Chapter 11: Schoolyard Assembly
“…The Cabinet Committee tentatively includes the Civil Affairs Bureau, the Finance Bureau, the Police Bureau, the Justice Bureau, the Education Bureau, the Science & Technology Bureau, the Agriculture Bureau, the Construction Bureau, the Shipbuilding Bureau, the Materials Bureau, the Machinery Bureau, the Chemical Bureau, the Safety Bureau, the Foreign Affairs Bureau, the Commerce Bureau, the Disease and Health Bureau, the Culture and Archives Bureau, the Indigenous Affairs Bureau, and a dozen other specialized executive agencies, as well as the Army Ministry and the Navy Ministry.”
“These agencies’ heads will be appointed, removed, and led by the Prime Minister and the corresponding Cabinet Committee.”
“In judicial matters, the Supreme Court and its lower courts, as independent judicial supervisors, will be responsible for adjudicating various cases and exercising supervisory functions…”
Xia Chunze was speaking when a middle‑aged man in the homeowner section of the Happy Home residential area stood up and raised a question.
“…Old Xia, I understood everything you said. With you and Old Jiang here, we don’t really have anything to argue about!
But what exactly is this new country… going to be called? You haven’t said yet!”
Of course the man had been pre‑arranged. Xia Chunze nodded at him and smiled: “…The specific name hasn’t been finalized. We have several options, but which one it is still needs to be decided by everyone. If anyone has better suggestions, feel free to propose them now!”
After this little diversion, most people’s thoughts shifted from considering the future system and institutions of the country to thinking about the country’s name.
The idea had come from Chen Wenyun, intended to control developments as much as possible and avoid disputes or divergences during the meeting…
Even in modern times, most people actually don’t care about big national affairs; a star gossip news story always attracts more attention than an important policy document, even if the latter concerns countless people’s vital interests.
Soon, Chen Wenyun announced several candidate names for the country—Huaxia Republic, Ausong Republic, Nanhua Republic, Nan’ao Republic, and Hai‑Song Republic.
Some among them also came up with names like Nanchu Republic, Nanshanbuzhou Republic, Earth Federation, etc.
After a show of hands vote, the name “Nanhua Republic” won the most support.
This was because the proposer—the history‑major up‑broadcaster Su Mu—gave very persuasive reasoning.
According to Su Mu, now that they had transmigrated to seventeenth‑century Australia, they definitely needed an explanation to present to the indigenous peoples of this timeline, and they couldn’t reveal that they came from 353 years in the future.
So the better choice was to claim to be the remnants of the Huaxia who fled abroad when the Southern Song fell to the Mongols.
Before the Tang Dynasty, there were basically no large‑scale Chinese migrations to the South Seas. And if they claimed to be descendants of Zheng He’s crew, they might be caught out.
Claiming descent from the survivors of the Battle of Yashan was neither too far‑fetched nor too close—it was just right.
If based on this claim, then names associated with “Australia” or “Australasia” were definitely off‑limits, and “Huaxia”—a name referring to the Central Plains—wouldn’t fit either.
“Ha Song” would be somewhat fitting, but if they tied it too much to the Song people, Qing‑era antiquarians might expose inconsistencies. It was better to discard the “Song” baggage and use “Nanhua,” meaning the southern Huaxia—thus, the Australian continent would become the Nanhua Continent!
Besides the country name, Su Mu also proposed that they start compiling a “history” from the fall of the Southern Song until now, at least to have a rough timeline before sailing to the Old World for trade, otherwise they might run into trouble.
Once the country name was settled, the flag and emblem were not finalized today—they needed graphic designers to redesign them… Meanwhile some workers and naval officers suggested retaining the original ones, but since the country name had changed, those would naturally need changing too.
After finishing this interlude, the meeting proceeded. Having defined the structure and institutional system of the republic, everyone began raising hands to elect the first Prime Minister and ten Cabinet Committee members.
According to procedure, each candidate took the stage in turn to introduce their professional background and philosophy, and to announce the work they would initiate after taking office.
The first to take the stage was Li Yingchun, the head of the shipyard, who had met with others until late last night and almost didn’t sleep, all for today’s speech.
In his speech he announced that if he became Prime Minister, he would immediately implement a “Six‑Month Recovery Plan,” a comprehensive project scheme aimed at leading everyone out of survival crisis into a positive cycle within six months!
According to this “Six‑Month Recovery Plan,” the first action would be to survey everyone’s special skills and work willingness, then rationally assign jobs and tasks based on actual conditions, while carefully clarifying the property rights of private and public goods.
The second action would be to immediately organize personnel to cultivate land near the bay, planting high‑yield crops like potatoes and corn to ensure food supply security.
The third action would abolish all material rationing except for food, abolish all previous currencies, issue a new book‑entry currency, open material‑goods‑redeeming stores to retrieve currency, and motivate everyone’s labor enthusiasm.
The fourth action would mobilize the shipyard and machinery factory to immediately formulate a plan to restore productivity, manufacturing weapons and tools according to actual conditions, such as agricultural machinery and implements needed for reclamation, small powered fishing boats, various cold‑weapons and firearms, and transportation tools.
The fifth action would reorganize the current security company and patrol teams into a formal army, and recruit young and middle‑aged adults interested in military careers, gradually driving out nearby hostile indigenous tribes.
At the same time dispatch the navy to explore nearby coastlines, and, based on Australian mineral resource distribution data, seek the most important coal and iron mines to restore basic industrial productivity as soon as possible.
The sixth action would choose a more suitable location near Port Phillip Bay, set up brick kilns, lime kilns, and timber treatment facilities, begin constructing a port and housing area to solve the navy’s berthing and everyone’s housing problems.
The seventh action would establish national kindergartens, national middle schools, national universities, and the Republic Academy of Sciences, inheriting the modern science‑education system.
At the same time establish the Army Officer School, Navy Officer School, Police Officer School, the National Medical College, and the First Community Hospital to reserve talent for various fields.
The seventh action would also encourage skilled individuals to open shops to meet basic living needs—whether restaurants, barber shops, or ready‑to‑wear stores—with tax exemption for one year.
The eighth action would promptly set up papermaking and printing workshops to print various practical books, and encourage interested media personnel to start newspapers and magazines to enrich everyone’s cultural life…”