Since arriving at the base area, Lin Shenhe had always chosen to follow closely in Chairman Chen Ke's footsteps. Facing the problem of the Yue Wang Society, Lin Shenhe put forward his own political strategy for the first time. To his disappointment, Chen Ke rejected this strategy after only a slight hesitation. "Comrade Lin Shenhe, revolution is revolution. Using such a method to deal with the Yue Wang Society is a deviation from the revolution."

In Lin Shenhe's impression, Chen Ke had never been a rigid person. Why did Chen Ke suddenly become stubborn when facing the Yue Wang Society? Lin Shenhe hurriedly explained, "Chairman Chen, if we don't divide the Yue Wang Society, they will cause trouble sooner or later."

"I don't oppose your idea of dividing the Yue Wang Society; what I disagree with is letting the Yue Wang Society join our work." Chen Ke gave a more precise answer. "If we feel that the Yue Wang Society is our enemy, we can simply send troops to eliminate them. Last time we killed more than eight hundred counter-revolutionaries in one go, and the people were not fearful or uneasy because of this. Although the masses did not appreciate this act of mass killing, they at least understood why we killed people. If we feel that the Yue Wang Society is our friend and is consistent in the political stance of opposing the Manchu Qing rule, then we can let the Yue Wang Society understand through various exchanges that the people's revolution is the only correct path. But once the Yue Wang Society intervenes in the people's revolutionary actions we are promoting, given their current level, they will definitely do many wrong things. How do we explain to the people? Do we say that our People's Party wants to play some conspiracies and tricks now, so some things naturally go wrong?"

Only then did Lin Shenhe understand that the reason for Chen Ke's opposition was actually worrying about not being able to explain to the people. "Chairman Chen, the Yue Wang Society will definitely do bad things under our banner..."

"If they do that, we will hold them accountable." Chen Ke answered immediately.

"Since Chairman Chen also thinks we will definitely conflict with the Yue Wang Society in the future, why not strike now?"

Chen Ke looked at Lin Shenhe seriously and said in a deep voice, "Comrade Lin Shenhe, I never feel that we will have any conflict with the Yue Wang Society. Our People's Party wants to liberate the people and liberate China through the people's revolution. And it is not our People's Party that created this people's revolution; the broad masses of the people themselves need liberation and revolution. Our People's Party merely conforms to the people's wishes to realize this revolution. From this perspective, when our People's Party judges who is a friend and who is an enemy, we must judge from the perspective of this revolution. Not just from the perspective of our People's Party's own interests."

Lin Shenhe had no interest in Chen Ke's "high profile." After determining that Chen Ke would not agree to his plan, Lin Shenhe no longer wanted to continue arguing with Chen Ke about this issue. He turned the topic to establishing the police system in each county of the base area. Chen Ke didn't force Lin Shenhe to have any profound political insights either. When Lin Shenhe talked about specific work, Chen Ke also followed to talk about specific work.

Not long ago, the secret societies in Wuhe County set off a counter-revolutionary riot. From then on, there was a consensus within the People's Party that the main enemy at the current stage was the secret societies within the base area. This group of people must be squeezed out of the masses. But since the base area killed more than eight hundred people in one go, the secret societies were quite deterred, and so far they had behaved relatively honestly. The high-level officials of the People's Party had now gone down to the grassroots of various prefectures and counties to personally command work including land reform and post-disaster reconstruction. In addition to using military force as a deterrent, the police system, especially the establishment of an armed police system, was a very important job for the current base area.

Lin Shenhe left after talking about work. Chen Ke only felt a strong sense of unease in his heart. Up to now, the People's Party's revolution had achieved great results. But Chen Ke felt that these results were somewhat lacking. Unlike the revolution after 1927 in history, the revolution in Anhui had not encountered any real enemies so far, at least the revolution in Fengtai County had not encountered enemies. After the flood, because the people immediately started concentrated living, in a sense, the people of Fengtai County had been thoroughly mobilized. The extremely few landlords were quickly isolated, subdued, and even eliminated. The new system began in the most violent way of "collective life," so it was established quickly.

Natural disasters completely destroyed the old system, and the people rallied around the People's Party for survival. The People's Party didn't even stir up strong social contradictions. In the absence of enemies, the new system was established step by step. The Manchu Qing was not the Kuomintang of those years; their sensitivity to the People's Party and the people's revolution was surprisingly low. This regime on the verge of collapse had the kind of dullness, slowness, and chaos peculiar to before collapse. This status quo was diametrically opposed to the degree of difficulty of the revolutionary path Chen Ke knew.

This kind of thing should have made people breathe a sigh of relief, but Chen Ke felt an increasingly uneasy feeling. Chen Ke knew that his knowledge and confidence came from that fierce and cruel revolutionary history. Facing intense crises and pressures existing both internally and externally, the Party in history burst out with unprecedented progressiveness. In this era, whether internal or external, the strength of the enemy was far less powerful than the enemies the Party faced in history. So what problems would the people's revolution in this era encounter? Chen Ke only felt more and more uneasy.

"Maybe I should go to the local areas personally to carry out investigations?" Chen Ke couldn't help thinking. Since the historical era had essential differences, if he mechanically applied revolutionary experience again, mistakes would definitely occur.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke looked at the pile of documents on the desk. These documents were all about very specific work matters. Mainly problems with newly established handicraft industries. If he wanted to solve them thoroughly, relying solely on the office was no longer appropriate. Instead of remote control in the office, it would be better to simply go down to the grassroots to have a look. Chen Ke finally made up his mind. Now the Party Central Committee in Fengtai County was actually empty. Chen Ke called Yuwen Badu and asked Yuwen Badu to go to the countryside with him to solve problems.

Yuwen Badu was somewhat surprised and somewhat apprehensive. He asked cautiously, "Chairman Chen, are you dissatisfied with the current work in Fengtai County?"

Chen Ke smiled. "Badu, when our People's Party first arrived in Fengtai County, we were on the front line, working at the grassroots level. I haven't been to the grassroots much in this half year. I don't know what changes there are in grassroots work compared to our time back then. Let's two old buddies go to the countryside to have a look together. What do you think?"

Yuwen Badu knew that Chen Ke had already made a decision. Even if he didn't go, Chen Ke would go personally. Since this was the case, Yuwen Badu felt that going with Chen Ke was still the best choice. He nodded, "Since Chairman Chen says so, let's go and have a look."

Hearing this, Chen Ke frowned slightly. What is "let's just go and have a look"? Yuwen Badu was now concurrently the Party Secretary of Fengtai County; managing the work of Fengtai County well was his duty. In the past, the Party Central Committee was in Fengtai County, so there were many constraining forces, and Yuwen Badu couldn't fully display his skills. Looking at it now, Yuwen Badu seemed not to have changed from that state yet. Chen Ke suddenly felt that going down to the grassroots this time was very necessary.

But going down to the grassroots was not going through the motions. Leading the Yue Wang Society people to visit the base area was just looking at flowers from horseback. Just look at some superficial things. If Chen Ke also did this, the whole process would be to inspect, and then Chen Ke would say some lay words to the front-line staff, and the front-line staff would respond with some insincere nonsense. In short, it was all superficial work. In addition to collecting first-hand information, going down to the grassroots was importantly to solve problems. At least be able to sort out methods and ideas for solving problems. To achieve this goal, a lot of preparatory work was needed before going down to the grassroots. First, many reports on problems submitted by the grassroots recently had to be aggregated. Chen Ke didn't lack these reports in hand, but Chen Ke felt that these things should be done by Yuwen Badu.

Since Shang Yuan left the administrative work of Fengtai County, Yuwen Badu had concurrently served as the Magistrate of Fengtai County. Although he didn't expect Yuwen Badu to become a qualified magistrate in the short term, Chen Ke still hoped Yuwen Badu could perform a bit better. However, Yuwen Badu disappointed Chen Ke very much. Talking about the work to be prepared for going down to the grassroots, Yuwen Badu was actually submissive and couldn't say anything relevant.

Obviously, Yuwen Badu didn't understand how to be a magistrate at all. Yuwen Badu was only limited to the level of "knowing all" about various situations in the county. As for what to do next? Yuwen Badu "didn't know."

Facing this situation, Chen Ke barely held back his dissatisfaction. Yuwen Badu being able to become one of the nine Standing Committee members was originally to make up the numbers. He was a local. If Yuwen Badu wasn't given a place, it was considered "buying horse bones for a thousand gold" (a gesture to attract talent). The local masses felt there was one of their own in the People's Party. In actual work, the only aspect where Yuwen Badu could truly show his ability was architecture. Looking at it now, perhaps certain personnel adjustments were already some kind of necessity.

Chen Ke looked at Yuwen Badu, who was somewhat at a loss. He smiled, "Comrade Badu, call Comrade Ren Qiying over. Let her assist you in making arrangements for this work in the countryside."

Yuwen Badu had always been used to obeying everyone's assignment on specific work. Chen Ke gave the execution method, and Yuwen Badu immediately went to execute it. This was his biggest advantage. But as the Party Secretary of a county, the positive effect of this advantage could increasingly not make up for the shortcomings in Yuwen Badu.

However, plans couldn't keep up with changes. Just as Chen Ke began to organize the key points of work for going down to the grassroots, the guards sent several messages one after another. One of the earliest Party members of the People's Party, Wu Xingchen, who hadn't been heard from for a long time, first arrived in Shanghai and had now arrived in Wuhe County. He would soon arrive in Fengtai County. Coming with Wu Xingchen were also several Guangzhou revolutionaries Chen Ke had invited; Lin Juemin's famous name was impressively on the list. At the same time, what made Chen Ke happiest was that Wang Bin in Shanghai had obtained three coal gas internal combustion engines. The coal gas internal combustion engines were escorted by Wu Xingchen and would soon arrive at the base area. In addition, Wang Bin reached an initial agreement with an American trading firm; the American merchant agreed to exchange coal gas internal combustion engines for raw silk. And Wang Yuelong in Nanyang also sent news; after he contacted the French, the French agreed to exchange coal gas internal combustion engines for silk and tea.

Chen Ke held the letter and looked left and right. Ignoring the guard beside him, he laughed up at the sky, "Finally we can enter the electrical age!"

The coal gas internal combustion engine was a transitional machine type; its fuel was carbon monoxide rather than diesel or gasoline. Early coal gas internal combustion engines were used for power generation. Chen Ke had never invested much energy in steam engines. A very important reason was that steam engines required too high a standard for cylinder production, which the base area simply couldn't do. But once coal gas internal combustion engines were obtained, the base area could get a stable power supply. Although the scale of electricity wouldn't be large, Chen Ke firmly believed it was enough to solve many problems. Because the mechanical equipment Chen Ke had come into contact with in this life, except for advanced steam engines like steam locomotive heads, were all electrical age technologies. Chen Ke was simply not a person of the steam age.

The guard was startled by Chen Ke's behavior, but seeing that Chen Ke was not crazy but genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart, the guard also felt very happy. Since plans couldn't keep up with changes, Chen Ke didn't force it. He decisively postponed the grassroots investigation for a few days and ran to the industrial zone to guide the preparation work himself.

Yuwen Badu obviously didn't know he had escaped a disaster. According to the habit he had developed, Yuwen Badu still wanted to run with Chen Ke to get involved in the work of the industrial department. Ren Qiying, who was temporarily transferred to assist Yuwen Badu's work, immediately stopped Yuwen Badu's behavior. Looking at Yuwen Badu's puzzled expression, a doubt arose in Ren Qiying's heart: Was this Yuwen Badu playing dumb, or was he really dumb?

According to Ren Qiying's observation, none of the cadres of the People's Party from top to bottom were freeloaders. Needless to say for Chen Ke; Ren Qiying felt Chen Ke knew everything from astronomy to geography, governing the army on horseback and governing the people off horseback. Other senior cadres also had extremely strong abilities. After the expansion of the base area this time, in the nine Standing Committee members of the Party Central Committee, except for people in the military department and Yuwen Badu, everyone else volunteered to go to various counties to concurrently serve as County Party Secretaries. The promotion of the revolution indeed required everyone to work hard, but most importantly, these people were establishing their own connections and teams through practical work.

The People's Party initially started in Fengtai County, and Chen Ke was actually the Party Secretary of Fengtai County. Now that the base area had expanded, although military power was in the hands of the Military Commission, various Politburo Standing Committee members and Central Committee members were striving to obtain the positions of County Party Secretary and Magistrate. At least they were also striving for positions in various competent departments. Among the Politburo members, only Yuwen Badu didn't understand the current situation. Even less did he understand the situation he faced. In Ren Qiying's view, someone in the high level of the People's Party was obviously preparing to abandon Yuwen Badu intentionally or unintentionally.

After stopping Yuwen Badu's act of messing around blindly, Ren Qiying couldn't help thinking, "What should I do?" Chairman Chen Ke asked Ren Qiying to assist Yuwen Badu in preparing for the work in the countryside, which obviously had two meanings. The first was a very clear expression of recognition for Ren Qiying's working ability. But Ren Qiying couldn't quite determine the second meaning. Did Chen Ke hope to keep Yuwen Badu's current position? Obviously, Chen Ke was already very dissatisfied with Yuwen Badu. If going down to the grassroots this time couldn't be done well, Yuwen Badu would definitely be finished. And was Chen Ke preparing to let Ren Qiying replace Yuwen Badu's position, or to let Ren Qiying be this scapegoat? This was a big question that must be figured out.

Ren Qiying was quite troubled by this. While starting to help Yuwen Badu prepare the key points of work for going to the countryside, she thought left and right. Such matters couldn't be asked about randomly outside. The trend in North Huai was to love being an official. Now the People's Party had established its own status as the government. Even for the officials of such "rebels," many locals had begun to flock to them. Many local cadres in Fengtai County had been promoted, and everyone was working at the grassroots level. In a sense, Ren Qiying now had direct access to the high level. If she said the wrong thing or chose the wrong team, the result would be very bad.

Before Ren Qiying finally sorted out a clue, someone ran to Ren Qiying's door that night. The person who came was Ren Qiying's cousin, Xu Youli. "Sister, I heard Chairman Chen asked you to assist Secretary Yuwen's work?" Xu Youli spoke straight to the point.

Ren Qiying immediately became alert in her heart. She smiled and said, "Preparing for the work of going to the countryside, just helping temporarily."

Xu Youli said enviously, "Sister, this is a good opportunity. Recently I see Chairman Chen values you very much, and has entrusted you with many internal and external matters. You are going to be promoted."

These words made Ren Qiying feel a burst of pride in her heart. Many people saw Chen Ke's high regard for her. This was the future Ren Qiying earned through hard work by choosing the right team early on. When others were either forced by life to follow the People's Party, Ren Qiying actively chose the People's Party herself. At that time, Ren Qiying's purpose was entirely for the family, and she even made many bad preparations. But she never expected that the political program of the People's Party actually supported "equality between men and women" and "liberation of women." So Ren Qiying unexpectedly became a model. Being a woman was originally a disadvantage, but now in the base area, it had become a huge advantage instead. Such luck really greatly exceeded Ren Qiying's imagination.

Xu Youli's purpose in coming this time was to quickly build connections. If Ren Qiying was promoted, it would be extremely beneficial for him as a relative. So after praising Ren Qiying's cleverness and capability, Xu Youli wanted Ren Qiying to help him get a government job. "Sister, it's getting more and more tiring in the countryside after the land distribution. I don't want to farm anymore; I want to find a cushy job with the People's Party. You have to help me with this matter."

Hearing Xu Youli's words, Ren Qiying's face changed on the spot. "Cousin, our base area says labor is the most glorious. Who isn't working from top to bottom now? You want to find a cushy job; there isn't a single one in the base area. If there is nothing else, please go back!"