Chapter 1: The General Assembly

The Senate Auditorium in Bairen City was already bustling with people. Most of the six hundred open-air seats were occupied.

The so-called Senate Auditorium was actually the open-air movie theater built shortly after their landing. Although it had been renovated and modified several times since, with a simple roof added to shield from the wind and sun, it was still quite shabby compared to the newly completed indoor stadium in the East Gate Market.

Due to the plan to relocate Lin’gao’s administrative district and the senators’ residential area to the old county town, construction in Bairen City had ceased, and they were making do with the existing buildings.

However, this place was, after all, within Bairen City, the place where the senators felt most secure. At this moment, the Special Reconnaissance Team and the Garrison Battalion controlled every entrance. There wasn’t a single naturalized citizen in the entire city. Even the senators’ secretaries and maids had temporarily left. The whole of Bairen City was quiet, with only the senators engaged in lively discussions in the auditorium.

Though the venue was simple, the decorations were grand. On the screen wall at the center of the stage hung a huge red-and-yellow wooden Star and Fist national emblem. On either side hung two enormous blue Morning Star national flags. To embody the principle of “equality among all senators,” at the suggestion of Speaker Qian Shuiting, there was no presidium for the assembly. Thus, on the vast stage, there was only a solitary Burmese teak lectern—looking very small under the massive backdrop.

As usual, the front of the stage was adorned with fresh flowers and green potted plants, creating an imposing atmosphere.

Xiao Zishan sat in the front row, exchanging pleasantries with the surrounding senators while secretly glancing at the official attendance list that had just been delivered. Looking at the names, some familiar and some strange, a peculiar feeling arose in his heart.

Of the current 522 senators, 456 were present at the general assembly. This was a very high proportion. As their territory expanded, senators were dispersed to various regions along the Chinese coast. On Hainan Island alone, there were currently over twenty senators working in various counties. It was becoming increasingly difficult to convene all the senators. The military, communications, and key industrial enterprises could not be left without the supervision and guidance of senators. As for the few in the intelligence system deep within the Ming territory, their specific coordinates were from over a month ago.

To attend this assembly, many dispatched senators had handed over their work a month in advance and returned to Lin’gao on special transport ships sent by the General Office. Even some “dependent” senators, who had transmigrated as family members and rarely attended meetings, had been mobilized. These women, most of whom were now elderly, were gathered together, some knitting, some making shoes, chatting among themselves and comparing their handiwork: almost all of it was clothes, shoes, and hats for infants and young children.

What a familiar scene, Xiao Zishan thought silently. Suddenly, someone asked, “Director, would you like tea or kvass?”

He was startled. Looking up, he saw Li Yuanyuan, carrying a large kettle and going from table to table, refilling the senators’ drinks. The general assembly was top secret, and not a single naturalized citizen was allowed to attend, so even the service work was done by the senators themselves.

“I’ll—I’ll have tea, thank you for your hard work.”

“Don’t mention it, serving the Senate and the people!” Li Yuanyuan smiled playfully, but she no longer had the youthful, lively cuteness of her days in the General Affairs Group. She was already thirty and had given birth to three children.

Thinking of this, Xiao Zishan touched his own face. He had been a young man back then, but now he was stepping into middle age. Time truly waits for no one. Our grand cause really needs to hurry up.

He had once been extremely contemptuous of the song lyric “I want to work for another five hundred years,” but now he felt the lyricist was very clever and understood human nature very well. It vividly depicted the obsession of those in power with their positions and their “grand cause.” Compared to the progress of society and technology, a person’s life is truly too short…

His gaze shifted to the other side, to a few young faces. These were the senators who had just come of age this year. Lin Ziqi was gesturing animatedly while talking about something. Xiao Zishan watched them clustered together, a complex feeling in his heart. They seemed to have a look of disdain for the “old guys.”

These “First Generation Senators,” who were just children on D-Day, would become the backbone of the next generation of senators in a few years. They were not only young, but their status as original transmigrators gave them an advantage that their siblings born in this time could not match. In the minds of many senators, these children were the real “insiders.”

In the end, you feel most at ease with your own children, Xiao Zishan thought. We are no exception to this.

Li Yuanyuan had brought over the latest check-in statistics. Xiao Zishan looked at it. The check-in sequence number had reached 448. Of the remaining eight people, five had requested leave, and the other three had not yet been contacted.

This attendance rate was high enough. In the preparatory meetings before the assembly, it was proposed that as many senators as possible should attend, rather than simply reaching a two-thirds majority.

The reason the Senate placed such importance on this meeting was that a series of major policies were to be discussed, some of which were quite sensitive and had been subjects of long-standing, unresolved debates on the BBS. Now that their enterprise had grown, various contradictions and problems were becoming more prominent, and they could no longer muddle through with ambiguity. A conclusion had to be reached. Without a full attendance, the legitimacy of the policies could not be guaranteed. To this end, special radio broadcasts were arranged for dispatched senators who could not be present in person or receive documents in time, so that they could be aware of the meeting’s progress and discussion content, and also vote via radio.

However, ensuring the reliability of the radio broadcast information was a problem. Xiao Zishan had discussed this at length with Li Yunxing of the telecommunications company. Should it be a live broadcast or a long telegram sent afterward? In the end, it was decided that Hainan Island would have a live voice broadcast. Senators on the island and on the main naval warships on duty near Lin’gao would listen to the live proceedings. Senators in other locations would receive a summary of the discussions after they concluded.

There were hundreds of motions and proposals on the agenda, but for most senators, the core discussion revolved around three issues: First, should the current Senate-Executive Committee system be reformed? And how? Second, what land and civil administration policies should be implemented in Guangdong after the mainland campaign begins? Third, the specific arrangements for the second five-year plan.

For those with political ambitions and those working in administrative departments, the first point was their main concern. The political system and power distribution mechanism would affect the extent of their power in the future state. Senators working in the industrial and agricultural sectors were more interested in the third point for the same reason: the industrial layout and investment priorities would affect the status of their respective industries, which in turn would indirectly affect their voice in the Senate.

Both groups had prepared a large amount of material to support their opinions. As for the second point, it was a topic of interest to those senators who aspired to be local administrators. Although the position of Mayor of Guangzhou had already been decided, there were many other cities in Guangdong. Those who wished to be local lords could choose a place as their personal fiefdom to test their various theories…

Xiao Zishan walked over to Qian Shuiting’s seat and said in a low voice, “Old Qian, almost everyone is here. Let’s start the meeting.”

Qian Shuiting nodded, stood up, and went to the host’s seat at the corner of the stage. He tested the microphone and announced the start of the assembly.

To deliberately emphasize “equality,” at Qian Shuiting’s suggestion, the rituals from previous assemblies—such as playing the “March of Unity and Friendship,” the entrance of the Executive Committee, and the opening speech by the meeting host—were all canceled. The meeting was declared open directly.

Qian Shuiting read out the agenda and the rules of procedure for the meeting, then moved on to the first item on the agenda—the investigation of the “Trouble in Lin’gao” incident. Normally, such an investigation would not be discussed at a general assembly, but because the Otaku Faction had been working behind the scenes, hoping to use this opportunity to change the existing structure of the security agencies, they had proposed the “Departmental Rectification Bill.” This brought the issue to the Senate floor. The security agencies were core departments, and whether and how to adjust them was a matter of life and death for the senators, something no one would take lightly.

The first speaker was Ji Xin, the chairman of the independent investigation committee for this matter. The candidates for chairman proposed by each side had been rejected by the opposing side, so in the end, they had to accept the apparently neutral Ji Xin. Although some believed that Ji Xin was only neutral on the surface and was actually a lackey of the Executive Committee, his consistent style of being detached, impartial, and fair-minded had clearly earned the trust of the majority of senators.

He appeared calm when he took the stage. He first briefly explained the course of the incident, then elaborated on the handling of the situation by the various departments involved, such as the Political Security Bureau, the Police Department, and the Lin’gao Garrison Command. Then he described the investigation process and conclusions for the relevant circumstances.

Ji Xin’s expression was already impassive, and his tone during the speech was devoid of emotion. Even his wording was the simplest, unadorned narration, completely without praise or blame. He made a dramatic case sound as bland as plain soup. Even some in the audience began to doze off.

He spoke for a full hour before finishing the investigation report. Finally, he said:

“After the investigation and evidence collection by this committee, based on the information we currently have, the following conclusions have been passed by a vote of all committee members—” Ji Xin opened a sealed envelope and unfolded the paper:

“First, the security agencies bear responsibility for this incident. Second, the charge of ‘dereliction of duty’ is not established. Third, no evidence of serious misconduct by any individual has been found in this incident. Fourth, the existing security agencies have insufficient resource allocation and an unreasonable organizational structure. It is recommended that they be reorganized.”