The advantage of a public power organ lies in being able to distinguish the masses and mobilize different social strata according to its own purpose. Although Chen Ke talked a lot about "people's revolution," his self-perception was not that of a "leftist." Chen Ke knew he wasn't a person with a broad mind like the Chairman. For the Chairman, contradiction and struggle were a norm; through contradiction and struggle, society progressed in a spiral. Chen Ke admired such a broad mind and endless enterprising spirit with the utmost reverence. It was precisely because the Chairman dared to pioneer and innovate like this that he could push China to that height, sweeping away all social chronic illnesses and clearing the dark clouds that obscured the people's hearts and minds.

Chen Ke knew he couldn't reach this level, and he also thought he understood why he couldn't. This wasn't a difference in ability; it was a difference in mind.

Of course, this was also a historical reason. For the Chairman, history was the future, an era that needed to be pioneered. But for a time traveler, at least for Chen Ke, a history apprentice, unless he could make China reach the national strength and height of the second decade of the 21st century in his lifetime, everything he faced was merely the "past," not the "future."

Precisely because of such a mentality, Chen Ke knew he should mobilize the masses to hold a struggle session, but the result of his interest judgment was—if mobilizing the masses didn't achieve the effect, then not launching more intense actions like struggle sessions was acceptable. At least the upcoming disaster relief movement itself was the best means to mobilize the masses. This kind of science student mentality of the industrial age, this mentality of absolutely not being moved by the superficial grandeur of revolutionary movements—Chen Ke really didn't know if it was right or wrong.

After two diversions, the original five or six hundred people in the fortified village now only numbered one hundred fifty or sixty. They gathered together, trembling a bit, completely unaware of how those people outside holding knives and guns would treat them.

Even Chen Ke wasn't sure if his next actions were right or wrong, and other comrades knew even less. The cadres surrounded Chen Ke, while the soldiers surrounded the common people in battle array. But everyone, even while staring at those trembling common people, didn't miss a single movement of Chen Ke.

Chen Ke strode up to the masses. His figure of more than 1.8 meters looked so tall at this time. Although he had been through a battle, Chen Ke showed no fatigue or slackness. His movements were coordinated, powerful, and natural. "Who are the Zhang family members? Please come out yourselves. We are all fellow villagers; it would be very undignified if we have to drag people out," Chen Ke said calmly. There was irrefutable boldness in his tone.

The common people didn't know who Chen Ke was, but just seeing his demeanor, they knew Chen Ke was the one who could decide their life and death. No one dared to come out. Everyone shrank inward one by one; women clung to men, children hugged their mothers tightly, as if Chen Ke were a fierce beast.

"Company Commander Hua, Company Commander Chai, have the comrades grab them two against one and line them up in a row. Political Commissar He, let the comrades from Yuezhangji identify them one by one. Pick out Zhang Youliang's family members. Put the others in another pile." Chen Ke didn't expect to be able to persuade these people. Since the People's Party already possessed absolute superiority in numbers, Chen Ke had no hesitation in using violence.

The soldiers obeyed the order. Two people grabbing one was naturally relatively easy. Under Hua Xiongmao's command, soldiers began to forcibly drag the people out. The crowd began to tighten like a school of fish attacked by a shark. Whenever two soldiers rushed forward to drag a person out, the others shrank back as much as possible on one hand, and on the other hand, tried to hold onto the person being dragged, preventing this person from being forcibly pulled out of the circle by the soldiers. Women's crying and screaming, men's pleading and roaring immediately rang out like an explosion.

Those outsiders being taken to the lakeside heard these sounds and immediately became restless. But their left arms were tied; once the formation was disordered, the ropes pulled each other, and they were squeezed together unable to move instead. The troops guarding them were commanded by Kuroshima Jinichiro. Chen Ke had just instructed him that he could use violence to maintain the order of the team. Seeing the commotion of these people, Kuroshima first let the soldiers shout to stop it together. Obviously, the effect of shouting was not good. Kuroshima couldn't help looking at Chen Ke, only to see Chen Ke standing there steadily, neither looking this way nor showing any intention of organizing the Insurance Corps to forcibly separate the people in front of him.

Kuroshima gritted his teeth and suddenly shouted: "If you make trouble again, we'll beat you!" The soldiers were also upset by the commotion of these outsiders. Hearing Kuroshima shout, the soldiers shouted along. "Don't move! If you move again, we'll beat you." These guys from outside were really scared hearing this. Everyone was involved in the chaos; to avoid being beaten, those originally going left started going right, and those going right started going left. The chaos showed no sign of ending.

Facing such a situation, Kuroshima was even more anxious. But he couldn't restore order in a short time no matter what. He finally gritted his teeth and kicked fiercely at a guy trying to untie his left arm from the rope. He shouted while kicking, "Don't move!"

With Kuroshima taking the lead, the equally anxious soldiers also shouted "Don't move!" "No one is allowed to move!" shouting while kicking the most violently struggling people. For those out of reach of kicks, soldiers used the butts of their long spears to smash them hard. Screams of pain and wailing arose. But such violent rectification quickly had an effect. Under kicking and poking, those people temporarily stopped moving indiscriminately. The troops started from the beginning again to pull people up one by one and line them up.

During the reorganization, those guys who had secretly broken their left arms free from the ropes were quickly discovered. These people were knocked down on the spot, then tied tightly with hemp ropes. This time they weren't so polite. A long rope was knotted, looped around their necks, and then tightened. If these people tried to escape again, firstly they couldn't run away, and even if they struggled, they would only strangle themselves to death.

After the reorganization here was completed, the people on Chen Ke's side had all been forcibly separated. Soldiers from Yuezhangji began to come forward to identify people. Zhang Youliang's family members were quickly picked out; men were bound with ropes, while women and children were gathered in a pile. Others who were relatively close to the Zhang family and had always followed Zhang Youliang were separated into a pile. And those who were just not intimate with the Insurance Corps soldiers and not very intimate with the Zhang family either were separated into another pile.

At this point, all the common people were clearly separated. There were more than sixty Zhang family members, young and old, men and women. There were more than forty people closely related to the Zhang family. And there were also more than sixty people in a relatively neutral position. At this time, the neutral people breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was a fellow villager; who didn't know who did what? From this division method, the neutral people already knew they were safe. The Insurance Corps would definitely not do anything to them anymore.

And those who were usually close to the Zhang family knew things were bad, but they thought to themselves that the Insurance Corps would definitely deal with the Zhang family first, and they wouldn't be settled accounts with immediately. They all tried to stay as far away from the Zhang family pile as possible.

As for the Zhang family members, they were originally mixed in the crowd, always holding the idea that the law does not punish the majority (*safety in numbers*). Unexpectedly, in just a while, they were dragged out without a single one left. Seeing that they were surrounded by their own people, and others avoided their gaze like avoiding the plague god, fearing to have any more involvement with the Zhang family members. Around them were soldiers glaring like tigers. Now the number ratio was as high as five soldiers to one Zhang family member. Just this pressure made the Zhang family members completely despair.

Zhang Youliang could maintain calm at first, but seeing his own family members all dragged out, and other irrelevant idlers and those who always followed him separated clearly. He had never seen such means. He finally stopped being silent. Although his jaw was still dislocated, Zhang Youliang tried to shout something. His voice couldn't be heard clearly at all; the muffled voice, combined with women's crying, children's screaming, and men's wailing, really had a desolate flavor.

Now it was the end; Chen Ke could pronounce the final judgment on the Zhang family. He turned to the comrades and said: "I don't want to kill so many people. The purpose of killing is not to vent anger, but to eliminate resistance and establish a new order."

The political work commissars of the Insurance Corps all pricked up their ears to listen carefully. They had no work experience in this area. After suffering setbacks in Shanghai, although everyone said they would follow the Party organization to pioneer the Anhui revolution, comrades who had seen the strength of foreigners and the Manchu Qing government actually felt in their hearts that the enemy's power was too strong, and the difficulty of revolution in Shanghai was too great. Only in a situation dominated by their own people could the revolution flourish. And the subsequent flood in Anhui made these comrades lose their direction again. Various solutions proposed by Chen Ke could effectively turn the unfavorable into favorable. The People's Party "easily" organized such a scale of armed forces and could even gain actual control over large tracts of land. No one had the intention of opposing Chen Ke.

Those selected to engage in political work were either relatively obedient or enterprising. Regardless of which attitude, everyone hoped to learn more from Chen Ke so that they wouldn't be at a loss in future work.

Chen Ke's voice was very loud. At this moment, he didn't care if comrades other than cadres heard clearly. He didn't care if the common people could hear either. On this issue, Chen Ke had nothing to hide. His voice was very loud; except for those north of the fortified village and by the lakeside, the comrades and common people around Chen Ke could hear clearly.

"There is something wrong with this world! Why is there something wrong? After such a natural disaster, many people will die! Many people! Thousands and thousands! Is it because there isn't enough grain to eat? No, the grain we have on hand now is enough for tens of thousands of people to eat for three months. The grain produced in these three months can let tens of thousands of people live until next year's harvest! So where did the grain go? It was all taken away by landlords! It was all hidden by landlords! It was all used by landlords to feed those who sold their lives to them! Comrades, is this right?" Chen Ke roared.