"Comrade Xu Dian, who was severely criticized by Chairman Chen, can also become a Standing Committee member?" After the list of the five Standing Committee members was released, it immediately sparked considerable controversy. The focus of the controversy was mainly on Xu Dian.

No one questioned Chen Ke's status as a Standing Committee member. There was some discussion about Qi Huishen and Zhang Yu not entering the Standing Committee, but since these two could often attend Standing Committee meetings, the Central Committee members working in the Organization Department and the propaganda and diplomatic fields did not have overly strong opinions. Shang Yuan and Chen Tianhua had served as governors, provincial party secretaries, and directors of political departments in multiple provinces, and no one raised objections either. The National Defense Science and Technology Commission led by You Gou was said to be split into the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Transport in the near future. Although You Gou was a woman and married to He Zudao, the Director of the General Political Department of the Military Commission, as the nominal leader of the industrial sector, no one wanted to question her either. However, there always had to be some topics of debate to express the comrades' feelings, and as a result, Xu Dian, who had the weakest backing, became the target of public criticism.

Logically speaking, Xu Dian's qualifications were not bad. He was a member of the two major party groups in Shanghai and Beijing back then. Shanghai provided the manpower backbone, while the members of the Beijing party group provided a very solid foundation for the revolutionary cause. Shang Yuan and Pu Guanshui provided Fengtai County and military ordnance, intelligence, and personnel respectively. In the first Battle of Anqing implemented after the thousand-mile march, Pu Guanshui, as a guide, made significant contributions. There were quite a few comrades from Beijing among the personnel in the industrial sector. The Boxer members from Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, and Hebei basically formed the early core force of the People's Party.

It wasn't a problem for comrades from the political and legal sector to become Standing Committee members. Xu Dian had served as the Secretary of the Politics and Law Committee, but everyone still felt that Xu Dian was not qualified enough to be one of the five Standing Committee members. If Qi Huishen were to serve as a Standing Committee member, this dissent would naturally disappear completely. Since this was a personnel adjustment before the Third Plenary Session of the First Central Committee and the result of the Politburo election, the comrades who were not convinced by Xu Dian had quite a few opinions. Since it was hard to find fault with Xu Dian's work, Xu Dian's qualifications were questioned.

Xu Dian himself also didn't expect such a result. Originally, he thought it was likely that Qi Huishen would be transferred from the Organization Department and then become one of the five Standing Committee members. He never expected that Qi Huishen would only become a member of the seven-member meeting. Moreover, Xu Dian was currently the Procurator-General of the Supreme Procuratorate, not the Secretary of the Politics and Law Committee. Being suddenly promoted to one of the five Standing Committee members like this was also a rather tough approach by Chen Ke. Even with Chen Ke's recommendation, in the voting of the 25 Politburo members, Xu Dian barely passed with 14 to 11. This voting result was basically equivalent to "failing" in the People's Party. So Xu Dian felt very astonished.

So almost at the same time as the puzzled voices of the comrades below appeared, Xu Dian also found Chen Ke. "Chairman Chen, after repeated consideration, I want to state my position to you. I will absolutely not hypocritically resign from the position of Standing Committee member."

Chen Ke was quite satisfied with Xu Dian's statement. If Xu Dian dared to "modestly decline" even a tiny bit, Chen Ke would immediately remove Xu Dian from the position of Standing Committee member and arrange for someone else.

"However, I really want to know, why did you choose me? In terms of qualifications, work performance, and even the election by comrades, there are comrades who are easier to gain the trust of comrades than me."

"Because you have made mistakes that were almost errors of line before, I chose you from the political and legal system." Chen Ke replied, "Political and legal work is, in a sense, a process of trial and error. Many other departments just need to complete their work; the army wins battles, and industry and agriculture produce well. If they do it, it shows that at least the execution is correct. But the political and legal department is not just about finishing the trial and closing the case. Every law involves legal principles, legal intent, and legal standards. Every trial faces a lot of pressure. Not only must there be articles, but there must also be sufficient understanding of precedents. A comrade who has never made mistakes, a comrade full of a sense of justice, a comrade who has not been tormented to death by the relationship between law, reality, and politics, can absolutely not do this job well. Comrade Yan Fu said a sentence that I praise very much: the law allows no blasphemy. After so much time, I think Comrade Xu Dian, you are a comrade who can maintain the dignity of the law."

Xu Dian was not moved to tears by this "gratitude for recognition." Instead, he was deeply touched by Chen Ke's phrase "after so much time." In order to prevent the judicial work of the People's Party from becoming a simple "customary law" or "rule by man," Xu Dian had exhausted his efforts in the past ten years and encountered countless supercilious looks and interrogations. Of course, he also spent a lot of the people's wealth.

So Xu Dian didn't react too much to his qualification as a Standing Committee member. Xu Dian knew in his heart how arduous the problems he would face ahead were. But he still had some concerns.

Chen Ke certainly saw Xu Dian's concerns, "Say whatever you have."

"I don't know Comrade Qi Huishen's view." Xu Dian simply brought up his biggest concern.

"Hmph! Comrade Qi Huishen is a comrade who sticks to organizational principles. You don't need to worry about him at all." Chen Ke didn't want to criticize Xu Dian either. Although it was a secret ballot, Chen Ke had actually communicated with several main comrades. If not for the two votes from Qi Huishen and Zhang Yu, the final result would not have been 14:11 passing, but 12:13 failing.

Xu Dian didn't act like a coy little girl. Since Chen Ke said so, he had nothing more to ask. "I'll go back to work then."

After Xu Dian went out, Chen Ke let out a long breath. Selecting Xu Dian was also a very difficult decision for Chen Ke. He certainly knew how much opposition he would encounter. Even though he had considerable confidence in Xu Dian, Chen Ke knew very well that if a person didn't have true awareness, as long as there was a trace of pursuit and desire for false fame, he would definitely get into trouble. This was a core issue of worldview and also an issue of comprehensive quality. Facing enemies firmly, quite a few people could do it. Facing the misunderstanding, opposition, and ridicule of comrades firmly was a test far more arduous than fighting desperately with enemies. Now that Xu Dian had withstood the test, Chen Ke felt much more at ease.

The reason Chen Ke made the political and legal department represented by Xu Dian one of the five Standing Committee members was quite realistic. Problems within the People's Party had begun to gradually emerge. In times of crisis, organizations can often erupt with unprecedented advanced nature. Because if not advanced enough and unable to unite allies to the greatest extent, the organization will fail. Moreover, as revolutionaries and rebels, the feeling of being in a low position is strong after all, and the intention to spontaneously stand with the working people is still very sincere.

Now that the People's Party was about to establish a government representing China, changes in mentality would also follow. The original mud-legged rebels transformed into founding fathers. When He Zudao and You Gou visited You Gou's family, the feelings transmitted back were just like this. Not to mention Master You secretly asking You Gou when Chen Ke would proclaim himself emperor and ascend the throne, and what high official position You Gou could hold then, and whether she could be titled a king.

You Gou's aversion to her two brothers also increased greatly. Originally, You Gou's brothers were ashamed to acknowledge You Gou as their sister. Now, You Gou's two brothers bragged wantonly in conversations with other merchants and compradors about how capable their sister was, and that the You family was already a noble relative in Shanghai. It wasn't just You Gou who provided this news, but also Lin Shenhe, who was responsible for the recent work in Shanghai.

If the laws of the People's Party were implemented in Shanghai, and if You Gou's brothers acted recklessly, Lin Shenhe would have no reason to let them go. However, You Gou had high awareness and knew that Lin Shenhe was right to do so. But how would some comrades with low awareness and no legal consciousness view this kind of thing? Hanging their heads on their belts to make a revolution, their relatives could still survive during the bloody storm. Now that it was liberated, their relatives were sentenced and even beheaded instead. Who would genuinely feel that there was no problem with doing this?

Many times, even most of the time, it was not the comrades themselves who changed, but the comrades' relatives. The reason why Xu Dian was opposed by many people was that Xu Dian could insist on the dignity of the judiciary and offended quite a few people. The vast majority of comrades would agree to kill embezzlers within the party, the government, and the organization because they had a passion for justice. Moreover, these embezzlers did damage the overall interests of the organization. But in conflicts between comrades' relatives and non-party personages, comrades might not necessarily agree with the judiciary.

So far, such things hadn't happened yet, but Chen Ke firmly believed that such things were only a matter of time and could not be avoided. Xu Dian's ascendancy was a warning bell. At least the opposing votes against Xu Dian proved to some extent that the warning bell might have really worked. Chen Ke sincerely hoped that Xu Dian could shake up some people because Chen Ke was equally merciless when killing those who broke the law.

After establishing the list of the five-person group, the People's Party began to prepare for the upcoming Third Plenary Session of the First Central Committee. Party committees in various places began to hold meetings, and the People's Congress also began to conduct elections. Even if it was just a formality, the People's Congress would vote on the main cadres. Even if adjustments were desired, they would have to wait until these main cadres were elected before their positions could be transferred.

At this time, foreign problems also began to emerge. After the French side received the first batch of Chinese laborers provided by the People's Party, they soon made a request for China to send a second batch of Chinese laborers. The ambassador to France and the comrades of the Chinese Labor Management Committee stated that the French were quite satisfied with the Chinese laborers. Given the industriousness of the French, the farmers among the Chinese laborers originally thought they would be exploited strongly in France; everyone just believed in the high wages promised by the People's Party. As a result, after arriving at the depressed French farms, the work of the Chinese farmers received high praise from France.

This was not only because Chinese farmers could skillfully use farm tools and worked quite hard. Moreover, the ability shown by Chinese farmers in farm machinery, and even infrastructure construction and repair of farm tools, surprised the French greatly. Driving a tractor, repairing an irrigation canal, digging a well—Chinese laborers showed they could do everything. The Chinese laborers dispatched by China had basically participated in such labor in their hometowns. While on the ship, the Chinese laborers were organized to learn some simple daily French and also received training in the repair of iron farm tools. In 1917, when village blacksmiths were conscripted into the army or the French logistics department, Chinese laborers soon gradually restored vitality to the areas they were put into. The French side immediately requested China to provide another 300,000 Chinese laborers, specifically pointing out the request for farmers.

Japanese spy agencies didn't get news in this regard at first. seeing hundreds of thousands of Chinese wearing almost uniform denim clothes suddenly gathering in Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Xuzhou, and even Fujian, they were almost scared to death.

"Chinese people are concentrated in various camps, taking medicine uniformly, receiving drug injections, and seem to be vaccinated against cowpox."

"The gathered Chinese accept military training. In addition to marching in formation and drilling, they also learn medicine and brush their teeth uniformly, wash their faces and clothes with soap, and learn to trim fingernails and toenails with nail clippers..."

"All Chinese shave their hair short, and the hairstyle is extremely similar to the general hairstyle of the Chinese army..."

"Chinese people take a bath every day..."

Japanese spies sent all the observed news back to Japan, almost risking arrest. This terrified the Japanese upper echelons. If Japan did this, it would be conscription and primary military training.

Japan didn't dare to show weakness completely, so it could only inquire about the actual situation from the British side very implicitly. Getting the news that this batch of Chinese was the next batch of Chinese laborers to be shipped to France, Japan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After the crisis of the People's Party recruiting hundreds of thousands of troops to start a war against Japan was lifted, Japan began to feel jealous again. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese laborers could earn a lot of money, and Japan hoped very much to make money by selling labor. Hearing the request from the Japanese side, the British Minister to Japan asked Japan very coldly whether they were willing to send Japanese troops to fight in Europe.

This scared the Japanese representative badly. Not knowing if it was because of the hot weather, fine beads of sweat appeared on the Japanese representative's forehead. "We can discuss this issue further."

The British Minister to Japan said in a very sharp tone: "Your country has already seized Germany's colonies in the Pacific, so isn't it also a necessary action for your country to send troops to fight in Europe? Even China has sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese laborers to France. They are even preparing to send medical personnel to France to establish rear hospitals. I wonder what your country plans to do?"

Japanese military observers in Europe had long informed Japan of the situation on the European battlefield. Unprecedented artillery groups in human history fired terrible barrages, and battles were bloody and stormy. The Japanese side was always arrogant when conducting wars against other countries personally. However, for wars they did not participate in themselves, they calculated extremely shrewdly.

More than a year ago, after suffering the loss of 150,000 young and strong men, Japan domestically had almost been unable to withstand the pressure. Now the People's Party was eyeing Japan covetously, and more than 100,000 Chinese troops were stationed on the Sino-Korean border, making Japan feel extremely heavy pressure. If they participated in a major campaign on the European battlefield where both sides could suffer millions of casualties in a month, just one time would be enough to make the Japanese Army truly finished.

So no matter what excuse Britain offered, or even promised to give Germany's colonies in Africa to Japan, the Japanese representative could only hem and haw to stall, but absolutely dared not make any promises.

When the Japanese side discussed whether to send Japanese labor to France, the cabinet made all the tempted guys give up this idea with just one question: "How many of the people we sent to Brazil came back?"