"I plan to go north soon, to Beijing, to develop some new Party members," Chen Ke said in a flat tone. The comrades either looked at each other in blank dismay or didn't immediately understand Chen Ke's meaning.

"Go to Beijing?" Chen Tianhua was the first to ask.

"Correct."

"Not to Anhui?" Hua Xiongmao asked next.

"I'll go to Anhui personally after coming back from Beijing," Chen Ke replied. Just after finishing, Chen Ke suddenly laughed, "Zhenglan wants to go to Anhui so much; that's a good thing. I was worried everyone wouldn't be willing to leave Shanghai."

"How could that be," Hua Xiongmao answered casually. But a moment later, Hua Xiongmao realized his words weren't quite right; whether he wanted to go to Anhui or didn't want to leave Shanghai, this answer was ambiguous. Just as he wanted to change his phrasing, Qi Huishen interjected. "How long does Wenqing plan to go for?"

"Two months, probably."

"Then when do you depart?"

"October. Today is September 18th. I'll depart in two weeks."

Chen Ke looked composed, as if going to Beijing were merely going from the workshop to the school. This was the nature of a modern person. Developed transportation turned long-distance travel into a very simple matter. Chen Ke's family was from the railway; since he was very young, he had no psychological resistance to long-distance travel.

Among the people present, Chen Tianhua, You Gou, Wu Xingchen, and Hua Xiongmao had also traveled far before, so they could barely understand Chen Ke's attitude.

"Before I leave, I want to determine some things. When I come back, I hope to see everyone has done these things well." Although these words were very domineering, Chen Ke couldn't hold back no matter what. No one felt Chen Ke's words were wrong; everyone's attention was attracted by the matter of Chen Ke going north. Even if they weren't attracted, given Chen Ke's status within the Party, everyone wouldn't think Chen Ke wasn't qualified to say this.

"Before I leave, I plan to develop a batch of probationary Party members. Let's circle the candidates first."

These words immediately roused everyone's spirits, and the first Party Committee group meeting was formally convened. Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua began to circle personnel on the list, and Hua Xiongmao and Qin Wu'an also began to circle personnel on their own lists. And Party members who led people to work, such as You Gou and Wu Xingchen, also began to write their own lists and circle personnel they felt could enter the sequence of probationary Party members.

After everyone prepared their own lists, according to what was said before, they carried out group overlap screening. Those who could pass in both ideological study and work were listed. Ten people made the list. Four were local Party members in Shanghai, three were international students who came back with Chen Tianhua, including Mao Ping, and there were also three Japanese students. Chinese people were fine, but Japanese people also making the list really made the comrades feel quite surprised. But organizational procedure was organizational procedure; no private agreement was reached between the two groups of people, completely depending on personal performance. The 30% proportion of foreigners on the list was truly astonishing.

"This is really weird." Hua Xiongmao touched his head subconsciously. "The Japanese devils' performance is actually quite good."

"Fudan Public School students came to go to school in the first place, not to work for you." You Gou disapproved of this. "After selecting these people, what do you plan to do?"

"First, strictly forbid mentioning the name of the People's Party; everyone must strictly observe the organization's confidentiality regulations. Second, the organization will assign work to them and conduct assessments." Chen Ke's finger tapped on another list written by He Zudao that only passed the assessment in certain aspects. "Third, everyone consider how to screen and assess these people. Prepare for the development work of the next batch of probationary Party members."

After saying this, Chen Ke closed his mouth and waited for everyone to speak. But everyone waited for Chen Ke to assign tasks. Both sides fell silent, staring at each other.

"Wenqing has nothing more to say?" Hua Xiongmao was the first to break the silence.

"From today on, I plan to hand over these tasks to everyone. Revolution isn't about conquering the world for myself. I am a member of the People's Party; I am just a part of the Party. It can't be that whatever I say goes. Work must be done by everyone spontaneously."

After these words were thrown down, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. The first to tentatively express an attitude was actually Qi Huishen. "Could it be that Wenqing has some dissatisfaction?"

Chen Ke originally thought it would be Hua Xiongmao jumping out first to "protect the lord." Qi Huishen's revolutionary consciousness was considered the highest among the comrades; Chen Ke originally thought Qi Huishen would have enough "political correctness." As a result, Chen Ke found he was wrong; the one who first suspected Chen Ke was dissatisfied with some people in the organization was actually Qi Huishen. Or rather, the first to come out and express an attitude was actually Qi Huishen. Looking at Hua Xiongmao again, he was already looking left and right a bit, as if meaning to identify the person Chen Ke opposed.

Seeing the atmosphere start to become a bit wrong, Chen Ke explained, "I am going to Beijing soon; all the work in Shanghai has to be handed over to the comrades. When I am here, I can still attend meetings and put forward some of my views. When I am not in Shanghai, everyone can't wait for me to come back to do things, right? The work in Shanghai must be pushed forward constantly."

Saying so with his mouth, Chen Ke also had to conduct some personnel thinking in his head; these were actually the considerations Chen Ke hated most. Personnel struggle meant an unavoidable internal struggle. There were many reasons, but in the final analysis, they were all manifestations of individuals hoping their own opinions would become the mainstream opinion, or hoping to satisfy personal interests first. And personnel struggle, regardless of the reason, once it appeared, would inevitably lead to tragic results.

In the Party's history, this kind of thing had had various different manifestations. And the coping strategies also had completely different measures. But the names of these measures were synonymous with fear in the minds of many people in later generations. For example, "Rectification," for example, "Elimination of Counter-revolutionaries." To ensure the unimpeded flow of organizational discipline, personnel struggles must be suppressed. The Party's iron discipline was not a joke. It was a fact. Even in the period without cruel military struggles after liberation, at various most dangerous junctures, whether voluntary or not, Party members stood out to lead the masses to solve problems. Floods, earthquakes, other natural and man-made disasters—what the people saw first were the figures of Party cadres; they always stood in the most dangerous places. If these people ran away first, then no matter who this person was, no matter what background this person had, they would inevitably suffer severe punishment.

Obviously, the internal discipline of the People's Party still had a long way to go to reach such a degree. Chen Ke himself absolutely had no intention of purging anyone. What he hoped for now was just one thing: comrades must exert their own subjective initiative to promote the progress of the revolution. Therefore, even if Chen Ke had various doubts now, he must make the comrades understand his thoughts.

"I once proposed, what is the task at the present stage? Who can answer? Hmm, Wu'an, you say it."

Qin Wu'an didn't expect to be named; it could be seen from his surprised expression. "The task at the present stage is to develop Party members and prepare for the next step of working in Anhui."

"Correct answer, add ten points." Chen Ke said in his heart. But such frivolous words absolutely couldn't be said directly. Chen Ke just nodded very normally. "I go to Beijing also to develop Party members. Everyone in Shanghai is also to develop Party members. To prepare for the next step of work. It can't be that when I go to Beijing, the work in Shanghai becomes like herding sheep (loose and undisciplined). Moreover, things change at any time; I am not some Zhuge Liang who prepares a few silk bags with clever plans and everything can be solved. At any time, everyone must exert their own subjective initiative. Now we are just these few people; in the future, we will have hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of comrades. I can't possibly lead and do everything."

The logic of these words was correct. After thoroughly understanding Chen Ke's meaning, Hua Xiongmao, who was tense with the string of struggle, also relaxed. The next question was mentioned by someone very quickly. "With Wenqing leaving, it feels really like losing the backbone," You Gou laughed.

"We organize work through the Party Committee. Whether I am here or not, you must do things according to the Party's organizational discipline. The Party's organizational discipline absolutely cannot become invalid. The Party organization is the only backbone," Chen Ke responded.

Everyone stopped talking. Chen Ke had always emphasized the Party's discipline, and everyone had gradually accepted the existence of organizational discipline in these few months. But the existing organizational structure suddenly underwent tremendous changes with Chen Ke going north. This was the place everyone felt very unaccustomed to. And this was exactly the place Chen Ke hoped everyone could adapt to. The first generation leader of the Party was not Grandpa Mao. Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and others pioneered the Party, and with the development of history, the Party also developed. The reason the Party could grow strong was that the Party's core concept of saving China didn't change at all. Generations of helmsmen struggled for this goal. If the Party merely became the organization of the leader himself, then it would be no different from rubbish gang organizations like the Tongmenghui.

Regardless of whether the comrades could accept it completely, Chen Ke said, "I estimate I will come back before the Spring Festival. After I come back, I will report my work to the Party organization. As the chairman of this Party meeting, I want to discuss the work arrangement of the social investigation with everyone."

The social investigation was to let comrades thoroughly understand the current status of China and social contradictions. Its purpose was mainly to be able to explain the inevitability and legitimacy of the revolution. Although Chen Ke wasn't a person of this era, the depth of his understanding of social reality was far higher than anyone in this era.

Finally, everyone agreed on three topics:

1. Why the small-peasant economy will inevitably go bankrupt.

2. The relationship between the increase in cotton prices and the invasion of foreign goods.

3. The current social structure and composition of China.

In addition, Chen Ke required the Party organization to begin investigation activities in the area south of the Huai River in Anhui. He told everyone bluntly that they must go to the areas with the sharpest social contradictions to launch the revolution. As the saying goes, injustice provokes outcry; without sharp social contradictions, there is no gathering of revolutionary forces. If the people have no worries about food and clothing, cursing the government is no problem, but rising in rebellion is out of the question. regarding this point, Chen Ke's feelings were deeper than anyone's. The ugly state of those so-called democratic movement activists—either inciting the people to die for them, hoping to climb to the peak of power stepping on the people's blood, or hugging the thighs of foreign godfathers, fantasizing about the foreign "King's Division" fighting in, and then they rise to prominence by selling out the country.

On the forums Chen Ke frequented, there was a brilliant evaluation directed at these people: Revolution, please let the "elites" die first.

This wasn't just sarcasm; back then, the Party was like this. Party members always stood in the first row; their chests were closer to the enemy's muzzle than the masses. Now, regarding whether the members of the People's Party, including Chen Ke himself, could really withstand such a test, Chen Ke himself had made up his mind to lead everyone to try personally.

With the platform, the rest was detailed work division. In the following days, the People's Party began to divide work internally, and the Huangpu Book Society as a peripheral organization was also mobilized in the same way. Chen Ke's figure didn't appear in the busy crowd. As Chen Ke expected, Yan Fu called Chen Ke away.

The old handsome man Yan Fu did things very methodically. After calling Chen Ke over, he showed Chen Ke a letter. This letter was written by Gu Hongming, the Deputy Director-General of the Imperial University of Peking. The general meaning was that after reading the book Yan Fu sent, Gu Hongming appreciated this set of *The Inheritance of Chinese Culture and the Rise of Materialism* very much. He hoped the author of the book would go to Beijing to lecture.

Seeing Chen Ke's surprised expression, Yan Fu explained simply. After Chen Ke's book began public sales, because the price was cheap, Yan Fu bought twenty sets and sent them to his friends. Everyone's evaluation of this book was very high, and Gu Hongming invited the author to go to Beijing even more.

Chen Ke asked somewhat embarrassedly what school the Imperial University of Peking was and who exactly this Gu Hongming was. Fortunately, Yan Fu had deep self-cultivation; otherwise, he might have laughed out loud directly.

The Imperial University of Peking (Jingshi Daxuetang) was the name used by Peking University between 1898 and 1912. The Imperial University of Peking was China's first national comprehensive university and was also the highest educational administrative organ in China at that time. The Imperial University of Peking had important significance and received nationwide attention, but due to the corruption of the Qing court, the government didn't give sufficient investment to the University. The Imperial University of Peking was the first national comprehensive university in modern Chinese history; it was both the highest institution of learning in the country and the highest national educational administrative organ, governing schools in all provinces.

In 1900, after the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, the Imperial University of Peking suffered destruction. On December 17, 1902, the Imperial University of Peking was restored. Zhang Baixi, the Minister of Personnel, served as the Minister of Education Management. Wu Rulun and Gu Hongming served as the Director-General and Deputy Director-General, and Yan Fu and Lin Shu served respectively as the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of the Translation Bureau of the University. The Tongwen Guan (School of Combined Learning), founded in 1862 during the Self-Strengthening Movement, was also merged into the University. In 1904, the first batch of 47 students was selected and sent abroad to study.

Chen Tianhua's *Meng Hui Tou* (Sudden Look Back), which spread throughout the Divine Land, once mentioned the Imperial University of Peking: "Let alone that, to build a university in the capital costs three hundred thousand taels of silver; the government said the cost was too big and hasn't built it to this day. The Empress Dowager managed to get tens of millions of taels for restoring the Summer Palace. Every year handling imperial tomb missions, moving millions is also common. Only this three hundred thousand, can you say it can't be found?"

Yan Fu knew Chen Ke wasn't a person who pretended to know when he didn't. Since Chen Ke said he didn't know, he explained it to Chen Ke. Seeing Chen Ke's suddenly enlightened look, Yan Fu said, "Wenqing, the matter of taking a teacher I mentioned last time was actually prepared for your trip north, Wenqing."

Chen Ke also understood Yan Fu's mind now. For the care of a senior, Chen Ke couldn't say anything else. He hardened his heart and said, "I will go to Beijing; for other matters, I will follow Mr. Yan's instructions."

Seeing Chen Ke soften, Yan Fu didn't pursue relentlessly either. He said, "I know Wenqing definitely has difficulties. If it were other places, relying on Wenqing's talent alone would be enough to pass unimpeded. But Beijing is different from other places. So I wrote a few letters for Wenqing. The letters state that Wenqing is my disciple. Wenqing take these few letters and go visit a few high officials in Beijing. I also have some relatives and old friends in Beijing and Tianjin; if Wenqing has time, you can also visit them together."

Chen Ke agreed one by one and asked carefully about the characteristics of these people. Seeing that Chen Ke also wanted to make the most adequate preparations, Yan Fu simply kept Chen Ke there and introduced in detail which people he hoped Chen Ke would meet. What propositions Yan Fu wanted to put forward to these people. Seeing Chen Ke take out a notebook and record in detail, Yan Fu was quite satisfied with this meticulous attitude.

Yan Fu specially introduced Mr. Gu Hongming. The reason this deputy director-general of Peking University attached such importance to Chen Ke's book wasn't really to buy Yan Fu's account. In the early 20th century, a saying circulated among Westerners: When in China, you can miss the Forbidden City, but you cannot miss Gu Hongming. Who was Gu Hongming? He claimed to be "born in Nanyang, studied in Xiyang (the West), married in Dongyang (Japan), and served in Beiyang." He obtained 13 doctoral degrees, read English newspapers upside down to mock the British, said Americans had no culture, and was the first to translate China's *Analects* and *Doctrine of the Mean* into English and German for the West. With an eloquence that could talk the dead to life, he lectured on Confucianism to Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi, corresponded with literary master Leo Tolstoy to discuss world culture and the political situation, and was called "the most noble Chinese" by the Indian Mahatma Gandhi.

Although this old gentleman held doctoral titles from multiple foreign schools, he himself was a person who attached great importance to the inheritance of Chinese culture. On this point, his stance was exactly the same as Yan Fu's. Yan Fu didn't reveal the whole situation to Chen Ke; actually, there were two letters from Gu Hongming. The letter Chen Ke saw was written by Gu Hongming according to Yan Fu's meaning, actually intended for Chen Ke to see. There was another private letter sent to Yan Fu. Like Yan Fu, Gu Hongming liked Chen Ke's concept of "Chinese cultural inheritance" very much after reading Chen Ke's book. In the letter, the old gentleman thought Chen Ke wasn't proficient in national studies, but the conception was excellent. He was a true talent who truly guided Chinese culture toward modernization.

And what Gu Hongming liked most was the chapter on "Hanyu Pinyin" written by Chen Ke in the appendix of the book. Modern Hanyu Pinyin is also the crystallization of the efforts of many masters of national studies; its rationality naturally far exceeded the level those literati back then could achieve. Gu Hongming was proficient in multiple foreign languages and appreciated Chen Ke's Pinyin very much. As an educator, Gu Hongming could understand the role of Hanyu Pinyin in cultural dissemination very well. Chen Ke's book adhered to his concept of "development of productive forces"; the article stated straightforwardly—China has a linguistic status quo where accents differ within a hundred *li*; what maintains the unity of Chinese civilization is the unified script. But to develop productive forces and reduce communication costs, a unified standard language is necessary. If everyone can understand Putonghua (Standard Mandarin), then communication costs will be reduced to an unprecedented degree.

Regarding Chen Ke's attitude of sticking to the development of "productive forces," Gu Hongming thought Chen Ke was a talent. Someone who could implement his own concepts and use his own concepts to explain the world reasonably was by no means a mediocrity. Gu Hongming was very interested in Chen Ke, and he also asked about the relationship between Chen Ke and Yan Fu. In Gu Hongming's view, Chen Ke's book inherited the vein of Yan Fu's *Tianyanlun* and should have a deep relationship with Yan Fu.

Yan Fu naturally wouldn't show this letter to Chen Ke. Seeing that Chen Ke had already acknowledged the "teacher-student relationship," Yan Fu just told Chen Ke to depart for Beijing as soon as possible.