The report of the People's Internal Affairs Commission caused a shock no less than an earthquake within the Party. The confessions and analysis reports of hundreds of people allowed everyone to see hundreds of detailed faces vividly. The sequence of events of the Liu Yongyi counter-revolutionary incident also presented a clear vein.

As a leader of a secret society, Liu Yongyi once provided manpower support to the leader of the Liujiapu fort as a "broker." After the People's Party broke the fort, Liu Yongyi became "unemployed." There was no space for "brokers" in the grassroots regime directly established by the People's Party. The Party communicated directly with the common people, and administrative power reached every common person in the base area. Under this system, Liu Yongyi had no place to use his skills. Plus, after the People's Party broke the fort, Liu Yongyi lost all his subordinates, and simply couldn't gain a foothold in the local area.

As a "local figure" of Liujiapu, Liu Yongyi did not wait for death facing such a predicament. He once tried to rescue the leader of the Liujiapu fort, hoping to make a comeback. For this, Liu Yongyi disguised himself as a disaster victim and went to the Fengtai County Base Area, and mixed into the police force of the base area through jianghu connections. Because the base area was heavily guarded, the attempt to rescue the leader of the Liujiapu fort failed. When the People's Party persuaded the fleeing common people to return to their hometowns, Liu Yongyi had to return to Liujiapu with the common people.

After returning to Liujiapu, Liu Yongyi found that the grassroots organization of the People's Party was stronger than before. It was impossible for him to resume his old "broker" life, so he had the idea of overthrowing the grassroots regime of the People's Party and establishing an independent force belonging to Liu Yongyi himself in Liujiapu. Of course, Liu Yongyi couldn't do such a thing alone. He first contacted secret society personnel in Wuhe County and surrounding areas who were also in an "unemployed" status. Those people were also extremely dissatisfied with the newly established grassroots government of the People's Party, so everyone hit it off instantly. Plus coercing some lazy guys who loved to eat but hated to work, this mob launched an attack on the grassroots organization of the People's Party in Liujiapu, Wuhe County.

At the end of the report, the People's Internal Affairs Commission concluded: The "relief-oriented small peasant economy" in the old rural system was completely destroyed by natural disasters. After the landlords and clans who were responsible for "relief" to a certain extent were completely neutralized, their relationship with the people changed from limited cooperation to comprehensive confrontation. After the People's Party destroyed the landlord class, the secret societies attached to this system also stood on the opposite side of the people. Because no larger-scale investigation was carried out, the People's Internal Affairs Commission could not determine whether areas outside Wuhe County were also in this situation, but the People's Internal Affairs Commission suggested conducting comprehensive investigation work within the base area. Because this group of people could provide employment opportunities to a certain extent, they could also be considered a "force" rooted in the people. Strict attention should be paid to those secret societies acting as "brokers."

Qi Huishen was an old party member who stayed in Shanghai during the initial period of the base area and was not well-known at the grassroots level. After being entrusted with heavy responsibilities by Chen Ke, many comrades were not completely convinced in their hearts. After this detailed and clearly analyzed report was submitted to the Party Central Committee, many people looked at Secretary Qi Huishen with new eyes.

"Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? It can be seen clearly now." Lu Huitian said when speaking at the Politburo meeting. The comrades attending the meeting didn't even nod in agreement, because everyone's thoughts were exactly the same as Lu Huitian's. During the flood, the disaster relief model led by the People's Party became the dominant force overriding everything. If the people didn't participate, obey, and cooperate, they couldn't survive. So the boundary between enemies and friends was not clear. When the flood began to subside and the absolute dominant power of the People's Party began to weaken, the contradictions originally covered by natural disasters, especially the contradictions between the new system led by the People's Party and the traditional old system in the countryside, emerged.

Lu Huitian looked at the comrades watching him attentively, and said loudly: "We must destroy this old system. As the backbone of the old system, this group of people must be ruthlessly eliminated."

Hearing this statement from Lu Huitian, a look of surprise appeared on many people's faces. One must know that before the People's Internal Affairs Commission set off for investigation, Lu Huitian advocated lenient treatment. Lu Huitian thought at that time that most of these people involved in the counter-revolutionary incident were coerced, rather than harboring any real hostility towards the People's Party. Unexpectedly, as soon as the report came up, Lu Huitian completely changed his attitude and demanded to kill these people mercilessly.

Lu Huitian knew the thoughts of the comrades. He said calmly: "Comrades, I once proposed an opinion of lenient treatment; that was made without actual investigation. On this point, I want to make a self-criticism. Without investigation, there is no right to speak. I just made my own judgment based on the situation I grasped at the time. After this report came out, I saw the actual situation in the local area, and my thoughts naturally changed. I have to admit that I didn't feel before that the cruelty of the struggle was already a comprehensive contradiction between the new and old systems. In this regard, I have great deficiencies. In view of my own lessons, I hope everyone can have sufficient understanding of this matter. Class struggle is not a joke; this concept must be established in the mind."

Hearing this, some comrades of the Politburo felt deeply sympathetic, while some couldn't fully understand. At this time, they heard someone start applauding. Everyone looked and saw that the one taking the lead in applauding was actually Chen Ke. Regardless of whether it was from the heart or not, the comrades started applauding with Chen Ke.

Lu Huitian glanced at Chen Ke with a grateful look. At this time, Chen Ke's support was too important for Lu Huitian. As one of the representative figures of the moderate faction, Lu Huitian knew the pressure he faced at this time. The situation of He Zudao, another representative of the moderate faction, was different from his. He Zudao's "moderation" was more directed against the "tough" style of shouting to fight and kill in the army. What occupied more weight in He Zudao's speech at that time was "cautious investigation" rather than "leniency." He Zudao believed that all participants should not be arbitrarily classified as counter-revolutionaries without investigation and then executed uniformly. He Zudao firmly approved of Chen Ke's formation of the People's Internal Affairs Commission and provided considerable manpower support.

The one who truly advocated "turning big issues into small ones" was Lu Huitian. After this report was submitted, Lu Huitian felt a sense of crisis at that time. The content revealed by this report could be said to be diametrically opposite to the specific local situation Lu Huitian thought at that time. Lu Huitian thought at that time that the people were just not used to the new system promoted by the People's Party, because the new system required everyone to pay more labor. But who is really willing to work hard? Human nature is to love ease and hate work. Guys like Chen Ke who work like their lives depend on it every day are the anomalies among the people. Given time, the people will eventually be able to get used to the high-intensity labor of the new system. Even now, Lu Huitian still thought his view made some sense.

But Qi Huishen's report was written from the perspective of class struggle and system contradiction, which completely overwhelmed Lu Huitian's thoughts at a theoretical height. Facing this report, Lu Huitian knew that if he couldn't accept Qi Huishen's view, he would inevitably encounter fierce opposition. Because Party Chairman Chen Ke had always advocated class struggle.

When Lu Huitian expressed support for the main line of class struggle in this report, he was still somewhat apprehensive. If comrades who expressed a tough attitude from the beginning expressed distrust of Lu Huitian, that would be a very troublesome thing. And Chen Ke's applause now was obviously giving Lu Huitian support. With such support, at least no one would trouble Lu Huitian temporarily.

The applause subsided quickly. At least after Chen Ke stopped applauding, the comrades in the army immediately stopped applauding. Without looking carefully at the expressions of those comrades, Lu Huitian could imagine their thoughts at this time. The urgent task now was not to entangle with these comrades about who was more revolutionary. As the leader of civil affairs work, Lu Huitian had to come up with a more reasonable solution. The People's Party had always opposed "empty talk." Lu Huitian could become the top leader in civil affairs work among so many comrades not because he could speak better than other comrades, but because he could always do more and more effectively than other comrades.

"In the subsequent work in the base area, regarding the adjustment of civil affairs work, my view is that we must first determine who we serve. The object we want to serve is the diligent working people. Developing productive forces relies on diligent working people; they are the objects exploited and oppressed by the old system. This is the object we must win over. And our enemies, I think, are landlords, counter-revolutionaries, and bad elements. Judging from the situation in Liujiapu, although the landlords in the fort were arrested by us, the old system operated with this group of people as the core. Even if they are gone, Liu Yongyi still hoped to rescue these people and let them regain power. They are the invisible core existence. Counter-revolutionaries like Liu Yongyi have the most activity ability; they try to obtain benefits through the old system. This group of people jumped out. And those following Liu Yongyi are those lazy bad elements. In order to get something for nothing, this group of people hates labor. The local government has organized them to participate in reconstruction work, and this group of people can even get a lot of benefits. But in order to get grain immediately, they dared to follow Liu Yongyi to attack our grassroots government. They absolutely cannot be spared either..."

The meeting unified thoughts. The resolution finally reached by the Politburo was to execute all main secret society elements such as Liu Yongyi. This group of people were not only local secret societies in the Liujiapu area; they came from many surrounding places. These secret societies also took risks to participate in counter-revolutionary incidents because the People's Party broke the local forts and they couldn't cooperate with the landlords of the local forts. The comrades of the Politburo unanimously agreed that the captured landlords from breaking these forts should be executed uniformly to eliminate future trouble.

As for how to treat the bad elements participating in this action, most comrades in the Party thought they should also be executed. But a few comrades did not support this. For example, Chen Ke thought this group of people were just people attached to landlords and secret societies. After eradicating landlords and secret societies, this group of people would have no foundation. Presumably, they could be sentenced to labor reform.

But Chen Ke's idea met with opposition from the comrades. The comrades of the military strongly opposed this view with a clear attitude. Everyone expressed understanding of Chen Ke's benevolent idea, but at this critical moment, it wouldn't do without killing one to warn a hundred. According to investigation, these people did not participate in the battle of the people spontaneously attacking forts; they chose to flee from famine. Eating the relief grain provided by the People's Party, they lived until now. And as soon as this group of people returned to the base area, they were not enthusiastic about participating in the construction of the base area at all, but easily participated in the action of attacking the grassroots organization of the People's Party. If they were not all killed, what mentality would this create for the people?

"Chairman Chen, your heart is too kind." Chai Qingguo said emotionally, "You just don't know how bad the hearts of that bunch of people are. If they were earnest working common people, having eaten our grain, they would have gratitude no matter what. They would always repay us to feel at ease in their hearts. But this bunch of people are simply white-eyed wolves [ingrates]. They absolutely cannot be kept. Now they jumped out; if we don't root them out, that would be wrong."

Chen Ke didn't really mean to let this group of people go either; he was just a bit worried that such slaughter would frighten ordinary common people. Comrades including "former moderate" Lu Huitian thought this group of people shouldn't be spared, and everyone's reasons were very sensible. Chen Ke agreed with the comrades' point of view.

Three days later, the first large-scale execution of counter-revolutionaries in the base area began. Including all more than four hundred people who participated in Liu Yongyi's counter-revolutionary action, and the captured landlords in the areas related to these personnel, a total of more than eight hundred people were publicly executed. The People's Party did not hide this matter; on the contrary, the reasons for execution were widely publicized in the base area.

"Landlords disregarded the life and death of the common people for their own selfish interests."

"Secret societies plotted against the new government."

"Bad elements were lazy and lived through the disaster year relying on relief provided by the People's Party, but turned around and participated in counter-revolutionary actions."

These reasons fully demonstrated the attitude of the People's Party and showed the People's Party's merciless stance towards opponents. It caused an uproar among the common people in the base area. Before this large-scale suppression of counter-revolutionaries, the image of the People's Party among the common people was "capable, able to fight, very amiable." After this large-scale execution, the people's view changed greatly. Although there were many ways to express it in language, summarized there was only one idea: "The People's Party started killing people; they are already the government of the base area." After the execution operation ended, the common people who originally followed the People's Party expressed absolute support. The attitude of the common people who had already started cooperating with the People's Party was not affected much. And the common people who were originally in a wait-and-see attitude began to participate in various new policies promoted by the new government tremblingly.

The uncompromisingly strict attitude had an excellent effect.

As the holder of the People's Internal Affairs Commission, Qi Huishen established his image in one fell swoop through this incident. The People's Internal Affairs Commission received the approval of the Party. After this incident, the People's Party lost trust in local secret societies. In order to prevent similar incidents that might occur in the future, the People's Internal Affairs Commission began to investigate the information and intelligence of secret societies in the base area with full force.

Qiu Jin didn't know about the internal policies of the People's Party. She only knew that the People's Party began to promote some important things. In this half month, it was extremely difficult for her to see Chen Ke. In the critical period of spring plowing, the entire People's Party and base area were involved in a high-speed track. The so-called lack of land in the countryside could only be said to be a kind of "relative lack of land," or more accurately "lack of good fields." Targeting this situation, the People's Party vigorously promoted the popularization of new farm tools on one hand, and personally led the masses to start expanding "food production" on the other. Not only were the army and government working, but even the female students of the Normal School were invested in labor. New farmland was opened in the school. After the troops carried out basic reclamation, the subsequent planting work was handed over to the female students of the Normal School to be responsible.

Those delicate young ladies waved small hoes and shovels and began to plant in the ground. When Qiu Jin saw it for the first time, she felt like her eyes were playing tricks on her. The base area allocated one hundred mu of land for these more than two hundred girls to plant; the planting content was peanuts. This was also one of the girls' social practices. It was to be counted in the assessment. Qiu Jin didn't expect Chen Ke to treat future "teachers" like this. In her view, women should engage in more technical industries, rather than cultivating in the land like men. Not to mention these educated women.

But Chen Ke simply didn't see her; Qiu Jin couldn't find anyone to protest to either. Not only did Chen Ke not see her, but Qiu Jin's nephew Hua Xiongmao also didn't see her, which made Qiu Jin even more depressed.

regarding the matter of female students participating in farming, the parents who came with Qiu Jin did not oppose it so fiercely. When Qiu Jin talked about this with Huang Chengxun, Huang Chengxun actually said: "Learning some ability to serve crops a little isn't a bad thing." This puzzled Qiu Jin very much.

Huang Chengxun didn't like a woman with a flamboyant personality like Qiu Jin. Moreover, after arriving at the base area personally, Huang Chengxun also understood that Qiu Jin couldn't help much with the matter of taking his daughter home. So he was unwilling to explain in depth. In this era, large-scale cities had not yet formed; farming and reading were still a tradition. The literary atmosphere in Anqing was very strong, and there was no contemptuous attitude towards farming. Of course, Huang Chengxun did not oppose the female students of the school participating in farming work. He went to see it personally; peanuts didn't need too deep plowing, which was more suitable for the physical condition of girls. In Huang Chengxun's view, organizing girls from the Girls' School to farm proved that the People's Party had no other ideas about the girls. Because Huang Chengxun himself also led his children to plant a fraction of a mu of peanuts in the courtyard at home. The People's Party's practical attitude didn't annoy Huang Chengxun at all. On the contrary, Huang Chengxun was worried about the People's Party's posture of making it clear they wanted to exist for a long time. If the People's Party really became strong, Huang Chengxun wouldn't be able to ask for his daughter back so easily.

regarding the revolution, Huang Chengxun neither approved nor fiercely opposed. What he was dissatisfied with was that the People's Party forcibly dragged him in like this. In previous days, Huang Chengxun still dared to oppose verbally. After the People's Party executed "counter-revolutionaries" on a large scale, Huang Chengxun dared not even say such opposition anymore.

Since Qiu Jin couldn't get support from others, she had to continue staying in the base area depressed. When she thought Chen Ke had completely forgotten her, Chen Ke suddenly sent someone to invite Qiu Jin over. Qiu Jin had a bellyful of words to say, but before Qiu Jin could speak, Chen Ke threw a heavy bomb at Qiu Jin: "Teacher Qiu, according to our news, the Manchu Qing's Hubei New Army is about to move out." Hearing this, Qiu Jin was stunned on the spot at that time.