Yan Fu almost asked for trouble by inquiring about fiscal policy. His head was still dizzy after coming out of Chen Ke's office. Because he hadn't recovered from the financial world constructed by Chen Ke in a short time, Yan Fu felt that the world seemed different. Everyone around him seemed to have different amounts of Renminbi pasted on their heads. In such a distorted world, Yan Fu felt the need to go to an environment where he could relieve such pressure.

The People's Party's Normal School was now basically female students. The reason for saying "basically" was that Shen Zengzhi and Feng Xu had moved from the military camp into the Normal School. Both old men were getting on in years, and their conduct had always been upright. After Yan Fu vouched for the two, Chen Ke personally approved the note. The two Jiangnan scholars moved into the Normal School. Feng Xu was currently the Curator of the Museum of Literature and History and the Leader of the *Xinhua Dictionary* Editing Group.

Although Shen Zengzhi was unwilling to be a "puppet official," for the sake of Yan Fu's face, Shen Zengzhi temporarily served as the Curator of the "People's Library." After the People's Party conquered several cities, they didn't take too much money but moved all the archives of the local government offices away. Chen Ke felt that with the flames of war flying in the future, expecting those future warlords to protect archives was completely unrealistic. So the People's Party transported these archives away for safekeeping. In the "People's Library" managed by Shen Zengzhi, most of the piles were archives from various places. The archives were built directly on the campus of the Normal School. However, Chen Ke said that after a while, the archives would be moved into Shouzhou city. Although Shen Zengzhi was skeptical, he temporarily settled down.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Feng Xu and Shen Zengzhi surrounded by a pile of *Kangxi Dictionaries*, discussing issues of characters and definitions.

"Brother Jidao is here." Seeing Yan Fu, the two scholars hurriedly made room for him. After Yan Fu sat down, looking at the stacks of books and the thick manuscripts in front of the two, his mood couldn't help but relax.

"How is the editing of Pinyin and radical search going?" Yan Fu asked.

"This Chen Ke obviously looks down on Southerners." Shen Zengzhi was quite dissatisfied with this. "This new Pinyin pronunciation is extremely different from the Southern pronunciation, not to mention being the same as the ancient pronunciation."

Feng Xu supported Chen Ke more. He said, "Brother Shen, regarding that history of the evolution of Chinese pronunciation written by Chen Ke, I actually think it's well said..."

Shen Zengzhi didn't accept these explanations at all. He said angrily, "How old is that Chen Ke? Making up nonsense there and treating it as his own reasoning. He keeps saying 'no investigation, no right to speak.' Has he, Chen Ke, investigated himself? He is just playing the lute to a cow (talking nonsense)." After criticizing Chen Ke with Chen Ke's words, Shen Zengzhi added a sentence at the end, "That brat Chen Ke actually dared to write a book to mock us."

Seeing Shen Zengzhi's angry appearance, Yan Fu and Feng Xu looked at each other, and smiles couldn't help but appear on their faces. To coordinate with the editing work of the *Xinhua Dictionary*, Chen Ke also wrote a playful essay called "The War of Small Seal Script." This article, plagiarized from "Ma Qinwang" (Prince Ma) of the 21st century, had quite ingenious tailoring and conception of historical events, cited quite a lot of allusions, and the content was also quite pungent. Yan Fu and Feng Xu both had a profound foundation in classical Chinese and history. They couldn't help laughing out loud when reading it. Feng Xu said while laughing, "This Chen Wenqing is a bit too unkind." But after Shen Zengzhi read it, not only did he not laugh, but he flew into a rage instead.

Yan Fu and Feng Xu both knew Shen Zengzhi's thoughts. Chen Ke's article was very impolite. When mentioning the process of text promotion, Chen Ke borrowed Li Si's ideas to mention the promotion steps: "1. Come up with a plan for simplified characters. 2. Promote it to the thirty-six commanderies of the world. 3. Get rid of all opponents." This arrogant explanation was enough to show Chen Ke's attitude. Moreover, Chen Ke actually mapped "burning books and burying scholars" as the Confucians bringing humiliation upon themselves by resisting the new culture. Confucians were simply rats crossing the street, facing unanimous opposition from all sides. This naked contempt and threatening attitude towards the literati class, especially towards Confucianism, was the real reason for Shen Zengzhi's dissatisfaction.

"Chairman Chen has decided today to proofread the text of the first draft of the *Xinhua Dictionary*. If there are no typos, he is preparing to print it." Yan Fu suddenly remembered this matter.

"So fast?" Feng Xu was somewhat surprised.

"A dictionary is just a reference book; as long as there are no errors, it's fine. Incomplete parts will be revised on a large scale later. Dictionaries are not for scholars to read, but for the common people to use." Yan Fu said. After speaking, he suddenly felt that his speech was not quite right. This was obviously Chen Ke's habitual attitude. The idea completely centered on practicality and popularization ran completely counter to the kind of "planning for ten thousand generations" that literati almost implemented into their marrow.

Shen Zengzhi immediately expressed opposition. His reason came down to two words: "Not rigorous." Yan Fu looked at Feng Xu. Feng Xu, the Leader of the *Xinhua Dictionary* Editing Group, secretly nodded to Yan Fu. Yan Fu found an excuse and left the office. Shen Zengzhi's words were not unreasonable, but the key was that they were not practical.

After reading the satirical essay "The War of Small Seal Script," Shen Zengzhi's "literati backbone" was thoroughly stimulated. Not only did he not resign from the position of Deputy Leader of the *Xinhua Dictionary* Editing Group, but he became doubly serious. The *Xinhua Dictionary* was not just characters, but also definitions for corresponding words in "vernacular Chinese." Shen Zengzhi strove for rigor in the annotation of these word meanings and absolutely allowed no "misunderstanding."

But as stated in "The War of Small Seal Script": "If handed over to scholars, they will first consult a large number of ancient classics, then conduct textual research and analysis one by one, cross-reference, and publish a series of papers. Sound, form, and meaning cannot be omitted. Every character must conform to Cangjie's original intention and take into account the traditions of the Three Dynasties. Every addition or deletion of strokes must have a basis. Culture needs inheritance; this point cannot be sloppy. Optimistically estimated, the whole project will probably be completed around the time of Qin the Eighth or Qin the Ninth."

What Chen Ke wanted was to popularize it immediately in large-scale compulsory education. The draft must be finalized before the base area produced paper from wheat straw on a large scale. Shen Zengzhi's attitude certainly had its merits, but his method of doing things was obviously nonsense. If not for Shen Zengzhi's tossing about, the first draft would have been basically determined half a month ago. Yan Fu and Feng Xu didn't want Shen Zengzhi to suffer. If Chen Ke knew Shen Zengzhi's performance, he certainly wouldn't burn Shen Zengzhi cracklingly as described in "The War of Small Seal Script," but he would definitely kick Shen Zengzhi out of the editing group. Yan Fu and Feng Xu both felt that if a talent like Shen Zengzhi couldn't contribute to the *Xinhua Dictionary* project, it would be a pity for both the dictionary editing work and Shen Zengzhi himself.

Leaving the dictionary editing office, Yan Fu turned to the back of the school. Behind the teaching building was the peanut field opened up by the school. At this time, female students were working in the field, and the peanut seedlings were growing green and well. Seeing Yan Fu pass by, the students straightened up one by one to gaze at him respectfully. If it were usual, Yan Fu would have nodded and passed. Today he didn't want to do so. He stopped and asked, "How is the field?"

A female student named Huang Yuyue replied cautiously, "The peanuts are growing well. Fewer people will be needed to manage them in the future."

For some reason, this sentence put Yan Fu in a great mood. He couldn't help but ask, "How much manpower can be reduced?"

Huang Yuyue replied cautiously, "We asked the old gentleman who taught us farming. He said half the people used before would be enough."

The "old gentleman" mentioned by the female students was an old farmer specially invited by the base area to teach peanut planting. Since he said so, it presumably wasn't wrong. "Very good," Yan Fu confirmed that something within his jurisdiction was finally on track, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his face. Whether finance, dictionary work, or education work, countless things needed to be done. After listening to the complex financial system introduced by Chen Ke, Yan Fu's mood became terrible. But seeing the diligent and cautious attitude of the young people, Yan Fu felt that these worries suddenly lightened a lot. No matter how many theories, how many visions and prospects there were, if one couldn't start from the foundation, nothing would change.

"Just keep working hard like this." Yan Fu gave an instruction. Then he strode towards his office.

Yan Fu's mood could become extremely bad just after listening to the complex financial system. But Chen Ke, who presided over the creation of this financial system, had no fluctuations in his mood. Or rather, Chen Ke's heart was unmoved like iron and stone. After Yan Fu went out, Chen Ke immediately called the comrade who accompanied the Yue Wang Society. The comrade from the People's Internal Affairs Committee began to report his observations of the Yue Wang Society.

All the power of the People's Party was used to enter the rural areas of various places, and the same was true in the Hefei area. For the petty thieves in the rural areas of Hefei, the local troops of the People's Party could absolutely eliminate them easily. For government or political party forces, Hefei city would inevitably be their first choice target. In Chen Ke's view, there was no need to defend Hefei city to the death at this stage. Hefei city was actually a bait, a stage, letting all forces jump out fully to perform. After the People's Party controlled the countryside, and the hidden enemies had fully displayed their figures on the stage, it would be much easier to deal with this group of people then.

So Chen Ke didn't care whether Hefei city would be lost. What he cared about was the safety of the three hundred comrades in Hefei city. The Yue Wang Society had over a thousand troops after all. If they wanted to seize Hefei city, the People's Party would definitely suffer great human losses. So he had to judge the Yue Wang Society's thoughts and formulate corresponding safety plans.

In the report, Chen Duxiu and the others behaved quite properly and didn't have a particularly fierce attitude towards the People's Party. This made it harder to judge instead. After thinking for a while, Chen Ke asked, "Comrade Zhou Zhizhong, are you willing to go to Hefei to be our liaison with the Yue Wang Society?"

"Ah?" Zhou Zhizhong was somewhat puzzled by Chen Ke's order.

"To put it plainly, it is to monitor the movements of the Yue Wang Society. Their group of people are used to staying in the city. If they are made to stay away from the city, they will absolutely not be able to stand it. Rather than letting the Yue Wang Society people feel dissatisfied, it is better to allocate a piece of land for them outside Hefei city. This requires a liaison. The best case is that the grassroots of the Yue Wang Society gradually accept the program of the people's revolution and become our comrades. I am generally not so optimistic about the upper echelons. Comrade Zhou Zhizhong, you happened to have dealt with the high-level of the Yue Wang Society. Do you think you can accept this job?"

Zhou Zhizhong felt a burst of excitement in his heart. The People's Internal Affairs Committee was not just a department presiding over internal discipline and suppressing counter-revolutionaries; foreign espionage and infiltration work was also one of the responsibilities of this department. The work of infiltrating the Yue Wang Society was actually given to him to do. Zhou Zhizhong was both excited and nervous. His voice trembled slightly, "Chairman Chen, I will definitely do the job well."

Having determined the work in Hefei, Chen Ke called Lin Shenhe over. "Comrade Lin Shenhe, is the preparation work for Liuan County ready?"

Lin Shenhe handed over a roster. "These are the local secret societies we have contacted. They verbally support us entering Liuan County. But, Chairman Chen, do we have enough troops to enter the Dabie Mountain area now?"

At the Central Committee meeting of the People's Party, Chen Ke proposed a plan to develop the Dabie Mountain base area in the coming year. Facing this plan, the comrades of the Central Committee did not support it enthusiastically. The Dabie Mountain area was vast, but living conditions were harsh, and the local people were very poor. Compared with the existing base areas, the Dabie Mountain area could be said to be a typical example of "large investment, slow results."

Chen Ke naturally couldn't use the famous "Dabie Mountain Base Area" of later generations to persuade comrades, so no one opposed Chen Ke's plan, nor did anyone actively ask to undertake this work. Chen Ke knew there was no helping it. Now that the base area was expanding fiercely, the problem of the lack of cadres in the People's Party became prominent. Moreover, the actual working time of the oldest qualified cadres of the People's Party was only one year. There was a shortage of people everywhere now. Leaving wealthy areas undeveloped and putting precious human resources into remote and poor areas was unreasonable no matter what.

Not only did the comrades of the Party Central Committee not support it, but even Lin Shenhe, who had always followed Chen Ke closely, expressed doubts.

Chen Ke said with emotion, "If there are not enough people, send fewer people. If there are not enough troops, mobilize the secret societies. generally speaking, although the Dabie Mountain area is poor, it has its own advantages. Where the economy is backward, various social contradictions are doubly fierce. The people doubly hope for liberation."

Chen Ke didn't research revolutionary history very much. One of the reasons why the Oyuwan Base Area in the Dabie Mountains could make Chen Ke care so much was that his ancestors had sacrificed in the Dabie Mountain area. Moreover, the banking and financial work in the Dabie Mountain area was done very well. Back then, with a population of over three million in the Dabie Mountain Base Area, an army of over forty thousand people was formed. Many counties were Red Counties and General Counties. Chen Ke was absolutely unwilling to let go of such a revolutionary area proven by history. Historically, the Oyuwan Base Area had an army of forty-five thousand people. Chen Ke could absolutely transfer twenty thousand of them to fight in North Huai now. With troops of such scale, the military strength of the entire North Huai Base Area would inevitably be greatly improved. Even if just for these twenty thousand Red Army soldiers, Chen Ke believed that the Dabie Mountain Base Area must be opened up.

But these words couldn't be said now. If said, comrades going to work in the Dabie Mountains would easily turn the goal into recruiting soldiers instead of carrying out revolutionary work. So Chen Ke could only pin his hopes on the comrades' work performance.

Although Lin Shenhe didn't know why Chen Ke paid so much attention to the construction of the Dabie Mountain Base Area, he had always followed Chen Ke's command closely. Seeing that his advice was not accepted by Chen Ke, he put all his thoughts on the standpoint of doing the job well to the maximum extent. "According to our investigation, these secret societies are relatively unreliable. Many of them have connections with bandits in the Dabie Mountain area."

The bandits in the Dabie Mountain area were very famous. Due to the outbreak of the flood, the bandits temporarily stopped operating in the disaster areas of Anhui. According to intelligence, a large part of them ran to Henan and Hubei areas to roam. But before long, this group of people would reappear around the Anhui base area. Thinking of this, Lin Shenhe felt that opening up the Dabie Mountain Base Area wasn't a bad choice. With a base area in the mountains, they could effectively deal with bandits. The people in the mountains and the people in the plain areas had always been at odds. The plain areas thought the mountain people were poor and savage. The mountain people thought the plain people were mercenary. After robbing things, bandits ran to the mountains and distributed the looted things to the people, often gaining the support of the mountain people. Government troops often suppressed bandits but always had little effect. Now that the base area was getting richer and richer, if it were looted wantonly by bandits, the losses would also be much greater.

Chen Ke also scratched his head listening to the report. He had always lived on the plains and had only occasionally looked at mountainous areas casually; he didn't understand the specific situation at all. There were very few discussions about mountainous areas on the Internet, and he didn't even have anything to use for reference. At this point, Chen Ke had to force himself to say, "No matter what, the number of local tyrants and evil gentry in the mountainous areas is actually greater than in the plain areas. As for this troop problem, we must have a reliable troop go there."

Seeing Chen Ke rarely speaking some clichés, Lin Shenhe probed, "Chairman Chen, why don't you let the Yue Wang Society people go to the Dabie Mountain area?"

"Mn?" This suggestion lifted Chen Ke's spirits. Although the idea was slightly absurd, if the more than one thousand people of the Yue Wang Society could enter the Dabie Mountain area, it would really be a very good thing.

"Chairman Chen, what the Yue Wang Society people want most now is territory. If we leave them in Hefei, I dare say they will cause trouble sooner or later. Instead of this, we might as well tell the Yue Wang Society that we will help them attack the Dabie Mountain area. As for the territory, everyone manages it together. There will definitely be people in the Yue Wang Society who oppose and people who support it. Then no matter what, these people will split up. In this way, as long as a part of them goes with us to the Dabie Mountains, the threat of the Yue Wang Society to us will be much less. And as long as we can make good use of them, some of them will choose to join our team. This method is a bit easier."