At the end of 1933, before the storm rose in Japan, China stirred up a storm in Taiwan. Liberating Taiwan was a significant event, but Chen Ke genuinely felt little about it. It was like holding a Royal Flush against a pair; winning was only natural. Previously, when reading Napoleon's famous quote, "If it's not bad news, don't wake me up!", Chen Ke thought Napoleon was impressive. After Chen Ke became a leader himself, he felt Napoleon was just telling the truth. Because good news affecting precious sleep was absolutely a desecration of life. In Chen Ke's position, what was least lacking was all kinds of news; what was lacking was time to sleep. However, the news from Taiwan did prolong Chen Ke's working hours somewhat.

Years ago, after Baldy retreated to Taiwan, he encountered uprisings not long after. With Chen Ke's caution, it was impossible for him not to remind the comrades stationed in Taiwan about such matters. However, what was bound to come would come; when preparing to implement land reform, the local landlords in Taiwan also put up fierce resistance.

It was a smooth process for the People's Party to confiscate the property and land left by the Japanese rulers during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Including using Chinese doctors to take over Japanese hospitals in Taiwan, these processes were supported by the local masses in Taiwan. Even the liquidation of some Chinese personnel who acted as running dogs for the Japanese when the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's small detachments fought into Taiwan over the past dozen years did not encounter any resistance.

However, such days did not last too long. The People's Party was not yet prepared to propose a comprehensive land reform plan, intending to start implementation a few years later. But things did not go so smoothly. Less than half an year after the liberation of Taiwan, resistance emerged and grew bigger and bigger.

Taiwan was not large, but conflicts were numerous. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, fights between Fujianese and Hakkas, conflicts between Quanzhou and Zhangzhou people, various collective armed brawls, and civil unrests of all sizes never ceased. This kind of folk custom made Qing officials call Taiwan a difficult place to govern. After the liberation of Taiwan, the local common people did not feel much jubilation either. There were also some local big families, such as the Gu family, who contacted a group of local gentry wanting to establish a parliament.

The People's Party's attitude towards the gentry had been consistent for decades, believing that the gentry could never be relied upon. Practice on the mainland also proved that this view was by no means groundless or malicious slander. To restore feudal traditions, the gentry had always been jumping up and down. The People's Party simply excluded the gentry completely politically. The glass ceiling of the civil service system had regulations: gentry were absolutely not to be employed, and children of gentry were to be admitted last. Only this could be considered excluding the gentry from the system.

But a basic norm in the world is "the temple is small but the evil wind is strong; the pool is shallow but the bastards are many." The gentry in Taiwan drilled around everywhere, and when drilling failed, they began to cause trouble. The reasons for causing trouble could be found everywhere. For example, many cheap industrial products transported from the mainland that Taiwan did not have greatly satisfied the needs of the Taiwan public. But these goods squeezed the business of private owners in Taiwan. The mainland had been industrialized for so many years, and many goods were quite competitive internationally. Taiwan itself had no industry; so many goods entering Taiwan in a short period immediately made the private owners howl.

Another issue was the sugar business. The People's Party planted sugarcane extensively in Guangxi and Guangdong. Because of fertilizers like synthetic ammonia, China's sugarcane yield was high, processing level was high, and there was also technology to fully utilize bagasse for winemaking. The price of cane sugar was much lower than the level in Taiwan. This cane sugar not only satisfied China's own needs but also occupied the Southeast Asian market, and was even sold as far as the United States and India.

The People's Party did not have Japanese yen in hand, and the Renminbi had not yet fully covered Taiwan. Moreover, acquiring local Taiwan cane sugar at the mainland's cane sugar price made the People's Party cadres in Taiwan unhappy in their hearts. This required approval from the Ministry of Finance. So the speed of cane sugar acquisition was indeed a bit slow.

The local gentry in Taiwan seized on these points. Some clever gentry knew that the mainland had already implemented comprehensive land reform, and Taiwan probably couldn't escape it either. So they began to incite local private enterprises and landlords to oppose the People's Party together. The reason was that the People's Party simply did not treat Taiwan as part of China and wanted to plunder Taiwan's wealth.

If the People's Party really planned this, the comrades could have a clear conscience being scolded like this. The problem was that the People's Party's economic policy was fundamentally tilting towards Taiwan. Besides rushing to supplement and improve Taiwan's original social service system after driving away the Japanese, they also provided a large amount of locally urgently needed goods, and even purchased Taiwan's agricultural products at a loss. The result of these practices turned out to be comprehensive opposition. The People's Party hadn't done this kind of pioneering work for quite a few years; encountering this situation, the comrades had an attitude of bristling with anger.

Parades! Demonstrations! Engaging in extremely inflammatory speeches! This group of people headed by Taiwan's local gentry spared no effort. Regardless of how high-sounding their superficial words were, their entire idea was to want power, to retain the old system, and at the same time to take advantage of the mainland side.

The People's Party had many intelligence channels, but it was the Security Bureau that passed the news to the Central Committee first. Chen Ke did not feel there was anything strange about this kind of thing at all. He just asked one question, "Who is the current Party Secretary of Taiwan Province?"

"Zhuo Xiansheng," Chen Tianhua replied.

"Let's not intervene easily in local work," Chen Ke gave such an answer.

"What if the local forces collude with the Japanese remnants?" Shang Yuan was a bit more nervous.

Chen Ke was not nervous at all. "I'm not afraid of them making a fuss; I'm afraid of them not making a fuss. Once this fuss happens, who is an enemy and who is a friend will be seen clearly. I see that our comrades are grasping the principle issues very well now; we absolutely cannot make any compromise with that bunch of old forces."

"But Taiwan has been separated for so many years after all..." Shang Yuan felt Chen Ke's attitude was a bit too tough.

Chen Ke sneered, "Taiwan being separated for so many years is a fact, not a reason. According to this logic, Laos Province has been separated for hundreds of years. Locals don't even use Chinese characters, but haven't we promoted the new system very well in Laos? We are engaging in revolution, not building relationships. Our task is to bring every region of China, every citizen, into the new era as soon as possible. As for whether they like or resent this new era, that is a personal choice issue. Zhejiang was never separated; Cai Yuanpei was even a veteran revolutionary, and the result? We want to dig up the old system from the roots. The beneficiaries of the old system see that they have lost the capital to tyrannize in the new system, so naturally they will fight us desperately."

With the situation analyzed to this point, the comrades could only temporarily terminate this topic. The People's Party's system did not allow bypassing immediate leadership to command, so unless it was a unified decision by the Politburo or the Standing Committee, the government could not interfere in the actions of the local Taiwan comrades before the Taiwan Party Committee made a formal application report. This seemed to respect the work of local comrades very much, but it was also a very cruel method. Once failed, it was failure; there was simply no possibility of shirking. Of course, there were also coping measures of hiding facts and fabricating lies; then what remained was the question of how the level of supervision mechanisms in various aspects was.

Having finished talking about Taiwan, Chen Ke suddenly spoke of another matter. "My three terms as State Chairman are about to expire. I will step down next term."

The comrades looked at each other. Currently, one term was five years; three terms were 15 years. Chen Ke meant to formally leave the position of State Chairman according to the system. Everyone looked at me, I looked at you. Finally, Zhang Yu opened his mouth, "Then Chairman Chen, do you mean to recommend the candidate for the next term?"

"I think so. Since I am the Chairman. The Party Chairman is elected. But for the State Chairman, in my position, I cannot recommend the next one. I feel the recommendation work should be handled by the Standing Committee of the Politburo and the comrades of the Politburo." Even while saying he wouldn't interfere, Chen Ke still showed no retreat in deciding the system.

Seeing everyone fall silent, Qi Huishen asked a sentence, "Will you step down from the position of Party Chairman?"

"The Party Chairman is elected jointly by the party members. I obey the decision of the Party Committee," Chen Ke replied.

After these words were spoken, all the Standing Committee members felt a sense of relief. As long as Chen Ke still sat in the position of Party Chairman, who was elected State Chairman was not an important matter.

The comrades' gazes immediately wandered back and forth among Shang Yuan, Chen Tianhua, and Qi Huishen. Obviously, these three people were the most competitive candidates.

This news spread quite fast. The views of the Politburo and the comrades of the People's Party Central Committee were basically consistent with those of the Politburo comrades. As long as Chen Ke was still the Party Chairman, then no one possessed the possibility of shaking Chen Ke's status. In such a situation, the State Chairman could be completely seen as one set of team with two signboards. The approximate status, well, was about the same as the Minister of Defense. Its importance might not even be as good as the Premier of the State Council.

Legally speaking, the State Chairman was elected by the National People's Congress and theoretically represented the people's choice. Now the People's Party was the vanguard of the broad laboring people, the ruling class of China. This was just like the Party leading the National People's Congress; undoubtedly, the Party Chairman was to lead the State Chairman.

On the contrary, the Premier, as the highest person in charge of the civil service system, was a unit with genuine power. Chen Ke could indeed decide the fate of the Premier of the State Council with one sentence. However, specific implementation still required going through many procedural links. As for the State Chairman, as long as Chen Ke wasn't dead and was still in the position of Party Chairman, this theoretically exalted position was just of a rubber-stamp nature.

Since the power structure did not undergo any change, no one would feel any confusion or unease. The honorary and exalted position of State Chairman should naturally be assumed by highly respected veterans. Shang Yuan, Chen Tianhua, and Qi Huishen were undoubtedly very suitable candidates. As for who would elect the State Chairman, Chen Ke's approach won the appreciation of the comrades.

Chen Ke's character, put nicely, was being able to pick up and put down; put badly, was being very lazy. regarding things he decided to let go of, Chen Ke always discarded them like worn-out shoes and never looked back. Chen Ke never added any unnecessary things to his home. Occasionally when there were such gadgets due to accidents, if someone was willing to take them away, Chen Ke would thank them repeatedly, "You are ridding the people of a harm!" He would even treat them to a meal to express gratitude. It was so for objects in life, and equally so for official positions.

Chen Ke's son was still small, currently in the period where he was mischievous and annoying to everyone. So only Chen Ke's wife and daughter knew Chen Ke's true thoughts. To their questions, Chen Ke answered like this: "According to our family's ancestral teachings, even if I beg for food on the street, it is impossible to use other things to elevate my status. For an independent and autonomous person, no person or thing has such value. They are not worthy. Any attempt to use external things to decorate oneself is looking for unhappiness. As long as one has one's own proper business and strives to complete the workload. To complete the workload with unthinking devotion is already beyond one's power. Desires are the fewer the better; things are the fewer the better."

Since Chen Ke viewed the world this way, he really only cared about his own work—formulating systems. After formulating, he would also look at the issues of system operation. But as for what exactly the system was operating, he didn't care at all.

Chen Ke didn't have idle time just because he wanted to. After dealing with these matters, Comrade Trotsky, the person in charge of the Siberian region of the Russian Republic of the Soviet Union, came to visit Chen Ke. Comrade Trotsky had been increasingly unhappy in recent years. First, he encountered comprehensive opposition from the CPSU Central Committee headed by Uncle Steel at the center. Now he was simply kicked from Moscow to the ice and snow of the Siberian frozen earth zone to be the secretary. The area of Siberia was vast; only one person could be distributed per two square kilometers. According to the standard of population density, this was a no-man's land. The number of tigers and bears on this land added up was probably more than people. Reduced to this state, Comrade Trotsky was definitely full of complaints.

Coming to China this time was also out of necessity. When Chen Ke visited the Soviet Union, he made a public report believing that the CPSU must have "iron discipline." This clearly supported Comrade Stalin. This was also Chen Ke's original intention. After Uncle Steel took charge of the Soviet Union's power, he opposed Trotsky's "Permanent Revolution." He believed that Trotsky's view of "denying the revolutionary role of peasants, advocating skipping the democratic revolution stage to directly carry out socialist revolution, and believing that a single country cannot build socialism" was extremely wrong.

The People's Party had already proved that socialist revolution was not impossible in an agricultural country. Part of Trotsky's arguments were negated by facts. However, seeing the "anti-feudal struggle" ongoing in China, Trotsky believed this was a revolutionary theory that could be utilized.

Uncle Steel believed that human social development would follow the direction of primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and communist society. The view of the Chinese comrades was quite different from Uncle Steel's view. Especially in the judgment of the current world development stage, the Chinese comrades believed that the world environment was currently in the middle and late stages of feudal society. The greatest enemy of the capitalist system and the socialist system was the "feudal system" within them. The land enfeoffment system might have perished, but the power enfeoffment system had not truly disintegrated. It would even continuously present a posture of constantly cycling back and forth between strengthening and weakening with the acceleration of social rhythm and the outbreak of economic crises.

This view was more "conservative" than the mainstream view of any communist party or socialist party in the world today. Most people with some political awareness in the world today believed that the world had already entered the stage of absolute struggle between capitalism and communism. But Chen Ke dared to say that this world had not yet broken free from the feudal system, and gave a brand-new definition to the feudal system. Besides land enfeoffment, he also included power enfeoffment in the scope of the feudal system. If this revolutionary theory could be truly established, then Trotsky would have a great possibility of shaking the set established by Comrade Stalin.

At this point, Chen Ke no longer had any scruples about whether he was changing history. He said frankly to Comrade Trotsky: "Comrade Trotsky, I don't want to evaluate your view on revolution, nor do I want to evaluate Comrade Stalin's evaluation of revolution. Our cognition of the world is relative. From the perspective of ultimate absolute truth, we are all imperfect, and possibly even totally wrong. Because different opinions belong to ideology, while communist organization belongs to material form. As materialists, we must definitely insist on matter being primary and consciousness being secondary. So your current actions are incorrect from the perspective of revolution. Insisting on one's personal view can probably be counted as a good quality. But without good operation at the material level, it is impossible to build a country well."

Trotsky hadn't expected Chen Ke to pull this move. While he was pondering silently, Chen Ke continued, "I seriously give you a suggestion. After you return to the Soviet Union, write a letter to the CPSU Central Committee, admitting that your actions indeed have actual effects of splitting and affecting the Central Committee. And guarantee not to make such mistakes again in the future. I believe the comrades of the CPSU Central Committee are broad-minded and will definitely be able to understand whether what you elaborated is sincere or not. And they will also arrange suitable work for you."

After hearing Chen Ke's suggestion, Trotsky was also extremely annoyed. Since Chen Ke truly spoke of very realistic problems, Comrade Trotsky also answered very crisply, "The atmosphere of arbitrary action by the CPSU Central Committee is becoming more and more prevalent now. This has already violated Marxism and violated Comrade Lenin's organizational principles. I feel these current practices are sliding rapidly towards a feudal system."

Chen Ke replied, "Comrade Trotsky, you can certainly oppose the feudal system, but you cannot split the CPSU Central Committee. Do you think your doing so is an attitude of unity? Is it the CPSU with iron discipline established by Comrade Lenin?"

Trotsky already understood Chen Ke's meaning. He terminated this topic and began to exchange views on the feudal system with Chen Ke.

After Trotsky left, Chen Ke ordered someone to send a copy of the meeting record to Uncle Steel. Such a decisive action surprised the Standing Committee members of the Politburo. Chen Ke explained, "If I say now that I am sincerely helping Comrade Trotsky and helping the Soviet comrades, do you believe it?"

The comrades of the Politburo could believe it, only they doubted whether Uncle Steel would believe it. Chen Ke himself was also somewhat skeptical, but he still had basic trust in Comrade Stalin's character. He replied, "As long as Comrade Stalin is not muddled, he will be able to understand my true thoughts. Even if he can't understand, it doesn't matter; we must first clear things up ourselves. The reason I received Comrade Trotsky was that he is one of the representative figures of the CPSU. If there was no follow-up after this meeting started, it would be bad for everyone."

After finishing these matters, Chen Ke cast his gaze back to the neighbor in the east. "Have everyone read the plan sent by Comrade Kita Ikki? After reading it, can everyone agree with Comrade Kita Ikki's idea?"