"In the final analysis, the comrades currently lack an understanding of socialized large-scale production. Even if we have prepared for so long materially and through experience, the small-peasant production mindset has not yet been effectively reversed..."

"The feudal concept of granting power, mountain-topism—these things cannot be completely reversed by simple ideological education alone. This includes our comrades within the Party, who more or less possess such tendencies. We cannot blame the comrades; current material preparation is far from sufficient. In the past, it was said that a county magistrate was a 'Lord of a Hundred Li.' If power is top-down, it will certainly turn into a feudal system..."

"This is also a normal thinking pattern for humans pursuing their own interests. Wanting to have class consciousness can be achieved through education. But wanting to have proletarian consciousness requires a sufficient level of productive forces materially and strong organizational action..."

Chen Ke discussed the latest gathered questions with a group of comrades. The comrades' lack of understanding of the proletarian revolution, their confusion about their own positioning, and their unease after fully recognizing their class stance—the intensity of these reactions was far beyond what Shang Yuan and others had imagined.

Since comrades from other provinces had not yet gathered in Xuzhou, the meeting included seven senior cadres, and ten middle-level cadres from the local Huaihai provincial cadres whom Chen Ke had specifically named. Shang Yuan, Chen Tianhua, Wu Xingchen, and Yan Fu, who was temporarily in Xuzhou, were naturally members of this group of "old revolutionaries," along with some comrades whom everyone was not particularly familiar with or didn't value much. For example, Comrade Xu Yuanshan, whom Chen Ke had only met a few times, was also brought into this meeting. Although Xu Yuanshan was Shang Yuan's subordinate, Shang Yuan himself didn't know him well enough.

However, the participants all shared a characteristic: they particularly disliked second-guessing Chen Ke's intentions. This was because no one believed Chen Ke had any pursuit of personal interest. This was also why the comrades were willing to follow Chen Ke. When a person throws themselves heart and soul into a cause, and that cause itself does not offer the sweet fruits of final victory solely to one or a few individuals, young people are willing to join that cause.

Everyone had thought Chen Ke would be unhappy or even fly into a rage. Chen Ke's performance greatly surprised the comrades closely surrounding him. Not only did Chen Ke show no negative emotions, but he also quite understood why these comrades would have objections. His words showed no dissatisfaction with them.

Even for someone with revolutionary consciousness like Shang Yuan, when the discussion reached a temporary pause, he had to sincerely express his admiration: "Chairman Chen, 'the Prime Minister's belly is large enough to sail a boat'—I have truly seen it today."

"This isn't about my magnanimity; it's simply the facts. Blindfolding oneself and not daring to look at the facts is seeking one's own death. Let me tell you comrades about my personal experience. My feeling is that all so-called excellent qualities are completely necessary for survival. The so-called misfortune is the law, and luck is a miracle. All lucky people are exactly the same. Because there is only one way out in the world; besides this one path, all others are dead ends. Once on a dead end, it's only a matter of when death occurs by chance; the inevitability of failure has long been decided. All excellent qualities are for recognizing the world and proactively stepping onto this way out."

Those present were comrades whom Chen Ke identified with, and one of their most basic qualities was being quite good at observing. Chen Ke's somewhat obscure words didn't cause the slightest confusion on these comrades' faces; they either nodded slightly or simply remained unmoved.

"Anyone who only pursues results and does not treat themselves as a laborer, who does not put all their energy into doing things, can never become a true People's Party member. The ruling class is not based on birth or bloodline but on individual self-awakening and the improvement of capabilities. One cannot become part of the ruling class simply by wanting to or by bestowing the title upon themselves. Only through labor and work can one's social value be recognized. Self-righteousness is seeking one's own death."

After hearing these words from Chen Ke, which were so blunt as to be almost boring, everyone finally saw the helplessness hidden deep in Chen Ke's heart. But no one looked down on Chen Ke because of it. This leader of the People's Party, who could absolutely not be called a "good man," had a truly magnanimous heart. At the very least, Chen Ke sincerely hoped that through his efforts, everyone could awaken.

"Wenqing, such things cannot be rushed. As you said, since the material conditions are not yet fully in place, being able to gather so many excellent comrades together is already something to be content with," Yan Fu smiled. "I have taught for decades and seen thousands of students, each considering themselves a talent of the time, yet I didn't think much of any of them. Now I realize it was because I hadn't thought it through myself. It's truly incredible to think that so many excellent comrades are gathered here today."

The comrades knew Yan Fu was trying to lighten the atmosphere. According to Chen Ke's standards, among the hundred thousand or so members of the People's Party, only a hundred or two were truly conscious comrades. There should be many comrades with potential in the People's Party, but at least at this stage, they were still a long way from true awakening—or reaching Chen Ke's current level.

If anyone had spoken of ideals to Chen Ke like this in the past, he would have surely considered them a great liar with ill intentions. But now that he himself had started playing the role of a "great liar," Chen Ke could only smile bitterly. "Insufficient ability, or even insufficient courage, can be improved through work and labor. But ideological deviation determines whether one starts in the wrong direction from the beginning. If a person pursues personal prominence from the start, trouble will eventually arise. Therefore, our work at this stage must not be nitpicking; we must advance our own organizational building by strengthening organizational discipline and improving systems."

Shang Yuan wasn't particularly confident in himself either. He said, "Now many comrades are worried about one thing: whether the masses will continue to cooperate with our People's Party. I personally believe the comrades indeed lack an understanding of socialized large-scale production. Many comrades feel they can handle everything themselves and feel that the current detailed management is like infringing on everyone's interests. I feel this quite deeply."

Chen Ke had no special solution for this either. To recognize socialized large-scale production, one must see it in person. A friend once said something Chen Ke very much agreed with: "If you haven't eaten pork, you haven't eaten pork. Even if you live with pigs twenty-four hours a day, if you don't know what pork tastes like, you still won't know what pork tastes like."

Most importantly, even if one is within the system of socialized large-scale production, if their mindset doesn't change, it's still useless. In response to Shang Yuan's speech, Chen Ke replied, "In a situation of socialized large-scale production, nothing can be accomplished without cooperation. Most people will think that others should do the work, and as long as they participate, the credit must be theirs—this is human instinct. Especially under the small-peasant economic system, this is a very normal thought. We must curb these problems through system building. If comrades can recognize this, then act according to this logic. If they can't, then learn to recognize it during the work process. But in any case, organizational discipline must be strengthened. And there must be absolutely no deviation in theoretical propaganda."

"In the final analysis, it's still the difference between doing things and seeking results," Shang Yuan sighed. The principle was simple and clear, but while everyone could understand the simple principle, they wouldn't necessarily act according to it. This was a headache. Shang Yuan knew very well that even if the comrades acted meticulously under the constraints of the system, it didn't mean they truly thought that way.

Turning his head in frustration, Shang Yuan inadvertently noticed Xu Yuanshan, who was attending the meeting, listening calmly. Xu Yuanshan was currently a middle-level cadre in the Logistics Department. He had only come into contact with Chen Ke during the recent battle for Qingdao, yet Chen Ke had given him a high evaluation after such short contact, which made Shang Yuan curious. He asked, "Comrade Xu Yuanshan, what are your thoughts?"

With this question, the comrades' eyes fell on Xu Yuanshan. Chen Ke didn't deliberately promote anyone, so many senior cadres were quite surprised that several comrades, including Xu Yuanshan, could attend such a meeting.

Facing Shang Yuan's question, Xu Yuanshan was slightly nervous, but more than that, he felt a kind of excitement. He replied, "I think it's still not open enough. Chairman Chen repeatedly emphasizes having a beginning and an end. Where is the beginning and where is the end? In each stage, the beginning and end are different. From my own work experience, many processes are not very reasonable. There's too much overlap in the management system. Anyone can manage, but no one actually does. Responsibility division is unreasonable. Of course, these are all problems of insufficient understanding of socialized large-scale production."

If it were someone of Shang Yuan's level, having such an understanding would be normal, but for a middle-level cadre, such thoughts were quite interesting.

"Specifically?" Shang Yuan asked.

"I think at this stage we should tap into efficiency rather than simply expanding the scale. And responsibilities must be clear. I'm in logistics; given the current situation, it's impossible for logistics to meet the requirements of all parties anyway. So logistics is always being cursed." Xu Yuanshan mentioned several problems he had encountered.

During this Qingdao battle, the comrades from the staff department did something that seemed very bizarre. The canals in the Xuzhou area had long been too silted to use. Although the People's Party had a plan to dredge the canals, in reality, this plan was entirely on paper. Heaven knows which staff officer actually mistook this paper thing for a line in the transport plan and grandly included it. Coincidentally, this task fell to Xu Yuanshan.

Xu Yuanshan had rebutted at the time, so the comrades from the staff department personally led a team, having the logistics comrades led by Xu Yuanshan take a small boat along the basically unnavigable canal. In fact, due to the rainy season, this transport task was feasible. The staff personnel didn't say anything unpleasant; they just snorted and left with a cold face.

Having lost face so publicly, Xu Yuanshan felt ashamed. But he didn't complain. Because during this temporary navigable period, even using small boats for transport could solve many problems. Therefore, Xu Yuanshan believed that under the current situation in the base area, many places were suffering from waste rather than shortage.

"Then what is your meaning?" Shang Yuan didn't quite understand these issues.

"My thoughts might be a bit different from everyone else's. Regarding having a beginning and an end, I believe that to a certain extent, we should let some work be undertaken by the private sector," Xu Yuanshan answered without much confidence.

"Private sector?" Most of the comrades present were very surprised. The People's Party's idea of large-scale state ownership almost unified the ideological field at this stage. Comrades only worried that state ownership wasn't enough, and now someone had jumped out saying it should be private—it truly couldn't help but surprise them.

"The staff comrades relied on information provided by some local private smugglers to determine the canal's transport capacity. My view is that labor should be compensated. Even if after the compensation is given, we have to execute the guy because he committed a crime, that's a separate matter. One thing is one thing; another is another. I feel many comrades haven't thought this through. They always feel everything is black or white, rather than having a beginning and an end. For example, if someone has one white hair, it doesn't mean they are covered in white fur. But many comrades clearly don't think that way."

After all, he was a middle-level cadre and not one leading an important department. Xu Yuanshan's subsequent words sounded a bit obscure. Although everyone could understand, the topic involved was inevitably too large.

"This is splitting the connection between the Party and the masses," Shang Yuan replied. One reason why the comrades had such big questions about whether the masses would continue to follow the People's Party was that in the People's Party's propaganda, the Party led everything.

"It's not like that," Xu Yuanshan replied a bit anxiously. "Nowadays, whenever we talk about doing something, it's for the Party. In fact, it's not like that at all. We work together, and first and foremost, it's for ourselves. For example, in a charge, charging up might mean death—that's a critical moment. But in ordinary times, if everyone's work methods are improper and they can't achieve efficiency, or they simply find it tiring and aren't willing to work well... so many times when we should have worked well, it ends up being turned into a 'critical moment' where we have to do it for the Party. A critical moment is an unexpected emergency; that's called a critical moment. But for any ordinary task, as long as it's a bit tiring or complicated, it becomes a 'critical moment.' This... I think this is nonsense."

After hearing this, many comrades' faces darkened. The term "critical moment" was first spoken by Chen Ke. Because of the modern Chinese promoted by the People's Party, Chen Ke had contributed greatly, so whatever new words Chen Ke used, everyone followed suit. When the comrades present encountered difficulties, it was easy to use "critical moment." Xu Yuanshan's words truly had the flavor of tarring everyone with the same brush.

Although he felt very uncomfortable and couldn't completely agree with some of Xu Yuanshan's views, Shang Yuan had to acknowledge Xu Yuanshan's courage for daring to say such things in such a meeting. Just looking at this courage, Xu Yuanshan possessed some value that Chen Ke identified with.

"Does Comrade Xu Yuanshan mean that we should summarize and categorize our current work?" Wu Xingchen interrupted. "In other words, temporarily stop promoting so many new policies and instead thoroughly understand the policies already implemented and their underlying concepts. Am I right in saying this is Comrade Xu Yuanshan's meaning?"

Xu Yuanshan nodded repeatedly after hearing this. "Exactly. I feel that many people's thinking is a bit off when they consider things—they use terms haphazardly. It sounds like they're saying things they don't mean."

"Chairman Chen, what do you think of Comrade Xu Yuanshan's view?" Wu Xingchen turned to ask Chen Ke.

Since Xu Yuanshan was a comrade valued by Chen Ke, his attitude certainly represented part of Chen Ke's opinion. Wu Xingchen didn't want to get bogged down in details with Xu Yuanshan. Even if many issues were causing such an uproar now, the one who would ultimately decide the People's Party's final line was still Chen Ke himself. Since Chen Ke had initiated this, he wouldn't allow this highly influential event to ultimately develop in a direction beyond his control. At this point, seeking Chen Ke's opinion was the most efficient choice.

"I think Comrade Xu Yuanshan's understanding of daily work is very spot on. 'As long as one is a monk, one strikes the bell.' Once you are a monk, you must strike the bell—that is the work content. Grassroots work is the key to our People's Party. Many comrades are now worried that the masses won't follow us. Although I haven't conducted an investigation, I'm worried whether the comrades are unwilling to continue bowing their heads to complete these arduous grassroots tasks. Everyone has a misunderstanding, as if the work done by us comrades in higher positions is very easy. They think attaining a higher status is a reward, rather than realizing that a higher position means bearing greater responsibility. Therefore, I believe some of Comrade Xu Yuanshan's attitudes are very commendable," Chen Ke smiled.

These words felt quite obscure. If taken literally, Chen Ke was going to conduct a comprehensive overhaul of the entire base area starting from the grassroots. Such an overhaul was by no means an easy task. And the comrades present, except for Yan Fu, all had very rich experience in grassroots work.

This overhaul was not just a determination of work methods covering all aspects, but also involved a large-scale reorganization including personnel. Comrades who met Chen Ke's requirements naturally had nothing to worry about, but for those who didn't, what kind of changes would they encounter?

No one dared to mention such questions at this time.