A very simple red cloth hung on the wall; even the edges hadn't been hemmed, and it looked rather rough and hasty. "We Chinese like the color red, and seeing red also brings revolution to mind. Let's tentatively set the Party flag as a red flag. As for the emblem on it, it's too late to decide today. When we have time later, we'll hold a meeting to discuss it," Chen Ke said in a serious tone.

No one raised any objections. There was so much work now; there was indeed no need to spend too much time on this.

Chen Tianhua was rather emotional after hearing this. Whether it was the Huaxinghui or the Tongmenghui, the time spent on the emblem, flag, and various details was very significant. Especially the Tongmenghui; Chen Tianhua was still in Shanghai at the time. Later, hearing people talk about the situation then, it was truly a farce.

When discussing the Tongmenghui flag and the future national flag of the Republic of China, fierce arguments occurred among all parties. Sun Yat-sen strongly advocated using the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag but faced many objections. Some proposed the 18-Star flag, some the Golden Melon and Battle-Axe flag, Liao Zhongkai advocated the Well-Field character flag, and others advocated the Five-Colored flag. Huang Xing thought the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag was not beautiful in form, so Sun Yat-sen added a red ground to it, forming the Blue Sky with a White Sun and a Wholly Red Earth flag, which still wasn't passed. After Liu Kuiyi's mediation, various proposals were kept as pending cases. Although the national flag had no set form, later the revolutionary army all used the Blue Sky with a White Sun and a Wholly Red Earth flag as a standard, and Huang Xing repeatedly served as commander-in-chief, expressing no objection for the sake of the overall situation.

Just to discuss a Tongmenghui flag, the draft was changed several times, actually spending more than three days. And the so-called "future Republic of China" was far away on the horizon. The comrades of the Tongmenghui were overseas, and many were even wanted criminals, unable even to show their faces legally and publicly. But for the national flag of this illusory future country, they actually spent so much energy discussing and arguing, and the result? The national flag plan was still "kept as a pending case."

Chen Tianhua knew very well that it wasn't that this flag was really so hard to draw. Rather, all parties wanted to use the flag and emblem to strive for the exposition of their own political concepts and strive to establish their own political concepts as the mainstream.

Compared with the People's Party, the Tongmenghui was a fragmented alliance of disparate groups, with absolutely no completely consistent political platform. Even on the most basic concept of the political system, the Tongmenghui couldn't reach a consensus. Sun Yat-sen advocated completely copying the American model. In this regard, the Huaxinghui only reached an alliance relationship with Sun Yat-sen after accepting his concept of nation-building. Before this, the Huaxinghui didn't even have a political system concept for a New China; they merely hoped to establish their own armed force and eliminate the Manchu Qing forces in Hunan. As for the Guangfu Society, they hoped to establish a new dynasty. The Guangfu Society had no interest in the republican system.

The People's Party was completely different; it had already established its own political concepts before the party was founded. Chen Tianhua himself admitted that this political concept was several streets ahead of those concepts of the Tongmenghui.

Looking again at the surrounding People's Party comrades, counting himself, there were only eight people. Compared with the people attending the founding assembly of the Tongmenghui, this number simply couldn't compare. But in terms of the complexity of their origins, it was not inferior at all. This political party, which should have generated fierce quarrels, actually didn't have such a situation appear at all. Chen Tianhua still remembered how, at the Tongmenghui meetings, the crowd argued endlessly around some small matters that now seemed simply trivial. If Chen Tianhua hadn't met Chen Ke and hadn't discussed and written the book on materialist dialectics with Chen Ke, he estimated he would also have fallen into such a chaotic vortex.

When Chen Tianhua tried to explain his own political concepts at the Tongmenghui meeting, he suddenly discovered a very laughable thing. Why did Tongmenghui comrades from all sides engage in that seemingly boring quarreling? Chen Tianhua suddenly figured it out. Overseas figures like Sun Yat-sen didn't treat China as their own country at all. So their propositions were merely to seize the leadership of China. Standing on a so-called moral high ground was a necessity for Sun Yat-sen. Since China was not currently under Sun Yat-sen's leadership, making any compromise or saying any "advanced concept" wouldn't cause any loss to the overseas faction represented by Sun Yat-sen. As long as someone responded to him, it was pure gain.

The Guangfu Society was a political party rooted in the local area of Jiangnan. What they wanted to do was to ensure the interests of the Jiangnan gentry class, who were threatened by foreigners. For the basic economic foundation of the existing regime—landlords were the true core force of China—they absolutely wanted to protect it. The new dynasty they hoped to build was a dynasty that could protect the economic interests of landlords and resist foreign invasion.

Regarding the attitudes of these political parties, Chen Ke had told Chen Tianhua very clearly long ago. But Chen Tianhua felt at the time that Chen Ke was "gauging the heart of a gentleman with the measure of a small man." Only after he personally met these "gentlemen" did he understand that Chen Ke hadn't used any deception or slander.

Standing in the venue, Chen Tianhua had already understood that the concept of people's revolution he proposed would undoubtedly meet with opposition from the Jiangnan Guangfu Society. And Sun Yat-sen might not necessarily be able to accept this more advanced concept either. Because Chen Tianhua was undoubtedly "stealing his business." So Chen Tianhua, who was usually eloquent and talked endlessly, behaved timidly and spoke vaguely. Because he was also observing what effect his words were actually having. Whenever the concept of people's revolution was touched upon, the representatives of landlord origin frowned unconsciously, and disapprobation also appeared on the faces of Sun Yat-sen and other overseas faction members. Once Chen Tianhua changed his tack and his statement conformed to a certain party's concept, a satisfied look would appear on the faces of people from that faction. While the opposing faction began to show expressions of dissatisfaction.

When Chen Tianhua finished speaking himself, he found that his entire speech was just a completely self-contradictory, very twisted set of stuff. Compared with the systematic political concepts proposed by Chen Ke, Chen Tianhua was so ashamed at the time that he wished he could burrow into the ground. This was the reason why Chen Tianhua gave up his cadre position within the Tongmenghui. This was also the reason why Chen Tianhua brought a group of young people who could accept the materialist view of history back to the People's Party together.

He was completely disappointed with the Tongmenghui.

Before deciding to leave, Chen Tianhua had a deep talk with Song Jiaoren. Song Jiaoren had absolutely no concept of people's revolution, and instinctively had no interest. Song Jiaoren had turned into a constitutional republican. No matter how Chen Tianhua tried to persuade Song Jiaoren, Song Jiaoren "refused to come to his senses." Instead, he expressed strong dissatisfaction with Chen Tianhua proposing such an "unrealistic" idea as "people's revolution."

So Chen Tianhua made the final determination to leave Japan and leave the Tongmenghui.

What is the people, what is society, what is the country, what is class? The political concepts of the People's Party absolutely did not avoid these fundamental questions. The political concepts of the People's Party strove to expound views on these fundamental questions and strove to let everyone see through the true face of the world. Comrades all had an appearance of very much wishing to learn and thoroughly understand this kind of political concept that didn't fool people at all. At least Chen Tianhua himself was like this. This Party's political platform was like a magnet, forcing Chen Tianhua to gaze at it and approach it.

In the theoretical parts that the Tongmenghui simply dared not or was unwilling to touch and deepen, the People's Party poured almost all its strength. So when this red cloth hung on the wall and Chen Ke asked everyone to face this red cloth and swear an oath to join the Party, no one raised any objections. This was unimaginable in the Tongmenghui, but in the People's Party, this was logical and natural.

Chen Ke faced everyone, back to the Party flag, standing at attention, raising his right hand and making a fist at shoulder height. The other seven comrades stood in a row facing the red flag, raising their right hands in the same posture.

"I swear," Chen Ke said.

"I swear," the comrades said together.

"I volunteer to join the Chinese People's Party."

"I volunteer to join the Chinese People's Party."

"Uphold the Party's platform."

"Uphold the Party's platform."

"Observe the Party's constitution."

"Observe the Party's constitution."

...

At first, everyone's voices were a bit uneven, and some comrades, like He Zudao, even had some timidity and unease in their voices. Following Chen Ke sentence by sentence in reciting the oath, the comrades' voices became more and more uniform, and even their emotions gradually stabilized and soared. Being with like-minded comrades, everyone felt a greater strength.

"Keep Party secrets."

"Keep Party secrets."

"Be loyal to the Party."

"Be loyal to the Party."

"Work actively."

"Work actively."

...

When Chen Ke swore oaths before, he felt these oaths were merely some ordinary requirements, just going through the motions. Accompanying his painstaking founding of the People's Party, he increasingly understood the importance of these oaths. The Party members back then were also just ordinary people; they didn't have three heads and six arms, nor could they ride clouds and drive mist. But the Party's course was solidly engraved in Chinese history. All Party members fulfilled their promises, and then completed unprecedented feats. When leading the comrades to read the oath, Chen Ke didn't observe the comrades as he had thought; on the contrary, he himself was somewhat worried. As the founder of this political party, could he practice this oath by setting an example? Could his every word and deed reach the standard of a Party member? Chen Ke wasn't very confident.

"Be ready at all times to sacrifice everything for the Party and the people."

"Be ready at all times to sacrifice everything for the Party and the people."

"Never betray the Party!"

"Never betray the Party!"

The oath wasn't long and ended quickly. Before swearing, Chen Ke had already shown the oath to everyone. After reading the last sentence, all comrades were somewhat excited, and quite a few looked at Chen Ke somewhat at a loss. An oath is merely an oath, not some magic spell. Naturally, nothing earth-shattering would happen after finishing it. High spirits would make people excited, and that was all.

"Put your hands down," Chen Ke ordered.

All comrades followed Chen Ke in putting down their arms. Under Chen Ke's command, they sat back in their seats.

"Our urgent work now is, on the one hand, to develop comrades, and on the other hand, to complete existing work. Everyone take out the document on the discipline platform."

The documents hadn't been put away yet; everyone picked up their own copy in front of them.

Chen Ke continued, "For the Party to accept new comrades, they must be comrades who agree with our political platform. At this stage, the Party's important propositions must be kept secret. Regarding this issue, I think the Party organization needs to be divided into two departments. One department is responsible for propagating the Party's platform. The other department is responsible for organizing production."

"The current propaganda is just targeted at these young people of the Huangpu Book Society, right?" Qi Huishen asked.

Before Chen Ke could answer, Hua Xiongmao followed up immediately asking, "The production department should be in charge of selling medicine and making money, right?"

Chen Tianhua didn't make a sound. These two "old comrades," especially Hua Xiongmao, already showed signs of competing with each other. In terms of lecturing alone, Chen Tianhua thought he should be able to become the person in charge, or at least one of the persons in charge. As far as he knew, Wu Xingchen was also engaging in medicine sales. As a Party member with deeper seniority, if Hua Xiongmao was responsible for the production department, he would at least be considered to have a certain status. Moreover, Wu Xingchen's history of formally attending Party meetings was even later than Chen Tianhua's; Hua Xiongmao leading the production department was almost a certainty.

Chen Tianhua looked up at Wu Xingchen and saw that Wu Xingchen still had that usual slightly cold expression. Regarding this secret contest, he had a look of it being none of his business and hanging high above it. Looking again at Chen Ke sitting at the head of the meeting, he saw that Chen Ke's face didn't look very good; he didn't seem very satisfied with the comrades volunteering themselves.

In the Huaxinghui and the Tongmenghui, this kind of personnel arrangement was most damaging to harmony. Comrades who were originally equal in status suddenly were divided into high and low; without exception, this would trigger dissatisfaction. So every department of the Huaxinghui was simply directly led by Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren, while Chen Tianhua and others completed tasks independently after receiving them. In the Tongmenghui, factions were numerous, and those so-called executive ministers were mostly appointed temporarily; execution power had absolutely no guarantee. How exactly did Chen Ke plan to deal with this problem? Chen Tianhua waited and saw.

Chen Ke was very clear about the comrades' enthusiasm and "ambition." It was funny to say; previously Chen Ke never cared about this kind of "ambition" and had no interest. Accompanying his own party formation and party building, even if he never thought about these things, when he really encountered these matters, he could see them clearly.

These disputes must be resolved. Chen Ke was quite dissatisfied with Hua Xiongmao's mentality; revolution shouldn't be like this. Doing this was wrong. Chen Ke prepared to talk to Hua Xiongmao privately after the meeting ended. The primary task now was to resolve the current work arrangements.

"Comrades, no matter how revolutionary the talk is, revolution must be completed by solid work. So for the comrades responsible for propagating our concepts and developing new Party members, on the one hand, it is lecturing; on the other hand, you must observe which people are very interested in our courses and very active, who can be listed as targets for development. The department responsible for production isn't just about selling medicine and making money. Our school construction site has already started work. We let the young people of the Huangpu Book Society go to work on the construction site just to observe which people bear burdens and complaints without complaint, work hard and diligently, and can complete work actively and proactively. Rather than muddling through their days like a monk tolling the bell for a day."

After saying this, Chen Ke's gaze swept over everyone. Seeing that everyone was listening to him seriously, Chen Ke continued, "We hold Party meetings to communicate, to summarize work. Comrades from various departments must report on work and also listen to the progress of other work. regarding this work of developing new Party members, the department responsible for propaganda and the department responsible for production must both propose lists of activists they have discovered, and then pick out young people who are active politically and equally active in work from these two lists as our key targets for development."

Hearing Chen Ke's requirements, Chen Tianhua nodded in agreement. Not only Chen Tianhua, but other comrades also nodded one after another. Even Wu Xingchen nodded slightly.

"Wenqing, how is this standard of being active determined?" You Gou asked.

"We dyed cloth and made medicine together; what is called diligent and hard-working, what is called active and proactive—can you still not know?" Chen Ke asked in return.

"But Wenqing led us to work personally at that time. To be honest, compared with you, I always have a feeling of being ashamed of my inferiority. I didn't feel how active and proactive I was."

"If anyone were like Wenqing, then everyone could form a party," Hua Xiongmao said. "Wenqing, you mean to let Party members lead the work personally, just like with us before. You are a Party member; we followed you, saw you doing things so seriously, and naturally were willing to do things with you. Is that right?"

"Correct," Chen Ke replied.

"I can do the work of this production department. The construction site over there started work, and Wenqing, you let the young people who came to listen to the lecture go to work; it seems you planned this long ago." Apart from praise, Hua Xiongmao's voice also had a flavor of triumph.

"Are you sure you can work like Wenqing?" You Gou asked.

"Uh?"

"Wenqing's work is not only hard, but he can also arrange the content we are each responsible for well. Can you do that?" Speaking to this point, You Gou's tone had a somewhat unkind flavor. "Wenqing's work is not only bearing burdens without complaint, active and proactive. More importantly, his attitude is modest and prudent. I have never seen Wenqing look triumphant."

Chen Ke originally didn't want to bring this up so early. Although he had to admit You Gou wasn't wrong, Hua Xiongmao was indeed triumphant. This was indeed incorrect. But it was best to discuss this matter privately. Bringing it up in public like this would very easily intensify conflicts and turn it into a struggle of personal loyalty. The people present probably all saw Hua Xiongmao's mistake, but everyone didn't say it. Chen Ke could criticize Hua Xiongmao privately first, then persuade Hua Xiongmao to make a self-criticism publicly. Everyone has self-esteem, especially in China; Chinese people care most about face. Persuading Hua Xiongmao to make a self-criticism would already be a very remarkable project. This could be said to be truly setting a precedent for "criticism and self-criticism" within the Party. Chen Ke had originally considered this.

Chen Ke had spent the longest time with Hua Xiongmao and understood that Hua Xiongmao had a straightforward character and was definitely not a bad person. But no matter how good a person Hua Xiongmao was, and how advanced a youth he was in this era, he was still a person of the late Qing era. In this era that universally pursued hierarchy and privilege, in this era that considered hierarchy and privilege to exist as a matter of course, no matter how advanced Hua Xiongmao was, it was impossible for him to achieve the ideological realm that many Party members 40 years later also failed to truly achieve. What's more, the one firing the cannon was You Gou, and You Gou was a woman. The idea that men are superior to women was a deep-rooted tradition in this era. No matter how much people said they wanted to promote equality between men and women, everyone still disapproved of it in their hearts.

As Chen Ke expected, as soon as You Gou finished speaking, Hua Xiongmao's face changed. Hua Xiongmao had a rather straight temper and couldn't hide his emotions; only a small part of the expression on his face was shame, and more was anger.

Seeing this, Chen Ke's brain began to spin rapidly. How to solve this problem by both talking politics and considering methods? The People's Party was newly created and simply had no political commissar; now Chen Ke was the political commissar in the Party. Chen Ke knew that facing the conflict that erupted today, he must solve this contradiction and problem; this was a responsibility he couldn't evade. If Chen Ke couldn't do it, it could only show that Chen Ke was an unqualified leader. With just these few Party members now, Chen Ke couldn't do political work well. Let alone the complex situation after the revolution developed in the future.

Looking at the emotional Hua Xiongmao, Chen Ke suppressed his anxious emotions and said to himself three times repeatedly: "I must be calm. I must be calm, I must be calm." As he spoke, Chen Ke closed his eyes.