"There is a councilor named He Sui in that Jiangsu Citizens Party. He privately sent someone to discuss with us, hoping we would pressure Wang Youhong," Finance Minister Qin Wu'an reported to Chen Ke about some recent encounters. Qin Wu'an was quite surprised that He Sui wanted to borrow the People's Party's power.

"What is this He Sui's background?" Chen Ke was not surprised by this; in fact, he personally rather hoped such people would appear.

The various systems of the People's Party had been gradually established. Qin Wu'an took out the materials borrowed from the Data Department and handed them to Chen Ke. This was a kraft paper file bag. The People's Party had established exclusive personal files for Party members, cadres, local figures the Party needed to pay attention to, and people the Party cared about. Just these kraft papers and the good design and binding required a considerable expenditure, so much so that even Qin Wu'an felt it was a bit too extravagant. However, when it came to actual use, the comfort and standardization made Qin Wu'an feel it was worth the money.

He Sui's qualifications were quite interesting; he was actually a student who had studied in Britain, and he had studied at a law school in London. British law schools cultivated rulers, or at least the reserve army of rulers. If He Sui had really studied well, presumably his knowledge wouldn't be too bad. After reading He Sui's resume, Chen Ke asked, "What support is he asking from us?"

"He Sui hopes to establish a Silk Company in Jiangsu. From what I see, it looks very much like a united trust enterprise. But Wang Youhong may not necessarily agree. He Sui wants to sign a secret treaty with us; if we support them, we can hold a ten percent share in this enterprise."

Qin Wu'an finished speaking simply and waited for Chen Ke to ask questions. However, Chen Ke's answer startled Qin Wu'an greatly. "If this He Sui's purpose is to seize power from Wang Youhong, we can support him."

Qin Wu'an was very puzzled by Chen Ke's quick response. He originally thought Chen Ke would ask in detail about how He Sui would establish a united trust enterprise. He never expected that what Chen Ke focused on was merely whether He Sui would struggle against Wang Youhong. "..., Chairman Chen, I see that this person He Sui is not simple. If we support him, will we be rearing a tiger that will cause trouble in the future?"

"Minister Qin, He Sui's ultimate failure is a certainty. As for how he will fail, we don't need to spend effort guessing right now. What I value is this proposal of He Sui's. From what I see, He Sui is still much more progressive than Wang Youhong. Since he is pursuing progress, we might as well give him a hand," Chen Ke laughed.

Chen Ke often did things unexpectedly; Qin Wu'an had long been accustomed to this. It was just that this "unexpectedness" was a bit too great this time, and Qin Wu'an didn't know for a moment whether Chen Ke was serious or joking. On second thought, for such a big matter, Chen Ke would definitely not joke. Qin Wu'an calmed himself, straightened out his thoughts, and then asked, "Chairman Chen, this progress you speak of, what exactly does it mean?"

"By now, based on the intelligence we've collected, we can basically determine that what Wang Youhong is engaging in is that set of feudal power subinfeudation. That stuff definitely won't work; it's too backward. Listening to this proposal of He Sui's, he wants to unite to engage in production, which belongs to the capitalist set. It is much more progressive than Wang Youhong. Revolution doesn't mean we draw a final model and then find a new world to build exactly according to that model without a single error. That is the metaphysical way, and it definitely won't work for revolution. Revolution is a process; what we need is to constantly eliminate the most backward."

Qin Wu'an had heard Chen Ke talk about this content. After thinking carefully for a while, he said, "In other words, after we get rid of Wang Youhong, this feudal subinfeudation system, then it will be the turn to get rid of He Sui, this bunch of bourgeoisie?"

Chen Ke shook his head, "It's not that we go and get rid of them, but under the current circumstances, they will finish themselves off. I have repeatedly emphasized that revolution is not destruction; revolution is construction. It's not that we go to create revolution, but that the people need revolution. Wang Youhong now faces pressure from Beiyang and pressure from our base area. He wants to maintain his own dictatorial rule, so he needs money. Wang Youhong himself can't excrete gold or urinate silver, so he has to scrape money from Jiangsu Province. At this time, He Sui, who is in a state of being scraped, is unhappy. The Jiangsu bourgeoisie represented by He Sui will try every means to get rid of Wang Youhong's scraping state. This is why He Sui has come to find us now. He needs support."

"Then wouldn't it be better if we directly send troops to liberate Jiangsu and establish a people's regime in Jiangsu?" Qin Wu'an asked.

"To establish a People's Party regime, it must be that the people need to use such drastic revolutionary methods to resolve contradictions. The contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is resolved by the method of socialist revolution; the contradiction between the masses of the people and the feudal system is resolved by the method of democratic revolution. Currently, the social contradictions in Jiangsu have not risen to this height. No one will revolutionize for the sake of revolution; the reason for adopting such means as revolution is all to fight for their own interests. If we fight our way over now, in the eyes of the Jiangsu people, we are outsiders, we are invaders. When the contradictions in Jiangsu reach a point where not revolutionizing won't do, that is when the revolutionary situation is mature. At that time, we will be liberators. Grasping the timing of the revolution is a very important matter."

The strategic direction of the People's Party was always formulated by Chen Ke. Qin Wu'an felt he truly didn't understand, so he didn't pretend to understand and raise objections. However, hearing Chen Ke explain his expectations for the future situation this time, he expressed a cautious doubt for the first time, "Chairman Chen, if we support them, are we just waiting to watch them finish?"

"It's not that boring either. Minister Qin, do you believe a person will never make mistakes?" Chen Ke asked.

"Impossible," Qin Wu'an answered very crisply.

"Tang Taizong said: using copper as a mirror, one can adjust one's clothes and cap; using history as a mirror, one can know the rise and fall; using people as a mirror, one can understand gains and losses. First, our support for the development of the national bourgeoisie like He Sui can promote social progress. Second, in the struggle between the bourgeoisie and feudalism, we can see the veins of social change from it. And He Sui and these people will inevitably commit the mistakes and crimes that the bourgeoisie will inevitably commit, especially since they will prove that some roads are dead ends. This is very important for our Party. Up to now, our Party members' understanding of many things is relatively superficial. Without examples of errors, they cannot view many things correctly. Finally, He Sui and others will stimulate social contradictions and revolutionary struggles to an unprecedented degree. At that time, the revolutionary situation will also mature faster. This is the reason I support them."

There are various ways to calculate against people, but Qin Wu'an had never seen a method of calculation like Chen Ke's. Clearly, Chen Ke did not prepare to stab them in the back. All the strategies he adopted were waiting for He Sui to make mistakes himself. This didn't seem like the category of conspiracy anymore.

"Chairman Chen, how exactly are you able to think out such a result?" Qin Wu'an really wanted to figure out the reason.

"*On Contradiction* stated: purely external causes can only give rise to mechanical motion, that is, to changes in scale or quantity, but cannot explain why things differ qualitatively in thousands of ways and why one thing changes into another. As a matter of fact, even mechanical motion under external force occurs through the internal contradictoriness of things. Our interaction with He Sui, for both sides, is just a manifestation of internal characteristics. Purely external changes, such as supporting He Sui to suppress Wang Youhong, or even giving him financial and technical support, all just cause mechanical reactions. What truly causes change is still the internal causes. How to utilize these external supports, how to develop and strengthen oneself—these are not things that the external can decide."

Regarding the article *On Contradiction*, Qin Wu'an had actually studied it, but he thought the key to this article was a kind of philosophical speculation. Or to be more specific, since Chen Ke emphasized learning this article, he learned it. He didn't expect that after Chen Ke explained it this way, the practicality of this article would be highlighted.

Chen Ke didn't care what Qin Wu'an actually thought; he continued, "The materialist dialectical worldview advocates studying the development of things from inside the things, from the relationship of one thing to other things; that is, viewing the development of things as the internal and necessary self-movement of things, while the movement of every thing is interconnected with and interacting with other things around it. The fundamental cause of the development of things is not outside the things but inside the things, lying in the contradictoriness within the things. I am able to see through the development of the bourgeoisie represented by He Sui only because I do indeed understand the characteristics of the national bourgeoisie themselves, so I dare to make some judgments of necessity. Many of our comrades do not understand the essential difference between the bourgeoisie and the socialist system; they will see the similarities between the two and ignore the essential differences between the two. And now that there is no decent bourgeoisie in China, my allowing He Sui and others to exist now is also to let them provide many examples for the comrades."

Since Chen Ke emphasized it repeatedly, Qin Wu'an was also sure Chen Ke was not joking. He replied, "In other words, watch him build his vermilion tower, watch him banquet his guests, watch his tower collapse?"

These were Chen Ke's original words; at that time, Chen Ke used them to describe the future of Beiyang. Qin Wu'an used them directly, and it was quite fitting. Chen Ke nodded, "That is the meaning. However, you must keep what was said today confidential. I will speak to the comrades at the Party Committee meeting later. For now, write a report and bring it over; I will sign it."

Qin Wu'an put away He Sui's materials and left Chen Ke's office. Qin Wu'an really felt a kind of fear towards this line of thinking of calculating against others. Setting up a net in a place no one could imagine, waiting for the internal factors of these people to operate, and then they would obediently deliver themselves to the door. This method was a bit too ruthless.