Zhu Danbi and his companions were all tied up with their hands behind their backs, but the People's Party did not make things too difficult for them. They allowed the group to sit on horses, with the reins held by cavalrymen riding alongside them. As they passed through villages, the villagers stopped to watch this strange procession. Zhu Danbi felt a mix of pride and shame. Working for the people of Henan was a source of pride for him, but being stared at by the common folk as if he were a criminal made him feel extremely ashamed. To explain that he wasn't a bad person caught doing something illegal, Zhu Danbi shouted loudly, "Fellow villagers, I am Zhu Danbi, a member of the Henan Provincial Assembly. The People's Party is invading Henan. If you face any difficulties, hurry to the provincial capital, Kaifeng, to take shelter."

The villagers listened blankly to Zhu Danbi's shouting, looking completely confused. After shouting for a while and seeing no response, Zhu Danbi got annoyed. He simply yelled, "There's going to be a war! Everyone, hurry to Kaifeng to avoid the disaster!" This sentence finally had an effect; the villagers' faces turned fearful upon hearing it.

The cavalrymen hadn't stopped Zhu Danbi from shouting, but when he started howling about war, they spurred their horses to speed up. Zhu Danbi and the others had their legs tied to the stirrups. As the speed increased, the horses began to bump along. Zhu Danbi bit his tongue, the pain causing tears to stream down his face. He clamped his mouth shut, unable to make another sound.

They traveled a long way. The further north they went, the more red flags appeared in the villages. Some village walls were painted with slogans like "Class Struggle, Land Revolution," "The People's Party is the Party of Us Common Folk," and "The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army is the Army of Us Common Folk." The villagers continued their daily lives, showing no signs of having been looted.

Because the cavalrymen next to him had played a trick on him, causing him to bite his tongue, Zhu Danbi was in constant pain and filled with anger, refusing to make a sound. However, seeing the situation in the countryside was completely different from what he had imagined, he couldn't help but want to ask questions. But the horses were moving too fast, and he couldn't find a chance to speak.

As the sun slanted westward, a military camp appeared ahead. The cavalrymen stopped their horses in front of the camp. They weren't let in immediately; the guards only allowed them to pass after checking the password and confirming there were no issues.

Zhu Danbi and the others were detained in a very ordinary tent. The group of captives didn't have time to observe their surroundings; they first requested to relieve themselves. After clearing their accumulated waste, they finally felt settled. When they returned to the tent, someone was already waiting for them.

"You must be Principal Zhu. I've heard a lot about you," a young man who was obviously an officer said with a smile.

Sizing up the speaker, Zhu Danbi asked coldly, "Why did you arrest us?"

"What did Principal Zhu come here to do?" the officer asked, still smiling.

"As a member of the Henan Assembly, am I not allowed to walk in Henan?" Zhu Danbi said loudly.

"Walking is of course fine, but if you volunteer to come and blow up our ammunition dump, that is absolutely not allowed." Because he held the initiative, the young officer was very relaxed.

Zhu Danbi was young after all, and his expression changed immediately. His mission to blow up the ammo dump was a secret operation; he hadn't expected the People's Party to figure out his movements so completely. He wanted to quibble, but he didn't know what to say.

The officer smiled and said, "Principal Zhu, we won't kill you. After all, you are a representative elected by the people of Xiangcheng. Since you haven't managed to do anything bad yet, killing you directly wouldn't be easy to explain to the people of Xiangcheng. However, you'll have to suffer a bit for a while. You'll go to the prison in Shangqiu to reflect on why you wanted to blow up our ammo dump. You guys eat first; after you eat, someone will escort you to Shangqiu."

Seeing the young officer's disdainful attitude towards him—not treating him as an important figure at all—Zhu Danbi got angry. "You invade Henan without cause, yet you act as if you're in the right."

"Oh? So you and Zhang Zhenfang pretending to be masters of Henan makes sense then?" the young officer mocked.

"I am an assembly member elected by the people of Xiangcheng!" Zhu Danbi, feeling greatly humiliated, roared immediately.

"Haha," the young officer laughed. "It's precisely because you were elected by the people of Xiangcheng that we are sparing your life, even though you planned to blow up our ammo dump. If it were any of those other local tyrants and evil gentry in the assembly, we would have dragged them out and shot them."

Seeing the People's Party's barbaric attitude, Zhu Danbi was so angry he couldn't speak. After a while, he shouted, "The people of Henan will never accept you as their masters!"

The young officer laughed. "That's not for you to worry about. Hurry up and eat; we have to get moving after the meal."

That night, they didn't ride horses. The People's Party tied Zhu Danbi and the others up and locked them on a supply cart. After bumping along all night, they arrived in Shangqiu at dawn.

Zhu Danbi glanced at the rising sun but was surprised to see the two strange birds he had seen yesterday flying from the distance across the sky. He wanted to take a closer look, but the soldiers behind him pushed and shoved them into the prison. As the heavy prison doors closed, Zhu Danbi was plunged into darkness once again.

Chai Qingguo, Director of the Longhai Railway East Section Management Committee, received the news of Zhu Danbi's capture early in the morning. He simply grunted in acknowledgement. The People's Party's intelligence agency had penetrated every aspect of Kaifeng; Zhu Danbi's capture wasn't something to make a big fuss about.

Moreover, the immediate task wasn't to deal with Henan Governor Zhang Zhenfang, but to digest the captured territory as quickly as possible. In the morning, Chai Qingguo had to meet with the local landlords of Shangqiu to negotiate land reform matters. There was a tricky issue here: Shang Yuan's relatives were major landlords in Shangqiu. If handled improperly, it would be difficult for Chai Qingguo to face Shang Yuan in the future.

The landlords were quite tactful. When Chai Qingguo invited them, they all came obediently. Compared to the small landlords who tried every possible way to avoid meeting, they were indeed much smarter. More than a dozen of the largest local landlords gathered in the conference room. They either looked uneasy or kept straight faces, but generally, none of them lost their composure.

Chai Qingguo said pleasantly, "I invited everyone here today to discuss something. We want to implement land reform and distribute the land equally. You are all the biggest landlords in Guide Prefecture. The land reform regulations state that all land will be state-owned. Those willing to farm can receive three mu of land per person. I want to ask everyone, how can we implement land reform in a way that makes you happy?"

The landlords looked at each other in dismay. The gap between Chai Qingguo's tone and the content of his speech was too great. After a long while, someone finally tentatively said, "Comrade Chai, we don't want land reform. This land was passed down from our ancestors; we can't let it be lost in our hands."

Chai Qingguo remained pleasant. "First, we don't use titles like 'Adult' or 'Lord' here. You should address me as Comrade Chai. Second, as soon as you opened your mouth, you went off-topic. We are discussing how to implement land reform in a way that makes you happy; we are not discussing whether or not to implement land reform. I can say it again: land reform *must* be implemented."

Fortunately, the attendees were all major landlords who had seen the world. Even when faced with someone as "unreasonable" as Chai Qingguo, they didn't lose their basic rationality. Shang Yuan's uncle, Shang Yisheng, stood up and cupped his hands. "Comrade Chai, if you want grain or money, although our family assets are meager, we will do our best to help. My nephew Shang Yuan holds a position in your party. We have some ties of friendship, after all. If there's something you need, please speak directly; why start by frightening us?"

Hearing this, the landlords quickly chimed in. "Yes, I am willing to donate five thousand taels to reward the troops. Your army has not committed the slightest offense since arriving in Guide Prefecture; I donate this willingly."

"I will also donate five thousand."

"Although my family isn't as wealthy, I'll donate three thousand."

Listening to the landlords trying to "spend money to avoid disaster," Chai Qingguo asked them to sit down first before speaking. "Do you think we are the Beiyang Army or the Qing Government? That's where you are mistaken. We don't want money, and we don't want grain. What we want is land reform. I can give everyone a guarantee right here: after the land reform is completed and everyone receives their own land, we won't ask for your money or grain. I can even write a pledge for everyone on this point."

Shang Yisheng stood up again. Chai Qingguo waved his hand. "Please sit down to speak. Just talk; don't keep standing up and bowing. It wastes time."

Hearing this, Shang Yisheng sat back in his chair. "Comrade Chai, according to what you said, you don't want money or grain. Do you want our businesses then?"

Chai Qingguo explained, "We don't want your mills or oil presses either. We don't even want the land for ourselves. The People's Party's land reform means land nationalization. Land is not allowed to be bought or sold. Those willing to farm will be allocated land to farm. Those willing to work in factories can hand over their land and go become workers. If they work in the factory until they don't want to anymore and wish to return to farming, we will allocate land to them again. We don't want the land for ourselves; our system plans land usage this way."

"So, you insist on taking our land?"

"Correct."

"You take our land, and the People's Party won't pay for it."

"That's right."

After this exchange, the landlords' faces turned ashen, and they fell silent. Shang Yisheng held back for a long time before suddenly asking with an emotion that was hard to decipher, "Since you say you don't want the land, why must you have land reform?"

"Gentlemen, the People's Party has no old grudges or recent hatred towards you. As Mr. Shang said, we even have some ties. But if China wants to avoid being bullied by foreigners and become a new country where everyone can live and work in peace, we must solve the land problem. Moreover, we absolutely do not accept the old order that relies on land exploitation. In our new system, the significance of land is to be cultivated by laborers to provide food for all the common people in China. This isn't a land issue of one or two people; this is an issue concerning the feeding of the entire Chinese population..."

"Just confiscating our land won't be enough to feed all the common people in China," a landlord immediately retorted.

"Therefore, we have fully implemented land nationalization and land reform within our base areas. Every new place we arrive at will also undergo land nationalization and land reform. For you gentlemen, it's just a matter of sooner or later; there is no question of whether or not it will happen. As long as the People's Party is not exterminated, land reform will inevitably be implemented."

Hearing Chai Qingguo say, "As long as the People's Party is not exterminated, land reform will inevitably be implemented," a cold light flashed in the eyes of several landlords. Chai Qingguo acted as if he didn't see it, a kind smile remaining on his face.

Discussing land reform with these landlords wasn't just "asking a tiger for its skin"; it was completely "plotting against the tiger for its hide." Within the base areas, there was no debate or disagreement about eliminating landlords. Many landlords had already been killed in the four provinces, and Henan naturally wouldn't be an exception. However, having just arrived in Henan, if the landlords were to "rise up in rebellion," that would be the best possible outcome. Eliminating the landlords' armed forces and confiscating their land in the process would be the easiest choice. If not for this purpose, Chai Qingguo wouldn't have tirelessly discussed "how to implement land reform in a way that makes landlords happy." Chai Qingguo wasn't stupid; how could he not know that the landlords would absolutely not be happy?

"Comrade Chai, forgive my bluntness. We don't want to hand over our land, and we certainly won't be happy about it. You are asking too much. However, what I said just now still counts. If your army needs provisions and funds, just say the word, and my family will provide whatever we have." Shang Yisheng said.

Chai Qingguo laughed. "I said it before, and I'll confirm it again now. We absolutely do not want your grain or money."

Both sides spoke polite words and drew their acceptable bottom lines, even though these bottom lines were worlds apart. However, without tearing off the mask of civility, the meeting ended without any result.

As soon as the landlords left, Chai Qingguo immediately convened a meeting with the staff who had completed the initial land reform survey.

"The situation of the landlords in Shangqiu has been basically investigated. Their primary method of doing evil personally is usury; not many directly attack the common people. Even if there are such cases, it's mostly in collusion with bandits."

"The villages bordering our base area aren't too opposed to land reform. But the further away you get, the worse it is."

"Some poorer villages are willing to accept land reform; it doesn't affect them much either way. But these villages are mainly eyeing the cheap goods provided by our supply and marketing cooperatives. They don't care at all about the political significance of land reform."

"There are many bandits in Shangqiu, and every major landlord has their own armed force."

"The local people are still uninterested in the liberating significance of land reform. Also, the local opera is very different from that in our base area. We held a few plays, but due to language issues, the people couldn't really accept them."

Reports summarizing the characteristics of local land reform from political, military, cultural, and folk customs perspectives were aggregated one by one by the People's Party.

"Commissar Gu, what do you think?" Chai Qingguo asked Gu Lu, Political Commissar of the 4407th Division.

Gu Lu didn't speak immediately. His promotion had truly been meteoric. Originally, Chai Qingguo intended for Gu Lu to be the Political Commissar of the "Longhai Railway East Section Management Committee," which was effectively equivalent to the position of Secretary of the Henan Provincial Committee of the People's Party. Gu Lu had firmly declined, saying, "I know how many buns I can eat and how much soup I can drink. Putting me in that job would just be wasting everyone's time." So in the end, Gu Lu only took the post of Political Commissar of the 4407th Division.

Chai Qingguo's question ultimately boiled down to "where to start with land reform work." This was no small matter; if the starting direction was wrong, it would affect the next steps.

After thinking it over, Gu Lu said, "Since the current work is focused on repairing the railway, and the masses in the areas bordering us have a better foundation, we should start from two lines: along the railway line and along the old border line. As for the political propaganda work for land reform, whether the common people like to hear it or not, we must publicize it. If the people don't understand the reasoning, we'll switch to a different way of saying it. No matter what, this principle must be explained. We must let the people know that land reform isn't unrelated to them, nor is it simply dividing up land. Once they participate in land reform, we won't let them fend for themselves. They become part of our base area, and the state will be responsible for whether they can live better lives."

Hearing this, other cadres couldn't help but frown. Opening up new base areas, especially instilling the perception of a brand-new state model into the people, was the hardest work. The People's Party had started by providing disaster relief—occupying the land first and explaining later. Gu Lu was actually making "explaining the reasoning" the current priority; the difficulty of this was not trivial.

"Commissar Gu, you are also from Henan, but the language gap is too big. People from your Xinyang, Henan, go to Shangqiu, and they still can't understand what's being said."

"If they don't understand, then transfer art troupes from Huaihai Province, or hire local opera troupes in Shangqiu to sing this play. If they don't know how to write the play, send a telegram to the Party Central Committee requesting support from comrades in the art troupes who know how to write plays. No matter what, we must stage the great drama of land reform all over Shangqiu. The common people don't like listening to slogans, but they always like watching plays." Gu Lu answered firmly.

The comrades looked at Chai Qingguo in embarrassment, but Chai Qingguo nodded. "I support Comrade Gu Lu's opinion."

Everyone lacked a better way to start, and Gu Lu's words made a lot of sense, so the Party Committee passed Gu Lu's opinion.

Just as the meeting was about to adjourn, Chai Qingguo said, "By the way, I have another suggestion. In the areas along the two lines Comrade Gu Lu mentioned, try to temporarily rent land in the villages to build airfields as much as possible. The common people are very pragmatic. Having things that can fly in the sky, letting them see these things fly with their own eyes, and even letting them touch them with their own hands, is probably more effective than saying ten thousand words."

This suggestion wasn't too outrageous, and the comrades passed it with a simple vote. However, the other comrades didn't know that this suggestion had been discussed privately between Chen Ke and Chai Qingguo. Chen Ke just didn't like using overly bizarre things to intimidate the people; after all, the People's Party's ideological and political work was the priority. Relying solely on airplanes to scare the people might work in the short term, but if the comrades relaxed their efforts in propagating revolution and liberation in the countryside and relied blindly on "strong medicine" like high-tech products, the consequences would be unimaginable. If Gu Lu hadn't firmly requested to thoroughly mobilize the masses in Shangqiu, and if this suggestion hadn't also been passed, Chai Qingguo would absolutely not have dared to bring out this little trick.

Outside the Shangqiu prison, land reform was in full swing; inside the Shangqiu prison, there was no impact at all. Life for Zhu Danbi and the others wasn't too hard. The People's Party jailers didn't extort them or abuse them; they just kept them locked up. They were given food on time, and the chamber pots were cleaned on time. Aside from that, it was just long stretches of boredom.

The first four or five days were passable, but after a while, Zhu Danbi and the other young men felt they couldn't take it anymore. This isolation from the world seemed endless day after day. Everyone began to worry: would they be locked up in the People's Party prison until they died of old age? Although he wanted to maintain his dignity and had originally decided not to say a word, after being locked up for a while, the young men who came with Zhu Danbi couldn't bear it anymore and started begging the jailers, wanting to know when they would be released.

During the exchanges, Zhu Danbi and the others learned that the People's Party didn't have the term "jailer," nor did they use titles like "Adult." Everyone addressed each other as "Comrade." The person in charge of prison work was named Liu, and he wasn't very talkative. To Zhu Danbi and the others' questions, his answer was, "I will tell you immediately when there is news."

Apart from that, it was just waiting day after day. Zhu Danbi felt that perhaps, probably, maybe half a month had passed when someone finally came to interrogate him. Under the envious gazes of his companions, Zhu Danbi finally walked out of the prison gate.

Breathing the fresh air outside, Zhu Danbi felt as if all the joints in his body had rusted. Under the strong sunlight, he had to squint for a long time to gradually adapt to the outside light.

The interrogator was also very young. After asking Zhu Danbi to sit down, the interrogator asked, "Principal Zhu Danbi, I want to ask you about a situation. Exactly how much grain did you collect in Shangqiu? I hope you can tell me."

Hearing this, Zhu Danbi frowned. Was the People's Party preparing to collect taxes again? Although he knew the People's Party would definitely collect taxes in Shangqiu, he hadn't expected them to do so less than four months after Henan Province had collected its own taxes.

Seeing Zhu Danbi remain silent, the interrogator said seriously, "We have no intention of collecting taxes this year. It's just that the tax accounts we found do not match the grain in Shangqiu's inventory. And the discrepancy is very large. The statements from the local tax police troops and local officials don't match up. Presumably, someone has lined their pockets and embezzled the tax grain. What exactly is going on? I hope Principal Zhu can cooperate with the investigation."

"You are looking for trouble out of nothing. I will absolutely not cooperate with you." Zhu Danbi retorted stiffly. After saying this, he still didn't feel relieved, so he sneered and said, "Are you so sure that the local officials took the grain, and not your people stealing it secretly? Maybe it's a thief crying 'stop thief'."

The interrogator didn't get angry; he just smiled. "Principal Zhu, as far as we know, Shangqiu collected 70 million *jin* of grain locally. But after we seized Shangqiu, the total grain found in the warehouses was less than 30 million *jin*. These 40 million *jin* of grain were all grown by the hard work of the Henan people, and it just vanished into thin air? Do you really not care about this matter at all?"

Hearing about the deficit of 40 million *jin* of grain, Zhu Danbi was completely stunned. No wonder the People's Party cared so much about this; it was indeed not a small amount. Even if Zhu Danbi refused to cooperate with the People's Party, he felt that he needed to get to the bottom of this matter himself.