.Chapter 49 Lobbying Tang (please vote for me!)

"In the modern history of China, the history of the early Republic of China is perhaps the most regrettable period: although parliamentary politics originated, not many people truly understood the democratic republican spirit hidden behind it. Song Jiaoren was one of the few who understood

One of them was assassinated, and the murderer is still a mystery; Tang Hualong, another man who deeply understood the spirit of the democratic republic, could not escape the shooting of the revolutionary party."

Most of the time, Li Zicheng is often thinking about problems in his mind while running as usual. At this time, looking at Tang Hualong sitting in front of him, this passage came to Li Zicheng's mind, recalling the history of the early Republic of China.

In the comment articles, almost everyone felt sorry for Song Jiaoren's assassination, and also expressed pity for the life in front of him.

In this era, when everyone is trying to violate the rules, Tang Hualong, who is well versed in the democratic republic, obviously has too much helplessness. Perhaps it is this helplessness that caused the bullet that was once fired at the Qing court to turn around and shoot.

Facing the former like-minded allies, the remnants of the Revolution of 1911 are paradoxical and tragic.

Looking at the Prime Minister, Tang Hualong was also silent. He knew that now, the conversation between the two could no longer be as simple as before. The issue of industrial development was always simple. It was nothing more than how the government guided the national industrial development and how to create more demonstrations.

A protected, protected industrial and economic development zone.

These problems have never been difficult problems. The only problem is financial resources. As long as the problem of financial resources is solved, all problems will be easily solved. However, the prime minister in front of him is an expert in open source. He has brought the General Taxation Department under the name of the Ministry of Finance.

, then to recover tariffs, then to use the aftermath borrowings to guarantee the salt tax, and then rectify the salt tax, then to borrow tariffs to become independent, asking the provinces to give up the salt tax, and the central government provides subsidies, and then the Ministry of Finance begins to divide national taxes and local taxes.

, establishing the central and local financial systems, etc. In the past six months, the prime minister in front of me has implemented too many new policies, and these new policies are aimed at solving the central government's financial problems.

In the eyes of some people, Li Zhiyuan is an expert in open source. All the work he promotes is done by taking advantage of the situation. Even if the local authorities are reluctant, they are unable to refute. On the issue of abolition of Lijin, due to the signing of agreements with other countries

The "Tariff Autonomy Treaty" clearly stipulates that the prerequisite for China's tariff autonomy is the abolition of China's tariffs. Therefore, he easily labeled each province as "patriotic or not, you can decide for yourself" and at the same time increased local subsidies.

To alleviate local losses caused by the abolition of Lijin, after several months of efforts, 23 provinces have clearly expressed support for the abolition of Lijin.

As for the salt tax issue, by increasing the salt tax and adjusting the salt tax expenditure, the future salt tax revenue will be divided into three parts, 50% will be recovered by the central government, 20% will be reserved for local education funds, and 15% will be used for local transportation and construction costs.

, 15% is the local industrial expansion fee. As for the reform of the tax system, it goes further and clearly divides the scope of national taxes and local taxes. In this way, through the form of law, the central government concentrates most of the country's financial resources, and at the same time, it also provides local governments with

Flexible financial resources were retained, and local financial difficulties were solved through transfer payments, thereby reversing the unfavorable situation in which financial power had been dispersed among local governments since the late Qing Dynasty.

Through the transfer of special funds from tariffs and salt taxes, local governments even benefited from the fiscal reforms he implemented. It can be said that it was his "generosity" that made the local governments express support for his fiscal policies.

The new fiscal policy implemented suffered losses, which prevented local governments from becoming disengaged.

“Push forward sound policies!”

This was the promise that Li Zicheng made to the people when he became Prime Minister. As far as the fiscal and tax reforms he fully implemented, he undoubtedly fulfilled his promise. By sorting out the two major types of taxes, customs duties and salt taxes, and raising taxes, the central government gained

With sufficient fiscal and tax revenue, it can make concessions to local governments on many fiscal and tax issues, and it is this steady policy that ensures the smooth flow of State Council decrees, but now...

Thinking of the "National Bandit Suppression Order" issued by the State Council, Tang Hualong sighed. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the half-year "Bandit Suppression Order" is actually forcing each province to make a choice.

Compromise, or... Judging from this State Council order alone, the current Prime Minister still has the "steadiness" of the original.

Could it be that the Prime Minister has been carried away by the success of his work in the past six months?

It was precisely for this reason that when his second brother sent him a telegram to inquire, after thinking for a long time, Tang Hualong called him back and asked him to "wait and see". Maybe it was just a momentary mistake... But now it seems that Tang Hualong can

I felt that the prime minister in front of me was by no means dazzled by such "insignificant achievements".

This is just a move on his part!

"Jiwu, yesterday, I saw a newspaper!"

His voice slightly raised, Li Zicheng took out a newspaper. This was a Guangxi newspaper. It was published fifteen days ago, the day after he signed the order. This newspaper was transferred by train and plane.

In his hands, as Prime Minister, he would spend some time every day reading newspapers from various provinces, not just cutting and pasting important news.

In this era, public opinion enjoys full freedom. 99% of the articles in newspapers do not have the "authority" of "official reports" and are 100% direct reactions from the people. Therefore, Li Zicheng needs these newspapers to understand the opinions of the people.

The real situation is that as a leader, if you only look at the so-called "official information" or "official reports", that is not "disengagement from the masses", but a chronic suicidal self-isolation.

"Well, it said that I was dazzled by the results I achieved in the past!"

Smiling, Li Zicheng put down the newspaper and looked at Tang Hualong and asked.

"What do you think? Jiwu?"

"this……"

Tang Hualong was stunned, but he didn't know how to answer. At first, he thought so too, but through personal observation in the past two days, he found that the man in front of him was more awake than most people. He clearly knew what he was doing.

I also know why local governments are still hesitant until now.

Until now, the local provinces are just waiting and watching, waiting to see who will jump out to stand up for the big guy first, whether it is the president's cronies or followers, or those who keep shouting about serving the country.

They all fell silent in several southwestern provinces that serve the people.

The reason is very simple. No one is willing to stand up and accuse the State Council of ordering local governments to suppress bandits within a time limit as "an act that disturbs the people."

We have made statistics on reports of chaos, and we have also made statistics on the reports of the civil affairs ministers of various provinces. Those are the reasons why the State Council requires the suppression of bandits.

The State Council is under the banner of protecting the country and the people!

Under this banner, whoever jumps out first will definitely face a situation that will be criticized by thousands of people. How can the generals of each province want to be infamous in the end and others get an advantage? The Prime Minister in front of him just used one side to look like

The invisible flag blocked the seven inches of the provincial generals.

This thing about reputation...

"I'm not unconscious, but..."

With a solemn expression, Li Zicheng picked up the teacup and said something seemingly calmly.

"But I'm worried that some people might get confused and do something stupid!"

The words seemed plain, but anyone could hear what they meant, especially Tang Hualong. Just when he was about to speak hurriedly to argue, another sentence came into his ears.

"Now, many things in the country are on track, so constitution-making has been included in the agenda of the State Council and the Presidential Office. The State Council is preparing to formally request the Presidential Office to establish a national constitution-making committee at the end of the year.

The Constitutional Committee is composed of members of the National Assembly and representatives from each province..."

Constitution making!

Hearing these two words, Tang Hualong raised his head and looked at Li Zicheng. He wanted to find something else on that young face, but except for calmness, he couldn't find any look that he didn't want to see.

Two years ago, as a legal expert, he presided over and participated in the drafting of the Constitution of the Temple of Heaven. He had placed hope on that constitution. In his opinion, it would be a sign that the republic was on the right track.

However, in the end he was disappointed. The formulation of the "Tian Temple of Heaven Constitution" was just a temporary compromise by Yuan Shikai. After the "Second People's Rebellion", everything was over and the Congress was dissolved. What kind of constitution was there to talk about?

But now, the prime minister is asking for the formulation of a constitution. He has doubts about Li Zicheng's willingness to reveal the constitution at this time, but he knows that if the former prime minister fully implements the constitution and constitutionalism, even Yuan Shikai will

A lot of concessions need to be made. He holds military power in his hands, and even Yuan Shikai is wary of him. Otherwise, China would not have such a "Little Li Prime Minister" now.

"Prime Minister, do you want to formulate a constitution?"

Tang Hualong asked tentatively.

"It's not that I want to formulate a constitution, but..."

After a moment of silence, Li Zicheng looked very calm.

"China needs a constitution. In order to maintain the spirit of the republic, there must be a fundamental constitution that is recognized by the whole country. If someone wants to violate the republic and trample on it in the future, then he must challenge a constitution that is formulated by the Congress and representatives of each province and is adopted by the whole country.

Constitution approved by the provincial assemblies!”

"Approval by provincial councils?"

The Prime Minister's answer only stunned Tang Hualong. Originally, he thought that the constitution only needed to be drafted by the Congress and approved by the Congress before it could be implemented. However, he did not expect that representatives from each province would need to participate and ratify it.

"Brother Jiwu, now we in China have abandoned China's three thousand years of tradition and adopted a republic. Although this political system has other countries for reference, learning, and learning, it is unfamiliar to us. Take China now as an example.

The ownership of the central and local governments is unclear, the central and local governments are wary of each other, and then the local governments do not pay attention to the central government. The central government's contempt for the local governments directly leads to the current domestic political chaos. This chaos must be ended as soon as possible. China

Everything needs to be on track. For example, the provincial generals are subordinate to the governing system. This is extremely abnormal and goes against the spirit of the republic. Since the president and prime minister are elected by both houses of Congress, then provincial governors, mayors,

The county governor should also be elected by the province, city, and county council. Only in this way can we avoid the occurrence of officials and land grabs..."

In front of Tang Hualong, Li Zicheng naturally no longer concealed his original intention of formulating the constitution. In front of Yuan Shikai, he emphasized more on limiting local power through the constitution, gradually disarming local governments through the "right track", and solving local power problems.

In front of Tang Hualong, he was willing to build that "republican dream" with him. Whether it was historical records or intelligence from the Secret Service and the Security Department, it was clearly pointed out that the young man in front of him was

Tang Hualong, who once knelt in front of his mother and swore that "this tyranny will be eradicated", has always cherished a dream. From the transformation from constitution to republic, and then to the understanding of the republican spirit, Tang Hualong walked a path completely different from that of Song Jiaoren.

Different paths.

On August 25, the first year of the Republic of China, under the auspices of Song Jiaoren, the founding conference of the Kuomintang was held simultaneously in Beijing and Shanghai. The Tongmenghui, which originally used violent revolution as a means to overthrow the old rule, was reorganized into a true

of modern political parties.

Tang Hualong, on the other hand, used the Federation of Consultative Bureaus as his team, and through several rounds of mergers, formed the Progressive Party in the spring of 1913, creating a situation in which the two parties competed with the Kuomintang. Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian and other celebrities were directors of the party.

Although they were opponents, Song Jiaoren had a tacit understanding with Tang Hualong and Liang Qichao in private. He once secretly visited Liang Qichao and said that it is proper for the two parties to take turns in power. After the upcoming congressional election, if Liang Qichao is in power, he

He was willing to help in the opposition and asked Liang Shanshan to supervise him if he himself came to power. Liang Qichao was very moved by this. In fact, this had also been his and Tang Hualong's dream all along.

After the National Socialist Party entered the National Assembly and Li Zicheng became Prime Minister, the National Socialist Party and the Progressive Party also reached a tacit agreement in private to implement real "parliamentary politics" when the time is right in the future. But now, Li Zicheng is using this to ask Tang Hualong.

Showing a future, a "constitutional" future.

“… Therefore, only within the framework established by the Constitution can it be possible to implement republican politics in which all parties supervise, compete with each other, and benefit the people. Constitutional government without the framework of the Constitution is simply empty talk. Without the constraints of the Constitution, anyone can

To challenge the existing immature system, anyone can try to violate the rules!"

At the end of his words, Li Zicheng sighed again and then said.

"Four years since the founding of the Republic of China, Song Jiaoren died, and the National Assembly was once dissolved. The central and local governments were on guard against each other. It can even be described as centrifugal, so that even a constitution has not been formulated. As for parliamentary politics, this system should be for everyone.

The new rules that people follow are discarded like a waste, and we have wasted too much time! But how much time does China have for you and me to waste?"
To be continued...