As the saying goes, a scholar's rebellion won't succeed in three years. But what if the scholar becomes an official?

Before going north, Chen Ke believed that among the officials at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there would definitely be a group of people who despaired of the court and would definitely seek a way to save China. Chen Ke hoped to meet these people before going north. As a result, he really met them. With Shang Yuan and the group of people introduced by Shang Yuan as the core, Chen Ke established the Beijing Party Group.

Chen Ke confided in Shang Yuan so quickly not because he believed he had some "Tyrant's Qi" (charisma), nor because he believed revolutionary theory could easily convince the intellectuals of this era. At first, Chen Ke thought that Graduate Shang Yuan was just a "revolutionary amateur," that is, the kind of person who shouted revolution verbally. So he entrusted the paperwork to Shang Yuan. Unexpectedly, when registering the factory list, Graduate Shang listed himself on the list. When assigning the stove repair task, Shang Yuan also followed his team to repair stoves.

Chen Ke was greatly surprised by this.

When he went to ask Shang Yuan, Graduate Shang just answered faintly, "A gentleman is not a utensil." Confucius believed back then that a gentleman should not limit himself to a fixed field. Chen Ke's family also revered Confucianism, and his family education repeatedly emphasized that if you despise so-called "low-level work" after learning knowledge, it only means you read books in vain.

Not only that, but in terms of revolutionary theoretical construction, Shang Yuan showed amazing talent. Shang Yuan had an extremely profound understanding of Chairman Mao's "serve the people wholeheartedly." Chen Ke always believed that the core of socialism was to develop productive forces, and the core of "serving the people wholeheartedly" lay in establishing a social system whose purpose was to provide people with better job opportunities. To put it more bluntly, it was the program of "New Democracy" proposed by the Party back then.

Graduate Shang Yuan had an amazing ability to understand this theory, as well as sufficient planning ability on paper. Therefore, the rotating chairman of this meeting was not Chen Ke, but Shang Yuan.

"Gentlemen, this meeting mainly discusses two things. First, the social demand for honeycomb briquettes. Second, looking at the superiority of the socialist system through honeycomb briquettes. Now Wenqing will speak." Shang Yuan's attitude was natural, his tone was peaceful, and he quickly brought the meeting atmosphere onto the right track.

Chen Ke's narration wasn't long. The success of honeycomb briquettes was nothing more than reducing the cost of living through industrialized production, so it naturally succeeded. This principle needed no elaboration. The superiority of the socialist system was nothing more than "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work," eliminating the "rentier" class through a powerful state apparatus, and reducing social transaction costs. Completing control over core industries and social services through state investment in state-owned enterprises. The state itself should support these industries.

Su Wuming laughed, "Such a country is naturally good, but this government shouldn't be the Manchu Qing, nor should it be some imperial power society, right?"

The participating comrades nodded one after another.

"The state is a tool of class rule. When we learn to analyze society, we must understand a truth: class struggle is effective once grasped. From the perspective of struggle studies, the operation of all human societies is composed of various contradictions." Chen Ke talked with fervor and assurance. In Shanghai, the theoretical level of those comrades was really limited. And it had to be said that Chen Ke himself wasn't from a sociology background, and his theoretical level was also very limited at that time. After these few months, Chen Ke's own social theory level had also improved a lot, and his lectures were more comfortable.

"This is the universal truth. We who study law want to summarize various articles from various contradictions." The speaker was Xu Dian. Xu Dian was a friend of Mao Yibo, a friend of Shang Yuan. In 1901, he studied law at the University of Tokyo in Japan. Returning to China in 1905, he was originally a constitutionalist, but two days after listening to the class, he became a socialist.

Mao Yibo was from Zhejiang and caught the last train of young children studying in the United States. After returning, he first worked in the Kailuan Coal Mine, but his personality was relatively radical. Finally, unable to muddle along in the coal mine, he returned to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to run a school. He was repeatedly defeated in running schools and owed a lot of debt. He was even more disheartened with the Manchu Qing system and actually became an old cynic (*fenqing*). With the trend of demanding constitutionalism rising in recent years, Mao Yibo became enthusiastic again. Anyway, he couldn't stay in Jiangsu and Zhejiang anymore, so he simply ran to Beijing to run around for promoting constitutionalism. Regarding the speech of his young friend Xu Dian, Mao Yibo didn't support it too much. "Wenqing said clearly last time that revolutionaries must have a benevolent heart. If everything is held with a heart of struggle, it will only create waves out of nothing. Revolution is to solve problems, not to create problems."

Everyone discussed one after another. Xie Mingxian, listening by the side, couldn't help sighing. Everyone was indeed a scholar; their words only discussed revolution and never involved the Manchu Qing. But Xie Mingxian knew that this group of people had completely abandoned the Manchu Qing. Xie Mingxian didn't know Xu Xilin, nor did he know Xu Xilin's deep confusion about Chen Ke's attitude towards the Manchu Qing back then: "Chen Ke views the Manchu Qing like withered bones in a tomb." If Xie Mingxian and Xu Xilin could discuss this issue, they would definitely "appreciate each other." All participants who accepted Chen Ke's theory now had this attitude towards the Manchu Qing.

Seeing that enough had been said, the rotating chairman Shang Yuan said, "Does anyone have any questions about this issue?"

Everyone stopped speaking; no one wanted to raise new questions. Seeing no objections, Shang Yuan said, "Next question: what difficulties will the honeycomb briquette factory encounter in its continued development, and where will these difficulties come from?"

Xie Mingxian had attended many meetings of the Beijing Party Group, and he had roughly summarized the hosting process of these meetings.

1. Explain the superiority of socialism. In this meeting, it was how advanced the new factory was.

2. Explain the backwardness and destructiveness of current politics. This was the destruction of the new factory by the court policies proposed by Shang Yuan.

3. If there is a base area, how to solve these problems specifically. This part was all about how to build a new social system in the future base area, which was the county where Shang Yuan would take office.

The trilogy repeated in a cycle, educating and guiding repeatedly. The participants were all from the backbone class of society, and Shang Yuan was a future county magistrate who would take office in Anhui in 1906. So the purpose of such a meeting was nothing more than telling everyone that we had space to fully display our abilities. But doing it according to the old political system wouldn't work, and doing it according to the slogans of Sun Yat-sen and those chaotic parties (insurgents) wouldn't work either. Only a true revolution would work.

It had to be said that this education method was very effective. Whether others believed Chen Ke's theory or not, Xie Mingxian believed it anyway. Chen Ke always emphasized, "Class struggle is effective once grasped." The world today, from the country down to the family, was ruled by various tyrants, big and small, according to the existing traditional model. A revolution penetrating the bottom of society must be carried out; a revolution penetrating the souls of the common people must be carried out. After completely smashing the old order of China, recombine it according to the new model.

Xie Mingxian didn't want to deny Chen Ke's argument; he had personal experience. Xie Mingxian came from a medium landlord family in Hubei. His mother was a concubine, so from a young age, Xie Mingxian understood one thing: "Behave with tail tucked between legs." He had to be able to conceal his dissatisfaction with his cold and rude father, his dissatisfaction with his father's principal wife, and his dissatisfaction with the brothers born to the principal wife. Because they looked down on him and thought Xie Mingxian was not qualified to get any family wealth and resources. Xie Mingxian was very smart. Since his childhood, Xie Mingxian was often scolded by the principal wife for no reason and deliberately bullied by the principal wife's sons. The lesson that left a deep impression on his early life was that after just entering private school, Xie Mingxian showed a talent for reading. In the teacher's several exams, Xie Mingxian performed excellently and was praised by the teacher. When the teacher was a guest at Xie Mingxian's house, he praised Xie Mingxian a few words to his father. Xie Mingxian's father gave this son a smile for the first time and said flatly, "Well done."

Then the nightmare began. Xie Mingxian's mother was successively subjected to difficulties, beatings, and abuse by the principal wife. And Xie Mingxian himself also encountered a series of actions planned by several "brothers." His books were stolen, his pens were broken, and his notebooks were torn to pieces. Not only that, several brothers joined hands to beat Xie Mingxian. When Xie Mingxian returned home covered in bruises, the brothers who ran home ahead had already filed a false complaint against Xie Mingxian in front of their father. His father didn't uphold justice but made Xie Mingxian kneel as punishment instead. When Xie Mingxian's mother cried and pleaded with his father, Xie Mingxian heard his father say calmly and coldly, "Kneeling won't kill him; I'm doing this for his own good."

Xie Mingxian wasn't stupid; he knew this was his father doing it for his own good. If his father upheld justice, then Xie Mingxian estimated he would fall into endless trouble. His father's principal wife would absolutely not spare the mother and son, and Xie Mingxian's two younger sisters would also be implicated.

From then on, Xie Mingxian never showed his ability again. On the surface, his studies were just average. Moreover, his father was cold to Xie Mingxian and his mother for a long time, barely calming this family storm. It wasn't until Xie Mingxian passed the *Xiucai* exam in 1904 and had "fame/merit" that Xie Mingxian really wouldn't be beaten. As long as it wasn't the "public discussion" of the clan elders, even the elder brothers in the family couldn't beat Xie Mingxian who had "fame" on him.

From the experiences of these years, Xie Mingxian understood two things. First, the Confucian theory of "loving relatives" was basically a decoration. Husband and wife, father and son, brothers were like this, and the Xie family's exploitation of tenant farmers had always been bone-deep. Second, the state was the real backer. Only by getting on the big ship of the state could an individual have power.

So Xie Mingxian was originally going to work hard to pass the *Juren* exam, but the end of the imperial examination system completely ended Xie Mingxian's ideal. He couldn't go up another level and completely save his mother. If he could pass the *Juren* exam, Xie Mingxian would have the opportunity to become an official and then take his mother to take office together. But this opportunity was lost forever. Not only that, the fact that Xie Mingxian passed the *Xiucai* exam had already made him a thorn in the eyes of several brothers in the family. His father had entered old age, and several brothers almost broke their heads to divide the family property. If Xie Mingxian continued to stay at home, he would only have a dead end. Xie Mingxian had to leave home alone and leave his mother's side. He didn't go to Changsha. In the countryside, Xie Mingxian as a *Xiucai* was considered decent. But in Changsha, he definitely had no chance. Xie Mingxian needed to earn money and bring his mother out. So he arrived in Shanghai, where he was unfamiliar with the place and people.

Shanghai seemed prosperous, but it was the world of foreigners and compradors; a *Xiucai* like him had no chance to display his skills at all. If he hadn't accidentally seen the recruitment poster posted by Chen Ke... Xie Mingxian often felt scared afterwards when thinking of this.

This world needed revolution. What he had seen for more than twenty years was injustice everywhere, intense class contradictions everywhere. Even if it was just his Xie family, when collecting rent in his childhood, on average, one life was forced to death every three years. When the Xie family started usury, forcing people to death became at least one per year. In the past two years, Hunan and Hubei suffered disasters successively, and dead people were commonplace. If the common people wanted to survive, they could only rise up and rebel. If Chen Ke led his comrades to raise their arms and call in the countryside, it would be dry wood and raging fire. Even if only to live until tomorrow, the common people would follow Chen Ke and the others.

More importantly, even with such a situation, Chen Ke was still not anxious or panicked. He didn't want to organize a group of roving bandits, but to really establish a brand new "base area." To be prepared for political and military struggles with all enemies.

Watching the participants discuss seriously, with Xie Mingxian's rough contact these days, as far as he understood, although these people came from different backgrounds than himself, they were all a group of people who deeply saw that China's contradictions had reached the stage where the dagger was revealed when the map was unrolled (the final moment of conflict). That's why this group of people gathered together to discuss handling "that earth-shattering event." Xie Mingxian didn't oppose "revolution" at all. With his current ability, there would be no opportunity in the world today. As the saying goes, wealth and honor are sought in danger; Xie Mingxian only had this one opportunity to grasp.

Xie Mingxian was thinking about his own affairs, so he didn't listen much to some discussions in the middle. When he restored his attention, the part about the court was already finished. He saw Qin Shou requesting to speak.

"I have a question. How should the legal tradition (legitimacy) of this revolution be explained?" Qin Shou asked. Qin Shou was from Changzhou, Jiangsu. In 1896, carrying eight silver dollars raised by his mother from various sources, he entered the Jiangnan Naval Academy. Although the Jiangnan Naval Academy was corrupt from top to bottom and the school atmosphere was foul at that time, Qin Shou still studied hard. During the Gengzi Incident, he had already received the order to join the Beiyang Navy. At this time, the north was in chaos, and the school couldn't talk about any discipline. Qin Shou then went home to visit his mother. When his mother learned that Qin Shou didn't plan to go north, she immediately asked him, *Didn't you enter the Naval Academy to serve the country? Now when it's time to contribute to the country, why are you becoming a deserter?* Qin Shou was asked by his mother until his face was red. He immediately returned to school to apply for funds to go north. The school instructors found it incredible that Qin Shou actually wanted to go north under such circumstances. With a mentality of watching a joke, the school actually gave a sum of travel expenses. Qin Shou then went north.

After arriving in Beijing, it happened that Guangxu and Cixi had returned to the capital. Various government offices were dilapidated and needed manpower. The Beiyang Naval Academy was no longer there, so Qin Shou was recruited into the Ministry of Revenue as a minor official. Seeing the court suffer such great humiliation, instead of rousing itself, it became even more lethargic. He had completely despaired of the Manchu Qing.

He was a friend of Shang Yuan. These people often discussed together what to do about China's future. After joining the Beijing Party Group, Qin Shou was responsible for developing new members externally because of his wide connections.

Shang Yuan said, "Opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming naturally won't work. Democratic republic won't work either. Wenqing, what do you think?"

"Nothing else. The hearts of the people are the Mandate of Heaven. The People's Revolution itself is the legitimacy (*Fa Tong*)," Chen Ke said categorically.

After discussion, everyone felt it could only be so. After discussing a few more questions, Shang Yuan saw it was about time and announced the adjournment of the Party meeting.

After everyone left the conference room, Shang Yuan suddenly asked Chen Ke, who was reading the meeting minutes, "Wenqing, what do you think of the comrades in Beijing?"

"The comrades are very good, but I don't want to take them to Anhui now. In my opinion, it might be better to let them continue to develop the northern Party branch in Beijing. Brother Wangshan and Brother Qin taking the factory colleagues to Anhui will suffice."

"I heard Wenqing say there is another batch of comrades in Shanghai. Could it be Wenqing is worried about conflicts between the two sides?"

"Whether it's a mule or a horse, pull it out for a walk. I'm not worried about this problem. Anyway, after going to work in the countryside, that is an extremely arduous thing. Those who can't endure this hardship will naturally withdraw. But there are many heroes in the north. If everyone goes to Anhui and only a few people are left in the north, what can they do? In the future, we will inevitably fight the Manchu Qing, and this intelligence work is key. So I think comrades staying in the north is equivalent to us having eyes and ears. Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat."

Shang Yuan stared at Chen Ke, as if trying to figure out Chen Ke's true purpose. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said, "What Wenqing said is reasonable."

Chen Ke was very happy to get Shang Yuan's support. His words were not an excuse; the role of these people in the base area was really not necessarily as great as in Beijing. Moreover, Beijing was a place where talents gathered; burying more foreshadowing was the way to do big things.

"By the way, Brother Wangshan, you take office in March next year. It's already December; don't you plan to go home first?"

Shang Yuan shook his head gently. "No rush. My father is currently in Tianjin. I'll just go to Tianjin once before taking office. But Wenqing, I think you'd better visit Yuan Weiting (Yuan Shikai)."

Before Chen Ke went north this time, Yan Fu gave him three letters. Mr. Gu Hongming's letter had to be delivered; Yan Fu explained this clearly. One of the other two letters was for Yuan Shikai. Yan Fu explained that these two letters didn't necessarily have to be delivered. He said that if Chen Ke encountered trouble in Beijing that he really couldn't solve, then use these two letters. Chen Ke always believed "rely on the mountain, the mountain falls; rely on the river, the river dries." So he was unwilling to borrow the strength of others. As the saying goes, "No one gets up early without profit." If there was no benefit for others, only a fool would help you. Yuan Shikai was absolutely not a fool.

"It's not urgent either," Chen Ke said.

"I suggest you go, and it's better to promote this honeycomb briquette to the Beiyang Army camps."

"Hmm?" Chen Ke felt there must be deep meaning in Shang Yuan's words.

"In the officialdom of the capital now, there are quite a few people who want to compete with Yuan Shikai. Since Wenqing wants to make this factory fail and then take the friends in the factory south, just such simple operation may not be that fast." Shang Yuan spoke very cleverly.

"So that's how it is." Chen Ke nodded in agreement, admiring Shang Yuan in his heart.