Chapter 1459 - Hidden Agendas (Part 9)
"I'm not trying to drive a wedge between you and Ding Ding. In fact, I must commend him on this point. From his perspective, he correctly chose the fastest and most effective method of protection available at the time—which was letting you run around confused."
Panpan thought for a moment and understood what Cheng Yongxin meant.
That's right—after witnessing the misery at the bottom of Ming society, she had indeed compromised with the Executive Committee: the Senate's system was absolutely not the best, but in this era, it was the best available.
Between starving to death or being devoured by others, versus being subtly exploited by the Senate's capital system—even she would choose the latter.
"So you think it was wise of me to give up freedom of the press?"
Facing Panpan, who was grinding her teeth, Cheng Yongxin curved her lips in an amused smile.
"Quite the opposite. I'm here to show you a path—the art of dancing on the edge of the Executive Committee's tolerance."
Panpan had to admit, she was tempted.
"You're that certain I'm willing to be used as your gun? You know, right now I think you're a scheming woman."
"You're wrong. I'm actually not good at scheming. In fact, I prefer not giving schemes any room to appear at all. Whether it's saving Yang Jihong or enabling the media to fulfill its true function—does any of this connect to my personal interests? I have no ties to Yang Xinwu, and I don't like 'submissive black women' like Yang Jihong. As for media, I'm neither a journalist nor have any interest in entering the industry."
Panpan was, after all, from a Western education background. A few words from Cheng Yongxin had already moved her heart.
She opened a bottle of soda water, added it to a glass of rum, picked it up, and took a sip.
"But what's your purpose in promoting press freedom and media power? As far as I can tell, you're obviously rational and practical. So don't expect me to believe you're some kind of martyr like Du Wen, willing to sacrifice everything for her Women's Federation."
"First and most importantly, it's because I'm a woman. You're very clear on what I'm worried about."
"That I understand."
"In my view, public oversight is the only way to check this dangerous trend. And making the media function properly is the key to that. Unfortunately," Cheng Yongxin said with a hint of mockery, "consciously or unconsciously, people have been willing to turn the media into a mouthpiece."
Panpan nodded silently.
"As for Du Wen—unfortunately, apart from the coincidence of also being a woman, I want nothing to do with her."
"Oh?"
Panpan was finally intrigued. This was the first time she had seen Cheng Yongxin display obvious negative emotion.
"But your statements are very similar to hers: basically advocating for the protection of women's rights, monogamy, insisting on women's marriage rights, right? Du Wen even wants to explicitly ban any form of concubinage."
Cheng Yongxin snorted.
"That's exactly why both you and she will fail, Panpan."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Hmm, can I have another can of Kombucha? I'm afraid I have quite a speech coming."
Panpan got up as instructed and found a can in the small refrigerator.
"Alright, do I need to take notes?"
Cheng Yongxin took several gulps of the drink and said with a smile:
"No need to be so hostile, Panpan. This is actually quite obvious—you just haven't recognized its importance."
Panpan raised her eyebrows in response.
"We're not in 2013 anymore—we're in 1632."
"I know that, of course."
"No, you don't. You don't understand what this era truly represents."
Cheng Yongxin sighed.
"Why do you think modernity is called progress? Where do you think women's rights came from? Don't tell me you also believe people are born equal?"
Panpan frowned.
"Of course not. But just because we've gone back several hundred years, do rights have to regress several hundred years too?"
"That's precisely why I say you and Du Wen will both fail. Where do you think the foundation for women's rights and freedom of speech comes from?"
"Foundation? The foundation is obviously..."
Cheng Yongxin leaned back in her chair, her smile tinged with faint mockery.
"You've noticed? That's right. Du Wen thinks that since there was a Women's Federation in the old world, there should be one in this era too. The problem is—do the old era's laws have any binding force on the current Senate? We just formulated something called the Common Program ourselves!"
Facing the stunned Panpan, Cheng Yongxin stood and moved to the window, her gaze drifting into the distance.
"Du Wen hasn't recognized where she actually is. The situation we face is this: in the 1632 era, once you leave the Senate, aside from Salina, no woman has the ability to protect herself. Even Salina—her bullets will eventually run out, she needs rest, and she certainly can't go without food. With patience and persistence, any man could do as he pleased with her. At that point, her only choices would be submission or suicide—if she dared leave the Senate."
The words were harsh, but Panpan had to admit they were true.
"Since we can't leave the Senate, we have to accept a premise: this organization was established by a group of primarily young and middle-aged men. Given this structure, any law or organization that explicitly harms male interests cannot possibly be established, because that would violate majority interests. When you hold legislative power, the right approach is to prevent laws unfavorable to yourself from appearing in the first place—not to exploit loopholes after the laws have been enacted."
Panpan bit her lip hard.
"So because most men want concubines, even if Du Wen's Women's Federation proposes something, it'll be voted down by the majority, right?"
"Exactly. I'm glad you're finally accepting reality."
Panpan said listlessly: "So what? Just accept reality?"
"How could that be? If Du Wen hadn't been bouncing around so vigorously, making many clueless soy sauce transmigrators reflexively hostile the moment they hear 'women's rights,' I wouldn't be so annoyed with her."
With a sigh, Panpan raised both hands:
"Alright, I'm begging you, stop keeping me in suspense. Since you came to find me, you obviously have a plan, right?"
"A plan? Of course I have a plan."
Cheng Yongxin smiled and walked over to sit beside Panpan.
"We're a minority group. If we clash head-on with majority interests, we'll definitely end up bloody. So what do you think we should do?"
Panpan swallowed.
"What should we do?"
Cheng Yongxin lowered her voice, sounding like a demon's seductive whisper:
"We need to make our interests become larger interests—the interests of the entire Senate—or at least the interests of a portion of the transmigrators. We need to become the majority."
"But you just said we're a minority group. How can our interests become the majority's interests?"
Facing the puzzled Panpan, Cheng Yongxin shook her head:
"You're mistaken. How do you think women's rights developed in Europe and America? It's because World War I killed too many men. If they had insisted women could only stay home cooking and having babies, who would work in the factories, and where would they find soldiers to fight? That's why the concept of women's rights emerged. Women's suffrage was the same. Simply put, one day someone realized that if a country had a thousand men and a thousand women, and he could only get three hundred votes from the men but five hundred from the women—why wouldn't he give women the right to vote? Ballots don't say 'male vote' or 'female vote'; get enough numbers and you can be elected president."
Cheng Yongxin took a sip of Kvass and continued:
"To put it bluntly, the reason Liu San got away with only a symbolic punishment without any real consequence is that the benefits he brings to the Senate far outweigh what Wuyunhua and Du Wen can bring. Women's rights are absolutely not something you're born entitled to. Thinking you deserve special treatment just because you're female is called princess syndrome—it has nothing to do with women's rights. The Senate is a deeply deformed organization, but given that we fundamentally cannot leave this group, only when enough transmigrators feel that defending women's rights is defending their own rights—or that harming women's interests is taking away their interests—can the concept of women's rights become a consensus. Besides, has Du Wen's bouncing around helped Wuyunhua at all? No, not at all. Instead, she's used up the goodwill of transmigrators who were sympathetic to women, doing nothing but adding trouble to my plan."
Now Panpan understood.
"So right now, it's absolutely impossible. The military has almost no women, technology is also a weak area for women, and there's almost no chance of a female Executive Commissioner in the short term. It's a battle you know you'll lose before it even starts. The only thing we can rely on is public opinion."
"Exactly. Panpan, I don't know if you've noticed, but many transmigrators still haven't adjusted their mindset. They're still thinking like the ruled rather than like rulers. These marginalized transmigrators have always harbored a concern—that they're gradually being sidelined, having their power stripped away..."
"So their worries are the same as ours female transmigrators', right?"
"Bingo! Now you understand why I want to help Yang Xinwu. As long as I have your help with the media, this originally insignificant case will become a magnifying glass. Many people who were previously indifferent will see many things clearly through your reporting—especially their own situation and crisis. Only then will they know what to support and what to oppose. Once the conditions are ripe, the Weekly Bulletin and Lingao Times won't be propaganda tools that can have news killed or reports modified by some person or committee with a single order—you will be the uncrowned monarch of public opinion!"
Cheng Yongxin painted a brilliant vision that would make any journalist's heart race, her voice low and inciting.
"This is wonderful—I love you to death, Cheng-Cheng darling!" Panpan practically wanted to embrace her and take a bite.
(End of Chapter)