In January 1914, the People's Party once again held a full Party Congress. Almost simultaneously, Yuan Shikai of the Beiyang government summoned the military governors of the provinces under his command to a meeting in Beijing. At the high-level meetings convened by both sides, both Yuan Shikai and Chen Ke set their strategies for the coming war.

"After we rectify the military system of the Beiyang Army and expand it to 25 corps and 100 divisions, we will still only have 2 million officers and soldiers. If we want to thoroughly defeat the People's Party and take back the five provinces they control, we also need the support of the southern provinces." Facing the Beiyang governors, Yuan Shikai looked grim, his voice full of power.

Chen Ke looked calm, but the comrades knew very well that this was the expression he wore after making a true strategic decision. "Comrades, the liberation of the people means the complete destruction of the old society and the old system. Beiyang might be the most powerful enemy in front of us, but the entire old system of China is the enemy of the people's revolution promoted by our People's Party. The future War of Liberation is not just about overthrowing Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang clique, but about liberating all of China!"

Yuan Shikai said loudly: "Everyone, the People's Party is acting against the natural order, openly declaring an agrarian revolution, plundering fertile fields, and slaughtering the gentry. The southern provinces have long been daring to be angry but not daring to speak. Some people also think that the best plan for now is to drive the tiger to swallow the wolf, letting the southern provinces fight the People's Party while we Beiyang build up our strength, waiting for the People's Party to exhaust themselves before we strike. This method might work on others, but it certainly won't work on the People's Party. This group of fanatics in the People's Party is good at bewitching the ignorant commoners, letting them unscrupulously continue to expand their territory in the south. If we Beiyang turn a blind eye, that would be sitting back and watching the People's Party grow too powerful."

Chen Ke explained while pointing at the map: "Comrades, in the past few years we have been constantly infiltrating the surrounding areas. The old rulers of the surrounding provinces hate us to the bone. Of course, we also believe that we must eliminate them. This war requires the mobilization of troops reaching 3 million. This will be an unprecedented mobilization. With 3 million troops in combat, and another 3 million industrial workers in the cities, the main point right now is to strengthen the organization and determine various systems as soon as possible. We rely on our advantages in efficiency and quantity to thoroughly crush the enemy."

"We Beiyang are the central government. Right now, we must lead all the provinces in China to extinguish the People's Party. So we must make sure all provinces stand on our side. A just cause attracts much support, an unjust one finds little. If we unite the southern provinces, the People's Party will definitely be destroyed." Yuan Shikai proposed the action plan for the near future.

"A just cause attracts much support, an unjust one finds little. The object that the people's revolution relies on is the masses of people who make up the largest number in China. Thoroughly mobilize the people, let the people recognize who their enemies really are, and we will inevitably be able to achieve final victory." Chen Ke once again emphasized the People's Party's platform.

There was no need to say too much at high-level meetings. Those without ability had long since been eliminated. After the two major groups in China made the determination to thoroughly wipe out the other side, the corresponding work immediately unfolded in full swing.

In February 1914, the steamship Sun Yat-sen was on docked in Tianjin. Accompanied by Hu Hanmin, Liao Zhongkai, and others, Sun Yat-sen walked down the gangway. The local Beiyang representatives of Tianjin City, who had long been waiting at the pier, had already warmly welcomed them. When Liao Zhongkai saw the representatives, his expression turned bad. Among the six people who came to welcome them, four had once participated in the Tongmenghui. When Liao Zhongkai and Wang Jingwei presided over the Beijing-Tianjin branch of the Tongmenghui together, these four had all been their subordinates. He hadn't expected them to have all defected to Beiyang now.

Sun Yat-sen didn't mind, or at least he didn't show any sign of minding on his face. First, he went forward to shake hands with the people who came to welcome him. When the reporters took photos, Sun Yat-sen very habitually stood in the very center of the crowd and posed. After the simple welcoming ceremony ended, the Beiyang representatives told Sun Yat-sen that arrangements were now being made for the Tongmenghui party to take a train to Beijing. First, they would complete the paperwork for Sun Yat-sen to regain his Chinese citizenship, and then Yuan Shikai would send someone to receive Sun Yat-sen.

This news was public, and the People's Party soon received this intelligence. The Tongmenghui had been marginalized severely on China's political stage in recent years. However, the Tongmenghui was once China's largest revolutionary party. Plus, the Tongmenghui's management was chaotic, and it was too easy to join and leave, which conversely gave the Tongmenghui very broad connections. Whether in the south or the north, the number of people who had once joined the Tongmenghui was actually quite large. So after the People's Party intelligence department discussed it, they still submitted this news.

"Yuan Shikai is preparing to play the trick of buying horse bones with a thousand gold [recruiting talent by showing respect to the old/useless]." Chen Ke laughed at He Zudao, who was sitting opposite him, after reading the report.

With the war getting closer, He Zudao had returned to the General Political Department to serve as the Director of the General Political Department. Hearing Chen Ke's words, He Zudao took the file and looked at it. But he didn't comment.

Chen Ke didn't really take this matter too much to heart either. The greatest threat the Tongmenghui could bring to the People's Party was nothing more than sending assassins. In terms of sending assassins, the Guangfu Society's ability was probably even above that of the Tongmenghui. Before Sun Yat-sen took the main cadres of the Tongmenghui to Beijing to accept the Beiyang government's "amnesty," the President of the Guangfu Society, Cai Yuanpei, had already arrived in Beijing with the national parliamentary representatives, preparing to participate in the 1914 parliamentary session. If there was worry, Chen Ke could only be more worried about the Guangfu Society's movements.

Seeing Chen Ke quickly finish reading a stack of newly delivered files, He Zudao finally said: "Chairman Chen, right now our Political Department has already gathered the comrades from other provinces and conducted political training. The outstanding comrades selected from among them can return to their local areas at any time to carry out preparatory work for the revolution. Our Political Department believes that the best direction for work right now is two-fold: one is Sichuan, the other is Hunan."

On the map in front of the two, the current base area of the People's Party presented a roughly distorted apple shape, but in the lower-left position, the "apple" had a piece indented. This light green area was marked with the words "Hunan."

"If we can seize Hunan, it would naturally be best for the next step of our strategy. However, the famous scholars of Hunan are very interested in participating in politics. How to solve these people is very troublesome. When I was in Jiangxi, while the troops were striking at bandits, they penetrated a lot into southern Hunan. Whenever we struck at bandits, Hunan gentry would jump out and gesture dictatorially." He Zudao said.

The bandits of western Hunan were very famous, and He Zudao spoke so implicitly that Chen Ke couldn't help but laugh. The literary atmosphere in Hunan was relatively flourishing, and the gentry were exceptionally conservative. The local scholars absolutely could not have any good feelings towards the People's Party.

He Zudao didn't laugh. He said seriously: "Chairman Chen, having been in Jiangxi for so long, I am afraid of this bunch of scholars. Maybe I haven't found the method to work with these people, so every effort to make these people become laborers has failed."

Chen Ke laughed: "If you want to make that bunch labor, the only way to make them labor is to throw them into labor camps for forced labor. And this is still merely forced labor. As for reforming them into laborers, wait for the next life. Don't count on them in this life."

He Zudao nodded slightly. "But you and the comrades of the Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense don't have this problem."

"Sister You Gou and I are both from engineering backgrounds. Engineering doesn't raise people who sit in offices drinking tea. We all go down to the production line, working on the front line day and night. This bunch of literati neither understand this knowledge nor like doing this." Speaking of this, Chen Ke couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Hearing Chen Ke mention You Gou, He Zudao just smiled slightly, but what he said had nothing to do with Chen Ke's teasing. "Chairman Chen, do you intend to be lenient with the literati of Hunan?"

Seeing that He Zudao was so sharp, Chen Ke was also quite happy in his heart. "When implementing the system, I do not advocate killing people. But there are too many literati in Hunan, and our mass base in Hunan is currently insufficient. So once the struggle begins, I'm afraid a massacre will be unavoidable. This is what I am most worried about. Hunan is, after all, the old nest of the Xiang Army, and the folk customs are fierce and brave. Moreover, in recent years we have blocked the export of Hunan grain, so grain prices in Hunan haven't fluctuated much in recent years. So infiltration is better than a hard attack."

He Zudao agreed with this. "The effect of a slow advance is the best. However, previously, in order to avoid trouble, we weren't able to do it freely like in Henan. When will we change our strategy?"

"Wait until Yuan Shikai finishes this parliamentary session, then we will openly change our strategy." Chen Ke gave He Zudao a clear answer.

"Is this preparing for a head-on blow?" He Zudao asked.

"Correct. This time, Beiyang's parliament will definitely discuss the matter of besieging the base areas. We don't care what the other provinces think, Hunan is the next object of liberation. If we control Hunan, we gain a passage to march into Guangxi and Yunnan-Guizhou. In any case, the forward bases always need to be built up as much as possible."

Yuan Shikai didn't have telepathy, so even though Chen Ke was full of malice towards the parliamentary session being held in Beijing, Yuan Shikai didn't sneeze. The Governor of Hunan, Cen Chunming, was the younger brother of Yuan Shikai's old political enemy, Cen Chunxuan. In his heart, Yuan Shikai didn't want to take the initiative to get too close to Cen Chunming at all.

At present, Yuan Shikai had gathered the leaders of the assemblymen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces together to discuss the issue of how to deal with the People's Party. Wang Youhong, Cai Yuanpei, and Feng Guozhang represented the assembly groups of the three provinces respectively. The aggressive expansion of the People's Party made these three provinces feel heavy pressure. Wang Youhong and Feng Guozhang could still keep their cool on the surface, but Cai Yuanpei's attitude towards the People's Party was quite hostile.

"If the rebellious party is not eliminated in the various provinces, with the People's Party's means of bewitching the common people, the provinces will absolutely not have peace." Cai Yuanpei spoke with impassioned emotion.

Feng Guozhang finally couldn't help it somewhat. He said with a hint of sarcasm: "Old Cai, right now the most numerous in Fujian are members of the Guangfu Society. You are pervasive in Fujian. To eliminate these rebels of the People's Party, the Guangfu Society has to come forward."

"If Governor Feng wants us to provide a list of the People's Party, our Guangfu Society can help." Cai Yuanpei said as if he hadn't felt Feng Guozhang's malice at all. "The People's Party wants to strip away the land property of the world. What they say sounds plausible, but fundamentally it's that set of slaughtering the gentry. The landlords of Zhejiang have long been worried, deeply afraid of the People's Party entering Zhejiang."

Yuan Shikai had long known of Cai Yuanpei's fear of the land revolution. The Guangfu Society was once the People's Party's closest ally, but based on conflicts in political stance, the relationship had unknowingly turned into one of fire and water. But Yuan Shikai would absolutely not think that Cai Yuanpei would throw himself under his own banner because of this. Once he could use the power of Beiyang to eliminate the People's Party in the Guangfu Society's territory, Cai Yuanpei's next step would be to strive to squeeze out Beiyang. Yuan Shikai was well aware of these most basic political maneuvers.

"Governor Wang, what about your Jiangsu?" Yuan Shikai turned to Wang Youhong.

Wang Youhong had remained silent all along. Jiangsu was under the coercion of the People's Party, especially with the People's Party's Maanshan Iron and Steel Group being close at hand to Nanjing, where a division of troops was stationed. This force that could attack Nanjing at any time was a thorn in Wang Youhong's heart. However, Wang Youhong also had concerns. The difference in folk customs between Southern Jiangsu and Northern Jiangsu was great. But between the two places, there was no terrain that could serve as a military barrier. If the People's Party's army attacked Southern Jiangsu from Northern Jiangsu, they would face flat terrain. So he was unwilling to actively take on any responsibility for surrounding the People's Party.

Hearing Yuan Shikai ask actively, Wang Youhong hesitated for a moment before replying: "It would be good enough if Jiangsu can protect itself. If we send troops to attack the People's Party, it is beyond our ability."