Chen Ke has implemented many new policies in the base areas, whether it is the division of land, state-owned enterprises, or the provision of compulsory education, most of the comrades can understand it very well. These policies are not unprecedented in China's history, and they do not exceed the imagination of comrades. There is only one policy that has caused an indescribable confusion among the comrades from top to bottom in the base areas, and that is the monetary policy in the base areas. Chen Ke explained in detail the essence of the "general equivalent" of currency in the party class, and the renminbi has been circulating in the base areas for some days, but many comrades still feel amazing when they buy various commodities with small pieces of paper that are quite beautiful.

At the afternoon meeting, Chen Ke began to discuss financial issues.

"Comrades, since we already have a people's congress, the budget and accounting is a key issue. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the specific financial work, but the people's congress has the power to examine and approve the budget. Speaking of this, Chen Ke was also slightly shaken in his heart, whether he really wanted to give people such a big authority. So Chen Ke couldn't help but follow, "At least now the National People's Congress has this authority." ”

Even though the cadres attending the meeting were not of a low rank, at least half of them had no financial concept at all. Chen Ke knew about this situation, not to mention these comrades, even Chen Ke himself had a rather tricky feeling about this work. Glancing at Zhang Yingchen, who was sitting next to him, Chen Ke said: "Now Comrade Zhang Yingchen, Minister of Finance, who is in charge of financial work, will give a report to you. ”

The eyes of the comrades were focused on Zhang Yingchen, and Zhang Yingchen did not react to these gazes in the slightest. He stood up coldly and walked to the blackboard. The People's Party stresses that "we should treat our comrades as warm as spring," and this kind of cold attitude is not common. However, Chen Ke and Zhang Yingchen did not care, before Zhang Yingchen took over the post of Minister of Finance, the two had a deep talk, Chen Ke clearly told Zhang Yingchen that the Ministry of Finance uses military law, no matter who maliciously embezzles state-owned property, the final death penalty is almost inevitable. Zhang Yingchen replied expressionlessly at the time: "Including me, I will not let the organization down." We welcome organizational oversight. ”

Standing on the podium without expression, Zhang Yingchen talked about the latest financial budget plan of the base area. There may be advanced theories behind finance, but the guidelines for fiscal spending at the practical level are very simple. At present, the financial budget is all aimed at eating the financial meal, and the army is under the control of the party and is financially independent. As long as the people's congress can approve these budgets, the Ministry of Finance will give money according to the number of state-owned administrative personnel in each county. As long as there is no deduction and interception in the middle, there is no problem that will cause contradictions.

The trouble is not these "fixed wages", but the problem of local construction in each county. For example, infrastructure construction cannot be requisitioned for free labor. Therefore, every year or even every quarter, the local government has to submit a budget. For local projects to be constructed, the labor force that needs to be mobilized, and the expenditure that needs to be made, a detailed budget report must be submitted.

The heads of the county party committees in each county understood it, and they couldn't help frowning. The situation in each of the counties is complicated, and except for the core base areas, the other counties do not even have a full grasp of local power. In such a chaotic situation, it is impossible to systematically submit financial reports. This requires the government to have a strong management capacity, not only to promote government construction in the context of force, but also to be able to conduct effective population, environment, and resource surveys of the areas that have been included in the management system. At this time, the responsible people of the county party committee really understood why Chen Ke built a professional team including surveying and mapping and civil engineering so early. And why should we strengthen cultural education? Without the surveying and mapping troops and without a large number of comrades who can read and write and carry out statistical work, the census registration and land measurement alone will make the localities anxious.

"What if the budget report can't be done?" Lu Huitian asked.

Zhang Yingchen replied coldly: "Now it is a budget report submitted every quarter, if you can't catch up this quarter, then get the next quarter." ”

"Who is in charge of the taxes?" Qi Huishen asked.

"Taxation is now under the control of the Ministry of Finance." Zhang Yingchen gave a clear answer.

All the responsible persons of the county party committees showed dissatisfied, saying that if the tax revenue is under the control of the Ministry of Finance, then the party committees and governments that are close to the tax departments will not be able to command the tax departments in various localities. On the contrary, it is necessary to rely on the Ministry of Finance to remotely direct the tax departments in various localities.

Zhang Yingchen saw everyone's expressions, and he continued: "Now the tax revenue of each county is basically equal to nothing, so the impact of local tax revenue on the county is very small. ”

Hearing this, Yuwen Badu was also very dissatisfied in his heart. The People's Party's financial resources are now basically concentrated in the old base areas mainly in Fengtai County. In other words, the old base areas have to bear the financial expenditures of the entire base areas. It may be an honorable task, but it is definitely not a happy one. There are even more problems encountered in building roots than when building base areas. Thinking of this, Yuwenba couldn't help but glance at Ren Qiying, who was sitting beside him, and saw that Ren Qiying was swiping and recording in his notebook. Yuwen Badu felt relieved, as long as Ren Qiying could figure it out, Fengtai County's finances would not have problems. This kind of relief only lasted for a moment, and Yuwen Badu suddenly thought of something, if all the work was done by Ren Qiying, what would Yuwen Badu do by himself? Do you just wait for the next election to be elected?

Thinking of his future, Yuwen Badu was at a loss, and he didn't listen to the content of the next meeting.

What Lu Huitian wanted to learn most was that Chen Ke had established a base in Fengtai County almost with his bare hands, and after his biggest competitor Shang Yuan went north, Lu Huitian felt that as long as he did a good job in the revolution in Fuyang, he would be able to sit in the position of governor of Anhui Province sooner or later. After listening to Zhang Yingchen's introduction to the budget, Lu Huitian was very unhappy, and before he could show his strength, he was already shrouded in the shadow of the Ministry of Finance. Lu Huitian felt that he had to fight for a better situation for himself. "There are a lot of unexpected problems when we work at the local level, and if the finances are all about approval, what do we do when we face an emergency? Tear down the east wall and make up the west wall? ”

"Then what problems does Comrade Lu Huitian think he will encounter?" Zhang Yingchen asked.

Lu Huitian was speechless, yes, what problems will he encounter? The troops are not under the control of the county party committee, and before the completion of the land reform, the construction of state-owned enterprises is completely out of the question, and the People's Party has not long occupied Fuyang, and the renminbi does not have much credibility at all. Lu Huitian is very smart, he knows that his most important work in the near future is to complete the land reform in the whole of Fuyang and implement the new system. And these jobs are precisely not the ones that need the most money. I understood it in my heart, but I was restrained by the Ministry of Finance, and Lu Huitian couldn't swallow this breath.

The heads of the county party committees in other counties have more or less the same ideas as Lu Huitian, but seeing that Lu Huitian still can't talk about Zhang Yingchen, everyone is not willing to take this head again.

Now that the matter of the budget has been accepted by the comrades, Chen Ke moved on to the next topic, the proportion of the People's Party's seats in the National People's Congress, and the power of the People's Congress to approve the budget. Being suppressed by the Ministry of Finance, which is a comrade, is still acceptable to everyone. But the people's congress is not run by the people's party, it is elected. There are quite a few deputies to the National People's Congress who are not from the People's Party. Once everyone has been suppressed within the party, they will never be suppressed by people outside the party again. Lu Huitian said: "Since we have given up the positions of village chief and town mayor, there is no need to give up the seats of the people's congress. I think that the people's congress is the best of our own comrades of the People's Party. ”

This view has won the approval of a considerable number of comrades, and no one wants to ask for trouble. No one can be willing to be dictated by others to seize the political power they have worked so hard to seize.

Chen Ke looked at the emotional comrades, and suddenly remembered other questions in his heart. One of Grandpa Mao's most famous words back then, "Fighting with the sky is endless, fighting with the earth is endless, and fighting with people is endless." At that time, Chen Ke felt that these words were too aggressive, and they had a murderous taste. I don't know if it's because his mood has changed, or if it's just that he has a lot of work experience. Chen Ke is now in favor of this statement. All kinds of local reactionary forces have not been eliminated at all, and many local reactionary forces and old forces still have the upper hand. If these people are not brought to the big stage of the revolution and let them perform, how can the people see through the true colors of these people and agree with the new system implemented by the People's Party?

However, many of the comrades we see now do not want to advance the revolution through deep and meticulous struggle, but hope to achieve a superficial victory through a model of quick success. Chen Ke didn't know if the comrades in the party had the same problem in the era of Grandpa Mao. It is impossible to win the hearts and minds of the people by killing with violence, and the only way for the revolution to succeed is through in-depth and meticulous work. It's the same as going upstairs, from the first level to the last level, there is no one less step. But now the comrades look very much like pulling onions on dry land and jumping directly to the roof of the building. This attitude worries Chen Ke.

The further down the meeting became, the more difficult it became, and the original comrades' understanding of the people's congress was that the people's party obtained legal unity through the people's congress. At first glance, this is not the case at all, and the people's congress, as the future supreme organ of power in the base areas, has powers that no one has ever thought of before. It is simply impossible to bypass the NPC and act independently. This is nothing in the first place, and if all or most of the people's congress deputies are members of the People's Party, the people's congress is still not worth mentioning. But Chen Ke's intention turned out to be to use the people's congress as a stage for political struggle, and this people's congress is not simply "leading the snake out of the hole". The people's congress must also truly play the role of a congress of people's deputies. This kind of unheard-of complicated work has caused many comrades a headache just thinking about it.

The high-ranking cadres of the People's Party are relatively highly educated, and everyone knows the idiom of "painting bread to satisfy hunger," and after the establishment of legal unity through the people's congress, the political power can be nominally secured. But everyone knows that it is the military, the state-owned enterprises, and the governments at all levels that are really fighting for this new regime. And these struggling comrades have never seen this kind of "big cake", looking at this unknown big cake, many people are actually bored in their hearts. It is true that the people's congress can establish the legal system, but many comrades are very skeptical that the establishment of the people's congress will become a "cocoon and self-restraint."

Lu Huitian said: "Chairman Chen, I think that the people in the base areas are still accustomed to the government model, and our government is definitely much stronger than that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Sometimes propaganda is important, but we can't let propaganda restrain us? ”

Zheng Taironglu, secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee, followed Lu Huitian's words and said: "Now the Manchus are about to fight, and if the Manchus are solved first, many enemies can be solved by the way." Having eliminated the internal and external enemies, it would have been much more efficient to carry out these elections at that time. I think it's important to pay more attention to priorities. ”

Chen Ke asked: "Comrades, I would like to ask, if we do this, what is the difference between us and the Manchus?" The Manchus also wanted to establish a constitution now, and the Manchus kept saying, at least in their propaganda, that they loved the people like sons. They sometimes even punish corrupt officials who have failed in political battles. ”

Zheng Tairong replied: "We sincerely serve the people, and the work we are doing now is enough to prove that our People's Party is different from the Manchu Qing Dynasty. ”

Chen Ke glanced around the senior cadres in the venue, and then continued to ask: "Since we sincerely serve the people, since we firmly believe that we are different from the Manchus. So why should we be afraid to fight in the NPC? It's the same election, I ask you, have you ever been afraid of the election in our party? Have you ever been afraid of the election of the soldiers' commissar in the army? At least I have not seen any of our comrades in the party who are afraid. So everyone says that they want to serve the people, why should we be afraid of the people's election. It is the struggle that drives the progress of history, not whether to draw a blueprint for the so-called generations to come, and then rest on its laurels and stagnate. Whoever does this, which one will end well? ”

No one in the venue dared to speak anymore, and Chen Ke rarely got angry. Now Chen Ke is clearly angry.

After calming down his emotions, Chen Kecai continued: "Comrades, the establishment of the people's congress is not the goal, and the establishment of the people's congress is not to let anyone ride on the head of our people's party. I can make this clear to you. ”

After saying this, Chen Ke glanced around at the comrades and saw that everyone's expressions were calmer.

"Comrade Lu Huitian, I want you to answer, what are the two pillars of the socialist system?" Chen Ke asked by name.

Lu Huitian reluctantly got up and replied, "Science and democracy." ”

"Please sit down." Chen Ke said.

After Lu Huitian sat down, Chen Ke continued: "Democracy can be interpreted as the people being the masters of the country. But I believe that the essence of democracy is to be guided by the interests of the people. One of the ways to take the interests of the people as the lead is to involve the people in the revolutionary cause, not to turn them away. The establishment of the people's congress is not the goal, but only a tool and a platform for the people to participate in the construction of democracy. Through this platform, the people know that they are the main body of the country. Let them know that there are better systems that can guarantee a better life for the people. This election of the National People's Congress will definitely elect some bastards, and even some counter-revolutionaries. But this election will certainly elect a lot of representatives of the people. Who do you think these people's deputies will fight against in the people's congress? If the people had clearly understood the essence of our People's Party and knew that our People's Party represented the interests of the people, would these people's representatives fight against our People's Party? They will definitely fight against those bastards and counter-revolutionaries. On the platform of the National People's Congress, we have won over the people with the greatest efficiency. Science is for the development of productive forces and the improvement of efficiency. The establishment of the platform of the people's congress is to improve our efficiency, and the people's congress is the most scientific choice for the socialist system at the present stage. ”

The comrades of the People's Party still did not speak, and Chen Ke did not know whether his words could be fully understood by everyone, but he himself did not have too high expectations.

He had to continue: "The purpose of establishing soldiers' councils in the army is not to put soldiers above officers. The Soldiers' Council is also a tool that allows soldiers to participate in the building of the army and make the work of the army run more efficiently. If the political commissars and commanders and fighters in the army lead everything, and the soldiers just follow the political commissars and commanders without knowing anything, then how can our soldiers understand what kind of army our army is and what is the purpose of our army's fighting? If the soldiers do not understand the essence of our army as the people's soldiers, if they do not understand that the purpose of our revolutionary war is to make everyone's life better. How could the fighters go to fight with our comrades of the People's Party and even shed blood and sacrifice in order to defend this better life. ”

Chen Ke was reasoning in his mouth, but he also paid attention to the expressions of his comrades. He could see that these remarks did not move all the comrades, and even a considerable number of comrades were not moved at all. This made Chen Ke very disappointed. In fact, he can understand the thoughts of many comrades now. For these comrades, what they want is success, and the status, promotion, honor, and revolution that come with success are only the means to achieve these goals. I wonder if these comrades have a deep enough understanding of themselves to be able to clearly understand their own inner thoughts. They chose the revolution for the sake of success, not for the sake of the revolution.

In this embarrassing atmosphere, Lu Huitian stood up, "Chairman Chen, I was wrong. I don't know exactly what was wrong, but I knew it was wrong. I'll work hard and find my mistakes. In this NPC election, I firmly support Chairman Chen, what do you mean? ”

This is not what Chen Ke wants to hear the most, if Chen Ke scores Lu Huitian's statement, it will be just a passing grade of sixty points. But Ren Qiying applauded at this time, with her taking the lead, many comrades also hurriedly applauded. Amid the applause, comrades who had just opposed Chen Ke constantly stood up and expressed their resolute support for Chen Ke's leadership. Those comrades who had already supported Chen Ke couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. In any case, ensuring unity within the party is the first priority. But Chen Ke can see that even if he wants to maintain the unity of the party and support Chen Ke's leadership. Some comrades are sincere, while others are far less sincere.

This is not the time to pursue the matter, Chen Ke waved everyone quietly, and he began to move on to the following topic.