"Chairman Chen, we didn't do our job well, so the common people are dissatisfied with this election." The Party Secretary of Yuezhangji District said nervously to Chen Ke. His fear was not without reason. Although the election was also chaotic when Chen Ke was there, the common people at least didn't raise objections to this election on a large scale. After Chen Ke left, some common people expressed dissatisfaction with all candidates; they demanded a re-election and recommended new candidates themselves.

Looking at the nervous district secretary, Chen Ke laughed, "Comrade Yue Mingjie, I must correct one thing first: your statement is unscientific."

Being criticized by Chen Ke as unscientific, Yue Mingjie's face turned much paler. The People's Party has always advocated "science," and this criticism was very severe.

Chen Ke was not angry. He still asked with a smile, "First of all, whether your work is done well or not, the standard of evaluation is whether you have completed the work according to the predetermined plan. As far as this election is concerned, have you propagated it in place to every person who meets the election conditions? Have you explained clearly to everyone what the significance of the election is and why we need an election? Comrade Yue Mingjie, can you answer me on this question?"

"This..." Yue Mingjie couldn't answer for a moment. He asked himself and felt he had achieved these. Even those common people who demanded a re-election had received election propaganda. However, it was also the first time for Yue Mingjie himself to do this kind of work. Since the reaction of the common people exceeded his initial imagination, Yue Mingjie didn't dare to say he did well.

"Chairman Chen, I definitely have places where I didn't do well." Yue Mingjie finally had to choose a vague statement.

"Where didn't you do well?" Chen Ke continued to ask.

"..." Yue Mingjie didn't know where he didn't do well either. He wanted to speak, but couldn't.

Chen Ke looked at Yue Mingjie like this; he really sympathized with this comrade. If he were the kind of person who only considered his own interests, he would definitely have shirked responsibility or looked for reasons around whether he executed according to the plan now. Yue Mingjie's performance was that he couldn't justify the final result. Chen Ke really felt regretful about this. He had to say, "Comrade Yue Mingjie, let me ask you, did you execute strictly according to this work arrangement?"

After making a great determination, Yue Mingjie squeezed out a sentence, "I indeed executed according to the work arrangement."

"Then did you explain clearly the rules of the election, when candidates start registering, and when it ends?"

"Chairman Chen, I explained it all clearly." Yue Mingjie was confident in the execution of this matter. In fact, when he discussed this matter with the common people who raised opinions at the beginning, he specifically mentioned this matter. The common people also admitted that Yue Mingjie did say it, but they firmly demanded adding candidates again.

Chen Ke darkened his face. "Then, I want to ask you now, did you report the work to me by seeking truth from facts? You came up and said you didn't do your job well; do you mean you want me to punish you according to the principles and discipline of the Party organization?"

Only then did Yue Mingjie understand what he said wrong; his face looked even uglier. Looking at Chen Ke's gloomy face, Yue Mingjie mustered up courage with difficulty and said, "Chairman Chen, I was wrong."

"Then next time, what will you do when reporting?" Chen Ke continued to ask.

Yue Mingjie didn't expect Chen Ke to let him off so easily; he even suspected if he misunderstood Chen Ke's thoughts. But at this point, he had no other statement. Yue Mingjie whispered, "Next time, I will definitely explain the specific situation clearly first. And I won't talk nonsense like this again."

"Louder, I can't hear." Chen Ke said loudly.

Yue Mingjie cheered up, straightened his back, and said loudly, "Chairman Chen, next time I report, I will definitely explain the specific situation clearly first. I won't talk nonsense like this anymore."

Chen Ke nodded. "Okay. You continue to report the work to me now."

Yue Mingjie sorted out his thoughts and reported the occurrence of the whole incident and the failed mediation between the district committee and the masses. Thoughts in the district committee were divided into two types. One was to agree to the masses' request, extend the election time, and let the masses who signed up voluntarily participate in the election. The other was believing that this precedent could not be set. If they did this, what if the common people demanded re-election like this time in future elections? Comrades holding two attitudes had their own reasons, and Yue Mingjie felt he really couldn't make up his mind. He had to run to find Chen Ke.

Chen Ke didn't answer directly. He asked, "Comrade Yue Mingjie, what is your own opinion?"

Seeing that Chen Ke really didn't have the idea of pursuing responsibility, Yue Mingjie calmed down in his heart and spoke more fluently. "My opinion is that we can re-elect this time, but not as a precedent. But some comrades raised that doing so is unfair. If we want a by-election, then simply re-elect. I think re-election delays time, and if everyone is still dissatisfied after re-election, then we absolutely cannot re-elect again. Moreover, according to the regulations, each election requires half a month of preparation time. Once re-elected, it will be delayed for half a month. I am really worried that re-election will affect the progress of the entire election work. If Yuezhangji Village is not elected, the whole district will have to be postponed. And once this kind of thing spreads, I am afraid common people in other places will also demand re-election. Chairman Chen, I can't bear this responsibility."

Chen Ke nodded slightly. Yue Mingjie's worry was not unreasonable. In fact, after hearing Yue Mingjie's introduction of the situation, Chen Ke initially felt that by-election was good, and then felt that re-election was also okay. But when he really thought about whether it would affect the entire local election work, Chen Ke's evaluation of Yuezhangji District Party Secretary Yue Mingjie rose a lot. As a district head, being able to consider problems from the perspective of the entire election work, this quality is quite high.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke replied, "Let Yuezhangji re-elect. Since it is an unexpected situation, change the preparation time from half a month to three days. If masses in other places demand re-election, that is not your responsibility. For the first election, the masses having such participation enthusiasm is a good thing. You must explain clearly, not as a precedent. Everyone has no experience in the first election, so some changes can be understood. Next time everyone must participate in the election according to the election system, and absolutely no such post-event re-election situation will be accepted."

"Yes." Yue Mingjie replied as if relieved of a heavy burden. "Chairman Chen, do you have anything else to explain?"

"No more, you hurry back to arrange the work." Chen Ke said.

After Yue Mingjie left, Chen Ke had long thrown the matter of his wife's pregnancy to the back of his mind. This election work is a big event, not only to determine the legal tradition of the new government, but also after this local election is the election of people's representatives. The convening of the People's Congress is not letting a group of people come to have a meeting and party. Including the formulation of the local financial system, the formulation of various financial publicity systems. And the formulation of the audit budget system. Chen Ke is not Grandpa Mao. Although there were many factions and mountain strongholds in the Party when Grandpa Mao was in power, at least there were outstanding people like Premier Zhou working together. Chen Ke himself has to be the leader of the Party in charge of ideological issues, and also undertake the operation of the government. Not to mention these internal problems, there are also external war problems. Chen Ke also needs to take charge of the planning of the Second Counter-Encirclement War. If these tasks are completed, heaven knows what will happen. In the days to come, Chen Ke doubts how much time he has to rest, let alone accompany his pregnant wife He Ying.

Is this a challenge that time travelers must face? Chen Ke thought with his eyes closed. Chen Ke's success is completely based on the level of understanding of social development. He can copy a set of extremely mature systems and methods of later generations to operate the base area. Chen Ke also once mocked the "Aura of a Tyrant" (*Wang Ba Zhi Qi*). As a generally "anti-authoritarian" youth in the new era, Chen Ke didn't think there was any aura of a king or tyrant. Now Chen Ke recalls the era of Grandpa Mao in Jinggangshan. At that time, Grandpa Mao could easily persuade many rebellious talents to let these people obey the base area. In fact, that wouldn't be any aura of a king or tyrant, but that Grandpa Mao could come up with effective ways to solve problems. Could let those people understand the social status quo, understand how a stronger government should operate, and how to solve problems. In order to survive and develop, those people were actually unconvinced with Grandpa Mao in their hearts, but they couldn't help following him.

Grandpa Mao relied on unparalleled talent, while Chen Ke relied on the insight accumulated by history. It's really hard to say now who is more advanced. In Grandpa Mao's era, the comrades below could work freely. If you didn't do well, you could be promoted or removed at any time. If the problem was bad, you could be beheaded immediately. If the revolution Chen Ke started now also began to behead people, let alone Chen Ke himself didn't have this decisiveness, at least Chen Ke was not used to solving problems in this way. Moreover, whether the comrades below can accept this severe management model is also a question.

Throwing aside these annoying things, Chen Ke considered an even more annoying thing. The People's Party cannot always operate on the basis of "low-level theories." The full set of theories of communism and socialism still has to be brought out, and brought out very quickly. Once this theory based on opposing exploitation is brought out and propagated, Chen Ke can imagine what the result will be. There are very few people who truly understand this set of theories. Perhaps some radicals will verbally use these theories to justify their actions, but close to one hundred percent of China's exploiting class and the appendages of the exploiting class will hate this set of theories and the People's Party guided by this set of theories to the bone. At that time, it will really be a situation where "everyone under heaven is an enemy." Chen Ke knew the inevitability of this result, but Chen Ke found that he was not mentally prepared to accept this result.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke got up and opened the cabinet, taking out a large box from inside. Inside were manuscripts written by Chen Ke on theorizing socialist concepts. Volume after volume of manuscripts were all written by Chen Ke by hand. Millions of words were only a small part of the original content in Chen Ke's view. He also needed to take a lot of time to write new content, and then modify and organize it. Looking at the time, without two years, there might not be any real results.

"I actually underestimated theorists; I was really young back then." Chen Ke said with a bitter smile in his heart.

Just considering whether to write for a while longer, the guard led the confidential clerk of the Intelligence Department into the office. The confidential clerk held a very thick document bag. "Chairman Chen, this is the latest intelligence transmitted from Beijing."

Chen Ke just had the mood to write things, but now he had to give up the construction of theory. He took the document bag, asked the confidential clerk to go out, put away the theoretical manuscripts, and then began to read the documents transmitted from the Beijing intelligence station.

Chen Ke always felt that the slow response of the Manchu Qing was wonderful. He originally thought that the Manchu troops attacking the base area should be arriving soon by now. Chen Ke even considered that the first resolution of the People's Congress would be to issue a "Liberation War Order," but the slow movement of the Manchu Qing simply couldn't match the efficiency of the base area. Intelligence from a few days ago showed that even in the face of such a strong force as the People's Party, and even representatives of the Tongmenghui came to the base area, those high officials within the Manchu court still "couldn't stop eating shit like dogs." All energy was spent on internal strife. Although this was a good thing for the base area, Chen Ke's original idea of using the Manchu action to strengthen the internal propaganda effect fell through one by one.

There were two main sources in this intelligence. Part of it was basic news collected by the intelligence network established by the People's Party, and part was news provided by Beijing officials who defected to the People's Party. The news provided by the officials provided internal officialdom struggle situations. Around the issue of command of the Beiyang New Army, large-scale internal strife broke out within the Manchu Qing. Chen Ke actually didn't believe those so-called "surrendered officials." He compared the intelligence collected by the People's Party intelligence network with the intelligence provided by the officials and found that both sides confirmed that there was no sign of the Beiyang New Army moving now. Chen Ke tentatively believed that the news provided by the "surrendered officials" was true.

These news were indeed true. The loyalty of the Beiyang New Army established by Yuan Shikai to Yuan Shikai was far higher than to the Manchu Qing. The reason for maintaining the existence of the Beiyang New Army was "money." A large part of the Manchu Qing's finance was used to build and maintain the New Army. For the New Army up and down, they felt happier taking money from Lord Yuan Shikai than from the Manchu Qing. Although Yuan Shikai already showed signs of losing power, this made the New Army up and down feel that the Manchu court was not a good thing, actually wanting to fix Lord Yuan. Sun Yongsheng was a representative of such mid-level officers.

Sun Yongsheng held the post of Regiment Commander (*Tongdai*) in the Cavalry Battalion of the 3rd Division. According to the organization of the Beiyang Army, he commanded 809 officers and soldiers. The 3rd Division was Duan Qirui's old unit, so Sun Yongsheng was naturally an absolute supporter of Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui. Because he supported Yuan Shikai, Sun Yongsheng's brother-in-law was an official named He Ruming in the Beiyang faction. According to kinship, the leader of the Anhui rebels, Chen Ke, would have to call Sun Yongsheng "Uncle" (*Yifu*) when meeting him. For this "nephew-in-law" Chen Ke, Sun Yongsheng had no familial affection at all. He had quite a plan to "eat the flesh and sleep on the skin" (hate deeply) of Chen Ke, the leader of the rebel party.

For mid-level officers of the Beiyang Army who knew some "inside information," they believed that if it weren't for Chen Ke, this rebel, rebelling, Lord Yuan wouldn't have been hit so miserably. Lord Yuan kindly acted as a matchmaker for Chen Ke, but was implicated by Chen Ke instead. These mid-level officials were full of hostility in their hearts. Of course, although Sun Yongsheng showed no signs of being implicated by Chen Ke yet, he felt that the colleagues around him looked at him wrongly. Some tactless guys even teased Sun Yongsheng with Chen Ke, this "nephew-in-law." This made the "Regiment Commander" very annoyed in his heart.

Because of these reasons, Sun Yongsheng had ignored his wife He Qian these days, and his attitude was bad. He Qian could understand Sun Yongsheng's thoughts. She was also cautious and unwilling to cause trouble. So when He Qian suddenly took the initiative to speak to Sun Yongsheng at night, Sun Yongsheng felt a little surprised.

"Yongsheng, I heard that Lord Duan is very likely to lead the troops in this troop dispatch?" He Qian asked. The Lord Duan she mentioned referred to Duan Qirui.

Duan Qirui was from Taipingji, Liuan County, Anhui Province (now Taiping Village, Sanshipu Town, Jin'an District, Liuan City). Born on March 6, 1865 (the ninth day of the second lunar month in the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty) in the ancestral home three *li* north of Taipingji, Liuan County. His grandfather Duan Pei (courtesy name Yunshan) had trafficked private salt with Liu Mingchuan in his early years, organized militia training, had merit in suppressing the Nian Army, and was an official Huai Army commander leading troops outside. His father Duan Congwen farmed at home, making a living by renting land for cultivation. His mother was née Fan.

In early 1869, to avoid revenge from the local bullies of the Liu family (local bullies Liu Nan and Liu Shu ran rampant in the countryside; Duan Pei killed them out of justice, thus forging a feud), Duan Congwen moved his family to Yanliumiao in Shouzhou. In 1870, Duan Pei returned home to visit relatives and decided to move to the countryside of Dataogang, Chengxiqiao, Hefei (now Taogang Village, Sanshigang Township, Feixi County) to settle down, purchasing more than a hundred *mu* of fields. In 1872, grandfather Duan Pei served as the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Cavalry directly under the Ming Army. Duan Qirui followed to the barracks in Suqian, Jiangsu, to study in a nearby private school. On April 22, 1879 (the second day of the third intercalary month in the fifth year of Guangxu), grandfather Duan Pei (promoted to the rank of Admiral and registered as Brigadier General for merit, awarded brave Baturu, granted Ronglu Grand Master and General of Zhenwei) died. Duan Qirui cried and escorted the coffin back to Dataogang, Chengxi Township, Hefei for burial. Since then, the family declined. He dropped out of school after continuing to study in a private school in Houdawei Village for one year.

Because Duan Qirui was from Anhui, the call for him to lead the troops this time was very high.

"Probably so." Sun Yongsheng replied.

"Yongsheng, can you feign illness for a while?" He Qian said.

"What?" Sun Yongsheng felt if He Qian was sick. Sun Yongsheng was free from illness and disaster; why feign illness?

"If the court sends troops to Anhui this time, I think you'd better not go." He Qian looked cautious, but what she said was not "cautious" at all.

"Why?" Sun Yongsheng felt very puzzled.

"You also know that my family has dealt with Chen Ke. I have met that person; he is not easy to deal with." He Qian said. He Qian was a very smart girl, but in terms of insight, Sun Yongsheng was actually far inferior to He Qian. She didn't just want to persuade Sun Yongsheng now. Seeing that the troop dispatch was chaotic, this chaos meant that the court would definitely send troops. She didn't mention this matter too early either. Wait until the time for dispatching troops was close, He Qian began to persuade Sun Yongsheng.

Sun Yongsheng actually didn't hate He Qian, and the couple's life after marriage was acceptable. He just had to make some gestures because of recent events. He Qian's words made Sun Yongsheng unhappy, but Sun Yongsheng said fairly kindly, "A group of chaotic bandits, okay for dealing with Anhui and Hubei New Armies. Encountering our Beiyang New Army, they are absolutely vulnerable."