The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"That's not the case, Comrade General Secretary," Peng Pai said. "There's not much external pressure on rural self-government in Chaoshan, Hailufeng, and other places, but we're putting a lot of pressure on western Fujian across the way.

Chongjiao Stirrup

The incident mentioned by Pengpai was called "Pengpai Disease" in Fujian and Nanjing governments.

The land reform in eastern Guangdong was quickly and decisively concluded by Peng Pai. After the rural regime was widely established, the rural areas in western Fujian, from Chaoshan to Xiamen in the east, began to stir.

In some counties and towns where large landowners held the majority of the land, the peasants' calls for equal distribution of land grew louder and louder. Not only the peasants, but also the scholars in the counties and towns were positive about this and called for equal land ownership.

In fact, this was not done by Pengpai. Pengpai just set an example in Hailufeng, and then this example spread from Hailufeng to Chaoshan. After Chaoshan was "infected", Pengpai's bacteria then spread to Fujian.

The Paper: "Comrade General Secretary, you just asked, 'What should we do in other parts of our country?' I think that's the way it should be done. Our land reform, eliminating exploitation based on land and rent, and streamlining production relations in rural areas is like setting up a beacon on the land of China."

"But this spontaneous imitation will still be met with iron-fisted suppression by the reactionaries," Chen Duxiu shook his head, "We cannot hope that the reactionaries will be merciful.

Chen Tianheng: "Comrade General Secretary, even if the reactionaries suppress us with an iron fist, we still have the revolutionary army. In fact, the current problem is not that the local governments do not support the revolutionary army enough. From my point of view, it is enough. Instead, we should pay attention to the fact that the local governments should not spontaneously do some "ineffective" things to support the revolutionary war.

"For example, Secretary Mao Runzhi's description of the recent situation in southern Hunan is an ineffective support and has caused adverse consequences.

“The recent situation in central and southern Hunan is simply that the grassroots government wants to exercise more comprehensive control over farmers. The purpose of this control, I mean, what they want to achieve, not that we really need to do this, is to sell grain as grain.

"The farmers in central and southern Hunan, formerly self-employed farmers and now farmers who have been given land, used to use a considerable portion of their agricultural output to raise livestock, using the bran from the shells of coarse and fine grains to feed pigs, who were then taken to the city to sell. This way, the grain they harvested from their farming was no longer a simple commodity, but a means of production. Adding a certain amount of socially necessary labor time to the grain transformed it into another commodity, one with a higher labor value attached to it.

"In rural areas where poverty is widespread and there is an extreme lack of means of production, this is crucial to farmers' lives. Without this additional layer of production, the productivity of farmers and rural areas would be extremely low.

"I also know the ideas of the grassroots organizations in central and southern Hunan, but I disagree with them. It's unnecessary. They simply think that the rural areas of central and southern Hunan are supplying agricultural products to the cities where the reactionaries are entrenched, thus aiding the enemy. But the reactionaries are also injecting money into the countryside."

"From a military perspective, the cities where the reactionaries are entrenched will not gain any more confidence in military victory simply because they have a supply of live chickens and pork from the surrounding areas, nor will they collapse if the surrounding rural areas stop supplying them with live chickens and pork.

"Therefore, buying up grain for grassroots organizations is an ineffective and unnecessary action. I believe that the best and greatest support for the revolutionary war in rural areas is the support of the people. If the people in that area support us, then our army can move freely there, while the enemy cannot move freely there."

Chen Duxiu: "Even if rural self-government is led by the Party, how can we guarantee that the areas we govern will be able to do their utmost to support the war effort in the event of a decisive battle?"

Mao Runzhi: "We should do our best to support the peasants. But we cannot force the peasants to do this or that. We carried out land reform, and those who tilled the land owned the land. This won the hearts of the people, and this heart cannot be completely consumed by the bureaucratic system we have established.

"Letting farmers figure things out on their own and providing as much support as possible, can we win the war?"

Chen Duxiu had questions.

Chen Tianheng: "Comrade General Secretary, we can win.

"Even if we can defeat Chiang Kai-shek and eliminate the domestic reactionaries in this way, if Western imperialism invades China, or even a full-scale invasion, can we still defeat the foreign invasion in this way?

Chen Tianheng: "Comrade General Secretary, you can also win.

Nanjing.

The military meeting at the headquarters was filled with heated arguments, with various military leaders clashing fiercely.

What Li Zongren said was indeed correct. Now only the Guangxi clique had "invaded" Guangdong and occupied Qinzhou, Beihai and Fangchenggang.

The Beiqinfang area is currently administratively part of Guangdong. This is a historical issue, likely due to the fact that the Beibu Gulf coastline was first developed by Guangdong coastal residents. Furthermore, Guangdong Province, with its strong financial resources and its influence since the Qing Dynasty, has always been greater than that of Guangxi. As a result, Guangdong's long coastline has encircled Guangxi, turning it into an inland province.

From a military perspective, however, the Beiqinfang region is difficult to defend. While Nanning is easily accessible, Guangzhou to Qinzhou requires hundreds of kilometers of trekking through mountains and hills. While sea travel is more convenient than land, stationing troops to defend Beiqinfang, isolated hundreds of kilometers away, would be a significant stretch of the military.

After the establishment of the Guangzhou United Government, it did not march towards Beiqinfang at all. It sent a telegram asking them "whether to join the United Government". If they said no, then forget it.

But Chiang Kai-shek also knew that the Guangxi clique had taken the Beiqinfang area without any effort. It was the Guangxi clique's troops stationed in Guangxi who had taken it. They had only deployed one of the four remaining brigades to conduct an armed parade in Beiqinfang. The Guangxi clique still needed to make some more efforts.

The next day, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren had a long talk.

The condition given by Chiang Kai-shek was that Huang Shaohong of the Guangxi clique would not only serve as the chairman of Guangxi Province, but would also become a member of the Kuomintang's Supreme Executive Committee. In addition, Li Zongren from Chongxi would also enter the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee.

The Guangxi clique's territory, except for Guangxi, Hunan and Hubei, currently only occupies a small part of Henan and Anhui, and the entire territory is promised to be handed over to the Guangxi clique.

The central government will give priority to allocating military funds, weapons and ammunition to the Guangxi troops.

Eventually, the two sides reached the deal. But what Chiang Kai-shek didn't know was that the main reason for Li Zongren's change of attitude was actually a telegram sent by Huang Shaohong from Guangxi the day before, in which Huang Shaohong believed that the Communist government in Guangdong had to be attacked.

Li Bai's troops led 100,000 strong troops from Guangdong and Guangxi to fight against the Communist Army

The next day, the Nanjing newspaper had the front page headline. Li Zongren couldn't help but frown and sigh when he saw the newspaper.

Look, we underestimated Chiang Kai-shek again.

As soon as he nodded and decided to respond to the call of the Nanjing Central Committee to suppress the Communists with all his strength, Chiang Kai-shek immediately fulfilled his promise.

The first step was to publicize with great fanfare that Li Zongren and the Guangxi clique would actively participate in the fight against the Communists, setting an example for the local powerful groups.

Secondly, Li Zongren also joined the ranks of the pro-war faction. From now on, it was not Chiang Kai-shek alone who attracted the attention of the national public opinion, but Li Zongren and Chiang Kai-shek. The criticism Chiang Kai-shek received was reduced by half.

"Jiansheng, it seems we can't go back.

Bai Chongxi: "This is the only way. However, even if our army goes down to fight, I am afraid it would not be advisable to disturb the rural areas controlled by the Communist Party too much."

Li Zongren: "That's what I thought. We agreed with the Communist Party in central and southern Hunan not to touch those areas where they were carrying out land reform, and we haven't touched them yet. We'll start from Changsha, follow the main road, pass Hengyang, occupy Chenzhou, and enter Guangdong.

Bai Chongxi: "The road from Chenzhou to Guangdong is extremely difficult. If the Communist Party is not afraid of hardship and really sets up defenses in Nanling, it will be difficult for us to break through the defense line.

"I'm afraid we don't necessarily have to break through the defense line," Li Zongren said. "If my estimate is correct, after entering the Guangdong provincial border, Nanjing and Guangzhou will have to negotiate peace.

Bai Chongxi: "Will both sides come up with a mutually acceptable peace negotiation clause?

Li Zongren: "Yes. More importantly, Chiang Kai-shek's 30 million yuan military budget should have been spent by then, and Chiang Kai-shek would have been willing to negotiate peace.

Chapter 144: Whisper of the Devil

"Chen Tianheng!"

"You said today that some places are providing 'ineffective' support, but you've been engaging in 'ineffective debates' all day long!"

"Do you support the views of those comrades who adopted the Soviet system? You don't. You call the work they do ineffective support.

"Do you support Mao Runzhi? No, you just said that the rural areas in central and southern Hunan should adapt to local conditions and there is no need for large-scale grain collection. That's all.

"superficial.

“You have absolutely no stance of your own!

Chen Duxiu's residence.

After a day's meeting, Chen Duxiu was still not satisfied and kept talking to Chen Tianheng.

"You and Shouchang behaved exactly the same today. It's not that you didn't say anything, but it's like you didn't say anything. Where's Chen Tianheng, the one who argued with Zhang Guotao in the audience? I'd rather see you attend the meeting today and argue with everyone until you're red in the face!"

Chen Tianheng: "General Secretary, I will only speak based on what I have investigated and understand. Even if we can requisition a small amount of grain from the rural areas of Hunan and the Hunan-Jiangxi border, the cost of collecting and transporting it to Guangdong is extremely high. By comparison, it would be more beneficial for us to allow these rural areas to produce more wealth. This is certainly not a statement in which I explicitly support a particular point of view, but rather a specific matter. However, it is a problem that already exists and should be resolved."

"Whether our rural areas should become a highly organized, even semi-militarized society, or, as Mao Zedong believed, an autonomous cooperative that safeguards the interests of farmers, theoretical debate alone will yield no conclusions; it must be tested in practice. If a particular rural policy can be implemented and strengthens our strength, it proves that it has stood the test of time."

Chen Duxiu: "Empirical philosophy. All knowledge comes from experience and can be traced back; there are no innate or innate propositions.

Chen Tianheng: "Whether it's empiricism or any other doctrine, just like the debate at today's meeting, if there are no facts before us as a reference, one side will never be able to convince the other.

"But if we choose the wrong direction, we will suffer a huge failure.

Chen Tianheng: "Compared to the entire revolutionary process, the failures we are experiencing now through trial and error can only be considered minor failures. I think it's okay.

Chen Duxiu: "So you also think that 'rural self-government under the leadership of the Party' has utopian elements?"

Chen Tianheng: “Not really. I don’t think we can deny this idea purely theoretically. What I just want to express is that many comrades now feel that this matter seems to be right and worth doing. Moreover, in the current rural areas of Hunan, as Mao Runzhi said, although the cadres have withdrawn some of the previous policies, the public support in many areas has not fundamentally improved. Anyway, it is already very bad, and even if it gets worse after a change, it won’t be much worse.

Chen Duxiu: "So, you mean Mao Runzhi should conduct such an experiment in southern Hunan?

Chen Tianheng: “Without doing experiments, even I don’t know what the final answer is.

"You, Chen Tianheng, here comes another 'ineffective debate'," Chen Duxiu said, his hands on his hips, walking back and forth twice: OK,

"Even though the results still require final experimental verification, we can still define it theoretically. It's a reflection of anarchism in the countryside. During the two years that Runzhi audited classes at Peking University, he developed a liking for anarchism. It was also during that time that he organized the Hunan independence movement among Hunan students, and now we can say that this is a continuation of the same lineage."

Chen Tianheng: "There are also other voices in theory. I remember that you and Comrade Dali Fei Kuai both expressed the view that 'China's two thousand years of history are all based on the Qin system.' Of course, this may have been proposed several years ago. In addition, Comrade Rosa Luxemburg and Comrade Lenin also mentioned the problems with this model in their debate.

68

Although Chen Yannian and Chen Qiao'en also lived here, they were assigned by Chen Duxiu to engage in grassroots work in rural Guangdong. This Guangzhou house was not next to the bustling streets, and there was no hustle and bustle of traffic. Apart from Gao Junman busy in the kitchen, there was no other movement.

"Zhongfu, Zhongfu!"

"I'm here! Haha, are you surprised? Are you surprised?"

There was a sound coming from outside the door. Chen Tianheng was not familiar with the sound, but Chen Duxiu's face changed drastically when he heard it. He rushed to the door, bolted the door that had been half-closed, and put his back against the door.

"Zhongfu, I came from Shanghai and brought some good wine. It would be nice to sit and discuss things in the market..."

Chen Duxiu: "No, no, I'm not entertaining guests today!"

"Not really. I came all the way from Shanghai. Zhongfu, open the door."

Chen Duxiu: "You came all the way here but were not received! You are so victorious!"

Chen Tianheng: "General Secretary Chen, who is this guest?

"This man is full of heresy. He... is misleading the public with his lies. All he says are extremely absurd nonsense!" Chen Duxiu's eyes widened in anger. "Didn't you say before that there's a term called 'the whisper of the devil'? He is the whispering devil! I can't let him in!"

Chen Tianheng: "?

Chen Duxiu: "This man's name is Yang Du.

"Oh! Yang Du, Yang Zhezi," Chen Tianheng suddenly realized. "He's quite famous. By the way, Mr. Yang Du, are you applying to join the Party now?"

"Yes, yes, that's right!"

Chen Tianheng opened the door, but Chen Duxiu was unable to stop him.

"General Chen, hello. It is truly an honor for me to meet the current Champion Marquis at the Chen Mansion today.

Yang Du greeted politely.

Chen Tianheng: "Since the Bus Petition, Mr. Yang has been at the forefront of every national crisis. If we were to write contemporary history in the future, we would likely consult Mr. Yang before we could begin writing about any major event."

"Those things are already in the past, some of which were not glorious, and I do not wish to mention them anymore," Yang Du said. "General Chen, this is far from the time to compile history. The country still needs to find a new path. If it cannot, all the struggles of the country and the people will be in vain.

Chen Tianheng: "I completely agree with what Mr. Yang said. Everyone is striving to find a new path, a strategy to save the nation. Just before your visit, General Secretary Chen and I were arguing about this issue.

"Oh?" Yang Du's eyes lit up. "Can I... listen to these questions?

Chen Duxiu and Chen Tianheng briefly described the debate within the party over the past two days. Chen Tianheng couldn't help but ask what "devil's whispers" Yang Du had said. Chen Duxiu gritted his teeth and said nothing. Yang Du also didn't say anything, simply saying that was another topic.

"Rural self-government was the Zhou system. The integration of farming and warfare was the Qin system. Actually, this isn't that complicated; it's just the difference between the Zhou and Qin systems."

Yang Du thought about it for a moment and came to a conclusion.

Chen Duxiu: "The Soviet system can be described as a combination of farming and warfare, but this is superficial. Its essence is different from the Qin Dynasty's combination of farming and warfare. Led by the vanguard of the proletarian party, the Soviet Union completely smashed the old system and incorporated all human and material resources in cities and villages into the national track. First, it was able to mobilize the country's human and material resources more thoroughly than the Qin Dynasty. Second, the proletarian vanguard was not an emperor, but a collective united by the belief in communism.

Yang Du: "Is there any essential difference? They are the same. In terms of mobilizing national manpower and material resources, the vanguard was superior to the Qin Dynasty. This is a natural progression on the same track, a quantitative change. The proletarian vanguard is not the emperor. I think, if this is true, it is based on the fact that the proletarian vanguard is a group of people, while the emperor is a person. That's the only reason."

"Ah," Chen Duxiu shook his head. "Mao Runzhi also said something like this. He directly called the Wuhan Central Committee and the cadres sent to various places by the Wuhan Central Committee a bureaucratic group."

Yang Du: "I have read Mr. Mao Runzhi's articles and I admire them very much.

He recognized the greatest potential in contemporary China and pointed out the need to harness this energy to transform China. As for Mao Zedong's current belief that rural self-government is superior to the Qin system, I don't think this is the core issue. As long as an individual or a party recognizes the boundless power of China's peasants, they are already on the right path.

Chen Tianheng: "Mr. Yang, however, the Zhou system was ultimately defeated by the Qin system."

Yang Du: "Then, the Qin system was defeated by the Western Zhou system.

Chen Tianheng: "......" Thanks for the book

"Hahaha," Yang Du laughed. "That sounds a bit nitpicky and harsh. Okay, that was just a joke. If this approach doesn't work, I think it's necessary to try the 'Western Qin system.' However, whether it's the Qin system or the Zhou system, the core is the peasants. You've now realized that the peasants are the key to all problems, which makes me more determined to join you.

Chen Duxiu: "Zhezi, it seems your last argument was about the order of 'Western Qin system' and 'Western Zhou system.' However, I still disagree with your characterization of these things: Qin system, Zhou system, Western Qin system, Western Zhou system. Can't we step outside of history and stop using dynasties from over 2,000 years ago to illustrate the present 20th century?"

Yang Du: "Chinese history has been nothing more than a cycle of dynasties changing from one generation to the next. Tan Fusheng once said, and Li Dazhao once quoted, that 'China's two thousand years of history are all based on the Qin system.' Before a complete transformation, we can, and can only, use such terms to describe China."

Chen Duxiu: "We want to change this situation.

Yang Du: "Zhongfu, I also want to change all this.

Chen Duxiu: "So, Mao Zedong overestimated the power of the Chinese peasants, thinking that with 400 million peasants, there was no need to do more and that these 400 million peasants would definitely defeat the reactionaries.

Chen Tianheng: "General Secretary Chen, Mr. Yang, this is exactly what I just said. No one's theory is correct from the outset. We need to constantly revise our strategies and direction based on practice, especially the setbacks we encounter in practice."

Yang Du shook his head.

He raised the corners of his mouth, with a meaningful smile on his face, and whispered:

"General Chen, you always win, what should we do?

"General Secretary Chen, I've thought about it and decided to leave tonight so we can rest on the train and on the boat.

"The war is imminent. The Huangpu branch in Ganzhou is involved in matters related to the instructors and training teams to strengthen the military staff. Whether the military academy interns will be used in the next phase, how they will be used, and the training tactics of the Second and Third Armies. In short, we must quickly arrange them before the fighting begins."

Chen Tianheng said goodbye to Chen Duxiu.

"Well, Chen Tianheng, this battle is of great importance. If we succeed, the Guangdong Revolutionary Government will be able to get back on track. If we fail, all our previous efforts will be wasted." Chen Duxiu said.

Chen Tianheng reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead. When he just came out of the house after chatting with Yang Du, he found that he had unknowingly sweated a lot on his head and back.