"Scientific beating"—if he hadn't experienced it personally, Ren Jizhou would never have believed such a damned thing existed in the world. When he was taken away to be "beaten with the killer stick," Ren Jizhou thought he was going to be caned. Unexpectedly, the interrogators took him away from the construction site and drove him for an unknown amount of time in a sealed, windowless carriage. When the door opened, Ren Jizhou found himself in a strange courtyard. He was taken into a room where the men calmly uncuffed him and told him to "move your fingers a bit first to avoid unnecessary injury."

Ren Jizhou was confused by the situation. He looked around the torture chamber; there were no iron chains, clubs, or whips. There were only a few odd-looking chairs. Just as he was wondering how to react, the interrogators didn't say another word and forced him into one of the chairs. The chair had iron hoops that, when closed and locked, perfectly immobilized him. A delicate finger clamp was immediately forced onto his hands, firmly gripping his ten fingers between eleven wooden slats.

Up to this point, although the treatment was rough, there was no pain yet. Just as Ren Jizhou finally thought of something to say, the mechanical mechanism of the finger clamp began to tighten. The ten fingers sandwiched between the wooden slats sent intense pain signals to his brain. His brain automatically mobilized the muscles controlling his vocal cords, and Ren Jizhou let out an earth-shattering scream.

After Ren Jizhou had "sung at the top of his lungs" for over half a minute, the clamp loosened. The pain subsided, and he stopped howling. Tears and snot flowed uncontrollably. An interrogator handed him a wooden stick and said kindly, "If you bite on this, you might feel a bit better when the torture continues in a moment."

"I confess! I confess, okay?" Ren Jizhou asked, weeping and sniffling.

The interrogator replied with a serious and earnest expression, "The procedure isn't finished yet, so that definitely won't do. I told you just now, we don't practice torture to extract confessions. Interrogating while beating is wrong. So, do you want to bite the stick?"

Ren Jizhou was still trying to figure out how to escape the torture. The interrogator had seen plenty of people like him and knew he couldn't convince Ren Jizhou to face reality anytime soon. Putting down the stick, the interrogator resumed his work. The interrogation room was immediately filled with Ren Jizhou's screeching.

After the finger clamps were applied with stopwatch precision, next came the leg crushers. After the leg crushers came waterboarding. It was winter, and the already bone-chilling water was mixed with a large amount of crushed ice. Ren Jizhou's head was forcibly submerged. The terror of suffocation combined with the rapid drop in body temperature triggered a doubled sense of horror. The comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee had tested these punishments on themselves; even knowing they wouldn't cause severe physical injury, the psychological impact and pain were not easily resisted.

Ren Jizhou had never experienced such professional torture. From the excruciating pain of ten fingers connected to the heart, to the bone-deep agony of his shins, to the icy hell of waterboarding, every sensation left him begging for death but unable to die. The pain was unbearable enough, but during the waterboarding, the freezing water flooded his nose and mouth like cutting knives. His throat and lungs burned with pain, as if stabbed by small knives, mixed with a sour numbness. Yet his mind remained extremely clear. The fear of death occupied his entire consciousness, and he struggled with all his might. But the People's Party's torture devices were ingeniously designed to hold him perfectly in place. He helplessly felt the despair of approaching death step by step.

Finally fished out of the ice water, Ren Jizhou collapsed on the floor, coughing violently. After coughing up the water choked in his throat and nose, he did something he hadn't done in at least twenty years. He wailed aloud.

The first round of torture ended. Ren Jizhou, groggy but obedient, changed into dry clothes, dried his head, and was taken to the interrogation room. This wasn't a tent on the construction site, but an ordinary room with white walls. Sitting inside was still Liu Yongsheng.

"Mr. Ren, have a drink of water," Liu Yongsheng said slowly and pleasantly, as if nothing had happened.

Recalling that Liu Yongsheng had the same expression and voice before the torture, Ren Jizhou looked as if he had been whipped, his face instantly turning pale. He shrank back in fear, as if distancing himself slightly from Liu Yongsheng would make him a little safer.

Liu Yongsheng had seen this expression many times. Not only did the various spies caught in the base area have this look, but even the captured Japanese spies showed such terror after interrogation. Completely ignoring Ren Jizhou's fearful look, Liu Yongsheng continued the topic from not long ago, "Let's continue discussing your activities as a spy."

The function of torture lies in intimidation, and the power of intimidation lies in the subject's own fear. If it is mentioned repeatedly, and the subject resolves to resist to the end, the effect of torture diminishes greatly. Therefore, Liu Yongsheng didn't mention the torture at all but began asking about Ren Jizhou's background.

Sure enough, the disconnect between the experience of torture and Liu Yongsheng's complete failure to mention it distracted Ren Jizhou. Without needing to pay special attention, one could spot the contradictions in his answers. Liu Yongsheng sighed inwardly; interrogating a guy like Ren Jizhou, who was already confused but still persisted in lying, was not an easy job. It looked like this would be another long battle.

After asking the same batch of questions three times in a row, Liu Yongsheng pointed to one of the recorded questions and asked, "Mr. Ren, we asked when you arrived in Xuzhou. Three times you insisted you were a Xuzhou local. However, when we issued household registration books to Xuzhou citizens, the information we obtained was quite the opposite. Can you explain this? If you want to find witnesses to prove you are a Xuzhou local, you can tell me right now who can vouch for you."

Ren Jizhou hadn't expected Liu Yongsheng to go straight for this issue. Panic rose in his heart, but suppressing his fluster, he began trying to think of a way to defend himself.

***

Three days after the bandit attack on the construction site, the People's Internal Affairs Committee submitted a separate report to Chen Ke. The report concerned the Committee's dismantling of multiple spy networks in Xuzhou. The newly uncovered networks included not only those from Beiyang and Wang Youhong in southern Jiangsu but also networks hired by foreigners. Britain, Japan, and the United States—countries with significant interests in China—had all implemented espionage activities against the base area.

The comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee had achieved significant results, which naturally pleased Chen Ke. However, he knew the characteristics of these comrades well. Since they submitted this report without mentioning how the bandit attack was solved, there must be significant issues involved. Sure enough, in the "incidental issues" section of the report summary, the Committee listed a batch of testimonies. Spies couldn't just observe from the outside; they also attempted to infiltrate the People's Party to obtain more detailed and accurate information. Among those captured, many mentioned having contact with certain comrades of the People's Party. The People's Internal Affairs Committee cleverly compiled this intelligence separately and gave it all to Chen Ke.

Scanning through it, Chen Ke put down the document. This method of handling proved the political sensitivity of the leading comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee. At the start of the Rectification Campaign, Chen Ke had specifically told them that this movement was not about handling enemy-us contradictions, so the Committee was not allowed to participate.

They indeed hadn't participated. Even when they broke enemy intelligence networks and discovered facts about enemy contact with Party comrades, they neither concealed it nor took matters into their own hands. Instead, they pushed everything to Chen Ke. At least they hadn't caused unnecessary chaos. Chen Ke suddenly recalled forum discussions he had once participated in—discussions of a rather dark nature. No one ever dared to attack the Premier in certain ways because the Premier managed intelligence work and held "black material" on many people. Chen Ke hadn't quite understood the concept of "black material" at the time, but holding this stack of it now, he suddenly had an epiphany.

Having contact with an enemy intelligence network didn't equate to defecting to the enemy. If Chen Ke wanted to purge certain people, he didn't need any schemes; he could simply take this "black material" and demand those comrades clarify the facts. No other means were necessary. With witnesses available, this alone would be enough for Chen Ke to take down anyone he felt needed taking down.

Moreover, once this black material appeared, it was practically impossible to eliminate. Chen Ke couldn't ask the People's Internal Affairs Committee to destroy this portion of the material; it would be archived. As long as these issues weren't resolved, they could be dug up at any time as a means of attack. The longer time dragged on, the more powerful these materials would likely become. Because by then, gathering witnesses and physical evidence would be extremely difficult. If internal personnel struggles arose within the Party, the goal wouldn't be to determine right from wrong but to remove certain people. With black material but no hard evidence, it would actually give those engaging in personnel struggles immense room to maneuver.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke couldn't help but press his palm against his forehead and let out a long sigh.

This kind of struggle had happened in history, and it was precisely the method most favored by bureaucrats familiar with the system. Chen Ke himself didn't know what he would do if that day came. Because protecting organizational security is the duty of members, even if one knows the other party has ulterior motives, as long as unresolved black material exists, such demands cannot be called wrong.

Should these issues be investigated and resolved now? Chen Ke felt this was an incredibly difficult matter to handle. The black material included not only comrades dismissed during the Rectification Campaign but also those promoted. Of course, there was also a group of comrades temporarily "untouched" by the campaign. In such a tense situation, once an investigation began, God knows what results it would trigger within the already shaken Party, government, and military.

Zhou Zhentao had dared to privately contact people to "stick up for a brother." Chen Ke didn't dare alert the enemy yet by conducting a comprehensive investigation and strike against this small clique. If news of this "black material" leaked out, who knew what other "geniuses" would use this matter to stir up trouble? Chen Ke could tolerate the comrades' mistakes up to this point, but that didn't mean he could tolerate those who stirred up trouble.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke stood up and began pacing in his office with his hands behind his back. Not long after, a guard entered to inform him that Chen Tianhua was visiting. Chen Ke quickly gathered up the materials before inviting Chen Tianhua in.

After entering and seeing no one else in the room, Chen Tianhua spoke straightforwardly: "Chairman Chen, I heard the base area caught a batch of spies. And these spies had contact with quite a few of our comrades."

Chen Ke felt a shiver run through him. He turned his head, wanting to demand who told Chen Tianhua. But just by meeting Chen Tianhua's gaze, Chen Ke knew exactly what he meant.

"Comrade Tianhua, have you started investigating the source of this news?" Chen Ke asked, staring at him.

"I've already started checking on my end. My purpose in coming here is to ask you, Chairman Chen, how do you actually view this kind of thing?" Chen Tianhua asked with a taut face. Including this time, leaks had occurred twice now. Chen Tianhua couldn't help but be anxious.

Chen Ke sat back in his chair. He was also extremely annoyed; the development of events was far beyond his imagination. He had originally thought the People's Internal Affairs Committee could strictly abide by confidentiality regulations, but in fact, this was not the case. Suppressing his agitation, he said slowly, "No matter what, I still have the same requirement: kill no one, arrest most of none."

"Chairman Chen, I'm not talking about killing one to warn a hundred. I feel now that someone is doing this on purpose behind the scenes. Someone has definitely linked up." Chen Tianhua excitedly pointed his left index finger in the air, as if trying to point out the guy or guys playing tricks behind the scenes. "If someone does this once, we say it's unintentional. But doing it a second time, this is absolutely intentional and organized. We can't pretend not to see these people."

If he hadn't read about the path the Party had taken in history, Chen Ke would probably be even more agitated than Chen Tianhua right now. Chen Tianhua wasn't wrong; likely someone had already formed a "headquarters." The members of this headquarters included people from all sides, and their actions so far were all in opposition to the "Rectification." In the Party's history, weren't the expansion of early purges and savage actions the countermeasures taken by purge promoters when meeting such resistance? So Chen Ke made up his mind that no matter how unhappy he was, he had to learn from Grandpa Mao.

"Comrade Tianhua, no matter what you say to me, the requirement set for this Rectification—kill no one, arrest most of none—must be carried through to the end. Even if comrades have done many things, up to now, they are still issues of organizational discipline. I will absolutely not allow the artificial intensification of contradictions, elevating these things out of thin air into enemy-us contradictions. I trust you very much, so whether you can understand it or not, you must resolutely execute this for me."

These words surprised Chen Tianhua greatly. His left index finger remained in the air as he stared at Chen Ke for a long time. Suddenly, like a deflated ball, he sat in the chair opposite Chen Ke. "Chairman Chen, you really have the stomach of a prime minister. You can still hold back even now."

Chen Ke smiled bitterly. If he hadn't truly seen so much history, if he hadn't truly had so many discussions, he would probably have jumped up even earlier than Chen Tianhua. Thinking of this, Chen Ke suddenly felt he had an epiphany about a question. In Grandpa Mao's collected works and many records in the base area, many people asked why things turned out this way, why "good people and the working masses" often lost to exploiting class rulers. Grandpa Mao loved to use "insufficient struggle" to explain it.

Chen Ke used to think this was too general. Now he suddenly felt this was the true maxim. Even though Chen Ke treated the path pointed out by Grandpa Mao as a golden rule, every time he truly gained something, it was recognized through struggle. In "On Practice," Grandpa Mao had long pointed out that the first step in the process of cognition is contact with external things, belonging to the stage of perception. The second step is to synthesize the data of perception by arranging and reconstructing it, belonging to the stage of conception, judgment, and inference. Only when the data of perception are very rich (not fragmentary) and correspond to reality (are not illusory) can we form correct concepts and logic on the basis of such data.

As for "contact with external things," that is what "On Contradiction" repeatedly emphasized: the problem of the universality or absoluteness of contradiction has a twofold meaning. One is that contradiction exists in the process of development of all things, and the other is that in the process of development of each thing a movement of opposites exists from beginning to end.

Grandpa Mao's personality was that of a man who dared to struggle. "Fighting with heaven is endless joy! Fighting with earth is endless joy! Fighting with people is endless joy!" Since contradictions always exist, what is there to be happy or unhappy about when facing struggle? Chen Ke finally felt he could somewhat understand Grandpa Mao's own attitude.

Chen Tianhua saw Chen Ke first smile bitterly, then soon his face glowed with health. This diametrically opposite display surprised him greatly. "Chairman Chen, the theory you speak of is correct, but problems must be solved practically. You have to point out the method to solve these problems for us?"

"I'll say it again, this matter is not about us struggling against certain comrades. The focus of the contradiction in this matter is whether we want to implement the concept of people's revolution and struggle against the feudal power-sharing ideology that competes with us for comrades. If we just want to catch a few people and kill them, rest assured, I can do it. But what use is that? To say something discouraging, if we can't let our Party and organization realize that this feudal power-sharing ideology itself is wrong, killing this batch of people will just lead to another batch just as bad. And I can guarantee you, the next batch, knowing our organization will chop heads and use cruel means, will hide deeper than the last batch and degenerate more severely than the last batch."

Chen Ke paused here temporarily. Once his train of thought opened up, he felt many ideas he hadn't had before popping up, and he needed to organize his thoughts first.

"I don't think that's necessarily true," Chen Tianhua replied somewhat unconvinced.

"Will it be better? Hmph!" Chen Ke sneered. "The Buddha spoke of the Dharma-Ending Age thousands of years ago, saying that when the Dharma is about to perish, in this turbid and evil world where the Five Rebellious Acts are committed, the demonic way will flourish. The demons are within the Buddhist gate, outwardly pretending to be practitioners, destroying and disrupting the true path of the Dharma. Up to now, even if our comrades have made mistakes, at least they are genuinely thinking about the principles of feudal power-sharing, speaking the words of feudal power-sharing, and doing the deeds of feudal power-sharing. If we simply and brutally kill these people, the comrades promoted to replace them will have the principles of feudal power-sharing in their hearts, speak the concepts of our people's revolution with their mouths, but do the deeds of feudal power-sharing in their actions. Which situation do you think is more terrible?"

Hearing Chen Ke's description, Chen Tianhua couldn't help but shudder. It was obvious the latter was more terrible. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Chen Ke looked at Chen Tianhua. "Comrade Tianhua, I am very glad you didn't say we should continue killing. If I had encountered this problem when I was young, I would definitely have gotten hot-headed and thought that killing could solve all problems. In reality, this is impossible. Since killing didn't solve the problem the first time, it shows it won't work in the future either. We don't need to consider this method."

"Then what should we do?" Chen Tianhua pressed.

"Do the ideological work at the grassroots level well. If we want to rectify the middle and high levels, we must conduct education at the grassroots level targeting existing discipline. If grassroots comrades realize the importance of secrecy, then our rectification of leaks at the middle and high levels will be a logical progression. If grassroots comrades understand that within our People's Party and People's Army there can be no beating or cursing, then who in the middle and high levels would dare to beat or curse? If the grassroots realizes that the feudal power-sharing system only enriches a few while harming the interests of the majority of comrades, then the middle and high levels will naturally lose their supporters. So to solve the problem, we must suit the remedy to the case. The method is to first let the grassroots comrades understand, and then solve the problems of the middle and high levels."

Chen Tianhua couldn't quite accept this. He continued to ask, "If the middle and high levels just pay lip service, like in the Dharma-Ending Age, outwardly pretending to be practitioners while destroying and disrupting the true path, then what do we do?"

"Comrade Tianhua, we must trust the people. The eyes of the people are snow-bright," Chen Ke spoke Grandpa Mao's mantra.