Chapter 92

Some words have a completely different impact when spoken by a man compared to when spoken by a woman. When You Gou proposed that the landlords' land should be taken out and cultivated together, and that the harvested grain should be evenly distributed among the people, Yuwen Badu suddenly felt a mix of surprise and joy. If these words were spoken by Chen Ke, Yuwen Badu would have felt more fear. But when You Gou said these words in her pleasant Shanghai accent, for some reason, Yuwen Badu felt more joy. His voice trembled, "Comrade You Gou, are you serious?"

"Why would I lie?" You Gou could understand Yuwen Badu's excitement. She had personally gone to the countryside for a social survey last year and had a deep understanding of the hardships of the farmers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It was a terrifying era, where landlords owned more than 70% of the land in the countryside and found ways to shift various taxes onto ordinary farmers. A 60% land rent and usurious loans with annual interest rates over 100% mercilessly exploited the farmers.

And the cities were no better. Under Chen Ke's leadership, the People's Party's enterprises were quite profitable, even enough to support such a large organization. However, You Gou, who came from a comprador family, had learned over the past year to see the exploitation of urban workers, with about 80% of the profits going to the bosses. Even so, China's handicraft industry was on the verge of collapse under the ruthless impact of foreign goods.

"Four seas without idle fields, farmers worry about starving to death!" Because she could see these social realities, You Gou felt the necessity of revolution even more. In such a dark and troubled era, if China did not rise up in revolution, the future would surely be complete destruction.

"Yuwen, are you afraid of death?" You Gou asked.

"Well... of course I am." Yuwen Badu was never one to lie.

"Do you think we can't force the landlords to give up their land? Or are you afraid that this new system won't last? Even if we force the landlords to give up their land this year, will they take revenge next year?" You Gou continued.

This time, Yuwen Badu did not speak immediately. He looked at the only woman in the Central Secretariat and spoke about his true concerns, but he was speechless.

"Yuwen, you know what we are going to do, right?" You Gou asked again.

Yuwen Badu did not dare to speak. He knew the goals and methods of the People's Party. These young people from the city were not gentle souls. After his first encounter with Chen Ke, Yuwen Badu knew this. And Chen Ke was definitely not someone who deceived others.

Yuwen Badu and his fellow townspeople worked for Chen Ke. At first, they were not used to it, but after a month, they were completely accustomed. Although there were various issues, the common feeling among his fellow townspeople was that working under the People's Party made them more aware of life. They realized that many things could be handled differently. If not for this, they would not have agreed to return to their hometown with the People's Party.

"Those landlord clans have deceived everyone for generations. In such a great disaster, if we follow the old methods, it will surely lead to death. To survive, can the farmers afford to stand by and do nothing?" You Gou said sternly, "We will handle the fighting and killing. The farmers just need to trust us once. Just once."

Yuwen Badu swallowed hard. He had recently officially joined the People's Party. Before that, he positioned himself as a "collaborator." Chen Ke was ruthless in dividing and absorbing Yuwen Badu's "former engineering team." Now, Yuwen Badu had completely lost his influence over the "former engineering team members." So, he joined the People's Party without hesitation. Humans have inertia, and the decisiveness to leave a familiar group was something Yuwen Badu lacked.

"Be straightforward, man. Speak up, will you do it or not?" You Gou had no intention of giving a long speech to persuade Yuwen Badu.

At this point, Yuwen Badu could not afford to hesitate. He looked up at Fengtai County Magistrate Shang Yuan, who was sitting to Chen Ke's left. Even the county magistrate had joined the People's Party, so what was there to fear? If the sky falls, there will always be someone taller to hold it up. What was there to fear?

"I will do it!" Yuwen Badu said through gritted teeth.

"Very good, then we will all follow Wenqing's orders. Obey the discipline, follow the command." You Gou, seeing that she had convinced Yuwen Badu, gave the final order.

"Comrade Yuwen Badu, since you say that some landlords want to take action against us, can you tell us more?" Chen Ke finally asked.

Since he had made up his mind, Yuwen Badu no longer held back, spilling out everything he knew. In the western part of Fengtai County, there was a large enclosure in Yuezhang Town. The leading landlord, Zhang Youliang, had expressed his intention to take the grain from the insurance team.

"Didn't we go to Yuezhang Town before?" Chen Ke was puzzled.

Fengtai County was north of the Huai River. The recent flood had caused the Huai River to rise, and Yuezhang Town was also flooded. The People's Party had taken action to save many people, and Yuezhang Town was within the rescue area.

"I led the team." Hua Xiongmao immediately answered, "That landlord was very stubborn. The enclosure was tightly closed, and he refused to accept the disaster victims. We had to bring the victims back to headquarters. Now, there are quite a few new comrades from Yuezhang Town in the insurance team. Most of these comrades have brought their families to our headquarters."

"Then what does this landlord have against us?" Chen Ke continued.

"I don't know what he's thinking, but I heard this from a few new arrivals. I had people from Yuezhang Town under me before, and now many more have come. Many of them owe money to the landlord." Yuwen Badu made his own judgment.

"Let's first investigate whether this landlord is just talking or really has a plan. Clarify this. Comrade Hua Xiongmao will be responsible for this." Chen Ke gave the order, "And I want to make it clear, regardless of his intentions, since there are many people from Yuezhang Town in our insurance team, we need to take action against him first. Our main focus will be on Yuezhang Town."

With the direction clear, everyone felt more relaxed. Yuwen Badu and Hua Xiongmao went to find the villagers who brought the news to get more details. Shang Yuan returned to the county office to continue his work. You Gou stopped Chen Ke, "Wenqing, I want to introduce a comrade to you."

"Introducing comrades is the job of the organizational department. Why are you coming to me?" Chen Ke was puzzled.

"This comrade is a woman." You Gou answered straightforwardly.

"A woman?" Chen Ke was confused.

After the flood, the People's Party expanded its human resources, and many good families joined the insurance team. They could also apply for their families to work in the labor teams organized by the People's Party, which was a form of "work-for-relief" in the county. There were many women, and You Gou, as a woman, held important organizational roles. Chen Ke's wife, He Ying, also helped in the Women's Federation. In such a large number of women, Chen Ke did not understand what kind of woman could make You Gou so concerned.

"She is Xu Erba's childhood friend. Her name is Ren Qiyong. This girl is quite extraordinary."

Just hearing You Gou's introduction, Chen Ke felt that she was indeed extraordinary. In this era, a woman having her own formal name was not from a small family. He recalled Xu Erba's background and asked, "Isn't Xu Erba from Xu Family Village in Fengtai County?"

"Yes, this Ren girl studied with Xu Erba from a young age. In terms of knowledge, she is even better than Xu Erba."

"Is that what this Ren girl said?" Chen Ke was skeptical. Generally, those who boast do not have much substance.

You Gou smiled, "I heard it from Xu Erba. Erba's knowledge is just average. He was able to pass the examination for a scholar because Ren girl always pushed him to practice his writing."

After hearing this, Chen Ke was speechless. One of the main reasons for abolishing the imperial examination system was that it had lost its vitality. The examination, especially for scholars, focused on whether the writing was smooth and whether the handwriting was good. Since Ren girl had such insight, she was not bad.

You Gou then introduced more about Ren Qiyong. This girl was bold and was one of the early members of the women's labor team under the insurance team. She worked hard, but she did not like working with other women.

"She insists on joining the army." You Gou dropped a bomb at the end.

"Join the army? This..." Chen Ke was taken aback. Women joining the army? This was not the Red Women's Army. After some thought, Chen Ke replied, "We are planning to attack Yuezhang Town. I have a plan that might require girls. Ask her if she is not afraid of death and is willing to take action. If so, I can help smooth things out. Otherwise, forget it."

Seeing You Gou leave happily, Chen Ke sighed in relief. Finally, they were about to formally enter the stage of establishing a rural base. Although it was just a small place like Fengtai County, class struggle was always brutal. Bloodshed was inevitable. Revolution is a violent action where one class violently overthrows another, and it is a chain reaction.

Some words have a completely different impact when spoken by a man compared to when spoken by a woman. When You Gou proposed that the landlords' land should be taken out and cultivated together, and that the harvested grain should be evenly distributed among the people, Yuwen Badu suddenly felt a mix of surprise and joy. If these words were spoken by Chen Ke, Yuwen Badu would have felt more fear. But when You Gou said these words in her pleasant Shanghai accent, for some reason, Yuwen Badu felt more joy. His voice trembled, "Comrade You Gou, are you serious?"

"Why would I lie?" You Gou could understand Yuwen Badu's excitement. She had personally gone to the countryside for a social survey last year and had a deep understanding of the hardships of the farmers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It was a terrifying era, where landlords owned more than 70% of the land in the countryside and found ways to shift various taxes onto ordinary farmers. A 60% land rent and usurious loans with annual interest rates over 100% mercilessly exploited the farmers.

And the cities were no better. Under Chen Ke's leadership, the People's Party's enterprises were quite profitable, even enough to support such a large organization. However, You Gou, who came from a comprador family, had learned over the past year to see the exploitation of urban workers, with about 80% of the profits going to the bosses. Even so, China's handicraft industry was on the verge of collapse under the ruthless impact of foreign goods.

"Four seas without idle fields, farmers worry about starving to death!" Because she could see these social realities, You Gou felt the necessity of revolution even more. In such a dark and troubled era, if China did not rise up in revolution, the future would surely be complete destruction.

"Yuwen, are you afraid of death?" You Gou asked.

"Well... of course I am." Yuwen Badu was never one to lie.

"Do you think we can't force the landlords to give up their land? Or are you afraid that this new system won't last? Even if we force the landlords to give up their land this year, will they take revenge next year?" You Gou continued.

This time, Yuwen Badu did not speak immediately. He looked at the only woman in the Central Secretariat and spoke about his true concerns, but he was speechless.

"Yuwen, you know what we are going to do, right?" You Gou asked again.

Yuwen Badu did not dare to speak. He knew the goals and methods of the People's Party. These young people from the city were not gentle souls. After his first encounter with Chen Ke, Yuwen Badu knew this. And Chen Ke was definitely not someone who deceived others.

Yuwen Badu and his fellow townspeople worked for Chen Ke. At first, they were not used to it, but after a month, they were completely accustomed. Although there were various issues, the common feeling among his fellow townspeople was that working under the People's Party made them more aware of life. They realized that many things could be handled differently. If not for this, they would not have agreed to return to their hometown with the People's Party.

"Those landlord clans have deceived everyone for generations. In such a great disaster, if we follow the old methods, it will surely lead to death. To survive, can the farmers afford to stand by and do nothing?" You Gou said sternly, "We will handle the fighting and killing. The farmers just need to trust us once. Just once."

Yuwen Badu swallowed hard. He had recently officially joined the People's Party. Before that, he positioned himself as a "collaborator." Chen Ke was ruthless in dividing and absorbing Yuwen Badu's "former engineering team." Now, Yuwen Badu had completely lost his influence over the "former engineering team members." So, he joined the People's Party without hesitation. Humans have inertia, and the decisiveness to leave a familiar group was something Yuwen Badu lacked.

"Be straightforward, man. Speak up, will you do it or not?" You Gou had no intention of giving a long speech to persuade Yuwen Badu.

At this point, Yuwen Badu could not afford to hesitate. He looked up at Fengtai County Magistrate Shang Yuan, who was sitting to Chen Ke's left. Even the county magistrate had joined the People's Party, so what was there to fear? If the sky falls, there will always be someone taller to hold it up. What was there to fear?

"I will do it!" Yuwen Badu said through gritted teeth.

"Very good, then we will all follow Wenqing's orders. Obey the discipline, follow the command." You Gou, seeing that she had convinced Yuwen Badu, gave the final order.

"Comrade Yuwen Badu, since you say that some landlords want to take action against us, can you tell us more?" Chen Ke finally asked.

Since he had made up his mind, Yuwen Badu no longer held back, spilling out everything he knew. In the western part of Fengtai County, there was a large enclosure in Yuezhang Town. The leading landlord, Zhang Youliang, had expressed his intention to take the grain from the insurance team.

"Didn't we go to Yuezhang Town before?" Chen Ke was puzzled.

Fengtai County was north of the Huai River. The recent flood had caused the Huai River to rise, and Yuezhang Town was also flooded. The People's Party had taken action to save many people, and Yuezhang Town was within the rescue area.

"I led the team." Hua Xiongmao immediately answered, "That landlord was very stubborn. The enclosure was tightly closed, and he refused to accept the disaster victims. We had to bring the victims back to headquarters. Now, there are quite a few new comrades from Yuezhang Town in the insurance team. Most of these comrades have brought their families to our headquarters."

"Then what does this landlord have against us?" Chen Ke continued.

"I don't know what he's thinking, but I heard this from a few new arrivals. I had people from Yuezhang Town under me before, and now many more have come. Many of them owe money to the landlord." Yuwen Badu made his own judgment.

"Let's first investigate whether this landlord is just talking or really has a plan. Clarify this. Comrade Hua Xiongmao will be responsible for this." Chen Ke gave the order, "And I want to make it clear, regardless of his intentions, since there are many people from Yuezhang Town in our insurance team, we need to take action against him first. Our main focus will be on Yuezhang Town."

With the direction clear, everyone felt more relaxed. Yuwen Badu and Hua Xiongmao went to find the villagers who brought the news to get more details. Shang Yuan returned to the county office to continue his work. You Gou stopped Chen Ke, "Wenqing, I want to introduce a comrade to you."

"Introducing comrades is the job of the organizational department. Why are you coming to me?" Chen Ke was puzzled.

"This comrade is a woman." You Gou answered straightforwardly.

"A woman?" Chen Ke was confused.

After the flood, the People's Party expanded its human resources, and many good families joined the insurance team. They could also apply for their families to work in the labor teams organized by the People's Party, which was a form of "work-for-relief" in the county. There were many women, and You Gou, as a woman, held important organizational roles. Chen Ke's wife, He Ying, also helped in the Women's Federation. In such a large number of women, Chen Ke did not understand what kind of woman could make You Gou so concerned.

"She is Xu Erba's childhood friend. Her name is Ren Qiyong. This girl is quite extraordinary."

Just hearing You Gou's introduction, Chen Ke felt that she was indeed extraordinary. In this era, a woman having her own formal name was not from a small family. He recalled Xu Erba's background and asked, "Isn't Xu Erba from Xu Family Village in Fengtai County?"

"Yes, this Ren girl studied with Xu Erba from a young age. In terms of knowledge, she is even better than Xu Erba."

"Is that what this Ren girl said?" Chen Ke was skeptical. Generally, those who boast do not have much substance.

You Gou smiled, "I heard it from Xu Erba. Erba's knowledge is just average. He was able to pass the examination for a scholar because Ren girl always pushed him to practice his writing."

After hearing this, Chen Ke was speechless. One of the main reasons for abolishing the imperial examination system was that it had lost its vitality. The examination, especially for scholars, focused on whether the writing was smooth and whether the handwriting was good. Since Ren girl had such insight, she was not bad.

You Gou then introduced more about Ren Qiyong. This girl was bold and was one of the early members of the women's labor team under the insurance team. She worked hard, but she did not like working with other women.

"She insists on joining the army." You Gou dropped a bomb at the end.

"Join the army? This..." Chen Ke was taken aback. Women joining the army? This was not the Red Women's Army. After some thought, Chen Ke replied, "We are planning to attack