"Pu Guanshui is about to sit on the Dragon Court!" at the Political Bureau meeting, Hua Xiongmao said with a hint of jealousy.

"It's more accurate to say he's sitting on pins and needles," Propaganda Minister Zhang Yu added kindly.

"If you want to fight, just say so," Chen Ke didn't want Hua Xiongmao's words to spread and cause misunderstandings, so he also added a sentence.

Seeing the comrades being so considerate, Hua Xiongmao sighed deeply, "I'm just fated to be a director of a large office. If I were really asked to command a battle, I'm afraid I couldn't even handle being a brigade commander well. The battles in the future won't be too difficult anyway."

"That's not necessarily true. In the next 30 years, we will face incomparably cruel wars. The scale and situation of the wars are something comrades cannot even imagine right now." Chen Ke involuntarily played the role of a prophet again.

Even though the Political Bureau was full of comrades with at least six or seven, or even ten years of management experience, and they were all in their twenties or thirties, a very enterprising age, no one dared to question Chen Ke's prediction. This was unavoidable. When these comrades were finally forced to realize that they had entered the industrial age and began to see the real existence of industrialization with their own eyes, what they needed was not to argue with Chen Ke, but to find their own way to complete their work and understand the world. And the best way to gain this understanding and even wisdom at present was to listen to Chen Ke.

Chen Ke was now very clear that his own IQ and wisdom were nothing special. His advantage was only the environment he lived in and the education and knowledge he received, which forced him to face the fact of an industrialized China. Therefore, the only thing Chen Ke had to do was to use his greatest efforts to drag China towards the era he was familiar with. Because that was the glorious era when China had the ability to participate in world hegemony.

Of course, this meeting was not a "retreat", an extremely realistic situation was placed before the People's Party. The Beiyang First Army led by Duan Qirui fled to Shanxi, and the Beiyang government was almost wiped out. This might be called a victory, but Duan Qirui gained full freedom of action. And since the establishment of the People's Party, for the vast majority of the time, the People's Party had held the freedom of action and even the initiative.

After Chen Ke finished introducing the situation, the comrades did not speak immediately. They worked every day and often had to complete thinking at the strategic and technical levels. Even if they couldn't come up with a very good strategy, it was not difficult to understand these things.

Because she had never actually commanded a military operation, You Gou had less psychological pressure. She spoke first, "I'll speak first. Regardless of what Chairman Chen thinks, let's just discuss what we can do now. The National Defense Science and Technology Commission can complete the plan, but we can't make more guarantees on quality control. And on increasing production, we can't make any guarantees either. In the last six months or so, more than 600 people have been seriously injured or died due to accidents. Every accident affects the work progress. Most of our current strength is focused on production management and process optimization. This is the status quo of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission."

After the Industrial Production Committee member finished speaking, the Agricultural Committee member spoke next. Agricultural investment was also huge, and it involved policy issues even more. The policy of unified purchase and marketing conflicted with the masses' hope to hoard grain when prices were low and sell when prices were high in the traditional way. Therefore, the collection of public grain was not a big problem, but the national unified grain sales system encountered considerable resistance.

After the speeches of the two major departments of industry and agriculture, the government department began to speak. Conscription work had been accepted by the masses, but there was a widespread problem of maladaptation of labor force in agricultural industrialization, and the masses' concept of property rights was far behind the situation. This did not mean that the masses did not understand the difference between means of production and labor force. They were all people who worked, so it was absolutely impossible for them not to be clear about this.

However, the problem of the masses hoping to encroach on state-owned means of production was becoming prominent. No matter what it was, useful or useless, they all wanted to find a way to get it into their own homes first. Conflicts in this regard were becoming increasingly intense.

Hearing that the masses were beginning to encroach on state-owned means of production, the faces of many Political Bureau members became extremely ugly. Other Political Bureau members were already preparing to speak.

Chen Ke quickly stopped the discussion that might start. As a child from a family of state-owned enterprise employees, Chen Ke knew very well that this kind of thing was not a moral issue at all, nor was it a matter of awareness; it was a matter of human nature. From the perspective of human nature, nothing was as real as what was in one's own pocket. Chen Ke had seen too many things of taking advantage of the state since he was young. If Chen Ke had once supported "large in size and collective in nature", now he supported the concept of a regulated market. Asking people to dedicate themselves unconditionally was an unscientific attitude.

After the report on workers, peasants, and social organization issues was completed, the strategic choice aspect finally began.

He Zudao first explained his point of view, "With the current military strength, we can fight in at most two directions. If it involves marching into the Northwest, then other directions can only be put aside for now."

"But the country must be unified. If we cannot unify in a short time, there will be too many variables in the future." Hua Xiongmao's tone contained only helplessness, and there was no heroism of swallowing the world and swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger.

"Unification is a must. How long it will take to unify, who to unify first, and who to unify later. In what stage-by-stage manner unification will be carried out, this can all be discussed." Zhang Yu said, "However, since Beiyang has withdrawn from Hebei, marching into the Northeast is also imperative."

"Southeast and Northeast?" Qi Huishen asked.

"Southeast and Northeast are just skipping grades. Korea and Annam are China's strategic wings. If we want to take advantage of this European war to thoroughly restore China's strategic situation, these two places absolutely cannot be let go." Zhang Yu continued.

"Hiss!" Many Political Bureau members gasped. Such a strategic goal meant a tough battle with Japan.

Northwest, Southeast, Yunnan-Guizhou, Sichuan, Northeast, Korea, Annam. These strategic targets were listed on the blackboard one by one. You Gou raised her hand to speak as soon as she saw it: "It will take ages to discuss this. Strategic priority, implementation difficulty. We must have a basis for discussion. Who exactly do we consider our enemy?"

"The enemy is definitely imperialism. Their strength is above ours. If we can't solve them, now that the European war is fighting, things are still okay to say, but after the European war is over, they will definitely take action." Qi Huishen answered cleanly and neatly.

"Without internal support, it won't be that easy for them to fight their way in. Our army of one million is not to be trifled with." Hua Xiongmao had a different view.

These two attitudes quickly had their respective supporters. You Gou simply asked Chen Ke, "Then how does Chairman Chen view this matter?"

"I still support Comrade Qi Huishen's view more, but maybe I want to be opportunistic and make full use of the European war. Of course, our insufficient strength and lack of cadres are also big problems at present. If the solution to unification can be completed within three years, things will be easier to handle." Chen Ke replied.

"How so?" The comrades immediately became interested.

"For Yunnan and Guizhou, I want them to send people to participate in the newly convened Political Consultative Conference. If they are willing, naturally it is best. If they are not willing, we will convene it ourselves in the base area now. For Sichuan, it is best to fight in. As for the Northwest, it involves the Xinjiang issue, and I don't think we can wait too long. The urgent task is the Northeast. We don't have a navy now, so we can't attack the Japanese mainland. However, Korea cannot be left to Japan. After retaking Korea, Japan's strength will be greatly damaged. Seeing that it is powerless to support Japan, Britain can only choose again. At that time, there will be an opportunity. Moreover, other regions can cause trouble, but they can't cause us strategic trouble at all. Whether we fight early or late, we can win."

This line of thought sorted out a feasible plan, and many comrades nodded repeatedly. Qi Huishen asked: "Then how to deal with Jiangsu. Up to now, Jiangsu's attitude is still vague and unclear."

"Shanghai is a hot potato. If we don't knock out Japan's arrogance, their navy will still make waves in Shanghai. If we want other provinces to feel they have a chance to breathe, we have to set an example. Since Jiangsu's attitude is unclear, we might as well use Jiangsu as a test. If they are sensible, we might as well let them exist for a few more years. When domestic and foreign affairs are settled, the difficulty of thoroughly solving the Jiangsu problem will naturally be greatly reduced." Chen Ke replied, "This is of course a helpless move. We, the People's Party, rely on the people. Now the revolutionary situation in other provinces has not reached a certain level at all, and our influence on those provinces is also extremely limited. These all take time to operate."

"In this period of time, will the counter-revolutionaries strengthen their own system?" You Gou asked.

After saying this, many committee members laughed. That was the laughter of confidence. Everyone did not think that the efforts of the counter-revolutionaries could narrow the strength gap with the People's Party. This gap could only get bigger and bigger, not smaller and smaller.

Chen Ke replied: "Revolution and counter-revolution are a pair of contradictions. This pair of contradictions arises on the basis that the whole of China has entered the revolutionary era. We originally had no prestige or influence in the Northwest. The counter-revolutionaries building a counter-revolutionary system in the Northwest is, in a sense, also doing propaganda for us. This is telling the masses in the Northwest region that the People's Party is a powerful force. With their propaganda, it is easier for the masses to have an impression of us, and revolutionary work is easier to carry out. Not to mention that the counter-revolutionaries can only do those few tricks, excessive taxation and militarism. These policies will only stimulate more contradictions. In my opinion, their actions can only promote the rapid maturation of the revolution."

These words were a bit too vicious. Including You Gou, the comrades couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"That means we have to solve the two strategic directions of Northeast and Southeast first?" Zhang Yu was relatively calm.

"This has to be decided by everyone's vote." Chen Ke replied.

As usual, this vote ended up taking Chen Ke's intention as the party's final resolution direction. Strategic direction discussions were always relatively mild. When it came to the specific technical execution link, the murderous part of the People's Party appeared.

"None of the old literati in Jiangnan can be used. Those with blood debts will not be let off, and those without blood debts cannot hold any public office."

"I think this group of people will be more honest. However, anyone with inciting speech will be arrested immediately."

"Land is relatively scarce in Jiangnan. I think land consolidation has to start with rectifying the homes of these landlords and gentry."

"It's not a pity to kill all these people."

......

Chen Ke's hostility had faded a lot over the years, but even with rational considerations, Grandpa Mao tried to transform these old literati with great magnanimity, but it had no effect. Instead, he harvested double the hatred and hostility of the old literati. History had proven it to be a useless effort, and naturally, Chen Ke was not willing to repeat the same mistakes.

However, he raised another question, "What about the relatives of comrades in the party? I think this matter must be more public."

"This is not appropriate, right? Our party constitution has already stipulated to break off relations with families with different lines." You Gou said guiltily.

"Politically, you can break off, which is normal. You can't change blood ties, and we can't change family affection either. So we might as well clarify these issues publicly. Hiding it will only cause wild guesses. Our people's revolution must seek truth from facts. Establishing a new system and setting up a new style must also be reasonable. We People's Party members are not monsters. Being demonized by others is one thing, but we cannot demonize ourselves." Zhang Yu replied.

These words were a bit unlike Zhang Yu's usual style. You Gou couldn't help but be curious, "Did the Propaganda Department get some new talent?"

Zhang Yu wasn't angry either, "A Hunan comrade named Li Runshi joined the Propaganda Department. I know now that there are real geniuses in this world. You have to admire them even if you don't want to. This time we are definitely going to negotiate with those foreign ministers in Beijing. I want to recommend Comrade Li Runshi to join the negotiation team. He handles things with courtesy and restraint, and it is necessary to focus on cultivating him."

"Then how does this Comrade Li Runshi compare with Comrade Chen Ke?" Zhang Yu's words made You Gou couldn't help but squeeze Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu still didn't care. He thought for a moment before replying: "Comrade Chen Ke gives me the feeling that he is not like a human being. He has too many things on him that look unscientific. Comrade Li Runshi can only be described as a genius. He learns and he knows, he knows and he can use. And his character is extremely determined and very atmospheric. I can't compare with this person. This comrade will definitely be able to make great achievements in the party in the future."

Hearing Zhang Yu's words, You Gou felt that her words were a bit excessive. She smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "I think Old Zhang, your mind and tolerance are not quite like a human being either."

Most of this group of high-level officials of the People's Party had eaten from the same pot. Zhang Yu smiled and said: "Comrade You Gou, if you want to apologize to me, just say so directly. Things like mind and tolerance depend on whether the goal is to get things done or to make a profit. Everyone is a person who gets things done, it would be hell if there were no contradictions. But compared with the pressure faced by the entire revolution, this kind of thing is nothing."

Now Zhang Yu made You Gou a bit unable to step down, but You Gou was not a petty person either. She first apologized to Zhang Yu, and then laughed, "I brought this humiliation on myself, I brought this humiliation on myself."

After the nonsense relaxation time passed, the People's Party Political Bureau began a new round of discussion on foreign issues.