tight, you can ask the Elders for sponsorship. They will surely be eager to contribute money and effort.”

“We can consider it—you came prepared.”

“Hehe, since you’ve seen through me, I won’t hide it. Indeed, someone has talked to me about it,” Ma Jia said. “But this matter requires little investment and yields quick results. Once it’s done, it can unite the majority and strike at a small handful of people with ulterior motives.”