"Comrades, we are about to fight a battle. Before the battle, I must explain clearly to everyone. Why exactly are we fighting this battle?" While the seven secretaries of the People's Party were meeting with Qi Huishen, He Zudao, who had great power and influence but couldn't participate in the meeting due to his position, was not idle either. Facing the first batch of selected soldiers, he personally conducted a mobilization meeting.

Attacking Shouzhou was of great importance and required the selection of the most loyal soldiers. The first batch of selected soldiers were those who performed extremely well, had the highest enthusiasm, and were most obedient to organizational discipline in the battles of breaking forts. Coupled with the fact that the preparatory work of "calculating accounts" for the common people had basically ended, He Zudao personally mobilized this group of soldiers.

"Comrades, do you think our troops are working for the common people or not?" He Zudao had completely lost the cautiousness of an ordinary Shanghai citizen. His voice was loud, his attitude calm, and his heroic voice was full of irrefutable confidence.

"Comrades, I won't say how our troops treat the common people. Because our troops are all children of the common people of our Fengtai County; we don't need to praise ourselves. I just want to ask everyone a few things. Before joining our troops, how many of you went to school and learned to read relying on the clan's 'school fields'?"

Hearing the term "school fields," the soldiers completely didn't understand what these two characters meant. Even after He Zudao personally wrote these two characters on the blackboard, everyone still didn't understand.

The Insurance Corps' investigation work was done very carefully, and the clan forces in Fengtai County were investigated very clearly. It was found out from the older generation that theoretically, there were seven large clans in Fengtai County who claimed to have school fields. Theoretically, the income from the school fields was used to hire teachers to teach the clan's children to read. But that was already an old legend. Now, without exception, the school fields had all been swallowed up by landlords under their own names.

"Commissar He, what are these school fields used for?" a soldier asked.

This kind of question had long been anticipated. He Zudao explained the meaning of school fields to the comrades. Listening to He Zudao's explanation, the soldiers' expressions went from doubt to surprise, and from surprise to anger. Soon soldiers began to curse: "These bastards! Nothing but cheating us!"

The benefits of learning cultural knowledge look very much like eyebrows on the surface; often having eyebrows may not be very useful, but without eyebrows, problems are immediately revealed. After the soldiers received compulsory education, it didn't fill their stomachs or stave off hunger. But there were many announcements and regulations in the troops. Struggling to read the announcements was one thing. But facing a blackboard full of characters and being completely unable to read was another matter. Also being soldiers, the feeling of watching others read the blackboard with relish while being illiterate oneself was really not good. The compulsory education of the troops allowed soldiers to possess the ability to master the tool of "writing," and they felt their whole world seemed to have undergone an indescribable change.

In legends, after studying "learning" hard, one could live an easy life. But in the Insurance Corps, after studying learning, everyone found that they simply changed from a kind of pure hardship to purposeful hardship. If in the past, they only knew they were bullied after being bullied. Now, through the education of the political commissars and through reading and understanding principles, everyone gradually understood that they were in a state of being bullied all the time.

The folk customs on both banks of the Huai River were tough, and the temperament "rough." The vast majority of those who could become soldiers daring to fight in the Insurance Corps were soldiers with very violent temperaments. After learning that such things as school fields existed, the quick-reacting ones among the soldiers had already started cursing angrily. Then this anger quickly triggered the anger of the soldiers as a whole.

"So this bunch of people cheated us like this!" This was the common point of anger for the soldiers.

"Whether there are school fields or not has nothing to do with whether everyone can read and write. Our troops don't have school fields, but we still teach everyone to read." He Zudao didn't talk about any theory at all now. Because the troops would soon have their own farms; entangling in these things was meaningless. What he needed now was merely to tell the soldiers that the previous system was a kind of deception.

"Comrades, it's not just school fields. Clan fields, clan property. These things are said to be the same; at a critical moment, the grain in these fields is used to save everyone's life. Now with such a big flood, has everyone eaten a mouthful of life-saving grain from the clan fields or clan property?" He Zudao continued to speak loudly.

The soldiers in the venue were already enraged. He Zudao was right; when everyone was struggling on the death line, no one came to save everyone except the People's Party. If not for eating the life-saving grain of the People's Party, everyone would have probably starved to death long ago.

"Comrades, I say these things to tell everyone only one thing: unity is strength. Clan fields and school fields were originally a joke; even if these fields were all there, it was just a tiny number of people managing them, and they would collapse at the slightest disaster. What do we rely on to produce and save ourselves now? We rely on the common people of the whole county putting their hearts together and exerting their strength together. Only then can our tens of thousands of people have a way to live. Comrades, unity is strength."

He Zudao's speech received the approval of the comrades.

"Correct, Commissar He. If everyone's hearts are united, we can get things done," soldiers shouted.

"Unity is strength! Unity is strength. This strength is iron, this strength is steel!" Someone simply started singing.

Seeing everyone waving their hands and speaking with flushed faces, He Zudao raised his hand high, signaling everyone to quiet down. Although the comrades knew He Zudao's meaning, they were emotionally agitated at this time, and it took a good while to quiet down.

He Zudao shouted: "Comrades, we are going to distribute land in Fengtai County very soon. After distributing the land, we have countless good days to live. On this point, does everyone trust our People's Party and trust our troops?"

Because the common people on both banks of the Huai River frequently encountered natural disasters, the folk customs were tough, and a jianghu atmosphere of valuing loyalty and stressing group cohesion was formed. In the face of natural disasters, individual strength was really too insignificant; without relying on everyone's strength, without relying on social organization, it was absolutely impossible for everyone to survive. This was the survival mode created for everyone by the natural environment.

After joining the Insurance Corps, political education was talked about almost every day. Although the soldiers couldn't completely understand the program of the People's Party Insurance Corps, these soldiers from ordinary peasant backgrounds knew that people must stress morality and loyalty. This coincided exactly with the Insurance Corps' teaching of relying on the organization and relying on the people. Relying only on oneself could accomplish nothing. In this terrible disaster year, only the People's Party and only the Insurance Corps stood up to save everyone. Even this simple habit gave everyone a natural sense of trust in the organization. Not to mention Commissar He Zudao who had worked and fought with them for a long time.

Hearing He Zudao's call, the soldiers immediately gave a response. These days, the soldiers had become accustomed to fighting. The forts along the Huai River had been breached almost completely. The grain of the landlords in the forts was all confiscated, and thousands upon thousands of disaster victims also got the chance to survive. To be fair, among the reasons that truly drove the soldiers who dared to fight in these times, the education of the Party and the army was certainly one aspect, but the proportion of hostility and hatred towards those rich people accumulated long before the People's Party came to Fengtai County was extremely large.

With the banner of justice in hand, seeking a way to live for poor common people just like themselves—this was originally the philosophy of jianghu brothers. Everyone wasn't stupid; since the troops specifically called them back, and didn't let them go home after returning, but concentrated them in a rather remote camp, there must be big things for them to do. The troops had already discussed privately who they were going to fight this time. He Zudao's words were obviously issuing a call, and everyone naturally responded with boiling blood.

"We trust!"

"Commissar He, just say it, what do you want us to do?"

"Wherever the Insurance Corps points, we will fight there!"

He Zudao pressed his hands down as if to temporarily suppress such enthusiasm with his hands. "Comrades, I want to ask you, is life good now? Where exactly is it good?"

This question was quite abstract. Seeing the soldiers temporarily speechless, He Zudao pointed at a soldier randomly. "Liu Zhuangsheng, you tell us."

Liu Zhuangsheng was an ordinary soldier; he had only spoken at soldier meetings before. Now suddenly called up, he looked at everyone somewhat crampedly. Everyone's eyes focused on him; Liu Zhuangsheng felt an indescribable pressure. His heart immediately accelerated its beating; this feeling was even more nervous than fighting a battle.

"Say whatever you have; our troops just want everyone to speak." He Zudao comforted with a smile.

Liu Zhuangsheng hardened his heart and said loudly: "Our troops never bully people. The commissars and chiefs are very good to everyone."

This could be counted as truth forced out, and precisely because of this, such truth had a strong persuasive power. This was everyone's most intuitive impression. Hearing Liu Zhuangsheng's words, everyone had the same feeling.

He Zudao nodded to Liu Zhuangsheng. "You sit down first, Comrade Liu Zhuangsheng." Then he randomly pointed to another soldier. "Comrade Wang Eryong, you tell us. Where do you think our troops are good?"

Because of Liu Zhuangsheng's words before, Wang Eryong's words were much smoother. "Although there is a lot of work, we can eat our fill. And, I feel at ease in our troops."

He Zudao nodded; this was also very true. But there was still no angle to elaborate on the topic. He wanted to find some more people to speak, but felt the big group might not necessarily hit the point. He simply said himself: "Comrades, I have said many times. Why do we do this? Because we have a system that everyone has never seen before. Just like the system of our Insurance Corps, it can make everyone feel happy and comfortable. It can make life better. I am now going to tell everyone about this set of things."

"Commissar He, don't say so much useful or useless stuff, just tell us what you want us to do. Our troops are sincerely good to everyone; we all know. Being a person requires stressing loyalty and morality. Just the fact that our troops saved our lives, we are willing to sell our lives to the troops," a soldier shouted.

"Yes! Commissar He, just say it straight," soldiers shouted one after another.

Looking at those sincere faces and listening to everyone's earnest words, He Zudao was quite moved in his heart. If it were anyone else, they would probably state their purpose right now. But He Zudao was He Zudao after all. In the work of these days, He Zudao deeply realized one thing: only by thoroughly implementing Chen Ke's instructions could true success be achieved. When He Zudao followed Chen Ke, he obeyed Chen Ke as his lord and respected him as his teacher. This status of Chen Ke as "Lord and Teacher in one" made He Zudao show an unusually firm habit of executing "Party organization" orders.

And Chen Ke emphasized again and again in the layout work of this meeting that this mobilization was not to generate a fanatical fighting will in everyone, but to let everyone understand exactly why they were fighting. What kind of bright future such a battle would bring.

Suppressing his excitement, He Zudao pressed his hands down in the air again. "Comrades, what we want to talk about today is why we fight this battle. I must explain this point clearly to everyone."