At the end of July 1906, a fleet of boats consisting entirely of traditional Chinese inland river boats was sailing in a wide river. The entire fleet consisted of eighteen boats, loaded with heavy cargo, which pressed the sides of the ships very close to the water. The river is wide and the current is quite fast, so you still have to use oars, even though you have open sails. With the powerful sound of the horn, the boatmen pulled the heavy oars together. Each slide caused the boat to move a little upstream against the current, and from time to time splashes splashed onto the deck or onto the canopy.

At the bow of the foremost ship, Chai Qingguo was on a large flag. The dark clouds hung low, and the wind full of moisture blew from the surface of the water, and from time to time a few drops of rain came down the wind and hit Chai Qingguo's face and body. Although he has been in the south for more than half a year, Chai Qingguo, a big man from Shandong, still feels that he is not comfortable with this humidity. The wind blew this big flag like a hunt, Chai Qingguo has seen this big flag many times, and he can draw the appearance of the flag in his heart with his eyes closed.

The flag is red all over, with a black logo in the upper left corner. A scythe and a hammer overlap each other to form a peculiar pattern, as if it were a strangely shaped bow and arrow that had been drawn. As for why the red flag was chosen, Chen Ke's sonorous and powerful voice Chai Qingguo could still clearly remember, "The red flag was chosen because this flag was dyed with the blood of the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in all struggles in 1840 in order to oppose internal and external enemies and strive for national independence and people's freedom and happiness." ”

These words are still very long, and Chai Qingguo didn't understand them for a while. After being with Chen Ke for a long time, Chai Qingguo himself is also accustomed to the habits of literati. After carefully asking the meaning of this sentence, Chai Qingguo summed up the answer that he was interested in, Zhao Sanduo and Uncle Jing Tingbin are also the "people's heroes" mentioned by Chen Ke, and the brothers who Geng Zinian fought with him are also "people's heroes". Then he accepted Chen Ke's explanation of the color of the red flag.

Of course, Chai Qingguo stood at the bow of the boat at this time and did not have any special feelings about this passage. He didn't even think about it. At this time, there is something else in the heart of this Shandong hero.

In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is said that Zhuge Wuhou burned Sima Yi in Hulu Valley, and when Sima Yi's father and son were about to be buried in the fire, suddenly heavy rain fell from the sky and extinguished the fire, and Sima Yi and his son were able to get out of trouble. Looking at the figure of Sima Yi's father and son fleeing in a hurry, Zhuge Wuhou sighed: "It is up to people to plan things, and it is up to heaven to make things happen." ”

The People's Party's entry into Anhui in 1906 also felt this way.

Throughout the spring, the core of the People's Party's work revolved around Fengtai County in Anhui Province. After Shang Yuan took office as the county magistrate of Fengtai County, the members of the People's Party soon infiltrated the county yamen as "officials". Master, Catcher, and important positions in several counties have changed hands. At least officially, the People's Party has a grip on power in the county. At the same time, Chen Ke selected a group of backbone members of the People's Party, as well as those fellow villagers of Yuwen Batu who returned to his hometown with Chen Ke, and mixed them into the armed forces of the People's Party.

The second-in-command of the Anhui New Army, Commander Bu Guanshui and Chen Ke met in Anqing, and he moved up and down to apply for the title of "Insurance Group" for Chen Ke. To put it bluntly, the "insurance group" is a bandit who fights bandits. It was a very unpeaceful year, and the huge number of unemployed peasants greatly supplemented the bandit forces that gathered in the mountains and forests, so organizations such as the "Insurance Corps" also came into being. They also set up "elements" in various places to collect money and food, which is not much different from bandits. But on the other hand, the insurance group also does some black and black business. They fought bandits and kept caravans safe. It's a mixture of "sitting bandits" and "dart games" with a bit of background.

Chai Qingguo did not like the official army, so Chen Ke personally led the team, including Chai Qingguo and others, a total of 120 people in the Anhui New Army for a month and a half of military training. It's almost May after training. Bu Guanshui used his connections to get a batch of guns, plus the relationship of Kuroshima Renichiro, a batch of guns from those people in Japan who were "willing to fund the revolution" in Shanghai, and the core team of 120 people in the insurance regiment was considered to have guns.

Just as the team returned to Fengtai County and was ready to do a big job, it started to rain.

Chai Qingguo is a northerner, he never knew that the rain could rain like this, day and night. Chen Ke didn't know about this flood, and Chai Qingguo didn't know even more, as recorded in the history books.

In 1906 (the 32nd year of Guangxu) Anhui at the turn of spring and summer, more than 60 days of lewd rain, flash floods, Huai, Si, Sha, Ru, Wei and other rivers rose at the same time, the water depth of the flat land was several feet, "up and down more than 1,000 miles, all into Zeguo", "hungry people starved to death, every day forty or fifty people, there are men and women who commit suicide by throwing themselves into the river, there are people who die along the way out of the country, the road is dead, miserable to hear".

Chai Qingguo really opened his eyes. It rains heavily every day, and the sky seems to have been poked into a big hole, and endless rain pours down every day. I watched as the flat land turned into a pool, and then the pool expanded into a lake, and the lake continued to expand, turning the hills into isolated islands. The trees are several feet tall and only the treetops are barely exposed to the water.

Needless to say, the fields and houses are all submerged and cannot be seen. If it weren't for Chen Ke personally leading the team, the People's Party's "insurance group" would have braved the heavy rain to drive boats around to rescue people and take the people trapped on the mountains to higher places.

The insurance regiment was formed in full accordance with the regular army, with four platoons in one company, four squads in one platoon, and twelve people in one squad. The insurance regiment has a full company of 240 people. The members of the BJP held the positions of all company commanders, platoon commanders, and squad leaders. The party branch ordered that the members of the People's Party must personally lead the team to save people. Leave your post without permission under any pretext. The rain is pouring in the sky, the floods are raging everywhere, and it is extremely dangerous to drive a boat to save people, and if you accidentally fall into the water, you will die. Although Shang Yuan seconded all the relatively safe and reliable ships that he could find, casualties were inevitable.

In just ten days, the BJP paid a great price, and although it was more dangerous that everyone on the boat would be tied to their waists, one party member and five members of the insurance group unfortunately fell into the water and died. For 10 days, the insurance team went out everywhere and rescued more than 3,000 people. Although it is said that "saving a life is better than creating a seventh-level floating slaughter". But the members of the insurance group are also people, and if it weren't for Chen Ke and the party members who personally led the team every day, they would always stand in the most dangerous places. If it weren't for the fact that many of the members of the insurance group were locals brought to Shanghai by Yuwenba, everyone had cooperated for a long time and had a lot of feelings for each other, and as locals, they still really hoped to be able to rescue their villagers. Without these, this improvised team would have collapsed long ago.

Nevertheless, by the eleventh day, the exhausted and wounded insurance regiment was no longer able to go out. When Chen Ke announced that he would take a temporary break and go out to rescue people in a few days, all the members of the insurance group were happy. Although they knew that the cessation of the rescue operation meant that the people trapped outside in the water were basically left without a way to live. But everyone has been working hard for ten days, and their lives are also fate.

Thinking of this, Chai Qingguo couldn't help but turn his head, among the group of black and strong boatmen, there was a much fairer, much thinner young man who was paddling hard with everyone. That is He Zudao, the political commissar of the insurance group. This young man from Shanghai started out as a cultural instructor in the insurance regiment and also served as an organizational officer of the soldiers' committee. Now he is the political commissar of the second company of the insurance regiment. Theoretically, the status of the political commissar is even higher than that of the company commander, which means that Chai Qingguo, the commander of the second company, also has to obey the decision of the party committee led by the political commissar. This is the role of "military advisor" in the Boxer, but He Zudao does not have any official frame at all, and the work arrangement he is responsible for has always included all the officers.

Chen Ke focused on the work of Yuwen Badu back then, and Chai Qingguo didn't know how Chen Ke and them fooled, so he finally persuaded Yuwen Badu to bring his Anhui fellow to return to his hometown together. Such a large number of people constitute the backbone of the insurance group. Chen Ke led the team, He Zudao arranged the luggage burden, marching, cooking and other logistics work, even Chen Ke carried his own luggage like ordinary soldiers, and he also had to do it himself along the way. He Zudao, as the organization officer of the soldiers' committee, told everyone that this is called "the integration of officers and soldiers." Since in the insurance group, there is only a difference in position, not a difference in status.

From the very beginning, the soldiers' committee was a family affair, and everyone told each other about their family background and why they came out to work. As a member of the soldiers' committee, Chai Qingguo personally participated in all the activities. Moreover, the elected representatives of the soldiers' council were ordinary soldiers. Officers are not allowed to concurrently serve as representatives of soldiers' councils.

Chai Qingguo felt at first that this was not the opposite. I'm an officer, why should I listen to you as a soldier? Not only the officers, but even the soldiers felt that this was wrong at first. Those who are small soldiers must listen to those who are officials. They also feel that such overstepping their authority should not be.

And He Zudao is not only an organizational officer of the soldiers' committee, he is also a cultural teacher. In response to this situation, when He Zudao taught everyone to read and write every day, he compiled the program of the People's Party into many short stories to teach everyone. These words are the words of the story, in other words, the more you know these words, the more you will be able to understand the program of the People's Party.

With Chen Ke's strong support, He Zudao worked for a month, just in time for the day of paycheck. The soldiers' council elected a soldier named Dai Enze to be the payroll representative. Dai Enze was originally a beggar who lived in Shanghai, a native of Anqing, Anhui Province. Chen Ke and the others led the team from Shanghai, Dai Enze was half hungry, and when he heard the Anhui accent, he immediately came up to beg for food. Chen Ke gave him a steamed bun, and just as Dai Enze gobbled the steamed bun into his mouth, Chen Ke asked him if he wanted to go to Anhui with him. Dai Enze immediately agreed. At the activities of the soldiers' committee, Dai Enze also talked about his origins, he was originally running the dock with the villagers in Shanghai, but he offended another local gang, and the villagers were beaten to the ground. The original "big brother" also became a corpse floating in the Huangpu River. The others dispersed, Dai Enze was beaten badly, and the money on his body was also robbed. He was sick and had no relatives, so he had to become a beggar. As long as he can go back to Anhui, he can do anything. He didn't want to stay in Shanghai anymore.

In He Zudao's cultural class, whoever knows more words can wear a small red flower. Dai Enze has been wearing it for more than ten days, and after all, he is a person who has experienced ups and downs, and he can see Chen Ke's status, since this soldiers' committee is strongly supported by Chen Ke, he also dares to speak and put forward the opinions of ordinary soldiers. So he was elected as the representative of this paycheck.

Dai Enze shouted up to Chen Ke one by one, down to the names of the soldiers, and then distributed the salary to everyone in public. After checking that everything is correct, sign the salary slip. These days, the soldiers have learned to write their names, received the money, and after checking that they are correct, they happily sign their names one by one. When Dai Enze shouted, "Comrade Chai Qingguo has come to receive his salary." Chai Qingguo felt uncomfortable. A soldier who just joined the team, a soldier who was born as a beggar, actually shouted at himself like this. If it weren't for the complete unification of the steps to receive the money, Dai Enze would have called Chen Ke "Comrade Chen Ke to receive his own salary." "Chai Qingguo will definitely not give up so well.

As the days passed, the soldiers' council became more and more lawless. In the regulations of the "insurance regiment," there are many contents of "officers and soldiers as one," including that officers are not allowed to beat or insult soldiers. At all the officers' meetings, the representatives of the soldiers' committees had to attend as observers, and they had a lot of right to speak. Dai Enze attended many times, and as time went on, he began to point his fingers at the table. And Chen Ke also completely connived at these people, not only that. At each meeting, the Party branch also had to explain the purpose of these actions to the soldiers, so that the soldiers could understand the reasons for these actions and solicit everyone's support.

Chai Qingguo felt that Chen Ke was simply crazy, "Are you leading soldiers or masters?" You are a brother, and you can't get used to them like this. He once questioned Chen Ke in person.

Chen Ke replied: "We are the people's army, and the people's army should be like this. If the army doesn't know what they're fighting for, can you expect them to follow you to the end? ”

Speaking of truth, Chai Qingguo knew that he couldn't talk about Chen Ke, so he simply gave up. Anyway, something will definitely happen with such a soldier, Chai Qingguo is waiting to see Chen Ke's jokes in the future. In the past few months, there have been several times when soldiers in this insurance regiment have been emotionally unstable, and there have also been cases where soldiers feel tired and are not willing to train hard. But through the coordination of the soldiers' council, these things, which could easily have caused a violent conflict, were unexpectedly resolved. Not only that, the "Tree New Style" activity promoted by Chen Ke has a very good reputation among the soldiers, and He Zudao, who has some appeal, actually implemented it, and achieved considerable results. The organization and discipline of the army have been greatly improved.

If it weren't for these measures, according to the troops composed of those "brothers" that Chai Qingguo had brought before. In the early days of the flood, except for a few brothers who were very close to each other, there were not a few people in the insurance group who really obeyed the order to go out to save people. In those hard days, He Zudao not only had to go out every day, but after the troops returned, he also encouraged the soldiers and arranged for everyone to take a bath, change clothes, and eat. There are also meetings to stir up emotions. Not only He Zudao, but also Chen Ke and other members of the People's Party should also do these tasks. "Waiting" the hard-working soldiers. Every day, Chen Ke is the last to go to bed and the first to wake up. He Zudao went to bed on the second night and got up early on the second.

Although Chai Qingguo didn't admit it in his mouth, his heart was very clear, without such an organizational model, the insurance group would not be able to persist in saving people for ten days in a row. You may not even be able to stick to it for a day.

Now, while paddling hard, He Zudao shouted, "Comrades, shall we sing a song?" ”

"Good!" The oars were all cadres and soldiers of the insurance regiment, and everyone agreed.

"Let's sing "Three * Laws and Eight Attentions".

"Good!" Another thunderous response.

"All the people's soldiers should keep in mind, one or two!" He Zudao's voice was loud.

Then a boatload of people sang at the same time. "All the people's soldiers must bear in mind that they should pay attention to the three * laws and eight points, and first, they should obey the command in all actions and move in unison in order to achieve victory. Second, don't take a stitch from the masses......"

Although the singing is quite southern and northern, everyone sings very consistently. Hearing the singing from this ship, the other ships quickly responded. The same songs were sung one after another. On the river, which had been greatly widened by the flood, the song was heard far and wide.

The people are not ungrateful, and many of the rescued locals in Fengtai County took the initiative to ask to join the insurance group. Although Chai Qingguo still thinks that the main purpose of these people is to "serve as soldiers and eat food". This flood is monstrous, and being able to catch the "big boat" of the insurance group is the best choice for these victims. However, these people did volunteer to join the insurance regiment, and the strength of the insurance regiment quickly changed from a company to a battalion. And a large reason why these people joined the insurance group is also because the reputation of the insurance group for saving people has spread, although everyone is a little worried about this unit that suddenly appeared, but at least they are no longer rejected.

Chen Ke and the party organization carefully selected the applicants, Yuwenba was a local, and many people in the insurance group were locals. They know who is a good son and who is a scoundrel. Most of the people recruited by the insurance group are from good families, and only a few scoundrels with some special skills have been recruited.

Some of the enlarged insurance corps had guns, and they had the support of the local government and the people. Only then did the party organization arrange the second step and begin to determine the route for transporting materials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the disaster area. These eighteen canopy boats are already the second organized convoys. At the meeting of the People's Party Committee, Chen Ke proposed that the People's Party must personally lead the people in the disaster area to rebuild after the disaster, rush to plant and harvest, and try not to starve to death. Don't let a big epidemic happen after a disaster.

Chen Ke was in high spirits and untired when he spoke, and he couldn't tell that he had been working on the front line for dozens of days, "Comrades, this flood has completely disrupted our original plan. We need to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Natural disasters have made it very difficult for us, but they have also destroyed all the old social structures in Fengtai County. Except for a few landlords and a few weizi, Fengtai County is basically soaked in water. The so-called white land is really clean. Now the people are about to starve to death, and any clan and title deed are bullshit. ”

Speaking of this, Chen Ke glanced around at his comrades, and Chai Qingguo felt that two fires seemed to burn in Chen Ke's eyes, and that kind of excitement was something he had never seen before. "Now when the people are dead, whoever comes to save them, they will follow. Now, here comes our People's Party. We, the BJP, have come to their rescue. Therefore, we not only want to save them from this flood, but we also want to point out to them a day when they will not have to starve, will not be forced to pay rent by the landlords, and will not have to eat the food they grow. Do any of you comrades think that the people want to live such a life? No, if there is, please raise your hand! ”

Hearing this, the comrades burst into laughter.

Chen Ke also smiled, that smile seemed to be a tiger about to eat people, "Replace the old land system in Fengtai County with a new socialist system, and save the people from natural disasters and this land system." This is the way of heaven, this is justice, this is revolution! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Ke's left palm slammed into the air, as if he was about to split some invisible piece in half in front of him. Chai Qingguo sat relatively far forward, and he felt a strong wind blowing in his face. At the same time, Chen Ke once again shouted loudly: "This is the real people's revolution that our People's Party wants to lead!" ”