Shang Yuan was never a person who got excited easily, at least not since he turned twenty-five. Even during the flood, Shang Yuan didn't feel terrified. But looking at the crowd at the porridge distribution site in the south of the city, Shang Yuan only felt a chill rushing up from his spine to his forehead.

It wasn't because of the few hundred common people on the site; Fengtai County had settled tens of thousands of common people in the "concentration camp" during the flood. Nor was it that the common people were unreasonable; the regular army of the Insurance Corps had arrived. Everyone had experience in porridge distribution, and the site was orderly. No one fought or made trouble; the common people were just queuing up to receive porridge.

What made Shang Yuan feel fearful was that new refugees kept appearing at the porridge factory, which meant Shang Yuan's worst expectation had become reality. This was no longer an accidental flow of refugees; this was the beginning of a large-scale migration of refugees.

The terribleness of floods and droughts lies not only in the time of the disaster but in the tide of refugees after the disaster. Refugees flow everywhere to "seek food" for livelihood. These refugees have a clear purpose: to find something to eat. When everyone is on the verge of starvation, they naturally do their best to survive. First begging; if begging fails, they sell their children, wives, and themselves. When even doing this cannot keep them alive, various desperate actions will erupt. Theft, robbery, even arson and murder. Thus, wherever refugees go, they will trigger various terrible man-made disasters.

Shang Yuan was not afraid of those common people who threw themselves into the river to commit suicide and were saved by the Insurance Corps and Pu Guanshui. These people had backbone anyway; they would rather commit suicide than become those roving refugees. The Insurance Corps settled them and gave them some work to do. Although these people were physically weak, at least they were grateful and sought to repay the kindness. As long as they could work, they also felt they had to be worthy of this ration, and they worked very hard. But these flowing refugees... Shang Yuan didn't have confidence in these people.

"Didn't Brigade Commander Chen come?" Shang Yuan asked Kuroshima Jin, who led the team this time.

"Brigade Commander Chen is assigning work and didn't come," Kuroshima Jin answered respectfully.

"Did he say whether he would come or not?" This was what Shang Yuan cared about most.

"This... sorry, I didn't ask," Kuroshima Jin said apologetically.

The corner of Shang Yuan's mouth twitched, but he didn't speak. Did Chen Ke not know how serious this matter was? Shang Yuan didn't even have anger anymore. In these days of revolution with Chen Ke, the two basically talked about everything. Before every action, Chen Ke would always discuss with Shang Yuan first, or at least notify the content and plan of the action. No matter how outrageous the plan looked, it always allowed people to be prepared. And Chen Ke could always put this plan into practice.

But this time, Chen Ke neither anticipated it beforehand nor started to solve it immediately after it happened. This made Shang Yuan feel very dissatisfied. More importantly, Shang Yuan could see the final result of this situation. This would be a result leading directly to a breakdown. He forcibly suppressed his emotions and put his mind on deducing the evolution of things.

It is hard to leave one's native land. Unless they have absolutely no other way, the common people will absolutely not choose to leave their homes and wander. And the movement law of refugees in disaster areas is simple. When they leave their hometowns, their bodies are already very weak, so they often can't go far. They can only go to surrounding areas where the disaster is not too heavy. Areas where the disaster is not too heavy can hardly take care of themselves; how can they have the ability to feed so many people? So refugees crush the fragile economy of areas where the disaster is not too heavy, creating new refugees. And these new refugees are physically much better than refugees in severely hit areas. They can go further. They spread to other areas. The general trend is spreading from areas with strong disasters to areas with weak disasters. Finally forming a huge wave.

Excluding refugees from severely hit areas, new refugees formed by other chain reactions are often caused not by natural disasters but by man-made disasters. The anger of the common people towards natural disasters is actually often powerless; man cannot conquer nature. What can you do even if you curse God constantly? But for refugees forced out by man-made disasters, the anger in their chests is directed at "people." So if someone raises their arm and calls, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang can appear immediately.

Having clarified this train of thought, the fear in Shang Yuan's heart became even stronger. Fengtai County was also located in the area with the heaviest disaster, and could even be said to be in the central zone of the flood. Fengtai County is densely covered with rivers and has numerous water systems. If Chen Ke hadn't led everyone to provide disaster relief, Fengtai County would have been completely destroyed in this flood.

Facing the new situation of refugees pouring into Fengtai County, how exactly did Chen Ke plan to respond? Even if Chen Ke had outstanding ability and noble character. Even if Chen Ke was a saint, Chen Ke was still human. He couldn't scatter beans to turn them into soldiers (*sa dou cheng bing*). Nor could he conjure up grain out of thin air. Refugees actually didn't know where to go. They often followed others. If Fengtai County had no grain like other places, it would be fine. But Fengtai County could still barely maintain itself now. According to the current situation, within a month, it is very likely that more than 200,000, or even more refugees would gather in Fengtai County. Refugees are not local farmers. For them, the purpose of coming to Fengtai County is to find food and survive. People will do anything to survive. This will inevitably trigger a series of fierce conflicts. For Fengtai County locals, there is no reason to let refugees eat and drink here for free. And Fengtai County doesn't have so many job opportunities to provide to refugees.

The solutions Shang Yuan could think of were nothing more than three. First, organize the Insurance Corps to use force to prevent refugees from pouring in. But refugees left their homes to survive. People dare to do anything to survive. Refugees will definitely try every means to obtain rations to survive. To survive, the common people of Fengtai County must protect their own rations. This will inevitably trigger a terrible bloody conflict between the two sides, burying terrible hatred. Shang Yuan couldn't accept such a result. He came from a big landlord family in Shangqiu, Henan. Like other landlord families, Shang Yuan began reading books from a young age, passed the exams for *Xiucai*, *Juren*, and with the operation of the whole family, finally became an official, serving as a magistrate of a place.

If there was a difference between Shang Yuan and other officials who also embarked on this path, it was only that Shang Yuan had a strong sense of responsibility. He believed he had an obligation to this country. Serving China, making China the most powerful country in the world, letting China no longer be bullied by foreign countries—this was a mission. Shang Yuan firmly believed this was his lifelong mission.

And because of self-protection in the flood, raising a butcher's knife against refugees—Shang Yuan could absolutely not do such a thing. Shang Yuan would rather die himself than do such a thing.

Then the second way was to ask for help from the prefecture city, or even the provincial capital. Let them support grain and supplies. Or guide refugees to settle in other places. But Shang Yuan knew this was also absolutely impossible to realize.

Shang Yuan's family was also considered an official family. He knew the ways of officialdom very clearly. Encountering such things, even if the superior officials sincerely hoped for disaster relief, leaving aside whether they could do such practical operation work well, most of those officials who only knew how to ingratiate themselves with superiors didn't even have the ability to make an overall plan to plan disaster relief work.

Even if a rare official with ideas and ability to command subordinate "petty clerks" appeared occasionally. The Manchu Qing itself had completely rotted. No one didn't harm the public to benefit private interests; no one didn't grab great benefits from the government. Even if they wanted to mobilize now, the prefecture city and provincial capital also didn't have supplies that could be called upon at any time. The Manchu Qing government had completely rotted. This was not a problem in a few places, but an overall corruption.

Shang Yuan was born in the late 1860s and grew up during the "Tongzhi Restoration." He once thought China could get rid of the fate of being bullied. But the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the Boxer Rebellion not only didn't rid China of the fate of being bullied, but on the contrary, it also suffered more violent invasions by foreign countries. When other intellectuals turned to hope to learn from foreign countries comprehensively, Shang Yuan took a different path.

As a believer in Confucianism, Shang Yuan also studied under a famous teacher. Although Mr. Li Hongqi was not famous, he was a true Confucian master. In Mr. Li's favorite Confucian classics, a passage from Mencius ranked extremely high. "If you love others but they are not close to you, reflect on your benevolence; if you govern others but they are not governed, reflect on your wisdom; if you treat others with propriety but they do not respond, reflect on your respect. If one fails in what one does, one should always seek the cause in oneself. If one is upright, the world will turn to him. The Book of Songs says: Always speak in accordance with the mandate of Heaven, and seek much blessing for oneself."

"If one fails in what one does, one should always seek the cause in oneself." In vernacular, it means—whenever an action does not achieve the expected effect, one should reflect and examine oneself. If one's own behavior is upright, the people of the world will naturally submit.

Saying Shang Yuan believed that China was so broken today, learning from foreign countries and trying to copy foreign experience was completely going astray. Just as the Book of Songs said, "Always speak in accordance with the mandate of Heaven, and seek much blessing for oneself." So Shang Yuan calmed down to focus on the study of Chinese traditional culture. Studying China's system, the result was that Shang Yuan was completely disappointed with the Manchu Qing.

The current system up and down was powerless against various challenges and willing to degenerate. Even if holding the ideal of saving the country and the people, in this system, being able to keep oneself clean and not act recklessly was already top-grade character.

Before meeting Chen Ke, Shang Yuan didn't even know where China's future lay exactly. Shang Yuan didn't think foreign things were suitable for China. Shang Yuan was not blindly xenophobic; on the contrary, Shang Yuan looked at foreign knowledge and culture from a critical angle. Such a serious attitude made Shang Yuan feel an extreme confusion. Where exactly was the foreign advantage? Why could they surpass China?

Until he met Chen Ke and engaged in revolution with Chen Ke in Fengtai County, Shang Yuan finally really knew what "the power of organization" was about. Although the People's Party was basically dominated by Chen Ke in the overall situation, the Insurance Corps was a complete organization after all. Not only united from top to bottom, but more importantly, the Insurance Corps did not have the class of "clerks" (*Li*). "Leading cadres" equivalent to "official status" in the Manchu Qing bureaucratic system directly engaged in the work of "petty clerks" in the Manchu Qing bureaucratic system.

Such a result was different from the situation of unclear responsibilities and overstaffing in the Manchu Qing. The Insurance Corps had strict responsibilities. Chen Ke was simply a genius in constructing the organization of the new government. Shang Yuan sometimes even suspected whether Chen Ke had worked in some government, or even held a high position. If not so, how could Chen Ke know how the "organization" should be constructed before doing things?

The bureaucratic organization of the Manchu Qing was unreliable. Even if they really had the heart, they were powerless. At least within half a year, disaster relief could basically not be carried out on a large scale. Shang Yuan knew very well that the government didn't care about the life and death of the people at all. If the rich areas around the disaster area were impacted, the government might act faster. But if Fengtai County in the center of the disaster area was impacted, I'm afraid many officials would gloat in secret. Since ancient times, refugees have spread from the disaster area to the surroundings. Now refugees gathering towards the center of the disaster area appeared; this was a situation officials could only wish for.

Even if hundreds of thousands of refugees starved to death in Fengtai County located in the center of the disaster area, or refugees and the common people of Fengtai County had a life-and-death fight and hundreds of thousands of people died. The bureaucratic system only needed to pull Shang Yuan out to "punish" him and give an explanation to the world. Anyway, they didn't need to bear any responsibility themselves. Their hearts must be blooming with laughter.

If the first two roads were blocked, then the remaining third road was what Chen Ke had emphasized countless times—People's Revolution! God is unreliable, the government is unreliable; except relying on oneself, there is absolutely no object to rely on in this world. Except revolution, Shang Yuan couldn't see a way to solve these problems.

Whether refugees or the common people of Fengtai County, everyone should live well. This has nothing to do with natural disasters. Didn't Chen Ke still maintain the basic operation of Fengtai County during the natural disaster? Didn't everyone survive arduously and can even see the hope of next year? If the system promoted by Chen Ke could be promoted to other disaster areas, the common people could be kept alive somehow.

In Party member education, Chen Ke always emphasized that revolution is not suddenly letting everyone enter a "new life," but gradually replacing the old system with a new system. Changing the world is only the final result of the revolution, not a state that can be completed suddenly. So the revolutionary road is to follow the direction pointed out by revolutionary theory and use the new system to solve the most daily things one by one. If this can't be done, don't talk about more radical revolution. Chen Ke said so to Shang Yuan, and also said so to other comrades.

In the revolutionary process, Chen Ke gradually showed the ability matching his theory. What Shang Yuan appreciated most about Chen Ke was that Chen Ke never created revolution. Revolution is the mandate of Heaven (*Tian Ming*). The power of one person is insignificant compared to the whole society. Shang Yuan believed that China's fall to such a state was because it had problems itself. The mandate of Heaven is the people's heart. Instead of clamoring all day to beat the visible foreign devils out of China, it is better to really solve China's internal problems. Although Chen Ke was a revolutionary, Chen Ke never clamored to beat away foreigners but devoted himself to liberating the Chinese common people. This was also the reason why Shang Yuan, who detested revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen extremely, would support Chen Ke.

And Chen Ke's "revolutionary journey" opened Shang Yuan's eyes even more. On the surface, Chen Ke was just trying hard to make various preparations. Gathering manpower, hoarding supplies, training cadres. Relying on the manpower and material resources in hand, he provided disaster relief when encountering a flood. While providing disaster relief, he integrated the common people of Fengtai County. After the disaster relief ended, the Insurance Corps, whose strength expanded violently, had the ability to suppress the landlords of Fengtai County and launch production self-salvation. In production self-salvation, Chen Ke had the opportunity to promote the new order he formulated in Fengtai County.

The materialist dialectics taught by Chen Ke to the comrades believed that things are dialectically unified. The world is flowing, not static. Anything is both cause and effect at the same time. While Chen Ke solved existing problems, he was also preparing for the next step. This practice was the most brilliant. Stepping on the beat of the trend of the times.

"Better to rely on oneself than on others." The common people now call to heaven but no answer, call to earth but no spirit. Natural and man-made disasters forced them ruthlessly. Since so, let's revolutionize. Since everyone wants to live, it is impossible for the common people to only kill the Fengtai people who are also in the natural disaster. If the common people know that the high-above government itself cannot save the common people at all. If the common people know that breaking the government, breaking the old system supporting the government, breaking the old system supported by the government's great benefits, can let them live. If the common people know that the old system will inevitably make them wander, live miserably, and die miserably. Shang Yuan believed that the people would follow the People's Party to revolutionize.

But as soon as this thought arose, Shang Yuan hesitated again. Asking himself, he didn't hope the revolution would turn into "rebellion." Eliminating a landlord like Zhang Youliang, Shang Yuan had no pressure in his heart. Forcing the landlords of Fengtai County, Shang Yuan, as the magistrate, could also handle it freely. At any rate, he was a local magistrate, a Marquis of a Hundred Li. On his own turf, it was naturally easy to do things.

But once the revolution was pushed outside Fengtai County, it would be a real "rebellion." Things that could originally be solved peacefully by various means must now be promoted relying on force as the background. Such war disasters, such slaughter... Shang Yuan suddenly felt he didn't have enough confidence.

Or just hold on like this first, waiting for Pu Guanshui to transport supplies in? This thought popped up immediately. But a moment later, Shang Yuan denied this idea. As the saying goes, sitting and eating will empty the mountain. Shang Yuan knew very clearly how much grain Fengtai County had. Most of the things Chen Ke asked Pu Guanshui to transport were mechanical equipment. Even if those boats all transported grain, it was still far from enough. With the efficiency of the Manchu Qing, when this disaster relief grain and money arrived in the disaster area, it would be half a year later.

Then rely on ourselves, will it work? Shang Yuan knew the situation of the People's Party and Insurance Corps extremely well. The timing of refugees entering Fengtai this time was so bad. Chen Ke had just spread out the work; the original accumulation had been exhausted, and the income had not been seen yet. Don't look at the Insurance Corps making a fuss now; actually, it was the time of greatest exhaustion. Now the Insurance Corps had two choices. First, shrink the existing stall. Strive to protect the core points. But as the saying goes, it is easy to pick up but difficult to put down. Having built such a big stall with great difficulty, it's not like you can put it down just by saying put it down. This means an overall collapse.

Thinking over and over again, Shang Yuan felt that besides crisis, it was still crisis. There was no path that could solve these problems relatively safely.

He exhaled a long breath, hoping to adjust his mood. "Wenqing, can you really come up with a solution? Can you achieve victory for sure?" Shang Yuan was very worried.

In such annoyance and anxiety, Shang Yuan suddenly remembered a sentence of Chen Ke, "A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another."