On November 1, 1910, the night was gloomy. The lights were still on in Yuan Shikai's study. Ever since seizing central power, this had been Yuan Shikai's daily routine. He was either deep in thought or pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He had never imagined that ruling the whole of China would be such a difficult task. All sorts of chaotic situations were tangled together; conflicts of interest that initially seemed insignificant would eventually turn into major issues affecting the overall situation. Within the Beiyang clique, apart from a few individuals, most people were not afraid of blowing things out of proportion. Yuan Shikai, well-versed in officialdom, had already seen where the problem lay. In the brand-new Beiyang political system, everyone was trying to expand their scope of authority. Regardless of whether they were in the right, they would fight to get it into their hands first. After all, the Beiyang clique was now the largest political group in China, and everyone was fearless in their tossing and turning.

However, these people were not completely devoid of sense. First, they knew they must prop Yuan Shikai up at the very top. Second, they were unwilling to provoke the People's Party. Third, they would not choose tasks that truly carried high risks. Thinking of these subordinates, Yuan Shikai felt a headache coming on.

In his youth, Yuan Shikai had written a piece of doggerel: "Before my eyes, dragons and tigers fight endlessly; murderous intent rises straight to the clouds. I wish to open a giant mouth to the sky, and swallow all the arrogant heroes in one gulp." Personality-wise, he considered himself someone who sought supreme status through personal achievement. But after years of struggling in officialdom, Yuan Shikai had long lost the greenness of his youth. Politics had never been a system where one could command everything solely by personal ability.

Before Cixi died, Yuan Shikai felt he had plenty of room to display his talents, only being firmly held down by her. After Cixi's death, Yuan Shikai realized that without Cixi's genuine approval and assistance back then, there were many things he simply couldn't have done. The current Beiyang was just like that; any order from Yuan Shikai would be heavily discounted in execution. Anyone who wanted to get things done would immediately be held back by countless others.

Tonight, it was Xu Shichang who came to Yuan Shikai's residence. Xu Shichang was here to ask for funding for land reclamation in the Northeast. Over the four northeastern provinces, there was now a Viceroy of the Northeast, and that was Xu Shichang. Yuan Shikai was temporarily unwilling to easily alter the Qing official system. In reality, under the political platform of federal self-governance, with each province governing itself, the positions of regional viceroys placed above the provinces—such as the Viceroy of the Northeast, Viceroy of Liangguang, and Viceroy of Huguang—had become meaningless. But Yuan Shikai was unwilling to deny Xu Shichang face; he still hoped to let his old friend Xu Shichang serve until the end.

Moreover, Yuan Shikai had already spoken with Xu Shichang. Once the federal self-governance was completed, Xu Shichang would be appointed as the Vice Prime Minister of the Cabinet. The position of Prime Minister was to be given to Prince Qing. Of course, Prince Qing was now in his declining years, so Xu Shichang's promotion to the main position was something foreseeable. Xu Shichang had also gladly accepted his old friend Yuan Shikai's goodwill.

However, what was completely unexpected was that with Xu Shichang's seniority, he actually hit a wall in the new cabinet. The Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhao Bingjun, and the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, Zhang Jian, were not trying to make things difficult for Xu Shichang, but were arguing over who should control this expenditure.

The Northeast land reclamation was proposed by Yuan Shikai. Currently, there were many people and little land inside the pass, while outside the pass, it was precisely the opposite—plenty of land and few people. So Yuan Shikai recruited some willing commoners and organized them to go to the Northeast for reclamation. Strictly speaking, this was a genuine achievement. However, the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, Zhang Jian, believed that since it was state-led reclamation, it counted as a commercial activity and must be led by the state. He believed that individual reclamation had few successes and many failures. Moreover, there was too much oppression involved. It would be better for the state to directly organize manpower and turn the reclamation into farm construction. Concentrating manpower and material resources, plus state support, would yield better benefits.

Actually, this suggestion was quite similar to the People's Party's farm construction. The People's Party distributed fertile land to the commoners, and the government put in the effort to establish large farms, recruiting commoners willing to work on the farms, along with various support from the government. Up to now, it had been done quite outstandingly.

But the Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhao Bingjun, believed Zhang Jian was meddling recklessly. This was originally a civil affairs matter. If the government had to intervene... past experience proved that without official interference, things could still be done; once officials interfered, many things would immediately go awry. It would be counterproductive.

This could still be considered within the scope of normal debate, but soon others joined the argument between the two, and matters gradually developed into a dispute between two factions. Those supporting the Ministry of Civil Affairs believed that all future reclamation should be under Civil Affairs. Those supporting the Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce departments believed that since the state supported this behavior, it was best to see results as soon as possible, so state leadership was most effective.

Xu Shichang was a sensible person. Seeing that the matter had developed into a dispute between interest groups, he hurried to Yuan Shikai to ask him to make a quick decision. This matter must not be allowed to expand further.

However, Xu Shichang was a step late, because today the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, Zhang Jian, had already explicitly stated that he was willing to personally manage the Northeast land reclamation and would ensure it showed results.

Yuan Shikai didn't want to make these matters so urgent; his goal was to first stabilize the situation and gradually smooth out relations. Xu Shichang's well-handled affair was suddenly disrupted. But at this moment, Yuan Shikai couldn't change the arrangement. He had to let Xu Shichang take the money and leave first, leaving the follow-up procedures for this matter until things calmed down a bit.

If one had to say, Zhang Jian didn't have malicious intent. Beiyang was currently short of money, and for every sum invested, he hoped it would produce the maximum effect. But at this juncture, doing so was not quite appropriate. The world was far from being in a time of peace. Leaving aside the internal chaos starting in various provinces, the mere existence of the People's Party required Yuan Shikai to spend a lot of thought. But Beiyang seemed to have long forgotten the term "sincere cooperation." They seemed to have no idea that politics required cooperation.

In this regard, Yuan Shikai envied Chen Ke. This young man, Chen Ke, had completely understood these things at a young age. He didn't follow the old path but started with party building, climbing all the way to his current position. Yuan Shikai had inquired about intelligence on the People's Party from many sources, and the news sent back truly astonished him. Although the People's Party did not publicly propagate their political concepts to the outside world, these things were not tightly sealed secrets either.

"Laborers are the masters of the house," "Oppose exploitation," and a whole set of political systems built around these core concepts were becoming increasingly clear in the People's Party's documents. Chen Ke's phrase, "Who are our friends, who are our enemies, this is the primary question of the revolution," appeared repeatedly in many speeches. This could not fail to attract Yuan Shikai's attention.

Yuan Shikai knew the People's Party had the intention and ambition to seize the world. If the People's Party didn't truly exist and wasn't growing stronger, Yuan Shikai would never have believed that an organization of such scale and with so many personnel could be organized and maintained solely by political ideals, without relying on teacher-student relationships, blood ties, or friendship. He would even less believe that this group of young people would unite under the banner of "Laborers are the masters of the house."

If he hadn't met Chen Ke, if he didn't know what Chen Ke had basically been doing since 1905, Yuan Shikai couldn't imagine that such a "bizarre" organization as the People's Party could actually stand shoulder to shoulder with Beiyang. But he had to face reality. In reality, the People's Party was flourishing. While other provinces were in a mess, and while Yuan Shikai exhausted his efforts but failed to smooth out internal relations in Beiyang, the organization of the People's Party had actually stabilized the situation in four provinces step by step, and achieved considerable development in both economics and politics.

Perhaps killing Chen Ke would solve it, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but think. But he quickly banished this thought from his mind. The People's Party did not lack loyal and brave warriors. An assassination attempt, whether successful or not, would trigger a war. Even more terrifying, it would trigger targeted retaliation from the People's Party. If the People's Party's assassins swarmed out, Beiyang had absolutely no ability to guarantee the safety of its high-ranking cadres.

"It seems the time for a decisive battle with Chen Ke has not yet arrived," Yuan Shikai sighed to himself.

Forcibly pulling his thoughts back, Yuan Shikai had to continue considering Beiyang's next arrangements. Cao Kun was unwilling to go to Shaanxi, and Yuan Shikai couldn't deny Cao Kun face. Within Beiyang, the only one capable of managing a region was Duan Qirui. But this encountered another difficult problem: whether Feng Guozhang, who would take over Duan Qirui's position, had the ability to control the situation in Jiangnan. Zhejiang and Fujian were right next to the People's Party, and both provinces had Guangfu Society activities. If the People's Party was dead set on causing trouble for Beiyang, the situation there probably couldn't be maintained.

To maintain the situation, a political solution acceptable to all Beiyang provinces had to be produced. That was, how to form provincial assemblies and how they would operate normally. On these aspects, the Beiyang clique was also arguing endlessly internally. The warlords naturally hoped the assemblies would have no influence. But the civil official group was quite interested in the assemblies; they hoped the gentry could better coordinate with the government's work. It wasn't bad for the gentry to have some power.

Now both sides hoped to get Yuan Shikai's support, and Yuan Shikai was also in a dilemma. In all fairness, Yuan Shikai didn't want anyone to share his power, but he felt the recent performance of the warlords was very unsatisfactory.

After thinking it over, Yuan Shikai finally decided that since he had given the warlords such great power, it was absolutely impossible without certain constraints. This was also one of Cixi's political tactics—absolutely never letting one side dominate. Only now did Yuan Shikai understand why he could never outmaneuver that old lady back then. She truly had the boldness to let subordinates do things, yet not let them have the opportunity to collude.

Having determined this matter, Yuan Shikai felt a wave of relief in his heart. He was presiding over the constitutionalism and understood various political models quite well. His hesitation was because he hadn't made the final decision. Once the decision was made, Yuan Shikai wrote with the speed of wind, quickly drafting the document.

The next day, Yuan Shikai convened a cabinet meeting and brought out the universal suffrage plan outline. In the Beiyang provinces, all males over the age of 18 with no criminal record would possess the right to vote and be elected. As for the details, the civil official group would naturally be responsible.

As soon as this decision was announced, the Beiyang cabinet immediately went into a commotion.

"Lord Yuan, if we do this, how will the powers of the provincial assemblies and the Viceroys be determined?" asked Minister of Justice Shen Jiaben.

Currently, various legal issues including constitutionalism were under the Ministry of Justice. Although the Ministry of Justice wasn't a lucrative post now, it held significant power.

Wang Shizhen asked a question that seemed casual, "Are the provincial Viceroys elected by the assembly, or appointed by the central government?"

Although Wang Shizhen wasn't a spokesperson for the warlords, he felt obligated to clarify this question.

" The first term will be temporarily appointed by the central government. As long as they are diligent and love the people, won't the local commoners continue to elect them?" Yuan Shikai replied. This was also Yuan Shikai's honest thought. The provincial Viceroys held great power; to what extent of uselessness would they have to be to be overthrown by an assembly elected by local gentry? If they were truly useless to that extent, then let them be overthrown honestly. Yuan Shikai didn't want to wipe the asses of such useless people.

Some cabinet members immediately showed joy on their faces, while others' expressions darkened. However, no one raised an objection. This matter had been debated for too long. Once Yuan Shikai made up his mind, this was the final decision. No one had the guts to overturn Yuan Shikai's established plan.

"Minister Shen, hurry up and list the basic clauses for cabinet review," Yuan Shikai issued the order. "After agreement, distribute them to the Beiyang provinces. Distribute them to other provinces as well; as for whether they implement them, that's up to them."

Shen Jiaben immediately replied, "Yes!"

***

Chen Ke received this notice in Jiangxi on November 29. He had intended to go to Anhui, but couldn't stop worrying about the work in Jiangxi. So he simply went directly from Hubei to Jiangxi.

Although Jiangxi was under military control, the political level of Commissar He Zudao and Military Commander Hua Xiongmao was not inferior to other cadres engaged in civil affairs. The cadres and soldiers of the unit had received intensified training in land reform before departure. This place, Jiangxi, was even poorer than Anhui, and social contradictions were simpler. There were plenty of opportunities for land reform work. Needless to say, just by knocking down local tyrants and evil gentry, plus eradicating various bandits, preliminary land reform was completed in twenty percent of Jiangxi's areas within a year.

Conditions in each province were truly completely different. In Jiangxi, the troops discovered many strange villages existing in many mountainous areas. The entire village consisted entirely of yeoman farmers. Due to the poor local economic conditions, the small villages were all yeoman farmers, with no clans, no ancestral halls, and no landlords. The masses discussed things when issues arose and lived their own lives when there were none. Although poor, they did not lack order. The only problem was that this place produced "quasi-bandits."

To make a living, people everywhere had to engage in many trades that involved traveling. There were quite a few militia groups acting as escorts, and this escort trade began to evolve into demanding road tolls, and finally simply turned into professional banditry.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had dealt with these bandits quite a lot over the past year or so. The direct result was that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army grew from two divisions of 50,000 men to four divisions of 100,000 men.

When reporting to Chen Ke, He Zudao's report clearly and firmly grasped the principal contradiction. The standard for screening bandits was "for the sake of obtaining money for enjoyment" or "for the sake of survival and getting a meal."

The former were absolutely exploiters; these people were all executed after public trial. The latter belonged to the category that could still be salvaged. The People's Party simply incorporated them into the newly established units. Of course, this could absolutely not be boundless leniency. Anyone with blood on their hands, even a minion, had to be executed after public trial.

But He Zudao was very methodical. regarding the vast number of captured bandits, the People's Party first organized them for education. Let them recognize clearly that they became bandits not because they were born bad, but because they were forced by life. These bandits truly couldn't survive by normal means of livelihood.

When Hua Xiongmao talked to Chen Ke about this aspect of work, he was truly full of admiration. "Zudao and the commissars lecture these people every day. Although I know the whole plan, I still have no bottom in my heart. But after a few grievance meetings, new comrades were willing to turn over a new leaf and behave themselves. Who has a murder case on their hands, who played what role in various looting actions—at first, everyone didn't say much, but once this was summarized, many things could be linked together. In less than two months, over half of the looting actions in Jiangxi within the last three years have been accounted for. Once this round of public trials was held, prestige was quickly established among the masses."

"Zhenglan, Zudao is meticulous in his work; neither of us can compare," Chen Ke also laughed.

"Wenqing, you are criticizing me," Hua Xiongmao said.

"That's right. You should learn more from Zudao." Chen Ke had always been straightforward when speaking with Hua Xiongmao.

"I can't learn that stuff. I've tried. Let me talk for a while and I'm okay, but let me talk for half a day and I immediately get anxious. I'm really not cut out to be a commissar." Hua Xiongmao also never lied to Chen Ke.

Since Hua Xiongmao was so frank, Chen Ke didn't force him. "Then you can't be the principal for the Party School work. You're no good for the Cadre School either. You have to take charge of the Military Academy for me."

"I think I'm okay at doing business." Hua Xiongmao felt he couldn't help but show off his own merits.

Jiangxi was so large that it was impossible to strike out everywhere and eliminate all bandits. There weren't enough troops, and many military operations were too costly and not cost-effective.

Hua Xiongmao took a different path and started the old trade of the "Insurance Group."

The People's Party's earliest armed force, the "Insurance Group," if one had to say, was "bandits who fought bandits." It was an organization that collected fixed taxes from controlled areas using monopoly over logistics and bodyguards as economic means. Chen Ke originally hadn't expected the flood; his original intention was to gradually infiltrate and monopolize the administrative and judicial power of the base areas by establishing such an organization. As a result, the situation was stronger than men, and the People's Party directly pivoted to starting up through disaster relief.

But Jiangxi had many mountains. Although the flood problem was severe, there were fewer chances of flooding in the plains. So Hua Xiongmao simply dispersed the troops and began to master local political power using the "Insurance Group" model.

And He Zudao's vigorous reform of "former bandits" was fully combined with this measure. Bandits had an advantage: they were very clear about matters in various places. With these reformed soldiers acting as local guides, the situation in many places became very easy to grasp.

Therefore, although Jiangxi was under military control, order could be effectively established. Moreover, acting as bodyguards brought some revenue and allowed for a full understanding of the specific situation in each place. The entire situation in Jiangxi was not bad at all.