Although he was the Political Commissar of the Second Company of the "Insurance Corps," He Zudao did not consciously feel that his organizational status was superior to that of Chai Qingguo, the Commander of the Second Company. This child was like the youngest son in an ordinary southern family: well-behaved, obedient, and very good at communicating with people. He had a habitual admiration for the strong. Although he held a higher status in the organization, He Zudao instinctively avoided using the Party organization's resolutions as the source of his power. Instead, he used a very instinctive, gentle way to handle his relationship with Chai Qingguo. In fact, this was also the reason Chen Ke chose He Zudao as the Political Commissar of the Second Company. The Insurance Corps now had two regular companies, and two other companies were also being formed. Although Chen Ke was the commander-in-chief, there were too many local affairs now, and Chen Ke couldn't focus all his energy on the army. So, the combination of one civil and one military official was considered the best way at this stage.

He Zudao was currently unaware of Chen Ke's plan. In the future army building plan, Chen Ke decided to imitate the historical path of the Red Army, where political commissars would be selected from military cadres. In the system where "the Party commands the gun," the political commissar is the Party representative, not some supervising army overseer. If one must force a management explanation, the military commander of the army is equivalent to a CEO or manager role, acting as an executor rather than a director. The Party organization is the Board of Directors; it is the Party organization that decides the army's actions, not the officer corps. This is also the biggest difference between a socialist army and a national defense army. Therefore, political commissars, who hold a status equivalent to "directors" in an enterprise, are best drawn from military cadres. Historically, political commissars' attainments in military command were often superior to military cadres, whether in the Red Army, the later Eighth Route Army, or the People's Liberation Army. Military cadres did not dare to violate the political commissar's orders, not only because of their obedience to the Party organization but also because the political commissars' opinions were correct most of the time and considered from a more comprehensive angle.

Of course, these future plans would definitely not be revealed now. This was limited by reality. For example, if Chai Qingguo knew Chen Ke's plan, he would absolutely not think Chen Ke had "long-term vision." On the contrary, Chai Qingguo would think Chen Ke was deliberately plotting to undermine these officers.

Based on this situation, He Zudao naturally couldn't know these things either. Of course, He Zudao didn't have the intention to delve into it. Becoming the Political Commissar of the Second Company of the "Insurance Corps" was a wonderful process. The reason He Zudao joined the People's Party was not so much that he had a passion for revolution, but rather that he felt gratitude and loyalty to Chen Ke himself. He Zudao's parents had died early, and he lived with his older brother. Although his family background was neither good nor bad, He Zudao attended middle school in a church school. According to the lifestyle of this era, He Zudao's future would be to start as an accounting apprentice in a certain trade, then slowly become a shopkeeper, and if he had money, perhaps open a shop himself later. That was the visible future.

Therefore, regarding such a completely unknown future, He Zudao's freedom was merely to follow that industry. So whatever his savior Chen Ke ordered him to do, he did. Moreover, deep in He Zudao's heart, there was another reason for following the People's Party's actions that could not be spoken aloud. Emotionally speaking, He Zudao had an indescribably deep admiration for "Sister You Gou," who also participated in saving him. After every hard work, as long as he could see "Sister You Gou's" smiling face, He Zudao would smile from the bottom of his heart.

Perhaps it was this insufficiently strong mentality that made He Zudao never look down on anyone, never showing any contempt for the soldiers who exerted their strength. After all, they, like He Zudao, had to obey the leadership of the Party organization. What He Zudao had to do was to explain the organization's decisions to everyone and report everyone's thoughts to the Party organization. Then just work hard together with these grassroots comrades.

These things were not difficult for He Zudao. Through his identity as a cultural instructor, He Zudao had already been accepted by these comrades who had little education. He Zudao believed his own merit lay in being "obedient." With Chen Ke and "Sister You Gou" pointing the direction, the specific hard work, in this child's view, was not something terribly difficult.

Rowing was very tiring, and singing had a good effect on mobilizing everyone's emotions. This was what Chen Ke taught He Zudao, and it had been completely proven in these days. After singing *Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention*, seeing that everyone was motivated, He Zudao stopped. *The Internationale* was a very good song, but Chen Ke did not advocate singing it every time. According to Chen Ke, "The main task now is to let everyone find a place to settle down and get on with their lives in our Insurance Corps, to let them feel that we speak and act for the poor. You have to try to grasp the balance in between. As for rising up to oppose landlords and clan forces, you have to let these comrades ask for it themselves. Blind agitation is not necessarily good."

Recalling these words, He Zudao held back the idea of leading this song. He shouted loudly according to the method Chen Ke taught: "Comrades, do you have confidence in reaching the dock today?"

Except for a few old boatmen leading the way, everyone on the boat was troops of the People's Party Insurance Corps. Everyone was not a sailor by origin, although under the Party's command, all comrades had exercised their abilities in the flood, strengthened their obedience, and were competent for sailor work. However, staying on the boat for a long time was still not very adaptable. Hearing He Zudao's shout, everyone felt it spoke to their hearts.

"Yes!" almost everyone shouted.

"Waiting for the shore to come to us is definitely impossible. If we want to reach the dock earlier, if we want to transport this grain back earlier for the fellow villagers to eat, we have to work harder!"

"Good!" the comrades responded again.

He Zudao shouted chants, and the rowing speed increased a lot. Everyone pulled the oars more vigorously. Their own relatives were still waiting in their hometowns for this life-saving grain to be transported back; such a call made everyone full of drive. A red triangular flag was raised on the first boat, flying below other triangular flags already raised. This combination meant the rowing speed increased from five strokes per minute to six. One after another, the same flag was raised on all boats, and the fleet speed immediately improved significantly.

At dusk, the fleet finally arrived at the dock. Another red flag with a sickle and hammer was held high on the dock; that was the First Company waiting there. The Commander of the First Company was Hua Xiongmao, and the Political Commissar was Xu Dian. This combination of a military degree holder (*Wujuren*) and a Japanese law student made Chai Qingguo dislike it very much. But there was no helping it; the People's Party members had quite high academic qualifications. For example, among the four platoon commanders of the Second Company, three were undergraduates. Among them, the Second Platoon Commander was the Japanese student Kuroshima Jinichiro. A Chinese army actually having a soldier of Japanese nationality was estimated to be a first in the Chinese armies of this era.

As soon as the boats docked, unloading began immediately. Soldiers unloaded the materials on the boats under the leadership of the cadres. Those who came to welcome them included not only the First Company but also Magistrate Party member Shang Yuan and many comrades from the county yamen. Seeing Shang Yuan walking over quickly, Chai Qingguo saluted Shang Yuan with a formal hand salute. Nominally, this Insurance Corps belonged to the county's team. As Chai Qingguo's superior, Shang Yuan was qualified to accept Chai Qingguo's salute. When Chai Qingguo put down his right arm, Shang Yuan had already taken a step forward and extended his right hand first. The hands of two People's Party cadres shook together.

Chen Ke required that Manchu Qing etiquette not be used among People's Party comrades during activities in Fengtai County. Kneeling and bowing were all abolished. Soldiers used military salutes, and civil cadres used handshakes. In the plan, formally declaring war on the Manchu Qing was only a matter of a year or two. There was no need for our own comrades to adopt kneeling etiquette to deceive others; that would leave a knot in their hearts. If an equal model couldn't be adopted now, it would have a very bad influence on the future of Shang Yuan and others.

"Comrades have worked hard." Shang Yuan's expression and voice were always serious and earnest. Unexpectedly, such an attitude made everyone feel not annoying.

"The grain has been transported; Comrade Shang Yuan, please check and accept it." Chai Qingguo also said very seriously. Chai Qingguo had no good feelings for Manchu Qing officials. But since Shang Yuan spoke to him with enthusiasm and seriousness, this equality and respect still made Chai Qingguo very comfortable.

Following Shang Yuan were some local gentry. Seeing Chai Qingguo and Shang Yuan adopting such strange etiquette with each other, they didn't understand. However, Shang Yuan's meaning was naturally clear to this group of people: this was making it clear to everyone that the status of the "Insurance Corps" was publicly acknowledged by Magistrate Shang Yuan, the "Marquis of a Hundred Li." Moreover, Chai Qingguo brought urgently needed materials. This point alone greatly raised Chai Qingguo's status in their hearts. So they also greeted Chai Qingguo with smiling faces and the etiquette of cupping hands (*Gongshou*). Being complimented like this by these gentry who were usually high above, Chai Qingguo felt quite happy in his heart.

Several clerks of People's Party origin began to count the materials and register them. Shang Yuan waited for the results personally at the dock. It was truly "many hands make light work"; hundreds of people from the First and Second Companies quickly moved the materials off the boats. They helped the civil affairs department count and register the materials. Before it got dark, the materials had been loaded onto carts and transported towards the warehouse under the escort of the First Company.

"Comrades, start cleaning the dock and scrubbing the decks now," He Zudao shouted.

This was the rule of the People's Party: after using public places, they must be cleaned. And requisitioned boats must also be cleaned immediately after use. It wasn't that Chen Ke didn't plan to form a navy. Anyone with a bit of modern knowledge knew how strict the rules of the navy were, so Chen Ke set such regulations.

Officers must take the lead in these actions of the troops. After arranging the work, He Zudao took Chai Qingguo, grabbed tools, jumped onto the first boat, and began to sweep and wipe lightly. Since the officers had started working, the soldiers of the Second Company no longer refused. In such an atmosphere, being lazy would be despised by everyone rather than supported.

He Zudao finished cleaning the boat he was responsible for and checked the cleaning of other boats. Only then did he leave one platoon to guard the boats, while other troops temporarily returned to the temporary station near Fengtai County.

"The water has receded quite a bit."

"Yeah, last time we cleaned the dock, the water was level with the dock."

Soldiers discussed as they walked, "Looks like the water is going to recede. Then how do we transport things back? If the water gets lower, such big boats won't be able to run on the river, right?"

Since Fengtai County was established in the tenth year of Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (1732), the county seat and Shouzhou (present-day Shouxian) were governed in the same city. The west and south gates inside Shouzhou City belonged to the prefecture (*Zhou*), and the north gate belonged to Fengtai County. The east gate was shared by the prefecture and county. In the winter of the second year of Tongzhi (1863 AD), the county seat was moved to Xiacai, and Xiacai was renamed Fengtai, under the jurisdiction of Fengyang Prefecture.

Located in the south of the Huaibei Plain, the terrain here is low and flat, with most areas below 25 meters above sea level. The Huai River, West Fei River, Yongxing River, Cihuai New River, etc., pass through the territory. Lakes include Jiaogang Lake, Chengbei Lake, Huajia Lake, Jigou Lake, etc. It borders Huaiyuan to the east, Yingshang to the west, Mengcheng to the north, Shouzhou to the south, and Fuyang to the northwest. The width from east to west is 60 kilometers, and the length from north to south is 90 kilometers. The distances between county towns are: 75 kilometers to Dingyuan, 60 kilometers to Yingshang, 15 kilometers to Shouzhou, 120 kilometers to Fuyang, and 75 kilometers to Mengcheng.

The rivers within Fengtai County were not very suitable for navigation. However, during the flood, the depth and width of the river channels increased a lot. Under such conditions, large black-awning boats could sail in here. The comrades' homes were basically local, and transporting materials and grain was to save their families' lives. If not for such a reason, the soldiers wouldn't have worked so hard or cared so much. Anhui had always been prone to disasters, especially floods. The soldiers all had experiences with floods of various sizes. So they were particularly concerned about grain transportation.

"Political Commissar, are we going to transport grain again tomorrow?" A soldier finally plucked up the courage to ask.

"If we leave tomorrow, can everyone's body take it?" He Zudao asked.

Hearing He Zudao's concerned question, the soldier quickly answered: "Absolutely no problem. We can sleep well and rest well on the boat. If we hurry on the way back, I estimate we can transport a bit more back."

The Insurance Corps had transported grain and materials back once already. That time they sailed in the rain, and everyone was exhausted along the way. But after joining the Insurance Corps, the families of these soldiers could eat in the "canteen" organized by the People's Party and would also be assigned some work. In this flood time, this was a life-saving job. If not for such treatment, so many people wouldn't have joined the "Insurance Corps" so enthusiastically.

"Everyone should go home and see your parents anyway. We've been out for quite a few days; everyone go back and say hello first," He Zudao laughed. This answer was formulated in the various question-answering standards drafted by the People's Party Headquarters. Work must have a unified voice; He Zudao himself did not have the power to decide how to mobilize the troops.

"That's true." The soldier nodded in agreement, but obviously didn't have the excited and happy look other soldiers had after hearing this. His face looked very troubled, and his hesitant expression let He Zudao see this soldier's worries. It seemed there must be something inconvenient to say in public. He Zudao silently made a note of this soldier in his heart. The Political Commissar's job was to communicate, and to communicate with skill. When they arrived at the temporary station, it was necessary to communicate privately with this soldier.