"I do not agree with the plan to adjust personnel," He Zudao said calmly to Chai Qingguo.

If someone else said this, Chai Qingguo might feel that person was deliberately opposing him, but since it was He Zudao who said this, Chai Qingguo didn't even have this thought.

"Why?" Chai Qingguo asked.

"Because this selection method selects soldiers you think are good at fighting, not soldiers who can really fight. So I cannot agree."

"Then what do you mean, Commissar He?" Chai Qingguo couldn't figure out He Zudao's thoughts.

"My idea is simple. I want to suggest to Brigade Commander Chen to let you, Qingguo, serve as the Commander of the Second Regiment." When He Zudao said this, his attitude was calm. Chai Qingguo just wondered if he heard wrong. Sure enough, He Zudao continued: "I will apply to become the Political Commissar of the Second Regiment. If there is any difference between the Second Regiment and the First Regiment, it is that the Second Regiment has a short formation time and short working time. Weakening the Second Regiment now, it would be better to simply disband the Second Regiment. Since there is no plan to disband the Second Regiment, we need to improve the quality and ability of the Second Regiment as soon as possible."

"We are going to fight soon?" Chai Qingguo didn't understand He Zudao's roundabout approach. Isn't it good to organize a powerful field army directly? It would take at least half a year for the Second Regiment to finish training. The infrastructure work of the Second Regiment in this half year was equally heavy. Fighting while farming, even an iron man probably couldn't stand it.

He Zudao also didn't understand Chai Qingguo's thoughts. He asked strangely, "Deputy Regiment Commander Chai, can't the Second Regiment handle fighting a few bandits?"

"Fighting bandits is definitely no problem, but we have to fight the Imperial Court's army in the future. The New Army is not so easy to fight," Chai Qingguo answered.

He Zudao's answer was straightforward, "The Anhui New Army is not the Beiyang New Army, and our Insurance Corps is not the Yihetuan (Boxers). What's hard to fight or not?"

Chai Qingguo wanted to say something but couldn't say it out. He Zudao's words were correct; the Anhui New Army couldn't compare with the Beiyang New Army no matter what, and the Boxers absolutely couldn't compare with the Insurance Corps. But Chai Qingguo always felt something was wrong, yet he couldn't point out the problem. He could only look like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

He Zudao didn't mean to make things difficult for Chai Qingguo. Seeing Chai Qingguo blushing and unable to speak, He Zudao, as the Political Commissar, felt it necessary to come out and clarify some things. "Deputy Regiment Commander Chai, we want to stand firm in this Fengtai County. What is the most important thing? It is to let the common people know and support that our People's Party is the leader of this Fengtai County. Reasonably speaking, as long as we preside over land distribution in Fengtai County, we can get the support of the common people. But we also have to wait until this wave of grain is grown before we can build water conservancy facilities on a large scale. Then what do we rely on to maintain the current situation now?"

Chai Qingguo's research on the revolutionary theory of the People's Party was not too deep. In his understanding, what was repeatedly emphasized at the People's Party meetings were two things, "Distribute land, engage in water conservancy construction." For such policies, Chai Qingguo really didn't have much feeling. Like ordinary common people, Chai Qingguo thought the time for these policies was too long. And the disaster relief policy currently executed by the People's Party, Chai Qingguo thought was also a thankless task.

Using the grain transported with great difficulty to relieve the common people could only ensure the common people didn't starve to death. And if the common people were not full, they naturally would curse. after Chen Ke personally came down to hold the line, especially after the Soldiers' Committee operated, complaints were fewer, but these complaints were all made public. Distributing land and building water conservancy thoroughly became a promise.

As a man of the *Jianghu*, Chai Qingguo knew the meaning of a promise. He also knew the importance of a promise. For such a big thing as distributing land, brothers in the *Jianghu* would absolutely dare not promise. This was a matter concerning human lives; brothers in the *Jianghu* would definitely push it away if they could. Even if they really promised, they would absolutely not really honor it afterwards.

But the People's Party not only dared to promise but also dared to make a promise to tens of thousands of common people. Chai Qingguo didn't believe this kind of thing himself, and he also knew that the tens of thousands of common people in Fengtai County actually didn't believe it either. If they weren't eating and drinking from the People's Party now, they would probably have turned the sky upside down long ago.

"Commissar He, let's not talk about these empty things. Getting rid of those bastards who collude inside and outside is the real thing. At least kill a batch, and the common people will know the severity. Otherwise, they really don't know Lord Ma has three eyes (don't know who they are messing with)." If it were in the past, Chai Qingguo would inevitably say these words fiercely and murderously. Now, Chai Qingguo said it really plain like water. Not that he lost interest in killing people. Eliminating bandits and hanging their heads on flagpoles for public display was originally a very effective means of establishing prestige. The problem was that the People's Party proposed a policy like land distribution. In comparison, the effect of killing people to establish prestige was simply insufficient to salvage the loss of breaking a promise.

He Zudao had never mixed in the *Jianghu* and really didn't quite understand the thoughts of *Jianghu* heroes, but he could absolutely detect such a sense of incongruity from Chai Qingguo, "Deputy Regiment Commander Chai, we are all revolutionary comrades; can you speak your true feelings? What exactly is the reason for you doing this?"

Chai Qingguo was much older than He Zudao and had experienced more things. Hearing He Zudao speak like this, he felt He Zudao was really too tender. But they were grasshoppers on the same rope after all. If he didn't explain clearly to He Zudao now, and He Zudao stuck to his guns, Chai Qingguo's plan couldn't be promoted at all. Gritting his teeth, Chai Qingguo spoke his heart.

"Commissar He, do you really think the matter of land distribution can succeed?"

"Of course."

For He Zudao's persistence, Chai Qingguo was no longer angry. He laughed: "Then don't you think about how many things can be triggered when distributing land? Even if we build water conservancy with our heads buried in the ground and distribute the land, the common people won't appreciate our kindness. How many lawsuits will there be then; don't you think about it?"

He Zudao didn't understand Chai Qingguo's thoughts either. He asked strangely: "When distributing land, if the common people come to us to fight lawsuits, doesn't it prove that the common people think we are people who can handle lawsuits? Isn't our Insurance Corps the people in charge of Fengtai? What's wrong with this? Could it be that the common people fight lawsuits and go to the Manchu Qing yamen?"

"Even if you become the yamen, you have to have your own iron-core supporters (*tie gan*), right?" Chai Qingguo felt He Zudao's childishness was outrageous.

He Zudao thought Chai Qingguo's consciousness was too low, "We are the people's army, the sons and brothers of the common people; what iron-core or not iron-core? Now the people don't believe us; we have to make the common people believe us through work. If we organize a pile of thugs now, what's the difference between us and Zhang Youliang?"

These words were fair and square. Chai Qingguo couldn't refute at all, but he was not convinced at all. "I can't beat you in reasoning, but if you say the common people don't think about getting more for themselves, I don't believe this evil. You say Wenqing doesn't want to gain for himself, I believe. You, Commissar He, don't want to gain for yourself, I believe. You say the common people don't want to gain more for themselves, beat me to death and I won't believe it."

Hearing Chai Qingguo's words, He Zudao already understood Chai Qingguo's true thoughts, "No one wants the knife handle (*dao ba zi*) to fall into others' hands. This is correct. If the knife handle is given to others, that is called holding the sword by the blade (*Tai A Dao Chi*), handing the handle to others..."

Chai Qingguo interrupted He Zudao's words grumpily, "I haven't read books; don't speak these bookish words to me."

He Zudao also got a bit angry. His expression became serious, "Deputy Regiment Commander Chai, how hard is the work done by the soldiers in our Insurance Corps now? You know it. If the common people really don't believe us, don't believe that we will really distribute land in the future and let everyone have irrigated land, without hope for the future, on what basis do the soldiers work so hard? Deputy Regiment Commander Chai, you get a pile of thugs now; you dare to use these thugs to scare the common people and try. The Insurance Corps will scatter immediately. If you don't use these thugs, use these so-called iron-core supporters to scare the common people, then it's better not to organize them. Whether they can fight or not, pull them out to fight and we'll know. Train well and prepare before fighting; this is better than anything."

Speaking of theory, Chai Qingguo was really not He Zudao's opponent, but Chai Qingguo didn't quite trust the attitude of the common people. This was the deep impression left on Chai Qingguo during the Yihetuan Movement. Although Chai Qingguo once felt Chen Ke's people's revolution had "great prospects," in actual operation he found that the people's revolution actually meant "officials" like them had to make so many sacrifices to the common people, getting nothing but hardship and labor for themselves. Chai Qingguo even wondered if Chen Ke was bluffing when he was in Beijing.

The meeting broke up in discord. Beyond Chai Qingguo's expectation, He Zudao actually really went to Chen Ke, requesting himself to serve as the Political Commissar of the Second Regiment, and suggested Chai Qingguo serve as the Commander of the Second Regiment. Chen Ke certainly agreed to He Zudao serving as the Second Regiment Political Commissar, but somewhat disagreed with Chai Qingguo's appointment. But now was the stage of letting comrades work freely after all. With He Zudao's prestige, Chai Qingguo might not dare to confront publicly now.

The Military Commission held a meeting. The discussion result was letting He Zudao serve as the Political Commissar of the Second Regiment and Chai Qingguo serve as the Acting Commander of the Second Regiment. The first task Acting Commander Chai Qingguo received was to rectify public order and quell banditry.

He Zudao was worthy of being Chen Ke's student. After serving as the Political Commissar of the Second Regiment, He Zudao immediately began to attend the soldiers' life meetings of the Second Regiment. On the first day of taking office, attending the soldiers' life meeting of the First Company of the First Battalion, he proposed the task straightforwardly, "Comrades, recently there have been more and more theft incidents against the Insurance Corps grain depot. The organization has made a decision to rectify public order. The comrades of the troops, besides daily work, also have to be responsible for security work recently. Knock out these bandits."

Chai Qingguo knew he couldn't do political work, so he simply followed He Zudao to attend the meeting. Hearing He Zudao say this, Chai Qingguo only felt a burst of pain in the balls. The theft gang was clearly done by people in other "Reclamation Brigades." The "Reclamation Brigades" were bluntly refugee camps. The Insurance Corps operated in the Reclamation Brigades through food distribution. Now the main work was construction targeting the core troop, the First Regiment of the 359th Brigade. He Zudao wanting to develop the work of the Second Regiment was risking his life in itself.

The proportion of new recruits in the Second Regiment was as high as 95%. Although discipline was passable, Chai Qingguo firmly believed that these soldiers who had enlisted for less than a month definitely supported locals more than the People's Party. To be honest, Chai Qingguo was really somewhat surprised that the Second Regiment could maintain discipline and persist in the work of building water conservancy. If it were that gang of brothers from the Yihetuan, they would have rebelled several times already.

Sure enough, as Chai Qingguo thought, there was not much enthusiasm in the soldiers' expressions. Although surprised, they were not unexpected.

"These people coming to steal things may not necessarily have reached the point of starving to death. However, every time they come to steal things, they damage a lot of crops. Just after these crops grow up, how much more grain can be produced? I don't know how our Fengtai County common people dealt with this kind of person when caught before, so I want to ask everyone."

The soldiers were speechless at first, but someone sighed first.

"Everyone say whatever you have; say whatever views you have on this matter," He Zudao asked.

Still no one spoke.

"I know everyone is fellow villagers; everyone feels they can't save face. But have you thought about it? The grain in this granary is for the common people to eat. Everyone is starving like this now; how can we withstand such tossing again? They have already ruined so much grain now. How much grain ruined now means how much less grain everyone will eat in winter. If it were a bumper year, I wouldn't say anything. Now it is a disaster year; we cannot let them continue to harm everyone like this."

The soldiers still refused to speak.

He Zudao was not discouraged, "Comrades, everyone knows the rules of our Insurance Corps. Say boldly if you have anything. We don't engage in settling accounts after autumn (*qiu hou suan zhang*)."

After a good while, a soldier said: "Commissar He, if we catch people, how do we plan to deal with them?"

"We don't want to deal with these people now; we want to protect the grain now." He Zudao gave an answer that was not an answer.

The atmosphere of the venue was quite heavy. Finally, a soldier who looked over forty years old said: "Commissar He, let alone a disaster year, even in a bumper year, if someone ruins grain like this, catching them means a fierce beating. In a disaster year, beating them to death isn't rare either." After speaking, the soldier sighed.

"I know everyone doesn't want to cause human lives; it's a life after all. Surviving the flood until now is not easy. Beating them to death just like this is always inappropriate. Now we can't let them go on like this. I say this upfront: catching these people and not letting them continue to ruin grain is our goal. Their life and death are in everyone's hands. It's not me, He Zudao, saying these people have to die, killing them after catching them. If everyone unanimously wants them to die, then they have to die. Otherwise, catch them to work and compensate for the grain they ruined. Does everyone think this is okay?"

"Really?" Soldiers were very suspicious of such reasonable practice.

"Commissar He, not beheading them to establish prestige after catching them? Or beating them half dead and then putting them in a cangue for public display?"

Soldiers knew that killing people in such a disaster year was a common thing. This was also the reason why many petty thieves mixed in the refugees but dared not act recklessly. During the flood, the common people were basically destitute and had no belongings. But seeing life calm down after the flood, this gang was eager to make trouble.

"Comrades, I want to ask everyone. This first wave of harvest is just a matter of these one or two months. What plans does everyone have exactly?"

As soon as these words came out, the soldiers looked at me and I looked at you, not knowing what to say. The proportion of new recruits in the Second Regiment was extremely large; nineteen out of twenty people were new recruits. The First Regiment at least had the consciousness of an old unit, participated in disaster relief, and participated in the battle of attacking Yuezhangji. Everyone from top to bottom felt they were "one of us" of the People's Party. This self-cognition was very thin in the Second Regiment.

He Zudao asked this, and the soldiers looked at each other. That forty-year-old soldier finally spoke. "I joined our Insurance Corps, firstly to eat more. Secondly, also for security. I won't be bullied when land is distributed in the future. Speaking of future plans, I plan to let my family be distributed land. Just farm well. In this year's harvest situation, I don't have any plans either. Thanks to the blessing of our Insurance Corps, only one of my family of seven has died so far. Seeing that there will be a harvest soon, we won't starve to death this year. That's enough."

With someone leading, although the soldiers' mood was not high, it was quite stable. After all, everyone was honest farmers. During the flood, they could do anything to survive. Seeing grain growing out now, everyone naturally returned to old habits. Stability was the priority. Chinese common people are such pragmatic people; nothing is as real as having grain in hand.

And at this time, everyone happened to be particularly conservative. No one was willing to stir up trouble. In case something happened, and the grain that was about to be obtained had no settlement. The cold winter was not something that could be spent easily. Without food, it would absolutely cost lives.

"Commissar He, you don't need to worry; we will definitely work hard. We must grow this year's grain well." This was the most spoken sentence.

Looking at these soldiers, He Zudao was very moved. He Zudao knew very well how hard everyone worked to survive.

"Comrades, the Insurance Corps is our common people's own team. The grain grown must be for everyone to eat. We won't let cadres eat more and soldiers eat less. If there is a grain, everyone eats this grain together; if there is a handful of rice, everyone eats this handful of rice together. As long as our Insurance Corps is here for one day, this rule cannot be broken. No one will eat more than others, and no one will eat less than others. Everyone absolutely doesn't need to worry about this."

This was the propaganda of the Insurance Corps all along, and also the persistence of the Insurance Corps all along. Soldiers had personal experience of this.

"We want to catch bad people this time because these bad people ruined the crops. These crops are not Brigade Commander Chen's crops, not my, He Zudao's, crops. But the crops of our entire Insurance Corps. These bad people are like rats; ruining a bit today, ruining a bit tomorrow. How much grain do we have to withstand such ruining? Comrades, we can't afford such ruining."

Soldiers were not stupid. He Zudao spoke so reasonably; the subsequent strike against these bad people would also be merciless. Moreover, He Zudao inevitably wanted soldiers to report these people. Most importantly, quite a few among the soldiers really knew who these bad people were.

Some soldiers had decided to report, while some soldiers had various worries.

He Zudao was not in a hurry to ask for more situations. What he needed now was to get familiar with the situation and walk around in various companies. So beyond everyone's expectation, after talking a few more sentences, He Zudao actually left.