In June 1907, the Central Committee of the People's Party established the Northern Bureau. Shang Yuan served as the secretary of the Northern Bureau, and the main cadres included Chai Qingguo, Chen Tianhua, and some comrades who were willing to work in the north. Relying on the armed forces established by Wu Xingchen in Shandong, the Northern Bureau became the first external base in the true sense.

Shandong belongs to Zhili and is the territory of Yuan Shikai Beiyang Group. From the beginning of the establishment of the Northern Bureau, the Central Committee suggested that the Northern Bureau take root in the Yimeng Mountains and carry out revolutionary work in the poorest areas where the enemy is weakest. The revolutionary work was not to overthrow the Manchus, but to gradually direct the spontaneous revolutionary needs of the masses to the conscious revolutionary demands. and then to achieve the revolutionary goal of overthrowing all the oppressors who pressed down on the people.

The development of the Northern Bureau is clear-sighted, and they are different from the green forest heroes in Shandong who dare to rise up and pull the pole, and the green forest heroes are pursuing a sudden rich, hoping to become a violent person who overrides everything by force. It is very different from the people's revolutionary organization of the Northern Bureau, which willingly sinks down and works hard with the people.

The distance between the Shandong base area and the central part of Anhui is thousands of miles, and it takes more than a month to report back and forth. So the actual instructions were meaningless at all, and in a sense, the first real "hill" within the party of the People's Party was established. No matter how strange the way the Northern Bureau raised funds for the revolution, as long as there is no problem with the overall direction, Chen Ke must wait and see the after-effects. You can't just make a judgment right away.

The comrades who came to report were naturally extremely proud of the development of the Shandong base area, and even in the face of Chen Ke, he was still full of confidence. Chen Ke also listened until the end of the report. Chen Kecai raised questions about what he cared about the most. To what extent has the party building work been done in the Shandong base area?

The comrade who reported calmly replied: "Chairman Chen, all our current party members have entered the grassroots level. Help the masses solve various problems in life. Although our Shandong base area eliminated the Manchu government and suppressed the local tyrants and bullies, the people's living standards have been improved. However, on the whole, the Yimeng Mountain area is still too poor, and if you want to improve the people's living standards, you still need more support from the central government for agricultural science and technology. In particular, in the animal husbandry industry, the scientific breeding carried out by Secretary Chen Tianhua in the base area has achieved very good results. Secretary Shang Yuan asked, can steel smelting be carried out locally in the Yimeng Mountain area? Or whether there is a way to provide metal agricultural tools in the base area. The bonds issued this time are intended to be used to purchase metal products. ”

In these years, it was extremely difficult to get metal products, and if in the previous agricultural era, the demand for metal products was actually limited, so the sale could barely be carried out to the large market of the countryside. However, with the development of China's cities, the demand for metals is growing explosively. This also greatly damaged the metal source of the old countryside. Selling metal to the city is more profitable than selling it to the countryside, even if the price is not high, but the demand for metal in the city is large, and the transportation is convenient and convenient. It is far more profitable than transporting metal products to the countryside. If there were no several times the profits, the merchants were simply unwilling to transport the iron tools to a poor place like the Yimeng Mountains, and the several times the profits directly led to the fact that the people in the Yimeng Mountains could not afford to buy them.

"Is there such a lack of metal products in the Yimeng Mountains?" A comrade with the Politburo asked. It was not only Chen Ke who listened to the report, but also the comrades of the Politburo.

"A few days before my departure, a group of bullies had just been executed in the base. Someone here opened a shop, first on credit to the masses who could not afford to buy daily necessities. When the debts were accumulated, he began to collect the debts. The masses could not afford to pay it back, so this bully clique gave usury to the masses. The masses had to borrow usury to pay off their debts, and as a result, it became a vicious circle. If the masses refuse to repay their debts, they will come to rob men and women and plunder the land. ”

Listening to such a vivid example, the comrades of the Politburo smiled bitterly. The Anhui base area, which forcibly promoted metal farming tools in the countryside through the state system, is unique in the whole of China. Relying on trade, the merchant only pursues the maximization of profits, who cares whether you are a farmer or die. Under the impact of the industrial era, the Manchus and the local gentry could no longer maintain the old order in the countryside, and the inferior gentry among the gentry took advantage of the situation. Plundering places through economic means.

Chen Ke has long talked about this process of "the bad gentry driving out the good gentry", and because of the implementation of the new system in the base areas, there is basically no soil for this to happen. The content of the Shandong comrades' remarks gave the committee members a profound practical lesson.

The comrades in Shandong had seen a lot of things and said proudly: "When we smashed this group of bullies, many people just felt that someone had finally decided for them. The masses of the people are really kind, and the bully group does not treat the masses as villagers, but the masses still regard them as villagers. Some among the masses also suggested that these people should spit out the benefits plundered by the masses and spare their lives. We did a deep job to tell the masses that these people were using the system to commit crimes, and that the system behind these people was evil. The level of understanding of politics among the masses is much higher. The masses finally realized that it was this system that bullied the masses. Fair trade is one thing, but taking advantage of the fair trade system is a sin in itself. When all the bullies were finally shot, it was really empty. This batch of fights will be very fierce. ”

"Well done!" Some Politburo members already laughed and praised. Shang Yuan and Chen Tianhua are both extremely energetic comrades. Shang Yuan's work ability is very strong, and everyone is very convinced.

Seeing that the members of the Politburo showed great approval, the comrades in Shandong really defended the action of "issuing bonds against the Qing Dynasty and saving the country." There were no industrial technicians at all in the Yimeng Mountain Base Area, although they brought with them a lot of scientific and technological materials. What can really be started is related to agriculture. Even if an agricultural cooperative is formed, it is extremely difficult to increase the productivity of the base areas relatively quickly. As a last resort, in order to solve the current problems, improve the quality of agricultural tools. Only by getting a sum of money temporarily, the base area formed its own transportation team to get iron farming tools. The ability to get these tools to the maximum extent before spring plowing is of great help to this year's agricultural production.

China's real iron-smelting center is now Hanyang Iron and Steel. Chen Ke's plan to maximize the use of Hanyang Iron and Steel is well known to the Politburo. Listening to the comrades in Shandong explain the various practical difficulties encountered in the Yimeng Mountain base area, the comrades of the Politburo immediately increased their desire to take Hanyang Iron and Steel. The significance of Hanyang Iron and Steel does not need to be repeated now, and how to win it most efficiently is the most realistic problem.

"When we entered the countryside, a large number of people joined the peasant associations. The original guild gate was given a cold reception, and the relationship between these people and us is getting worse and worse. In some areas, there have even been incidents of sectarians inciting the masses. Comrade Shandong introduced the biggest contradiction in recent times.

"These people must be fought to the end. The masses must be taken back from them. Chen Ke has never had a good opinion of these organizations.

"Okay, Chairman Chen." The Shandong comrades hurriedly recorded Chen Ke's instructions.

"In addition, there seem to be more Taoist temples in the Yimeng Mountain area, right?" Chen Ke asked.

"Yes."

"As long as this Taoist priest doesn't talk about the cycle of life and death, he only talks about the cultivation of becoming immortals. It's something we can fight for. If the Taoist temple is relatively dilapidated, some of our comrades can temporarily enter the Taoist temple as a small Taoist priest. There are many Taoist temples in Shandong, and it is more convenient to use the identity of a Taoist priest as a cover. Chen Ke said this because he was working, and secondly, he had a natural affinity for Taoism. Chen Ke has recited the full text of the Tao Te Ching hundreds of times, and he has great respect for Lao Tzu.

"Then should the monk temple be treated like this?" Comrade Shandong asked.

"Anyone who talks about the cycle of life and death, everything talks about the world after death. They can basically be treated as cults. Even if you are a Taoist priest, you don't need to be polite when you talk about this kind of thing. ”

Comrade Shandong could feel that Chen Ke was looking down on Taoism, although it was still a little strange, but he couldn't ask more. He could only reply, "Yes." Chairman Chen, I remember. Another thing, Shandong has recently come to some people from the Alliance. The gang did not go to Yimeng Mountain, but operated in other areas. Secretary Shang is collecting information, and after sorting out a clue, he will send it to the central government. Comrade Shandong informed the Central Committee of the People's Party of this content.

Since the second anti-encirclement campaign was waged against the League, the League has completely faded out of the thinking of the Central Committee of the People's Party. Suddenly hearing the news that the League would go to Shandong for activities, the biggest feeling of the comrades was that they were a little surprised. Chen Ke didn't feel anything about the alliance. The Alliance is also famous in the history books, and the Alliance of this time and space has not changed much. Taking advantage of the chaos in the world, the lobbyists of the League are looking for partners in various places.

"Let's concentrate on going into the countryside to work, and as long as the League doesn't go into the countryside, then we don't care about them at all." After Chen Ke said this, he completely left the affairs of the alliance behind.

After the report of the Northern Bureau, the Central Committee of the People's Party discussed it. It was decided to support a batch of iron farming tools to the Shandong base area. There is a canal from the base to Shandong. The People's Party now does not lack the uniforms of the Beiyang Army at all, let alone the seal of the Beiyang Army. A small fleet of 10,000 farm implements and repair tools was enough to transport them. The transport troops planned to take the canal, and after passing Xuzhou, they would put on the uniforms of the Beiyang Army. As long as you give enough money on the road, try not to alarm the Beiyang Army as much as possible.

"If we are caught intercepting, then simply report our name. There is also a group of officers of the Beiyang Army in our hands. They don't dare do anything to us. If this batch of agricultural tools can be transported to Shandong, the agricultural cooperatives must be enriched as much as possible. Being closely connected with the people is the foundation of the base area. Although he knew that the wounded and Chen Tianhua would definitely do this, Chen Ke couldn't help but explain repeatedly.

"Don't worry, Chairman Chen. I will definitely complete the task. ”