Chapter 26: Prelude (6)

After Zhang Yu and Chai Qingguo finished listening to the report, they didn't say much. Chai Qingguo smiled and said, "Comrade Gu Lu, thank you for your hard work."

"If you two chiefs have no immediate questions regarding the content I conveyed, I'll go back to work." Gu Lu had no intention of continuing to participate in the secret discussion, nor did he feel that Zhang Yu and Chai Qingguo intended for him to stay and participate.

"Commissar Gu, what are your plans for future work?" Zhang Yu didn't mention the secret meeting Gu Lu had participated in, asking straightforwardly instead.

Zhang Yu didn't mention Chen Ke's plan, and Gu Lu didn't mention it either. In Gu Lu's view, regardless of what he had heard Chen Ke say, revolutionary work always relied on actual action. "According to the original plan, our division is to cross the Yellow River and expel all Beiyang forces from Henan. The Beiyang 2nd Division is still entrenched in Anyang; I'm going to make preparations for crossing the Yellow River right now."

"Then go prepare," Zhang Yu replied.

After Gu Lu left the conference room, Zhang Yu said to Chai Qingguo, "Old Chai, your judgment of people is indeed correct. Comrade Gu Lu really has breadth of mind."

"It wasn't me who first spotted Comrade Gu Lu; with Qi Huishen's guarantee, this comrade is indeed very outstanding." Chai Qingguo didn't claim credit. "Secretary Zhang, since Chairman Chen has already explained the issue clearly, what are your plans for the next step?"

"Chairman Chen has explained it all clearly; what other plans could I have? We'll just execute according to the original plan, fully implementing land reform in Henan. Also, the recruitment work needs to be tightened up right now," Zhang Yu replied straightforwardly, without affectation.

Chai Qingguo laughed, "We haven't been in Henan long; I'm afraid recruitment won't be that easy." Chai Qingguo answered, "You also know the situation with the Manchu Qing; recruitment was always about bullying those with few family members locally. Our strength at the grassroots level is weak; I'm afraid it won't be that simple."

"Heh heh! Old Chai, if they don't bully people at this time, it would actually be harder for us to recruit. Just thoroughly execute the *Conscription Law*. Even if some people say soldiers have privileges, we just have to pinch our noses and admit it." Zhang Yu was consistently pragmatic and didn't care about such things as false reputation.

Chai Qingguo also didn't think the masses' view of soldiers could be easily changed. According to Chen Ke, ever since 2,000 years ago when soldiers were no longer composed of "countrymen" who held political power, the image of soldiers as "martial men, the shield and wall of the nation" was completely out of the question. Moreover, the military organization itself was the state's most violent organ. Even if the People's Party instilled a soul into the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, the affection between the army and the people was always formed through actual interaction. Just like the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army units—right now, one couldn't talk about any "good reputation." Although they were much better than the government troops of the past, the people merely fled when they didn't encounter the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. The purpose of a warm welcome was merely to avoid disaster; it was far from heartfelt support.

"But, I still feel that the current situation should focus on propaganda. If joining the army isn't a glory, one's heart always feels unsettled." Chai Qingguo wasn't optimistic.

"The people have to see our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army first before they can understand that our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army is different from the armies of the old era. Just thinking that the people will support us is all delusion." Zhang Yu replied, "Whether we are the people's own soldiers or not is proven by doing, not by thinking. Chairman Chen currently requires the government and the troops to drive infrastructure construction as much as possible. Without matching infrastructure, grain production simply won't go up. And without large-scale infrastructure construction, without comprehensive mobilization, the masses can't be mobilized either. Without the support of the masses, nothing can be discussed."

Chai Qingguo was persuaded; he replied, "Let's do it that way then."

After the People's Party's conscription order reached the local levels, there were very few responders. Good men don't become soldiers, good iron isn't made into nails. This was the common view of the common people in this era. The People's Party seizing power was one thing; for the common people, under any regime, they just paid grain tax. If they could avoid being soldiers, that was naturally best.

It wasn't until the Land Reform Propaganda Teams started publicizing the *Conscription Law* in the villages that the Henan people learned of the many generous benefits for military families. This not only failed to set off a wave of enlistment but instead intensified the people's fear of military service. When any commoner mentioned the government, the first thought was "untrustworthy." The People's Party government had certainly started land reform, and in 1913 provided good seeds and only collected 30% tax, and reasoned with the people—the people also felt the revolutionary principles spoken by the People's Party were correct, and that the people indeed should live good lives. However, since under the People's Party's rule, the people had already received land, planted good seeds, and bought cheap iron farm tools from the agricultural cooperatives... The guys who did evil in the past had all been dealt with by the People's Party, and this good life had already fallen onto their own heads, so why go be a soldier and fight?

Even though Chen Ke had already given sufficient warning about this, the comrades of the Henan Provincial Committee still felt quite troubled facing such a situation.

This couldn't be blamed on the Henan comrades not working hard or the propaganda not being in place. It was now 1914, not the period of unprecedentedly fierce war in the history of the Chinese revolution. The old agricultural society was far from disintegrated, and the process of bad gentry driving out good gentry had not yet comprehensively intensified rural conflicts. There was no Baldy Chiang blowing up the Huayuankou during the War of Resistance, turning the area south of the Yellow River into the Yellow River Flood Area. Nor was there the "Five Sons Passing the Exam" after the War of Resistance, where the KMT wantonly plundered China's wealth, leading to the bankruptcy of the urban class. Nor was there the KMT selling large amounts of cheap grain aided by the US on the market at low prices, directly leading to the comprehensive bankruptcy of small and medium landlords. The revolutionary needs of the Henan people simply hadn't reached the level of demanding the complete smashing of the old world. Moreover, the People's Party's policies directly resulted in the masses being relatively satisfied with their current lives. Joining the army was even less of a "first choice" for employment in the People's Party's Henan right now.

So after the conscription order came down, the villagers in the localities acted as usual, "mobilizing" the local outsiders, as well as "persuading" children from families with few members to join the army. As for the large clans and families, they had no intention of letting their own children join the army.

Since Henan Provincial Committee Secretary Zhang Yu had already predicted such a situation, the government's requirement was simple: everyone joining the army must be a son of a good family; the troops absolutely did not want hooligans and ruffians.

Zhang Yu's view on revolution was quite direct: revolution was ultimately necessary, and revolutionary concepts were even more indispensable. However, what truly could drive the revolution was the hatred of the masses. To put it more bluntly, it was the hatred and fear of the old world within the People's Party organization. If it hadn't reached the level where one couldn't eat or sleep well without overthrowing the old world, the revolution certainly couldn't develop.

In the view of Zhang Yu, who had followed Chen Ke since Fengtai County, the reason the people in the People's Party's earliest base areas were dead set on following the People's Party was without exception because they faced natural and man-made disasters that individuals simply couldn't contend with. Henan currently hadn't reached this degree; the people of Henan were just like people who were close to suffocation after drowning and were suddenly dragged out of the water by the People's Party by force—they had gratitude, but the thought of completely overthrowing the old era was likely far from sufficient.

Manufacturing conflict artificially was of course not advisable, but if one blindly wanted to calm things down and be a peacemaker, it was even less advisable. Currently, the Henan native soldiers in the recruitment drive were encountering unfair treatment from the locals; their hatred for the old world could be utilized.

However, this mood of pain and hatred needed to be guided. These recruits were new recruits after all; after being sent to the army draped in red and colorful silks, their biggest feeling was unease. The masses all thought that being a soldier meant getting beaten, and that bullying was the norm in the army.

When a new recruit enlisted, the District Mayor personally led the horse to send him off. Upon arriving at the unit, after a physical examination, people would introduce him to the unit's history, evolution, and glorious combat record, making him feel that joining such an excellent unit was glorious. As soon as a new recruit arrived, old soldiers competed to ask after his well-being. Some helped him put on his uniform, some gave him a haircut, or gave him gifts like towels and soap. Everyone obviously wanted to make the new recruit feel as warm as if he were at home and among friends.

Chai Qingguo was very experienced in this. After discussing troop construction work in depth with Zhang Yu, Chai Qingguo very much agreed with Zhang Yu's view: if the consciousness of the masses wasn't high, then they could only prioritize raising the consciousness of the troops. Regarding the situation in Henan, the troops formulated a method for visiting home after three months.

These new recruits were originally children of small families in the localities, and their families generally had few members. After becoming soldiers, their biggest worry was whether their families would be bullied. This was all human nature; if the new recruits knew that their families' lives had become worse because they joined the army, only a fool would be dead set on following the People's Party.

Within the Army Political Department, there were indeed some who didn't quite support this practice. "Troop home visits are generally after one year; we're advancing it to three months—won't that violate discipline?" This view was not in the minority.

"Our People's Party talks most about stance, and this stance isn't about letting us be nice guys. Who are our friends, and who are our enemies—this is the primary question." Chai Qingguo immediately criticized this. "If the masses haven't stood on our side, we have no reason to provide support unconditionally. Favoring one over another is inherently wrong, let alone mentioning such an issue of unfair treatment."

Not only was Chai Qingguo suppressing such "dogmatism," but Zhang Yu, as the Provincial Party Secretary, also personally came out to publicly criticize these comrades who had "committed the error of dogmatism." "Comrades, everyone knows that your families have definitely received good care because everyone has seen it with their own eyes. If your families couldn't go on living after you joined the army, could you accept that? If you can't accept it, how can you ask others to accept it? Is there such logic?"

Facing Zhang Yu's questioning, no one dared to continue questioning or opposing.

By May 1914, the troops who had been enlisted for three months began to go home to visit on a large scale. In order to display the People's Party's military strength, the troops combined the home visits with large-scale new army training. The troops conducted a month-long march training in a clockwise direction across more than half of Henan. Wherever there were villages that provided sources of troops, the large units passed through as much as possible. Places that really couldn't be reached were visited separately by small units composed of new recruits from the relevant areas.

Many local people saw the scene of a large unit march of tens of thousands of troops for the first time—that long column stretching as far as the eye could see, and the soldiers singing military songs while marching. It truly gave them a massive shock.