Ma Qingsheng failed to make it to Jiangxi. He felt a mix of joy and sorrow over this outcome. Upon returning to the countryside, he saw that the returns from farming were much better than before. However, if he left the city to return to the countryside, there were also rumors of an impending wage increase. While caught in this dilemma, March 20, 1911, arrived. The silk reeling factory gathered its cadres for a conscription mobilization meeting.

"Defending the fruits of our revolutionary victory and defending the base area is everyone's obligation. The conscription work is to complete the mobilization of the troops," the factory's Party Secretary said, reading from his notes.

Every Party member and cadre in attendance received a conscription work schedule. As a veteran, Ma Qingsheng's first thought was: *Is war coming?*

Since the end of the Jiangxi campaign, the base area had seen nearly two years without war. For Ma Qingsheng, his time in the military was the greatest change in his life. He had gone from simply following the ranks to survive to learning literacy and warfare in the army, eventually participating in battles and facing a hail of bullets to fight the reactionaries. In those two-plus years, Ma Qingsheng had traveled thousands of *li* by boat and on foot, reaching many distant places he could never have imagined. These concrete experiences made him realize that the world was vast—very vast—and filled with many things he had never seen before.

Looking back now, those two years felt like an instant. Yet the brilliance of that instant had opened Ma Qingsheng's eyes. He suddenly understood why he was unwilling to return to the narrow confines of the countryside. He loved the feeling of being able to see more things; even if he didn't fully understand what the new things were, as long as he could see them constantly appearing, he felt satisfied. Even if it meant facing a hail of bullets and death at any moment, Ma Qingsheng was willing.

"I want to sign up," Ma Qingsheng stood up and said.

"Section Chief Ma, this conscription effort is for new recruits. The organization requires each village to provide recruits, but veterans are not within the scope of this conscription," the Party Secretary said with a smile.

"How many troops are we planning to recruit this time?" Ma Qingsheng asked, unwilling to give up.

"Our Anhui plans to recruit 50,000 new soldiers. The other provinces are similar to us," the Party Secretary replied. In fact, he knew the more detailed figures, but the county Party Committee meeting had requested that the conscription numbers be kept temporary confidential. The entire base area planned to recruit 220,000 men in 1911, which, combined with the existing 180,000 troops, would form a new army of 400,000.

The figure of 50,000 new recruits truly caused a stir among the comrades. Even when the Anhui base area's military strength was at its peak, the total force was only 50,000. After reaching that peak, large numbers of troops had entered other provinces for combat. Currently, fewer than 20,000 troops remained in Anhui. It seemed something truly major was about to happen.

"Comrades, the organizational arrangement is as follows: every village in all of Anhui must provide at least one person. However, the upper limit for conscription is 50,000. We must secure exactly 50,000 new recruits. If the number of volunteers exceeds 50,000, suitable candidates will be selected based on the requirement of at least one quota per village. As you know, some regions are more enthusiastic about military service, willing to defend our current fruits of victory and eager to serve. Other regions are less willing. The reason for this meeting is to prepare everyone psychologically. You all come from various places; if those places need comrades to return and assist with the work, you must go."

Hearing the factory Party Secretary's words, the comrades finally understood the current situation. Someone was about to ask a question when the Secretary continued: "Comrades, from now on, conscription will be an annual event. Each soldier will serve for three years and then be discharged. So this is not a one-time conscription, but rather an annual occurrence."

"Why do we need so many soldiers?" a cadre shouted in surprise. "50,000 men every year—that's 500,000 in ten years."

"Didn't you hear him say three years of service, with discharge after three years?" a cadre with military experience corrected the error.

Seeing the discussion enter the right track, the factory Party Secretary began to write on the blackboard while explaining the military service issue. There was indeed a fundamental difference between those who learned as adults and those who went through a step-by-step schooling process from childhood. If Chen Ke had seen this, he would have lamented that many seemingly nonsensical problems from elementary school were not meaningless. Those problems were never designed out of boredom; they were based on real cases that had stumped many people across a wide range.

For instance, all the Party members and cadres in this conscription meeting had received a mathematical education. Yet calculating exactly how many troops the base area would have in the third year after conscription stumped a whole group of people. This was essentially an addition and subtraction problem with obvious 21st-century elementary school teaching characteristics: service lasts three years, existing troops are 20,000, and 50,000 are recruited every year. How many troops will the base area have in the fourth year?

Forty-some Party members and cadres managed to calculate over a dozen different figures ranging from 70,000 to 300,000. There were as many as eight different calculation methods. Even those using the same method managed to produce different results. Differing understandings of the concept of "discharge" triggered a massive confusion in the calculations.

The factory Party Secretary couldn't help but laugh at the scene. At the county meeting, the performance of nearly a hundred Party Secretaries had been far more chaotic than this. Only by clearly solving this math problem could one profoundly understand the conscription work. "Comrades, I got this problem wrong at first too. Let's discuss together exactly how this problem should be solved."

Not only the Fengtai County Silk Reeling Factory, but all People's Party organizations began to mobilize. As the factory director said, every village and every unit must have military service members. This wasn't just a matter of getting 50,000 soldiers from Anhui; it was a matter of systemic operation. It was also a matter of how the people viewed the state.

Through this "tricky" math problem, Ma Qingsheng finally managed to understand the conscription process. He could remember the solution, but his way of thinking still felt like something was amiss.

"Comrades, conscription involves a question of rights and obligations. It is also about the relationship between military service and the treatment of military dependents," the factory Party Secretary continued.

Upon hearing the treatment for military dependents this time, many veterans felt they had been at a disadvantage when they joined.

"One person serves, and the whole family is tax-exempt?" someone began to exclaim.

"Hey, hey! Military dependents and the 'whole family' are two different things," the Party Secretary immediately corrected.

Even after everyone eventually understood the definition of "immediate family," they still felt the military treatment was a bit too generous. However, Ma Qingsheng finally raised a very practical question: "Secretary, why is the status of a wife higher than that of parents among immediate family members?"

As soon as this question was raised, the comrades' attention immediately shifted in that direction.

"That is because the basic unit of society is the family." Although the factory Party Secretary also had doubts about this, that was indeed how the county had explained and required it.

"Won't people say we've 'forgotten our mothers once we have wives'?" one comrade joked. This immediately triggered a burst of laughter.

The Party Secretary did not laugh. Establishing the concept of the family to dissolve the concept of the clan was also one of the goals of the conscription. The Party Secretary had only learned to read and write under the Party's leadership and naturally knew nothing of the historical policy of "doubling the tax for adults who do not divide their household." However, the Secretary sincerely agreed with the government's idea of "establishing new understandings through this conscription" and could also understand the difficulties involved.

Jokes aside, the Party members and cadres raised issues that seemed to conflict with the current local situation: the concept of the family, that only marriages registered at the government marriage registration office were protected legal marriages, and the corresponding land and tax policies. As they talked, the smiles faded from many faces.

"Is the government's control too strict?" someone muttered softly.

The Party Secretary's heart skipped a beat. This question had already been raised at the county Party Committee meeting. The County Secretary had said this was proposed by Chairman Chen Ke. "Our revolution has reached this stage, and now two lines have appeared. The first is to mobilize the masses: we do what the masses agree to, and if they temporarily disagree, we move slowly. The second is for the government to forcefully manage everything, primarily through administrative regulations, with all mass mobilization serving the purpose of implementing those regulations. The conflict between these two lines will be a major point of contention in our work for a long time. Please be prepared."

The Party Secretary was of political commissar background. From his standpoint, it was also difficult to judge which of the two lines was more reasonable. The mass line was certainly correct. But the commissar felt it was wrong to put the masses on a pedestal and use that to oppose institutional construction. The military was an organization that emphasized rules and discipline above all. The commissar's job was to transform soldiers so they could consciously understand and obey discipline. The purpose of perfecting organizational discipline was not to overthrow it. The commissar would not get that wrong.

Ma Qingsheng had never imagined that one day the Party would find itself in massive confrontation with the masses. The Party had always stood with the masses—how could this be the result? But the fact was plain: if one supported the Party's policies, it would surely contradict many rural traditions. Ma Qingsheng absolutely did not believe the concepts implemented in this conscription would receive full support in the countryside.

"Let's not talk about whether the government manages too much for now. Comrades, tell me: is it right for the government to do this?" the Party Secretary asked.

The laughter from the beginning of the meeting was gone, and no one was willing to easily voice their opinion. After a long silence, the comrade who had said "Is the government's control too strict?" said hesitantly, "Is the scope of 'immediate family' too small? If spouses and parents could both be counted as immediate family, this problem would be easy to solve."

Many comrades immediately nodded in agreement. "Right, it's not quite appropriate to separate parents and wives. Both are dear to us."

The family issue was indeed one of the two major problems of this conscription. There was no ambiguity in the legal definition of "immediate family," because any different interpretation would lead to massive confusion in the subsequent judicial field. The factory Party Secretary noted this down. "Are there any other questions?"

The Party members and cadres looked at each other. The "immediate family" issue was the only one where they couldn't quite accept the current government definition. As for other issues, they couldn't provide any more reasoned rebuttals.

"Then I must emphasize one point to everyone: what do you think is the difference between military dependent treatment and 'payment for one's life'?" the Party Secretary asked. This was another key point of the conscription work. There exists a relationship of rights and obligations between the government and the people, but no commercial relationship. The government's provision is not for 'buying,' and the people's sacrifice is not for 'selling.' This concept must not be mistaken.

As the Party Committee expected, no consensus was reached on rights and obligations even among the Party members and cadres. Most comrades believed the government could indeed have a sort of commercial relationship with the people. Modern social concepts and the prevalent ideas in the base area were in massive conflict.

Every meeting had records and summaries. After being organized, a thick report with quite detailed content was submitted. Xu Dian, currently the Secretary of the Anhui Political and Legal Affairs Commission, strongly demanded the implementation of the legal definition of the "immediate family" concept. Qin Wu'an, the Director of the Finance Department, also supported this concept. If they took on more tax-exempt military dependents, the financial pressure on the base area would be quite heavy.

However, the first thing mentioned in the report was the concept of military dependents; grassroots Party Committees generally requested an expansion of the tax-exempt scope.

Before anyone could launch an attack, Chen Ke took responsibility. "Regarding the issue of tax exemption for military dependents, I didn't consider it thoroughly. It seems the initially proposed plan has problems."

As an old urban otaku from the 21st century, Chen Ke's concept of the family was in profound conflict with this era. Family sizes in the industrialized era were much smaller than in the agricultural era. Most importantly, the masses' understanding of society and government was vastly different from Chen Ke's era. In this regard, Chen Ke was indeed detached from society to a significant degree.

Since Chairman Chen Ke took the initiative to assume responsibility, the comrades didn't press the matter further. Such pursuit was meaningless anyway. From theory to reality, neither Xu Dian nor Qin Wu'an could be said to have any fundamental issues. It was just that their current policies were a bit too radical.

"If we do it this way, the financial pressure will be far too great," Qin Wu'an still held his own view on the matter.

"Even if the pressure is great, we must face reality. We can at least hold out until the summer harvest," Zhang Yu had always been a backbone of the Anhui bureaucratic faction. He was always quite direct in dealing with problems.

Xiao Qiang, the Director of the Agricultural Department, stepped in to smooth things over. "Farms began using synthetic ammonia last year, and from what we see now, the crops in the trial fields are growing very well. Although we don't know the impact on high-quality seeds after large-scale use of synthetic ammonia, there will be no problem making up for this bit of grain."

Xiao Qiang's attempt to play the peacemaker earned him a glare from Zhang Yu. Qi Huishen didn't even give him a glare but said directly, "Comrade Xiao Qiang, this is not a grain problem; it's a conceptual problem."

Seeing someone take it so seriously, Xiao Qiang replied bluntly, "This matter simply cannot be solved right now. Our mass conscription is essentially about pulling people from the countryside—transforming this labor force from an agricultural population into an industrial one. It's only normal that the masses can't understand it. Putting concepts first must be within a suitable range. Not just anyone can popularize a concept."

Qi Huishen did not rebut, nor did he even sigh. The People's Party's recent Party meetings had made the recent work extremely clear. Usually, they say one cannot do two things at once, yet the People's Party was now building new rural relationships while also striving to achieve industrialization at the fastest possible speed. They also had to face complex foreign and domestic situations. If the overall person in charge weren't Chen Ke, Qi Huishen would have long ago had his head muddled by these unprecedented events. Thinking of this, Qi Huishen looked at Chen Ke again. He saw Chen Ke flipping through the thick report with his usual focused attitude. Being able to maintain such focus amidst the comrades' arguments was indeed very rare. Qi Huishen was quite impressed by this.

In fact, Chen Ke had learned this from Chairman Mao. In the past, when he read about Chairman Mao reading in a noisy street, he thought it was a bit pretentious. Later, he discovered it wasn't about being different. Being able to concentrate anytime and anywhere is a skill that needs training. Chairman Mao was simply training himself in this area. Not just to read, but to remember, to think, and to learn to forget, so as not to be misled or blinded by massive amounts of information. This required too much training.

Finishing the report, Chen Ke looked up. "The suggestions from the grassroots comrades are very good, and they have made many predictions for actual implementation. We need to adjust many designs of this conscription work."

"Let's first relax the scope of tax-exempt military dependents," Qin Wu'an said.

"I believe the propaganda regarding rights and obligations must still be carried out," Xu Dian stated.

"Won't the administrative cost be too high?" Zhang Yu raised his own concern. After the People's Party introduced cost accounting, even administrative costs were included. Since the establishment of a bureaucratic system was already inevitable, they might as well make it scientific and standardized.

Qi Huishen immediately retorted, "This isn't just about recruiting 50,000 men. Since conscription is already a full-scale obligatory military service, let's spread it out. These upfront investments simply cannot be avoided."

Hearing this, Chen Ke suddenly wanted to laugh. Like other Chinese youths, he had once held a strong aversion to the national bureaucratic system. Of course, the national bureaucratic system has its own problems that absolutely cannot be ignored, but compared to those who believed the system should be smashed and destroyed entirely, a bureaucratic system was more reliable.

The bureaucratic system after the reform and opening up was unprecedentedly powerful. The lessons of the first thirty years, plus the rectification of the Great Movement, had raised the degree of the system's own rationality to an unprecedented level. And Chen Ke suddenly found that among his important tasks—besides the first stage of building a healthy new countryside and rapidly developing industry—he also faced the task of establishing a brand-new bureaucratic system.

"This work absolutely must be handed over to someone else to handle, or I'll work myself to death." Chen Ke determined a very reasonable course of action.