Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 144

Any attempt to build socialism in one's own country or nation by abandoning the proletariat of other countries or nations will inevitably lead to that country's and nation's proletariat being abandoned by a new bourgeoisie sooner or later. Only after liberating all of humanity can the proletariat achieve true liberation.

Apart from Tian Junyi and a few others, the other committee members present did not have a deep understanding of Lin Xinyi's speech. After all, they had not sat down with Lin Xinyi to have an in-depth discussion about the Chinese revolution and China's future when they could not see the future of China clearly. Therefore, they did not have a deep understanding of Lin Xinyi's advocacy of emphasizing theoretical research.

However, for Tian Junyi, Lin Xinyi's speech seemed to take him back to the time when he listened to Lin Xinyi's plans for the Chinese revolution at night in the Japanese countryside. He accepted Lin Xinyi's propositions almost immediately. Even when he had time to think about Lin Xinyi's speech later, he did not think there was anything wrong with Lin Xinyi's propositions, because in the process of promoting the Chinese revolution, he relied on the revolutionary theories provided by Lin Xinyi to guide his actions.

Therefore, Tian Junyi quickly asked Lin Xinyi, "So, Comrade Lin Feng, how do you think we should strengthen our theoretical research?"

Lin Xinyi bluntly stated: "In the past, the Party's theoretical work mainly involved translating foreign socialist works and organizing Party members to study them. We must acknowledge that the theoretical source of scientific socialism is in Europe, and Europe's research on socialist theory is far stronger than that of regions outside Europe. However, we must also recognize that, apart from the Paris Commune, European socialist theory has never been combined with the practice of proletarian revolution. This means that although European socialist theory is more profound than ours, it is not necessarily entirely correct."

Because they lack practical experience, especially in regions outside Europe where the culture, economy, politics, and social structure are completely different from those in Europe, they cannot arbitrarily introduce European socialist theories to guide their revolutionary practice. Otherwise, they will inevitably encounter problems of incompatibility and ultimately cause the revolutionary masses to lose confidence in socialist theory.

Therefore, the Party's theoretical work going forward should not only involve translating socialist works and organizing Party members to study them, but also conducting small-scale practice and discussions, revising theories that are unsuitable for the Chinese revolution, and criticizing erroneous theories that are clearly inconsistent with the practice of the proletarian revolution.

Tian Junyi couldn't help but interrupt Lin Xinyi and ask, "Which part of the theory is wrong and needs to be criticized? Could you explain?"

Lin Xinyi said without hesitation: "For example, in the past, some articles in the party introduced some of Bernstein's views, advocating the natural evolution of society and believing that social progress can be achieved without class struggle. It seems that as long as the times progress, the bourgeoisie can automatically withdraw from the political stage."

Bernstein used the revolutions in England and France to support his point of view. He believed that the moderate English Revolution was far better than the violent French Revolution. If the French had chosen the moderate revolution of the English way, so many innocent people would not have lost their lives in the French Revolution.

However, Bernstein clearly separated history, comparing the revolutions in England and France from an isolated and static perspective, which led to such an erroneous conclusion. The so-called moderate revolution in England was built upon a series of continuous changes based on events such as the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century for the English throne, Henry VIII's suppression of Catholicism in the 16th century, and the civil war between Charles I and Parliament in the 17th century.

These three major events dealt a heavy blow to the power of the British aristocracy and the church, thus allowing the power of newly emerging landowners and merchants to grow, which led to the moderate political and economic reforms in 18th-century England. The French Revolution, on the other hand, was merely the beheading of the British aristocracy and clergy who had fallen from grace over the past three centuries in just a few months, which is why it appears so bloody. However, in terms of the total number of people killed during the revolutions, the British actually killed more, but it only appears less brutal over time.

Therefore, judging from the history of the English and French revolutions, the ruling class could not easily relinquish its power. The bourgeoisie never seized power from the old aristocracy in a gentle manner; it was through the massacre of the aristocracy that they were forced to relinquish their power.

Bernstein's advocacy of social reform is actually similar to the ancient myth of the Three Sovereigns abdicating power, which is promoted by Confucianism. While they claim that the landlord class peacefully obtained power from the slave owners, historical records show that the landlord class always relied on violence to complete the change of dynasties.

The Qing Dynasty was the most perfect feudal dynasty in Chinese history. Even when it could no longer maintain its rule, it would still take up arms against the reformers who attempted to seize power. Therefore, without the violence of revolution to counter the violence of counter-revolution, there is no way to make the reactionary forces relinquish even the slightest bit of power.

Today, the only city in China where the proletariat truly holds the upper hand is Wuhan. Outside of Wuhan, the landlord class holds the dominant position. The landlords haven't given up on their ambition to eliminate us, yet some comrades within the Party have begun advocating social reform while criticizing class struggle. Shouldn't such erroneous theories be severely refuted within the Party?

Chapter 515 Unified Thoughts

After several years of translation efforts, at least within the Workers' Party, understanding of scientific socialism was no longer limited to just the Communist Manifesto. Although many of Marx and Engels' works have not yet been fully translated, some studies on scientific socialism have been translated into Chinese prior to these works.

In fact, even the European working class rarely fully understood Marx's Capital. Therefore, after the publication of Marx's Capital, intellectuals in various countries studied and interpreted Capital in order to enable the working class to understand what Capital was about and what capitalism really is.

Marx and Engels, the two founders of scientific socialism, made their theories less a study of socialism and more a profound study and critique of capitalism. Until Engels' death, this theory remained focused on criticizing capitalism, without much explanation of how to establish a complete socialist system.

As capitalism began to enter the imperialist stage, at least at the beginning of the 20th century, capitalism finally showed signs of decline. The continuous economic recession in Europe created a large number of workers' movements. As a result, the question of how to establish socialism began to become the focus of research for European socialists, because they felt that the era of socialism replacing capitalism was about to arrive.

Compared to the obscure and difficult-to-understand works of Marx and Engels, Chinese socialists are actually better able to understand these European socialists' visions of a socialist system. This is because China has not yet entered the capitalist era, so it is difficult for Chinese socialists to empathize with what Marx and Engels criticized. On the contrary, some of the European socialists' fantasies about a socialist system remind Chinese socialists of the utopian ideals pursued by traditional Chinese literati.

The reason why it is said that the study of the socialist system by European socialists at this time was an illusion is because European socialists at this time were more like scholars than revolutionaries. Their study of socialism was based on academic research rather than proletarian revolution. Capital was even recommended as extracurricular reading by some universities.

Many socialists proclaim themselves socialists not to mobilize the proletariat to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie, but to reconcile social contradictions and build a harmonious society. This is an objective factor that enabled Bernsteinism to gain support from many European socialists. For Chinese people who lack political discernment, it is easy to mistake these opportunistic illusions about socialism for truth.

Compared to the theory of armed struggle that advocates bloodshed and sacrifice, parliamentary struggle and social reform proposals that are tied to democracy and republicanism are actually more likely to gain the support of ordinary people. Who wouldn't support the idea of ​​getting the reactionaries to step down and establishing a socialist system without paying much? This is the same reason why Chinese literati in the past advocated building a utopian world through morality.

Lin Xinyi emphasized at this conference that this was precisely the idea he was criticizing. The reason why many traditional intellectuals were able to accept the ideas of scientific socialism so quickly was not because they had a profound understanding of the evils of capitalism, but because the European socialists' illusions about socialism were so much in line with the Confucian ideal of a utopian world. That's why so many intellectuals joined the Labour Party.

However, after these intellectuals truly understood the propositions of Marx and Engels, many found it difficult to accept the brutal theory of class struggle. Thus, after the socialist theories of Bernstein and other opportunists were translated, many became supporters of social reformists and opposed the realization of the dictatorship of the proletariat through bloodshed.

Many problems were brought before Lin Hsin-yi because of the deadlock between these two schools of thought within the Party. After all, both were socialist theories translated from Europe, and neither was superior to the other. Lin Hsin-yi certainly knew that Bernsteinism was wrong. Although it was difficult to prove it with real-world examples at the time, the subsequent failures of the Russian Revolution, the outbreak of World War I, the failure of the Berlin Revolution, and the outbreak of World War II all demonstrated the enormous losses that opportunists who abandoned the theory of class struggle had caused to the proletariat.

The ideological conflicts that emerged within the Labour Party also indicated that the party's ideological research had passed a preliminary stage, and the party had finally gained a basic understanding of the concept of scientific socialism. The next step, proving which socialist concepts were correct and could guide the practice of the proletarian revolution, was the key for the Labour Party to truly digest and understand the theory of scientific socialism.

This is the root of his proposal at tonight's meeting to strengthen the Party's theoretical research. Lin Xinyi not only wants to strengthen the integration of research and practice of scientific socialism theory within the Party, but also wants to establish a theoretical research institution within the Asian Revolutionary Alliance to guide the socialist revolutions in Asian countries and present his research findings to European socialists.

The committee members understand the importance of strengthening theoretical research within the party. After all, as the Labour Party has developed to this point, everyone has begun to realize that the party's centralism is to ensure the consistency of the party's thinking. As an ancient civilization that has maintained a unified dynasty for over a thousand years, everyone can understand the benefits that unifying thought will bring.

The previous ideological conflicts within the party were not because everyone did not want to unify their thinking, but because they were unclear about which ideology was suitable to become the party's unified ideology. However, through Lin Hsin-yi's explanation, everyone has realized that reformism based on class reconciliation cannot keep the party united, but will instead cause the party to split. Naturally, they are prepared to abandon this ideology.

However, some committee members questioned Lin Xinyi's plan to establish a theoretical research institution within the Asian Revolutionary Alliance, asking with skepticism: "Our party's research on the theory of scientific socialism must be quite superficial. Not to mention European countries, even Japan's contact with socialist theory predates ours."

Establishing a theoretical research institution within the Asian Revolutionary Alliance is not a problem, but wouldn't it be presumptuous to use our research theories to guide socialist revolutions in Asian countries? As for presenting our theoretical research findings to European socialists, is that necessary? We are currently too busy translating and studying various European socialist theories; is it necessary to get involved in debates among European socialists?

The committee members' doubts actually represent a tendency within the party to take care of their own affairs first, and only meddle in other people's affairs when they have the spare capacity. Even Tian Junyi hesitated to further support the Asian Revolutionary Alliance, worried that it would affect the domestic revolution and construction.

Lin Xinyi firmly emphasized to the committee members: "In the past few years, we have accomplished several things: we drove the armed forces of the great powers out of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, repelled the British invasion of Tibet, and won the war against Russia. But comrades, please think carefully: were we able to accomplish these things entirely by our own strength?"

Under Lin Xinyi's scrutiny, the committee members finally quieted down. They knew very well that this was something they could not accomplish on their own. Just six or seven years ago, the Eight-Nation Alliance had captured Beijing at a very low cost. The size of the alliance was no match for the forces Russia had mobilized in this war. However, Russia had suffered such a crushing defeat this time because other powers had intervened in the war.

Seeing the solemn expressions on the committee members' faces, Lin Xinyi continued, "We should face the reality that, on a global scale, the combined power of capitalism and the landlord class is still stronger than that of the proletariat. As long as capitalism and the landlord class are united, while the proletariat and peasants in each country are dispersed, this balance of power cannot be changed."

If the Chinese people want to achieve independence, they must win the support of the people of Asia; if the people of the colonized regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America want independence, they must win the support of the European proletariat. Therefore, the unity of the proletariat worldwide is the first step in overthrowing imperialist rule over the world.

Secondly, the Chinese people are not saviors, so they cannot overthrow imperialism's rule over the world on their own. The Chinese people also need the strength of people all over the world to fight against imperialism.

To achieve these goals, it is essential to establish a World Revolutionary Alliance to guide revolutions around the world. Similarly, the support of people worldwide for the World Revolutionary Alliance is its source of strength. The Asian revolution is part of the world revolution; when we achieve victory in the Asian revolution, we will be able to effectively support revolutions in other parts of the world.

Therefore, forming the Asian Revolutionary Alliance is necessary. However, in order for the European proletariat to understand the nature and class attributes of the Asian Revolutionary Alliance, we must make our voices heard through the Asian Revolutionary Alliance and share our revolutionary experiences with the European proletariat. From this, we can also discern who truly represents the European proletariat, and only then can we establish an alliance with them.

If we abandon our alliance with the people of other parts of Asia, and with the European proletariat, then who can we expect to rescue us when we are attacked by a combined force of capitalism and the landlord class?

Lin Xinyi's rhetorical question left the committee members speechless. They began to realize that they couldn't simply draw a circle around themselves and isolate themselves to carry out the revolution. This would only limit their own power from expanding beyond the circle, but it wouldn't prevent external enemies from entering and attacking them. Just by considering the outcome of the Southeast Mutual Protection Pact, they understood that beggar-thy-neighbor policies couldn't stop the invasion of foreign powers.

Before the Southeast Mutual Protection Pact, Chinese intellectuals at least believed that the great powers were trustworthy. However, after the Southeast Mutual Protection Pact, many intellectuals began to believe in Darwinism, thinking that the law of the jungle was the fundamental principle of the world. It was precisely because of this wariness towards the great powers that the Workers' Party displayed an extremely high degree of aggression in recent years, as everyone felt that concessions would not bring any good treatment.

It was only after Cai E captured Verkhovna Udinsk that Russia began to seek peace, and Britain, France and other countries began to lobby the Workers' Party. The Workers' Party realized that, seemingly without their knowledge, they could now use words to represent force and express their position, and the great powers began to understand what they wanted to say.

Japan enjoyed the same treatment after the First Sino-Japanese War and began to arrogantly pursue a foreign policy of "leaving Asia and joining Europe." Thus, the anti-shogunate and Meiji Restoration movements, initiated to expel foreigners, quickly degenerated into new great powers. While the Workers' Party did not undergo such a significant ideological shift, it also began to consider a more domestic, secluded lifestyle.

Lin Xinyi raised this issue at the meeting precisely to correct the conservative mindset of these committee members. The effect was quite positive, considering the numerous problems the Qing Dynasty had left for China. Simply abolishing the unequal treaties signed with the foreign powers meant China had to continue its hostile relationship with them, making mutual understanding impossible.

A bucket of cold water poured over these committee members would bring them to their senses. The powers' current attempts to win over Wuhan are merely a pretext to punish Wuhan when they are too busy to do so. Therefore, they are using deception to lure Wuhan into recognizing the various unequal treaties signed between the Qing Dynasty and the powers. It is impossible to get the powers to relinquish their privileges in China without bloodshed.

Chapter 516 The Dictatorship of the Proletariat

The purpose of unifying thinking is naturally to face and solve problems. Lin Xinyi's aim at unifying the thinking of the committee members at tonight's meeting is also to solve the problem of how to maintain the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Although the dictatorship of the proletariat was ultimately lost in his history, he did not believe that the proletariat voluntarily gave up its ruling position, but rather that the proletariat did not know how to maintain its ruling position, especially that its class interests and its political rights were consistent. Without the dictatorship of the proletariat, it was naturally impossible to protect the interests of the proletariat.

His history did not solve the problem of maintaining the dictatorship of the proletariat, but he at least understood why the proletariat lost its ruling position, and he believed it was his responsibility to convey these historical lessons to the Labour Party.

To make the entire Party recognize the necessity of maintaining the dictatorship of the proletariat, it was necessary to first unify the Party's understanding of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Only after he had convinced the members of the Central Committee to agree with his views did he summarize the problems exposed during his month-long investigation in Wuhan.

"...As our mentors Marx and Engels once said, all social contradictions are inseparable from two issues: the development of productive forces and the distribution of social wealth. The history of the past thousands of years has taught us that the landlord class cannot solve even one problem. When the population exceeds the carrying capacity of an agricultural society, it is the beginning of social unrest. After a large number of people are wiped out by war, a new dynasty is born."

The history of the development of capitalism in 19th-century Europe tells us that the bourgeoisie can solve the problem of the development of productive forces, but cannot solve the problem of the distribution of social wealth. While the British bourgeoisie enjoyed the comfortable life brought about by the development of capitalism, the average lifespan of the British working class could not even exceed 35 years, and was not even higher than in the agricultural era.

As European capitalism expanded beyond Europe, the Native American population in the Americas dwindled from tens of millions to millions. The westward expansion initiated by Americans in the 19th century was essentially the expropriation of Native American lands. American capital expanded itself through these free lands, making the United States the world's leading industrial power in just a few decades. However, Native Americans were imprisoned by American capital in settlements with harsh natural environments, completely missing out on any benefits from the rapid development of American productivity.

Capitalism has committed numerous atrocities in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and China. It plunders local resources and forces local inhabitants to provide cheap labor for capital, thereby satisfying the needs of capital's self-accumulation. The series of unequal treaties signed between the great powers and China were all aimed at ensuring that their capital could safely plunder wealth from China; I think I don't need to give further examples.

Therefore, the only way to simultaneously address the development of productive forces and the relatively equitable distribution of social wealth is through the dictatorship of the proletariat. Only a public ownership economy led by the proletariat can, while developing productive forces, ensure that social wealth is distributed to the workers in a relatively equitable manner—something neither the private ownership of the landlord class nor the private ownership of the bourgeoisie can achieve.

However, it does not mean that the proletariat's seizure of power equates to the implementation of a proletarian dictatorship and a public ownership economy. Seizing power is only the first step. Establishing a proletarian dictatorship and a public ownership economy requires many conditions. Judging from the current governance of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee in Wuhan, we are still far from a true proletarian dictatorship and a public ownership economy.

The establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat is nothing more than three things: politically, the proletariat seizes power; economically, public ownership prevails over private ownership; and culturally, the proletariat establishes an independent value system. Only after the dictatorship of the proletariat is established can we seek to completely eliminate private ownership and move towards the complete public ownership of the means of production required by communist society.

Therefore, the Party's most important task at present is to establish and maintain the dictatorship of the proletariat. As for the goal of building a public ownership economy, that is actually still a long way off.

Tian Junyi was most concerned about the two questions raised by Lin Xinyi because his position made him more concerned about the future of the party than others. After all, others could not access the party's overall work and were more concerned about their own work areas. Only when Lin Xinyi mentioned the issues of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the public ownership economy would they step out of their own positions and think about the future from a higher perspective.

Therefore, Tian Junyi was the first to respond to Lin Xinyi, saying, "Comrade Lin Feng, what do you think are the shortcomings of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee? How should we reform it to be closer to the dictatorship of the proletariat?"

Tian Junyi's issue is also a concern of all the committee members. Raising a problem is not easy, but solving it is even more troublesome. Many committee members can raise a problem without explaining how to solve it, but raising such a problem at the meeting does not bring them any authority. It is just that the problem is discussed and solved together at the meeting, which is a very ordinary principle of democratic centralism.

However, the reason why committee members like Tian Junyi and Lin Feng are more authoritative than other committee members is that when they raise questions, they usually also propose solutions or ideas for solving problems. In this case, the principle of centralization means concentrating the Party's strength around oneself to solve the problem.

This explains why, despite his short time back in Wuhan, Lin Feng was able to quickly catch up with Tian Junyi—both were capable of leading the Party's direction. Once these two reached an agreement, it was practically equivalent to a decision by the entire Central Committee of the Party, as no other member could challenge their combined efforts.

Lin Xinyi nodded slightly to Tian Junyi and said, "If we're just talking about reality, then the most advanced political system in the world right now should be the United States. It is the closest to a fully-fledged capitalist country, and it retains the fewest feudal remnants."

According to Marx's theory, communism will emerge from the most advanced capitalist countries. Therefore, if we want to establish a socialist country under the dictatorship of the proletariat, we should model it after the American political system.

Lin Xinyi's assertion left the committee members somewhat bewildered. Even Tian Junyi was taken aback for a moment before asking, "Learn from the United States? But didn't you previously advocate for prioritizing Germany's heavy industry..."

Tian Junyi and the other committee members were surprised because, in the eyes of the Chinese at that time, the United States was just a late-developing country established by European immigrants. Although the United States was also one of the great powers, its status should be similar to that of Japan. Although it relied on European civilization to develop, it did not have the profound historical foundation of the European powers.

The Qing Dynasty's sending of young children to study in the United States was similar in purpose to sending students to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War—to understand how a non-European country became a great power and then absorb this experience back home. However, once a conflict of interest arose between the two sides, the Qing Dynasty would not hesitate to sever cultural ties. In the Qing Dynasty's view, the United States and Japan could not compare with the European powers, and even if exchanges were cut off, it would not bring them any harm.

The Qing Dynasty's diplomatic mindset viewed the United States and Japan as second-rate powers, believing they could be restrained by other powers. This view of the US and Japan was passed on to ordinary Chinese people. The decision to emulate Britain and Germany did not raise much concern among these committee members, as these two European powers were indeed among the world's leading powers.

Lin Xinyi's view of the United States as the most advanced capitalist country was difficult for the committee members to accept. After all, they judged a country's advancement based on its national strength. At this time, the United States' military power seemed unable to suppress Japan. After Japan's victory in the naval battle against Russia, international opinion on the strength of the Japanese navy rose rapidly, surpassing the US navy and ranking after Britain, Germany, and France. More radical comments even suggested that the Japanese navy should be ranked third in the world, alongside the French navy.

Faced with the doubts of the committee members, Lin Xinyi calmly replied, "Capitalism in various European countries has retained a large number of feudal remnants. In other words, many of the old vested interests in Europe have been preserved. These old vested interests colluded with the emerging bourgeoisie, which eventually formed European capitalism."

The French Revolution beheaded thousands of nobles and landowners, yet in this country where the bourgeois revolution was relatively thorough, the French people's support for the theory of bloodline and the class system was no less than that of those imperial countries. This was because there were a large number of small landowners in the country who opposed both the public ownership of land and the commodification of land by capitalism, thereby disrupting the stable order of the countryside.

In contrast, other European countries outside of France retained more feudal remnants and experienced more intense social conflicts. The rise of European nationalism was not essentially about defending capitalism, but rather about protecting these old vested interests, as they were unwilling to completely withdraw from the political arena.

Why does nationalism hinder capitalism? Because as capitalism develops to a higher stage, it inevitably transitions from free competition to monopoly, and the concepts of nation and ethnicity prevent the formation of capital monopolies. After monopolizing steel production in Germany, the next step for the German steel industry was inevitably to expand throughout Europe. This allowed the German steel industry to set European steel prices, thereby reaping the excess profits brought by its monopoly—this is the inherent self-expansion instinct of capitalism.

To counter German steel capital, French, British, and other countries either competed on cost and market share or used state power to restrict German steel imports. This explains the current conflicts among European powers and the prevalence of nationalism, as the political systems of European countries have hindered the self-development of European capital.

For capitalism in European countries to continue to develop, it was necessary to remove the old vested interests from power, thereby eliminating the production relations that hindered the unification of European capitalism. The British gentry and landowners, the small landowners in France, and the Junker landowners in Germany would all be forced to submit to capitalism in a war that swept across Europe, thus clearing the way for the development of European capitalism.

While Europe's technological, cultural, and industrial development paths certainly offer many lessons, its outdated production relations, lagging behind the productive forces, are not worth emulating. Our greatest enemy today is precisely the old vested interests; what can we learn from the proven failures of European systems? This is why I believe we should learn from the United States in terms of political systems…”

Chapter 517 Proletarian Democracy

Lin Hsin-yi's words sparked a discussion among the committee members. While ordinary party members might not have been fully aware of the situation, the Central Committee members meeting in this room knew that the Party was preparing to end the rule of the Qing Dynasty and establish a brand-new People's Republic.

No member raised any objection to the party's interim goal. After defeating Russia, even the moderates within the party felt that the constitutional monarchy was no longer appropriate. Previously, they had advocated easing the antagonism with the constitutionalist gentry in order to concentrate the party's strength on the war. After all, if this war were lost, not only would China lose a large amount of land and rights again, but Russia would also enter the interior of China and intervene in the internal revolution.

However, China won this war at a relatively low cost. Neither Wuhan nor the Beiyang Fleet suffered crippling damage; instead, they honed their military strength in the process. This is also an advantage for the defending side in war: as long as the defensive line is not breached by the attackers immediately, the defenders' losses will certainly be far less than those of the attackers.

Before the outbreak of this war, the forces of Wuhan and the Beiyang clique had already overwhelmed other domestic powers, and this gap widened further by the end of the war. Before the war, local forces in the Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast still harbored ambitions of separatist rule. They were no match for either Wuhan or the Beiyang clique, but could Wuhan and the Beiyang clique afford to divert their forces to attack them?

This war shattered the illusions of these local powers, who realized they had overestimated their strength. Neither Wuhan nor Beiyang needed to expend much effort to teach them a lesson and show them who truly ruled the world.

For example, the Manchu forces in Xi'an, Ningxia, and Xinjiang previously harbored ambitions to make a comeback, as the Manchus in these regions were not entirely corrupt and were still capable of fighting on the battlefield and maintaining control of the local situation. However, after Cai E recaptured Kulun and captured Upper Udinsk, the situation in the Northwest immediately became clear. Various forces began to distance themselves from the Manchus, and even regions like Uliastai, which were directly controlled by the Manchus, simply went to Kulun to pledge allegiance to Cai E's army.

This change in the domestic situation has rendered the social foundation of constitutional monarchy nonexistent. A year ago, constitutional monarchy was all the rage because Wuhan's military power was insufficient to suppress various factions within the country. The Manchus still held considerable influence in the local areas and the military. The domestic landlord class felt that they could unite with the Manchus to suppress Wuhan, which is why they advocated for a constitutional monarchy.

However, Wuhan had already demonstrated its strength beyond the imagination of these local powers through a war against foreign aggression. The Beiyang clique, the only force capable of confronting Wuhan, also recognized the gap between itself and Wuhan, and Yuan Shikai had lost the courage to resolve the conflict by force. Without the Beiyang clique standing in Wuhan's way, the various forces naturally wouldn't confront Wuhan head-on.

The victory in the war against Russia further fueled the patriotic fervor of the people. Public opinion's aversion to the Qing Dynasty made it difficult for the constitutional monarchy to gain the approval of the majority of the people. In particular, the people of the southern provinces refused to pledge allegiance to a Manchu emperor, even though many of them thought that Emperor Guangxu was actually not bad, after all, he had not done anything evil. They were still unwilling to let the Manchus continue to swagger over the Han people.

Therefore, when the Party Central Committee passed a resolution to end the Qing Dynasty and establish a People's Republic, none of the committee members present objected. Even those few who hesitated merely wanted to confirm whether proposing the end of the Qing Dynasty at this time would invite external interference. However, what everyone was most concerned about was how to establish a People's Republic after the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The contradictions between the democratic and dictatorial factions within the Party began to intensify, stemming from disagreements over how to establish the system of the People's Republic after the end of the Qing Dynasty. The birth of the Wuhan Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee was an accident; even Tian Junyi had not anticipated that Empress Dowager Cixi would be so eager to consolidate power in the southern provinces as soon as she returned to Beijing, thus forcing her to launch a coup.

Given the circumstances at the time, if the Workers' Party had made even the slightest concession to leadership, both external hostile forces and internal military leaders and landlords could have easily caused the Wuhan Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee to disappear swiftly in the tide of the times. Therefore, even party members who advocated learning from Western political democracy yielded to the practical needs of the workers', peasants', and soldiers' dictatorship.

However, the Workers' Party is no longer as weak as it was a few years ago, and various forces outside Wuhan are also vigorously promoting democracy and republicanism. This has led to a rise in the voices of the political democrats within the party. They are trying to peacefully unify the various forces under one regime, thereby avoiding civil war and interference from foreign powers.

Lin Hsin-yi's recent pronouncements in support of the dictatorship of the proletariat dealt a heavy blow to the political democrats. However, his proposal to learn from American politics gave them some hope. Consequently, committee members Hsieh Chuan-tai and Cheng Chia-cheng asked him, "Does learning from American politics mean learning its principle of separation of powers?" and "American democracy certainly has aspects worth learning, but how should we learn from it?"

Lin Xinyi stretched out his hands and made a gesture of pressing down to quiet the committee members before continuing, "What I mean by learning is not copying. Some people think that as long as foreign laws and systems are brought into the country, a replica of Britain or the United States can be established. I think that's unrealistic. After all, the ancients understood that if you transplant an orange tree north of the Huai River, it won't grow sweet oranges."

What I mean by "learning" is learning how the American bourgeoisie achieves its dictatorship through the design of political systems and laws. Take the separation of powers principle in the United States, for example. On the surface, this principle guarantees American voters the ability to defend their political democratic rights.

However, electing a president costs money, electing members of Congress costs money, and litigating costs money. In political practice, the American bourgeoisie has ensured that legislative, judicial, and executive powers are all in their own hands. The so-called separation of powers actually refers to the distribution of these three powers among different capitalists, thus completing the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

In the American system of bourgeois dictatorship, other classes cannot elevate their class will to the level of the state will, because from the outset, these classes are blocked from the political system by money. Perhaps a few individuals can enter the system through personal struggle, but unless they act in accordance with the interests of capital, they cannot reach the top of the system. And acting in accordance with the interests of capital means that they have already submitted to the will of the bourgeoisie.

The principle of separation of powers is also consistent with the stage of free competition in capital, where equal opportunity best meets the needs of free-market capitalism. This is what we now see in the critique of monopoly capitalism by American progressives. These critiques objectively promoted progress in American society, constrained monopoly capitalism, and brought some benefits to the American proletariat.

However, American progressives championed equal opportunity rather than opposing exploitation. Their actions essentially delayed social contradictions rather than fundamentally resolving the oppression of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. Therefore, while President Theodore Roosevelt could challenge America's monopoly capitalists, he would never abandon discriminatory legislation against people of color, even though he knew such discrimination was immoral. Because people of color hindered equal opportunity for white people, he felt compelled to maintain discrimination against them.

We should learn from the American political system, which means learning from the US to design a series of political systems and laws around the dictatorship of the proletariat to ensure that power in the country is in the hands of the proletariat. Simply put, it's about proletarian priority.

The committee members were momentarily taken aback, and Xie Zuantai couldn't help but blurt out, "If we do this, where exactly is democracy?"

Lin Xinyi glanced at him and said firmly, “The dictatorship of the bourgeoisie is the democracy of the bourgeoisie, and similarly, the dictatorship of the proletariat is the democracy of the proletariat. Democracy cannot transcend class. The landlord class cannot give democracy to the proletariat, nor can the bourgeoisie give democracy to the proletariat. So why should the proletariat give them democracy?”

In feudal dynasties, becoming a member of the landlord class was the goal of the people's struggle; in capitalist societies, becoming a capitalist was the goal. Therefore, in socialist societies, the goal of the people's struggle should be to become a member of the proletariat.

Is a society that treats the proletariat like cattle and considers the propertied class superior to all truly socialist? Isn't that just a case of false advertising?

The meeting that night greatly shocked the committee members present, and even Tian Junyi began to reflect on his actions. After the meeting, he deliberately stayed behind to have a private talk with Lin Xinyi.

He sincerely told Lin Xinyi, "In the past, I didn't quite understand why you said that the most difficult time was actually after the success of the revolution. After hearing what you said tonight, I understand it a little better now."

Our revolution targets corrupt idols who have been abandoned by the people. As long as we unite with the people, these corrupt idols can be overthrown very quickly.

"What kind of world should we build after the revolution? Neither we nor the people have a clear goal. If we ourselves have gone down the wrong path, how can the people choose the right one?"

After pondering for a moment, Lin Xinyi nodded in agreement, saying, "Therefore, we cannot expect individuals to be always right, nor can we expect people's thoughts to never change. In fact, only class interests are truly stable, while the positions of individuals and organizations can be shifted."

Past heroes may one day become villains; past revolutionaries may one day become reactionaries. This is the shift in stance brought about by changing interests, and it is also an objective law of history.

Just as the Second International once represented the interests of the working class, when opportunists mixed nationalism and patriotism into the interests of the proletariat, it inevitably led to a split within the proletariat, and the Second International became a reactionary organization against the working class.

We emphasize national self-determination now because the proletariat of each nationality is a part of the proletariat, not an independent class. The system of national autonomy is a temporary measure taken before the proletariat of each nationality has risen to the level of subjectivity. If, in the future, someone uses the slogan of national autonomy to suppress the power of the proletariat, then this is a reactionary system…”

Chapter 518 Visitor

Led by a young man in Western clothes, Domoto Keiichi followed Lieutenant Colonel Koyuki Daizo through two sentry posts and into a small courtyard. In his opinion, the security level of this Labor Party headquarters was almost on par with that of the military headquarters, but it was different from the yamen in China. The guards here were not there to intimidate people. They were capable and vigilant, and you could tell at a glance that they were real soldiers who could go to the battlefield, not just for show.

In front of the courtyard, the young man who had led the way stopped, signaling the two to wait there, before heading towards the main house to report. Domoto Keiichi habitually surveyed his surroundings, a habit he'd picked up from his past intelligence work. The courtyard was quite ordinary, a typical siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), with three main rooms facing north and several side rooms on the east and west sides. The only difference was that southern siheyuan weren't as meticulously symmetrical as their northern counterparts.

Just as Domoto was observing his surroundings, Lieutenant Colonel Oda, who was standing next to him, suddenly spoke up: "It seems that Mr. Hayashi has a very high status here. There seem to be quite a few people waiting for him to meet with him. Is he not just an advisor here?"

Domoto withdrew his gaze, cautiously glancing at Lieutenant Colonel Oda's expression out of the corner of his eye before carefully replying, "I'm not familiar with Lin-kun's work here, but in Tibet and India, he was a leader in the army and an organizer of the government, not just an advisor."