The People's Party's 1912 Rectification Movement in Huaihai Province first encountered a situation of intelligence leakage, which even to some extent changed the high-level rectification route. From an internal party rectification, it directly became a "Mass Line" movement. In the hearts of a large number of high-ranking Huaihai Province cadres, or at least in Chen Tianhua's heart, the "leaker" was a major sore point. Everyone knew the leaker was one or a group of people around the 4406th Division Commander Zhou Zhentao, but they had not been able to accurately identify the direct person responsible. Hearing Liu Yongsheng report that the leaker had been caught, Chen Tianhua was overjoyed. He quickly lowered his voice and asked, "Who is it?"

Without waiting for Liu Yongsheng to answer, Chen Ke took over the conversation, "Comrade Liu Yongsheng, don't say it here. Organize the situation, and we will hold a special meeting to discuss this matter after we return."

After Liu Yongsheng left, Chen Tianhua said excitedly, "This time we can catch that bunch all at once."

Seeing Chen Tianhua so excited, Chen Ke covered his mouth with his hand, barely holding back a burst of laughter. "Haha, Comrade Tianhua, who are you preparing to catch all at once?"

Having discussed this with Chen Ke many times, Chen Tianhua knew what Chen Ke was laughing at. "Are we going to treat this completely as a disciplinary issue?"

"This matter is inherently a disciplinary issue. Leakers existed thousands of years ago, and they will still exist thousands of years from now. It's impossible that there are no leakers here with us, and it's absolutely impossible to catch them all. Since that's the case, all problems are a matter of discipline. Comrade Tianhua, you manage party administration, you should be very clear that this is fundamentally not a contradiction between ourselves and the enemy." Chen Ke was as firm as ever.

Chen Tianhua knew he couldn't persuade Chen Ke, so he simply didn't waste the effort. The two listened to the comrades meeting outside again. Chen Tianhua had things on his mind, so he turned a deaf ear to almost everything the comrades were discussing.

With great difficulty, they waited for the meeting to adjourn. First, the company commander lined up the comrades and led them out on the grounds of distributing allowances. Only then did Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua walk out of the venue's main gate. Chen Ke took the initiative to say, "This meeting was held very well. I have absolute confidence in the comrades."

"How so?" Chen Tianhua had never seen Chen Ke give such a high evaluation.

Chen Ke looked quite excited. "I didn't participate in the specific work, and I don't know. But there was only one core topic of discussion, which is that we must labor. From the situation I saw, every comrade now believes they should labor. Even if there were arguments, they were arguing about how to labor more effectively. I am really too satisfied."

"If one does not work a day, one does not eat a day. Isn't labor something that should be done?" Chen Tianhua was somewhat puzzled by Chen Ke's high evaluation.

Chen Ke did not answer this question. Due to the era, in 21st-century China, it wasn't that there were no people who held onto the idea of getting rich through labor, but the proportion of people who could withstand any temptation and simply wanted to earn remuneration by completing their own job was not too large. Because there were too many temptations to "get rich overnight," calming down to do things was not the mainstream thought of society. Chen Ke himself had once been full of thoughts of getting rich, rushing about like a stray dog. Apart from failure after failure, he had not harvested any results he could be proud of. So listening to the grassroots comrades' meeting, there were too many "unscientific" places, and there was also a considerable lack of understanding regarding social labor and team cooperative labor. However, no one thought they could break away from society and team cooperation and achieve personal pursuits solely by relying on one person or a few people's "whimsical ideas."

This could not help but move Chen Ke considerably.

The two made an appointment with Liu Yongsheng to meet at the Provincial Committee. Just as they arrived at the Provincial Committee gate, they saw Zhou Zhentao standing inside. He had a solemn look on his face. Seeing Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua arriving side by side at the gate, Zhou Zhentao straightened his back and stepped forward, saying, "Chairman Chen, I want to talk to you about something."

Chen Tianhua got angry just seeing Zhou Zhentao. As the mastermind of the leak, Zhou Zhentao's appearance now was definitely not an accidental encounter. A look of ridicule couldn't help but surface on Chen Tianhua's face.

Zhou Zhentao naturally could see it. He said to Chen Tianhua, "Director Tianhua, how about you come along too."

As soon as they entered Chen Ke's office, Zhou Zhentao immediately said, "Chairman Chen, I know the organization is investigating the leak. It was me who asked Comrade Li Guangshan if there was a possibility of fighting a war after the New Year. The responsibility lies with me, please do not punish Comrade Li Guangshan."

Seeing the culprit finally admit his deeds, Chen Tianhua let out a long sigh of relief. Since Zhou Zhentao had admitted it, the remaining matters would be much easier to handle.

"Comrade Zhou Zhentao, you originally didn't know where we would fight. Comrade Li Guangshan told you this news. You were the person asking for news, what responsibility for leaking do you have?" Chen Ke replied with a smile.

Chen Ke's words made the two people opposite him widen their eyes. Listening to Chen Ke's meaning, he didn't want to designate Zhou Zhentao as the leaker. Chen Tianhua was baffled. Zhou Zhentao didn't have that thought; his mind raced, trying to figure out what exactly Chen Ke's words meant. After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhentao replied, "But in order to rescue some comrades, I spread this news. If it wasn't to provide me with a strategic direction, Comrade Li Guangshan wouldn't have leaked intelligence that should have been confidential to others either."

"First, that wasn't an organizational resolution. The Party Committee meeting didn't discuss any issues of foreign war. Second, up to now, Li Guangshan hasn't leaked any factual intelligence. He only told you some of his speculations. Comrade Zhou Zhentao, as a division commander, you should be very clear that reliable strategic choices have never had a very large range to choose from. Not to mention our own comrades can intuitively feel some problems, even our enemies, if they obtain enough intelligence, can likewise make judgments about our actions. The so-called leak isn't that we want to completely fall out with Yuan Shikai; anyone with some insight can predict the matter of us falling out with Yuan Shikai. If we talk about a leak, it's just that our comrades told people who shouldn't know ahead of time about when we will fight with Yuan Shikai."

Zhou Zhentao knew Chen Ke was right. He just didn't understand why Chen Ke wanted to explain it like this. Was it that Chen Ke didn't want to pursue Zhou Zhentao's own responsibility? Or was Chen Ke saying this to show that he absolutely would not let Li Guangshan off? Thinking of this, Zhou Zhentao hurriedly said, "Chairman Chen, in this matter, I harmed Comrade Li Guangshan. If I hadn't wanted to know, Comrade Li Guangshan absolutely wouldn't have done this. So I hope you let me bear this responsibility."

Chen Ke finally darkened his face. "Comrade Zhou Zhentao, our People's Party is a political party that speaks of democracy and systems. One takes responsibility for one's own actions. Then let me ask you, when you sought out Comrade Li Guangshan, did you want Comrade Li Guangshan to reveal the recent strategic direction, or did you ask Comrade Li Guangshan to go find out the recent strategic direction for you? I'll say this upfront, don't play the hero with me. Just tell the truth about what the situation was."

Zhou Zhentao's mind was thinking intensely. He really wanted to take all the responsibility onto himself, but he also knew Chen Ke was definitely not easy to fool. Moreover, even if he didn't tell the truth, Zhou Zhentao didn't know how Chen Ke prepared to punish him and Li Guangshan. Gritting his teeth, Zhou Zhentao said, "I asked if there was any strategic direction. Comrade Li Guangshan told me at the time that based on the situation he understood, the troops might liberate Henan."

Chen Ke laughed. "Then isn't that settled? You guys just talked about this matter, and Comrade Li Guangshan only stated his own judgment. This violated organizational discipline, but this isn't a matter of intentionally prying into intelligence. I won't talk about why you did this or what mistake you actually committed for now. Before a battle, there are plenty of cases of asking about combat arrangements. If we pursued it like this, more than half of the comrades would have to be locked up in confinement first. In order to be the main attack force, I've even seen comrades coming to me to ask for news."

Hearing Chen Ke's words, Zhou Zhentao didn't know whether he should be relieved or not. Listening to Chen Ke's meaning, he didn't treat the leak as too big of a deal, which meant Chen Ke wouldn't punish Li Guangshan severely. However, Zhou Zhentao didn't think Chen Ke would let the Rectification matter off so lightly. Although he held the thought that he couldn't let Li Guangshan bear the responsibility, Zhou Zhentao felt quite uneasy thinking about if he himself suffered severe punishment from Chen Ke.

Sure enough, Chen Ke put away his smile. "Since you've come, Comrade Zhou Zhentao, and we're talking about this matter, I want to ask, why do you oppose this rectification?"

Zhou Zhentao knew the argument that had to come would come. He took a deep breath as if to muster his courage, and then replied, "The rectification removed too many comrades. These comrades all came up through hard work. I feel, Chairman Chen, that you aren't loyal. If things are done wrong, they should be criticized, even if you beat and scold them in private, but you can't ruin these comrades' futures."

"You think losing an official post is losing one's future? The comrades worked so hard and paid so much, was the goal just to become an official?" Chen Ke's face had already become stern. "Then let me ask you a question. We have also sacrificed quite a few comrades. What did those comrades sacrifice for? When we first arrived at the base area, you also participated in the disaster relief. At that time, we were an insurance corps, we didn't even have official positions. Those comrades who sacrificed themselves in the flood, for what did they risk their lives?"

This question was really heavy enough. When Zhou Zhentao heard that Li Guangshan had been taken away by comrades from the People's Internal Affairs Committee, he knew the matter had been discovered. He immediately rushed to the Provincial Committee wanting to see Chen Ke. While waiting for Chen Ke, he had also thought of many possible conversations. In Zhou Zhentao's imagination, the greatest possibility was that Chen Ke would use words like "overcorrecting" to explain, but Zhou Zhentao absolutely never expected that Chen Ke would actually raise such a heavy topic.

Thinking of those comrades who had thrown themselves into the revolution with him and sacrificed their lives over the past five years or so, Zhou Zhentao felt that even breathing became difficult. Yes, those comrades didn't participate in the revolution for wealth and glory. Including Zhou Zhentao, at that time, they hadn't thought about future matters at all. Although everyone certainly hadn't expected to encounter such a difficult and dangerous situation as the great flood, fear was fear, but every comrade worked, labored, and fought with their lives on the line. No one persisted on the front line for an official position.

Thinking of these comrades' sacrifices, and then thinking of his own words "ruining their futures," Zhou Zhentao only felt flashes of cold and heat over his body, and breathing became difficult.

As if from a very far place came Chen Ke's voice, "Comrade Zhou Zhentao, let me ask you, why are the Party flag and the Army flag red?"

Why are they red? Zhou Zhentao remembered hearing the explanation for this question, only now his mind was in chaos, and he simply couldn't recall the answer to this question. Not knowing how much time had passed, Zhou Zhentao heard Chen Tianhua's voice again, "Comrade Zhou Zhentao, if you remember, you remember; if you don't, you don't. What kind of behavior is this not speaking?"

"I..., I forgot," Zhou Zhentao forced himself to answer.

"Then I will tell you again, because the Party flag and the Army flag are dyed red with the blood of martyrs." Zhou Zhentao heard Chen Ke say in a stern tone, "You say that us removing some comrades' positions is ruining these comrades' futures. Then I ask you, those martyrs who dyed the Party flag and Army flag red with their own lives, who ruined their futures? Those people who want to stand on the martyrs' merit books and treat being an official as their future, do they want to use these martyrs' blood to dye their own official hat buttons red?!"

No words could have stripped Zhou Zhentao of his courage so powerfully. Zhou Zhentao not only couldn't find any content to argue with these words of Chen Ke, but his body also began to tremble, and even the strength to stand seemed to be stripped away completely. Reaching out to hold the back of a chair beside him, Zhou Zhentao managed to support his body. Next, he had to sit on the chair; otherwise, Zhou Zhentao felt his legs couldn't support him any longer.

Neither Chen Ke nor Chen Tianhua made a sound. Their faces were so gloomy that water seemed about to drip from them. Two pairs of eyes stared tightly at Zhou Zhentao, who not long ago had thought he held the moral high ground. Chen Ke himself also felt extremely astonished because when he was growing up, dead people were already a very uncommon thing, and death was mostly passing away due to old age and physical decline. Even if it couldn't be talked of as very peaceful, it could count as dying a natural death. But in these few years of the early 20th century, Chen Ke finally realized that in this era, death was just an extremely common thing. The elderly would die; the death rate of middle-aged people, young people, teenagers, and infants was not lower than that of the elderly. Even though the comrades of the People's Party had achieved huge, invincible successes, there were still several thousand revolutionary comrades sacrificed in military affairs and construction. The enemies killed by the People's Party in the revolution numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

The dead comrades and enemies, the vast majority were under 50 years old, most were under 40, or even under 30. If the lives of so many comrades and enemies were only exchanged for the future of a small handful of people becoming officials, Chen Ke thought this was simply unparalleled absurdity. He hadn't thrown himself into the revolution with unswerving determination just to realize the wealth and glory of a small handful of people.

Chen Tianhua suddenly stood up and spat fiercely at Zhou Zhentao, then turned and left Chen Ke's office. He originally felt that Zhou Zhentao just had wrong ideas. But hearing Chen Ke mention the sacrificed martyrs, Chen Tianhua couldn't help but remember the old man who insisted on staying to guard the Peasant Association's stockyard when he was organizing peasant associations in Hebei. The old man had once fought against the Manchu Qing, and his family had been killed by the Manchu Qing. His last shelter was the Peasant Association's stockyard. When his last shelter was about to be destroyed by the Manchu Qing, the old man chose to stay at the farm and seized the opportunity to assassinate a Beiyang Army officer who was a running dog of the Manchu Qing at the time.

This matter was a sore point for Chen Tianhua. At that time, he couldn't even dig a grave and erect a tombstone for that old man from the Peasant Association. Now almost five years had passed, and Chen Tianhua didn't know if he could still find the old man's burial place if he went back.

Even if not within the Party, among the people, there were countless people attempting revolution, following one another like moths to a flame, resisting the tyranny of this era. What those people pursued was just to be able to live on, to live on with dignity. They absolutely were not risking their own lives for some future of becoming an official. Many of them were even just using their own lives to realize the dignity of being a human.

If he stayed in the same room with Zhou Zhentao any longer, Chen Tianhua didn't know what he would say. Even if he said something, it would only violate discipline. It wasn't that Chen Tianhua didn't want to violate discipline; he just knew he shouldn't violate discipline. Harboring an anger that couldn't be calmed, Chen Tianhua strode towards the Political Department office, which was also in the Provincial Committee.

Zhou Zhentao completely didn't know how he left Chen Ke's office. He could roughly remember that Chen Tianhua and Chen Ke left the office one after another. Zhou Zhentao felt he shouldn't stay in Chen Ke's office, so he could only choose to leave. He had always taken loyalty as the foundation of his conduct, so Chen Ke's words stimulated him exceptionally strongly. Zhou Zhentao knew that if he insisted on arguing, it wasn't that there were no reasons; those comrades who sacrificed for the revolution, if they could survive, would certainly be able to obtain higher status because of their merit. But Zhou Zhentao felt that as long as he had a bit of human heart, he absolutely couldn't say such words. He shouldn't even consider this kind of excuse.

"Maybe I really was wrong?" Zhou Zhentao thought. Compared to the price paid by those sacrificed comrades, being removed from an official post while alive counted for nothing. What was more, these removed comrades weren't wronged either.

Because he deeply felt self-blame, Zhou Zhentao still couldn't help but have his own doubts in his heart. Even so, was it necessary to go to this extent? The achievements of sacrificed comrades couldn't be erased, so could the credit of living comrades be ignored? In any case, Zhou Zhentao couldn't agree with such severe punishment.

Although Zhou Zhentao was in low spirits, the official documents that should be delivered were still delivered to Zhou Zhentao on time. With the intention of changing his mood, Zhou Zhentao opened the documents. The one on top was the most important. Zhou Zhentao only read it once, and his eyes couldn't help but widen. This was the report on the discussion of merit evaluation in the division. Zhou Zhentao saw that the ones rated as excellent were actually mostly comrades he wasn't familiar with, at least comrades who weren't usually too close to Zhou Zhentao. And those whose performance in labor data was not outstanding, at least comrades ranked at the back in the division, were actually all comrades who usually tried to get close to Zhou Zhentao.

If it were in the past, Zhou Zhentao might not have noticed this problem. But this batch of outstanding comrades were mostly the ones who took over the shifts of that batch of removed comrades. This fact made Zhou Zhentao feel a burst of panic.