The rectification work meeting targeting middle and high-level cadres had sparked intense debate from the very beginning, something some comrades had indeed expected. However, now that the debate was actually happening, everyone didn't feel so at ease. After all, within the People's Party, up to now, no one dared to directly challenge Chen Ke's authority, or rather, no one was willing to challenge Chen Ke's authority. On the issue of how to treat "meritorious contributors," Zhou Zhentao stood up to defend the interests of the "old revolutionaries." Even if everyone agreed in their hearts, no one dared to stand up directly to express support.

When Zhou Zhentao was stumped by Chen Ke's question, seeing his embarrassed expression, the comrades who had originally supported him felt somewhat relieved. They didn't think they could do better than Zhou Zhentao themselves, or at least they didn't have the courage to debate Chen Ke to the end like Zhou Zhentao.

Zhou Zhentao also felt his isolation and helplessness. At this moment, if just one comrade stood up to say a word for him, this awkward situation could be greatly alleviated. But he held back for a long time, and he was still standing there alone. There wasn't even a single comrade to help him out of the predicament. Zhou Zhentao found that the more he thought about others, the less he could answer the question. Finally, he simply threw everything to the back of his mind and spoke entirely according to his own thoughts, "Chairman Chen, you are too harsh on the comrades. I only oppose this point. Apart from this, I don't want to oppose anything else. Those comrades indeed made mistakes, and looking at myself these days, I have also made quite a few mistakes. If you want to punish me, I have no complaints. But this punishment is too heavy, I feel it is unfair. At the very least, you have to give a chance to atone for crimes with good deeds."

Hearing Zhou Zhentao finally speak, the comrades' eyes fell back on Chen Ke.

"Merit is merit, and fault is fault. These are originally two completely different matters. Why must we mix them into one thing? For example, if one made a mistake in the past, does that mistake cease to exist just because they do ten thousand correct things afterwards? Things that have been done are history. Who has the great ability to make things that have happened disappear? Comrades, we all pride ourselves on being materialists. We cannot use an idealist mode of thinking to consider problems!"

Seeing that Chen Ke did not press hard on the theory, Zhou Zhentao finally felt he could catch his breath. He replied, "It is right to punish those who made mistakes, but the punishment cannot be so heavy. Everyone is on tenterhooks all day, afraid of being removed from office if they make a mistake. How can we work?"

Chen Ke explained patiently, "A person's thoughts are never isolated. The dominant factor in making a mistake is the internal cause. For example, the army requires a grenade throwing distance of over 19 meters. If a comrade lacks arm strength and doesn't practice or exercise, he can't throw it 19 meters no matter what. If one day he suddenly throws it over 19 meters, it definitely means he wasn't performing normally that day. Making mistakes is the same. Since he made such a mistake, it shows that his understanding and perception of the world are just like that. If he doesn't reflect, learn, or work on himself after making a mistake, and you let him do the same thing again, it will still be the same mistake. Because this is the internal cause. External evaluations of him do not affect the function of this internal cause. Our organization is so huge, and its operation requires a large number of comrades to work together. Comrades have all visited military factories. Manufacturing a shell requires dozens or hundreds of processes. If there is a problem in one process link, or even a machine breaks down, the entire batch of thousands or tens of thousands of shells will have problems. The hard work of countless worker comrades in the other dozens of processes will come to naught. Placed within the organization, if Zhang San makes a mistake in this matter, and Li Si makes a mistake in another matter, and the mistakes accumulate one by one, how can the revolutionary work continue?"

Zhou Zhentao knew he was no match for Chen Ke in reasoning. He also gave up arguing with Chen Ke on this point. Zhou Zhentao held on tight to one point and didn't let go, "The punishment of stripping everything down to the bottom is still too severe."

"This is not stripping everything down to the bottom, but gathering the comrades together to study. Through study, they can understand the world and society more profoundly. Cultivate a more scientific worldview, outlook on life, and values. This is like removing the firewood from under the cauldron, solving the problem from the root. Comrades who pursue official positions will naturally feel aggrieved. Comrades who pursue progress, even if they are not entirely convinced, I believe they will obey orders. I will say it again, rectification is not purging people. If it were purging people, why would we organize study?" Chen Ke suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and explained in an unhurried tone.

Hearing Chen Ke's explanation, most of the participating comrades breathed a sigh of relief. The People's Party emphasized education, and education within the party was grasped very tightly. It was not just one or two people who could not get promoted because their study progress was slow. Since Chen Ke said so, the comrades put their hearts at ease. Being removed from office for making a mistake was certainly somewhat unkind, but organizing these comrades to study after removal was enough to show that Chen Ke had not abandoned these comrades. Even the comrades who originally supported Zhou Zhentao thought that Zhou Zhentao should take the initiative to sit down at this time. However, still no one made a sound. Whether it was to save some face for Zhou Zhentao, or they didn't want to explicitly express support for Zhou Zhentao, in short, no one took the initiative to intervene in this debate.

Zhou Zhentao stood there alone. He felt he had almost been persuaded by Chen Ke. If it weren't for Chen Ke's layout at the grassroots level, and if he hadn't clearly seen Chen Ke's ingenious adjustments in personnel, Zhou Zhentao would have believed that what Chen Ke said was the complete truth. Zhou Zhentao didn't want to not sit down, but he understood very well that since he had debated with Chen Ke to this extent, plus Zhou Zhentao knew he had made quite a few mistakes himself, if he just borrowed the slope to get off the donkey and sat down, it would be equivalent to handing over all the initiative to Chen Ke. No matter how reasonable Chen Ke's words were, Zhou Zhentao could not possibly keep his current position during the subsequent rectification study. Originally, Zhou Zhentao thought he was sticking his neck out for his old comrades-in-arms, but now he discovered that his heart was far less pure than he had thought. Judging from past experience, to get a promotion, one had to participate in various party school studies. Party school study was also a fairly cruel elimination process; not all comrades could get a promotion after studying.

Suppressing his unease and desperately mustering his courage, Zhou Zhentao finally said, "Chairman Chen, I made a mistake, and I don't dare to ask to atone for my crimes. I just ask that you issue a notice stating that comrades who were rectified in the previous period can be restored to their positions if they pass the assessment after study. As long as this notice is issued, the comrades can be at ease. I just have this one point..."

Before Zhou Zhentao could finish speaking, an old comrade-in-arms sitting next to him grabbed Zhou Zhentao's wrist. He said loudly, "You just talk too much nonsense. How is it your turn to speak on such matters? Hurry up and sit down."

Among the comrades present, there were quite a few from official families. Even those from humble backgrounds had seen the world. Regardless of the expression on their faces, or lack thereof, everyone's heart was as clear as a mirror.

If Zhou Zhentao had sat down honestly just now, this matter would have ended there. But that last paragraph of Zhou Zhentao's was really a bit excessive. If one made a mistake, one had to be punished. Even if it wasn't stripping everything down to the bottom, demotion was a very reasonable way of handling it. Everyone could guess Zhou Zhentao's meaning; it was nothing more than wanting Chen Ke to explicitly state that he would not leave these comrades idle and unused. However, organizational personnel arrangements were naturally decided by the organization. For Zhou Zhentao to ask Chen Ke to make such a statement was completely inconsistent with the system.

Zhou Zhentao's old comrade-in-arms interrupted him, clearly wanting to stop the matter right there. This was certainly the behavior a comrade-in-arms should have. It was just that this help came too late. Even the comrades understood Zhou Zhentao's intention of considering himself, let alone a leader like Chen Ke who didn't tolerate sand in his eyes. Since Zhou Zhentao had already said the first half, it didn't make much difference whether he finished the second half.

Sure enough, Chen Ke's face darkened. Throughout the entire debate, Chen Ke hadn't had such an expression. While Zhou Zhentao looked embarrassed, neither standing nor sitting, Chen Ke spoke, "Comrade Zhou Zhentao, our People's Party is a revolutionary political party. Our organization's judgment of people is different from other political forces, and also different from the judgment of people in many Chinese traditions. The People's Party believes that the standard for judging a person is not this person's official position, nor this person's job title. It is this person's labor ability, the attitude this person displays in work and study. And regarding everything you said, my personal view is that you consistently insist that the standard for judging a comrade is first his official position, first his job title, and not the comrade himself. If you insist on maintaining such an attitude, I can only say that your level of understanding has not yet reached the standard of a qualified People's Party member. You are not a truly qualified revolutionary."

A low sound resonated in the conference room. Some sucked in a breath of cold air, some couldn't help but sigh, or accidentally bumped into tables and benches without noticing. This was the first time Chen Ke had formally spoken words denying a comrade. Before this, Chen Ke would occasionally lose his temper, but he had never spoken so mercilessly.

Looking at the comrades' reactions, Chen Ke also felt very uncomfortable in his heart. Now that the focus of contradictions was becoming more detailed and practical, some things could not be achieved purely by education. A twisted melon is not sweet; this is the same at any time. Even knowing that some things had to be done, Chen Ke still inevitably felt somewhat melancholy when he thought of the consequences of making such a decision.

Just as Chen Ke was preparing to continue speaking, Zhou Zhentao's old comrade-in-arms, Yang Baogui, Political Commissar of the Huaihai Military Region, finally stood up. He had not been transferred to this position for long, so he hadn't spoken much. "Chairman Chen, hand Comrade Zhou Zhentao over to our Military Region Party Committee for handling. Based on his current performance, I personally feel it is no longer a question of his mistakes, but a discussion about Comrade Zhou Zhentao's retention. The Party Committee has not discussed Comrade Zhou Zhentao's problems, which is a dereliction of duty in the Party Committee's work. We were wrong before, we cannot continue to be wrong later."

Yang Baogui took all the responsibility. Chen Ke couldn't say anything more. His goal was rectification, not to hunt down comrades to the end. "Then let the Party Committee discuss it," Chen Ke said.

The matter seemed to have reached a conclusion here. Most comrades thought Zhou Zhentao would receive severe criticism, or perhaps be stripped of his post and enter a training class to study. However, the two consecutive notices three days later left the comrades dumbfounded.

"In view of Comrade Zhou Zhentao's conduct, on March 3, 1912, after discussion by the Huaihai Military Region Party Committee, a decision was made to remove Comrade Zhou Zhentao from all military positions, retaining his military status."

"On March 3, 1912, after discussion by the Huaihai Military Region Party Committee, Comrade Zhou Zhentao was removed from his party positions and given the disciplinary punishment of expulsion from the party with one year of probation within the party."

The People's Party had never punished a comrade so severely until now. Administrative positions and party positions were stripped clean. Zhou Zhentao went directly from a dignified division commander, deputy secretary of the division party committee, and member of the division standing committee, to a comrade with only military status and no formal establishment. No comrade who heard this news failed to feel shaken.

Just as the comrades were talking about this, more news came one after another. In the grassroots democratic life meetings, the cases of comrades taken down due to mistakes in this rectification had already been communicated. Analyzing the mistakes of these comrades in the meetings explained why they were taken down on one hand, and warned comrades not to make such mistakes again on the other. Squad leaders, platoon leaders, company commanders, battalion commanders, and regiment commanders had all become subjects of discussion. Now, Zhou Zhentao, a division commander, had also become a new subject of discussion.

To have such a "reputation" among the 100,000 troops of the Huaihai Provincial Military Region was truly losing face to the extreme. The older comrades felt intense fear at such a result.

In the five days after the notice was issued, over a hundred comrades, including Zhou Zhentao, applied to leave the party. Only twenty-something of them had been punished. The remaining nearly one hundred comrades had not received direct criticism so far. Their reason for leaving the party was simple: "A person lives for a face, a tree lives for its bark." Since the People's Party's system didn't save face for comrades, everyone felt they had no face to face their comrades, so it was better to part on good terms.

For these comrades who asked to leave, the People's Party only required them to write a statement of withdrawal from the party, which was publicized within the party and the army for a week. After a week, they were all issued travel passes. Regardless of whether they had worked a full month, the full month's allowance was issued, and travel expenses and subsidies were given. Luggage shipping was covered, and for those unwilling to carry personal belongings, cash compensation was given based on the value of the items. All payments were made in silver dollars, not Renminbi banknotes.

"Revolution is entirely voluntary; we part on good terms. We will never force anyone to stay." This was the Propaganda Department's explanation for this.

Learning of this handling method, a portion of the comrades who were equally dissatisfied in their hearts but worried about being made things difficult for when leaving the party successively submitted applications to leave the party. Another portion of dissatisfied comrades decided to stay temporarily. Since they could leave whenever they wanted, there was no need to rush.

On March 15th, Chen Tianhua found Chen Ke. "Chairman Chen, yesterday, finally no comrades came to me to submit applications to leave the party." Chen Tianhua appeared quite exhausted. Before this, he had also been ruthless in his heart many times, vowing to expel those unqualified party members. But when hundreds of comrades actually applied to leave, he found that the sense of satisfaction in his heart was far less intense than he had imagined. At this moment, Chen Tianhua felt more of an indescribable discomfort and a faint fear.

Chen Ke was approving documents. He didn't even lift his head, responding as if nothing had happened, "Oh."

"Chairman Chen, aren't you worried that these comrades will take away party secrets when they leave? You should at least require these comrades to make some guarantees," Chen Tianhua advised.

Chen Ke finally looked up. Chen Tianhua then discovered that Chen Ke's expression was far less calm than his voice. A faint exhaustion could be seen without much effort. "Comrade Tianhua, no guarantee has any meaning. If these leaving comrades want to talk, they will talk. If they don't want to talk, they won't. Sometimes, even if they don't want to talk, someone will force them to talk. Since everyone has decided to leave, these comrades are free. These petty practices do not accord with scientific principles."

Chen Tianhua had long accepted Chen Ke's orders. What he actually wanted to say was not to prevent these comrades from leaking news, but to ask Chen Ke to keep these comrades. Seeing that Chen Ke didn't take the bait at all, Chen Tianhua spoke as if talking to himself, "Perhaps we should thank these comrades. Their actions not only allowed comrades with different routes within the party to leave, but also took away a considerable number of comrades who had the same thoughts as them. We purified the team through their actions and strengthened the cohesion of the organization. At least the comrades who stayed know why they chose to stay..."

Chen Ke ignored Chen Tianhua and continued to bury his head in approving official documents.

"However, what impact will this handling method have at the grassroots level? Seeing such a situation, will the soldiers feel that they can leave if they want to? These soldiers are different from these party cadres. The comrades in the party are voluntary. The soldiers are conscripted through the compulsory military service system. If they want to leave, should we let them leave too?"

"Comrade Tianhua, are you chanting scriptures with this chatter?" Wu Xingchen's voice came from outside the door. Chen Tianhua didn't expect that while he wanted to persuade Chen Ke and Chen Ke ignored him, Wu Xingchen came out to interject.

Chen Tianhua forced a smile. "When a monk for a day, one hits the bell for a day. After hitting the bell, one has to chant scriptures. Being able to chant the scriptures well can be considered fulfilling the monk's duty. It's just that these scriptures are not easy to chant right now."

"What's so hard about chanting them?" Wu Xingchen said loudly. "I think Chairman Chen said it well in the last meeting. People are just like a machine. If the products produced are problematic, it means there is a problem with the machine. If this machine operates normally according to its own laws, it will continuously produce problematic products. If one day this machine produces a product without problems, it means the machine itself has changed. Since some comrades don't think they have problems, but that we have problems, then parting on good terms is good for everyone. At least you won't have to emphasize the problem of eliminating the 'meritorious contributor mentality' in the short term."