Chapter 9: Meeting on the Playground
Jiang Dalong had never expected his father to hold such a low opinion of Li Yingchun, considering the man had risen from a university technician to a conglomerate CEO.
But on second thought, what his father said was true—since the transportation happened half a month ago, Li Yingchun and the others had only barely organized a loose Emergency Status Committee.
They’d tried contacting the outside world without success.
Then they tallied the people and supplies.
They carried out some basic communication, coordination, and scheduling.
The shipyard workers, the machinery factory staff, residents of Happy Home, and the navy sailors—all were the same people they had been before the transportation.
The only difference was the workers no longer went to work, and the residents no longer had tasks to attend.
The Emergency Status Committee had neither mobilized everyone’s efforts fully for self-rescue nor restarted production.
Instead, it spent tremendous time and energy soothing emotions, hoping for outside “rescue,” and distributing rationed supplies.
Even organizing soldiers for perimeter defense against native attacks was proposed by Navy captain Yang Yunfeng….
If it hadn’t been for that deployment, the last native assault would have caused heavy casualties!
From this perspective, the work done by Li Yingchun, Chen Wenyun, and the other Committee members—including Jiang Dalong himself—over these days was unqualified!
Jiang Weiguo continued his critique:
“…That kid Li and little Chen are university-trained engineers; they might manage an enterprise’s production adequately, but let them lead a government, and it’s like putting a duck on a shelf!
An enterprise only needs to handle production, sales, and some social responsibilities.
But a government requires a broad perspective and decisiveness.
Before taking action, you must weigh every advantage and disadvantage!
Li boy simply hasn’t thought that way in his mind; he only realized it yesterday, but that’s not too late.
I’m worried that even if they understand that principle and gain awareness of leading the bigger picture, they’ll still habitually run society with enterprise logic and cause chaos…
That’s why I shamelessly pulled Old Xia and Old Wu to take the stage. Otherwise, do you think I wanted the hassle?”
Hearing this, Jiang Dalong admired his father’s perpetual cunning… his perennial sharpness.
Besides being technically skilled, his mastery of human affairs and manipulation was peerless.
Even in retirement, his standing in the shipyard still rivaled the general manager—and he had lived up to expectations today.
Curiously, he asked,
“…Dad, at today’s meeting, what’s the plan—will it follow the charter we discussed yesterday?”
“Yes!” Jiang Weiguo nodded seriously at his son.
“Dalong, remember this! We’re now stranded out here and there’s no higher authority watching over us.
We make our own decisions now, so our way of thinking can no longer follow previous angles and assumptions.
What happens next depends entirely on these 4,500 people!
Whoever gains the support of most of the 4,500 will hold power and get things done!
Conversely, whoever offends the majority of the 4,500 will end up badly!
Just follow this principle in your actions, and you won’t go too far wrong!”
Jiang Dalong nodded in agreement—this was exactly what he had been thinking.
But suddenly he thought of another question and couldn’t help asking his father.
“Dad, I understand what you mean, but if… I mean if!
If someone secretly wins over a group of people and controls weapons and military forces, promising benefits, then strikes suddenly—do you think that would succeed…”
“Cough, cough!” Jiang Weiguo’s eyes flashed; he opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden fit of coughing took hold.
Jiang Dalong quickly patted his father’s back to help him breathe; after a long moment, the old man recovered.
After a few breaths, he stared at his son, thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
“…In that scenario you described, to succeed, several conditions must be met.
First, the person must have high prestige.
Second, he must genuinely persuade a group of people to risk following him.
Third, he must possess overwhelming force….
Among our 4,500, nobody meets those conditions—at least not now!”
Noting his father’s strange look, Jiang Dalong hurried to explain,
“Dad, don’t look at me like that—I certainly am not that kind of person!
At today’s meeting we’re deciding to set up an Army Department and a Navy Department.
I’m just worried that if someone in the military does that later, wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
A smile finally appeared on Jiang Weiguo’s face; he nodded.
“If you have that kind of vigilance, you’re not beyond saving…
That’s exactly why I’m chairing today’s meeting—to prevent future warlords or rogue commanders from arising!
It seems you still don’t grasp how important the charter we discussed yesterday is.
If you want to prevent something from happening, the dumbest way is constant inspection and patching.
A smarter way is to design and arrange it through systems.
The most advanced way is to make the concept vanish from people’s minds altogether!”
…
At 9:30 AM, about 85% of the 4,519 Transmigrators—over 3,800 people—began arriving at the playground of Longgang Middle School.
Because there were too many people for the Bohaichuan Hotel auditorium, the Emergency Status Committee decided today’s meeting would be held on the school playground, and informed everyone last night.
On the green turf, 1,000 student chairs, 3,500 simple folding stools, and plastic chairs had been arranged—brought this morning by the school’s 500 students.
Over 2,300 shipyard workers in their work uniforms sat in the center of the playground.
More than 200 workers from Hengda Machinery Factory sat to the east of the shipyard workers.
Over 600 residents of Happy Home sat to the west of the shipyard workers.
More than 300 navy sailors sat on the far west side.
Over 500 students and staff of Longgang Middle School sat on the southern side.
Additionally, some people who didn’t belong to those main groups—delivery drivers and staff, crew members from several bulk cargo ships, and even some tourists near the shipyard—took seats as they pleased.
Near the teacher’s stage under the north side teaching building, twenty or so sets of tables and chairs had been placed for the original eight Committee members, professionals, and advisors.
At exactly 10 AM, Li Yingchun—who had been speaking with Jiang Weiguo and Chen Wenyun—was reminded by his secretary.
He took the microphone and his briefing documents, took a deep breath, and stepped up to the teacher’s platform on the north side of the playground.
“…Hello, hello! Please everyone quiet down! Quiet! It’s hot today, so please help keep order—we’ll complete today’s agenda as quickly as possible.”
The murmuring in the venue gradually subsided.
Under everyone’s gaze, Li Yingchun didn’t waste words; he looked down at his briefing papers and began reading into the microphone:
“…Thirteen days ago, we encountered an unknown disaster. To respond to the danger, with everyone’s consent, we established the Emergency Status Committee…”