"Unfair?" Wu Liao asked back after hearing his subordinate's answer.

"Correct, unfair." Zhou Fengxiang knew Wu Liao had a big temper. Since he had already enraged Wu Liao anyway, he threw caution to the wind.

Wu Liao didn't lose his temper. He looked Zhou Fengxiang up and down, then asked with a sneer: "If it's unfair, why didn't you say so during the meeting?"

Zhou Fengxiang fell silent again. Wu Liao had indeed specifically asked everyone if they had any other opinions during the meeting. At that time, Zhou Fengxiang hadn't dared to stand up and speak. The People's Party hadn't given up the election of all positions; the Women's Federation, Education, Agriculture, and Hygiene—the People's Party was determined to win these departments. They only gave up positions like Village Head and Town Head.

Seeing Zhou Fengxiang silent again, Wu Liao pressed him with a sneer hanging on his face: "Speak. Weren't you quite daring just now?"

"I..." Zhou Fengxiang wanted to say something like the People's Party should take all positions, but when the words came to his lips, Zhou Fengxiang couldn't say them. Among the People's Party participants running in the Liujiapu District, Zhou Zhengying was running for the Women's Federation, Zhou Longsheng, the current principal of Liujiapu Primary School, was running for Education Director, and the Agriculture and Hygiene departments also had professionals participating in the selection. Although the election quota this time was circled by the organization, everyone had a scale in their hearts. Zhou Fengxiang himself knew he couldn't compete with them at all. So how could he dare to speak at the meeting?

As a small cadre in the logistics department, Zhou Fengxiang was in charge of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative work in Liujiapu. It wasn't any remarkable position in the county, but in Liujiapu District, it was impressive and majestic. Now, if the farmers in the base area wanted to buy cheap daily necessities, they would choose the rural Supply and Marketing Cooperative. As long as they held Renminbi and the purchase tickets distributed to them, they could go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy commodities that used to cost a huge amount at very low prices. As the supervisor of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Zhou Fengxiang could be said to have unlimited glory. As soon as he arrived in Liujiapu, everyone greeted him with "Comrade Zhou this" and "Comrade Zhou that." This kind of treatment, like stars surrounding the moon, made Zhou Fengxiang feel very happy in his heart.

In this election activity, Zhou Fengxiang didn't feel anything special during the meeting. After the meeting ended, he went to Liujiapu, and quite a few people asked Zhou Fengxiang what position he was actually running for. Zhou Fengxiang actually wanted to participate in the election very much. At first, he could still say relatively calmly that he wasn't running. But seeing those people who asked him first look stunned and then immediately turn cold in attitude, Zhou Fengxiang felt extremely lost in his heart.

If one must say, Zhou Fengxiang actually didn't really want to be elected to anything; he just hoped he could be listed on the candidate list. So he told some "moderate lies"; for example, he hinted or stated explicitly that he might run. Because he was afraid of being exposed, he actually chose people who looked like they wouldn't go out and talk nonsense very carefully to make this kind of hint. Unexpectedly, he was still caught.

Facing Secretary Wu Liao's anger, Zhou Fengxiang could only tough it out. As a person who cared about face, being caught violating discipline was already bad enough. If there was anything worse than this, it was admitting he told lies.

After venting his anger like this, the anger in Wu Liao's heart had dissipated quite a bit. Being selected as County Committee Secretary meant he wasn't useless. Although he couldn't completely see through Zhou Fengxiang's psychology, Wu Liao could still see that Zhou Fengxiang hadn't told the whole truth. However, this kind of thing wasn't the main point right now; first, he had to retrieve the adverse effects caused by Zhou Fengxiang. "Comrade Zhou Fengxiang, I now require you to immediately return to Liujiapu District and admit to the common people that you have no intention of running for election."

Wu Liao's words made Zhou Fengxiang shudder involuntarily. This was the most fatal blow. Zhou Fengxiang no longer looked pitiful; he said emotionally: "Secretary Wu Liao, if I say that, how can I mix in Liujiapu in the future?"

"What do you mean?" Wu Liao actually didn't understand for a moment.

"A man lives for a face; a tree lives for a bark. If I say that, who will still look up to me in the future?" Zhou Fengxiang really threw caution to the wind this time.

Wu Liao was made furious by these words. Because he was too angry, Wu Liao didn't explode directly. He looked at Zhou Fengxiang with eyes like looking at a mental patient. "You weren't a candidate selected by our People's Party to begin with. What opinion do you have about being asked to tell the truth? Are you unwilling to continue working on the People's Party side?"

The thought of refusing to lose face had completely gained the upper hand in Zhou Fengxiang's heart. Hearing Wu Liao say this, he also knew he had no future in the People's Party this time. At this point, Zhou Fengxiang felt a burst of willfulness surge up. He said loudly: "If I don't work, I don't work. I just want to run for election this time."

Wu Liao was choked into silence, but this loss of composure only lasted a few seconds. He raised his hand, pointed at the door, and said only one word: "Get out."

Hearing this word, Zhou Fengxiang suddenly felt relaxed all over. He raised his head and strode out with big steps. Just before he walked out of the main gate, Wu Liao shouted again, "Wait."

"What is it!" Zhou Fengxiang no longer had the slightest feeling of a subordinate. He turned his head carelessly, thinking in his heart that no matter what Wu Liao said, he wouldn't work for the People's Party anymore.

Wu Liao's face was a mixture of anger and surprise, but what he said had nothing to do with either. "Before you go, finish handing over the work to me." After speaking, Wu Liao opened the door to the next room and instructed the comrades of the County Committee Office to handle the handover work.

Not only Wu Liao's Wuhe County, but every county in the base area encountered this kind of thing. Comrades in the localities actually all wanted to run for Village Head and Town Head. There were actually more than thirty cases of violating regulations. The largest number was in Fuyang County, where Lu Huitian served as Secretary. Fuyang County was a newly liberated area and was right next to Henan. Not only was there civil administration work, but they also had to guard against the Qing army in Henan, so military work was also quite heavy. Lu Huitian had relatively more experience in local work, and he himself hoped to have experience in both military and political aspects like Chen Ke, so he chose Fuyang.

Chen Ke read Lu Huitian's report once, and then read the People's Internal Affairs Committee's report once. Lu Huitian at least didn't hide anything regarding the number of cadres with problems. Just for this point, Chen Ke felt very satisfied. He didn't want to pursue so-called "responsibility" at all. What the People's Party lacked most now wasn't people, nor troops, but cadres. Lu Huitian had only been there for half a year, and Fuyang wasn't small; Lu Huitian simply didn't have enough time to select enough cadres. Being able to keep the work below basically not going astray already proved Lu Huitian's ability, so it was reasonable that there were many problems.

Looking at the report again, among these cadres who violated discipline, nearly half chose to leave the organization, and the remaining half also suspended work. It seemed quite a few comrades still didn't take organizational discipline seriously. The People's Party wasn't an organization where you could come and go as you pleased. They thought "If this place doesn't keep the master, there are other places that will." In Chen Ke's view, this was a terribly wrong idea.

He Zudao sat opposite Chen Ke. He couldn't see any definable emotion on Chen Ke's face. The situation this time was the first large-scale outbreak of internal contradictions within the People's Party. It was absolutely impossible to say Chen Ke wasn't angry. Even if the number of these cadres who actively left wasn't large, the outbreak of such fierce contradictions within the People's Party before the election wasn't a good thing for the masses to see after all.

Thinking of this, He Zudao couldn't help advising: "Chairman Chen, I suggest we talk to these comrades again. Everyone might just be fighting out of spite."

"Zudao, these people are all deserters," Chen Ke replied with a smile.

He Zudao couldn't help shuddering. If deserters appeared on the battlefield, the commander could immediately execute battlefield discipline. That meant execution on the spot. Chen Ke actually used this as an example; the murderous aura in this was a bit too strong. He dared not answer for a moment.

Chen Ke looked at He Zudao's careful expression and couldn't help laughing. "I didn't mean I want to shoot them. I'm just used to using the word 'deserter' to describe these people who run away as soon as they encounter some difficulties. Aren't these people just for personal power and position? Quite a few of them feel that after joining the government organization, they are not ordinary people anymore. Others can be officials, why can't they? It's just this kind of thought. Actually, it's a good thing they left. Getting rid of this kind of black sheep early on makes me feel more at ease if we really encounter greater pressure in the future."

He Zudao knew Chen Ke always took things lightly, but he never expected Chen Ke to have such a view on the comrades who left. But on second thought, Chen Ke wasn't wrong either. If these people encountered a situation with greater pressure, heaven knew what they would do.

"Zudao, the comrades in the troops performed very well this time. You political commissars did a good job," Chen Ke praised. These incidents that broke out this time were all problems discovered when the soldiers of the troops propagandized the new election regulations. The comrades in the troops obviously observed discipline more than the cadres in the localities. Chen Ke was very satisfied with this point.

He Zudao wasn't entirely happy. This time, the troops and the localities counted as having a conflict. At the political commissars' work meeting, some comrades raised this view. Local supervision work originally didn't belong to the army, but when the common people complained to the army, the result was effective. It was inevitable that the common people would have the idea that the army's status was above the local government. The local government definitely wouldn't be happy about this idea of the common people. However, He Zudao didn't plan to complain to Chen Ke. Chen Ke was already busy like this; there was no need to let Chen Ke be annoyed by these personnel struggles.

"Chairman Chen, what do you plan to do?" He Zudao finally couldn't help asking.

Chen Ke was amused by He Zudao's words. He laughed: "Do nothing. We have already arranged the work; everyone has things to do. The election work has just started; what can I do? I just have to stay here and watch the work continue."

Looking at He Zudao's embarrassed expression, Chen Ke had to reassure He Zudao first. "Zudao, any matter will encounter problems. Let alone this election work done for the first time, even if we do it ten or twenty times, new problems will be encountered each time. It's not strange for problems to arise; it would be strange if problems didn't arise. As long as everyone doesn't stop moving forward, or deceive superiors and hide from subordinates, but strives towards the direction of solving problems, what can I say? If I speak now, it will affect everyone psychologically instead. The one who should keep their mouth shut the most right now is actually me."

He Zudao could roughly understand the reasoning Chen Ke wanted to state, but he couldn't accept it in his heart. Since things hadn't developed according to the meeting arrangements, but chaos had occurred internally from the beginning, leaving Chen Ke aside, He Zudao felt it was necessary to take action to correct it.

Seeing He Zudao's expression, Chen Ke said seriously: "Comrade He Zudao, you have your own work; focus on doing your own work well for me. This election matter hasn't ended yet; it's just the beginning now. So I don't allow you to have any comments on this. Moreover, after you go back, convene a meeting of political commissars. The political work system is not allowed to have any public comments on this. Personal comments are only allowed to be raised in political work meetings; silence must be maintained externally. Comrade He Zudao, watch the political work system well for me. No nonsense affecting the election work is allowed to be spoken."

Chen Ke raised the requirement so seriously that He Zudao knew there was no room for discussion. He nodded vigorously. "Chairman Chen, I know."

Almost at the same time, Yuwen Badu also convened a Fengtai County Committee work meeting. Chen Ke was still staying in Hefei now. The work of Fengtai County was completely the responsibility of Yuwen Badu. He said seriously: "No one is allowed to evaluate the election work of other counties and districts, and even less allowed to gloat or talk nonsense behind their backs."

Ren Qiying quietly listened to Yuwen Badu emphasize organizational discipline. This wasn't an idea she gave Yuwen Badu, but Yuwen Badu's own understanding. Yuwen Badu's theoretical level wasn't high, and his speaking skills were also limited. Ren Qiying felt a bit regretful in her heart; if this paragraph had been drafted by her, it would definitely have been much more organized and persuasive. Actually, Ren Qiying didn't notice the deeper reason for the regret in her heart. In the work these days, Ren Qiying had somewhat looked down on Yuwen Badu to some extent. She originally thought she needed to tell Yuwen Badu how to treat the problems in the election work, but without Ren Qiying, Yuwen Badu still made the extremely correct choice. This gave Ren Qiying a huge sense of loss.

After emphasizing organizational discipline, Yuwen Badu continued: "Now let Comrade Ren Qiying talk about the formation of production teams."

Ren Qiying stood up. In the past few days, she first transferred the household registration of her family to the county, and then handled the transfer of land ownership. Only after these two big things were done did she begin the investigation work on production teams. After standing on the podium, Ren Qiying naturally couldn't say these things. She went straight to the preliminary results of the investigation. "Comrades, I did some investigations these past few days. The matter of forming production teams is actually not as easy as I imagined."

Everyone didn't expect Ren Qiying to say this as soon as she came up, and they were all startled.

"Due to the popularization of peasant associations and cooperatives, ordinary families basically have new-style iron farm tools. Production efficiency has generally improved. According to my investigation, the biggest difficulty for farmers now lies in the lack of large livestock. In the case of three *mu* of land per person, to be able to finish cultivating their own land with quality and quantity without missing the farming season, except for families with relatively more strong laborers, most families have already reached a limit as of now. So to form production teams and make production teams profitable, the problem of large livestock must be solved. Only after continuing to improve production efficiency will the common people have spare energy for production teams."

The People's Party members and government cadres all knew that it was Chairman Chen Ke who proposed the idea of forming production teams. It wasn't that no one in the People's Party dared to sing a different tune from Chen Ke, but Ren Qiying was at least the first person in Fengtai County to believe with reason and evidence that the policy proposed by Chen Ke had problems. However, like Chen Ke, Ren Qiying used facts to speak. The participating cadres didn't know whether they should support or oppose.

After a long while, He Yaqing, the Deputy Director of the County Committee Office, asked: "Director Ren, then does the matter of forming production teams just stop like this? Since we have already propagandized the suggestion to form production teams, having no follow-up might not be good. The matter of large livestock might not be unsolvable either. If we spare some evenly from the army farms and state-run farms, there should be some surplus."

He Yaqing was thirty-three years old this year, considered relatively older in the People's Party. Everyone originally thought he should be able to become the Director of the County Committee Office, but besides being much younger than He Yaqing, Ren Qiying didn't fall behind in qualifications and ability at all. Plus with Chairman Chen Ke's promotion, the County Committee Office became a situation where a young female led an older male. Even in such an open-minded organization as the People's Party and the new government, this combination made quite a few people laugh behind their backs. Plus He Yaqing's words weren't unreasonable, so quite a few male comrades almost subconsciously nodded in agreement with He Yaqing.

Ren Qiying was not moved at all. She said: "Regarding this year's farming, the army farms and state-run farms have already used livestock on average to the maximum limit. But there is still quite a lot of land plowed by manpower. There are basically no livestock to buy in the surrounding areas. Our breeding farms have given birth to some small calves, but it will be the year after next at the earliest before they can be put to use. So regarding the production teams, I feel it will be in time to do it again next year."

"Next year?" Some relatively sharp comrades discovered a strange point in the timetable proposed by Ren Qiying. Calves can only be used after growing to two years old, which would be the year after next no matter what. Why did Ren Qiying say production teams could be promoted next year?

Looking at the bewildered or puzzled expressions of the comrades below, Ren Qiying couldn't help feeling a burst of pride in her heart. She finally experienced the power of knowledge now. Besides investigating and inquiring below these past few days, Ren Qiying also read some documents written by Chen Ke. Fortunately, these documents were edited with keyword indexes. Ren Qiying really wasn't afraid of trouble; she learned from Chen Ke to work late into the night and forcibly read through all the indexes once. As a result, in the mechanical literature she didn't understand at all, Ren Qiying saw the index of four words: "Agricultural Machinery." Calling out the document to look, she actually saw content about tractors. Chen Ke stated bluntly in it that tractors would inevitably replace plow oxen and thoroughly liberate agricultural productive forces. This made Ren Qiying feel like she had found a treasure.

Ren Qiying's father Ren Yugang now worked under Yan Fu. Everyone in the base area knew Yan Fu was a great expert who understood machinery. Ren Qiying borrowed the literature and ran to find Yan Fu for advice. Yan Fu had a very close relationship with the National Defense Science and Industry Committee. After reading the materials, he suggested Ren Qiying go to the National Defense Science and Industry Committee to ask. Ren Qiying didn't go to find Qin Tongren, who had a close relationship with Yan Fu, but found You Gou, the general person in charge of the National Defense Science and Industry Committee, who was also a member of the People's Party Women's Federation.

You Gou had already commanded the blasting of the river-blocking obstacles in the Nanfei River and had just returned less than two days ago. Looking at the tractor materials Ren Qiying brought, she greatly appreciated the sensitivity of this female comrade Ren Qiying and broke precedent to reveal a piece of news to Ren Qiying. The base area had obtained not only gas internal combustion engines, but the inflowing materials also contained data on "hot bulb engines." After this data was handed to Chen Ke, Chen Ke actually had a sudden realization at the time, and immediately instructed the base area to divide the direction of engines into two types: one to continue researching gas internal combustion engines, and the other direction to start the research and development of hot bulb engines. And this hot bulb engine could be used as the power for tractors.

Through You Gou's explanation, although she still didn't understand the principle and production of hot bulb engines, Ren Qiying knew the base area prepared to strive to produce hot bulb engines next year. This gave Ren Qiying confidence.

Facing the doubts, Ren Qiying said loudly to the comrades of the County Committee: "Agriculture in the future must not only be animal-powered but even more mechanized. This is our future direction. This is also the direction Chairman Chen is striving to push forward."