Chapter 433: The Winds of Institutional Reform
In the Little Ice Age, the temperature in Lingao in July was much lower than in the 21st century, but it was not a cool summer. In the afternoon, the outdoor temperature still reached over thirty degrees. There were few pedestrians on the streets, and no farmers working in the fields. Except for the dull sound of machinery from the factory area, only the cicadas were left, chirping themselves hoarse.
In the offices of Bairen City, work was still in progress. Secretaries pushed carts to deliver mountains of file boxes. Plans, reports, summaries… they flowed into the various administrative departments like a tide, and then flowed out again. The large basins of ice placed in the offices quickly melted by more than half.
In the Elders’ offices, however, the Elders were all secretly pondering the latest special issue of Qiming, which had just reprinted the full text of the Law Society’s “Research on the Current State of the Senate’s Institutions and Ideas for Reform.”
This two-hundred-page report was the result of more than a year of work by the Law Society. The effort they had put into it was comparable to the “Report on the Situation of the Elders” they had thrown out after the Maid Revolution.
At that time, it was with this detailed and well-founded report that Ma Jia had turned the tables for himself and the Law Society, clarifying the Senate’s guiding principle of “ruling by law.” Therefore, while constantly compiling laws and regulations, the Law Society also kept a close eye on the political changes and policy trends of the Senate, waiting for another opportunity to make a move.
Even without the stimulus of the “Sun Umbrella” case, the restless mood within the Senate was already very obvious. As the head of the Judiciary and the president of the Law Society, Ma Jia had his own sources of information.
In his view, the so-called political demands of the Otaku Party were actually the political demands of the North American Gang. The so-called Otaku Party members who followed them and waved their flags did not necessarily really agree with the political ideas of the North American Gang. Among them, except for a few who sincerely believed in the concepts of “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” proposed by the North American Gang because of their strong persecution complex, most of them were more dissatisfied with their own status.
This dissatisfaction was not simply dissatisfaction with their official position or treatment. In fact, in the administrative system of the Senate, there were no longer these so-called “soy sauce” Elders who called themselves “soy sauce” Elders. Just as a group of white-collar workers scrambled to put the hat of “loser” on their own heads, it was just a strong sense of frustration that someone was better than them and they could do nothing about it. Although they more or less realized that they did not have the ability or were not willing to work for it, they still consciously or unconsciously attributed it to “systemic problems.”
So their waving of flags for the North American Gang was just a way of venting their dissatisfaction.
When the two newspapers and one journal began to hype Qian Duoduo and spread the rumor that she was the only choice for the leader of the Youth League, the enthusiasm of the so-called “soy sauce” Elders, who had been putting on a show of wanting a “second revolution,” dropped significantly. And at this time, someone intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that the Qian family was a big voting bloc. Thus, the situation quickly changed.
The Chinese are not short of “smart people,” and what they despise most are those who “work for others.” When they realized that their “sincere support” was very likely just carrying the sedan chair for others, they had to withdraw quickly, even if only out of self-respect, to avoid being laughed at.
So Ma Jia believed that the crisis of the Executive Committee was over.
Although the crisis was over, the hidden danger still existed. Ma Jia knew that the Elders had varying abilities, but their ambitions were all greater than the next. Even those who kept a low profile and stayed in the Great Library and the education circle were all dreaming of being imperial tutors, librarians, uncrowned kings, and permanent school principals.
If there was no channel for releasing pressure, things like a “second revolution” or “a cannon shot at Bopu Port” were not impossible.
The only way to release the pressure was through external conquest. Making the existing cake bigger was the only way to divert internal conflicts.
It was inevitable that the Senate would launch a war of conquest on the mainland. Before launching the war, it was bound to hold the Third Plenary Session. To resist foreign aggression, one must first pacify the interior. And the time for the Third Plenary Session was about to arrive.
At this conference, institutional reform would inevitably be on the agenda. This was a problem Ma Jia had realized several years ago. The state of the Senate was constantly expanding and developing. To adapt to the new situation, institutional reform was inevitable.
Institutional adjustment often meant a redistribution of power, and this was the most important part. The major political factions within the Senate would inevitably have to go through a period of negotiation and exchange. At this time, it was another opportunity for the Law Society to show its skills.
As for the “internal reference” sent by that Elder Lu, it was also published in Qiming in the name of the Great Library’s Policy Research Office. The two materials were published in Qiming at the same time, and the meaning was self-evident. The topic of institutional reform, which had already been brewing under the surface, began to heat up gradually.
Ma Jia knew that at this moment, closed-door meetings must be being held in the leadership offices of various departments. The Elder cadres in the departments were sitting around, smoking, and heatedly discussing what kind of moves their departments would take in the upcoming reform, despite the scorching heat.
At the same time, the initiator of this proposal, Lu Xuan, seemed to be completely out of the loop, sitting alone in his office.
More than a week ago, the “internal reference” submitted by Lu Xuan through the Great Library was not only normally submitted to the Executive Committee for discussion, but was also given the name of the “Policy Research Office” by Yu E’shui. Although the Great Library did not have a Policy Research Office, the name had always existed, and it was generally not easily given this prominent title.
Because of this halo, this internal reference was published in this issue of Qiming—this was a theoretical journal that was only circulated among the Elders! Its status was by no means insignificant—this once made Lu Xuan very excited.
In Lu Xuan’s view, the proposal he submitted was in line with the trend and harmless. It not only responded to the need to improve the system, but also provided a fig leaf for the poor performance of the Executive Committee and relevant functional departments in the terrorist attack case. And the two main responsible units for implementing the proposal could also benefit from it—the Great Library could expand its business scope by participating in this work and curb its gradual decline into a purely historical consulting institution. By promoting this work, Ma Jia had won a good opportunity for his basic team, the Law Society, to perform well. The clarification of the responsibilities of various departments was actually to tie the hands and feet of various departments by issuing a series of administrative regulations to prevent the heads of various departments from arbitrarily expanding their powers and responsibilities. The importance of this work was self-evident. As the only professional group in the legal field in the Senate, the Law Society would undoubtedly take the lead in this work.
But it was such a cake-cutting proposal that was beneficial to everyone. Although Ma Jia and Yu E’shui both showed great enthusiasm, Lu Xuan found that the situation was not developing as he had expected.
First of all, the Law Society threw out a thicker and more complete research report on institutional reform. This was completely unexpected for him. Obviously, his painstakingly written “internal reference” was no match for it in terms of either data or theory. When they were published together in Qiming, his “internal reference” became a background for cheering, completely overshadowed by the Law Society’s report.
“I didn’t expect Ma Jia to be such a petty and sinister villain!” Lu Xuan cursed silently. His original plan was to use this internal reference as a stepping stone, led by the Law Society, to provide an opportunity to report to the Executive Committee together with the Elders of the Law Society. At the same time, it would also give Lu Xuan the opportunity to participate in the work of clarifying the functions of the departments led by the Law Society. Taking this opportunity, the powers of management, use, assessment, appointment and removal of naturalized citizens would be clearly defined in the Civil Affairs Committee. After the responsibilities were clarified, Lu Xuan would use his convenience as the deputy director of the training department of the Civil Affairs Committee to carry out a large amount of de facto organizational work under the cover of training evaluation, use suggestions, and student return visits, so as to take the initiative to seek this position for himself.
But the Law Society’s move showed that they had been thinking about institutional reform for a long time, and it seemed that they would not give him a piece of the pie at all.
“Why should we give him some benefits?” Ma Jia looked at An Xi strangely.
“Didn’t he write that internal reference…” An Xi was a little flustered. Had he misunderstood the leader’s meaning? He had come to see Ma Jia directly after reading Qiming, thinking that Ma Jia had already reached some kind of deal with this Elder Lu. Considering that his attitude towards Elder Lu was not very good, he hurried to remedy it.
“Little An, your thinking is wrong. The public power of the Senate is not some kind of benefit, let alone something that can be given away casually. As an Elder of the law circle, you can’t be confused about such a matter of principle!”
“Yes, yes, I was wrong.” An Xi quickly admitted his mistake.
Ma Jia nodded. “Besides, you and I are not only Elder comrades, but also colleagues in the same department, colleagues of the Law Society. If there is anything, I will definitely discuss it with you and other Elders of this department first. How could I make a decision so casually?”
An Xi wanted to say something more, but Ma Jia continued, “Even if he didn’t submit that internal reference, couldn’t we have published the research report? It is the right and obligation of the Elders to provide policy advice and proposals to the Senate.”
“I understand.” An Xi had completely understood the leader’s meaning.
“I think it won’t be long before the institutional reform leading group office is established,” Ma Jia said. “Before the Third Plenary Session, all matters in this area must be sorted out and specific proposals prepared. In this matter, our Law Society must take the lead.”
“After all, we are the most professional.”
“Yes, you are absolutely right. Who do you think is suitable to be the leader of this group?”
“Me?” An Xi hesitated for a moment. “I think Wen Zong is more suitable.”
“I think so too,” Ma Jia said with a smile. “You gather the Elders of the Law Society. We will have a meeting at the South China Sea Cafe this week.”