Soon, after the announcement of the state government of the future empire, the two major parties in the civil service began to prepare for the founding election. As for Wang Guorui's accession to the throne, it was handed over to those officials of the Ministry of Rites left behind by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and they were still very clear about this process, so letting them do this thing was considered waste. Those officials of the Manchu Ministry of Rites also hope to do this well, don't go wrong, and hope that they can succeed in a soft landing in the new dynasty, which can be regarded as a stable retirement. They know that it is unlikely that they want to be retained, but at least they must do this well, so that they can make a successful soft landing in the future, so that it does not affect the future of their offspring.

Soon, the DPP and the China Restoration Party also announced that they would participate in the general election, but in fact, everyone knows that this time the China Restoration Party and the Democratic Restoration Party have already begun to cooperate internally. This time, even before the public announcement of the general election, they had already begun to discuss that the first prime minister of the Cabinet would be Shi Maozhou, the chairman of the Democratic Restoration Party, and Siu Hongsheng, the chairman of the Huafu Party, would be the chairman of the parliament, and they would be exchanged after five years. And this is also diabetes, they have reached a cooperation, so that they can also cooperate further.

However, this may only be possible in ten years, and once the new generation of officials grows up in ten years, they will definitely start fighting for interests, and they will not be as harmonious as they used to be. This is an unsolvable problem, and once it is nominally divided, it is actually more difficult to solve than the actual split. In fact, there is no division in name, and there is still a lot of room for merger. But once there is a split in name, no matter how good the relationship is in fact, sooner or later it will be led to a de facto split. It's just that sooner or later, there's no solution to this at all.

However, while the two parties publicly announced their candidacy, some people in the South were not idle.

The former Manchu governors in the south had already declared their support for Wang Guorui, and even Wang Guorui sent some high-ranking officials to clean up and reorganize those local governors. And Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and other local governors also took the initiative to hand over their power and let Wang Guorui's local officials reorganize. This reorganization is not just a reorganization of the soldiers. It is also a reorganization of the government. In principle, those local officials will be temporarily retained, and after Wang Guorui ascends the throne, a series of examinations will be conducted. If you are competent and have no bad deeds, not only will they not be dismissed, but they will be reused as advertised. And those who are not capable, but have no bad deeds or few bad deeds, those who are older can give them a pension and let them get out. Those middle-aged can give them a public institution or some idle positions to serve, as for those who are young and have no bad deeds. It is possible to retake the civil service examination and then try to get back into work.

And those who have a relatively big bad record, as long as there is no homicide in their hands, they can also confiscate their property and let him go. But if there's a murder in your hand, it's time to talk about it. If you voluntarily confess, and there are only one or two homicide cases, then you can also be dealt with leniently, and in principle, you will be sentenced to a prison term of more than 15 years. Or even life imprisonment. However, there were too many murders of those people, and the people were very angry. Then it will be used as a model to cut off the head, so there will be absolutely no sympathy.

And the local governors and others are also here to prepare for retirement, and those guys are also here to communicate by telegraph.

"Father, Zhang Zhidong sent a telegram, hoping that we can all form a party to participate in the election." Li Hongzhang's second son. That is, the de facto eldest son Li Jingshu said to Li Hongzhang.

This Li Jingshu is actually Li Hongzhang's real eldest son, and Li Hongzhang's nominal eldest son Li Jingfang is actually his nephew, but he is just a successor. And after Li Jingfang was cut off by Wang Guorui a few years ago, he gradually faded out of the Manchu political arena, because of the tradition that has always been in China. It is almost impossible for a person with a disability to serve as an official. Even, Li Jingfang is a diplomat, so it is impossible for a disabled person to serve as a diplomat, so they will definitely be treated coldly.

And next to him is his son Li Jingshu came to his side, and he had an idle position in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he was engaged in the cultural and art industry.

"Do you think we should form this party?" Li Hongzhang asked.

Li Jingshu replied: "Father, the child thinks that it is better not to establish this party. Because even if this party is formed, according to the current trend, it will not be able to seize the position of prime minister, let alone govern. Today's Wang Guorui and we are actually not all the way. If we run now, we will be humiliating ourselves. Moreover, if we continue to run, does this mean that we do not want to surrender, but want to continue to seek to seize power? At that time, we might be wiped out by Wang Guorui! ”

However, Li Hongzhang immediately said: "I don't think so, I think it's a good thing to set up a party to run for election!" ”

"Father, aren't you afraid that Wang Guorui will kill the game quickly?" Li Jingshu asked.

Li Hongzhang shook his head and said, "You say, Wang Guorui and we are all the way?" ”

"No, the people of our continent are mainly landlords, in their words. Well, the word landlord was given by them. And those of us who have always been landlords have been taking advantage of the merit test, then obtaining other people's land to take refuge, and then expanding our power, and then forming clans. And land is at the heart of who we are, and if we lose it, it will fall apart. The Taiwanese people, on the other hand, are engaged in industry and commerce, and they advocate the liberation of a large number of people from the land, and then go through training to engage in industry and commerce. ”

"Then you say, once Wang Guorui carries out changes across the country, will those landlords accept their fate? Will they fight? Li Hongzhang asked.

"Of course, even if Wang Guorui gains the world, they will not be reconciled. If Wang Guorui wants to seize their land, of course they will resist. Li Jingshu said.

"That's right, since they are all going to resist, why can't we guide them over? The so-called blockage is better than sparse, since they will all resist, then we might as well guide it. First of all, I have already seen that sooner or later we, the landlords, will perish, and it is only a matter of time before it is a matter of time. Li Hongzhang said.

"Father, why ...... then?" Li Jingshu wanted to ask.

"But we all have to keep our losses low! Although we are bound to die, we must also buy time for us to transform. For example, we sell the land, and then buy time for the transition, and then let us adapt gently, instead of suddenly losing the land, so that we completely fall apart and lose control. Since they are all going to perish, it is better to change them by boiling frogs in warm water, instead of using this boiling water to water them directly, then we will definitely be very dangerous, and the slightest carelessness will make us lose our wealth! Li Hongzhang said.

Li Jingshu immediately asked: "Isn't the formation of a party a struggle for power with Wang Guorui?" Isn't that an attempt to be their enemy? ”

"Hmph, if Wang Guorui secretly resisted when he was reforming, and then secretly used all kinds of conspiracies and tricks to dismantle the stage, wouldn't he be an enemy? Even, when the time comes, in order to protect their rights and interests, those landlords will use their families or some militia groups to rebel, what will happen? If the time comes, if the militia is used to rebel, then it will not be able to fight and fight, and in the end it will only shed blood for no reason, and it will not be able to protect its own interests. And we have several big advantages to forming a party. ”

"First, that is to be able to express loyalty to Wang Guorui!" Li Hongzhang said.

"Father, why do you say that? How can it be an expression of loyalty to an election? Li Jingshu felt incredible.

Li Hongzhang smiled and said: "You say, have monarchs and ministers really been so harmonious since ancient times? ”

"How is this possible, there must be a contradiction between the monarch and the minister! The courtiers also have their own interests, and they will not absolutely obey the king. Li Jingshu immediately shook his head and said.

Li Hongzhang immediately nodded and said: "That's right, in the final analysis, we and Wang Guorui are not all the way, and sooner or later we will still have a lot of open and secret battles." Since there is an open and secret fight, it is definitely impossible to be absolutely loyal to Wang Guorui. And if we want to protect our interests, how do we protect them? Is it to fight with Wang Guorui step by step in the local area, and tear each other down? Or use the militia in your hand to rebel? Let's not talk about whether this can be successful, just to say that this is definitely a struggle against illegal means. ”

"Then we might as well form a party, and it is one thing to set up a party to run for election, whether we can succeed in the election, but we must express our existence. And through this mode of campaigning, that is, we expressed to Wang Guorui that although we had contradictions with him, we did not rebel through violent means. We hope to be able to fight for interests by following the rules of the game set by Wang Guorui, rather than hoping to protect interests through violent means. Isn't it a sign that we are committed to the rules of the game that he has set for us? If the kind of practice of one thing on the outside and one thing on the inside is the same, then there is no loyalty. Wang Guorui knows very well that everyone has their own ideas and interests, and if he can't see this, he won't be able to get to where he is today. Therefore, we fight for interests according to the rules of the game he set, and not through violent means, which shows loyalty and willingness to fight through means that must conform to the rules. (To be continued.) )