The cold wind in early winter in Anhui was colder than in Jiangsu and Zhejiang; this was Xu Xilin's feeling about Anhui. Xu Xilin had been to many places. Although the winter in the north was cold, it was relatively dry. Wearing more clothes could withstand it. The winter in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, although the air was humid, the temperature was much warmer. Anhui combined coldness and humidity; when it got cold, it really felt bone-chilling.

When rushing from Hangzhou to Fengtai County, Xu Xilin didn't bring many clothes, and he couldn't think of so much either. Fortunately, the People's Party provided greatcoats to these guests from afar, which finally resisted the chill. Xu Xilin naturally didn't know that this greatcoat was a general winter clothing customized by Chen Ke imitating the style of cotton greatcoats on the railway. And the greatcoats on the railway were themselves made imitating military greatcoats. Plus cotton hats and gloves, the whole person seemed wrapped in a cotton bale, still very warm.

This kind of thermal clothing, which could be called "strange attire" in 1907, was only issued to those eating public meals (government employees) in the base area. Different from the cotton robes worn by relatively rich families, these cotton greatcoats with high standing collars were all double-breasted with buttons, plus large signs of various departments on the chest, looking quite martial.

Learning that Chen Ke had no time to meet him, Xu Xilin wasn't angry or anxious. People of the People's Party didn't like to slight people; since Chen Ke didn't see him, he should really have no time. Xu Xilin didn't wait idly either; he applied to the staff of the reception department to conduct an inspection in Fengtai County. The reception staff finally gave them an inspection suggestion, not only in Fengtai county town but also suggesting they go to the countryside near the county town to have a look.

The military greatcoat was an extremely common clothing in Fengtai County; about one-third of adults wore this kind of clothes. Xu Xilin soon discovered in the inspection that as long as one was a formal state staff member, regardless of gender, there would be free cotton greatcoats issued. In this point, the cotton greatcoat worn by Chen Ke was no different from the cotton greatcoat worn by ordinary workers. But this treatment was a thorough one-size-fits-all approach; if you were not "eating public meals," you absolutely didn't have such benefits. In the countryside outside the county town, unless on the water conservancy project construction sites where engineering troops gathered in large numbers, or formal staff in the establishment of local governments, ordinary families couldn't see such cotton greatcoats unless they made them themselves.

"This greatcoat is not bad; let's go back and make a batch too." A Guangfu Society cadre who came along praised with his hands tucked in his sleeves.

"Where to get so much cotton?" Xu Xilin smiled bitterly. He had participated in fundraising many times and had done some business; he was very sensitive to prices. Cotton was so expensive now; making one greatcoat would cost a lot of money.

Xu Xilin's words received the approval of the comrades. Someone continued to ask: "Mr. Xu, I see the People's Party here seems very wealthy. This shouldn't be. No matter what, Anhui is not better than our Zhejiang."

This was the doubt of many people about the Anhui base area. When the living standard of the people improved on a large scale, this doubt would definitely surface. Although ordinary common people didn't have cotton greatcoats provided by the state, no one was seen without clothes to cover their bodies either. In the red brick houses built on a large scale in the countryside, every household's life looked passable. Not to mention anything else, just this red brick house, even in Zhejiang, not everyone could afford to live in it. Let alone the smell of meat food in the air of the village during meals. This couldn't help but make the revolutionaries from Zhejiang feel surprised.

Everyone discussed the wealth of Anhui and the stability of the people's lives in the base area. But no one mentioned the People's Party's policies. The Guangfu Society knew the People's Party's land reform policy. In the field inspection of these two days, they confirmed that landlords no longer existed in Fengtai County. All land was nationalized. Land was allocated by person; as long as you were willing to farm, you could get the usage rights of three *mu* of land per person. On this point, the People's Party did what they said. But there were no more landlords.

The Guangfu Society didn't oppose the equalization of land; at least Tao Chengzhang and Zhang Taiyan supported this policy. However, the Guangfu Society now had neither a land program unanimously agreed upon by all members nor the strength of the People's Party to turn political concepts into practical systems. These few Guangfu Society cadres remaining in Anhui were very clear that if they wanted to forcibly promote this land policy like the People's Party, internal strife would start within the Guangfu Society first. In conversations with common people, these few people asked if landlords opposed land reform. The common people said with a smile: "As long as they are not afraid of death, of course they can oppose." The murderous aura contained in these words made the Guangfu Society people dare not ask more about the fate of those "unafraid of death" landlords.

However, there were always times when words in the heart couldn't be held back. After visiting for a few days, these visitors of the Guangfu Society accumulated a lot of thoughts in their hearts. Not speaking these thoughts out really felt like a fishbone stuck in the throat.

Lying on the borrowed beds at night, everyone first talked about the details seen during the visit as a routine, but talking about these for several days in a row, everyone couldn't raise their spirits either. Finally, someone couldn't help saying: "I feel the point where the People's Party is stronger than us is one thing: they can enforce orders and prohibitions, and do what they say. We are basically a tray of loose sand now. Everyone looks like they are under the banner of the Guangfu Society, but their hearts can't be used in one place."

Once the topic was opened, it naturally couldn't be stopped. Someone immediately followed and said: "Not only enforcing orders and prohibitions, the People's Party can also be prepared, absolutely not discovering things are wrong only after starting to do them. Before the event, someone among us also mentioned bandaging, but when really seeing gunshot wounds, it was completely different from what we thought before."

"They seem powerful in fighting, but compared with their engaging in internal affairs, fighting actually didn't take the greatest effort. The Yue Wang Hui claimed a hundred thousand members, but actually, except for fighting, they had nothing instead." The one speaking was an old cadre who had stayed in Anhui; he mentioned the weakness of the Guangfu Society very implicitly.

At this time, Xu Xilin couldn't remain silent either. His biggest doubt was elsewhere. "Although our Guangfu Society considers a lot, we can do little. On the contrary, although the People's Party does things one after another, it always gives people the feeling that it wasn't planned for a long time. How exactly do they arrange these things?"

Xu Xilin indeed hit the point. The People's Party indeed didn't have so much time to discuss various things. The structure of this organization destined that as long as the Central Committee gave an order, the departments below would act immediately. Moreover, compared with other political forces of this era, the actions of the People's Party could be considered somewhat methodical. For example, after the NPC meeting, the first to start acting intensively was the People's Internal Affairs Committee.

"Land reform must be implemented everywhere. The Party Central Committee has determined that the method of land reform is encroachment. Centered on areas where land reform has been completed, promote it to surrounding areas village by village." Since it was an internal Party meeting of the People's Internal Affairs Committee, all discussions went straight to the theme, including implementation methods and means; naturally, there was nothing to hide from Party members. Chairman Qi Huishen made a speech.

"Comrades, there will definitely be people opposing land reform. Some are because of economic interests, wanting to earn more benefits for themselves in land reform. This will be persuaded and educated by government departments. Some just oppose land policy. For these people, of course, we must also criticize and educate. If criticism and education don't work, and this group still wants to continue opposing land reform on the stance of exploiters, then we can only list them in the ranks of counter-revolutionaries. The work of our People's Internal Affairs Committee is to find out the counter-revolutionaries among the opponents and deal with them."

Some comrades below took notes, and some listened quietly. Qi Huishen spoke to here and paused slightly. After everyone finished recording the content, he continued: "Where is the difference between counter-revolutionaries and revolutionaries? Who can answer?"

Young comrades looked at each other; no one was willing to answer for a moment. Discussion at Party meetings had a characteristic: generally, the first one to speak was easily the one who said the wrong thing. Everyone wasn't quite willing to make a fool of themselves. Qi Huishen knew everyone's thoughts. Seeing no one was willing to stand up and speak, he laughed: "Our People's Party indeed wants to unify thinking. Chairman Chen talked to me a few days ago and mentioned this matter. Unifying thinking is not wrong, but this cannot become the leader's will. It cannot be that because you are in a high position, everything you say is correct. This is official standard (*Guan Ben Wei*), not unifying thinking. Just like the distinction of counter-revolutionaries, based on the Party's stance, we inevitably have unified views, and we inevitably have different views. Where is the unity, where is the difference? What kind of consensus will our Party members reach in the end? This is work that absolutely cannot be sloppy."

This was a bit too theoretical; young comrades were even less willing to express their views. Qi Huishen was both satisfied and disappointed with the comrades' reaction. Suppressing two kinds of emotions, Qi Huishen continued: "The core of politics is interest. The stance we revolutionaries should possess is this: power from the Party belongs to the Party; this power is to serve the Party. All power from the people belongs to the people; the purpose of operating this power is to serve the people. The power in our hands does not belong to us personally. That is to say, you cannot use the power given to you by the Party and the people to seek private gain for yourself. For example, we determine there are counter-revolutionaries within the Party, but there are comrades in our ranks who feel they have good personal relationships with this counter-revolutionary and can't bear to see their good friend have a bad end. So they notify their friend privately, letting him try every means to evade punishment. Does everyone think doing this is right?"

The deterrent power of these words was extremely great. Some comrades didn't have so many thoughts in their hearts, so they showed very simple expressions on their faces. Some comrades' expressions were relatively complicated. Qi Huishen took all these expressions into his eyes. He didn't call names directly either but continued: "From a personal perspective, caring about family members and friends is human nature. From the perspective of personal conduct, we can even praise this attitude. But, from the perspective of our organization, this person, or these people, using the power given by the organization to seek personal benefits for themselves—this is a crime. This person, these people betrayed the trust of the organization; this is absolutely unacceptable to the organization."

Speaking to here, what exactly Qi Huishen wanted to say was already very clear. Several people were already restless. Everyone was a member of the People's Internal Affairs Committee; everyone knew clearly what work the People's Internal Affairs Committee exactly did. Their strange expressions also attracted the attention of surrounding comrades. Being at the focus of gazes, the comrades who originally had strange expressions changed their looks even more.

Qi Huishen acted as if he didn't see it. He continued: "Our People's Party doesn't require everyone to kill father and mother to make revolution. From a personal perspective, regardless of the reason relatives and friends suffered disaster, we take our own money to help a bit, take our own grain to send some; this kind of thing is personal behavior. The organization neither supports nor opposes it. Because this is everyone's own interest; everyone has this right and this freedom. However, some people use the power obtained from the organization to serve themselves, serve their relatives and friends; this is absolutely not allowed by the organization. Party power for Party use, public power for public use; grasp one's own income and rights oneself. These powers do not mix with each other, nor do they infringe on each other. But if some comrades just don't understand this point, thinking that once power is in hand, they can use it according to their own ideas, and Party power and public power belong to themselves—I want to ask everyone, is such a person a qualified Party member?"

"This kind of person is basically not our People's Party member." Young Party members already said angrily.

"Correct, they are basically not Party members." There were quite a few young Party members speaking like this. While expressing their attitude, everyone glared fiercely at those people who were ashen-faced or trembling slightly.

Qi Huishen waved his hand. "Comrades, this statement is wrong. No matter what this kind of person did, as long as they joined our People's Party, they are our People's Party members. This is a fact. Just like we drew a stroke on a white wall; no matter how we think this stroke shouldn't be drawn, how ugly it is drawn, this is a fact. We can't deny the fact that they are People's Party members just because some people committed crimes and became scum. Facts are facts; as People's Party members, we must learn to face facts and accept facts."

These words effectively alleviated the comrades' emotions, but this relief was also temporary. After criticizing comrades with wrong understanding, Qi Huishen's spearhead pointed at those comrades who violated Party discipline again. "Our People's Internal Affairs Committee is a very special institution; the work targets we have to face are mostly enemies. If the distinction between Party power, public power, and personal power in other departments is just work distribution, the situation we face is more of a contradiction between the enemy and us. Therefore, after this meeting ends, all comrades must accept investigation. Every comrade must explain their own situation, and every comrade must also explain clearly the situation of other comrades they know. This is not the organization making things difficult for everyone; this is the organization protecting everyone. The current situation is, we will deal with those comrades who violated discipline, but we won't kill people. Because the current struggle hasn't reached this level yet. However, after this investigation, the reorganized People's Internal Affairs Committee will possess stricter discipline, and disciplinary actions and punishments will also be severer."

After saying this, Qi Huishen saw that the faces of all comrades were not looking good. Dealing with others was one thing, but when the investigation reached one's own head, and one had to explain other comrades' matters oneself, this was another matter. Those who could still maintain a happy mood after hearing these could only be said to have a special mental structure.

Qi Huishen laughed: "Comrades, this kind of investigation is just part of our work. I'm not asking everyone to be informers. Since everyone used Party power and public power, everyone has to be responsible for these powers. I still say that: as members of the People's Party, we must learn to face facts and accept facts. This is part of the ideological construction of Party members, and also part of the Party organization construction to be strengthened in the future."

Seeing comrades still didn't make a sound, Qi Huishen took out a list and let some comrades go to accept investigation first. Among these people, most were those comrades whose expressions changed greatly, and some were quite unexpected comrades. For example, some comrades who consistently performed quite well were also named to go out and accept investigation. Such a fact made the participating comrades feel extremely surprised. Some named comrades were trembling with fear, and some had gloomy faces. Someone simply shouted: "Chairman Qi, I am wronged!"

Qi Huishen smiled helplessly. "No one wants to convict you now; where does this grievance come from? Go quickly to accept investigation; don't delay everyone's work."

Most of those accepted for investigation went out the door themselves, but there were one or two who stayed on the stools and refused to leave. Qi Huishen waved his hand; several guards immediately picked up the people unwilling to move and dragged them out. The youths originally had some feeling of sympathy for like-minded people in distress, but seeing these scoundrel-like guys, a feeling of contempt arose greatly in their hearts. The original worry was diluted a lot instead.

After these comrades went out, Qi Huishen said: "Remaining comrades, let's continue the meeting content. Counter-revolutionary problems that will be encountered in land reform. How to judge whether these people oppose out of personal interest or out of opposition to the revolution; does anyone have any thoughts?"

Not only was the People's Internal Affairs Committee conducting internal investigations, but almost all departments were conducting internal investigations within a certain range. Ren Qiying never expected that she would be the first investigation target in the government department. After making the report as a government representative at the NPC meeting, almost all comrades of the Fengtai County Committee thought it was only a matter of time before Ren Qiying got promoted. As for which position Ren Qiying would be promoted to, opinions varied. Some thought Ren Qiying would be promoted to the post of County Magistrate of Fengtai County, and some thought Ren Qiying would be transferred laterally to work in other counties. There were also those who feared the world wouldn't be chaotic, thinking Ren Qiying was very likely to replace Yuwen Badu and be promoted to County Committee Secretary.

Ren Qiying didn't have this optimism. At this time, she was in a very idle period. When preparing the government work report, Ren Qiying handed over the work to other comrades; she was equivalently completely transferred away from the County Committee Office. Now that the government report was finished, Ren Qiying still hadn't received notice to resume work. The whole person hung here like this. So when comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission and the People's Internal Affairs Committee came to find Ren Qiying together, Ren Qiying really felt a bit uneasy. These two departments were not personnel departments at all, but departments dealing with people (punishing/investigating). Why would they find her?

Being taken to the location of the People's Internal Affairs Committee by the investigation team, when the joint investigation team of the two departments started with "Comrade Ren Qiying, please put down your ideological burden and answer the organization's questions seeking truth from facts," Ren Qiying was sure her judgment was completely correct; there should be something bad.

In terms of rank, Ren Qiying's rank was far higher than these few staff members. But the Discipline Inspection Commission and the People's Internal Affairs Committee didn't care about your rank. This was repeatedly emphasized in the training within the Party and government departments. There was also corresponding content in the exams. Although sure she didn't make mistakes, really being investigated by these two departments, Ren Qiying still felt uneasy in her heart. Theoretically, the Discipline Inspection Commission could take down any cadre of the same level. As for the People's Internal Affairs Committee, their achievements in suppressing counter-revolutionaries were illustrious. Ren Qiying knew that if these two departments were bent on making things difficult for her, her official position and life might both be handed over.

Although feigning calm on her face, Ren Qiying was a young girl after all; saying she wasn't afraid in her heart was impossible.

The comrades of the Discipline Inspection Commission set a tone first: the application investigation of Party power, public power, and private power—the three powers—was the core content of this investigation meeting. Hearing these, Ren Qiying couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief lightly. Ren Qiying's father Ren Yugang talked about these things to Ren Qiying whenever there was a chance. With her father backing her up at home, whenever relatives and friends came to beg at Ren Qiying's door, Ren Qiying sent them all to her father Ren Yugang. Ren Yugang never let Ren Qiying do things for relatives. This wasn't out of any lofty ideals; Ren Yugang was definitely not a pedantic person. His view of human nature was very penetrating. He always educated Ren Qiying: "Girl, none of those who come to beg at your door consider for you. If they bring things to you, that's just them wanting to bribe you. The things they give you, they definitely want to get back ten times, a hundred times the benefits from you. Although our family is not some golden branch and jade leaf (nobility), I feel if a person can be open and aboveboard, they are not lower than the emperor when seeing him. If it were still the Manchu Qing's way, you couldn't help being a bad person after becoming an official. Now with this Anhui built by Chairman Chen, I feel good people can have good rewards."

Whether good people had good rewards, Ren Qiying didn't care. Being an official had nothing to do with being a good person, but Ren Qiying liked being open and aboveboard. Being open and aboveboard meant everyone was equal, all relying on ability to eat. Regardless of your gender, regardless of your origin, you could compete freely. This was like giving you a pair of wings to fly freely. If you insisted on binding yourself with complex relationships, that could only be said to be asking for trouble. Whether others wanted to do this, Ren Qiying couldn't control; Ren Qiying herself was absolutely unwilling to have someone bind her wings.

Even if Ren Qiying was so confident in herself, the investigation was still merciless. As long as it was content decided by Ren Qiying herself, there were corresponding investigations. For example, regarding Ren Qiying promoting the spontaneous production team construction in the countryside, the investigator directly asked why Ren Qiying once applied to let her own family's clan form a production team. This question was very severe. Looking from a bad angle, there was a trap contained in it. Since forming a production team was very likely to get government support, then this method of letting family members try first very likely had the suspicion of using public power for private use.

"Fabricating charges is probably this kind of practice, right?" Ren Qiying felt the hair on her back stand up. Although the investigators didn't induce it this way at all, Ren Qiying could feel the danger in it. She couldn't help rejoicing that she gave up this idea after discussing with her father at that time. She decisively gave up all interest dealings with the clan; the whole family gave up rural household registration, gave up land, and moved into the city. If this matter had really been done, heaven knew what trouble there would be.

Although somewhat scared after the fact, Ren Qiying still explained her thoughts and process clearly to the investigators seeking truth from facts. This was the first time Ren Qiying saw those few youths opposite with solemn to even stern faces look at each other, revealing surprise in their expressions.

Various questions were laid out one by one. Seeing Ren Qiying answer the previous questions calmly, a comrade from the Discipline Inspection Commission couldn't help asking: "Comrade Ren Qiying, what plans do you have for family arrangements?"

Hearing this, Ren Qiying frowned for the first time, a strong unhappiness arising in her heart. This question really infringed on Ren Qiying's private rights. Moreover, the matter of family arrangement wasn't public business at all. Just as Ren Qiying considered whether to make a verbal counterattack, the comrade from the People's Internal Affairs Committee touched the comrade who spoke just now gently. That youth quickly understood he lost his composure. He hurriedly said: "This is my personal question, not the organization's review content. You don't have to answer this question."

Ren Qiying endured her anger and nodded. "Then I won't answer this question." After speaking, Ren Qiying quickly thought that her answer would definitely be recorded. Perhaps it would bring bad influence to herself. But Ren Qiying didn't care at all in her anger. She said secretly in her heart: "Let them record it. Our family relies on our own ability to eat; why care what others think?"

The inquiry lasted for a whole day. In the evening, Ren Qiying wasn't allowed to go home. She was arranged into a "rest room." That is to say, there was a lock outside the door, and it could also be opened from inside. A simple wooden bed, a set of bedding, that was all. The window wasn't a French window, but high on the wall near the roof. Ren Qiying looked at the height; if she jumped up with all her might, perhaps she could grab the window sill. But even grabbing the window sill was useless; the window wasn't a glass window but a wooden bar. This rest room was probably used as a prison.

Thinking of this, Ren Qiying panicked a bit. She pulled the door hard; the door opened with her hand. The door wasn't locked from the outside. Ren Qiying looked outside, only to see sentries guarding both ends of the corridor. Without waiting for the sentries to speak, Ren Qiying hurriedly returned inside the door and closed it.

In the morning, she was the Director of the County Committee Office, and in the evening, she was in such a place. The strong contrast made Ren Qiying feel great panic. A strong sense of doubt surged into her heart suddenly. Ren Qiying began to reflect on everything she had done. Did she really do something wrong? So much so that she had to be given such treatment? But no matter how she recalled, Ren Qiying couldn't remember what exactly she did wrong.

There were no tables or chairs in the room. Ren Qiying shrank onto the bed, wrapping the military greatcoat tightly around her body. When facing the investigators, Ren Qiying could still maintain composure. Now alone, thousands of thoughts surged in her mind. Ren Qiying was completely confused.

The review the next day was still very process-oriented. After finishing the work questions not finished yesterday, the investigators closed the record. They said completely formulaically: "Comrade Ren Qiying, the questions have been finished. You can look at the record. If there are no problems, please sign your name."

The interview record was very, very long. Ren Qiying really didn't expect she could talk about so many things. Although it was just finished yesterday and today, when Ren Qiying flipped through the record, she actually had a strong sense of strangeness. Are these the words I said? Ren Qiying felt doubtful more than once.

After flipping through all the content, Ren Qiying signed her name. Then the investigators left Ren Qiying in the room and left first. This was the first time Ren Qiying seriously sized up the room reviewing her. She suddenly discovered one thing: this room was actually no different from the room she was allowed to live in. Same size, same window high on the wall without glass but only wooden bars. The difference was that this room only had tables and chairs, while the residence only had a bed. This discovery made Ren Qiying recall that helpless feeling yesterday. The room seemed to become cold immediately. Ren Qiying couldn't help pulling the military greatcoat closer again.

What exactly will be done to her next? Ren Qiying had no bottom in her heart at all. Could it be that she really had some mistakes in her work? Ren Qiying had to consider this. Once the train of thought turned to this direction, the always confident Ren Qiying also felt she lost confidence. For her, solving problems was always solving the current things first. As for long-term arrangements, that was the responsibility of the Party Central Committee. The bureaucratic system didn't have its own ideas; they just completed tasks according to the plan. And Ren Qiying knew her own affairs. The ingenious methods praised by comrades were, in the final analysis, just willing to exert a bit more effort. She was just the one who knew best what purpose the common people wanted to achieve. What Ren Qiying did was just pushing the common people to relevant departments as fast as possible, willing to lead the common people to the accurate "relevant departments" to solve problems. Really saying Ren Qiying did any earth-shattering big things, that was absolutely out of the question.

She was just a high-level errand runner; Ren Qiying suddenly realized this strongly. After understanding her role, Ren Qiying discovered the arrogance she hadn't noticed before, that mood of thinking she was superior to others. In this investigation, Ren Qiying discovered many very private questions. If it was a report submitted, let it be. Many things discussed only by a few people together were also known by the comrades reviewing her this time. Needless to say, someone must have reported in other occasions. The organization's control over cadres actually reached this level; Ren Qiying felt both afraid and dissatisfied.

However, when she felt she was just a high-level errand runner, although this mood couldn't be said to dissipate cleanly, it dissipated greatly. She must have made quite a few comrades unhappy on normal days, right? Ren Qiying thought. Recalling this arrogance of hers, Ren Qiying couldn't help thinking of many small details in the past. That unconscious resistance of some comrades should be the instinctive reaction to this arrogance of hers. Actually, a lot of times she was also boasting, forcefully bragging about her work methods to solve troubles. If she was wrong, this was definitely her own fault. Thinking of this, Ren Qiying felt she still hadn't achieved her father's expectations and hadn't truly become an open and aboveboard person.

Not knowing how long she thought, the door was pushed open. It was a clerk from the Personnel Department who came in. He was all smiles. As soon as he entered, the clerk said happily: "Comrade Ren Qiying, I formally notify you that you will accept a one-week cadre training. Please go back with me now."

Ren Qiying couldn't guess what she would encounter next either. Since the Personnel Department clerk said so, Ren Qiying had to obey. Without anyone stopping them, the two came out of the People's Internal Affairs Committee office. When they stopped at the main gate of the former People's Party barracks in the county town, now changed into a joint office of multiple organs and the location of military training institutions, Ren Qiying was truly sure she was going to accept training, not the next round of review.

The training room was very ordinary, but this only referred to the room having no personality. However, the location of this classroom was extremely critical. In this former barracks, now still the location of multiple key departments of the People's Party heavily guarded, this room was used when high-level cadres held meetings. As soon as she entered the door, she saw quite a few people sitting in the room. Chen Ke sat on the podium. Below were several high-ranking Politburo Standing Committee members in charge of work in various counties. Not only them, Yan Fu, You Gou, these big cadres in charge of economic construction were also present. Besides them, there were some young cadres of the base area who performed very well in various places. Ren Qiying wasn't unfamiliar with these people. In the NPC meeting that just ended a few days ago, these people were all non-voting attendees. It could be said that the elites of the base area government and economic work gathered together.

Chen Ke waved for Ren Qiying to sit down. He said loudly: "Since everyone is here, let's start the training. Let me state the main point of this training: what exactly are we going to do in the First Five-Year Plan. After this Counter-Encirclement ends, we are unlikely to encounter large-scale enemy attacks. Of course, the premise is that the Manchu Qing doesn't borrow heavily from foreign countries and then arm the army desperately to launch attacks on us."

Ren Qiying couldn't adapt to such a change for a moment. Not long ago she was like a prisoner, and now she was accepting Chen Ke's training together with top cadres. And the content Chen Ke talked about was completely different from ordinary work. It was actually considerations concerning the overall situation. This wasn't a level a Director of the County Committee Office could touch.

The level of this meeting seemed very high. Paper and pens were already prepared on every table. Ren Qiying picked up the pen and started recording almost subconsciously.

Chen Ke laughed: "I'm not afraid of everyone saying I'm a dictator this time. Because I have no way to fully prove many things involved to everyone. If you insist on saying I'm talking nonsense, then I really have no way to prove I'm not talking nonsense."

The comrades below couldn't help laughing kindly. Chen Ke had always been relatively serious; he didn't like joking much. But today Chen Ke looked very excited, which was quite different from before.

"Comrades, the training starting today will cover my judgment and expectations for the future. Especially expectations in industrial construction. I can tell comrades clearly now that many of my considerations and efforts in the past were prepared to realize this expectation. Why didn't I tell everyone these before? That's because I thought everyone's horizon hadn't opened up, and the difference with my expectation was too large. I was very worried everyone couldn't understand these things. Those here now are the first-class cadres in our base area. I believe that regardless of knowing what future development will look like, everyone can grasp their own pace and still do the current work well. Instead of being full of beautiful blueprints of the future and losing yourselves as a result. Most importantly, I believe everyone can have this self-awareness. Can grasp yourselves."

Hearing Chen Ke putting high hats on everyone first, quite a few comrades let out a burst of kind laughter again. This was indeed a rare scene.

Chen Ke had a feeling of radiance. His eyes were shining, and his face was full of a kind of high spirit. "Comrades, then let's start now. I'll start telling everyone from the Age of Discovery. Please remember, it's impossible for me to prove to everyone that what I say is correct now. And my memory is limited; surely some things are remembered wrong, or I didn't research thoroughly at the time. Please listen to the class with a critical attitude on this point."

If these words gave comrades a relaxed feeling at the beginning, then the content Chen Ke recounted next soon made people feel a kind of shock. Some of these things Chen Ke had talked about in textbooks, but more were things Chen Ke hadn't talked about at all. Chen Ke started from the Age of Discovery first, to the discovery of the New World, to the Great Triangle slave and sugar trade. The Spanish Armada, the Sea Coachman Dutch, to the rise of Britain, the French Revolution, the Napoleonic era, to the establishment of Prussia and Little Germany, the American Civil War.

Matching various maps, Chen Ke used three days to recount the approximate world history to the comrades. The high-level cadres of the People's Party all had a cultural foundation that absolutely couldn't be considered poor, even the young Ren Qiying was so. But when the history of the major industrial countries on this earth for hundreds of years unfolded to them, these people still felt dazzled. Even as learned as Yan Fu, he hadn't been able to research world history so systematically either.

Sure enough, as Chen Ke said, what these cadres felt was more doubt, rather than a realization of sudden enlightenment due to obtaining knowledge.

In the next day, Chen Ke focused on elaborating the Industrial Revolution and the capitalist system. This part of the content was what Chen Ke had talked about.

The highlight was the next two days. Chen Ke made a bold elaboration on how to build a brand new China, what kind of organizational form and ideology this China would have, and how these seemingly vague contents could be roughly realized, especially in industry, from technology, the relationship between these industrial technologies and the social development process.

If in the first few days, comrades still felt Chen Ke was a erudite scholar, the training content of the last few days made comrades almost think Chen Ke was a "fantasist."

Countless technologies never heard of, or even unimaginable, were combined strangely but seemingly reasonably in Chen Ke's elaboration. These sciences could also be organically combined with society. What surprised everyone most was that Chen Ke didn't construct a picture of the final social form. Chen Ke repeatedly emphasized the interaction between the process of various technological developments and society. This strong sense of layering made everyone almost think these things really existed when listening to the class. Everyone seemed to travel through time, seeing the profound changes that would happen in the world within decades.

Chen Ke didn't dare to tell everyone about technologies completely detached from reality like the large-scale network yet; what he elaborated was merely the technological era reaching the level of WWII. And regarding many technologies already discovered in this era, Chen Ke "distorted" them a bit, directly deriving technologies that comrades could roughly understand.

Even so, these contents were already shocking to the world.

When Chen Ke ended the course with aircraft carrier operations, and told comrades that if the future China wanted to become a powerful force carrying weight in the world, it would ultimately rely on sea power and global free trade to maintain, all comrades listening to the class looked at Chen Ke with a tired and numb expression. They finally understood why Chen Ke made such a statement at the beginning of the lecture. No one really believed everything Chen Ke described could be realized. More accurately, they couldn't imagine at all that someone in this world could depict a world to them.

Although the base area now had a history of more than a year, although everyone completed achievements they never imagined they could achieve. But compared with what Chen Ke elaborated, all this was so insignificant. Wanting to cross this barrier of thinking really exceeded the existing capabilities of the comrades. Actually, not only the comrades, actually Chen Ke himself didn't have this ability either. He had merely seen history with his own eyes and understood history. And the era Chen Ke experienced was also an era of China accumulating strength and bursting forth, as if instantly letting China kill its way from the Second Industrial Revolution directly into a great era capable of contending with the United States.

After a week of training, Chen Ke no longer had the high spirit at the beginning; elaboration also almost exhausted Chen Ke's energy. He said with a hoarse voice: "Comrades, I still say the original sentence. I believe everyone can not lose themselves in front of such a description. We can definitely walk to that era. A journey of a thousand *li* begins with a single step. We accumulate bit by bit, complete step by step. Everyone present here can see that era."

"Heh, hehe, haha." Yan Fu suddenly laughed a bit neurotically. His cultural foundation and technological level were simply not comparable to other young comrades. So among the crowd present, the one who resonated most with Chen Ke's narration content in the end was none other than Yan Fu.

"Wenqing, oh, Chairman Chen, you can really endure." Yan Fu stared at Chen Ke with shining eyes. "When I read the books you wrote, I felt you already had great foresight. But only now do I know you only spoke a surface at that time."

Regarding such severe accusation, Chen Ke was somewhat mentally prepared. He swallowed saliva, trying to make his hoarse throat feel better, then said: "I told everyone everything I know. Now everyone is on the same line. What we have to do is realize the world I told everyone. This is the thought I haven't changed from beginning to end."

No one dared to take up this sentence. Everyone looked at Chen Ke with eyes like looking at a monster, and then looked at the comrades around them. In the eyes of comrades, everyone could only see extreme confusion.

"Chairman Chen, exactly to what extent do we have to develop productive forces?" You Gou broke the silence. As the leader of the National Defense Science and Industry Committee, You Gou was really frightened by everything Chen Ke elaborated. There was almost a hysterical feeling in her voice.

Chen Ke nodded. "Then let me give everyone an example. Duckweed in a pond doubles its area every day. It can cover the full pond in thirty days. Then how long does it take for this pond to be covered half?"

Comrades almost all frowned. This question had absolutely no parameters that could be calculated from the beginning. Ren Qiying wasn't too good at math, but she had a flash of inspiration first; the answer was actually the twenty-ninth day. After thinking about it repeatedly several times, Ren Qiying was sure she wasn't wrong. She said timidly: "The twenty-ninth day."

Almost all comrades hearing this answer didn't have a look of sudden enlightenment; some comrades frowned even more confusedly instead.

"Correct, it's the twenty-ninth day." Chen Ke answered. "If someone told comrades a year ago that we could annihilate tens of thousands of Beiyang troops a year later, would everyone believe it? At that time, how many people did we have, how many guns? How big was our base area? Compared with that time, the strength of our base area has increased not just one or two times. Why could we do these? Who can tell me?"

The comrades still didn't answer; too much stimulation had occupied the vast majority of their spirit.

Chen Ke didn't intend to force everyone to speak either. He continued: "That is because every one of us completed our own work. We united under the banner of people's revolution, advancing together for a common goal. This is not the victory of me, Chen Ke alone; this is the common victory of all comrades. Not too long, keep working down-to-earth; thirty years, thirty years to realize everything I said. The younger comrades present are also twenty years old. These twenty years look long, but when really passed, it's just a snap of the fingers. Another twenty years later, everyone thinking of these twenty years, it will also be just a snap of the fingers. I say these to everyone, and everyone is not thinking infatuatedly now about how great it would be if such a situation could be achieved. I am very happy because comrades indeed were not confused by the things I said. The days ahead are our new beginning. Just like before, everyone work down-to-earth. That's all for today, class dismissed."

This was the "least intense" response in Chen Ke's previous trainings, but Chen Ke had no way either. The Party in history was first composed of a group of elite "returnees." Secondly, in the development of the Party, there was the Soviet Union as a benchmark anyway. Regardless of what happened after the founding of the nation, during the revolutionary war, slogans like "The Soviet Union's today is our tomorrow," as well as Soviet construction exhibition rooms, effectively improved the yearning for the communist system.

And Chen Ke absolutely didn't have such conditions. In the period when the base area was about to expand practically on a large scale, without higher pursuit, Chen Ke couldn't guarantee whether the various regions separated from the direct control of the Central Committee would embark on the path of standing still and refusing to make progress. In this point, the organizational system Chen Ke strove to strengthen became a bad factor instead. If the leader had no high pursuit at all, building a passable system, the existing organization could absolutely cope with it. This was simply a devastating blow to the revolution. The rigidity of the organization meant interest groups would be born soon. Chen Ke absolutely didn't believe the current him could have the political skill to eradicate "mountain strongholds" (factions) within the organization.

Since he couldn't choose this way, the remaining choice was to "prescribe strong medicine." On one hand, give everyone strong stimulation on the future blueprint; on the other hand, start a large-scale rectification. Interest groups would appear no matter what; Chen Ke could only hope now that before interest groups appeared, he could make the scale of the cake the largest first.

Besides core cadres, there were also a dozen or so excellent cadres carefully selected from various places listening to the class this time. Chen Ke considered having exhausted all his accumulated political prestige in this training. Before accumulating huge prestige again, if Chen Ke had any deviation, these backbones would definitely doubt everything Chen Ke said.

But the revolutionary career of more than two years made Chen Ke have a kind of enlightenment: making revolution really requires wholehearted devotion; looking forward and backward absolutely has no good end.

"I believe comrades can gradually understand me and accept everything I said." When leaving the classroom, Chen Ke said to himself as if cheering himself up.