America 1881: They Call Me Legend

The House of Representatives on Monday was still buzzing.

Compared with the elite-gathered Senate, the members of the House of Representatives are more down-to-earth.

They are not very well educated like senators, and their occupations are often varied.

Therefore, it is often the same as the vegetable market.

Especially after Cleveland lost the presidency, the Democratic Party also completely lost power in the Senate and both houses.

But the Democrats will not let go of any opportunity to disgust McKinley.

And so the House of Representatives became such a place.

"The next proposal is the military reform plan of the Ministry of War." The speaker put on his glasses, "Minister of War Rutte will explain their new plan for us."

There was a sudden discussion in the House of Representatives.

The members of the House of Representatives began to whisper and whisper.

Under normal circumstances, the cabinet communicates with lawmakers from both parties in advance about bills passed in parliament.

Whether you pass or not, at least you will be notified to prevent the scene from being too ugly.

But this bill, no one has told them.

President McKinley sat quietly in his seat with a gloomy expression.

Root didn't know this.

He stepped onto the stage and began to explain his plan to the people below.

What Root said was basically the same as what he had told McKinley at the War Department, not much different.

Most of the MPs are not interested in the military reform plan.

During the war, the domestic media basically reported good news but not bad news, so they only knew that the U.S. military fought bravely in the Caribbean and the Philippines, and beat the Spaniards to death.

In their view, their army has performed well and there is absolutely no need for reform.

The current system of the U.S. military has won the War of Independence, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and now it has defeated the Spaniards.

No one will attribute the victory to the excellent matchmaking mechanism of the North American continent.

The U.S. military is invincible and invincible!Glory to America!
Of course, members of Congress will not know how embarrassing the U.S. troops on the front line in Cuba are.

The excellent performance of Chen Jianqiu's Chinese army has become their fig leaf.

Lawmakers were calm when Root began to introduce the reform of the chain of command.

After all, the commanders-in-chief of the army were the most affected by this matter, and they had nothing to do with them.

Most people felt a little bored at most, and some even yawned.

But when he mentioned that he wanted to expand the size of the regular army, the bottom immediately exploded.

Members of Parliament began to discuss heatedly.

This plan had a huge impact on their existing cognition.

"We have the sea to the west and the sea to the east. Neither Mexico in the south nor Canada in the north poses any threat to us. What is the military expansion for?"

An Ohio congressman named Anthony stood up and dissented.

"If we need to be more involved in international affairs, we need more standing troops. These troops will be used to protect our rights and interests overseas." Root explained.

"Intervene in international affairs? Is our country not big enough? Let them handle the affairs of the Europeans themselves, why should we intervene?"

Anthony retorted.

"As long as they don't meddle in ours, we don't need to meddle in theirs."

Root was too lazy to explain the national strategy to this group of people. He looked at President McKinley who was sitting below.

This kind of thing should be explained by him.

But what is surprising is that the president is still sitting there steadily, with a calm face, as motionless as a mountain.

This surprised Root a little.

It was McKinley who used himself to carry out military reforms, and McKinley also agreed with this plan, but why is he silent now?
A moment of hesitation gave the members of parliament who opposed below an opportunity.

They began to attack in groups.

"More troops mean that taxpayers need to pay more to support them. How do we explain it to them? I don't think it's necessary!" A Republican congressman from Virginia expressed his opinion.

His words represented the views of many other congressmen below, and many people began to echo him.

"Yes! We should spend money on more necessary places, such as the construction of urban infrastructure, instead of resorting to military action!"

"It's so stupid to spend money to raise an army to maintain order for those Cubans. What else is there besides sugar and cigars?"

If these people in the Republican Party look at "money" and put forward relatively moderate views, then the members of the Democratic Party will be much sharper.

A white-haired Democrat stood up.

His name was Bertrand Lambert, and he was quite prestigious in the House of Representatives.

His voice was thick and contagious.

"Since the founding of the United States, our country's armed forces have been dominated by militias."

"The great men who founded our country, why did they do this?"

"Because they understand that the military, like the police, is the violent machine of the state."

"If one day, this country becomes hopeless and there is oppression, then the people should take up arms and fight against tyranny!"

"And the existence of the federal army will make all this come to naught."

Lambert suddenly pointed to Root and asked:

"The army is trying to expand, is it taking this opportunity to strengthen its influence! Do you want to increase your right to speak?! Or do you have other plans?"

He said sharply:
"Let me tell you, the freedom of this country is not allowed to be trampled on, don't try to build a hotbed of military dictatorship here!"

Root was furious at the old man's words on the line.

He wished he could smash the manuscript in his hand to the face of the old man opposite.

Where is this going?

He just made some rectifications to the army based on some problems that occurred in the army during the Spanish-American War.

The purpose is too simple.

But the old bastard stood up and went online, trying his best to label him.

The key point is judging from the expressions of the congressmen below, many people still believe this!Start booing after him.

There were boos one after another.

What a hell.

Sure enough, the House of Representatives is full of all kinds of ghosts and monsters, it is not a place for people to stay.

The besieged Root looked at McKinley again.

Mr. President did not stand up to rescue him as expected, but just looked at the speaker.

The speaker finally realized that he should maintain order in the House of Representatives, and after yelling two silences, he began to organize a vote on the military reform plan.

Not surprisingly, this uncommunicated plan was rejected by the House of Representatives.

Not only did the Democrats vote against it, but many members of the Republican Party also stood on the opposite side of the plan.

Root is a very reserved person.

But this time, he lost his composure and left the meeting early, and sulked back to the quartermaster building in a Ford.

Democratic lawmakers were surprised to find that this was a rare victory for them in Congress, and it turned out to be so effortless.

This shocked their morale, and at the same time ushered in the next and last bill to be passed at this meeting.

Standing on the stage was a Republican Congressman from Massachusetts.

His name is George Hall.

18 years ago, it was he who spoke up for the Chinese here, but in the end he was outnumbered and defeated.

Eighteen years have passed, and Congressman Hall still serves in the House of Representatives after going through general elections one after another.

His integrity was recognized by most people.

But since then, Howe has always been ashamed of the passage of the "Pai Hua Act".

In his view, this is a disgrace to American democracy.

But today, he is standing here again.

Because President McKinley told him that he and his party would support him to repeal the bill.

So Hauer stood in front of the stage again, hoping to make up for his regrets and get rid of the knot 18 years ago.

The beard, which was once black and long, is now grey.

However, the congressman's figure is still tall and straight, like a pine tree.

"Eighteen years ago, a bill was passed here that excluded an ethnic group from the confines of this country. It brought decades of humiliation to the Chinese,"

"But it's also a disgrace to America! It's a violation of the Constitution!"

"But for the past 18 years, they have stayed in this country, and the Chinese with citizenship have integrated into this country with their own efforts."

"They are contributing their strength to the construction of this country in various fields!"

Hall glanced at the people below.

The congressmen were a little dazed. Like the military reform plan, they had not received any communication about the bill in advance, so they began to look at the documents on their desks.

"They work in factories and work in the fields just like other people of color; they go to school to study and contribute inventions and technological research to this country."

"In the recent war with the Spaniards, the Chinese soldiers performed extremely well and took the lead in attacking the San Juan Heights. They are bleeding for this country."

"They no longer care about politics as before. I have been in the House of Representatives for more than 20 years. In recent years, I have also seen Chinese people appearing here."

"Apart from their skin color, they are no different from us, and they are also working hard to contribute to this country!"

"So, I recommend that this bill be repealed!"

What Hall said was referring to several Chinese congressmen among the Republicans sitting in the third row.

They are headed by Wang Qingfu, and they are one of the representatives of several states including New Mexico, Oklahoma, and California.

Wang Qingfu and several Chinese congressmen glanced at each other.

They're also a little awkward.

No one communicated with them about this matter beforehand.

In private, Chen Jianqiu gave them the goal of abolishing the "Pai Huapao Act", and they are also carrying out related work.

However, according to their analysis, the heat has not yet come, so it has not been officially released.

Unexpectedly, at today's meeting, Hall took the lead in initiating this proposal in the House of Representatives.

Hall went on to elaborate some reasons and jurisprudence, but this is discussed below.

Many members of the House of Representatives don't have much idea about this matter, especially the eastern states.

In their eyes, the Chinese are not a problem, because the influence on them is too small.

Few of them pay attention to this matter deliberately.

But what Hauer said today made them realize that the Chinese are really gradually becoming a force that cannot be ignored in this country.

Many of them walked to the front desk silently and sat on an equal footing with them, such as the few Chinese congressmen beside them now, and the famous "national hero" Mr. Chen!

The Chinese are quietly influencing this country!

Considerable divisions arose among MPs.

Some agree with Hall's words, thinking that Chinese are also legal citizens of the United States and should be respected;
Some became vigilant, and felt that the development of the Chinese was beyond their imagination and would shake the foundation of the white race;

But more people have more complicated emotions.

Some of them have made good friends with Chen Jianqiu or other Chinese, and feel that these people are actually worthy of respect, but at the same time realize that if they are completely released, will they bring huge risks to the country itself.

After all, few of these people believed in Christianity.

Unlike the military reform bill, no one immediately stood up to refute Hall.

Because they are really not sure about Chinese things.

A resolution to repeal the bill was ultimately rejected.

The final vote was 95 in favor, 108 against, and 44 abstentions.

The number of abstentions was surprisingly high.

This result made Hauer a little frustrated, but it didn't seem to affect McKinley's mood at all.

The President let out a long sigh of relief and walked out of the House of Representatives.

Since the House of Representatives failed to pass it, there is no need for him to bother with the Senate.

After the meeting, Wang Qingfu immediately returned to the headquarters of the "Chinese Political Alliance" and got in touch with Chen Jianqiu.

On the phone, he fully told Chen Jianqiu what happened in the House of Representatives today.

"Today's two motions, we did not receive any communication at all, which caught us off guard."

"Oh, this is really an excellent opportunity! It's a pity that it was missed." Wang Qingfu was a little annoyed.

On the other end of the phone, Chen Jianqiu was silent.

After a while, his voice came through the receiver:

"Did the president attend? How was the reaction?"

Wang Qingfu was taken aback for a moment, and immediately replied:
"I participated, but there was no big reaction."

Chen Jianqiu hummed.

"Keep working hard and don't be affected by this incident."

After Chen Jianqiu finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

Putting down the phone, he sat on a chair in his home and looked out the window.

Now it's raining outside,
Chen Jianqiu narrowed his eyes and said to himself:
"It's interesting to startle the snakes." (End of this chapter)