The conversation with the old friends from the Guangfu Society ended on a rather unhappy note. Xu Xilin remained silent, but Qiu Jin, possessing a woman's tact, smiled and said, "Wenqing, I haven't seen Sister You Gou for a long time. I wonder if we can get together with her. Thinking back to when we first met in Shanghai—you, me, Sister You Gou, Bosun, Zhenglan, and Wang Bin—it would be nice if the six of us could reunite."

Chen Ke didn't oppose a reunion, but the four members of the People's Party, including himself, all held important positions. Gathering like this wasn't easy. However, upon second thought, Chen Ke smiled and said, "That's not impossible. Everyone happens to be in Wuhan right now. I'll arrange for us to meet."

Hearing Chen Ke say this, Qiu Jin became happy. "That would be wonderful."

Chen Ke did indeed need to meet with the other three to discuss the current issue of industrial integration. But that’s how things are in the world; once things get busy, there are short periods of extreme busyness. The very next day after seeing Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin, the American representative suddenly asked to see Chen Ke.

Wang Bin was now in charge of foreign trade, and trade with the United States could be said to be the highlight. A large amount of the People's Party's heavy industrial equipment was imported from the United States, and the American representative had stated in advance that he hoped Wang Bin could also participate in the meeting. Chen Ke simply called You Gou along to attend the meeting as well.

"We hope your side can purchase an additional batch of equipment," the American representative said straight to the point. After speaking, he handed a list to Chen Ke. Unlike the British side, this list was in English, but thoughtfully included Chinese translations below the English names.

This time, Chen Ke didn't just glance at it simply; he read it carefully. Key high-temperature and high-pressure reactors for synthetic ammonia, steel rolling equipment, and a large pile of other heavy industrial equipment related to the steel industry. There were dozens of items in total.

"But this year's quota has already been roughly determined. We don't have the money to buy these things right now," Chen Ke replied.

"If you are willing to pay with gold, we can continue to lower the price from the current level," the American representative replied.

"We don't have much gold," Chen Ke said with a look of difficulty.

The American representative smiled. "What if we say the price is discounted by 40%?"

Even though Chen Ke, You Gou, and Wang Bin had agreed before the meeting to pretend to be poor no matter what, and had even practiced in front of a mirror, hearing this offer, the three still changed their expressions.

"You get what you pay for. If the price is lowered by 40%, will the quality also be lowered by 40%?" Wang Bin couldn't help but ask.

"You People's Party have always been very strict about quality. Wouldn't it be fine to just follow the original payment method?" The American representative was well prepared.

Faced with such a price, Chen Ke felt thoroughly tempted. Economic crisis is an insurmountable problem for capitalism. The People's Party had quite a few intelligence points overseas, so they were no longer completely in the dark about the situation in Europe and America. After entering the 1900s, economic crises in Europe and America were constant; crises broke out in 1900 and 1907. Textbooks specifically taught that the economy before WWI was even more ferocious. News sent back by the People's Party confirmed this. Moreover, the price of gold in the international market had recently skyrocketed, and panic selling had appeared in the US stock market. Even a layman like Chen Ke could deduce that large amounts of funds in the stock market were being withdrawn to buy gold.

The pressure on industrial product sales brought about by the depression in the US domestic market, and the demand for profit brought about by the soaring price of gold. It was not incomprehensible for the American representative to propose a 40% discount for purchasing industrial products with gold.

"But we also need gold to stabilize our own currency value," Chen Ke withstood the huge temptation and began to talk about the People's Party's current difficulties.

The American representative naturally saw through Chen Ke's thoughts. He leaned back on the sofa quite relaxed. "Mr. Chen, if I could discuss a loan agreement with you, what would you think?"

"Private loan or government loan?" Chen Ke wanted to pretend to be nonchalant, but he felt his heart couldn't help but start beating faster.

The American representative looked at Chen Ke and said slowly, "A loan of 100 million US dollars. If you can provide more reliable collateral, we can even consider 200 million US dollars. Of course, this loan must be used to purchase American goods."

Chen Ke and the others fell silent. Such a sum of money meant they could purchase a massive amount of industrial products. Currently, the Base Area imported a large amount of mechanical equipment from the United States every year. If they could get a one-time loan of 100 million or even 200 million, the driving force would be immeasurable.

Having managed to suppress the excitement in his heart with great difficulty, Chen Ke felt his brain become more flexible. He tentatively asked, "May I ask if Your Excellency represents the Congress? The Government? A financial group? Or the Federal Reserve Board that is said to be established soon?"

This question seemed to hit the mark. The American representative was slightly stunned. He looked at Chen Ke carefully for a few moments before saying, "The Federal Reserve Board hopes to issue a batch of US dollars that are not convertible into gold and silver. Pure paper currency or account transactions, which must be used to purchase American goods. Our two sides have cooperated quite happily in these past few years. I believe your side has this need."

Chen Ke replied seriously, "But how do we repay it? Borrowing money is easy, but paying it back is not easy. The current trade balance allows us to guarantee repayment ability. But we cannot grasp what will happen in the next few years. If we borrow debt that we can't repay, wouldn't we have to commit suicide?"

This remark made the American representative quite satisfied. This solid and practical attitude of the People's Party was what he valued. If it weren't for the basic understanding and recognition built up between the two sides over the past few years, he would not have made such a proposal. With a smile hanging on the corner of his mouth, the American representative said, "Mr. Chen, I have a suggestion. If you are willing to repay 20% of the loan with gold, and use all the loan to purchase American goods, I hope to negotiate a package agreement with you. The loan amount can even be placed between 200 million and 300 million. The repayment method will use the raw silk trade as collateral."

After such an earth-shattering plan was put forward, Chen Ke even heard the sound of Wang Bin swallowing his saliva. Afraid that Wang Bin and You Gou couldn't hold back if he continued, Chen Ke said, "This matter involves too much. Can you come up with a feasibility plan?"

"There is a plan." The American representative immediately pulled a document out of his briefcase.

Actual 98% value given, repaid in ten years, annual interest payment, 5% annual interest. The People's Party must pay 20% of the total loan amount in gold to the Americans as collateral at the same time as the loan. After reading such a document that didn't look too harsh, Chen Ke expressed his opposition right then and there. "The actual amount given must be full. Interest calculation must also be carried out from when the loan begins execution. If calculated this way, I might as well take that 40% preferential purchase price."

"Preferential purchasing can be discussed within the package agreement. Our trade between both sides has already reached a very high amount. For your side, it's just buying these goods a few years in advance. I don't think there's any problem," the American representative persuaded.

"Let us discuss it first." Chen Ke felt he could no longer pretend. He hurriedly requested to suspend the meeting.

As soon as the American representative left, Chen Ke collapsed into the sofa. He finally understood what it felt like for a pie to fall from the sky. His heart thumped wildly, and his whole person was immersed in excitement and hyperactivity. To get such a loan before WWI and get the equipment in place... Then the profits brought by the production capacity China exploded with during WWI could easily pay off this money. As for the benefits obtained by the Base Area, it was a tremendous improvement in industrial production capacity, and the social promotion matched with it.

Even without Chen Ke's knowledge of history, You Gou and Wang Bin knew the impact this loan could bring. Plus, seeing Chen Ke's rare loss of composure, they clearly understood Chen Ke's attitude toward this loan.

"Chairman Chen, we might as well stabilize our own position first. If the Yankees see through our cards, I'm afraid they'll dare to raise the price on the spot," You Gou advised. But advising Chen Ke was one thing; You Gou's own voice also thoroughly revealed her excitement.

"If we really ship this batch of gold to the United States, our own national treasury will be emptied, right?" Wang Bin said worriedly. The most ruthless point of the Yankees was requiring the People's Party to pay 20% of the loan in gold to the US first.

"If we want gold, we have to take Henan. There is a gold mine belt over in Sanmenxia. It's possible to pay these gold to the Yankees," Chen Ke said, trying his best to use a calm tone. But he said this only to comfort Wang Bin. Even without more gold income, the WWI dividends, especially the dividends of industrial strength, were not something this little bit of gold could compare to. Chen Ke himself had no concept of the gold standard. Because of his background in chemical engineering, Chen Ke lacked feeling for "precious metals."

Shaking his head vigorously to clear his brain, Chen Ke said, "Immediately convene a meeting of the National Defense Science and Industry Commission! I'll call Minister Hua over too. This matter is not a small one."

This meeting was of an extremely high level. The seven core cadres of the National Defense Science and Industry Commission and the Military Commission attended the meeting. After briefly introducing the Americans' proposal, Chen Ke first asked the comrades to quiet down. "We can completely ignore the Americans' proposal this time. We won't eat pork with hair just because the butcher Zhang died. A country's industrialization must be built on its own strength. The comrades of the Military Commission have a limited level of understanding of industry, so I'll digress a little first. What is an industrial system? An industrial system isn't just having a bunch of factories. Beiyang thinks that opening a few factories and being able to make a few things is an industrial system. This view is completely wrong."

Qin Tongren came out of the old Beiyang system. Hearing Chen Ke fiercely criticize Beiyang to his face, he was not only not angry, but on the contrary, agreed extremely in his heart. Industry is not a simple accumulation of factories, but a complete operating system. For example, the steel industry as the industrial foundation. If a completed steel plant wants to operate normally, it must first have iron ore and coke, it must have spare parts for consumption, and it must have many workers and technicians who can operate the steel plant. What is the produced steel used for? Is it processed into mechanical equipment? Or processed into farm tools or weapons? Just like a rather nasty joke Chen Ke had told, "Think about where to shit and piss before eating, otherwise don't eat. If you don't eat, you can still control it. If you don't shit and piss, it will kill people."

If we still take steel as an example, if a furnace of molten steel and iron is smelted but not poured out, the furnace bought with heavy money will be completely ruined after the temperature drops. If it is poured out at will, it will only solidify into a pile of strangely shaped iron ingots and steel ingots that are difficult to process after cooling. The People's Party has imported a large amount of steel rolling equipment in recent years and has also worked hard to copy various steel processing equipment. These technical efforts have made the National Defense Science and Industry Commission suffer enough. This is not just money; the National Defense Science and Industry Commission has paid a lot of lives, and many people have been injured in various experiments, even left with lifelong disabilities. Industry is indeed an industry piled up with blood, sweat, and human lives.

After listening to Chen Ke's simple introduction to the concept of the industrial system, Hua Xiongmao asked, "Then what should our army do?"

"Management and control," Chen Ke answered.

Hua Xiongmao was stunned. He couldn't quite figure out how the army could participate in managing industry. "Our specific work is..."

Chen Ke replied, "Civil war will definitely break out in more than a year. At that time, we will not only face attacks from the Beiyang Army and other provinces on the frontal battlefield. The interior of the Base Area must also prevent enemy sabotage. A steel plant has such a huge investment; one person holding an explosive package and engaging in sabotage can stop the steel plant's production. So how to strictly control the interior of the Base Area and protect these vital departments is the responsibility of the army. In addition to factories and mines, transportation lines are also a top priority. The army's work is very heavy."

"Then we have to continue expanding the army. The current 600,000 troops are definitely not enough," Hua Xiongmao replied.

"If expanding the army, consider towards three million. To liberate all of China, it won't work without this number." Chen Ke originally wanted to say five million, but considering that his opponent was not the Kuomintang which claimed eight million troops in 1945, but just the Beiyang government, he lowered this number by two million.

"Our Base Area currently has only 62 million people." Hua Xiongmao was frightened. The troop ratio of one in twenty was appalling.

"So we want to liberate Henan. Once Henan is liberated, the Base Area's population can reach 100 million. Henan was originally a major grain-producing province. If chemical fertilizer can be used, there will be two seasons a year. One season of winter wheat, one season of corn. Grain is not a problem." As a native of Henan, and having some classmates working in the Grain Bureau, Chen Ke was still very confident about Henan's grain situation.

"What is our current work?" Qin Tongren was not too interested in the army.

"Yes. You need to integrate industrial production right now. Once the war starts, all weapons and ammunition must be borne by ourselves. So I don't require precision for the time being; what I require now is homogeneity. All similar industrial products should try to achieve homogeneity. Of course, I know this requires accumulation. Gentlemen, do your best."

"To achieve homogeneity, we have to solve the process problem. We haven't fully understood the process principles of many imported technologies yet." Qin Tongren regretted this very much.

Chen Ke replied, "Whether there is a way or not, it's just this one year or so. After that passes, war could break out at any time. I don't require this industrial system to be advanced right now, but this industry must be able to bear various pressures during the war and must be able to operate on its own. I set up this unit, the National Defense Science and Industry Commission, to let you manage all industries for this reason."

"Is the industrial power steam power or electric power?" Kong Zhang couldn't help but speak up too.

"Electric Hegemon Kong, let me ask you a question," Chen Ke rarely made a joke about the address with Kong Zhang. "I heard you wanted to take on the work of manufacturing measuring instruments last time?"

Kong Zhang's personality was a bit rascally. He waved his hands repeatedly. "Don't talk about that. Last time I didn't know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth. I was wrong."

Qin Shi Huang's great achievement was unifying the writing system and the wheel gauge. This also included the unification of weights and measures. The People's Party's industrial sector soon encountered the problem of weights and measures. Chen Ke didn't understand the Imperial system, only the Metric system. So he naturally promoted metric units. The advantage of the metric unit is that one forty-millionth of the total length of the Earth's meridian passing through Paris is used as the unit of length. On May 20, 1875, the French government came forward and convened a meeting of government representatives from 20 countries, officially signing the Metre Convention, recognizing the metric system as an internationally common unit of measurement. At the same time, it was decided to establish the International Committee for Weights and Measures and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

With the meter, a cubic meter can be determined. Then with temperature measuring tools, the weight unit kilogram can be determined. Then, grams, milligrams, and these more detailed things can be determined through many methods such as equal division.

The Second Industrial Revolution had relatively high requirements for more precise measurement, especially the power system. The simplest example is the copper cable core. It won't work if the wire is too thin, and it won't work if it's too thick. The People's Party lacks copper. Even if the cross-section of the cable core is only a tiny bit off in area, after accumulating thousands or tens of thousands of meters, it is also a huge consumption. Faced with this situation, Kong Zhang once volunteered to take on the work of the Base Area's measuring instrument factory. In less than two months, he obediently expressed that he couldn't do it. Just the material problem of thermal expansion and contraction made Kong Zhang confused. If the tolerance of the measuring tool differs by more than a few microns between winter and summer, this is a terrible problem. The People's Party's current technology simply cannot solve such problems. Seeing Chen Ke joking with Kong Zhang, You Gou and Qin Tongren also laughed.

Everyone understood industry, so they naturally knew this was just a joke. If the measurement level can't be achieved, it can't be achieved; it's useless to be anxious.

"Try to use electricity as power." Chen Ke made the final decision, but he still didn't want to let Kong Zhang off easily. "Electric Hegemon Kong, you shouted about building a power grid. In the blink of an eye, two or three years have passed. How is your construction going?"

Kong Zhang didn't lose his footing either. "Chairman Chen, last year we engaged in this city-level power transmission, and more than a dozen people died. Even if you force me, I still have this speed."

"I asked you to engage in city power transmission because I was afraid of the industrial power problem when expanding industrial production capacity on a large scale. How is your experimental data accumulation over these few years? How many problems have been discovered in power transmission under various seasons and climates?" Chen Ke was still not at ease.

"Wuhan basically has electricity. Repairs have gone from one or two hundred cases a day to fifty or sixty cases now. From a transformer exploding once every two days to a transformer exploding once a week. There is progress, there is progress," Kong Zhang replied.

Hua Xiongmao didn't meet Kong Zhang much. Hearing this terrible failure rate, he was greatly surprised in his heart. But seeing Kong Zhang speaking shameless words self-righteously, and Chen Ke listening seriously without looking angry, Hua Xiongmao was a bit confused. Is the power system really so unreliable?

"Today we are just having a briefing. Tomorrow I will give everyone an outline. Comrades, formulate your own needs according to the outline. There will be many meetings in the future. Be mentally prepared. Meeting adjourned now." Chen Ke issued the order.

In the evening, Chen Ke continued to play host and ate a meal with a group of old friends. Qiu Jin originally wanted to chat about family matters first to ease the atmosphere. But this effort had no effect. She could see that You Gou, Hua Xiongmao, and Wang Bin all had things on their minds. Even gathered together, everyone's thoughts were far from feelings of reminiscing about the past. The gathering broke up in such a muddled way.

When Qiu Jin and Xu Xilin returned to their residence and carefully closed the door, Xu Xilin said, "We came in vain this time. Wenqing seems enthusiastic, but actually, he doesn't take us seriously at all."

Qiu Jin didn't refute. At home, one relies on parents; outside, one relies on friends. The reason she hoped for this gathering was to make a final effort to see if Hua Xiongmao as a relative and You Gou as an old acquaintance could speak for the West Zhejiang Branch of the Guangfu Society out of sentiment. It could be seen at this gathering that Chen Ke was actually the one who attached the most importance to the West Zhejiang Branch of the Guangfu Society. Hua Xiongmao and You Gou completely ignored the Guangfu Society.

Thinking of this, Qiu Jin couldn't help but complain, "What is the People's Party busy with every day? Where are there so many things to be busy with?"

Xu Xilin waved his hand. "We don't need to worry about these anymore. After we go back, we will tell the comrades of the West Zhejiang Branch that the People's Party is determined to carry out land reform. The friendship between our West Zhejiang Branch and the People's Party ends here."

Seeing Xu Xilin in a fit of anger, Qiu Jin couldn't help but persuade Xu Xilin again. "Bosun, when Wenqing talked about political stance, I think what he said was not unreasonable. If we divide according to what he said, the stance of many people in our West Zhejiang Branch is still on the side of the common people. We have already had a very unhappy falling out with Mr. Cai. Several Guangfu Society comrades staying in Hangzhou are shouting about driving us out of the Guangfu Society. If we start infighting ourselves, wouldn't we be making a joke of ourselves?"

"Those gentry also show no understanding for the revolution!" Xu Xilin's tone was also full of dissatisfaction.

Seeing that Xu Xilin's attitude had also softened, Qiu Jin continued, "Bosun, we might as well speak frankly with Wenqing. We came this time to ask him for advice on how to let both sides live in peace. Wenqing has many ideas. If we sincerely ask for advice, he should help us come up with an idea."

Xu Xilin couldn't think of any other way either. The West Zhejiang Branch of the Guangfu Society was currently divided into two factions, fighting inextricably. Brothers who originally went through life and death together first argued, then quarreled. Especially regarding the People's Party's land reform, whether West Zhejiang should follow suit, and if they did, what policy to uphold. The Guangfu Society had recently reached a situation where the two sides could not coexist. Not to mention the land reform originally discussed was out of the question, even the consensus on rent and interest reduction originally reached had been fiercely shaken. Thinking that if he just slapped his butt and left in a heat of the moment now, he would still have to face these situations when he returned to West Zhejiang, Xu Xilin's attitude finally softened. He sighed, "Alas! It can only be so."