"We must drive the imperialist devils out of China!"

"If we have to fight, then let's fight! Do those British devils think our People's Party is the Manchu Qing government?"

"Isn't it just a few broken ships? I'll take a suicide squad and blow those broken ships up with mines!"

Emotions were running high inside the Hubei Provincial Committee. After Chen Ke reported the negotiation process with the British to the Party Committee, the young cadres exploded.

British naval guns could reach the steel plant and the arsenal. If the People's Party's core industrial base were subjected to such a bombardment, it would be a massive loss. Everyone knew this. It was precisely because they knew it that the comrades were even more furious.

The People's Party had long made some military contingency plans. In terms of foreign relations, the People's Party had always felt it was a thorny issue. Only after 1949 could China stand up straight when facing foreign devils. Especially after the Korean War, foreigners truly gave up the idea of attacking China from the land. The Americans, who were at the height of their power, couldn't gain any advantage in Korea, so other countries harbored such thoughts even less. But before 1949, what did China amount to? With a mix of fighting and intimidation from foreigners, the Manchu Qing government and the Republic of China government would kneel and surrender.

The People's Party was an organization forged in battle. If the party organization could not reach a consensus on this matter, even if the problem were resolved peacefully, it would greatly dampen morale. Moreover, Chen Ke believed that at this stage, it was necessary to broaden the comrades' horizons and have them look at problems with a global perspective. Strictly speaking, this conflict wasn't a big deal at all. A commercial negotiation where the British used warships to issue meaningless threats—this could already be said to be the British showing their weakness. In this sense, the People's Party had already achieved great success.

However, the comrades clearly lacked an understanding of the world situation in this era. The fear in their hearts was probably on par with that of the British. The more they understood the significance of Wuhan to the People's Party, and the significance of Hanyang Steel to the People's Party, the more profound their fear became.

The verbal abuse didn't last too long. Seeing Chen Ke sitting in the chairman's seat unhurriedly, the comrades felt a lot more confident. It was Chen Ke negotiating with the British. Since Chen Ke was fearless, the People's Party would certainly not suffer in this negotiation.

"Chairman Chen, how do you view this matter?" Lu Huitian asked.

"How is the land reform work proceeding in southern Hubei?" Chen Ke asked in return.

"It has basically been implemented. Resistance varies from place to place. It should be just about done by next year," Lu Huitian replied. After saying this, he asked again, "What does this have to do with the situation in Wuhan?"

Lu Huitian's question voiced the thoughts of the comrades. What did land reform in Hubei have to do with the confrontation in Wuhan?

"No matter how awesome the British naval guns are, let's give them the benefit of the doubt—they can hit 30 kilometers, or 60 li. A strip of 60 li along the two banks of the Yangtze River only accounts for a tiny portion of the base area. And everyone has undergone training from Comrade Yan Fu. How many shells can such a ship carry? How much effect can it have? How much money does it cost for such a ship to cruise around in the Yangtze River? Everyone knows this, right?" Chen Ke laughed.

"But our steel plant can't withstand such a beating. That's equipment worth tens of millions," the comrades' answer seemed very pragmatic.

Chen Ke retorted, "Didn't we carry out the revolution just the same when we didn't have this factory equipment? Besides, many newly built factories are outside the range of British naval guns. Hanyang Steel might very well suffer losses. But as long as our army is not defeated, other factories will not be lost."

"It's not that we want to lose Hanyang Steel," the comrades said, their fear already greatly diminished.

"Comrades, when we of the People's Party fight, we always talk about the objective of the war. So, what do you think the British objective is if they fight us?" Chen Ke continued to ask.

"To seize our base area!"

"To snatch our factories!"

"To carve up China!"

The common views of various revolutionary parties of this era popped out one after another. Hearing this, Chen Ke couldn't help but laugh. "Everyone be serious, we are holding a Party meeting. Speaking from your hearts, what do you think?"

Seeing Chen Ke's attitude was so serious, the comrades chuckled sheepishly. In fact, they really didn't know what the British wanted to do. The People's Party had long made military preparations. Perhaps the caliber of the artillery in the base area was not yet enough to penetrate the armor of British warships, but sinking British warships in the Yangtze River using mines was something they could accomplish.

More importantly, the British concessions could not be defended by naval guns alone. If the People's Party were truly determined to fight to the death with the British, the British would never be able to gain a foothold in Wuhan again. British warships wouldn't even think about entering the Yangtze River basin in the future.

"Chairman Chen, then what do you think the British want to do?" Lu Huitian still didn't hope for war to occur; he believed that Chen Ke truly didn't want war to happen either.

"I think the British want a lot of things. If you let them think, they even want to annex China. What they think doesn't matter at all. What matters is whether our comrades in the People's Party view ourselves too lightly and cheaply. Can we view problems realistically? On this matter, we must commit neither 'Left' adventurism nor Right capitulationism."

Hearing Chen Ke speak of "Right capitulationism," Lu Huitian's face became a bit grave. Recently, he had been sensitive to this term. Whenever someone mentioned it, he easily associated it with whether someone was implying something.

Chen Ke couldn't care about Lu Huitian's personal thoughts. He said, "What is called 'Left' adventurism is when encountering a problem, one does not analyze what the principal contradiction and the secondary contradiction are, and regardless of the specific situation, one simply believes there is an ultimate truth and then recklessly acts on that stubborn belief. For example, the British warships have come this time. Everyone knows the British are here to bully us. Everyone thinks that based on our principles, they shouldn't bully us. So, with a hot head—beat the British devils! This is called intensifying the contradiction; this is not solving the problem."

After finishing, Chen Ke scanned the comrades of the Hubei Provincial Committee. The comrades who had just been clamoring to fight to the death with the British lowered their heads in shame. Now, even if the comrades in the Party could not accept Chen Ke's views in their hearts, no one dared to contradict him.

"Right capitulationism is when encountering social contradictions, one fails to grasp the principal and secondary contradictions. Instead of saying they will solve the problem through progress, they believe that society is progressing too fast. They adopt a capitulationist view of maintaining the status quo by prioritizing the resolution of secondary contradictions. They dare not struggle, dare not push forward. They hope things will resolve themselves. If the British apply pressure and we acknowledge British dominance and obediently listen to the British, this is Right capitulationism."

Since no one in the Hubei Provincial Committee had proposed compromising with the British yet, everyone's reaction to these words from Chen Ke was relatively small.

"Why do I say that everyone views themselves too lightly and cheaply? Because comrades have not understood one thing: what position we are in, and what position the British are in. So this time, I want to talk to everyone about the issue of 'On Contradiction'."

"On Contradiction" is one of the core pillars of Grandpa Mao's philosophical thought. It is not just a philosophical issue, but also a worldview issue. It is even more of an issue of how to conduct oneself. Whether or not one admits that contradictions exist eternally determines whether a person is metaphysical or a true materialist. Chen Ke believed that his past desire for the world to be in some fixed order was a standard manifestation of not believing that contradictions exist eternally. This was also the reason for Chen Ke's repeated failures in the 21st century. The world is developing, and with every step of development, contradictions are also constantly changing. How can a person who is always forced to react and cannot proactively face realistic contradictions succeed?

So-called "fate" is the inevitability of contradiction. You cannot avoid it.

"I have also talked about imperialism. The core is exploitation internally and plunder externally. External plunder—this matter also has contradictions. From the British perspective, there is success and failure in plunder. This is a pair of contradictions. And the manifestation of contradictions takes many forms, from bargaining to violent war. Before we expanded the base area to Hubei, there was no contradiction between us and the British. Comrades have always been surprised why I had no interest in attacking Wuhan by force. Because as long as we intervened in Wuhan, whether we liked it or not, the contradiction between us and the British would inevitably occur."

The comrades listened silently. They once strongly disagreed with Chen Ke's strategic considerations, but since Chen Ke firmly controlled the army, they had no reason to oppose him. Only after entering Hubei did everyone truly feel that conquering the country is easy, but ruling it is hard. Because the expansion of the base area was not a simple expansion of original contradictions; more new contradictions appeared before the comrades at a speed completely unimagined. Only then did everyone realize they were not mentally prepared at all.

"We entered Hubei through disaster relief because natural disasters were already the biggest contradiction at that time. Social contradictions were in a very secondary position in most areas. And our class stance is on the side of the people. In the face of natural disasters, there is no contradiction between us and the people. We must solve the contradiction of natural disasters together with the people. Having gained the support of the people, we gained Hubei."

"The development of things is like this. When we eliminate one contradiction, we face a new one. Because we entered Hubei and eliminated the old system, the old system no longer exists, and the contradiction between the people and the old system no longer exists. Then the contradiction between our People's Party and the imperialist system has arisen. This is the inevitability of contradiction. This is also the inevitability of the contradiction between us and the British this time."

"The British attitude toward Wuhan has never changed. They want to obtain the maximum economic benefit from Hubei. We want to ensure the maximum economic benefit for our base area. This pair of contradictions will continue to exist until one side of the contradiction disappears. I firmly believe that the British will definitely disappear from the Hubei base area. However, they will not disappear now. Moreover, the conflict of interest, if we look at it from the Wuhan region, is life-and-death. But if we look at it from the overall British policy towards Asia, there will be a big difference. If we look at it from the British attitude toward world trade, another situation will emerge. If we only look at British external plunder, that is one perspective. If we also incorporate British internal exploitation into the whole picture, everyone will find that the situation is likely completely different. Today we are going to analyze this part of the content."

Chen Ke was probably clearer about the British direction in this era than the British themselves. Books studying the history of Britain's decline were everywhere on the internet in later generations. This is also a classic case. Around the time of World War I, Britain's demand for trade was no longer about import surplus, but about trying to expand trade volume. Through the trade system dominated by the British, the British ruling class could obtain huge benefits. As for the life and death of domestic people, that was fundamentally not content considered by the British ruling class. Before the appearance of the Soviet Union, what relationship did the lives of the working masses in Europe and America have with the ruling class? Russian Maozi were once called the "Gendarme of Europe," not because Russian Maozi rode roughshod over European countries, but because when there was a revolution in a European country, the ruling class gave the Maozi money, and the Maozi would help suppress it.

So what the British wanted was trade volume. It was just that because the base area looked weak, the British felt that a little scare with warships would probably make the base area submit. The reality was that the People's Party, which had implemented a people's revolution, already possessed strength that the British simply could not shake. It was the People's Party, not the British, that dominated the situation in Wuhan. The People's Party had plenty of cards they hadn't used yet. The British had now used their last resort—military force. This was the British's last move. Even they themselves didn't dare to let go and intensify the contradiction to the level of war.

After listening to Chen Ke's full analysis and understanding the key to the current situation, the young cadres burned with anger again. "Motherf*cker, the British dare to scare us!"

However, most comrades were not so agitated; everyone's faces lit up. Knowing that it was impossible for the British to jump over the wall in desperation and start a war, naturally, everyone had nothing left to fear.

Seeing the excited looks of the comrades, Chen Ke hurriedly emphasized, "Comrades, seeking peace through struggle leads to peace; seeking peace through compromise leads to the death of peace. The British dare not fight us because we have made full preparations for military struggle. If we hadn't taken the path of people's revolution, if we hadn't stood together with the broad masses of people, the British would have attacked long ago. The British are not afraid of us; the British are afraid of the tens of millions of people organized under the new system. So land reform work must be done well and implemented. This is the only foundation of our People's Party."

If Lu Huitian were only facing landlords and gentry, he would still have been somewhat unconvinced by Chen Ke's forceful land reform policy. However, after the conflict of interest between the British and the base area occurred, and Chen Ke explained the ins and outs thoroughly, Lu Huitian was truly convinced. If the whole world were brought into view, many contradictions that originally seemed sky-high became somewhat insignificant.

"Chairman Chen, we will step up the resolution of the land reform issue," Lu Huitian replied.

Not only Lu Huitian, but several comrades in the Hubei Provincial Committee who had originally supported a more moderate land reform also expressed their willingness to accelerate the progress of land reform.

Chen Ke was truly helpless. Changing from Right capitulationism to 'Left' adventurism was really easy. He hurriedly said, "Comrades, the contradiction between us and the British is not the principal contradiction in the base area right now. Our principal contradiction is the land reform issue. The attitude toward land reform must be firm; this must be implemented. But during my time in Hubei, I feel that many detailed practices of the comrades are correct. I originally didn't understand the grassroots enough, and I made the mistake of being rash. Everyone, absolutely do not treat the British as a big deal; they really aren't anything. Only by doing a good job in land reform do we have everything. Absolutely do not act with undue haste."

Criticizing the Left after criticizing the Right, and then criticizing the Left again after criticizing the Right. When Chen Ke read the Selected Works of Mao, he felt that Grandpa Mao criticized both sides in turn. Many people thought Grandpa Mao was playing power games. Now Chen Ke finally understood that Grandpa Mao didn't have the energy to play power games. Just grasping the Party's situation and being able to implement work realistically without being 'Left' or Right was already exhausting. Playing power games like Cixi would have been effortless in comparison.

After unifying the issues within the Party, the British invited Chen Ke to negotiate again. Feeling that he had no worries behind him, Chen Ke no longer declined and began a new round of trade negotiations with the British.

Facing Chen Ke, translator Yan Fu, and accompanying representative Xie Mingxian, the British attitude was still very firm. The British representative still wanted Chen Ke to hand over the soda ash process, but this time the British gave Chen Ke a pig bladder [empty promise], "Britain is willing to recognize Chen Ke's status as a belligerent party and is willing to establish official relations with the People's Party."

After stating this condition, the British representative looked arrogantly at the "People's Party bandit leader" Chen Ke. As he expected, a smile from the heart appeared on Chen Ke's face. However, the firm answer was completely opposite to what the British representative thought. "I refuse."

Chen Ke smiled happily not because of the condition proposed by the British, but because Britain, this European shit-stirrer good at playing "European Balance of Power," actually played this trick on him. Chen Ke thought to himself, "Do you think I don't know your reputation as shit-stirrers?"

Yuan Shikai's Beiyang army would definitely overthrow the Manchu Qing. In at most another year, after the Manchu Qing fell, the People's Party would automatically gain legal status. If he agreed to the British conditions now, many variables would appear in the agreement between Chen Ke and Yuan Shikai. Thinking of this, Chen Ke had already decided to send a representative to talk to Yuan Shikai, ensuring that the foreign devils wouldn't benefit from their conflict.

It took a good while for the British representative to regain his calm. He said with dissatisfaction, "Mr. Chen, you seem to not care about your illegal status at all. This makes me feel very puzzled."

Facing the British representative's dissatisfaction, Chen Ke didn't care at all. Instead, he threw out a new proposal from the People's Party. "Soda ash is a big business. But what if we sign a trade agreement with your country regarding Southeast Asia? For example, we guarantee to import a certain amount of goods from Southeast Asia every year, and of course, we also want to export a certain amount of goods to Southeast Asia. Do you think such an agreement could satisfy everyone?"

Hearing this suggestion, the British representative immediately dropped the pig bladder of so-called "recognizing belligerent status." "Can you be more specific?"

Chen Ke's suggestion was for the People's Party and the British to reach a fixed-quota trade agreement. For example, importing 20 million taels worth of goods from Southeast Asia annually, and also exporting 20 million taels worth of goods to Southeast Asia. Thereafter, the trade quota would increase by 5% each year compared to the previous year.

For the People's Party, Southeast Asia was a big market, and the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia urgently needed a political force as their backer. The People's Party also needed Southeast Asia's spices, rubber, and metal ores. Once this agreement was reached, the People's Party could also rely on this line to truly project its power into Southeast Asia. Gaining entry rights to a region was of great significance to the People's Party. What's more, the People's Party had long been trying to intervene in the Southeast Asian Chinese circle. The significance of this for politics and economics was not just a newly opened region. In addition to trying to utilize Southeast Asia's materials and capital, the People's Party could also effectively compress Japan's market in Southeast Asia.

Japan's export industry was now mainly targeting the American silk industry. Once the People's Party hit Japan's markets in China and Southeast Asia, Japan's life would not be so easy. And for the burgeoning Japanese market, the People's Party's heavy chemical products would definitely sell very well. The full outbreak of contradictions between the People's Party and Japan was only a matter of time. There was no difference between planning early and planning late. If one had to say, it might even be better for the contradiction to explode earlier.

For the British representative, this was truly a business too unexpected. The British actually dominated the colonial system in Asia. France and the Netherlands were followers of the British. If this Southeast Asian trade agreement could be reached, the British could make a fortune from it. Compared to such profits, the soda ash business seemed somewhat insignificant.

"Will this affect the trade balance agreement we have reached now?" The British representative was very concerned about this.

"This is also a trade balance between us and Southeast Asia. Our trade with the British side is not affected by this. Since your side feels we made too much money, that's no problem; we just spend this money. Saving a pile of foreign currency makes no sense for us either." Chen Ke was very frank. If an industrialized China could be built before World War II, it would be able to obtain unparalleled benefits. This little bit of money was nothing at all.

Even without World War II, during the First World War, the Allied Powers purchased globally to achieve victory. Even Japan could turn from a debtor nation into a creditor nation. For China, having a vast trade region and massive amounts of cheap raw materials—how much effort would that save for the unprecedentedly large-scale infrastructure construction requiring huge investment?

So let alone doing trade with the European shit-stirrer Britain, even if it were a deal with the devil, Chen Ke would go up to negotiate without hesitation.

The British representative was half-believing and half-doubting of the suggestion from this rebel bandit leader Chen Ke. All of this was what the British dreamed of. The Chinese market, which they couldn't open with guns and cannons, had now suddenly opened its arms completely. Although the People's Party obviously had its own schemes and also attempted to establish its own industrial center, this only showed that this mysterious Chinese youth had a clear enough understanding. He could be considered an outstanding figure among the many Westernization faction members in China.

Britain's attitude toward the Far East was to maintain the status quo and maintain British dominance. The People's Party's current industrial power was interesting, but only interesting. There were many genius chemists in Britain; Chen Ke was not an existence that could make Britain feel terrified. Moreover, if the representative himself could negotiate this cooperation, he only needed to plan ahead in Southeast Asia to make a fortune from it.

So no matter how strange he felt it was, the British representative had decided to try to push this agreement forward.