On September 13, 1910, the People's Party negotiation representative Xie Mingxian arrived in Nanjing by boat. He was met by a delegation led by Jiangsu Assemblyman Zhang Yutong. The first and most profound impression the People's Party delegation left on the Jiangsu assemblymen was that they were "too young." There wasn't a single person over forty in the entire delegation. Xie Mingxian, the leader, though steady in manner and refined in speech, looked only about thirty. And he was the oldest of the group. The other representatives were all young men. Coupled with the fact that the People's Party representatives all had their hair cut extremely short, they appeared even younger.

Seeing that no one in the People's Party delegation was carrying luggage for another, and that they surprisingly had no servants attending to them, the Jiangsu delegation was baffled. The few visitors were dressed exactly alike: deep blue military uniforms, soft military caps, and cloth shoes. Standing there together, it was hard to distinguish who was the leader and who were the subordinates.

The People's Party's greetings were also very simple. Xie Mingxian and his group merely briefly introduced the six-member delegation, stating each person's name. They then politely asked for the names of the Jiangsu representatives who had come to welcome them. After that, they said nothing more.

*Are they putting on airs?* The Jiangsu representatives had truly never seen such a style. The average age of the welcoming Jiangsu delegation was over thirty-five, and that was only because the six attendants pulled the average down. With hearts full of displeasure and confusion, the Jiangsu delegation ushered the People's Party representatives into rickshaws and headed towards the Jiangsu Governor's Yamen.

Sharing a rickshaw with Xie Mingxian was Zhang Yutong. Seeing Xie Mingxian carefully observing the scenery on both sides of the road, Zhang Yutong felt a bit smug. Nanjing was an ancient capital, and despite suffering through the calamities of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom several times, the city still held a lot of grandeur. Although Zhang Yutong was not a Nanjing native, as a host, seeing Xie Mingxian looking at the scenery so seriously made him feel quite proud.

Zhang Yutong couldn't help but ask, "I hear that the areas under People's Party rule are quite prosperous. I wonder what thoughts Mr. Xie has upon seeing Nanjing?"

Xie Mingxian heard the boastfulness in Zhang Yutong's voice. He felt a wave of weariness toward this mentality, but his long career as a Party member had given Xie Mingxian enough capacity for self-reflection. He knew that in his heart, he looked down on these assemblymen. Looking at the other forces in China, the People's Party cadres truly saw no one worth their regard. Jiangsu continued to exist only because the People's Party currently lacked the capacity to deal with them. The People's Party emphasized "seeking truth from facts." As for why the base areas couldn't be expanded further, party organizations at all levels had thoroughly implemented the Party Central Committee's attitude: "We do not have the ability to control these regions!"

By laying out facts and reasoning, the People's Party organizations at all levels had finally acknowledged this reality. With party organization construction and government organization construction still very imperfect, the time for the People's Party to expand its base areas was far from mature.

However, even so, Xie Mingxian knew clearly that he despised Zhang Yutong's status as an assemblyman from the bottom of his heart. Hearing Zhang Yutong's smug words, Xie Mingxian replied with as much politeness as possible, "Each has its own merits."

"How so?" Zhang Yutong asked, eager to join in the fun.

"Land is cheap over our way, so the roads are built relatively wide." As Xie Mingxian spoke, he pointed to the "narrow" Nanjing street that could only accommodate four rickshaws abreast. "In Wuhan, the narrowest street is wider than this. In any county seat where we have started construction, the narrowest street is also wider than this road."

This time it was Zhang Yutong's turn to fall silent. The width of roads signified a city's economic strength. The arrogance in Xie Mingxian's words was obvious. Zhang Yutong naturally didn't know that Chen Ke was a time traveler and held an attitude toward street width and urban planning that this era could not understand. On the issue of urban planning, Chen Ke had explained the characteristics of future cities to responsible persons everywhere. The comrades merely felt that Chairman Chen's vision was perhaps too grand; no one would question or oppose Chen Ke on such matters.

However, Zhang Yutong hadn't come to bicker with Xie Mingxian. Even if this topic couldn't continue, he laughed dryly and continued, "This Nanjing city is still considered lively. If you have time, I can accompany Mr. Xie for a stroll."

Since Zhang Yutong was no longer bragging, Xie Mingxian also replied politely, "That would be much appreciated."

Just as they were speaking, the rickshaw hit a stretch of very poor road. The puller didn't slow down in time, and the carriage jolted violently a few times. "What's the rush? Walk slowly!" Zhang Yutong shouted at the rickshaw puller.

Xie Mingxian's brows couldn't help but furrow. Although he looked down on Zhang Yutong's status as an assemblyman, Xie Mingxian would absolutely not look down on working people. Laborers had too much for everyone to learn from, and it was precisely because of the broad masses in the base areas that the People's Party had everything it did today. This understanding had become a perfectly normal mindset for Party members. Within the base areas, it was advocated that Party cadres not take rickshaws unless it involved transport of goods, illness, female or elderly comrades, or comrades with mobility issues.

If not for the need to "do as the Romans do" upon arriving in Jiangsu territory, Xie Mingxian and the others would have walked everywhere in other parts of the base areas. They were all young men with sound hands and feet; having someone else pull them along made them feel uncomfortable inside.

However, Xie Mingxian couldn't give Zhang Yutong a lecture on ideology. He could only say gently, "Friend, don't rush. Walk slowly."

The puller was used to being yelled at. He also felt that such jolting was inappropriate. Hearing Xie Mingxian speak so gently, he felt quite gratified in his heart. He responded in a muffled voice, "I'll go a bit slower on this stretch. Once the road is better, I'll speed up again. I won't delay your affairs."

"That would be much appreciated," Xie Mingxian smiled.

Zhang Yutong never expected Xie Mingxian to be so polite to a puller. Although he was extremely puzzled, he couldn't say much more. But this style of the People's Party truly left a deep impression on Zhang Yutong.

The group arrived at the Governor's Yamen, and the officials waiting at the gate ushered everyone into the conversation room. Just as everyone took their seats, the main door opened, and Wang Youhong entered the room together with other assembly representatives.

The assembly said they had given Wang Youhong full authority to negotiate, but Wang Youhong wasn't foolish enough to actually do so. Assemblymen participated in the entire negotiation process; reception and meeting minutes were all handed over to the assemblymen. Even for the formal negotiations, Wang Youhong invited assembly representatives to form an advisory group. Wang Youhong suppressed his displeasure and learned how to operate a team from the People's Party's documents. His realization was that precisely because the initiative was in his own hands, he needed to learn to cooperate with others even more. Communication with stakeholders was extremely important. given the status quo where the assemblymen firmly believed Wang Youhong would seek private gain for himself, it was actually more appropriate to be open.

Since he had to overwhelm the assemblymen, letting them know clearly what cards Wang Youhong held was far better than keeping them in the dark about his chips. The two parties in this agreement were the Jiangsu government and the People's Party government. Even if the assemblymen participated throughout, it would only let this bunch of assemblymen know who the People's Party actually trusted.

Everyone wasted no time and went straight to the topic. The agreement Xie Mingxian brought was this: if the Jiangsu side could produce raw silk of the quality specified by the People's Party, then the People's Party and the Jiangsu government could sign a four-year purchase agreement. They would take as much of this raw silk as there was.

This grand gesture immediately frightened the assemblymen. Was there really such a good thing in the world? They couldn't have imagined it.

"Exactly what quality of raw silk is required?" Wang Youhong wasn't bluffed by this outcome at all.

Xie Mingxian took out a few small silk reels. The Jiangsu assemblymen passed them around, looking at the white raw silk wound on the reels, not knowing what it meant. This raw silk quality was indeed good, much better than ordinary native silk. But it wasn't exactly earth-shattering. It was Zhang Yutong, an expert in silk, who saw the trick first. Holding the silk reel and examining it carefully for a good while, Zhang Yutong asked with a slightly trembling voice, "Is this silk... is it all one thread?"

"What?!" The other assemblymen already understood what Zhang Yutong was saying. The best raw silk was called "Nine-Li Silk" or "Seven-Li Silk," referring to a cocoon that could be reeled as a single thread from beginning to end. Such raw silk could be woven into extremely wide fabrics. Although the People's Party's raw silk was slightly coarser than other raw silks, this flaw was nothing compared to the inconceivable length of the filament. One could even say that this characteristic of being slightly coarser actually ensured the raw silk was stronger.

Without waiting for the Jiangsu assemblymen to ask, Xie Mingxian proactively said, "The silk from our base areas is basically all of this quality. If you gentlemen can guarantee this quality, we are willing to discuss purchase cooperation with you."

Such a business-like attitude didn't elicit praise; instead, it made the assemblymen from the Zhejiang sericulture industry burst into anger. "Mr. Xie, are you here to mock us?"

"If we had raw silk of this quality, we could sell it ourselves. Would we need to beg at your door?"

"You are asking the impossible!"

The assemblymen basically all had experience raising silkworms. One look at the raw silk quality and they knew they couldn't meet this standard at present.

The room boiled over with voices. The number of assemblymen wasn't large, but in their anxiety, one person's volume and speed equaled several. Moreover, everyone had tried to speak Mandarin at first, but now various local dialects gushed forth. Wang Youhong couldn't even understand some of it.

Slapping the table, Wang Youhong quieted the local assemblymen. He asked, "If we have this kind of raw silk, will the People's Party be willing to buy it?"

"Yes," Xie Mingxian replied.

"Does the People's Party not want raw silk of other qualities?" Wang Youhong continued to ask.

"That is correct, we do not want it," Xie Mingxian answered, still crisp.

"Then what if we can't produce it?" Wang Youhong went straight to the heart of the matter.

Xie Mingxian hadn't expected Wang Youhong to be so shrewd, and he was momentarily stunned. He had prepared for an arduous negotiation process. Xie Mingxian had even prepared himself to arrive in Nanjing and leave on the same day. But Wang Youhong's cleverness, or perhaps boldness, was truly unexpected.

"We can provide a full set of services from silkworm eggs, rearing technology, and reeling equipment to raw silk purchasing. Jiangsu only needs to pay a certain service fee." Xie Mingxian gave the full content of the negotiation. These were all conditions set by Chen Ke. For this matter, the People's Party Hubei Provincial Committee had argued for a long time. Finally, Chen Ke explained to the high-level officials the economic laws hidden behind this policy that seemingly gave Jiangsu a huge advantage. The comrades' views on this arrangement immediately did a 180-degree turn. Chairman Chen Ke's depth of understanding of economics and the insidiousness of his methods truly opened the eyes of all the cadres.

However, this insidiousness concealed massive economic benefits. Xie Mingxian was actually worried that these fellows in Jiangsu wouldn't understand this at all. Chen Ke had told the comrades clearly: if Jiangsu still clung to "feudal guild" thinking, or couldn't step out of the mindset of the small-peasant economy, then let them die on their own. This was the only chance the People's Party would give.

Things developed just as Xie Mingxian expected. The Jiangsu assemblymen immediately asked, "Then how is the price determined?"

Xie Mingxian replied, "Pricing can follow two models. First, purchase at a fixed price. Second, purchase with a commission commission. Regardless of the price agreed upon, a ten percent commission must be paid to us."

"You are practically robbing us!" a Jiangsu assemblyman immediately retorted.

"Ha," Xie Mingxian was amused. "Gentlemen, if we engage in raw silk production ourselves, we can guarantee the quality of the raw silk we produce. If we buy your raw silk, we have to spend manpower to inspect it. How much wrangling will be involved in that? do you think we in the People's Party want to go to that trouble? We also have to answer to our customers. If there are quality issues, will the customers buy our raw silk next time?"

The Jiangsu assemblymen naturally wouldn't buy this argument. It was clearly the People's Party that had battered the Jiangsu raw silk trade to the point of collapse, yet this sounded as if the People's Party was bestowing a massive favor on Jiangsu.

Before the Jiangsu assemblymen could rise to refute, Xie Mingxian continued, "I said it: we will buy your raw silk without limit. We also face operational risks. If we buy it and can't sell it, and this raw silk is left in our hands, we will lose a lot of money. Everyone in the sericulture industry knows there is this risk. We are taking on this risk; do you think we are asking for too much?"

The logic Xie Mingxian spoke was complete, but the crux of the matter now lay in the conflict of stance between the People's Party and the Jiangsu side. The Jiangsu assemblymen and gentry held a "victim" mentality. Naturally, they couldn't accept the People's Party's dominance. Xie Mingxian was very clear on this. It was truly a case of "the victor can be magnanimous." As the stronger side, the People's Party crushed other regions with its system and structure. In a situation of total superiority, Xie Mingxian was in no hurry.

The Jiangsu gentry, however, firmly demanded control. This clearly wasn't a cooperative attitude. Xie Mingxian glanced at Wang Youhong. "Governor Wang, perhaps we should stop here. I was ordered to come merely to propose such a plan. If you gentlemen cannot accept it, I will return. How long until you can give me an answer?"

"This matter involves a great deal. I must trouble Mr. Xie to stay a few more days. We must at least come up with a charter for discussion," Wang Youhong replied.

"How long will that take?" Xie Mingxian didn't want to stay here indefinitely.

"Within three days, we will inform Mr. Xie how long it will take to reach a result," Wang Youhong answered very readily.

As soon as Xie Mingxian left, Wang Youhong immediately faced a storm of inquiries from the assemblymen. After listening to this pile of opinions, Wang Youhong asked, "Gentlemen, tell me, what is your highest hope?"

"Highest expectation?" The assemblymen were very puzzled.

"Highest expectation means, what is the best possible degree you hope to negotiate this deal to? For example, do we make the People's Party give up their sales channels for us to manage? Or hand over the silkworm eggs for us to handle? Or do we set the price at which the People's Party buys our raw silk?" As Wang Youhong explained what a highest expectation was, his words were laced with sarcasm and mockery.

The content of this mockery was actually what the gentry truly hoped for. It was also what many had stopped short of saying directly during the negotiation just now, but had hinted at explicitly and implicitly. However, having been elected as assemblymen, they still had that bit of self-knowledge. The People's Party coming to negotiate instead of bringing soldiers to kill their way over was already a very peaceful approach. Turning from guest to host—that was simply impossible.

The reason the assemblymen dared to be so arrogant just now was that they were facing only Xie Mingxian and two other negotiation representatives. They had the advantage in numbers, and being on Jiangsu home turf, they felt a psychological superiority. Now that Xie Mingxian was gone and Wang Youhong had laid things bare, the assemblymen felt that their words just now had indeed been a bit excessive.

Zhang Yutong hurriedly asked, "Lord Wang, what are your thoughts?"

"I don't understand silk. Is the People's Party's raw silk really that good?" Wang Youhong asked.

This question dampened the spirits of the gentry, who had already been struck a blow, even further. The assemblymen looked at the raw silk samples before them. They very much wanted to say that this raw silk was used by the People's Party to bluff the Jiangsu gentry. But they were all knowledgeable people. Sericulture production is a very bulk affair. Cocoons are calculated by the "cloth" unit because people let silk moths lay eggs on cloth; one cloth holds several hundred silkworm eggs. The quality of each batch of silkworm eggs is identical. This proved that the People's Party had really obtained good silkworm breeds.

"This raw silk is indeed good. We can't compare right now," Zhang Yutong replied.

Wang Youhong said calmly, "Gentlemen, we in Southern Jiangsu have always valued sericulture. Sericulture in Anhui was originally negligible. Comparing experience in planting mulberries and raising silkworms, the People's Party couldn't catch up to us even if they whipped their horses. That's true, isn't it?"

The assemblymen expressed their agreement one after another. They actually didn't possess the grand strategy to solve the People's Party militarily; everyone simply lacked the psychological capacity to accept that the Jiangsu sericulture industry had been thoroughly crushed by the People's Party.

Wang Youhong continued, "Everyone has gone to investigate Anhui, and much of the news was told to me by you gentlemen. In Anhui, planting mulberries, raising silkworms, and reeling silk is a chain organized by the local government. The common people who participate only need to do the work. They don't need to be responsible for their own profits and losses. Therefore, the People's Party can unify the silkworm breeds, unify the purchasing, and unify the silk reeling. I have thought about it over and over, and the People's Party is only better than us on this one point."

Hearing Wang Youhong's words, the assemblymen already understood his meaning. As the highest official in Jiangsu right now, Wang Youhong wanted to intervene in the sericulture industry. He wanted to imitate the People's Party's model to build a brand-new production system. Many gentry had vaguely guessed Wang Youhong's intention before this negotiation. It was precisely because they didn't want the government controlled by Wang Youhong to meddle in this matter that they had tried every means to salvage the situation. Now, although they couldn't refute Wang Youhong's words, many assemblymen still used silence to express their attitude.

"I know you gentlemen are afraid that once the government intervenes in this business, it will take away everyone's profits. But look at the People's Party's actions; the result is obviously not like that. I have a humble opinion; I wonder if you gentlemen are willing to listen," Wang Youhong said.

"Please instruct us, My Lord." The assemblymen didn't dare not let Wang Youhong speak.

"It comes down to means of production, labor power, and profit." Wang Youhong took a piece of paper and wrote these words down.

Using more than an hour of explanation, the assemblymen understood a little bit about exactly how capitalism exploited. During the explanation process, the assemblymen who understood first had already become excited. Seeing their agitated appearance of "having heard the Dao in the morning, one can die content in the evening," Wang Youhong smiled bitterly in his heart. When he saw the article "Brief Introduction to Marx's Theory of Surplus Value" written by Chen Ke, Wang Youhong had completely submitted to Chen Ke and this expert named Ma.

Especially that sentence, "The transformation from commodity to money is a thrilling leap." Wang Youhong had even slapped the table and shouted in acclaim! Many things that had once troubled him were completely unraveled in that instant.

Although it wasn't yet clear exactly what joint Chen Ke had opened up, Wang Youhong could be certain that Chen Ke's People's Party had undoubtedly found the method to easily step over this "thrilling leap" in the sericulture industry. Meanwhile, the landlords of Southern Jiangsu were being squeezed by the booming People's Party until they were lingering at death's door. After hearing the suggestion proposed by Xie Mingxian that the People's Party could provide Jiangsu with the entire production and sales chain, whether to agree or not was no longer a question for Wang Youhong. Wang Youhong's only worry was how to ensure this cooperative relationship could be honored and maintained.

Therefore, none of the Jiangsu assemblymen noticed the "four-year cooperation agreement" proposed by Xie Mingxian, but Wang Youhong couldn't help but notice this key issue of time. If an agreement couldn't be reached, the Jiangsu sericulture industry was at a dead end. Even if an agreement could be reached, the Jiangsu sericulture industry four years later would still very likely be at a dead end.

Watching the assemblymen exclaim in admiration over the "Surplus Value" theory, and seeing the self-righteously clever assemblymen explaining to those who hadn't fully understood yet how generous profits could be obtained by exploiting labor power, Wang Youhong felt a sense of sorrow in his heart.

When Chen Ke, this young man, had already put his theories into practice, this group of useless assemblymen hadn't even understood the principle yet. If, in the future, Chen Ke led the People's Party he had personally educated—with an average age of less than thirty—to attack Jiangsu, would Wang Youhong and this group of assemblymen with an average age of over forty have the ability to resist? The result of resistance would likely be that not even dregs would remain, right?

Thinking of this, Wang Youhong suddenly understood one thing: why Chen Ke was never stingy about imparting his knowledge to People's Party members. Even if he couldn't be emperor himself, while Chen Ke was alive, he could traverse the world unhindered and establish unparalleled achievements.

But Wang Youhong's subordinates were all such a bunch of country bumpkins and fools. No matter how Wang Youhong tried to build a Jiangsu Kingdom belonging to himself, it would be in vain.

"Chen Ke, Grandpa I is sticking to you now. Whatever you say, I'll follow. Grandpa I is going to see just what you can do!" A tragic resolve flashed through Wang Youhong's heart.