"Folks, everyone wants to earn more money and get more goods. We are all working people, who doesn't have this mindset?" A member of the Guangde County Lijiaji Rural Work Team hadn't even finished speaking, but such plain and clear words already triggered a burst of laughter among the villagers.

Amidst the laughter, a villager from Lijiaji asked, "Comrade Li, we heard that buying things would be cheaper after joining the cooperative, so we came to take a look. Hearing you talk like this, it sounds like you won't give us things easily."

"The name 'cooperative' has a meaning. 'Co' means everyone coming together. 'Operative' means everyone working together. Since it's about working together, it can't just be us taking things out from one side. Do you think that makes sense, folks?" Comrade Li replied.

"The New Government wants our land, huh," the villagers were extremely concerned about this issue. In these times, losing land meant losing one's lifeblood; no one was willing to let go.

Comrade Li said loudly, "We are not just taking the land; everyone will also be distributed land. You folks surely know this, right?"

The villagers did know about the land distribution. If they didn't know about that and only heard the government was demanding everyone's land, that would have been enough to make them pick up weapons and fight the New Government to the end.

Seeing everyone falling silent, Comrade Li continued his propaganda, "I've already told everyone the regulations for land distribution. First, land distribution is to ensure everyone has land to farm and food to eat. We also want to build water conservancy projects. I won't say we can guarantee harvests despite droughts and floods, but we can at least withstand small disasters. The government hopes everyone's life can be better, not simply to take everyone's land away."

Although he was trying his best to persuade them, Comrade Li knew very well that these words didn't actually have much power. The cadre training class had emphasized that mobilizing the masses should not be rushed. The common people had hard lives and could least afford turmoil. Before seeing the benefits of things like land acquisition and distribution, how could the masses easily join in?

Comrade Li continued, "We'll talk about the land distribution later. Let's talk about the matter at hand. The Base Area needs to collect bamboo, and our Lijiaji has been assigned a quota of ten thousand poles. One hundred bamboo poles can be exchanged for a set of a hoe and a sickle. Anyone willing to do it can sign up."

After speaking, he took out the samples of the hoe and sickle he had brought with him and let everyone pass them around. These were standard agricultural tools finalized after more than a year of use in the Base Area. The hoe was made entirely of wrought iron, with the blade edge treated with molten cast iron, sharpened to be very keen. The sickle was cast from white cast iron. Although white cast iron was a bit brittle, it was very hard and quite wear-resistant. After being ground with a grinding wheel, the blade edge was extremely sharp. The common folk were all experts at farm work; once they got the tools in their hands, they couldn't bear to put them down. The people who got them first simply didn't want to pass them to anyone else.

"How do we sign up for this!" someone immediately shouted.

Comrade Li held up a thick moso bamboo sample next to him. "Folks, this doesn't mean you can just cut any random bamboo to exchange for things. The bamboo we want cannot be thinner than this one. And when you transport it here, there can't be any damage. We want complete bamboo poles. If the bamboo is split, we won't be able to accept it easily."

"Oh..." A sound of dissatisfaction immediately rose from the crowd. This moso bamboo, while not rare in thickness, wasn't the thin kind either. To actually cut and transport it out would require quite a bit of manpower.

"Also, we definitely want new bamboo. Old ones are not wanted," Comrade Li added a sentence.

Some of the originally enthusiastic masses who wanted to sign up immediately beat a retreat. This labor was quite arduous. To cut down such thick bamboo and transport it away intact required more than just simple labor.

At this moment, a man in his forties stood up and asked, "Comrade Li, do your words count?"

"Fellow villager, our words certainly count," Comrade Li replied.

"If your words count, then why not give us these farm tools first? We will definitely give you the bamboo." As soon as the middle-aged man's voice fell, the masses immediately echoed in agreement.

"Yes, give us the farm tools first. Then we'll believe you."

"Exactly, we aren't going anywhere. What are you afraid of?"

The few comrades of the work team looked at each other. Comrade Li said loudly, "We can understand that folks don't trust us. We can also understand that everyone likes these farm tools. Whether you are willing to do this with us or not, think it over carefully. Or we can talk about this again tomorrow."

Seeing the ambiguous attitude of the work team comrades, a look of disappointment appeared on everyone's faces.

After the meeting dispersed, the work team held their own internal meeting. There were six members in the work team. Besides the four comrades from the People's Party, Comrade Ji Ye and Comrade Zhao Ziyong from the Guangfu Society were also following along to observe and learn. Ji Ye was a girl, seventeen years old now in 1908. A native of Jinhua, Zhejiang. From a landlord background, her brother Ji Congyong was the leader of the local Anti-Tax Secret Society Alliance, and Ji Ye had followed her brother into the revolution.

In the Battle of Nanjing, Ji Congyong, who was responsible for the rear guard, died in battle, and Ji Ye was slightly wounded. She and a large number of wounded from the Guangfu Society retreated to Anhui with the main force of the People's Party. Xu Xilin was seriously wounded, but he convened a general meeting of Guangfu Society members while sick. Xu Xilin requested the entire Guangfu Society to learn how to conduct revolution from the People's Party. Ji Ye was assigned to work in Guangde County.

Zhao Ziyong was from Shaoxing. Because he was not good with words, he was relatively dull in demeanor. Although he had seniority, he had never been able to obtain a high position.

"What does everyone think about this matter?" Comrade Li asked. Comrade Li's name was Li Shouxian, 22 years old this year. A native of Shouzhou, Anhui, he had been in the revolution for over a year and was the captain of the Lijiaji Work Team.

"The villagers still don't trust us," Ji Ye replied. After saying this, Ji Ye asked with slight nervousness, "Captain Li, is there any news from Nanjing?"

Guangde County was located in the southeast of Anhui Province, bordered by Jiangsu to the east, and was not far from Nanjing at all. The People's Party work teams were all small units, at most not exceeding ten people, usually around six or seven. If the Qing army from Nanjing attacked Guangde County, the work team definitely couldn't resist. These days, the comrades of the People's Party didn't seem to care about this at all, as if the tens of thousands of troops in Nanjing didn't exist. But Ji Ye couldn't let go of the threat close at hand no matter what.

Li Shouxian laughed, "Relax, Nanjing won't send troops just for a few of us no matter what. After the fight in Nanjing a while ago, Zhang Xun and the others know our strength at least. They won't do things like rashly sending out troops."

After the Battle of Nanjing, the Qing troops in Jiangsu simply didn't want to fight the People's Party anymore. Guangde County was right next to Nanjing. Because of the close distance, the Qing army's control over their troops was actually stronger. The Qing army withdrew their troops from the border between the two places, and the People's Party didn't amass heavy troops on the border either. Accidental clashes were actually harder to happen.

"Comrade Ji Ye, what do you think of the request raised by the masses?" Li Shouxian asked.

Ji Ye thought for a moment, "We've been here for a short time, and the masses don't trust us. If it really doesn't work, maybe we can give them some of the farm tools first."

"What do other comrades think?" Li Shouxian continued to ask.

Some of the other comrades felt they shouldn't give them. Money for goods, that was the rule. Giving the farm tools first, what was that about?

"Comrade Zhao Ziyong, what do you think?" Li Shouxian asked Zhao Ziyong, who had remained silent.

"Whatever everyone says to do, I'll do," Zhao Ziyong maintained his usual style: work more, speak less.

"Comrade Zhao Ziyong, we work together, and discussing this issue is also part of the work. You cannot evade this work." Li Shouxian organized the meeting strictly according to the People's Party's working methods.

Zhao Ziyong knew that the People's Party required every comrade to speak, but he was always unaccustomed to such things. After thinking for a good while, Zhao Ziyong barely managed to say, "These people look like they don't want to work at all. I can't say clearly why, but this group of people just gives me that feeling. They seem to just want the things."

"Well said! Comrade Zhao Ziyong, well said!" Li Shouxian praised.

The other comrades didn't expect Li Shouxian to have such a low evaluation of the masses. Including Ji Ye, the comrades couldn't help but frown.

"They are asking us for farm tools. If someone asked us for axes or saws, it would show they are thinking about working. Without these tools, how can they cut bamboo? Bite it with their teeth? Smash it with stones?" Li Shouxian spoke quite bluntly.

"We didn't mention cutting tools either," Ji Ye couldn't help but ask.

"Work is work! If they really wanted to work, they would naturally think about how to cut the bamboo. Sickles and hoes are for farm work; can you cut bamboo with those things? Since the masses didn't bring up cutting bamboo, it shows these things haven't entered their train of thought for labor at all," Li Shouxian replied.

"The masses should have tools in their hands, right?" Ji Ye felt Li Shouxian was really being a bit nitpicky.

"Comrade Ji Ye, before our work team came here, we discussed the purpose and method of our work team coming here to work. do you still remember those things?" Li Shouxian asked.

"This..." Ji Ye had actually forgotten a bit. She thought for a moment and simply took out the work manual she carried with her. It was written very clearly in the first paragraph.

Seeing Ji Ye do this, Li Shouxian approved very much in his heart. Some people, hindered by pride, would absolutely refuse to take out the manual and check it in public. Leaving aside work ability or cognitive ability, just this lack of vanity proved that Ji Ye had high quality. She had the potential to become a revolutionary.

"Our working method is to obtain leadership in the local area by solving the problems faced by the people and leading the people in labor." Ji Ye read a passage from the manual.

This was the result after the discussion at the Land Reform Work Conference. Chen Ke's understanding of historical land reform wasn't actually very thorough. It was just that in the early 21st century, some remnants of the exploiting class attacked land reform, and as a result, it was discussed on forums. Birds of a feather flock together; the forum Chen Ke was on naturally firmly supported land reform. Among them, there was no lack of "powerful running dogs of imperial finance" working in large foreign financial institutions like Goldman Sachs. Although most of these guys were descendants of big landlords, they clearly supported land reform.

However, standing on the position of supporting land reform, these people also had many reflections on it. Based on considerations of developing productive forces, everyone believed that land reform had many problems, one of which was the lack of the concept of land as capital. Whether land was concentrated or equally distributed, those who treated land monopoly as a goal and selling land as a profit-making purpose naturally had to be ruthlessly struck down. But actions aiming at managing land were considered by these guys to need great encouragement.

Divergences within the same camp supporting land reform became prominent in these discussions. Some people believed that land must be equally distributed. Since the goal was land management, if a portion of people with more flexible minds took the lead in possessing a large amount of land management rights, new wealth polarization would be generated immediately. While another portion of people believed that allowing people willing to work hard at managing land to possess more land wasn't a bad thing.

The debates on the forum naturally couldn't have any serious outcome. Finally, someone dug out the Party's documents on land reform from back then. The Party's serious attitude towards work truly opened Chen Ke's eyes.

In the Party's documents, it was discussed very clearly. The biggest problem with land reform was that in the process of adoption, it was easy to fall into an extreme misunderstanding. To encourage the masses to support land reform, there had to be immediately visible benefits. The result was that the masses who rose up for land reform killed landlords and tycoons and divided the floating wealth, but still couldn't effectively make everyone prosperous. So after killing landlords, they killed rich peasants; after killing rich peasants, they killed well-off middle peasants. The Party tried hard to stop this wrong approach, but the excited masses claimed, "Whoever doesn't let everyone divide property is a counter-revolutionary."

Those guys who hoped to get rich overnight, in order to defend their predatory behavior during land reform, dared to label the Party as "counter-revolutionary". This historical fact left Chen Ke dumbfounded.

And where such things occurred most frequently was in Shandong, during the land reform led by Liu Xiuyang (Liu Shaoqi). Because much of the land reform in Shandong's rural areas turned into killing landlords as the goal in the end, running completely counter to the original intention of land reform, the result was that the children of landlords organized "Homecoming Legions". These "Homecoming Legions" were not at all for overthrowing the revolution or taking back land, but for blood revenge. They carried out massacres of entire villages in rural Shandong.

Chen Ke never had any psychological pressure about killing counter-revolutionaries, but this kind of meaningless mutual slaughter was also what Chen Ke opposed. Revolution was to liberate productive forces and give laborers equal opportunities for development, not to leave corpses strewn everywhere and heads rolling.

Based on the consideration of this real outcome, under Chen Ke's leadership, the Party Central Committee finally reached a land reform direction aimed at "organizing and developing production". Implementing land reform with bayonets was only for situations where a minority of big landlord reactionaries firmly resisted the revolution. But for the people, they needed to be guided to labor, which required more meticulous work.

Ji Ye had joined the People's Party's land reform action for less than a month, and she herself was certainly not some communist revolutionary. So after reading this work program, Ji Ye not only didn't suddenly see the light but felt confused instead. She asked doubtfully, "Captain Li, isn't our goal to implement land reform?"

Li Shouxian smiled and said, "Land reform is a method, not the goal. Even if land is distributed equally, if everyone cannot manage these lands well, life won't become better after land reform. The socialist system is built on the basis of developing productive forces and opposing exploitation. Opposing exploitation means we have to get rid of landlords. But simply getting rid of landlords doesn't mean everyone can become rich. Where does a happy life come from? It relies on labor to create it."

As a backbone of the Guangfu Society, the political concepts around Ji Ye were nothing more than "Overthrow the Manchus, Restore China". If there were any more political views, it was autonomy and not paying taxes. Her brother had embarked on the path of anti-Qing revolution because of resisting tax payments. But since being with the People's Party, these political views had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The People's Party not only wanted to establish a government stronger than the Manchu Qing, but its attention to taxation and degree of organization could be said to be "appalling". Of course, the People's Party also had its benefits. It wasn't about extortionate levies but achieved the goal of "increasing fiscal revenue" by improving the people's production capacity and letting the common people earn more money. Just in the aspect of tax collection, the common people didn't encounter the predicament of "extortionate levies" of the Manchu Qing.

However, this work was a bit too tedious. Ji Ye always heard that the People's Party had over a hundred thousand party members and troops. After witnessing the People's Party's powerful combat effectiveness with her own eyes, she had always been puzzled why such a powerful armed force didn't commit to a military operation to attack Beijing right now. Even if they didn't attack Beijing, Jiangsu surrounding Anhui definitely couldn't resist. It wasn't until she joined the People's Party work team that Ji Ye finally understood why the People's Party wasn't in a hurry to expand.

The Anhui Base Area had 16 cities and 62 counties. Conservatively calculating with five hundred villages and towns under each county, if a work team of 6 people was sent to each village and town, 150,000 staff members would be needed. The People's Party's army couldn't be dispersed, and its party cadres were at most forty to fifty thousand, far from the scale of 150,000 people.

Even if the work teams arrived at these villages, it wasn't possible for the people to obey immediately with just a wave of the arm. Ji Ye personally experienced this problem. The conditions in Lijiaji were considered quite good; location-wise, it was close to the county seat. There was a troop stationed in the county seat, so the masses at least knew that the People's Party had driven away the imperial court and had become the leaders of this place. The common people had no support for the Manchu Qing government, so they naturally wouldn't attack the New Government to restore the Manchu Qing government's rule. After the New Government opened for business, it didn't harass the people either, only sending work teams to the local areas to unite with the masses.

In this situation, seeing that the work team was amiable, put on no official airs, and were all young people, the people naturally didn't take the work team very seriously. Ji Ye had only heard that the People's Party was invincible; she hadn't expected that when facing the masses, the work team was actually a vulnerable group. Lijiaji had about a thousand people. Facing the six young men and women of the work team, the locals presented an overwhelming advantage. When Ji Ye, a girl, followed the large gang of the Guangfu Society, she could still have a bit of "majestic prestige". But facing a thousand locals in an unfamiliar place, she really felt a huge maladjustment. The panic she felt these days was actually more of the unease generated when facing the masses. If it were really fighting against the Manchu Qing, Ji Ye believed she wouldn't be afraid at all while in the People's Party's troops.

Li Shouxian didn't understand Ji Ye's thoughts, or rather he simply had no time to consider the thoughts of the Guangfu Society comrades. This bamboo purchasing work was very troublesome. As the first deal with the masses for the People's Party, Li Shouxian absolutely didn't want it to fail.

"Our work must be established on the basis of laboring together with the masses. In the past, the Manchu Qing government cooperated with the gentry or local forces. That is to say, even if the Manchu Qing government could take out money or things, they gave them directly to the gentry or the local secret societies. Then the gentry and the secret societies would exploit a layer from the middle. Since we want to establish effective influence, we must skip these people. We absolutely cannot let these people make a profit from the middle." Li Shouxian's attitude was very firm.

Hearing this, Ji Ye felt an almost instinctive resentment. Her family was from a secret society background. If the secret societies didn't make a profit from local commercial activities, they would have no basis for existence at all. Ji Ye couldn't help but say, "Captain Li, secret societies still value loyalty and righteousness. If we cooperate with the secret societies, I'm afraid this work would be completed faster."

"What is meant by anti-exploitation? It means no work, no gain. The reason why we, the People's Party, claim to serve the people is that when we provide labor opportunities, we don't charge fees. But for the gentry and secret societies to command the local area, they rely on monopolizing labor opportunities and employment opportunities. The People's Party's tax revenue is to operate the social service system, while the gentry and secret societies want to strengthen themselves first. Money in their hands cannot possibly be shared with the masses." Li Shouxian's answer was clanging and powerful; this was also the reason why he could become the work team captain. Li Shouxian was a graduate of the first term of the People's Party Cadre Training Class. Logically speaking, if he wanted a promotion at this time, he could at least mix into a district mayor position. However, before Chen Ke went to work in Lu'an this time, he required that outstanding comrades in the local areas be sent to the front line to work. This was also the Party's tradition; without arduous practical work, gaining status just by relying on going to school, what difference was there from leaping over the Dragon Gate through the imperial examination?

After working personally on the front line, Li Shouxian's understanding of the theories from the Party School education became deeper and deeper. If the People's Party wanted to seize political power in China, it had to thoroughly smash the current true grassroots ruling forces in China. It was essential to unite the masses around the People's Party through labor relations.

Ji Ye was still very unconvinced. Zhao Ziyong had always disliked speaking. The other three comrades nodded repeatedly. "Who are our friends, who are our enemies." This was a thinking method repeatedly emphasized by the People's Party in work. From the national level down to a village or town, to carry out work, this question absolutely could not be mistaken.

Li Shouxian finally said, "Then let's split up and visit door to door, asking the masses who is willing to come and do this thing. I require comrades to listen, not speak. Don't say how good our farm tools are; praising one's own wares has no meaning. The masses know in their hearts whether the farm tools are good or not. We just explain this matter clearly, and then listen to the masses' attitudes. If they are willing to work, they will definitely raise problems encountered in labor. This is the intelligence we need to care about and collect. Find the masses willing to labor, find the masses willing to cooperate with us in labor."

The six people divided into three groups and began visiting the masses. Ji Ye and Li Shouxian were in one group. Before the visits, because Ji Ye had emotions in her heart, her attitude wasn't really very correct. But Li Shouxian was the work team captain after all, so Ji Ye didn't feel it right to interrupt. She simply didn't want to talk.

But visiting family after family, Ji Ye slowly became interested. The development of things was indeed as Li Shouxian had said. Since Li Shouxian's purpose was clear—just introducing a job opportunity—after the masses understood this matter without ambiguity, everyone's attitude also became clear.

Those who neither believed in the People's Party nor were willing to work naturally only talked about things other than work. From the weather to Li Shouxian and Ji Ye's backgrounds, from the past to the future, anyway, straying thousands of miles from the topic. Li Shouxian didn't waste time either; encountering such people, he politely expressed that he would visit again next time.

Those who had concerns about working expressed cautious skepticism about the People's Party's credit.

Of course, among them, there was no lack of those who patted their chests guaranteeing they could undertake all the work, volunteering to be labor contractors. Or those who looked like swindlers at first glance, guaranteeing that after getting the farm tools first, they would absolutely do the work to satisfaction.

After visiting more than thirty households, they finally encountered four families with correct attitudes. Everyone first expressed willingness to work, then expressed they didn't have tools. After Li Shouxian informed everyone that the People's Party could provide axes, these masses then asked about the construction period requirements with a correct attitude. Li Shouxian told them that the People's Party hoped every household could be assigned the work of one hundred bamboo poles, so that the farm tools could also be obtained by every household relatively evenly.

Ji Ye thought these families would express that their single family could undertake more tasks. To her surprise, none of these farming households did so. Instead, they proposed that their families cut and transport one hundred bamboo poles first to try it out.

Coming out of the common people's homes, Ji Ye asked almost in disbelief, "Captain Li, the masses are too honest."

"Are you asking why these people didn't cut more bamboo?" Li Shouxian asked.

"Yes. No one is competing with them now. Isn't it good to take on more work?" Ji Ye was very puzzled about this.

"We are all fellow villagers; you always have to leave a way for others to live. This is the smart way of doing things. This is what a working person looks like." Li Shouxian's evaluation of these few families of common people was quite high.

Although Ji Ye understood Li Shouxian's words, she couldn't accept this attitude very well. in the education she received, this world was a winner-takes-all world. If one wanted to get benefits, it was absolutely impossible not to fight for them. The weak must attach themselves to the strong. And these few households neither expressed attachment to the People's Party nor occupied more benefits absolutely. Seventeen-year-old Ji Ye completely couldn't understand this way of doing things.

Visiting thirty-something families, Li Shouxian also felt the mental exhaustion was too great. He said to Ji Ye, "That's it for today, let's go back first and then talk."

"Why not try hard to finish visiting all the families?" Ji Ye was even more puzzled.

"Someone has to come out and set an example. And we also have to prepare. Leading the masses to work, if we don't prepare anything, what is that?" Li Shouxian explained the working method.

"Letting them work, what do we prepare?" Ji Ye was very astonished.

"Haha," at Ji Ye's immaturity in work, Li Shouxian smiled somewhat helplessly, "Which patch of bamboo to cut, how to transport it down. We have to think it through for the people. Even if we prepare these, we still have to see if the masses are willing to accept our arrangements. The things we think of might not necessarily fit the masses' needs. Comrade Ji Ye, whether we can do well the work that we are supposed to complete is still uncertain. You can't eat hot tofu if you're impatient; let's do it step by step."