Two thousand internal combustion engines might be a negligible number for China, but for Fengtai County, it was a number huge enough to be terrifying. Yan Fu knew Chen Ke didn't like to brag, but regarding the matter of exchanging silk for two thousand internal combustion engines, he didn't believe it in his heart either. However, Chen Ke guaranteed that a considerable batch of internal combustion engines would be invested in the inland river shipping fleet, and Yan Fu believed this very much. Anhui was a region with a dense water network; the significance of a motorized fleet could not be overstated no matter how one looked at it.

After the comrades of the Water Detachment learned this news, they were all overjoyed. Everyone talked about it, even throwing the matter of listening to the class to the back of their minds. If it were in the Beiyang Naval Academy, Yan Fu would have maintained order immediately, and maybe even used some corporal punishment. But now he was just a member of the fleet; everyone was a party member, and no one had more power than anyone else. So Yan Fu just said, "Let's go outside now to practice how to measure speed. When mechanically powered ships start to be used, this will also be a basic skill."

Hearing Yan Fu say this, quite a few comrades got up to find ropes, wood blocks, and rulers. Although they were still talking about mechanically powered ships with their mouths, their hands at least started doing proper business.

Several senior cadres of the Water Detachment knew that the fleet was not only to transport steel back; the fleet's itinerary also determined the start time of the large-scale war. As soon as the Insurance Corps obtained the steel materials, on the day the fleet entered the area controlled by the base area, the war would start. Such secret news naturally couldn't be made public. Departing from the base area at the same time as the fleet were four other groups of comrades. Those going to Shanghai were to contact the comrades of the Shanghai Branch to get mechanical equipment. The comrades going to Anqing shouldered the task of contacting Xu Xilin. And the destination of the third small team was farther; they were Japanese comrades. Their goal was to return to Japan to gather revolutionary comrades to come to China to participate in the revolution.

The loyalty of the Japanese comrades participating in the revolution in Anhui exceeded even Chen Ke's imagination. There had never been such a large-scale disaster relief work in Japan, let alone completing such effective disaster relief. As soon as the comprehensive harvest ended, Heidao Ren [Kuroshima Jin] took the initiative to propose returning to Japan to gather Japanese revolutionary youth to throw themselves into the cause of the Chinese revolution. In this era, the world was ruled by the rich and powerful; the people were just forced by life to work hard. And the fruits of hard labor were also ruthlessly stripped clean. Although the people's revolution in Fengtai County had not yet seen the final effect, the people not only completed self-help by relying on themselves but also obtained means of production in the blink of an eye. In Chen Ke's view, there was still a long road before the revolution began to take shape. But in the eyes of Japanese revolutionary youths like Heidao Ren, this was already an unheard-of and unseen great achievement.

Revolutionary youths all over the world have a characteristic: much lip service, little practice. Much agitation, little reasoning. Much destruction, little construction. In Fengtai County, it was completely different; everyone worked personally and built personally. And one's own labor was seen turning into tangible revolutionary results. Overthrowing exploiters and the old system, the people could see a glorious future under the new system.

Heidao Ren was not that kind of idiot with excess enthusiasm but insufficient IQ either; Chen Ke never fooled everyone. He was very clear about the war and various dangers the revolutionary base area would encounter next. War meant death, blockade, and various unpredictable dangers. Heidao Ren not only didn't feel he should escape danger, but he firmly believed that at this time, countless revolutionary youths with courage and perseverance were needed to shed their heads and blood to carry the revolution through to the end. Only if the Chinese people's revolution could achieve victory would the Japanese revolutionary youths who participated in the Chinese revolution have the opportunity to fight back to Japan and liberate Japan from the dark old system.

Chen Ke approved Heidao Ren's request. Japanese revolutionary youths were honest and willing to work, especially able to stick to those most inconspicuous posts. Although this was a positive manifestation of the "backward hierarchy" in Japanese culture, the Chinese cultural characteristic of "all walks of life are low, only reading books is high" made it not easy to produce this "screw spirit." It was inappropriate to want to completely change this cultural attitude in the short term; with the joining of Japanese revolutionary comrades, it would be easy to set up models. For example, Comrade Meichuan Shangyi [Umekawa Kamiyoshi], who stuck to the pig-raising cause, was a model recently publicized. Comrade Meichuan didn't die in the line of duty, so Chen Ke couldn't write an article "In Memory of Comrade Meichuan," so he had to modify Grandpa Mao's article commemorating Comrade Bethune and issue it as a commendation. The effect was quite good.

Besides these three teams, the fourth team was the most special. They had the largest number, reaching as many as twenty people. And their destinations were also the most uncertain. This was the revolutionary propaganda team dispatched by Chen Ke. These comrades were mostly southerners; their destinations were Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and even Nanyang [Southeast Asia]. Chen Ke had read Lin Juemin's *Letter to My Wife*; that heartfelt love for China and hatred for the unequal social status quo. Chen Ke was very disdainful of the figures of the Tongmenghui and was completely unfamiliar with the names of those famous people. He had no intention of winning over Huang Xing and others either. But among the 72 Martyrs of Huanghuagang, he could actually remember the names and deeds of more than a dozen people, such as Lin Juemin, Yu Peilun, Fang Shengdong, Pang Xiong, Lin Yinmin, Li Deshan, Chen Yushen, etc.

Chen Ke didn't want these Chinese elites to lose their lives in vain for such a scum organization as the Tongmenghui. Since they had the determination not to fear death, why not devote their limited lives to a more meaningful people's revolution? For this reason, Chen Ke specifically sent comrades who had defected to the Fengtai County revolution to lobby these comrades. These revolutionary youths all ran to follow Chen Ke on their own initiative after reading Chen Ke's book. Chen Ke's instructions to these people were simple: no matter what means used, even kidnapping was fine. Some people must be brought to Anhui. The current purpose was not to let these people join the revolution, but to let these people come to the base area for a field visit. Chen Ke firmly believed that after seeing the true people's revolution, these revolutionary youths would choose to join the ranks of the people's revolution without hesitation.

regarding Chen Ke's self-confidence, these young followers also had the same confidence. Not only were the Japanese comrades dumbfounded and sincerely admiring the revolutionary situation in Fengtai County, but the Chinese revolutionary youths also saw an unheard-of new world. The wanton exploitation by landlords was not news in China at all; everyone saw it a lot daily. Revolutionary youths full of beautiful ideals also had instinctive opposition to these. In *Letter to My Wife*, Lin Juemin wrote with touching deep emotion: "I sincerely wish to grow old and die with you, but judging from today's situation, one can die from natural disasters, one can die from thieves, one can die on the day of partition [of the country], one can die from treacherous officials and corrupt clerks abusing the people. We live in today's China; there is no place and no time in the country where one cannot die. At that time, if I watch you die helplessly, or let you watch me die helplessly, can I do that?"

Youths who could realize to this extent would not oppose the people's revolution to overthrow the old land system no matter what. For this reason, Chen Ke specifically wrote two manuscripts. One was plagiarized from Grandpa Mao's manuscript *Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society*. One was plagiarized from Mr. Lu Xun's *A Madman's Diary*. Chen Ke hoped to use these two things to move those knowledgeable and cultured revolutionary youths.

Since he hadn't seen those revolutionary youths Chen Ke expected yet, it was hard to say how the final lobbying effect would be. But after the youths of the revolutionary propaganda team read these two things, every one of them almost worshipped Chen Ke prostrate on the ground.

In the eyes of these youths, that "madman" shaped in *A Madman's Diary*, who recognized the true face of the world but was treated as mentally ill and as having a "persecution complex," was their own true image.

"Pitch black, don't know if it's day or night. The Zhao family's dog has started barking again. The fierceness of a lion, the timidity of a rabbit, the cunning of a fox...", isn't this exactly the status quo of China? Isn't this exactly the true face of those oppressors running rampant in China?

At the end of the article, these revolutionary youths saw those heart-rending words: "Children who haven't eaten people, perhaps there are still some? Save the children..." Quite a few people already had tears filling their eyes and even burst into loud crying.

The fleet sailed until the fourth day, and the troops began to split up. Except for the main force of the fleet heading to Hanyang which turned south, everyone else continued east. Among this group of people, Wang Qinian and his uncle Wang Yuelong had the farthest destination; they were going to Nanyang. Wang Yuelong supported the revolution; he was a Chinese merchant in Nanyang who made a lot of money by selling the People's Party's "914" special medicine. That Chinese people could also develop new Western medicine surprised Wang Yuelong very much. Last year he specially ran to Shanghai to visit the developer of the special medicine to see if this person had any new drugs that could be sold in Nanyang.

Selling Western medicine produced by Chinese people themselves not only allowed Wang Yuelong to earn large profits but also made Wang Yuelong feel a kind of true pride. Learning that the developer Chen Ke was a revolutionary party member and was engaging in revolutionary work in other places, Wang Yuelong didn't feel afraid at all. On the contrary, he asked his nephew Wang Qinian to take him to see this wizard who combined "revolutionary and scientist" in one body.

The disaster relief miracle in Fengtai County had shocked Wang Yuelong; the super strong organizational ability of the People's Party made Wang Yuelong feel this trip was absolutely worth it. The meeting with Chen Ke made Wang Yuelong feel he finally met the leader he dreamed of. "Chinese merchants in Nanyang—the Manchu Qing regards everyone as traitors, and the foreign barbarians in Nanyang regard everyone as lambs. Without the protection of the motherland, they can be slaughtered at will. If not for the locals being lazy and stupid, unusable, the foreign barbarians would have laid murderous hands on everyone long ago."

If Chen Ke only expounded the simple specific situation of Nanyang overseas Chinese, this cognition would be just general consensus. Wang Yuelong was a merchant; he could barely understand some simple concepts of *Capital*. After Chen Ke narrated his understanding of commerce, Wang Yuelong was completely convinced.

As for the future of the people's revolution, Chen Ke described the economic model of the whole country as one game of chess under the new system. The "non-profit nature" of the new government, how powerful state-owned enterprises would bear the core of the country, and how private capital investment would exist, survive, and develop. In this regard, Chen Ke didn't even need to promise any dominant position of merchants in the country. Chen Ke just told Wang Yuelong that New China would recognize the results of individual efforts and would equally protect the lives and property of Chinese citizens.

Different from the Manchu Qing which had to allow foreign goods to enter China, different from radical revolutionaries who hoped to drive foreigners out of China completely, and different from Chinese landlords and gentry who hoped to drive away foreign goods completely due to the impact of industrialization. Chen Ke did not oppose foreign trade. He analyzed how China should build its own industrial system and how to trade with foreigners. What shocked Wang Yuelong was that in Chen Ke's framework of China's future economic situation, China would establish close trade relations with Nanyang. regarding the resources abundant in Nanyang, which ones China needed, and which ones China could sell to Nanyang. What were the key points of this trade, how Chinese goods should conquer Nanyang, and how China should protect the interests of Chinese merchants in Nanyang. Chen Ke explained everything clearly.

No matter how stupid Wang Yuelong was, he could hear that in Chen Ke's future China framework, Nanyang was not excluded. Without waiting for Chen Ke to speak more clearly, Wang Yuelong immediately expressed willingness to cooperate with Chen Ke. Chen Ke's style surprised Wang Yuelong even more. It wasn't that no revolutionaries wanted to cooperate with Nanyang overseas Chinese; for example, the Tongmenghui attached great importance to Nanyang merchants, especially the money of Nanyang merchants.

Chen Ke explicitly didn't want donations from Nanyang overseas Chinese; he just hoped to conduct foreign trade with the help of Nanyang merchants. The base area would definitely encounter various blockades in the future; Nanyang merchants could provide effective sales and purchasing channels. Chen Ke hoped Wang Yuelong could help the base area in this regard. He even indicated that the commodities of the base area would allow merchants providing channels to earn a certain profit. Although this profit wouldn't be too high, the base area would absolutely not let allies supporting the revolution take risks while giving in vain.

At this point, there was nothing more to say. Wang Yuelong began to suspect whether Chen Ke was a big swindler he had never seen before. For a person to be open and aboveboard to such a degree, and to be able to consider others' difficulties to this degree—he was either greatly loyal and brave or greatly treacherous and evil. "Since ancient times, heroes have no kind variety [heroes are rarely benevolent/kind sorts]." Even if Chen Ke was a greatly loyal and brave person, it meant Chen Ke was by no means a person who could be dealt with easily.

But Wang Yuelong didn't care. Today, when there was basically no force truly supporting Nanyang overseas Chinese, overseas Chinese extremely hoped to have an object to rely on. Even people like the Tongmenghui were objects of their investment. Although the People's Party led by Chen Ke was only an organization far away in inland China, at least they already controlled a considerable piece of territory. They had tens of thousands of troops in hand and a fleet composed of hundreds of large ships. There were also hundreds of thousands of common people under their rule. Compared with other revolutionary parties that were all talk now, the Fengtai County Revolutionary Government was already a tangible political entity. Without Wang Yuelong starting, Chen Ke analyzed the obstacles to cooperation between the two sides in detail himself. And proposed several methods to establish communication lines. These methods all required the Fengtai County Revolutionary Government to be able to conquer more territory before they could be realized.

Chen Ke repeatedly told Wang Yuelong that what the base area needed most was not money, but the exchange of materials and equipment through trade. The People's Party was not a revolutionary regime that swindled money. The revolutionary government wanted to establish effective cooperation in trade with Nanyang overseas Chinese. Wang Yuelong patted his chest and guaranteed that he would definitely take this program back to Nanyang without error, and discuss with patriotic overseas Chinese there methods on how to conduct trade effectively.

Watching the People's Party Water Detachment's stretching fleet disappear into the distance in good order, Wang Yuelong suddenly felt whether he had dreamed a strange dream. Did he really have a free talk with a strange man named Chen Ke? Did they really reach a fair, just, and even highly operational cooperation intention? Thinking of this, Wang Yuelong touched his pocket. A not-too-thick paper was there. That was a cooperation intention outline written after discussion between Chen Ke and Wang Yuelong. All this should be real.

"Qinian, aren't you going back to Nanyang with me?" Wang Yuelong asked.

Wang Qinian sighed slightly. "My job is to mobilize a batch of medical school students to come to work in the base area and build a medical school in the base area. I really have no way to accompany Uncle back to Nanyang." The difficulty and intensity of this work were not ordinarily high. Chen Ke's orders were actually many. Wang Qinian knew that Chen Ke not only mobilized manpower from the Shanghai Renxin Medical College but also sent people to look for Japanese students studying medicine. He heard Chen Ke even planned to select some students loyal to the People's Party with excellent academic performance to go to overseas medical schools for further study after the medical school in the base area was completed.

Only after visiting the base area in person did Wang Qinian know how many doctors the base area needed. Chen Ke had proposed establishing a health and epidemic prevention system in the base area and setting about vaccinating the broad masses against various diseases. Targeting this grand-scale plan, Wang Qinian raised his own question. "Not to mention the money for manufacturing vaccines, how much money is needed to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people with these epidemic prevention vaccines? Can this money be earned back?"

Chen Ke's answer left Wang Qinian speechless. "Comrade Wang Qinian, why do we People's Party want to promote the people's revolution and establish a socialist system? If looked at under other systems, any transaction is to earn maximized profit. So everyone's goods and services are to squeeze the people clean. But the socialist system is different. From the perspective of the socialist system, what this health and epidemic prevention needs to invest is the grain, clothes, and wages needed by medical workers. The state has no impulse to make money at all. Then the investment for this project is actually very, very low. Even if it is calculated as one thousand people, three jin of grain per person per day is ninety thousand jin of grain a month. Ten yuan wage per person is ten thousand yuan a month. Working for three months is two hundred and seventy thousand jin of grain and thirty thousand yuan. And if one person vaccinates ten people a day, in three months, they can vaccinate nine hundred thousand people. Do you think this investment is a lot? A county town with more than ten thousand people can support such a thousand people to provide better epidemic prevention services for nine hundred thousand people. Vaccination is often basically once for a lifetime immunity. Isn't this considered very cheap?"

This calculation method was really speechless. Wang Qinian finally believed that Chen Ke was a genuine revolutionary. At least a revolutionary who could propose an effective method.

Although he had criticism in his heart, at least Wang Qinian thought these one thousand people should perhaps earn more. After all, with the efforts of these people for three months, nine hundred thousand people received great benefits; even if one person took out ten wen [copper cash], it was deserved.

But looking at the sentence written on the banner with not-so-good handwriting in Chen Ke's office, "Serve the People Wholeheartedly." Under such an almost indisputable revolutionary stance, Wang Qinian couldn't say the words that money must be earned. Yes, if nine hundred thousand people each took out ten wen, that would be nine million wen. Calculating at one thousand wen exchanging for one tael of silver, that would be nine thousand taels of silver. Wang Qinian felt that if calculated according to the workload of working for three months estimated by Chen Ke, it was not an unreasonable figure for each worker to get nine taels of silver as a hard work fee from the common people.

It was just that Wang Qinian didn't dare to say it in the end.