Forty-four years after Zeng Guofan conquered Nanjing in 1864, quite a few human heads hung on the city gates of Nanjing. Of course, in terms of quantity, these heads in 1908 were far fewer than in Zeng Guofan's time. Back then, after the Hunan Army fought into the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they unleashed soldiers to massacre and set fires. In Nanjing city, which had been renamed "Tianjing" (Heavenly Capital), corpses piled up like mountains, blood flowed like rivers, and the death toll was counted in hundreds of thousands. Now, at least, Nanjing city was still in the hands of the Manchu Qing, so the killing was far from reaching the level of that year. Several hundred heads existed merely as a deterrent; even so, they indeed frightened the common people inside and outside Nanjing city badly.

Because they had been hung up for public display for a relatively long time, the skin of the heads had turned blackish-brown. But the people who tried to use these heads for public display wanted to keep them from rotting for a long time, so they pickled them multiple times with lime. The layers of white lime stained on the blackish-brown skin, combined with those pale eyeballs and the black tongues inside the crooked mouths, made the heads of these dead look somewhat miserable and twistedly alive instead.

Killing these "rebel party members" was the order of Rui Fang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, and the personal executor was Zhang Xun, the Admiral of Jiangnan. The Admiral of Jiangnan was originally an official position in Jiangsu. His authority was limited to the banners, brigades, and battalions of the various prefectures and counties in the lower Yangtze. The Admiral of Jiangnan also controlled the two Generals of Langshan (including Yangzhou Battalion, Taizhou Battalion) and Susong (stationed in Chongming, governing three battalions of the headquarters banner and various battalions in Chuansha and Wusong). After the formation of the New Army, nominally the New Army Ninth Division belonged to Zhang Xun's command, but in reality, the Ninth Division was basically not under Zhang Xun's direct jurisdiction. The Ministry of Army had always regarded the New Army as its own forbidden meat; how could they be willing to let the Admiral of Jiangnan control it directly? So between the Admiral of Jiangnan and the New Army Ninth Division, the Ministry of Army inserted itself again in a nondescript way. This was also a tradition of the Manchu Qing; in order to play power tactics to the greatest extent, Manchu Qing official positions were chaotic, and concurrent posts ran rampant.

It wasn't until the rise of the People's Party that the Manchu Qing began to feel uneasy about the New Army, and Zhang Xun received the order to "monitor the Jiangnan New Army." Only then did Zhang Xun temporarily obtain full jurisdiction over the New Army Ninth Division. At this time, Zhang Xun was not yet the Pigtail General who restored the Manchu Qing, but Zhang Xun's loyalty to the Manchu Qing was exactly the same.

On February 19, 1908, early in the morning, Zhang Xun summoned a meeting at the Admiral's Yamen. When his subordinates arrived, Zhang Xun asked, "What movements has Xu Shaozhen made recently?"

Xu Shaozhen was the Commander of the New Army Ninth Division. Everyone from top to bottom knew that even if this person wasn't a revolutionary, he was at least resolutely anti-Qing. Governor-General of Liangjiang Rui Fang was extremely fearful of Xu Shaozhen. Fear aside, without conclusive evidence, neither Rui Fang nor Zhang Xun could really take down a New Army Commander easily.

"Admiral, there were already many rebel party members in the Nanyang New Army. What Xu Shaozhen thinks exactly is no longer important," Defense Army Commander Wang Youhong replied. Wang Youhong was the Commander of the Defense Army and also Zhang Xun's die-hard supporter. The River Defense Army under his command was now stationed at various passes in Nanjing city, undertaking the main task of supervising the New Army Ninth Division.

"Nanyang New Army!" Zhang Xun said almost gritting his teeth. The origin of the New Army Ninth Division had nothing to do with the Beiyang Army. In July of the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905), Acting Governor-General of Liangjiang Zhou Fu memorialized to train a division of New Army in Jiangning (Nanjing) first, suggesting the name "Temporarily Organized Nanyang Army Ninth Division, infantry units named Temporarily Organized Seventeenth, Eighteenth Brigades, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth Regiments, and after cavalry, artillery, engineering, and logistics units are replenished, named Temporarily Organized Cavalry Regiment, Artillery Regiment Ninth, Engineering Battalion, Logistics Battalion Ninth." The Army Training Office discussed and approved it, granting the designation "Temporarily Organized Army Ninth Division." In October, Zhou Fu recommended Xu Shaozhen, the General of Susong Town, as the Commander of the Ninth Division.

After the rise of the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Manchu Qing was divided into Beiyang (Northern Ocean) and Nanyang (Southern Ocean). The two sides were not only divided by region but also represented two different forces. Beiyang was the Huai Army and the Zhili faction, while Nanyang was the confluence of the Liangguang and Hunan Armies. The court in Beijing had never trusted the Nanyang New Army and had repeatedly struck and weakened it. Anything crowned with Nanyang New Army naturally had a great psychological estrangement from the North. During the Boxer Rebellion (Gengzi Incident), the southern provinces proposed "Mutual Protection of Southeast China," which was a kind of statement.

Admiral of Jiangnan Zhang Xun was absolutely loyal to the Manchu Qing. In this regard, he had a great divergence with the Nanyang New Army faction. Not only Zhang Xun, but Zhang Xun's direct line, the River Defense Army, was the same. The loyalty of the River Defense Army stemmed from worry about their rice bowls. Not long ago, when defending Hangzhou, the Green Standard Army and Defense Army in various places in Zhejiang were able to hold fast to Hangzhou. Because they knew that even without the Manchu Qing falling, as long as the Governor of Hangzhou was finished, their rice bowls would be finished too. The Defense Armies were responsible for various checkpoints and trade routes; the superiors ate meat, and the subordinates could drink soup no matter what. Once the rice bowl was gone, wanting to find such a livelihood again was absolutely unrealistic.

"The Jiangnan New Army eats the court's rations but does anti-court things. Admiral, we absolutely don't need to be polite to such things that eat inside and crawl outside." Wang Youhong's boiling loyalty was by no means false emotion.

"The Guangfu Society rebels haven't done enough chaos in Zhejiang, and now they come to attack Nanjing again. What response methods do you gentlemen have for this?" This was what Zhang Xun cared about most now.

"Sir, most of the rebels we are executing now are outsiders," Wang Youhong replied.

The content of this hint was quite vicious. Upon hearing it, Zhang Xun immediately had a sudden enlightenment. Just as Wang Youhong said, most of the revolutionaries in the New Army Ninth Division were outsiders. After the local New Army shouldered guns and ate rations, their livelihood improved greatly; where would they have so many anti-Qing thoughts? Even if they were dissatisfied with the status quo, after their livelihood improved, most held the idea of sweeping the snow in front of their own doors. While those outsider revolutionaries desperately incited anti-Qing thoughts, pushing all problems and contradictions onto the court, thus inciting the New Army to be impetuous. Even so, because Zhang Xun listened to Wang Youhong's suggestion, at several critical moments, he used the method of "announcing imminent pay issuance" to calm the impetuous mentality of the New Army soldiers. He crossed the danger safely several times during New Army mutinies that were extremely likely to break out.

Such a strategy not only calmed the danger of the New Army rebelling but also exposed the revolutionaries. Zhang Xun planned to scare and kill them together. Revolutionaries either fled or had their heads chopped off by Zhang Xun and hung on the Nanjing city gates, becoming material to deter other revolutionaries. Zhang Xun could clearly feel that the New Army Ninth Division units that had been purged of outsiders were obviously much more obedient.

"What thoughts does Commander Wang have?" Zhang Xun asked.

"Admiral, when the New Army was transferred to deal with the Anhui rebels last time, although the various armies were very timid, they had no intention of hooking up. In this humble officer's view, the New Army is also picky about revolutionaries. Jiangsu people look down on Anhui people. Even if the Anhui rebels are so powerful, the rebels inside the New Army have no plan to join hands," Wang Youhong analyzed.

Not only Zhang Xun, but even other generals of the River Defense Army couldn't help nodding. When troops were transferred to defend Wuhu, which the People's Party was attacking, although the New Army hesitated and didn't advance quickly, there was no sign of mutiny.

"Therefore, this humble officer believes that for the New Army now, we must both use and guard against them. Use them to fight the revolutionaries, and guard against them by exterminating the outsider rebels inside the New Army. As long as there are no outsider rebels to liaise, the New Army itself will exert force in fighting the rebels. Regardless of what is thought inside the New Army, fighting some battles with the rebels, the more rebels killed, the less likely the New Army will stand on the rebels' side. At that time, if Your Excellency rewards those with merit heavily and kills those who collude with the enemy, you can naturally subdue the New Army to be submissive."

When Wang Youhong spoke up to here, Zhang Xun was already slapping the table in praise, "Well said. Yuan Xiangcheng said..." Speaking up to here, Zhang Xun felt he had misspoken a bit. This kind of art of controlling subordinates passed down by word of mouth shouldn't have been said in public. But on second thought, at this time there were simply not so many scruples to speak of. If Nanjing was lost, Zhang Xun himself would lose everything. Compared to that, what was the big deal about telling everyone this bit of power tactics?

Zhang Xun continued, "Yuan Xiangcheng said he has two hands in commanding troops: reward the obedient, kill the disobedient. We must do the same for the Jiangnan New Army. Those who dare to fight the revolutionaries, reward money and promote. Those who dare not fight, demote or even behead. With clear rewards and punishments, the New Army cannot help but submit. Without the rations given by the court, can that group of revolutionaries issue military pay?"

"Admiral has high views!" Wang Youhong said immediately. Other generals also praised Zhang Xun's true knowledge and deep insight one after another.

Zhang Xun was a person of forthright disposition. Hearing this flattery from his subordinates, he also felt quite satisfied in his heart. When the subordinates' flattery reached a pause, Zhang Xun asked, "Commander Wang, regarding the Guangfu Society rebels coming to attack Nanjing this time, what views do you have?"

Wang Youhong had been waiting for this question long ago. He quickly replied, "This time the rebels seem to be coming menacingly with a large crowd. However, we can defeat them one by one. In the news reported by scouts, the rebels do not belong to each other, and the front army and rear army are pulled far apart. We don't need to use all the troops of the New Army Ninth Division. Instead, let Xu Shaozhen transfer a portion of men and horses to defeat the rebels at the head. After Your Excellency rewards this portion of the New Army according to merit, do not send them back first. Instead, transfer another portion of men and horses from the Ninth Division to attack the rebels. We humble officers will step up the guard on the New Army. Anyone attempting to send letters to the rebels or inciting the New Army rebels, don't let them go if there's any mistake. After a few times like this, the New Army Ninth Division will naturally be submissive."

"What if Xu Shaozhen doesn't give troops?" Other generals saw Wang Youhong showing his face greatly and couldn't help but come out to perform a bit too.

Zhang Xun sneered, "I am the Admiral of Jiangnan. The court clearly ordered me to command the New Army Ninth Division. If Xu Shaozhen doesn't listen to dispatch, does he want to rebel?"

Xu Shaozhen really wanted to rebel. After receiving Zhang Xun's order, Xu Shaozhen stared tightly at the document, the expression on his face so gloomy it almost dripped water. The troops Zhang Xun gathered were precisely the New Army units where the revolutionary forces had been cleared most cleanly. Inside the New Army Ninth Division, the revolutionaries were all from other places. The Tongmenghui and the Guangfu Society were infiltrating the New Army Ninth Division at the same time. The people dispatched by the Tongmenghui were mostly from Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei, while the revolutionaries sent by the Guangfu Society were from Zhejiang, Anhui, and other places. Rui Fang and Zhang Xun slaughtered revolutionaries heavily; they didn't dare kill locals too much, so they had to slaughter outsiders heavily. This actually hit the mark by mistake. The forces of the revolutionaries suffered major damage.

Moreover, after Zhang Xun listened to Wang Youhong's suggestion, he actually used the method of beating the grass to startle the snake. Before they acted against revolutionaries of outsider origin, they would release rumors first. As a result, quite a few revolutionaries either ran away in fear or prepared to launch an uprising ahead of time like a dog jumping over a wall in desperation. As a result, the uprising wasn't launched, but the linkage of the revolutionary organizations was broken. Then Zhang Xun killed people with truly "conclusive evidence." Wang Youhong also persuaded Zhang Xun that for the local New Army soldiers, as long as there was no conclusive evidence, or even if the implication wasn't deep, they would let them off. They even magnanimously told the New Army soldiers of local origin that it was excusable for them to be incited and bewitched by revolutionaries, and as long as they didn't commit it again, let bygones be bygones.

The strategy of one hard hand and one soft hand greatly destroyed the revolutionary organization of the New Army Ninth Division. What was even more irritating was that many revolutionaries saw the situation change so drastically and slipped away for their own safety. This invisibly confirmed Zhang Xun's propaganda: "Outsider revolutionaries are just cheating us Jiangsu people to sell our lives for them."

In the soldier class, deep contradictions between different regions were also hard to bridge. The Manchu Qing paid special attention to provoking provincial boundary contradictions; this was also a basic point of Manchu Qing power tactics. If there were no contradictions between provinces, the Manchu Qing court would feel restless. So people from different places looking down on each other was something the Manchu Qing court was happy to see. The result was that Zhang Xun, by propagating inter-provincial confrontation to the soldiers, extremely effectively neutralized quite a few New Army soldiers inclined towards revolution.

"Commander Xu, I wonder when you can dispatch troops?" The officer who came to transmit the order asked respectfully.

"Is this how you speak to a superior?" Xu Shaozhen asked sternly. He had to say this; institutionally, Xu Shaozhen had no reason to refuse Zhang Xun's transfer order. With Xu Shaozhen's intelligence, he could see Zhang Xun's thoughts. Once the revolutionaries and the New Army killed each other and formed a feud, Xu Shaozhen didn't believe the revolutionaries could have that tolerance to not care about this. To delay time, Xu Shaozhen could only pick bones in an egg.

Just after getting angry, he heard someone outside respond, "Right, how can you speak to a superior like this?"

Following the voice, Zhang Xun strode into Xu Shaozhen's headquarters. Without a second word, Zhang Xun gave the transmitting officer two slaps left and right. After hitting, Zhang Xun kicked the transmitting officer. "Get out of here."

That transmitting officer was Zhang Xun's trusted aide. He knew Zhang Xun did this deliberately for Xu Shaozhen to see. Zhang Xun had spoken to the transmitting officer specifically beforehand, so although he was angry about being beaten, he put all his resentment on Xu Shaozhen. Glaring fiercely at Xu Shaozhen, the transmitting officer covered his face and went out.

Zhang Xun was Xu Shaozhen's superior after all. No matter how unwilling he was in his heart, Xu Shaozhen had to stand up to welcome him. After saluting, Zhang Xun said, "Commander Xu, the Zhejiang fellows are attacking our Jiangning. The situation is critical; please allocate troops and horses quickly to quell the rebellion. Please hurry up on this matter, Commander Xu."

"This... this humble officer understands." Xu Shaozhen had to say perfunctorily.

Zhang Xun had a heroic character. When coming to the New Army camp this time, he didn't bring many soldiers. At this time, Zhang Xun sat down openly and said to Xu Shaozhen with a smile, "Commander Xu, not only the Zhejiang rebels, but I am even more worried about the Anhui rebels attacking Jiangsu. Governor-General of Liangjiang Lord Rui Fang and I both feel that the only one who can deal with the Anhui rebels is you, Commander Xu. In the next few days, I plan to transfer Commander Xu to lead troops to Wuhu to guard against the Anhui New Army. Now I come to invite Commander Xu to go see Lord Rui Fang with me. Before going, please allocate the troops to me, Commander Xu."

Hearing this, a strong killing intent immediately arose in Xu Shaozhen's heart. Zhang Xun's words had already stated the future arrangements clearly. What inviting to see Rui Fang to discuss—this was basically stripping Xu Shaozhen of military power in disguise. But unless he completely fell out with Zhang Xun at this time, he could only obey Zhang Xun. Several times in his heart he wanted to shout for his personal guards to arrest Zhang Xun, but Xu Shaozhen couldn't make this determination. Now that the revolutionaries had been greatly damaged, even if he arrested Zhang Xun, so what? The New Army Ninth Division had no preparation at all; it was impossible for them to rise up with Xu Shaozhen. Struggling in his heart for a good while, Xu Shaozhen had to agree to Zhang Xun's order.

Before Zhang Xun came to Xu Shaozhen, he had somewhat planned to put life and death aside. Seeing Xu Shaozhen submit, Zhang Xun smiled even more happily. After getting the warrant to mobilize troops, Zhang Xun pulled Xu Shaozhen to see Rui Fang together. On the way, Zhang Xun said loudly, "Commander Xu, the Anhui rebels slaughtered landlords and gentry in Anhui, committing monstrous crimes. Against this bunch of heinous people, you must shoulder the heavy responsibility of protecting our Jiangsu gentry."

Seeing Xu Shaozhen nod and agree reluctantly, Zhang Xun talked big about the various specific evil deeds of the Anhui rebels.

If the content Zhang Xun talked big about were heard by the People's Party, believe that although the People's Party comrades wouldn't agree with Zhang Xun's verdict of "heinous" on the People's Party, they would also be surprised that the facts Zhang Xun narrated were actually quite accurate. Needless to say, the high levels of the People's Party would be like this; at this time, Heidao Ren, the political commissar of the People's Party medical team more than a hundred li south of Nanjing city, would also agree.

The total number of members of this medical team was far greater than last time. Besides one hundred doctors and nurses, the People's Party specially dispatched a guard force of two companies, more than four hundred people. Last time the support medical team went to Hangzhou, the Guangfu Society had already captured Hangzhou, and the whole journey was still safe. This Nanjing campaign faced a war zone; the People's Party absolutely wouldn't let the military doctor team they had trained painstakingly encounter danger. Not only were two companies of more than four hundred troops dispatched with the team, but a battalion of troops was also transferred to the border of the People's Party liberated area. If any news was received, this force of over a thousand people would immediately go to reinforce.

Before setting off, Chen Ke specifically talked with Political Commissar Heidao Ren. "Commissar Hei, many problems will definitely be encountered during this support process. I hope you must grasp the situation. Don't be incited by any other forces."

Heidao Ren's current Chinese name was "Surname Hei (Black), Given Name Dao Ren (Island Man)." Most soldiers simply didn't know Heidao Ren was a Japanese, let alone Heidao Ren's original name "Kuroshima Jinichirō." Heidao Ren himself even began to forget his identity as a Japanese. Regarding Chen Ke's blunt statement, Heidao Ren didn't quite understand.

"Chairman Chen, what do you mean by this?" Heidao Ren asked.

"Commissar Hei, where do you think the difference lies between our People's Party and the Guangfu Society?" Chen Ke asked.

Heidao Ren had never engaged in external work; on this point, he really didn't know. He hesitated and dared not answer.

"Then let me ask you, how does our People's Party view anti-Qing?" Chen Ke lowered the difficulty of the question.

To this question, Heidao Ren answered very fluently, "To carry out the people's revolution, to establish a new socialist system, to save the masses of the people, so we must overthrow the reactionary rule of the Manchu Qing."

Chen Ke nodded. "Correct. Overthrowing the Manchu Qing is not the purpose of our People's Party. It is a step that needs to be completed in the progress of the revolutionary cause to overthrow the Manchu Qing rule. But for the Guangfu Society, overthrowing the Manchu Qing is their goal. They believe that having overthrown the Manchu Qing, the revolution they imagine is completed."

Hearing Chen Ke's words, a look of surprise couldn't help appearing on Heidao Ren's face. "Isn't this a joke?"

"You think this is a joke, but the Guangfu Society doesn't think so. The reason driving these people to rise up against the Qing is that they felt pain. Pain in life, pain in spirit. Seeing foreigners running rampant without scruples, they feel pain. Seeing repeated defeats in foreign wars, forfeiting sovereignty and humiliating the nation, they feel pain. Seeing their own talent unable to be displayed, they feel pain. Seeing the livelihood of the common people being hard, they feel pain. With foreign goods impacting the Chinese market, dealing a fatal blow to the handicraft workshops run by landlords and gentry, they feel pain."

When Chen Ke said this, there was no excited expression on his face at all. On the contrary, Heidao Ren felt a sense of pain like a fox mourning the death of a rabbit (empathy). The pain felt by these revolutionaries of the Guangfu Society, Heidao Ren had quite a few same or similar feelings when he was in Japan. Even though Japan had undergone the Meiji Restoration and experienced victories one after another, the life of the people in Japan showed no sign of improvement. Not only that, after the original social structure was destroyed, the oppressors showed an even more ferocious side. The big consortiums lived in extravagance, while the poor fell to the point where they could only barely scrape a living by entering factories and suffering great devastation. Moreover, the big consortiums not only exploited the poor ferociously but also caused a large number of the middle and small bourgeoisie, who originally lived passable lives, to fall into the proletariat. A pitch-black future where the end seemingly couldn't be seen made Heidao Ren feel both painful and desperate. If not for this, he wouldn't have traveled far across the ocean to come to China to seek a revolutionary path.

Chen Ke said calmly, "For the Guangfu Society, they push all pain onto the current rulers, onto the Manchu Qing court. They believe that overthrowing the Manchu Qing court will end all pain. I am not trying to defend the Manchu Qing. What I want to point out is that after overthrowing the Manchu Qing, this pain will not disappear. It will even be more painful."

Hearing this, Heidao Ren nodded repeatedly. It could be said that among the People's Party comrades, none had more actual feeling about this than Heidao Ren.

"The reason I want you to be the political commissar of this medical team is that I hope you can distinguish these very easily confused things clearly. I hope you can help the comrades see the problems of the Guangfu Society clearly in thought, and not let these comrades have any misunderstanding about our People's Party's revolutionary actions."

After Chen Ke finished speaking, Heidao Ren answered immediately, "Yes. I will definitely work hard to complete the task."

After answering, Heidao Ren hesitated again. He pondered for a moment and asked again, "Chairman Chen, then how can these pains be eliminated?"

Seeing Chen Ke didn't answer immediately but looked at him with bright eyes, Heidao Ren quickly explained in more detail, "Chairman Chen, I feel the reason most people devote themselves to revolution is that they felt pain, and to get rid of pain, they had to solve their respective painful feelings by participating in the revolution. So I want to ask, how to view the relationship between pain and revolution?"

This question was a bit big. Chen Ke felt a bit embarrassed; even Chen Ke himself couldn't say he had really solved this problem. He thought for a while before answering, "To solve pain, everyone's path will be different. Please confirm this first, Commissar Hei. There are no two identical leaves, nor two completely identical people. My method might suit myself, but may not necessarily suit others. For myself, I think the key points to solving pain are nothing more than two points. First, open your eyes to see the world. Second, become a warrior."

Heidao Ren listened very seriously. For him, after joining the People's Party, the previous pain had been relieved to a large extent, but new problems and pains were constantly being produced. If there could be a once-and-for-all method, Heidao Ren naturally hoped to understand it as early as possible.

"Opening your eyes to see the world means being able to seek truth from facts, instead of trying to fantasize the world into the appearance you think. In that way, you know pain and hardships are inevitable, and you don't consider the issue of pain. Because considering whether it's painful or not is completely useless."

Chen Ke's answer was truly beyond Heidao Ren's expectations, although Chen Ke's words did make sense. However, this attitude of simply not considering pain because knowing feeling pain is useless really had a flavor of "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell." Heidao Ren felt he might not necessarily be able to accept it.

"Second, as a warrior. What we seek is doing things. Through trying, through groping and summarizing, we discover the laws of things and can control these things. Then we can also minimize unnecessary painful feelings to the greatest extent. Of course, from another angle, when you do one thing with your whole heart and mind, your head doesn't hurt, your balls don't itch; you simply have no mind to feel whether it's painful or not."

After Chen Ke finished speaking, he felt these principles still didn't truly speak his feelings. He thought for a while again before adding, "Of course, I feel that for me now, whether it's painful or not is simply not within my scope of consideration. I just strive to do things seeking truth from facts, simply not to get rid of pain, or consider whether I can get rid of pain. In my feeling, there is simply no concept of pain. I try to understand pain merely to understand others. For myself, I don't have this feeling."

These words were really beyond Heidao Ren's scope of understanding. When Heidao Ren discovered Chen Ke seemed to be able to solve any pain easily, he heard Chen Ke say he simply didn't have the feeling of pain. This huge contrast made Heidao Ren suspect if Chen Ke was a normal human being.

However, this suspicion didn't last too long. Chen Ke suddenly said with some sudden enlightenment, "Commissar Hei, I didn't notice one thing just now. We have a misconception first, which is the definition of pain. I attribute the feelings after seeing those unacceptable facts to pain. I don't know if you feel the same way?"

"Yes." Heidao Ren's face immediately lit up.

"Then this problem is knowable and unknown." Chen Ke replied. As he spoke, he picked up a pen and drew two concentric circles. Pointing to the concentric circles, Chen Ke said, "Look, when the scope you can control and accept is only as big as the small circle, everything outside this small circle is unknown and unacceptable. Whether you accept it or not, you will inevitably see and contact it. When your ability expands to the level of this big circle, then have the things you can accept increased? Indeed they have increased, but you will see and contact more unacceptable facts."

Heidao Ren looked at the two circles on the paper. Chen Ke's explanation was shown so clearly on the paper that there was simply no room for argument.

Chen Ke looked at Heidao Ren sympathetically. Chen Ke had encountered all the problems Heidao Ren raised. And to cross this line, many, many memories were left for Chen Ke. Chen Ke certainly didn't have the evaluation of painful or not painful now, but the vast majority of those memories were failures, failures time and again, almost endless failures. Chen Ke once suspected countless times: can I succeed once in this life? It wasn't until Chen Ke crossed that line that he thoroughly believed Grandpa Mao's sentence, "History spirals upward." Before Heidao Ren walked back to the origin and completed the first cycle, it was very difficult for him to understand this principle.

Regardless of whether Heidao Ren understood Chen Ke's words, what Chen Ke could see was that the sense of responsibility finally returned to Heidao Ren. His gaze began to brighten again, and his inadvertently furrowed brows also smoothed out. "Chairman Chen, what is the key point regarding explaining the difference between us and the Guangfu Society to the comrades?"

"The key point is, we, the People's Party, stress doing things. What we want to master are the laws of things themselves, utilizing a part of the laws already mastered to do things better. While the Guangfu Society wants the result of things; as for what the laws of things themselves are, it is not what they pursue. When they believe they can overthrow the Manchu Qing by force, they will rise up in rebellion. If they believed that fasting and chanting Buddha's name could achieve the goal, they would also immediately throw down the weapons in their hands to fast and chant Buddha's name. This point must be explained clearly to the comrades." Chen Ke made a concluding speech.