He Qian sat at the table with a pale face, and the interrogator opposite had a grim expression, but poured her a glass of water. The water is cold water, He Qian was exhausted because she didn't eat anything, coupled with long-distance action, and soon her body began to chill when she had a cup of cold water. The staff members repeated the same questions of "name, age, place of origin, and purpose" with expressionless faces. He Qian's mind was numb and she replied again. The interrogators looked at each other for a moment, leaving He Qian alone in the interrogation room. The two went out after the record. I don't know how long it took, He Qian heard the door of the house being pushed open, and a familiar voice shouted, "Auntie." ”

raised his head, but saw a figure at the door, and after carefully identifying it for a while, He Qian recognized that this woman in dark blue clothes was He Ying. Seeing her niece who she hadn't seen for nearly two years, the big stone in He Qian's heart finally let go. She staggered to her feet, her legs completely out of strength.

He Ying rushed forward and grabbed He Qian. The temperature on the warm palm penetrated through the clothes, making He Qian couldn't help but shiver a lot. Numbness, coldness, panic, helplessness, all the emotions that had been forcibly frozen by He Qian came to my heart at this moment. He Qian first covered her mouth tightly with her palm, and then simply bit her palm fiercely, so that she didn't let herself cry.

He Ying hugged her aunt tightly, she was urgently found. Hearing that her aunt He Qian actually rushed to the base area, He Ying's first feeling was that she couldn't believe it. It wasn't until she saw her haggard aunt that He Ying believed that she wasn't dreaming. Seeing the resolute aunt's brows, she completely relied on biting her palms tightly to control her emotions. He Ying couldn't imagine how much her aunt had suffered and how much she had been wronged. He Qian didn't cry, but He Ying's tears flowed down.

Finally controlling her emotions, He Qian sent her palm away from her teeth. She asked, "How is Yongsheng?" ”

"My uncle's injuries have stabilized. I went to the prisoner of war camp with Wen Qing to visit him a few days ago, and his life should not be in danger. He Ying hurriedly replied.

Hearing the news, He Qian's body trembled slightly, and she then asked, "You didn't pull him out to parade the streets, did you?" ”

He Ying replied: "No, we don't pull the wounded to parade through the streets." However, according to the level of his uncle, he should also be tied up and paraded on the street. I have already told my uncle about this, and I think my uncle is a man who wants to save face, and if I don't explain it to him clearly, I am afraid that he will think that we have underestimated him. ”

"Thank you." A big stone in He Qian's heart finally fell to the ground. He Ying is very thoughtful in handling things, Sun Yongsheng is a person who values face more than life. If Chen Ke and He Ying ignored Sun Yongsheng, Sun Yongsheng would definitely be angry. If Sun Yongsheng is paraded on the street, Sun Yongsheng will certainly think that he has suffered a great shame. If Sun Yongsheng is not allowed to parade on the street with Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, Sun Yongsheng's self-esteem will also feel hurt.

He Ying pulled He Qian up, "Auntie, let's go home." ”

signed the document, and He Ying helped He Qian to leave the "reception" of the People's Internal Affairs Committee together.

The noise of the celebrations outside could be heard far away in the residential areas of government officials. He Ying cooked and boiled water with his hands and feet. He Qian sat on the bed, her mind numb. It wasn't until I finished eating and took a hot bath that I felt that inexplicable sense of panic disappeared a lot. After all, she is a young woman who has just turned 20 years old, and the changes she has experienced and endured are too intense for He Qian. The experience of traveling thousands of miles is simply the accumulation of new fears. It wasn't until she was by her relatives' side that He Qian felt that the nerves that had always been tense were gradually relaxing. She originally wanted to say something to her niece He Ying, but she fell asleep completely unconscious.

When Chen Ke returned home, it was almost dark, and He Ying greeted Chen Ke with a relieved look. Chen Ke gently hugged his wife and kissed her on the forehead, "Are my clothes ready?" ”

"Ready." He Ying replied.

"Then I'll go to the dormitory." Chen Ke said with a smile, "If my aunt wants to visit the prison, you can just write an application." Don't look for me. Also, don't cook these days, go to the cafeteria to eat. ”

"Okay." He Ying hugged Chen Ke and leaned her head on Chen Ke's chest, "Do you also tell my aunt about my family?" ”

"Tell her. Let her not worry, as long as our base area does not reach the point of exhaustion, the Manchus will not dare to really harm the He family. ”

"Hmm." He Ying replied.

"Go and get my clothes out, I won't go in." Chen Ke said.

Coming out of his house, Chen Ke did not go back to the office directly, but went to the reception of the People's Internal Affairs Committee, Yuan Shikai's reaction was so fast, Chen Ke was also a little unexpected.

Sun Yongying was searched several times, and at this time he also ate and sat at the table honestly. He had seen Chen Ke's portrait before he came, and when he saw this Manchu number one bandit leader appear in front of him, Sun Yongying still felt a kind of shock. Chen Ke was too young, he looked like he was in his early twenties, and his demeanor was extremely steady but vigorous. Sun Yongying is 26 years old this year, and he can be regarded as an official. By no means unknown among his peers. Compared with Chen Ke, who is about the same age as himself, Sun Yongying's fame and power are far behind. Although Chen Ke is known as a bandit and a rebel, even Lord Yuan Shikai does not dare to underestimate Chen Ke. Thinking of this, Sun Yongying suddenly felt a strong jealousy in his heart.

The proposal brought by Sun Yongying was very simple, hoping that Chen Kekan would release Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui and other Beiyang officers in the Beiyang lineage. Even if you don't release them for a while, don't hurt them.

Chen Ke replied: "When you go back to this matter, tell Mr. Yuan that we have our own prisoner of war policy. We will not kill prisoners of war. I think the POW policy of our BJP has been clearly written in the notice, right? ”

Sun Yongying hurriedly smiled, "I've seen this below." ”

Next, Sun Yongying hoped to discuss with Chen Ke about the return of prisoners of war. In fact, there is nothing to discuss, the People's Party unilaterally controls a large number of prisoners of war of the Beiyang Army, and whether to release them or not depends entirely on Chen Ke's intentions.

"Some seriously injured and disabled Beiyang officers will be released. And if the relatives of the Beiyang Army want to come and transport the body back, let them come as soon as possible. Even when it's cold, the body can be preserved. ”

"Then Lord Wang Shizhen and Lord Duan Qirui ......"

"The two of them are too capable, I can't let them go anytime soon. And if we want to prove that we are capable of crushing all the Manchu attacks, we will inevitably need the help of two people. So these two can't go for the time being. ”

"Can I meet these two adults?" Sun Yongying said that Yuan Shikai asked Sun Yongying to meet Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui no matter what. The life and death of these two people are too important to Yuan Shikai.

"It's nothing to see each other." Chen Ke replied.

"Then I would like to thank Mr. Chen in advance. Also, when Lord Yuan came to me, he also said that if Mr. Chen could send the soldiers from Beiyang back, Lord Yuan would definitely find a way to keep the people of the He family. Sun Yongying was finally a little confident when he said this. This was the only "advantage" that the Manchus were able to grasp.

"Humph!" Chen Ke sneered, but did not answer.

Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui never expected Yuan Shikai's rescue response speed to be so fast. The two of them were kept in the same cell. I was overwhelmed with grief. The two of them could never have imagined that their dignified court officials, the top generals in Beiyang, would actually eat such a defeated battle.

Chen Ke came to see the two of them once, Wang Shizhen served as Chen Ke's elder when Chen Ke got married, and he also accepted Chen Ke's kneeling. It's finally a bit unusual. Chen Ke asked if the two of them were healthy, and Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui completely ignored this kind of nonsense. To the surprise of the two, Chen Ke did not persuade him to surrender or threaten. After normal courtesy and care, Chen Ke first told the two about the prisoner of war policy of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. He apologized to the two again, and he had to organize the Beiyang Army prisoners of war to parade through the streets, which violated the prisoner policy. I hope the two of you will forgive me. Chen Ke assured the two men that the BJP had absolutely no intention of insulting the POWs.

Duan Qirui's head was bruised, and Wang Shizhen sneered, "It seems that we still have to thank Wen Qing for telling you the truth." ”

Chen Ke replied calmly: "Although it is said that only the victor can be generous, but not long after the formation of our new government, the masses still have a certain fear of the imperial court and the officers and soldiers. After you parade through the streets, the masses see that there is nothing to fear from the court and the officers and soldiers, and this psychological problem can be easily solved. This will help us build our base. The situation is stronger than people, and even if the prisoner policy is violated, I can't help it. But I don't really have any personal ill will towards the two of you, so I'll tell you two first. I hope you don't take the parade to the streets. This is a business, not a private matter. ”

This is also thanks to the cultivation of the two of them, even if they are prisoners, they can be regarded as able to estimate their own decency, so there is no situation where the two of them jumped up and pointed at Chen Ke and scolded. Wang Shizhen also laughed at herself, "I didn't expect that old decay still has such use, it's rare." ”

"There are very few people in the Manchu Qing Dynasty who can do things, and the two are already top figures. I fought with the two of you, and I had a hard time. Looking at the bear appearance of the Hubei New Army, I am not worried at all. Chen Ke also tried his best to comfort the two.

That being said, the two were really scared when they were parading the streets. Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui already knew that the People's Party's troops were by no means bandits, and the attitude of the people in the base area frightened the two of them. The people are just trying to have a lively time when they see the streets, but the people's party is completely different. Tens of thousands of people shouted and killed the two together, which really couldn't scare the two. Being able to insult a person with a noble status is really a great pleasure for the people, Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui can think of it.

This is not the case with the people in the base areas, who do not exude the excitement and venting pleasure brought by "insulting high-ranking officials of the imperial court". Rather, it is a collective frenzy for victory. Tens of thousands of people sang the same song and shouted the same slogan. That kind of earth-shattering situation is something that Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen have never seen. What these ordinary people show is their identification with the people's political power.

The faces that turned red with excitement, the arms that waved neatly, the slogans that had completely overthrown the Manchu regime, the confidence in building a new state. As Chen Ke said, the parade was only to prove that the People's Party was not afraid of the Manchu court and was capable of crushing any attack by the Manchu court. When the people saw these prisoners of war, they believed that the People's Party was capable of defending the people in the base areas. Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, and those Beiyang officers, Anhui officials are like the cooked pigs and sheep carried in the memorial, as a "tribute", as a symbolic thing like "sacrificing jade silk".

Even the six towns of Beiyang have never had an activity that is as united. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen are both very good figures in this era, and they are both understanding people. Chen Ke completely possessed the hearts and minds of the people in the base area. The people gained a sense of collective strength by tightly surrounding Chen Ke. The two knew very well that if Chen Ke went back on his word, he would now order someone to kill the officers of the Beiyang Army. The people in the base area did not feel that they were killing high-ranking officials of the imperial court. The people thought that they were just killing the "sacrifices" in the celebration, and they would happily kill the officers of the Beiyang Army, and then dedicate these "sacrifices" to Chen Ke's feet.

The status and identity of Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen in the Manchu regime had no meaning to these people at all. These people did not consider themselves to be the subjects of the imperial court at all, they considered themselves to be Chen Ke's people, the people of the new government formed by Chen Ke and the People's Party. The people in the base area no longer regard themselves as "rebels of the imperial court", and this Anhui is already an "enemy country".

After the parade was over and the two were taken back to their cells, Duan Qirui saw intense fear on Wang Shizhen's face for the first time.

"Brother......" Duan Qirui couldn't help but shout, it wasn't that he had something to say, Duan Qirui, who was a little trembling unconsciously, felt that if he didn't say something to break the silence, he couldn't bear the psychological pressure.

Wang Shizhen's body was also trembling slightly, "Brother Duan, I really lost my eyes back then." When Chen Ke was in Beijing, he was just a young man who didn't have much of a big deal. I never expected him to be able to win the hearts of the people in this way. The popular will of Anhui is no longer on the side of the imperial court. ”

Duan Qirui understood Wang Shizhen's words, the Beiyang Army had suppressed so many rebellions, and the army and people of the People's Party were completely different from those rebels. The rebels and the people are never of the same mind, so the rebels are more excited and incendiary than the common people. In the base areas, the fanaticism of the people even exceeds that of the troops fighting on the front line. It's not the People's Party that is at war with the imperial court, it's these ordinary people who are at war with the imperial court.

"Demon, this Chen Ke is a demon." Wang Shizhen muttered. He understands military affairs and understands civil affairs. In this regard, Wang Shizhen is much stronger than Duan Qirui.

"Brother, what do you say?" Duan Qirui asked in a low voice.

"If there is another war, there will be no one left behind, only by slaughtering these people." Wang Shizhen said almost distractedly, "These people are all scourges. ”

Duan Qirui immediately agreed with Wang Shizhen's idea, and he suddenly understood why after entering the base area, he couldn't even see the figure of a single citizen. Chen Ke's degree of control over the people was completely beyond Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen's imagination.

Militarily, it seems very difficult to weaken Chen Ke's power by slaughtering civilians. The combat effectiveness of the People's Party army is by no means inferior to that of the Beiyang Army. The Beiyang Army dispatched separately with a standard as a unit, and now it seems that it is simply a meat bun beating a dog, and there is no return. Only by relying on an overwhelming army to sweep can we echo each other and achieve the goal of slaughter. However, with the current financial resources of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they really gathered such a large number of troops, and without waiting for the troops to arrive in Anhui, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's own finances would go bankrupt.

"Or organize a group drill and follow the path of Zeng Guofan and Master Li back then?" Duan Qirui asked.

"Chen Ke is already a new Taiping bandit army in Anhui. I'm afraid there is no other way than this method. Wang Shizhen replied, "The imperial court gathered a large army and fought Chen Ke head-on, and the other regiments practiced to break Chen Ke's forces everywhere. If you can't mobilize the strength of the country, it will be absolutely impossible to eliminate Chen Ke. ”

The balance of heaven has not been long in the past, and this strategy of encirclement and suppression is far from being forgotten.

"If you can't destroy Chen Ke and let him go on like this, there is no doubt that Chen Ke will die in the Qing Dynasty." Wang Shizhen said. Although Wang Shizhen did not like the Manchu court, suddenly seeing Chen Ke, a force that was really capable of defeating the court, Wang Shizhen almost instinctively began to think about how to eliminate this new force.

Duan Qirui also thinks the same way, but his starting point is a little different from Wang Shizhen's. Duan Qirui frowned, "If my Beiyang Army fights Chen Ke again, we must be careful, and we must not repeat the mistakes of the past." I think Chen Ke is a big man. If Duke Yuan completely controlled the situation of the imperial court, he would still be able to fight. Now there are too many people in the court who intend to do evil to Yuan Gong. Those people were full of their own power, and they didn't take the affairs of the court to heart at all. That's tricky. ”

Hearing Duan Qirui say this, Wang Shizhen was also very depressed in his heart, and he couldn't help but say: "The country will die, and there will be demons." There is Chen Ke below, and there are those who are vegetarian on the corpse. Foreign powers are also pressing forward step by step, and the Qing Dynasty is ......"

Although he instinctively wanted to maintain the Manchu court, Wang Shizhen was not completely suppressed by his own emotions, and his strategic views were quite clear. Chen Ke was already very strong, and the imperial court was mired in endless infighting. And Cixi is old, and as soon as Cixi dies, the contradiction between the imperial party and the later party will definitely break out. There are only a few people in the court who can support the overall situation. Zhang Zhidong is seventy years old, and as the saying goes, it is rare for people to live for seventy years. Seeing that Zhang Zhidong has today and no tomorrow, it is absolutely impossible for him to provoke the beam. Although Yuan Shikai has the ability to provoke the main beam, he is the rear party, and the imperial party thinks that Yuan Shikai has betrayed Guangxu. Once Cixi died, the imperial party would definitely not let Cixi go, no matter how critical the situation was, the imperial party would not agree to Yuan Shikai taking power. But where are the wastes of the imperialist party capable of supporting the situation of the Qing Dynasty?

Thinking about the People's Party again, Chen Ke is only in his twenties, and the young ones are a bit excessive. The people gathered around Chen Ke, at least as Wang Shizhen saw, were almost the same age as Chen Ke. These people are already sharp now, and given a few more years of experience, they will definitely be more difficult to deal with than they are now. These young people don't even have to be completely victorious militarily, time is completely on Chen Ke's side. Most of the capable people in the Manchu Qing Dynasty came out during the "Tongzhi Zhongxing" period, they are not young, even if they do not die after a few years, they are still in their last years, and the characters seen by Wang Shizhen have no way to support the situation. If the People's Party cannot be eliminated as soon as possible, the People's Party will have no opponents at all.

Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui were so emotional that they didn't pay attention to secrecy at all, and when they talked about how to eliminate the strategic planning of the People's Party, they were almost completely forgetful. They thought that their cell was unguarded, but they completely ignored the rumor that the wall had ears, and the comrades in charge of surveillance had recorded their conversations.

When Sun Yongying went to "visit the prison", not long after Chen Ke returned to the office, the materials were sent to Chen Ke. After flipping through a few pages, Chen Ke couldn't help but laugh out loud. How do you look at this, how does this look like Jiang Guangtou's strategy of encircling and suppressing the base areas back then. Moreover, the bald head admired Zeng Guofan very much, and Chen Ke couldn't help but compare the bald head to encircle and suppress the base area, and Zeng Guofan's strategy to defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Not to mention, there is really something like a god. "There are really talents in Beiyang." Chen Ke thought.

"Chairman Chen, these two people are really die-hard counter-revolutionaries." The comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee said angrily.

"This is inevitable, if you don't stand on the side of the people, then you will inevitably stand on the opposite side of the people. This position is absolutely incompatible. It's normal for them to think so. Chen Ke comforted the staff.

"We spared their lives, they didn't want to be grateful to Dade, but wanted to slaughter the people in the base area!" The comrades of the Internal Affairs Committee were full of anger, and it was anger from the heart.

Chen Ke hurriedly persuaded: "It is our discipline not to kill prisoners, and it is our own integrity. It has nothing to do with the enemy. A dog eats, that's because it's a dog, it must want to eat, it must eat. As human beings, we can't make ourselves like dogs. ”

Despite the smoke of the seven orifices of qi, Chen Ke's metaphor still made the comrades on the opposite side happy.

Chen Ke continued: "I know that in this battle, some comrades think that we have made preparations to clear the wilderness, and it is a fuss. Some comrades even think that we are scaring ourselves, and that we are wasting our strength in vain. But I know that our enemies are very vicious. Since they are the ones who exploit the common people, they can do the things of robbing and killing the common people. We would rather suffer ourselves more than give them the opportunity to hurt the people. ”

The comrades of the Internal Affairs Committee nodded again and again, as an internal security department, the Internal Affairs Committee also had to participate in this kind of solid work, so there were not a few internal complaints. Now he understood why Chen Ke did such a thankless thing.

The reason why Chen Ke was originally engaged in Jianbi Qingye was that he completely studied the party's practices during the anti-Japanese period, but the conversation between Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui really touched Chen Ke's emotions, and he was finally able to "link theory with practice".

Chen Ke continued: "Some comrades think that we are afraid, we are not afraid of the Beiyang, and we are not afraid of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. We are afraid that because we are not doing our job properly, we are hurting the people. This is also the reason why our work will be very hard, because we are not the people's lord, we are the people's party that serves the people. This is the purpose of our party, and we must not violate this principle at any time. ”

After listening to Chen Ke's words, the comrades of the Internal Affairs Committee looked at Chen Ke with blazing eyes and saluted Chen Ke, "Chairman Chen, I will definitely strictly abide by the party's purpose and resolutely serve the people." ”

Chen Ke nodded, "I believe comrades. You can take this information and report it to Comrade Qi Huishen. Comrade Qi Huishen has returned to Fengtai County, and he will also be completely transferred back to work in the Internal Affairs Committee. The House Committee held a meeting to discuss. After all, both of them are speaking from their hearts, and we comrades must also know what the enemy thinks. How should we respond to their ideas? But again, we must abide by our own discipline. You can't abuse the captives, dogs can eat, people can't. ”

"Yes."

When Chen Ke was carrying out ideological education, Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui were moved when they faced Yuan Shikai's messenger.