Chapter 617: The General Assembly (Part 2)

A cold night, the north wind blowing; the snow underfoot crunched softly with each step. The chill moon hung sparse and faint, and the southern land lay blanketed in pristine, endless white.

Early morning, the silence of the snowy night was scattered by the sounds of early risers. Workers pushed open their doors, took an unaccustomed breath of the icy air, then rubbed their faces, tightened the thick, warm yellow cotton coats around them, and braved the cold to head to work.

Treading on fine, powdery snow out of the dormitory area, a worker met his workmates leaving at the same time. As they discussed the previous night's snowfall, they merged into the current of the working masses.

Apart from the Central Avenue that propped up the facade and two other main roads, all the secondary roads in the New District were currently paved with red brick or cinder. Thus, the morning commuters gathering along the red brick paths had evolved into a uniquely seventeenth-century industrial scene, much like the bicycle armies of later generations.

Today, however, was different.

When the workers converged from various tributaries onto Central Avenue to catch their rides, they found every intersection filled with uniformed "public officers."

The native workers with residency rights in the New District were all "old hands" who had long worked for Grand Commandant Cao, and they knew the categories of public officers very well.

Those wearing blue coats and cotton hats were the "Police." These were the Grand Commandant's private bailiffs, public officers combining the two squads of "Bailiffs and Runners." They dealt with the natives quite a bit daily and were a type of public officer everyone was relatively familiar with.

Next were those in gray uniforms, wielding various cold and hot weapons—the "Zhuang Squad" fellows, called Security in the New District. These public officers were usually responsible for arresting bandits and patrolling the streets at night, every one of them a tall and burly man.

The gray-clad officers also belonged to the category the workers were well-acquainted with, because everyone often witnessed the live scenes of them apprehending various Edo heroes right on the street.

Finally, among the many public officers on duty at the street entrances, there were also the ones the workers were most familiar with: the "Tithing and Ward Chiefs," called Street Office Directors and their underlings in the New District.

Since practically everything in daily life had to pass through the hands of the Street Office, in the eyes of many native workers, the Street Office Director was probably a figure second in influence only to Grand Commandant Cao himself.

Today, however, the Director, usually so amiable, had changed his demeanor. His face was stern and hard, an iron whistle in his mouth, and a red armband on his sleeve. The moment he saw workers rounding the corner from the street entrance, he immediately blew the iron whistle with force, simultaneously waving the flag in his hand.

The greatest difference between workers and farmers is that the working class has strong organizational discipline and understands teamwork.

The seventeenth-century workers possessed this same trait. Upon seeing the whistle and flag, they involuntarily began to form ranks, just as they did when shifting work sites at the construction site.

Quickly, the workers, now in formation, marched in the direction indicated by the baton.

At the same time, the Street Office personnel raised iron megaphones and loudly announced: Effective immediately, the area south of Central Avenue is under martial law, some public transit routes are suspended, and all residents must proceed to designated locations for travel.

Matters like martial law and traffic control were not actually unfamiliar to the ancients. The so-called "closing the Nine Gates and conducting a city-wide manhunt" was the equivalent of later generations' martial law.

Although such events hadn't occurred many times in the New District, to improve the capability to respond to emergencies, the district government had held several drills. The disciplined and obedient workers, upon hearing the megaphone, honestly lined up and walked on foot to the designated street entrance to board their rides.

However, having discipline did not mean they could control their mouths. Along the way, chatter in the ranks never ceased, as everyone speculated on what major event could be happening—could it be related to the recent once-in-a-century heavy snow?

The speculation reached its peak after the soldiers appeared.

With the sound of orderly footsteps, a large contingent of troops ran over from afar. These soldiers were garrisoned right in the New District; the workers living nearby usually woke to the reveille of these battalion troops, so they were no strangers to them either.

People knew that this battalion of soldiers was the Cao Clan's household retainers. They were uniformly elite young men, wearing leather boots and green woolen coats, rifles slung on their backs, and on their shoulders, a rank insignia featuring a blue-gold badge that no other branch of service had.

Next, at a single command from a tall "Hundred-Household Officer" with a thick northern accent, the soldiers halted in unison, then began to deploy, setting up defenses along the main street of the administrative district.

"Disaster is coming!"

The natives, unable to grasp the situation, were thrown into a slight panic by the scene unfolding before them. Not only did the words on many lips falter, but their faces changed color. Those who usually enjoyed discussing history and current events in the tea houses were already praying to gods and Buddhas in their hearts: "Such a posture as if facing a great enemy—could it be a falling out with the imperial court? Aiyoyo, Bodhisattva protect us, we've barely had a couple of easy days, please don't let there be war?!"

If a horizontal comparison were made, the living standards enjoyed by the working class under the Crossing Faction actually surpassed those of the worker big brothers of yesteryear. Seventeenth-century industrialization lacked competition, and the profits generated by the factories were sufficient to cover the costs of environmental protection and high worker compensation.

In this light, it was not unreasonable for the workers to secretly pray for peace; after all, every person has the right to pursue a happy life.

But what the workers did not know was that everything happening today had nothing to do with their worries.

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At the same time the administrative district was being sealed off, in the Transmigrator Zone at the southernmost end of the area, transmigrators were also finishing their breakfasts and heading out one after another. After leaving their homes, they followed specially planned, enclosed passageways and entered the Parliament Hall in the least conspicuous manner possible.

All along, except for the brief pioneering period in Tainan, the exact number of transmigrators had been a top-level secret. Later, the higher-ups, realizing this issue, had intentionally or unintentionally dispersed the transmigrators across various regions and never again organized a large-scale gathering.

Until this time.

This was the reason why certain areas had to be placed under martial law.

At the same time, some horse-drawn carriages carrying transmigrators were also making their way sporadically from the outer areas toward the administrative district. Most of these people were transmigrators working in the surrounding regions, who had been scheduled beforehand into separate rooms and guesthouses throughout the New District. Upon reaching the second checkpoint, their carriages stopped, and they disembarked to proceed on foot.

Thus, around 8:30 in the morning, the transmigrators attending this General Assembly gathered in the Parliament Hall, numbering 10 individuals.

Of course, the total number of transmigrators exceeded 10. It was just that some were currently working in other regions and could not make it back in time to attend.

At 9:00 AM sharp, the General Assembly officially began.

This plenary session today came a full four years after the "Emperor's Enthronement and Transmigrator Nation-Founding Assembly" held in Tainan at the end of the year 168.

Four years—time enough for seas to turn into mulberry fields. A certain power base, having undergone rapid industrialization and rapid social change, found it necessary to pause and plan for the future.

Today was the second day of the General Assembly. At this time yesterday, Xia Xianze himself had delivered the "Government Work Report" to all attendees.

The report was comprehensive, summarizing the overall development of the Crossing Faction over these years, along with developmental data from all aspects of society. It summarized the past, addressed the present, and looked forward to the future.

In the aftermath, many people took the stage to speak on Xia's report. In the afternoon, the assembly also organized breakout group discussions; the meeting atmosphere was very strong, and the participants' enthusiasm for engagement was also very high.

Today was for special reports.

The first to deliver a report was, without a doubt, Cabinet Member in charge of industry, Zou Guoqing. It was this gentleman who had originally proposed going to Tainan to start their enterprise.

The suggestion of Zou Guoqing and his fellow Industrial Party members now appeared undoubtedly correct. Without interference, the Crossing Faction had passed through its weak incubation period in Tainan, established an early industrial system, and brought the petrochemical industry to great heights.

To this day, the annual output of the Miaoli oil belt had surpassed 500 tons. The lubricating oil, fuel oil, asphalt, and other petrochemical products it provided were indispensable industrial lifeblood.

However, the content of Zou Guoqing's report today did not sound nearly so uplifting: "As early as the beginning of this year, 'fully accessorized' import goods containers began appearing. After this, the frequency of these fully accessorized containers has increased more and more. This situation indicates that the import goods can no longer support our current industrial system."

"Due to the lack of accessories, our advanced industrial equipment—for example, the original four sets of electric furnaces—have now had three units shut down. The only one still operating is running in a low-speed working mode."

"The previously chaotically developed industrial system must now be restructured."

"Vigorously reducing the new industrial system's dependence on import goods, casting aside illusions, and constructing a new industrial system with conventional steam power as its skeleton, supplemented by a small amount of electrical equipment—this is our main task for the next stage."

With Zou Guoqing's resolute words, the listeners in the audience knew that this time, they were getting serious. But then again, the matter of adjusting the industrial structure had actually been hinted at for a long time, and everyone had already accepted this outcome.

There was no helping it. When the consumables and accessories for the equipment took up the entire quota for import goods, this early, haphazardly developed industrial system had reached the end of its natural life.

Before this, most people actually harbored a beautiful vision: to overtake on a curve, make continuous leaps, and evolve directly into an electric society in one step before the import goods were completely squeezed out by accessories—that would have been perfect.

Yet reality was cruel. As things now stood, let alone popularizing electricity, even popularizing the steam engine was still an unknown number of years away.

People are always like this; only after being slapped in the face do they understand the truth: even the smallest industrial system requires a base tonnage. Relying solely on that paltry quantity of import goods, it was impossible to inflate an industrial system in the short term.

Zou Guoqing's report on rebuilding the industrial system passed smoothly without any waves, gaining the approval of all representatives.

Zhang Zhongqi had not expressed any opinions during these two days of meetings. The reason? The discussions these past two days were all on major affairs, and he, a so-called frontier official representing the Northern Trio, was too far from the central core and too far from major national affairs.

However, during the afternoon breakout group discussion, Zhang Zhongqi encountered a "strange matter": he, who had originally been mingling with the Intelligence Team, shooting the breeze, was summoned by the Cabinet's chief steward with a whisper to the room where the big shots were.

In this room, there were three or four Cabinet Members alone, not to mention Senior Grand Secretary Xia being present. Most importantly, seated at the head, wearing a light yellow checkered suit, was Chief Cao.

The next moment, Xia Shoufu, who normally never took Zhang Zhongqi seriously at all, stretched out his hand and greeted the former warmly: "Come, come, Old Zhang, come sit here by Cao Zong."

Zhang Zhongqi swept a glance at the faintly smiling Cao Emperor, and couldn't help but feel his Stern tighten at these words, a slight sweat on his forehead: "What's this about? Am I really that important?"