mtlumby2d Chapter 364: Meeting held, Wang Jin took the initiative to express his position
Chapter 364: Meeting held, Wang Jin took the initiative to express his position
After the ceremony, Su Zhengyang's secretary Fu Jiang came to the governors of the provinces present with a smile on his face and said calmly: "Governors and congressmen, don't be in a hurry to leave. President Su has decided to hold a meeting on major decisions for the future of Northern Xinjiang. The venue is in the conference hall of the Central Government Building. We have prepared cars in advance and will take you directly to the venue."
Liang Jiaman, An Chengjie and others looked at each other in bewilderment. This Su Zhengyang was indeed a new official who was eager to make important decisions right after officially becoming the President of Northern Frontier. An Chengjie had a bad feeling in his heart.
However, they did not dare to directly refuse the meeting called by the new president, so they had to agree to it reluctantly.
Fu Jiang led everyone through the back door of the Temple of Heaven Square to Tianyuan Street. On the side of the street, there were already more than a dozen black cars lined up. After calming themselves down, they each chose a car, opened the door and got in. The cars slowly drove away and headed towards the Northern Xinjiang Central Government Building.
On the other side, Su Zhengyang, under Li Yunlong's arrangement, got into his own bulletproof command vehicle and returned to the Central Government Building ahead of everyone else.
Yang Jiakai looked at Su Zhengyang's departing back and sighed quietly. Once Su Zhengyang proposed centralizing power and taking back the military power from these governors at the meeting, it would undoubtedly bring about extremely fierce reactions and direct conflicts. But as Su Zhengyang said, this step is inevitable. If we want to make Northern Xinjiang get rid of its current drawbacks and unite the entire Northern Xinjiang into one, reform is imperative.
Duan Jinshu beside Yang Jiakai said, "Old Yang, let Zhengyang handle this matter. It is better to suffer a short pain than a long one. Without the constraints of old guys like us, Zhengyang will definitely handle it properly."
"After fighting for most of my life, I suddenly feel a little scared of war. Once a war breaks out, it will be the common people who suffer."
Yang Jiakai shook his head, turned around, got into his car, and went straight back to the Yang Mansion.
At this moment, under the Central Government Building, a convoy of more than a dozen cars stopped on the roadside one after another. Liang Jiaman and others got out of the cars one after another and looked up at the extremely solemn and dignified government building in front of them. Under the reflection of the sun, the nine-story government building cast a long shadow. Everyone present had complicated emotions at the moment, and they all had an indescribable sense of uneasiness.
On the contrary, Wang Jin, who was over 70 years old and had a head full of white hair, looked particularly energetic at the moment. He greeted everyone around him and said, "Let's go, finish the meeting early, I have to go back to Hanzhou as soon as possible to deal with some affairs."
Liang Jiaman said thoughtfully, "I heard that Mr. Wang is planning to go to the United States to live with his son. I wonder who he plans to hand over Hanzhou to after he leaves?"
Wang Jin shook his head, smiled without saying anything, turned around and walked into the government building first. After a little thought, Liang Jiaman and others followed him in.
In the conference hall on the eighth floor, Su Zhengyang was wearing his presidential uniform, sitting in the main seat, holding a white porcelain teacup, and drinking hot tea.
The other ten or so seats on the conference table were also placed with teacups filled with brewed tea in advance.
After Liang Jiaman and others walked out of the elevator one after another, they came to the meeting room under the leadership of Fu Jiang.
Seeing everyone coming in, Su Zhengyang took the initiative to stand up and said, "Everyone is here, please take a seat. I called you to the meeting today for no other reason than to discuss a series of major decisions for the future of Northern Xinjiang."
"President Su, you're too polite."
"President Su, feel free to say what you want to say. We will definitely support you."
Because Su Zhengyang's attitude was surprisingly calm, unlike his usual aggressive demeanor, the atmosphere at the scene was quite harmonious.
After everyone took their seats, Su Zhengyang got straight to the point and said, "Thanks to your appreciation and support, I, Su Zhengyang, can become the new president of Northern Frontier. Today, I mainly want to talk to you about the reasons for the Southern Government."
Jiang Yanlin was the first to speak out: "Huang Guangtai, this hypocrite, when we were fighting Fusang in the Northeast, this bastard would have taken advantage of the situation and launched another Northern Expedition if it weren't for the pressure from domestic public opinion. Now that our Northern Frontier is strong and powerful, and with the power to recover the lost territory in the Northeast, I think we can directly send troops south and make the Southern Government pay for it!"
Feng Changan shook his head and said, "Councilor Jiang is wrong. After a series of wars, our northern border is in ruins and the treasury is empty. It is not appropriate to waste military resources and start another war. Besides, Huzhou has just been pacified, and Xiazhou is still fighting fiercely. As the saying goes, we must first stabilize the country before we can resist foreign aggression. We should first deal with the internal conflicts and then look to the south."
Wang Jin, who has always been extremely low-key and avoids troubles as much as possible as a congressman, nodded and said, "Councilman Feng's words make sense. Xiazhou has been completely submerged in the flames of war. After all, Xiazhou is also our northern border territory. We can't just watch the war continue. We should come up with a solution."
Wang Jin paused, took a sip from the teacup, and then changed the subject, "But even if the rebellions in Xiazhou and Huzhou are quelled, it is still only a temporary solution. Why are Ma Changfang and Qu Guowei so bold as to openly betray the country for their own selfish interests and challenge the Northern Frontier? To put it bluntly, it is because they hold military power and are far away from the emperor. In their own territory, they are no different from the emperor."
"I think that in order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, and to prevent someone from raising an army for selfish interests, the major provinces should implement a policy of separation of military and political power. The governors of the major provinces will no longer be in charge of military and political power, and the military power should be directly handed over to the central government. This is the only way to solve the problem fundamentally."
Wang Jin's words could cause a huge uproar. You know, for these provincial governors, military power is their lifeblood. Only when they hold military power can they feel safe and feel that their destiny is in their own hands at all times. Reducing their military power would be more painful than killing them.
Sure enough, as soon as Wang Jin finished speaking, Liang Jiaman angrily slammed the table, stared at Wang Jin and said, "Old Wang! Are you senile? How can you say such a thing? Handing over the military power, it sounds good to you, but the troops in our hands are all cultivated bit by bit with our own hard work and countless efforts. Are you willing to hand over the Hanzhou Army?"
Wang Jin was determined to go all out at this moment. Anyway, he would soon cross the ocean and fly away to his son's place. It didn't matter whether his proposal would offend these governors or not. Besides, this was something he had discussed with Su Zhengyang in advance. There was a world of difference between this topic being brought up by him and being said by Su Zhengyang.
"Since I, Wang Jin, dare to say so, I have already made plans to hand over the military power of Hanzhou Army! President Su, I, Wang Jin, am willing to hand over the military power of Hanzhou to the central government and set an example!"