The barracks of the Insurance Corps were very large, relying on the open space near the dock, fully several dozen *mu*. The playground was naturally large enough too. Chen Ke and Chai Qingguo spoke in a place far away from others, completely without worrying about the problem of being eavesdropped.

"Qingguo, I know you are working hard. I also know you have a bellyful of complaints. This is because I didn't do enough. I should have talked more about heartfelt matters with everyone, and should have properly told everyone what our future will be like. Working with heads buried like this, everyone is definitely dissatisfied." Chen Ke's words were very sincere. This was not his politeness, but as the negotiations with landlords got closer to the goal, Chen Ke already had the assurance of initially completing the base area construction. At this time, Chen Ke finally thought he could talk to the comrades about how exactly the real revolution should go.

Chai Qingguo had a headache as soon as he heard about meetings. The People's Party had really too many meetings: arranging work, summarizing work, mobilizing the masses, boosting morale; meetings were held for every fart-sized matter. If it was just assigning tasks, it would be fine. The most uncomfortable thing was political study, purely talking about things that sounded reasonable but went completely out of shape when actually done. Those repetitive words set one trap after another, making people feel confused and dizzy.

"Wenqing, instead of holding meetings, it would be better to add some meat for everyone to eat. By the way, our pig farm should be about ready now. Now there are complaints everywhere below; holding meetings is not as good as carrying a few pigs to the troops to eat. That's better than anything," Chai Qingguo said.

"Haha, you set your mind on the pig farm. Confess honestly, did you discuss it with Hua Xiongmao? He told me this, and you also come to say this." Chen Ke laughed loudly.

Chai Qingguo actually just said it casually. In his rebellion experience, what could boost morale most was eating meat and drinking wine. Before every battle, there must be a meal of good wine and meat. Especially those trusted backbone members had to be treated well. The People's Party and the Insurance Corps did completely the opposite. The food for Party member cadres was no different from that of soldiers. Plus it was a disaster year now, the food was clear soup and plain water, and no one had a drop of oil in their stomachs. In the past few days when there wasn't much labor, everyone could still hold on. Now suddenly starting to work hard with such high labor intensity, the soldiers' bodies really couldn't take it. Everyone was sweating profusely, and that was all void sweat (*xu han*) from weakness.

"Wenqing, during the busy farming season, landlords treat short-term laborers with wine and meat for every meal. Without wine and meat, short-term laborers won't work well for you. You can't even hire short-term laborers. The work we are doing now is busier than the busy farming season. According to the soldiers, this is using people to death. This is because everyone considers that you have the grace of saving lives, and considers that we let everyone have land to farm at any rate. Everyone doesn't want to leave their native land, and having land to farm is always a hope. That's why they didn't scatter. Wenqing, when I was in the countryside, I had never seen so much work done, such heavy work done. To be honest, I have never seen so many people doing such heavy work together." Chai Qingguo just went on talking like a gushing river. Although he originally wanted to tell Chen Ke that he was leaving, once he started talking about work, Chai Qingguo couldn't help opening his chatterbox. The bitterness and tiredness of these days, and various difficulties encountered in work, made it hard for him to let go without pouring them out. As for whether Chen Ke would criticize and educate him upon hearing everyone complaining about bitterness and tiredness like before, Chai Qingguo didn't care at all anymore. At worst Chen Ke would drive him away; Chai Qingguo definitely had to pour out his bellyful of bitterness.

Chen Ke didn't get angry; he listened with a very grave expression. Chai Qingguo talked about soldiers rolling in muddy water like mud monkeys one by one, with the sun scorching above and water vapor steaming below. Physically weak soldiers fainted in the muddy water while working. Some accidentally fell on wooden sticks in the water and poked holes in their bodies. Hearing this, Chen Ke's face was grave, and he sighed.

Seeing Chen Ke moved, Chai Qingguo's momentum became even more vigorous. He gesticulated and said loudly: "Wenqing, the soil in the south is different from our soil in the north; it's much stickier. Once soaked thoroughly, you can't dig a big piece with one shovel. The people in the Engineering Section are all fucking messing around blindly. One person digging a three-meter-long ditch a day. One point five meters deep, one meter wide; one person digging one point five meters long a day would be good enough. Do you know how many hoes we break a day? Other comrades work very hard, but how much more can they do just by taking the lead? Everyone being able to work for these few days is just talk. They are still working, which is already loyal enough. Going on like this, working for another five days, there will definitely be a mutiny. Moreover, not only that, some Party members and cadres actually play the game of being sick. Who the fuck set the rule? Being sick allows not working. Several old platoon leaders actually said they were sick and wanted to ask for leave. I told them right then, go work for me unless you die there. This kind of thing cannot start. Is there any rule left!"

Hearing this, a kind of vigilance arose in Chen Ke's heart, but there was no change on his face. Actually, when formulating the plan, Chen Ke had already calculated this longest labor time. What was needed now was to complete the hardest and most tiring work in the short term, which was the drainage project. As long as drainage could be accelerated, other work wouldn't be so tiring instead. But the problem raised by Chai Qingguo sounded an alarm for Chen Ke. Although Chen Ke carefully calculated the people's enthusiasm for production self-salvation, he really didn't expect that the lethality of such high-intensity labor to labor enthusiasm was so powerful.

Thinking of this, taking advantage of the moment when Chai Qingguo was slightly tired from speaking and paused temporarily, Chen Ke interrupted, "Qingguo, you are really working hard. I salute you."

After speaking, Chen Ke stood at attention and seriously gave a military salute to Chai Qingguo. The People's Party naturally couldn't have any kowtowing ceremony, nor any greeting of bowing with hands clasped. The military salute was the most formal courtesy military cadres could perform. People's Party members now accounted for more than half of the army, and everyone knew the meaning of the military salute. Although he had a bellyful of complaints, felt he was wronged, and his authority was despised and trampled by many small fry, and even had the thought of leaving, seeing Chen Ke, a leader with status above him, seriously saluting him, Chai Qingguo couldn't help but feel a kind of emotion.

After putting down his arm, Chen Ke said sincerely to Chai Qingguo: "Qingguo, you have to know, I have high expectations for you. In our Party, you are truly from a commoner background and know best what the common people want. I am very happy that you came to tell me this this time. I want you to go back and do something. Go back and tell the comrades that a labor comforting (*lao jun*) visit will be arranged tomorrow. We will carry a few pigs over. Within two days, I will also personally go over to work with everyone. Not just for show, but I will work with everyone, eat together, and live together. However much work the comrades do, I will do just as much. Finally, I will also give everyone an explanation of why everyone has been so hard these days, and what everyone will get after being so hard. You have to handle this matter for me."

After a bout of venting, the stifling air in Chai Qingguo's chest finally dissipated a lot. Chen Ke's words gave Chai Qingguo a promise again. The thought of wanting to leave originally had long flown to the nine heavens. "Then you have to be quick, Wenqing. With the current appearance, it can't last for a few days."

"I know. I won't let everyone down," Chen Ke answered seriously.

"Then I'll go first," Chai Qingguo said.

"Is the pass issued?" Chen Ke asked.

"Issued."

"One more thing, write down the names of those few cadres who wanted to ask for sick leave for me," Chen Ke said coldly.

"Uh!" Chai Qingguo didn't expect Chen Ke to care so much about the thing he said in a moment of indignation. This was backstabbing (*shang yan yao*), which belonged to things that could be done but not said in the *Jianghu*. The People's Party had strict rules; these people would definitely not have any good results. If people knew he did it, his reputation would be ruined. "Those people are really a bit sick, and I also scolded them, and they are continuing to work too. Let this matter drop."

Chen Ke thought for a while, then nodded and said: "Alright. Let's leave this matter like this for now. As a regiment-level cadre, you must make sure to pay attention to the comrades' hygiene situation. Don't drink dirty water, don't urinate or defecate anywhere, and must wash hands before meals."

"I know all this. Platoon leaders and squad leaders have to recite this set of rules every day when they get up. They manage it very strictly."

"Okay, your work is busy, so go back quickly. I'll go arrange these things now." Chen Ke stretched out his hand to Chai Qingguo after speaking. The two palms shook, and Chai Qingguo couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

"The blisters on your hand hurt, right," Chen Ke laughed.

"No, these blisters are nothing," Chai Qingguo also laughed.

"After these blisters rise two more layers, there won't be blisters anymore. I will immediately go to raise blisters and grind blisters with everyone. Don't worry, as the Brigade Commander, since everyone has become blister soldiers, I have to get blisters on my hands too."

"Sigh!" If someone else said this, Chai Qingguo would just listen to it as a joke. But Chen Ke always did what he said. Although Chai Qingguo felt it wasn't anything amazing, he still felt somewhat comfortable in his heart.

After the two said goodbye, Chen Ke didn't go back to the conference room directly. He paced slowly in the barracks. Chen Ke really didn't know if the things Chai Qingguo said were good or bad. Chen Ke had no rural life experience; he could only distinguish wheat seedlings from leeks. He knew what daily vegetables looked like, whether they grew on vines or underground. Rural work was really not Chen Ke's strong suit. Fortunately, most of the People's Party backbone had the experience of going to the countryside for social investigation last year. Without that preparation, the team would probably have collapsed by itself by now.

How serious was the situation exactly? Chen Ke was very worried. Recently he had been engaged in military and political matters all along. It had been at least half a month since the last time he comforted military dependents and common people. Moreover, in this place of Anhui, Fengyang Flower Drum was very popular; even ordinary people could sing a few segments. Chen Ke didn't think the "pop songs" of the 21st century had any attraction to the common people, so he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

Revolution is not playing games. In the beginning, you can practice "micromanagement." Workers and farmers in the game won't have any emotions; they do as much work as the food given. But there won't be such good things in reality. Thinking of this, Chen Ke suddenly remembered one more thing. Why did Chai Qingguo suddenly run over to say these things? These were indeed problems, but other comrades didn't say them; why was it Chai Qingguo who came to say them? behind these words Chai Qingguo said, what kind of situation was it exactly?

Chen Ke absolutely didn't believe he had any "Tyrant's Aura" (*Wang Ba Zhi Qi*) that could make everyone prostrate themselves as soon as he opened his mouth, and then abandon everything to risk their lives for the revolution. Moreover, his own concept was purely a castle in the air. How to combine this concept with this era required Chen Ke to conform to the era of 1906, not let this era conform to Chen Ke's command. So even now, Chen Ke didn't dare to popularize his true concept in the whole Party. History is a big river; a person can only conform to the torrent of this history, and cannot move against history. Chen Ke was in Fengtai County now to use the existing situation to create a "water flow" in this county, letting everyone be pushed by this thin stream.

Human biological instinct is self-interested. If there is any altruistic behavior in sociality, it is the result of the game of social interests. Take Chen Ke as an example; the initial reason he believed in communism was merely that materialist philosophy made Chen Ke feel able to realize the liberation of his inner self. Not that he had any passion and love for communism itself.

Thinking of this, he already somewhat understood the purpose of Chai Qingguo's trip. Arduous work weakened not only the emotions of the common people and soldiers but also weakened the cohesion within the Party. Regardless of the purpose, the Party members' initial concept was to come for revolution, not to suffer. They hoped to realize their life value through revolutionary practice. In this sense, Chen Ke was the "most revolutionary" person in the People's Party, or even the entire China. Others' revolution was merely out of dissatisfaction with a certain part of China in 1906, or out of expectation for a certain visible future. And Chen Ke's thought was a total negation of 1906 China, and the "future" Chen Ke could see was far away in a hundred years later.

Having figured this out, Chen Ke sighed and said to himself: "I am still detached from the masses. I thought everyone could endure the hardship of a few dozen days; now it looks completely not the case."

After speaking to himself, Chen Ke could only smile bitterly. Soon he freed himself from this self-criticism and turned his thoughts to a more practical operational level.

While considering, he heard someone shouting behind him: "Mr. Chen, what are you thinking about?"

Chen Ke turned his head to look, and it was Hu Xingzhi walking over quite freely and easily. Looking at the conference room, it was obviously a temporary recess to let everyone rest a while. The landlords either sat in their seats in the room, went to the toilet, or walked out in twos and threes to gather together and talk in low voices.