Starting from late July 1905, with the addition of Chen Tianhua, the Party organization expanded significantly.

The very next day after Chen Tianhua joined, He Zudao appeared, looking ashamed. He had fully recovered and had come to thank Chen Ke for saving his life. Chen Ke understood the significance of "saving a life" in this era, especially being saved from syphilis. It wasn't just a life that was salvaged. During the course of syphilis, patients suffered terrible afflictions like "rotting organs," a pain perhaps more terrifying than death itself.

He Zudao was half grateful, half guilty. Seeing Chen Ke, the benefactor who had personally treated him, he couldn't even speak smoothly. Stammering his words of gratitude, He Zudao's face flushed red and then turned white.

Chen Ke listened with a smile. Waiting until He Zudao had finished his stammering, he asked, "Zudao, when can you come back to work?"

"Mr. Wenqing, you... you're letting me come back to work?" He Zudao hadn't expected Chen Ke's first sentence to be this.

"Didn't you say a while ago that you'd come back to work once you recovered? What's wrong? Is your body not fully healed yet?"

Hearing Chen Ke say this, He Zudao was so moved he wanted to cry. Since he was born, aside from his parents, no one had ever treated him this well. Treating him when he was sick, and letting him work again once he was cured. In these times, once someone contracted syphilis, no respectable place would hire them again. Listening to Chen Ke, it was as if He Zudao had merely suffered from a cold.

"Mr. Wenqing, I'm already well. I can come back to work immediately," He Zudao said, choking back sobs.

"It's good that you can come back. Here's the thing, Zudao. To be frank, that disease is contagious, and you caught it from your brother. Now that you're well, if you decide to come back, you can't live with your brother anymore. You'll have to suffer a bit of indignity and treat it as if you're becoming a long-term laborer for me—move in here to live. As long as I'm in Shanghai, you'll have a place to live, food to eat, and wages to earn."

The comrades all looked at He Zudao. There is a saying, "outsiders should not come between family." Chen Ke's words were exactly coming between family, yet no one felt it was abnormal. Chen Ke had made it clear: if He Zudao wanted to return, he absolutely could not implicate the comrades. This was out of concern for everyone's interests. No one felt Chen Ke's handling was improper; if Chen Ke hadn't handled it this way and just let He Zudao return, everyone would have felt very uncomfortable inside, even if they didn't voice their objection publicly.

"Mr. Wenqing, I'll move over today," He Zudao said while wiping away tears.

Chen Ke walked up and patted He Zudao on the shoulder. "After you got sick, Huishen was worried to death, insisting we find a way. Your sister You Gou didn't close her eyes for days in the laboratory to make the medicine to save you. Which of the other friends didn't do their utmost? Just buying rabbits for experiments, they bought hundreds, running all over Shanghai several times. Since you've decided to return, move over quickly."

Hearing Chen Ke's words, He Zudao was no longer just choking up, but weeping aloud. He fell to his knees. "Mr. Wenqing, Brother Huishen, even if my body is crushed to powder, I cannot repay your great kindness."

Chen Ke and Qi Huishen hurriedly pulled He Zudao up. Qi Huishen handed He Zudao a handkerchief. "Zudao, we are all friends, don't say such things. When encountering danger, if we can help, could we just stand by and watch? So move over quickly, don't make things difficult for Mr. Wenqing."

"Yes, I'll go right now." Wiping his tears, He Zudao was dragged away by Qi Huishen.

Chen Tianhua watched all this silently, then glanced at Chen Ke. Chen Tianhua already knew about Chen Ke's specific medicine. Chen Ke seemed magnanimous in letting He Zudao return to work and providing food and lodging, but this approach was obviously recruiting "death warriors." Having been saved by Chen Ke, He Zudao's loyalty would be incomparable to ordinary people. Chen Tianhua did not object to this. Revolutionaries needed loyalty. Compared to that lip-service loyalty to the revolution, He Zudao's loyalty was far more precious.

He Zudao moved in that very afternoon, and he was allowed to attend the party meeting that evening. Not only was it He Zudao's first time attending a party meeting, but it was also Chen Tianhua's first time. Surprisingly, He Zudao acted as the recording secretary. Qi Huishen strongly recommended him because He Zudao wrote with a fountain pen extremely fast. Chen Ke provided a disposable ballpoint pen, and true to Qi Huishen's words, He Zudao wrote swiftly. Coupled with the shorthand method Qi Huishen had discussed with Chen Ke and taught to He Zudao, his recording speed was astonishingly fast. Interruptions to the meeting for recording purposes became much rarer.

"We must now pay attention to the distinction between inside the Party and outside the Party. My suggestion is, since the discussion on the Party's revolutionary line has reached this point, whether to take the path of the People's Revolution or the path of the Capitalist Owners' Revolution is a serious question. Although revolutionaries of both lines currently advocate overthrowing the Qing court and driving out imperialist invaders, there is actually a fundamental difference between the two. Is it to build a New China where the people live and work in peace, or to build a New World where capital owners do whatever they want? In the future, perhaps when the revolution reaches a certain stage, contradictions will arise between these two lines, leading to confrontation, and even war. Therefore, we are going to launch a revolution, to lead a revolution. But we cannot fail to be fully prepared for this."

The comrades remained silent. For Chen Ke, such understanding was merely knowledge inevitably possessed by a communist, a believer in Chairman Mao. But for the revolutionary youths, this vision of a future filled with blood and storms was vastly different from their views.

The current youths were loyal to Chen Ke more than they were loyal to the revolution. Or perhaps they were simply loyal to the "industrial and educational development" that the revolution was currently pioneering. The only new comrade, Chen Tianhua, watching the other comrades listening quietly to Chen Ke, and watching Chen Ke speak with fervor and assurance about the cruelty of the future, was filled with a myriad of feelings.

On November 4, 1903, under the guise of celebrating his thirtieth birthday, Huang Xing invited Liu Kuiyi (a native of Xiangtan, Changsha Prefecture, who studied at Yuelu Academy in Changsha in his early years), Chen Tianhua, Zhang Shizhao, and others, totaling 12 people, to gather at Peng Yuanxun's home in Baojiaju Lane, Changsha, to discuss establishing a revolutionary organization. The meeting decided to establish the Huaxinghui (China Revival Society), externally called the "Huaxing Company," ostensibly for "developing mining." Entrants were called shareholders, "stock certificates" were membership cards, and the slogan was "Tongxin Puman, Dangmian Suanqing" (Same Heart to Fill the Manchus, Settle Accounts Face to Face), implying "Extinguish the Manchu Qing."

On February 15, 1904 (New Year's Eve of the Gui-Mao year), the Huaxinghui took advantage of the New Year's Eve gathering to formally hold its inaugural meeting at Long Zhang's Xiyuan residence. In addition to the 12 initiators, there were over a hundred people from inside and outside the province. At the meeting, Huang Xing was elected president, with Song Jiaoren and Liu Kuiyi as vice-presidents. They determined the strategic policy of "occupying one province firmly, then rising up in all provinces" and used "Expel the Tartars, Revive China" as their call.

On September 24, 1904, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the cattle and horse fair in Puji Market, Liuyang, was bustling. Commissioned by Huang Xing, Liu Kuiyi presided over a solemn general-conferring ceremony there, formally appointing Ma Fuyi as a Major General and granting Ma Fuyi's unit 20 rifles, 40 pistols, and 40 horses. At that time, spectators crowded around, and everyone's spirits were extremely high. It was agreed that they would rise up ahead of schedule as soon as the large batch of munitions from Shanghai arrived.

However, the rumors of the Huaxinghui's uprising had long been detected by officials. When the scum of the secret society, Liu Zuoji (who had served as Ma Fuyi's secretary), secretly reported the meeting at Puji Market to Wang Xianqian, the authorities began detecting and arresting Huaxinghui members. Immediately, mounted police swarmed Changsha city, creating an atmosphere of terror. On October 24, the Governor of Hunan ordered the arrest of Huang Xing, and military police immediately surrounded Huang Xing's residence. At that time, Huang Xing was out and hadn't returned, so the police rushed to the East Language Training Institute. But Huang Xing had already received the news and hurriedly escaped through the back door, hiding in the secret room of the enlightened gentry Long Weirui's home in Xiyuan. Two days later, under the cover of Huang Jiting, a pastor of the Anglican Church in Changsha, Huang Xing transferred to the rear building of the Anglican Church, hiding for nearly a week. After taking a series of measures to protect revolutionary comrades, he disguised himself in early November and sneaked to Shanghai, soon crossing east to Japan with a large number of Huaxinghui members. Ma Fuyi fled to Xiangxi and plotted to rise again the following year, but the matter failed and he was arrested. On April 20, 1905, he heroically sacrificed his life outside Liuyang Gate in Changsha at the age of 40. With this, the Huaxinghui's activities within the country basically ceased.

In Japan, Chen Tianhua actively promoted the establishment of the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance). After meeting Qiu Jin, she showed him a manuscript written by Chen Ke. The writing style of this manuscript was very cold, vastly different from the impassioned works of other revolutionaries of this era. But once Chen Tianhua read it, he couldn't put it down. No revolutionary had ever looked at problems from such a height and pointed out practical operational methods for numerous national salvation routes. Moreover, the author was deliberately secretive, obviously not revealing his true train of thought in many places.

Chen Tianhua asked who the author was, and Qiu Jin introduced Chen Ke to him. She also introduced Chen Ke's ideal of a "Revolution for the 400 Million Chinese People." Although Chen Tianhua had done a lot of work before the establishment of the Tongmenghui, he couldn't resist returning to China to meet Chen Ke. This man named Chen Ke, and those unstated revolutionary principles, had seized Chen Tianhua's heart. Although Chen Tianhua was busy, Qiu Jin still suggested he rush back to Shanghai to meet Chen Ke. Qiu Jin said that this man was a heaven-sent genius and thought highly of himself. It would be a pity if Chen Ke was not allowed to join the Tongmenghui. However, forcing him to come would inevitably lead to Chen Ke's refusal. So Qiu Jin suggested that Chen Tianhua spend some time with Chen Ke first. Chen Ke would inevitably attach great importance to Chen Tianhua. Chen Ke was not a heartless person; if Chen Tianhua persuaded him then, Chen Ke would inevitably come to participate in the Tongmenghui.

Talking with Chen Ke all night yesterday, and reading Chen Ke's manuscripts and the entire meeting records of this small political party during the day today, Chen Tianhua was quite shaken. The "People's Revolution" was a revolution never proposed by any other revolutionary party. Other revolutionary parties either incited property owners to revolt or shouted slogans of "People's Uprising." Chen Tianhua had participated in both types. The result was miserable failure. Not only that, as soon as interest disputes were involved, the revolutionary parties immediately fought internally, and no one could convince anyone else. As a result, traitors within the party emerged one after another. Precautions against comrades within the party were far higher than those against the enemy.

As a senior revolutionary, Chen Tianhua had no understanding of the "People's Revolution." In his view, the people actually did not want revolution. After such a brief contact with the "People's Revolution" proposed by Chen Ke, Chen Tianhua understood that it wasn't that the people didn't want revolution, but that the people had no reason to sell their lives for the "current revolutionaries." If the People's Revolution started, the people would first "revolutionize the lives of this current batch of revolutionaries."

This was Chen Ke's revolutionary philosophy. Chen Tianhua knew this was not the "People's Uprising" shouted by previous revolutionaries. Chen Tianhua regretted a little; perhaps he shouldn't have come back. Every time he heard Chen Ke describe the revolution, it was like tearing away the mask painted on the world and showing the bloody truth inside to Chen Tianhua.

Chen Ke spoke of interests and class struggle in every sentence, but never mentioned righteousness. Chen Tianhua came from a poor background, which was where he differed greatly from other revolutionaries. So Chen Tianhua really couldn't go against his conscience to oppose what Chen Ke said. The current revolutionaries were indeed as Chen Ke said, fighting for their own interests. Before they gained power, they hadn't thought about the people; if they could succeed, they would think about the people even less.

Now, the only thing Chen Tianhua wanted to figure out was whether the revolution of the "capital owners" Chen Ke spoke of could succeed. Chen Tianhua hadn't been able to determine which side he wanted to join. Or rather, he still hoped that the currently raging "capital owners'" revolution could succeed. This wasn't because Chen Tianhua couldn't understand the revolution Chen Ke described; precisely because of his poor background, Chen Tianhua could understand the suffering of the bottom-layer people, knew the hardships they encountered, and knew the anger, unwillingness, and hatred they accumulated. Chen Tianhua could imagine what kind of storm would be set off if such people stood up to revolutionize.

Chen Tianhua felt a kind of fear towards that storm.

Listening to Chen Ke's narrative, Chen Tianhua knew Chen Ke was very clear about the meanings of different revolutions. From just a day of contact, one could see that Chen Ke must have come from a famous family, with generations of high officials and great wealth. So Chen Ke knew very well the meaning of these words he spoke, and was able to say what he wanted to say. It was just that Chen Ke, from a wealthy and noble family, temporarily couldn't make these comrades around him, who came from decent backgrounds, fully understand his meaning. Because Chen Ke was looking at problems from the height of the entire country. There were obvious concerns about many things. These concerns stemmed from Chen Ke's uncertainty about whether some things would develop completely according to his predictions. This was also why those comrades couldn't understand what Chen Ke was explaining.

But Chen Tianhua could understand. For Chen Ke to have such a profound view of the world at his age was already shocking. Moreover, although Chen Ke had some deficiencies himself, he knew where the deficiencies lay and knew how to solve them. This was why Chen Ke chose him to be the propaganda minister of this political party.

Originally, according to Qiu Jin and Chen Tianhua's plan, Chen Tianhua was supposed to lobby Chen Ke to join the Tongmenghui. Now it seemed Chen Ke would not join. Chen Tianhua suddenly wanted to leave this political party.

"Wenqing, are you so certain that those property owners won't join the People's Revolution?" Qi Huishen asked.

"Let's take a simple example: promoting education. 'All the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit.' Why run education? To get educated students. Who wants these students? Factories, banks—or money houses as they should be called now—government departments, and the army also need educated students. But how many people do these departments need? What percentage of the citizenry? It's definitely impossible for everyone to receive an education. And currently, the children of those rich people who have studied are basically enough. It's fine if those poor people don't study. The country runs just the same. So investing in education is for future profit. Since the future profit can already be ring-fenced, what's the use of investing more money? In the eyes of those investing in education, isn't this just waste? So universal education is impossible to realize."

"That's not necessarily true, is it?" Hua Xiongmao said with a frown.

"First, China is so big, with a population of 400 million. Even if we just count primary school which should be compulsory, there must be 60 million children who should be in school in China. With fifty students per class—let's calculate with the minimum—and assuming every teacher can teach all subjects from first to fifth grade. Then this requires 1.2 million teachers. How much is the annual salary for these 1.2 million teachers? At 100 taels of silver per teacher per year, how much is this? 120 million taels of silver. How much was the indemnity for the Boxer Protocol? The principal was 450 million taels of silver. This silver isn't even enough for four years of wages for so many primary school teachers."

"Hiss!" All the young men couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. Everyone was daunted by this figure. Chen Ke saw everyone calculating, so he simply listed these calculations on the blackboard. Everyone looked carefully, and indeed it was correct.

Putting down the lime chalk, Chen Ke asked, "Who is willing to put up this money? Who among those running education can afford this money? How many rich people would have to go bankrupt, pooling their money together to afford this?"

The comrades fell silent.

Chen Ke relentlessly continued, "Let me imitate a bad guy. If I were a bad guy and I were in charge of this, what would I do?"

Chen Ke had always spoken of revolution from a positive angle. Suddenly saying he wanted to be a "bad guy" piqued everyone's interest immediately. Everyone's gaze focused on Chen Ke's face at the same time.

"I would require all government officials and the children of those rich people to go to school. Of course, these people would naturally be willing. In running schools, I would also specifically set up two types of schools: private schools and public schools. That is, schools funded by rich people and schools funded by the state. The difference between these two types of schools is that private schools rely on recommendations for admission. If you are rich and have connections, I'll let you attend. If you have no money and no connections, don't even think about getting in. Private schools offer excellent education, cultivating students with rich knowledge and comprehensive skills. Public schools have no money; everyone can just attend casually, learning a few characters is enough. If a student studies very hard, that's not bad either. When taking university entrance exams, private universities will prioritize satisfying qualified private school graduates before considering public school graduates. Most importantly, when the departments managing the country recruit manpower, they must be from private schools and have guarantees from officials or tycoons. This achieves multiple goals. First, the class of rich people can get the best education. Second, those from poor backgrounds also have something to look forward to. Third, I have also popularized education. If you don't study hard yourself, you can't blame me." After saying this, Chen Ke spread his hands.

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but shake their heads and smile bitterly. Chen Ke's impersonation of a bad guy was truly skillful.

"In this way, those poor people will have neither culture nor knowledge. They will definitely remain poor for thousands of generations. Even if someone jumps the Dragon Gate, that's great; they change their status and can serve as a role model. But these people are the minority. Just the unwritten rule of recruiting only private school graduates for key departments is enough to plug the loopholes. Even if the people are dissatisfied, they can do nothing. Even if the people rise up in rebellion, as I said before, they have neither culture nor knowledge and cannot be organized. Although I have few people, against those sporadic uprisings of the people, I have the advantage of numbers and power; suppressing them is a breeze. While I provide opportunities to a minority of the poor, I ruthlessly suppress those who dare to rebel, without mercy. Moreover, I have money, people, and organization. Why should I fear them? Even if it comes to reasoning, the people on my side have all received higher education. Deceiving some uneducated commoners is a piece of cake."

Hearing this, everyone's expression changed. Reflecting on Chen Ke's words, although they were insidious and domineering enough, they happened to be well-founded and constituted a completely feasible method.

"Therefore, my revolution must be a People's Revolution." Chen Ke made a summary of his own words.