Zhou Hexuan stood up together with everyone, Lin Sen, Chang Kaishen, Wang Zhaoming, Hu Shi and others stood in the front row.
The portrait of Sun Yat-sen and the party flag were hung in the center of the wall of the rostrum. Everyone bowed solemnly three times, and Zhang Jigong read the "Prime Minister's Instructions". After all the ritual content was completed, the national crisis meeting officially began.
As the president of the country, Lin Sen first delivered a speech on behalf of the central government. Then Chang Kaishen and Wang Zhaoming made impassioned and sincere speeches respectively.
Wang Zhaoming also explained the reasons for the three postponements of the National Disaster Meeting, emphasizing the awareness of resisting Japan, resisting aggression and revitalizing the nation. Then he changed the subject and began to warn those democrats: "In addition to paying tribute to the kings, brothers today, I have two other things to say.
The first point is the issue of responsibility. Was the Kuomintang responsible for the national disaster? Judging from the situation in China and the general trend of the world, national disaster is bound to happen because China pursues freedom and equality.
The next day was an issue of authority. The Central Party Committee decided to discuss various matters such as defense against aggression, disaster relief and appeasement at the National Disaster Conference. These were issues within the scope and the Executive Yuan was responsible for answering them. Issues outside the scope were beyond the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan.
Answered."
As soon as this statement came out, there was a buzzing discussion in the audience. As expected, it is still forbidden to talk about politics!
Since the September 18th Incident, the national crisis meeting has been prepared for nearly half a year. During this period, the meeting time and location were changed three times, all because of the content of the discussion.
Just a few days before the opening of the conference, there was such a conversation
Wang Zhaoming said sternly: "The national crisis meeting is convened by the government. We are the hosts and you are the guests. If you are not satisfied with the government's methods, just go to the revolution!"
Wang Zaoshi was so angry that he slammed the table: "Revolution is not the patent of any one person or party. If the people are forced to have no way out, some people will naturally go to the revolution... Mr. Sun Yat-sen's legacy is that the world is for the public. Mr. Wang's words will inevitably change.
It’s all about selfishness!”
In this way, a large number of democrats, including those who had come to Luoyang, refused to attend the national crisis meeting.
Zhou Hexuan felt that the Kuomintang was really funny. If you want to be dictatorial, then be dictatorial. They even pretended to hold a national crisis meeting. Since they decided to hold it, they had to at least make a show of it. They even banned the discussion of politics.
Wang Zhaoming's words seemed tough, but in fact they were extremely weak. He had no way to deal with the democrats, so he said angrily, "If you are not satisfied with the government, just go for revolution."
Is this what a deputy head of state should say?
It is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world.
After Wang Zhaoming finished speaking, Zhang Ji walked up to the rostrum and said with a smile: "Quiet, quiet, please calm down. Before the official meeting begins, let me introduce the guests attending the conference. The first is the highly respected Mr. Dai Ren
, Mr. Dai is 70 years old this year and is the oldest person in this meeting. He is a veteran of the Tongmenghui. He was the commander of Ningbo and Wenzhou during the Revolution of 1911. He has always followed Mr. Sun Yat-sen and is now a legislator of the central government. Everyone, please applaud!
"
"Pah, pah, pah!"
applause.
Dai Ren stood up and clasped his fists at the crowd and said, "I don't have high moral character, nor do I have much prestige. I have only worked hard over the years. Now that the country is facing a crisis, I hope you will work together to revitalize China!"
"Okay!" Wang Zhaoming took the lead in cheering.
Zhang Ji waited for the applause and cheers to end, and continued to introduce the participants. He first introduced the party members, and then began to introduce the non-party people: "Today I am honored to invite many great sages in the opposition. First of all, I welcome the internationally renowned scholar Mr. Zhou Hexuan. Zhou
Mr. Zhou is passionate about education and charity. Last year, he donated 150,000 tons of disaster relief food with his own money. He was honored as the 'Living Bodhisattva' by the victims. Mr. Zhou, please pay my respects!"
Zhang Ji showed great dignity and bowed to Zhou Hexuan in a dignified manner, while the audience burst into warm applause.
Zhou Hexuan stood up, clasped his fists in greetings around him, and said to Zhang Ji: "Mr. Zhang is overly complimentary. I just tried my best."
"Brother Zhou, don't be humble, haha," Zhang Ji introduced the others with a smile, "The next person is Mr. Chen Yinke, the famous master of Chinese studies. Mr. Chen..."
There were more than 140 people attending the meeting, and Zhang Jicheng introduced them carefully from beginning to end. He was not bored, but everyone in the audience felt that they were verbose. We are here to meet to save the country. Who the hell wants to hear your roll call?
After more than an hour, Zhang Ji finally finished introducing people, and it was almost noon.
Lin Sen, like a Maitreya Buddha, said with a smile: "Let's start the discussion, everyone can speak freely, haha, speak freely."
Chu Fucheng, the veteran of the Tongmenghui, couldn't wait to raise his hands and said: "I believe that whether it is national salvation, disaster relief, or appeasement, China needs to be strong. And if we want to make China strong, we must first have a democratic government. The government has been trained for three years, and it is time to implement democracy.
It’s constitutional.”
Hu Shi immediately raised his hand and seconded the opinion: "I support Mr. Chu's point of view. The country is the people's country, and the government is also the people's government. Only when the broad masses of the people become the masters of the country can they have the spirit of masters, unite and work together."
Relieve national calamity!”
After hearing the two people's speech, Chang Kaishen sneered, but Wang Zhaoming had a gloomy look.
I have said over and over again that politics are not allowed to be discussed in today's meeting, but as soon as someone spoke, they started talking about democracy and constitutionalism.
Zhang Ji looked at Chang Kaishen, who shook his head slightly. He looked at Wang Zhaoming again, and Wang Zhaoming nodded slightly. Zhang Ji immediately understood and said with a smile: "It's getting late, let's go have lunch first. What's the problem?"
Let’s discuss it again in the afternoon. I declare that the meeting is adjourned for the time being!”
Chu Fucheng only said one sentence before he was forced to leave. He and Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Qiu Jin and others were all old friends, and their qualifications were there. He suddenly slammed the table in anger and said: "They are all a bunch of bastards."
!”
"Alas!" Hu Shi could only sigh helplessly.
Zhou Hexuan ate with everyone in a hurry. The lunch meal was good. Although there was no wine, there were meat and vegetable snacks and even fruits.
In the afternoon, the meeting continued.
As soon as Zhang Ji announced the start, Hu Shi said: "China now lacks a constitution. As long as there is a constitution, and everyone abides by the constitution and respects the constitution in everything, then great things can be done, the country can be prosperous, and national difficulties can be alleviated!"
Jiang Tingfu immediately retorted: "Nowadays, China is suffering from internal and external problems. This is a special period, and special laws should be implemented. Democracy should exist, but political discipline should not stop. Only a strong central government can lead all Chinese people to work together."
If constitutional democracy is implemented and a bill cannot be decided after months of debate, then what else can we use to fight Japan?"
Hu Shi said unhappily: "What Brother Jiang said is fallacious. Who said that constitutional democracy cannot lead China? Looking at the world today, except for the Soviet Union, which major power is not democratic?"
"Can the great powers be the same as China? The national conditions are different, and the political systems are naturally different." Jiang Tingfu said.
Hu Shi and Jiang Tingfu are close friends, and they are still co-founding the "Independent Review" magazine, but they had a heated argument at the meeting.
In the end, Chu Fucheng had a temper. He pointed at Jiang Tingfu and slapped the table: "You are the lackey of the dictatorship!"
Jiang Tingfu didn't know how to respect the old and care for the young. He suddenly said angrily: "We are discussing national affairs, not swearing. Mr. Chu, please pay attention to your wording!"
Zhang Ji quickly smoothed things over and said: "What the gentlemen said is reasonable, but we must not act too hastily. The people should work together to help the party complete its revolutionary mission, and at the same time urge the government to effectively implement local autonomy to establish a constitutional foundation."
Immediately afterwards, Al-Shabaab and non-partisans demanded the implementation of democratic constitutionalism, and the entire afternoon was spent in quarrels.
Wang Zhaoming had to come forward in person and steer the topic to the "national crisis". Finally, someone began to discuss how to deal with the Japanese and how to comfort the soldiers at the front.
Finally, Zhang Ji grandly announced the results of the first day of the national crisis meeting: "After extensive discussions by people from all walks of life, the following resolutions have been reached. From tomorrow on, all bills or reports on national defense diplomacy must be approved by the presidium before they can be released to the outside world...
It was decided to use the name of this conference to send a call to express condolences to the soldiers at the front."
Those who clamored for democratic constitutional government left the meeting one after another after hearing this. They came to the meeting in vain.
That night, Hu Shi came to Zhou Hexuan's room and complained: "This is really unreasonable. How can there be such a meeting? This is a national public opinion meeting, not an intra-party meeting of the Kuomintang!"
Zhou Hexuan smiled and reassured him: "Old Hu, you are still so naive. You should have guessed this situation a long time ago."
