Chapter 215: Long Live the People!

At 9:30, Li Yuxuan and the others were taken to the foot of the Tiananmen Gate Tower. Looking up, the main gate of the imperial city from the Ming and Qing dynasties was newly decorated today. A huge portrait of Mao Zedong hung on the tower, and on both sides were the slogans "Long live the People's Republic of China" and "Long live the great unity of the peoples of the world". Eight large red palace lanterns hung high, looking especially festive in the morning light.

The steps leading up to the tower were covered with a red carpet. Li Yuxuan walked upward step by step, his steps somewhat heavy. He recalled 1937, when the Japanese army approached Beiping; he had also stood here, watching the troops of the Twenty‑nine Army march out of the city to fight. At that time he had come to inspect the defenses. Twelve years had passed; Beiping was still Beiping, but China was no longer that China.

A number of people were already standing on the tower. Leaders of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, heads of the various democratic parties, representatives from all walks of life… Li Yuxuan saw many familiar faces.

He was guided by staff to a front‑center position on the tower. Just as he steadied himself, someone behind him called out, "Old Li."

Turning around, it was him.

Today he wore a brand‑new Zhongshan suit, his hair slicked back, his face bearing a confident and composed smile.

He grasped his hand and shook it firmly: "Old Li, today is an important day in Chinese history; you should be present."

"Today," he said, looking at the increasingly dense crowd below the tower, "we will announce to the whole world that the Chinese people have risen. This phrase is not merely a slogan; it is a fact earned by tens of millions of lives."

"I know," Li Yuxuan said, "eight years of resistance war, three years of civil war… the cost was too great."

"Therefore we must not go to war again," he said. "The new China must be built, must develop, must let the common people enjoy good lives. Teacher Li, you understand military affairs, you understand diplomacy; in the future construction of the new China, we will still need senior elders like you to devise strategies."

His words were understated, but the meaning was clear: Li Yuxuan will have a place to wield his abilities in the future.

While the two were speaking, Zhou hurried over: "Time is almost up. All leaders, please take your positions."

He nodded, patted Li Yuxuan's shoulder: "Old Li, stand right behind me. Today, we will witness history together."

Central People's Government Secretary‑General Lin Boqu announced the ceremony's start. The three hundred thousand people in the square fell silent in an instant, and only the national flag rustled in the wind.

He stepped up to the microphone. At that moment, everyone's gaze on the tower focused on him, and the eyes of three hundred thousand people below also focused on him; the hearts of four hundred million people across China hung on this instant.

Li Yuxuan stood to his right, behind him, and could clearly see his profile. That face bore excitement, solemnity, and a sense of historic responsibility.

Zhou seemed to shift his position casually, moving from his right side to the left. Li Yuxuan noticed this subtle motion—Zhou was adjusting the formation, making the leaders on the tower more evenly distributed and easier for reporters to photograph.

Li Yuxuan instinctively stepped back half a step, so his figure would not block him. The movement was captured by a nearby reporter.

Then his voice, amplified through a loudspeaker, rang across Tiananmen Square and, via radio, across all of China:

"Fellow Countrymen—"

The square erupted in cheers that roared like a mountain‑tide.

When the cheers subsided a bit, he continued, announcing in his thick Hunan accent:

"The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China—today—has been established!"

"Boom—"

Ceremonial salutes sounded in unison, twenty‑eight blasts, representing twenty‑eight years of the Chinese Communist Party's arduous and extraordinary struggle.

Amid the salutes, he pressed the electric button, and the first five‑star red flag rose slowly on the central pole in the square. The "March of the Volunteers" sounded, and three hundred thousand people sang in unison:

"Rise up! Those who refuse to be slaves! Let our flesh and blood build our new Great Wall…"

Li Yuxuan stood on the tower, watching the red flag rise. He recalled 1937 in Jinling, when the Blue Sky White Sun Flag was lowered and raised again amid Japanese aircraft bombings. He recalled 1945 in Chongqing, when the national flag fluttered in the cheers of victory over the war. He recalled 1949 in Xikou, when he himself lowered the national flag in front of his Headquarters…

Now this is an entirely new banner, representing an entirely new nation.

After the flag‑raising ceremony, he read the Central People's Government proclamation. Li Yuxuan listened attentively; the proclamation declared: the Central People's Government is the sole legitimate government representing all the people of the People's Republic of China; any foreign government willing to observe the principles of equality, mutual benefit, and mutual respect for territorial sovereignty, this government is ready to establish diplomatic relations with…

When the proclamation finished, the square erupted in cheers again. Then came the military parade, with the Chief Commander riding in to inspect the troops, followed by the various service columns marching through Tiananmen Square.

Li Yuxuan watched the young Liberation Army soldiers, their steps orderly, morale high. Their equipment was not particularly fine; many weapons were captured Japanese or American arms, yet their spirit was completely different. This was not a warlord's force, not a private militia; this was a true people's army.

The parade lasted two hours. During it, the crowd's procession began. Workers carried models of machines, farmers held bundles of harvested grain, students waved bouquets, shouting slogans.

"Long live the Chairman!"

"Long live the Chinese Communist Party!"

"Long live the People's Republic of China!"

The cheers rose wave after wave. He, excited, leaned over the rail, waved to the crowd, and shouted loudly:

"Long live the people!"

"Long live the comrades!"

At that moment, Li Yuxuan truly felt that this regime possessed a mass base the Kuomintang had never had. It was not a top‑down grant, but a bottom‑up endorsement.