Summoning the Japanese Empire

30/01/2675, 16:00 - Xinjing, Empire of Manchuria

Special City Xinjing, Empire of Manchuria

Prime Minister's Office, State Council

30 January 2675 (Xingxin 27 / 2015), 16:00

Council of Five Ministers

In the administrative government of the Empire of Manchuria, known as the State Council, there are twelve departments: Civil Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Military Affairs, Education, Justice, Industry, Transportation, Health, Agriculture, Construction, and Labor. These departments are overseen by the Prime Minister, who is also the State Chancellor, and each department has its respective minister. The Constitution of the Empire of Manchuria collectively refers to these ministers of the State Council as the Council of Ministers and defines the body consisting of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers as the State Council Cabinet. The meetings of the State Council Cabinet are referred to as 'cabinet meetings,' and the 'State Council Official System,' also known as the academic constitutional decree, positions the cabinet meeting as the institution responsible for determining the will of the State Council, but it has always required a leader to bring together the majority opinion.

It is uncertain when this practice started, but the decision-making in the administrative departments of Manchuria came to require the approval of a pre-decision-making body. The Council of Five Ministers is a meeting attended by six members, including the Prime Minister, the ministers of Civil Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Military Affairs, as well as the Secretary-General, who is the Chief of the State Council Secretariat. The youngest member of the Council of Five Ministers is the 47-year-old Minister of Foreign Affairs, Naotsugu Moriyama.

Minister of Civil Affairs, Shigeharu Tōyama, 62 years old and with increasingly visible white hair, gazed at Foreign Minister Moriyama and said, "The decision from the military advisory council meeting in Tokyo should be coming soon..."

"The embassy staff in Tokyo have been notified. As soon as the decision is made, they will inform the Ambassador to Japan, who will then directly contact me."

"But the decisions in Tokyo are too swift, or rather, it can't even be adequately described as 'swift.' It's more like the speed of a demon," exclaimed the Minister of Finance, Liu Haoxian, who will turn 60 this summer. The Minister of Military Affairs, Robert Kochelkin, a 59-year-old second-generation Russian, nodded in agreement and expanded on the discussion.

"It was the right decision to inform the Kwantung Army Headquarters beforehand. It seems that the Kwantung Army acted on its own, but when the General Staff Headquarters in Tokyo approached us last night for consultation on the operational plan, we had already completed the planning. So, we responded that we were seeking approval, and honestly, I felt relieved. The fatigue of our frontline soldiers is increasing day by day. Mister Liu, I need you to procure military funds. We are in a position of seeking assistance from the Kwantung Army. We don't expect us to cover all expenses, but it seems necessary for us to contribute to some extent."

"Of course, the Ministry of Finance is aware that we need to discuss the expenses required for the expedition with Tokyo. Our country and Japan are allied nations in a mutual assistance relationship, but it's awkward to create debts. Shuntarō Lee, the current Minister of Finance of Japan, settled and repaid our assistance during the East Japan Great Earthquake four years ago. I sense a strong determination not to create any lending and borrowing. We can't easily ask for assistance. Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance is considering settling for 30% of the total war expenses. What do you think?"

Li Yangchun, the Prime Minister and highest authority in the administration of Manchuria, is unusual for not having served as the Secretary-General of a political party in his position as Prime Minister. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives rather late at the age of 45, succeeding his father, Haide's, constituency in Jilin City. After his election, he served on the Education Policy Research Committee and the General Affairs position in his affiliated party, the Concordia Association, and at the age of 55, he became the Vice Minister of Education. At 58, he became the Minister of Education in the Oder-Neisse Cabinet. Following the Oder-Neisse Cabinet's disastrous defeat in the upcoming general election due to the oligarch scandal, in which multiple ministers were implicated, Li became the Chairman of the General Council. He worked to reconcile the party members who were blaming each other for the election defeat and made efforts to restore party discipline with his cheerful personality. When the time came, the current president of the Concordia Association struggled in the general election, but he collapsed during a campaign speech, was rushed to the hospital, and was diagnosed with gastric cancer. He was forced to withdraw from the candidacy for the next Prime Minister. The successor candidate, who declared that he was the right person for the position, also suffered dizziness and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while being rushed to the hospital. With both successor candidates lost, the party leadership was at a loss and hastily asked Li Yangchun, who had been serving as the Chairman of the General Council, to take over as the new party leader. Among the candidates for the Concordia Association presidency, he was the only viable option, as the party had lost many influential politicians in the oligarch scandal.