News of Bai Lang's assault on New Year's Eve did not reach Chen Ke's secretariat until the sixth day of the lunar new year. At that time, Chen Ke was presiding over a work meeting to discuss the agenda for 1912. He flipped through documents while listening to Wu Xingchen speak.

"Comrades still don't completely understand the Rectification Campaign. Many feel that the organization might be wronging these dismissed comrades. I think the Party organization needs to explain things clearly to everyone," Wu Xingchen asked.

There were five people at the meeting: Wu Xingchen, Chen Tianhua, Chen Ke, Shang Yuan, and Chai Qingguo. The top Party, government, and military leaders of Huaihai were all gathered here.

"Explain what? Do we have to explain the reasons one by one?" Chen Tianhua, who was in charge of Party affairs, was dismissive of Wu Xingchen's suggestion. "Explaining to the comrades is useless. We must make them understand *why* the Party organization is doing this. The key to the Party organization is the grassroots. Obeying discipline does not mean the organization's power structure flows from top to bottom; rather, Party organizations at all levels are selected from the grassroots. If grassroots comrades still feel that the Party organization is arranged from the top down, it only proves one thing: the Party organization has turned into a feudal bureaucratic system. It becomes a matter of 'power distribution' rather than democratic centralism."

The People's Party had explicitly opposed the concept of power distribution within the Party for two years, but two years was hardly enough to change political patterns formed over thousands of years in China. "Learn the literary and martial arts, and sell them to the Imperial Family." Because the Imperial Family controlled the foundation of power, if one wanted to become a power-holder, one had to rely on power distribution to complete the political operation. This idea was deeply accumulating in the hearts of the Chinese people.

Chen Tianhua had grasped this issue, so he completely understood Chen Ke's thinking. "Comrade Wu Xingchen, the point right now isn't to explain why these comrades were removed, but to make the grassroots comrades realize what the organizational model of our People's Party actually is. If they can't understand this, many comrades will think we are like feudal emperors, looking for excuses to kill ministers. Is that actually the case? It is not the case at all."

Wu Xingchen frowned. "Comrade Tianhua, what you say is correct, but right now many comrades *do* feel like we are killing ministers. I don't know about your side, but I have a lot of comrades coming to me to plead for mercy. I've worn out my tongue explaining, but the more I explain, the more many comrades think I'm just making excuses. Some even pat their chests and tell me they are willing to guarantee Comrade So-and-so with their own heads. I'm not saying the grassroots comrades shouldn't understand the Party's organization, but I feel we must first stabilize everyone's mindset. We can't just drop all other work to conduct a thorough rectification, can we?"

"Why not?" Chen Tianhua asked.

"You..." Wu Xingchen could feel Chen Tianhua's confrontational stance, but this rectification was initiated by Chen Ke, and Wu Xingchen did not want to come into direct conflict with Chen Ke.

Seeing this, Chai Qingguo hurriedly interjected. "I've also encountered quite a few people pleading for mercy here. The comrades' emotions are very unstable right now. We can't just say nothing. Chairman Chen, you have to speak up."

When Chen Ke was born, the Party had already changed its line; the original "taking class struggle as the key link" had been thoroughly discarded. He knew about "Strike Hard" campaigns and anti-corruption, but he had little understanding of "Rectification." It wasn't until he personally launched a rectification campaign that he realized just how difficult it was.

Patting their chests to guarantee other comrades with their lives, hoping to restore these dismissed comrades to their original posts—the number of people coming to Chen Ke to plead was by no means small. Not only did people come directly to Chen Ke, but some even went to Chen Ke's wife, He Ying. This surprised Chen Ke considerably. From his heart, Chen Ke had absolutely no intention of purging people for the sake of it. But the words of his comrades sent chills down his spine.

"Chairman Chen, Comrade XX has a thousand faults, but he is still loyal to the Chairman and loyal to the revolution."

"Comrade XX was wronged. He was just angry and confused at the time, that's why he spoke nonsense."

"Chairman Chen, Comrade XX did offend some soldiers, but he meant well and had no other intentions."

"Chairman Chen, I've earned so many war merits. I don't ask for anything else, I just beg you to let Comrade XX off."

Originally, Chen Ke felt that the People's Party was organized with relatively advanced revolutionary concepts. He really hadn't expected that he was ridiculously mistaken. Chen Ke had read many "truth articles" describing rectification and purges as "Red Terror." He had to admit, those articles actually provided him with a good perspective. In those "truth articles," rectification and purges were considered "personnel struggles." Chen Ke finally understood now: in rectification and purges, a significant portion of comrades indeed viewed it that way. And definitely more than half of the comrades worried that the rectification and purge would implicate them through "personnel struggles."

Historically, rectification and purges did indeed kill quite a few people, but looking at it now, one absolutely could not say the initiators had no reason. The Chinese consciousness of feudal power distribution and traditional "meritorious official" thinking put a pressure on Chen Ke that far exceeded his own imagination. Of course, Chen Ke also gradually understood why Chairman Mao, who had experienced tragic purges, proposed the policy of "kill none, arrest few" during the Yan'an Rectification Movement. If one lost their official position, they could still be educated with revolutionary concepts. Once the killing started, it wouldn't stop at just a few people. Rectification cadres would make heads roll, and in the end, the rectification cadres themselves would lose their heads; this was not an extremely rare occurrence.

Chen Ke was truly grateful for Chairman Mao's greatness. He didn't dare compare himself to Newton—Newton only dared to say he stood on the shoulders of giants. Chen Ke considered himself at most a junior following behind Chairman Mao. But merely looking at the footprints of these great men, Chen Ke felt he had gained so much knowledge and strength.

Since Chai Qingguo had asked him, Chen Ke replied, "I also feel we need to explain to the broad mass of comrades. We must give the comrades an answer." Chen Ke spoke up. "However, what we need to explain is not why we removed these specific comrades, but to explain the organizational discipline of our People's Party and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Why did we establish such a set of organizational disciplines? What exactly are the principles behind establishing this set of organizational disciplines?"

Hearing this, Wu Xingchen's expression darkened slightly. He could naturally hear that Chen Ke was supporting Chen Tianhua.

Chen Ke softened his expression before continuing. "With truth, one can walk the world; without truth, one cannot move an inch. The key now is: what 'truth' do the comrades actually recognize? I believe that after so long, everyone knows something about the truth of the people's revolution, and everyone also knows something about the truth of traditional feudal power distribution. The key now is that people don't think these two truths are incompatible like fire and water; they don't think these are two fundamentally opposite truths. Since we've encountered this situation, we must make the comrades thoroughly understand the relationship between these two truths. Otherwise, everything is in vain."

Chai Qingguo didn't hesitate; he continued to ask, "Right now, the comrades simply don't realize that much. As I see it, everyone is facing a choice: which is more important, brothers-in-arms or organizational discipline? In my view, a significant number of comrades think brothers-in-arms are more important. How do we explain this?"

"Is it that the brother-in-arms is important, or that the *official position* of the brother-in-arms is important? I think that is one of the keys, isn't it?" Chen Ke asked rhetorically, with a sense of frustration that they weren't living up to expectations.

Hearing this, the other four cadres fell silent. To a considerable extent, Chen Ke had pointed out the fact and the truth. It wasn't that they hadn't considered this, they were just embarrassed to say it outright.

"Let's discuss this matter later. What I want to say now is that this year we might move troops against Hunan or Henan to expand the base area. Although it may not be urgent, we must determine a strategic direction so the General Staff can make relevant plans."

Being able to put aside the rectification issue for now made Wu Xingchen feel a sense of relief. He organized his thoughts slightly and spoke first. "Is it Hunan or Henan? We must first determine a target. If we march into Henan, we will tear off the mask with Yuan Shikai. At this time, I feel it is particularly inappropriate."

Out of considerations for the war, Wu Xingchen basically disagreed with using force against Henan so soon.

Shang Yuan was from Henan, so he was extremely interested in returning to his hometown. "There are too many benefits to taking Henan. From Yuan Shikai's perspective, Henan is surrounded by us on three sides. But from our perspective, Henan is a knife pressed against our waist. Take Henan, and the situation becomes completely different. Strategically, this is a step that must be completed."

Chai Qingguo disagreed with Shang Yuan's opinion. "If we have the effort to attack Henan, we might as well take Shandong. At least we could link Qingdao with the base area. Otherwise, with rail transport stuck in Beiyang's hands and the industrial center of Qingdao surrounded by Beiyang, it's a bit too uncomfortable."

Shang Yuan naturally stuck to his view. "Henan is already full of beacons of unrest. The intelligence department has received news that due to tax issues, spontaneous uprisings are occurring everywhere in Henan. Not only can the common people of Henan not bear it, but now even the landlords in Henan can't bear such high taxes."

"Has Secretary Shang contacted his family?" Chai Qingguo asked with a hint of malice. Shang Yuan's family was a major landlord in Shangqiu, which everyone knew.

Shang Yuan acted as if he hadn't heard the implication in Chai Qingguo's words. "Part of the news came through channels, but when it comes to land reform, you don't need to worry about my family. Land reform will be carried out as it should be. I won't obstruct land reform because of family matters."

"Right now, we don't have that many cadres to commit to Henan and Hunan. The rectification issue within the base area hasn't even been resolved yet. Expanding the base area now is just asking for trouble. What if those cadres ask to redeem themselves through service? What then?" As the Director of the Political Department, Chen Tianhua considered it from a different angle.

Chen Ke had finished flipping through the materials by this time. He put down the document and said, "If Henan falls into great chaos, we should march into Henan. Maintaining order, calming the situation—there are plenty of reasons. But these two provinces must be taken as soon as possible. War preparations cannot be delayed at all."

"Whose information is this?" Wu Xingchen asked. News that could distract Chen Ke during a meeting shouldn't be ordinary.

Chen Ke handed the document to Wu Xingchen. "This is news of a local peasant uprising in Henan. What I want to discuss in this meeting is: if the local rebel armies in Henan request our intervention, what do we do?"