After the speech in the court, Zhao Bei presided over the oath ceremony of the members of the council, and was unable to attend the meeting. Some council members threw away badges and left without saying goodbye, which reduced the number of council members by nearly one tenth. However, in the end, they still had enough of the minimum number of people in the hospital, which did not delay the election of civil affairs chiefs at all levels.

According to the agreement between Zhao Bei and Li Yuanhong, there are four candidates in each candidate position. One is recommended by the Hubei governor, one is recommended by the Hubei speaker, and the other two are jointly elected by local gentry. The election is divided into two times. The first time the two with the lowest number of votes were eliminated. The second election is held between the two who win. If the votes are more, the winner will be won, and the simple majority will be won.

In Zhao Bei's view, this election method is indeed too simple and unreasonable, but for the Chinese people of this era, it is an unprecedented feat. Considering that the elected people may not be satisfied with Zhao Bei, and they may not be republicans, a few days before the opening of the House of Representatives, Zhao Bei had already established the "Supervisory Office" first, which was directly under the General Command of the Republican Army. It has legal supervision power over all civil affairs chiefs and is only responsible to the commander-in-chief. This department is specially used to supervise officials. On the surface, it is to prevent officials from corruption and abuse of power, but at the same time it is a watchdog for Zhao Bei, responsible for collecting black materials from officials, which can be used when necessary.

Li Yuanhong and others had expressed objections to the existence of the General Administration, but Zhao Bei's words of "anti-corruption" suppressed all the objections.

In fact, Zhao Bei himself wanted to be such a trouble. He really wanted to be a military strongman and monopolize the power. But the problem is that as a time traveler, he knew very well what the slogan of revolution in this era was, so he could only take this method to control civil affairs. Perhaps, when his strength is strong enough, there would be no need to be such trouble. Now he is still a "revolutionary pioneer". If he learns from Yuan Shikai and moves against the trend of the times, then the next revolutionary target of the revolution is probably Zhao Bei.

But on the other hand, Zhao Bei completely let go of local autonomy and the local military and government branches handled it themselves. In his opinion, China is too big, with people's sentiments, customs, habits, and economy with different characteristics. It is unrealistic to play a game of chess in the whole country in every detail. Instead of holding a bull's head and drinking, it is better for them to do it themselves. It is their fault that they can't do it well. If they do it well, it can also reduce the financial expenditure of the provincial government. Why not do it? Moreover, there are serious shortages of grassroots cadres now, and it is impossible to meet the needs of local government affairs by relying solely on the military government to dispatch officials. Instead of taking over the big responsibility, it is better to temporarily delegate power and expand the foundation of the military government's rule.

The attempt to carry out local autonomy in counties was not the pioneering move of the military government. The Qing court had already begun similar attempts a few years ago, but that was selling dog meat under the guise of sheep.

The key here is to prevent local tyrants and bad gentry from controlling the place.

Since the abolition of the imperial examinations in the late Qing Dynasty, the "spunk" in the countryside has been added. "Needs" gentry have gone to the city to make a living. Although these people are pedantic, they still have some etiquette, righteousness, integrity and shame, and have no political background. They dare not bully the people. When people encounter grievances, they can also ask them to come forward to seek justice on their behalf. These people can be called "good gentry". They are also the cornerstone of maintaining grassroots order in the feudal era. When they disappear, when "bandits" will arise in the countryside, because the people have nowhere to seek justice. The top and bottom of society are broken, and collapse is just a matter of time.

As for the questions, these good gentry's family background is usually not very good. The only way to go is to the imperial examination. Once the imperial examination is abandoned, they have no food, so they can only go to the city to find a way out. As for those gentry who did not go to the city to make a living, because their family background is good, even officials and families do not need to worry about food and clothing, or to be busy with the future, they do not need to study hard. They eat, drink, gambling and smoking on weekdays, and have all the five poisons. This is the so-called "bad gentry". These people rely on their wealth and fish and meat to the countryside to run rampant. If the right to local autonomy falls into their hands, it will have a negative impact on Zhao Bei's career. We have to be careful about this.

But at present, Zhao Bei has not found a suitable way to prevent bad gentry from controlling the countryside. Thousands of years of patriarchal system have made the people at the bottom of the class numb and the people are not open to wisdom, so they cannot expect the people to confront the gentry. Although the "hoe club" has been established in several pilot projects, it is currently unable to undertake the task of transforming the countryside. Now, we can only hope to send current affairs propagandists to the countryside as soon as possible so as to reconnect the bottom and top levels of society, so that the lower-level situation can be achieved and change the situation of "hiding the superiors and bullying the subordinates" since the late Qing Dynasty.

When an agricultural society moves towards industrialization, there will inevitably be many ugly phenomena. As time travel, what can be done is to limit it to the minimum level and not to corrupt the social body. It is unrealistic to completely eliminate it. It will only make people fall into a devil. Local autonomy as an emergency means must have other shortcomings. But the flaws do not conceal the merits. The benefits of local autonomy also must be considered. The military government's rule base needs to be expanded. The gentry forces in the countryside must be absorbed into the military government. Because they are the representatives of rural powers in this era. They not only control all political and economic resources in the countryside, but also control all social resources. In a sense, they are the "people's hearts" in the countryside.

There is only one provincial house

The autonomous associations of each county must also be formed to use this political tool to transfer the Republican military chariots. Now, Yuan Shikai, the northern part, is buying people's hearts under the guise of local autonomous areas. In this battle for people's hearts, Zhao Bei will never allow himself to fall at a disadvantage.

Local autonomy can be done, but military power and judicial power must be in the hands of the military government.

Zhao Bei knew his position in history very well. He knew even more that there were greater challenges waiting for him. When he thought of the island country in the east and the pain that island country brought to China in modern times, he could not suppress his impulse. He wanted to reach the sky in one step and lead China to run into an industrial society. But reason told him that it was unrealistic. You should be down-to-earth in life. It would be better to solve the rural problems first. Let's discuss industrialization.

However, it is impossible to transform rural areas with just a group of conservative gentry. It is impossible to rely on them to achieve rapid industrialization of the country and land. This task can only be accomplished by the revolution of the new era!

Therefore, after presiding over the opening ceremony of the House of Commons, Zhao Bei immediately met a rural armed work team formed by Zhang Jiyang. This work team will be the first current affairs propagandist squadron to go deep into the countryside to practice Zhao Bei's ideal of "rural enlightenment". If everything goes well, they will not only bring new culture to the countryside, but also a new way of life and thinking. In order to ensure the smooth development of the work, every male and female member of the work team has received rigorous shooting training. The work team is equipped with the most excellent rifles. Moreover, each member is equipped with two grenades, which is better than the individual equipment of the Republican Army. This also shows the commander-in-chief's attention to rural work.

The current task of this work team is to promote the tax policy of the military government. Although the military government has long abolished the heavy taxes in the late Qing Dynasty and reduced the land tax to a level that farmers can tolerate, according to the reliable information received, the villagers in many places are not aware that the dynasty has changed now and are still paying taxes to the local tyrants, tax collectors, land security, and patriarchs. All of the taxes have fallen into the hands of those borers, which not only seriously damages the interests of the villagers, but also weakens the prestige of the military government. We must resolutely fight back!

Zhao Bei did not dare to take it lightly at all. Now he is snatching food at the tiger's mouth, and it is impossible not to be retaliated against by evil tigers. The rule of dynasties in history only lasted to counties, and the countryside has actually been ruled by local snakes. The working team is about to face a group of huge local snake groups that have ruled the countryside for thousands of years. If they are not careful, they will be swallowed up.

"My comrades, this trip is definitely not an ordinary propaganda speech. You are likely to be treated the most viciously, or even killed! If necessary, you must pick up the rifle in your hand and fight against the conservative forces in the countryside! What are you about to face a battlefield of thought and a battlefield filled with smoke! What does the countryside represent? Conservative, stubborn, ignorant, and reactionary. Your enemies are likely to be not just those rich gentry, wealth, and unreliable villagers who are also likely to reach your opposite side. You must also be highly vigilant about this! The bad habits that have been developed for thousands of years cannot be changed by a few words or a few civilized dramas. This is a long-term struggle. You must hold a gun and a pen in one hand, and use hard work, sweat, blood and even life to transform this era!"

Zhao Bei stood on the podium made of several ammunition boxes, carefully reminded these working team members, recalling the rural transformation movement in history, and adding his own ideas.

"China is an agricultural country. Only when the country is transformed can the country be transformed. Only when the farmers are transformed can the national thought be enlightened! I have told you many times, and I believe you have already understood this principle. This time, you only need to publicize the military government's tax donation policies and new culture. Don't publicly preach the idea of ​​"farming with land". Because the time is not yet ripe, the current task is to defeat the Qing Dynasty. The land issue is too sensitive, and the land possession situation in different places is also different. The land issue is related to the success or failure of the entire revolution. You cannot act recklessly.

I know that you are mostly from poor families and are no longer satisfied with the current situation of "rich fields and wealth, poor and poor". Many people participated in the revolution because of the "equal land rights" of the Tongmenghui, but they were anxious and unable to eat hot tofu. Some things still need to be discussed for a long time. Although ideals are good, reality is often cruel. It is better to be steady when the revolution begins. You must distinguish who is your enemy and who is your ally. Among the gentry, there are good gentry and bad gentry. All you have to do is unite good gentry and rely on their help and understanding to carry out your work."

After taking photos with these male and female team members, Zhao Bei personally took them onto the boat and stood on the dock to watch the steamboat sail eastward.
Chapter completed!