At 5:50 in the morning, while the thin morning mist still shrouded the Fengtai County military camp, the melodious reveille had already been blown by the bugler standing in the center of the playground. The red cloth tied to the bugle swayed gently in the breeze. Set against the red glow of dawn on the horizon, the silhouette of the bugler's straight posture looked solemn and lonely.

Not long after, the sound of footsteps and the shouts of officers began to ring out more and more in the barracks. These sounds became more numerous and louder, finally converging into a rumbling sound. The daily morning exercise was a routine; all officers and soldiers, including Chen Ke, got up. The army and the police force formed square formations according to their respective unit units. The noise soon subsided, and the sounds of roll calls from various units echoed in the barracks.

The roll call work ended quickly. At the order of the officer in charge of training, the gate of the barracks opened wide. The police force started one after another according to unit units; they lined up neatly and stepped in uniform cadence, filing out of the gate one team after another. The morning jogging exercise around the city officially began.

This was training for discipline, for organization, and for physical strength. In a sense, it was also a way to display power. Hundreds of people in neat formation would advance along several main roads, passing through the main camps of the disaster victims. At this time when the problem was preliminarily solved, the danger was not smaller than during the most desperate period of the flood; on the contrary, while the livelihood of the local people was ensured, the livelihood of the disaster victims entering Fengtai County still could not be guaranteed. A preliminary management system had not even been established among the disaster victims. The People's Party's influence on the disaster victims was entirely maintained on the basis of barely keeping them from starving to death. The possibility of conflict outbreak had not decreased; instead, there was a possibility of comprehensive conflict. Before resolving this matter, adopting sufficient high-pressure measures was also a last resort.

Chen Ke did not participate in the morning run. Last night, first Hua Xiongmao talked about various sayings circulating in the troops recently, as well as opinions published by quite a few party members on their own. Hua Xiongmao complained greatly about the "party discipline-disregarding" nonsense of the party members. Chen Ke did not reply immediately either; he indicated he knew these situations, and then let Hua Xiongmao hurry back to the Insurance Corps Brigade Headquarters in Yuezhangji.

Next, Chen Ke and Qi Huishen talked until more than four o'clock in the morning. Qi Huishen had one question after another. Chen Ke had been focusing his energy on solving specific problems these days, but Qi Huishen's questions involved many issues of revolutionary theory, which really stumped Chen Ke. Chen Ke had not failed to think about many of the questions Qi Huishen mentioned, but under the current circumstances of natural disaster, he didn't have the energy to study them deeply.

Qi Huishen finally fell asleep exhausted. Chen Ke didn't dare to sleep at all; in order not to delay matters, he simply started processing documents. When morning exercise started, Chen Ke also participated in the roll call, and then returned to his office.

A simple straw bunk had been set up in the office; a door panel was placed on two long benches, covered with a straw mat. Qi Huishen was covered with a thin quilt, sleeping soundly on it. The movement outside couldn't wake him up at all.

"What a happy person," Chen Ke, who was used to hardship, sighed helplessly. regarding the comrades, Chen Ke was truly envious from the bottom of his heart. Being in the downstream of history, although he could see infinite possibilities of success, what Chen Ke saw more of in his eyes were the possibilities of failure.

Sitting at the table, Chen Ke flipped through the documents casually. The things Hua Xiongmao hurriedly came to report yesterday were actually only a small part. According to intelligence collected from various aspects, along with the improvement of the base area's situation, various undercurrents had already begun to float. Compared with these problems, the problems within the Party might not necessarily be called that dangerous.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke couldn't help but shake his head. His own thoughts still took it for granted and simplified the problem. Any matter is far less complex than imagined, but also far less simple than imagined.

The Insurance Corps didn't have chairs now, only stools. The feeling of having no backrest was really uncomfortable. Chen Ke propped his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers, and supported his chin. The current problem was complex but not that complex. After the pressure caused by the flood on the masses was alleviated by this harvest, various contradictions that had been completely overwhelmed by the survival crisis immediately surfaced. The biggest problem lay in the fact that quite a few people had already raised the topic of distributing grain.

According to the results of the discussion between Chen Ke and the People's Party comrades, this batch of grain absolutely could not be distributed. Not to mention that the external expansion of the base area needed grain, and stabilizing the newly opened areas needed grain. To produce this batch of grain, how much effort did the People's Party and the Insurance Corps put in, and how much sweat did they shed? Just based on this contribution, there was no reason for the common people to dictate terms on this batch of grain.

But this reason absolutely could not be stated like this. If stated like this, it would only set the forces led by the Party against the people. There is no lack of precedent in history for this kind of simple and crude approach; Comrade Stalin once engaged in "every grain to the granary." It cannot be said that what he did was wrong, but the practical operational means and results during the policy execution process absolutely cannot be said to be the best.

A policy must not only look perfect on paper, conforming to theory and ideal operations. More importantly, in the actual operation of this policy, it must conform to reality to the maximum extent. But with the resources currently in Chen Ke's hands, it was absolutely impossible to produce a perfect result. this matter was destined not to end perfectly. Chen Ke sighed, "I just hope it doesn't turn into the kind of result Comrade Stalin produced in Ukraine."

Perhaps because he had set his own bottom line, the mental pressure was relieved. Chen Ke, who hadn't slept all night, sat straight at the table like this, his chin resting on the shelf made of his hands, and suddenly fell into a state of sleep.

"What exactly is going on?" He Zudao's expression was grave. The grassroots political commissars of the 2nd Regiment of the 359th Brigade also had difficult looks on their faces. This was the first time a large number of soldiers collectively requested to leave the Insurance Corps. Since the establishment of the Insurance Corps, the number of people had always been increasing. Although Chen Ke had not failed to warn He Zudao recently that such a situation might occur, when really encountering such a thing, the political commissars also felt very stunned.

"What exactly did these soldiers say?" He Zudao steadied his mind and then asked. He had heard from Hua Xiongmao early this morning that the Shanghai comrades had already arrived in Fengtai County. He had planned to take time to go to the county town after finishing his work in the morning. But as soon as he came up, he encountered a report of dozens of soldiers jointly requesting to leave the Insurance Corps and go home. Originally wanting to go to the county town to see these comrades he hadn't seen for a long time, He Zudao was already a bit impetuous. Hearing such news again, He Zudao, who could usually keep his cool, also felt he couldn't stand it.

Although he tried his best to maintain composure on his face, He Zudao subconsciously clenched his fists, and his teeth were also clenched tight. During the flood, everyone barely maintained order to survive. As soon as life got slightly better, people's hearts immediately began to scatter. He Zudao saw the other political commissars in front of him looking at him one by one, their expressions somewhat surprised. He quickly sensed his own loss of composure, relaxed his tightly clenched teeth, and unclenched his fists. But such actions did not make He Zudao feel relaxed. He only felt his breath was a bit hot, and a word popped out of his mind which was somewhat chaotic due to excitement: "Ingratitude."

"Let me calm down first. Everyone also think about what exactly is going on first. We'll have a meeting in a few minutes." After He Zudao finished speaking, he took an hourglass and placed it on the table. Since being able to produce glass, besides colored glass lampshades, Chen Ke specifically requested the production of a small batch of hourglasses. The base area couldn't produce watches, and had even less money to buy any watches. Although the hourglass was rough, it could at least serve as a timing tool. Without looking at the fine sand leaking through the fine hole between the two cones above, He Zudao turned to look out the window. The sky of Anhui in late autumn was a patch of azure blue, only dotted with a few white clouds here and there. The endless sky should have made people feel happy. But in He Zudao's eyes, this sky was a bit too chilly. Although the days of large-scale harvest were coming soon, it wouldn't be long before winter arrived. Thinking of this, He Zudao inexplicably felt a trace of chill.

The once somewhat bewildered emotion was instantly calmed by this chill originating from his heart. When winter comes, they have to stick together for warmth anyway. As a high-level official, He Zudao knew that the People's Party was raising winter supplies such as cotton-padded clothes. Moreover, after Chen Ke said that large-scale demobilization requests might appear, he was not panic-stricken like He Zudao. He Zudao remembered clearly that facing the surprised He Zudao, Chen Ke said calmly: "Whoever wants to go, let them go. A melon forced off the vine isn't sweet."

He Zudao thought it very strange at the time. According to his habit, He Zudao asked Chen Ke why he thought so. Chen Ke pondered slightly for a while and gave an answer that wasn't an answer. "Perhaps I think too much. You don't need to take it to heart too much either. Just work as you should." He Zudao observed Chen Ke's expression himself; he didn't see anger or dissatisfaction. Chen Ke was still his usual kind of firmness and composure. Moreover, this remark was indeed a bit too abrupt. He Zudao felt perhaps he really thought too much, so he didn't ask further.

As always, Chen Ke had already anticipated what would happen. Recalling Chen Ke's calm and composed look, He Zudao immediately felt confident. Since Chen Ke didn't consider this matter a big problem, He Zudao felt much more at ease. Having finally calmed his mood, He Zudao turned his head. There was still about one-third of the fine sand left in the upper half of the hourglass.

The other political commissars at various levels saw that Commissar He, who was still somewhat agitated just now, was now calm and composed. Then they heard He Zudao say, "Everyone go and ask clearly the reasons why these comrades request to leave. Then tell them that the organization will notify them in three days."

"Commissar He, are we really going to let them go?"

"If they go, maybe quite a few people will want to go."

The political commissars never expected Commissar He to have such an attitude; they spoke up one after another.

He Zudao waved his hand, stopping everyone's disorderly speeches: "I am not trying to criticize everyone. Everyone has responsibility for this matter, but the responsibility does not lie in these soldiers wanting to leave." Having said this, He Zudao scanned the political commissars with a kind gaze. "Comrades, I think everyone must first understand why these soldiers want to leave."

With such a standard drawn, the faces of many political commissars immediately became unsightly. With such a large group of soldiers wanting to leave, everyone immediately panicked, their minds full of how to stop it; they simply didn't think of getting to the bottom of the matter.

From everyone's faces, He Zudao saw that he had hit the point. He smiled, "Since people want to leave, this shows that these soldiers' hearts are not here with us. Forcing them to stay only makes them unhappy, and us seeing them unhappy. Why bother? But, leaving must be done clearly. People can go, but we must understand why. Everyone go back and ask clearly why the soldiers want to leave. Is it that they want to leave themselves, or is there pressure from others? These soldiers have been with us for so long after all; it should be possible to let them tell the truth."

Seeing the political commissars nodding one after another, revealing that determined expression of having a goal on their faces, He Zudao quickly added a sentence, "We must pay attention to method. Letting everyone tell the truth is not forcing everyone to speak. If you force people to speak when they don't want to, they will definitely tell some lies. Treat comrades with warmth like spring. You must first consider the difficulties of these soldiers. Don't just think about how difficult it is for us ourselves..."

Regarding this issue, He Zudao held another small meeting, which finally calmed everyone's anxious and dissatisfied emotions. Seeing that the political commissars had finally returned to calm, He Zudao then announced the end of the meeting.

Watching everyone's receding figures, He Zudao couldn't help but think: winter is coming soon. Do these soldiers who want to leave really think they can survive this winter smoothly after breaking away from the organization? Such a simple truth, can these people really not figure it out? He Zudao felt very puzzled.

While considering this matter, he saw Hua Xiongmao walking in with an angry face. He Zudao laughed, "Zheng Lan, you didn't come to find me because there are soldiers in the 1st Regiment requesting to go home, right?"

Hearing this, Hua Xiongmao was startled. He stared at He Zudao and asked in confusion, "How did you know?"

He Zudao pointed to the pile of empty stools in the office. "Sit. Let's not talk about this first. I'll tell you my thoughts."

"Wen Qing, wake up!" Someone shook Chen Ke's shoulder gently while speaking. The delicate stable state required for sleeping while sitting was instantly destroyed. Chen Ke's chin slid off the back of his hand instantly, his head jerked down violently, and he woke up instantly. Raising his head and looking with sleepy eyes, there were already quite a few people in the room, and someone was walking in stealthily. The one who shook Chen Ke awake was Shang Yuan. He went to pull his own stool with a matter-of-fact look, having no intention like other comrades of taking care of Chen Ke's rest. And Qi Huishen had woken up at some point. He apologized to other comrades with an embarrassed look, "Sorry, it was me who kept Wen Qing talking too late yesterday, delaying Wen Qing's rest."

Chen Ke covered his mouth, swallowing the yawn that came up again back into his stomach. Seeing that the few main cadres had all arrived, Chen Ke said, "Many new comrades have come this time, from all corners of the land, north and south. Some comrades everyone knew before, some comrades everyone doesn't know at all. So many comrades coming to Fengtai County are all for the revolution. We must welcome these new comrades. Starting today, we must do a good job of reception work, arrange their work according to the respective characteristics and strengths of these comrades. Let comrades who aspire to revolution be able to exert their own abilities."

This was setting the tone; Chen Ke made his attitude clear.

"Then do we arrange work for so many comrades immediately?" Shang Yuan asked.

"Organize them first. Half the time for class study, half the time participating in labor," Chen Ke said without hesitation.

This suggestion was beyond everyone's expectations. Everyone stared at Chen Ke. But no one objected. Everyone present had experience in participating in labor personally, and the labor intensity was not low. If newcomers were arranged directly to leadership posts, the people present would instead be dissatisfied.

Chen Ke ignored everyone's gazes and continued, "Now the revolution has reached a juncture. At the beginning of this year, when we arrived in Fengtai County, the common people didn't know who we were or how capable we were. Now the common people know who we People's Party are and exactly how capable our People's Party is. The current problem, to put it plainly, is very simple. It's just one sentence: do the masses want to follow us or not."

When speaking of this, Chen Ke's expression was already quite serious. The comrades had been with Chen Ke for a long time and knew that when such an expression appeared on Chen Ke, he was going to get serious. Everyone was listening seriously to the specific methods Chen Ke would say next.

"Quite a few comrades definitely have a question: why haven't I talked much about theory for such a period of time? Everyone talks less about revolution besides discussing how to work. I can tell everyone the real reason now. First, if we only talk about grand principles, everyone will definitely think things are very easy. Just like those people who took the imperial examination after reading the Four Books and Five Classics. You can't say that what is said in these Four Books and Five Classics is unreasonable. But, just recognizing a few characters and reciting those large paragraphs of words, what use is it? If you can't use principles to guide your own actions, it's completely useless."

Chen Ke's words were very blunt. Most of the comrades present had read the Four Books and Five Classics, but everyone didn't have any intention of objecting. After working hard for so long and struggling to survive in the flood, everyone truly realized that the principles learned before were completely useless at these times. At such times, knowing how to read the Four Books and Five Classics was really not as practical as knowing how to row a boat.

"I have talked about 'On Contradiction.' At any time there are principal contradictions and secondary contradictions. What was the principal contradiction during the flood? The common people wanted to survive! So as long as we can let them survive, they will follow. If our People's Party can lead the common people to survive, the common people will follow us. But, this is not revolution. For the common people, overthrowing the existing system and establishing a new system doesn't rank in the front for them at all. The reason I didn't tell everyone so many revolutionary principles is very simple: the more principles everyone knows, the easier it is to think too much. If during the flood, instead of focusing all energy on solving the current contradiction, one always thought about the future when doing things and treated establishing a new system as the principal contradiction, then trouble would definitely occur."

Qi Huishen watched Chen Ke talking with fervor and assurance to the comrades. He felt that the current Chen Ke was very unfamiliar. Before, although Chen Ke also had this attitude, it was only in Shanghai, facing a few comrades, so although his expression was stern, his attitude was actually tolerant. Listening to Chen Ke's current words, Qi Huishen only felt a bit of chill on his back. The current Chen Ke completely lacked the tolerance of the past. This leader of the People's Party already had a kind of seemingly essential change; that was an indescribable firmness, a resolution to solve problems thoroughly no matter what situation was encountered.

Qi Huishen turned his head to look at the other comrades again. Everyone was listening very seriously; no one wanted to refute. At least on the surface, everyone could understand these words of Chen Ke. Qi Huishen asked himself; he could understand Chen Ke's current words, but couldn't comprehend them completely. Looking at these comrades following Chen Ke in Fengtai County, a slight jealousy suddenly arose in Qi Huishen's heart. The once seamless cooperative relationship between him and Chen Ke now had a large distance, and these comrades who followed Chen Ke much later than him were now closer to Chen Ke.

"Since the flood has been preliminarily quelled, the former principal contradiction, the flood, has disappeared. The disappearance of one principal contradiction means another contradiction has now become the principal contradiction. In my feeling, the current principal contradiction is the contradiction of whether to have a revolution or not. The people of Fengtai County can already survive; there are many ways to survive. In our view, the people following our People's Party is the best way. But in the view of some others, if they can drive our People's Party away, that is the best way. For the common people, if the old set is restored, it is also a very good choice. I think how to walk in the future days is the biggest contradiction now. The interests and ideas of various parties can even be said to run in opposite directions."

All comrades had gloomy faces. After hearing this, quite a few comrades showed approval in their eyes. Even Magistrate Shang Yuan, who was always very calm on ordinary days, couldn't help but nod slightly.

Chen Ke ignored everyone's expressions and continued, "At this stage, on the one hand, we must solve the problems of the common people, but at the same time, we ourselves must strengthen theoretical construction. We ourselves must first know exactly what kind of new system we want to establish. We must know *why* we want to establish such a new system. If we ourselves aren't clear, how can we explain it clearly to the common people? So I require everyone that at this time, no one is allowed to speak recklessly. You can't just say whatever you want to say. The common people are not our own comrades; they don't understand what you say now, they will only interpret your words according to their own ideas. Even if we don't speak ourselves, there are still various rumors running rampant. If we say the wrong thing ourselves, aren't we looking for trouble for ourselves? When facing the outside, you can only say what the Party lets you say. This is the Party's discipline; no matter who, it must be implemented to the end."

After saying this, Chen Ke's burning gaze swept across the faces of those comrades who had started to be unable to control their mouths. These people knew why Chen Ke said these things and why he looked at them. Quite a few people blushed.

"Does anyone have any other opinions?" Chen Ke asked only after scanning everyone.

No one had opposing opinions. Chen Ke then continued, "Then let's enter the next part and start discussing how to implement these."

Is this the real revolution with real swords and spears? Qi Huishen couldn't help but think. This aggressive attitude shown by Chen Ke, this style that allowed almost no explanation, really opened his eyes. But he didn't know why, at such a meeting, Qi Huishen didn't feel depressed. On the contrary, this style of Chen Ke made Qi Huishen feel a kind of true high spirits.

He then heard Chen Ke say: "Now that the Party School has been opened, all party cadres must enter the Party School for training. Get the theoretical knowledge clear. The comrades from Shanghai and Beijing have arrived. I have sent people to notify Comrade Chen Tianhua and Comrade Wu Xingchen. After they return, as soon as the Party School training course ends, we will convene the First National Congress of the People's Party."