The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

After Dong Zhuo's defeat, the Eastern Han dynasty completely declined, ushering in a chaotic war and the bitter conflict of the Three Kingdoms period. Disaster loomed. Over five million people died in the war, and the population plummeted by over 40 million. The poem, "Boneless bones lie exposed in the wild, no roosters crow for a thousand miles, only one in a hundred people survive—the thought breaks one's heart," captures this period. By the Three Kingdoms period, the population had plummeted to just over seven million...

In Zhang Yinghao's eyes, Dong Zhuo was very similar to Yuan Shikai in his previous life. Both were at the end of their dynasties, both held their own military power at the center, and both indulged in looting. Both lacked a strong base, and both desperately sought to win over former officials and expand their power. Yuan Shikai, however, was forced to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, but his shady move to proclaim himself emperor ultimately led to his own downfall. Dong Zhuo, on the other hand, used the emperor to control the feudal lords, but they continued to disobey him. Ultimately, his former officials colluded with the feudal lords and were killed.

After finishing the lecture, I returned to my office and received a telegram from Chongqing announcing a cargo ship entering the city, intending to trade. Zhang Yinghao instantly burst into laughter. A dog will always eat shit. While the Western powers certainly had principles regarding China and shared interests, conflicts were inevitable. How long had it been since the blockade? And already, people were coming to Chongqing to trade.

Zhang Yinghao immediately sent a telegram back with just one word: Yes.

Zhang Yinghao felt that agreeing to trade was the best way for Sichuan to express its stance. However, when thinking about expressing its stance, Zhang Yinghao thought about the Russo-Japanese War. Shouldn't they take Mongolia into consideration at this time?

So Zhang Yinghao immediately sent a telegram to inquire about the situation in Shaanxi.

After more than a year, Shaanxi had basically stabilized. Zhang Feng quickly sent a telegram, briefly outlining the situation in Shaanxi. Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment. In his previous life, Xu Shuzheng had recaptured Outer Mongolia with only 8,000 troops. The entire Mongolian region now had roughly the same population as the XZ region, around one million.

But this is the steppe, and what is needed is mobile forces, at least cavalry. Infantry is okay for guarding towns, but it is not strong enough for attacking. Those horse bandits come and go without a trace, and the infantry can easily suffer losses.

After some thought, he felt that the conditions were not yet ripe, so he temporarily abandoned the plan to march into Mongolia. He simply sent a telegram to Zhang Feng, asking him to intensify the training of cavalry. If that place is not managed well, it will be a money-eating beast. If it is managed well, it will be a treasure trove.

Since they weren't planning to send troops yet, they could only focus on other matters. Since Huang Sande's departure from Sichuan, he had brought back many people. Many of them were former railroad workers for the Americans, and some were highly educated. This sparked the idea of ​​establishing another university for Zhang Yinghao.

Zhang Yinghao had this idea a long time ago, but he lacked the ability, energy, or resources to implement it. However, the Progressive Party is now developing smoothly and rapidly. However, the relevant talent is scarce, and much of the work has been done by the military.

Although the technical school was established, it was now overcrowded. So Zhang Yinghao directly contacted the current Minister of Education, Comrade Bai Tianlong, to discuss the matter. Zhang Yinghao was very familiar with the education sector when he was also the Director of the Education Bureau. However, it has been a while since he stepped down as Minister of Education, and he hasn't inquired about the specific situation there. It's unclear how things are going now.

"Tianlong, how is our enrollment rate now?"

"Chairman, the current enrollment rate is not very high. There are still many families who cannot afford to send their children to school, or are unwilling to send their children to school."

"Hmm? I understand you can't afford it, but what do you mean by unwilling?"

"Alas, Chairman, children in their teens are already considered half of the labor force in rural areas. Boys can cut grass and plant rice without any problem, and girls can cook at home without any problem. Some parents would rather keep them at home to work than send them to school."

Zhang Yinghao thought about it and finally understood what was going on. In this era, girls would start planning marriages or exchange marriages after their first period. Many of them became parents by their teens, so it was naturally impossible for them to continue attending school.

"Is that so? Then, what is the current ratio of male to female students?" "Hmm..."

"Honestly speaking, this thing is there, so what can we do? If it's good, it's good, and if it's bad, it's bad."

"Even fewer girls are going to school. Many girls get married in their teens. Parents simply don't want to send their children to school. Many think that if they study well, they will belong to someone else's family, so it's okay if they don't have an education."

"So, what is the current ratio of male to female students?"

"It's better now. The male-to-female ratio for six- and seven-year-olds is 7:3. In some places, it's 6:4, and in Chengdu it's almost 1:1. But the older they get, the bigger the male-to-female ratio becomes, and the fewer girls there are."

"Well, have you done enough publicity on this? Did you, the leaders and teachers, visit the families of those who dropped out of school to understand their situation when the school started?"

"Chairman, I've basically checked in. Many families simply don't want their children to be in school at such an old age. Some families see their neighbors' children not attending school anymore and are instead working around the house, so they follow suit and stop sending their children to school."

"Have you figured out how to solve this problem?"

"Chairman, every time the school term starts, we will issue a notice and visit the homes of those children who have dropped out of school without reason. We will try our best to persuade them to return to school."

“How’s the effect?”

"For those who drop out of school, we can usually persuade them to return to school, but some families are still reluctant to let their children continue to study."

Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll issue a notice here. All government, military, and related personnel must ensure their children finish junior high school and are not allowed to drop out. Otherwise, their benefits will be deducted."

"Chairman, after all, some children..."

"Of course, we can't force those who truly can't go to school. However, you should do more publicity. If you know where there are children who don't go to school, you should try to visit their homes and mobilize them. I'll send a notice to the town later, and then have the village heads persuade those who don't want to send their children to school. It's hard to force them."

"Yeah, forcing it for a day or two will make it stop after a few days. It's useless."

Zhang Yinghao knew that sending children to school became a widespread practice in China only after much propaganda. Even in the 21st century, China still hadn't achieved a 100% enrollment rate. Therefore, Zhang Yinghao couldn't force anyone to send their children to school. However, the military and government could still force them to do so.

"Today, I want to discuss with you the matter of establishing a modern university in Sichuan."

"Mr. Chairman, is it a school like the Imperial University of Peking?"

"Oh, you've been concerned about this. Yes and no. The Imperial University of Peking is indeed a modern university, but what I want to run is not exactly the same. Currently, most schools in our country are liberal arts, while ours must be oriented towards science and engineering."

"Liberal arts, science and engineering? Physics and chemistry?"

"You could understand it this way. Western powers like Britain and France are stronger than us for many reasons. One of the most direct reasons is that their industries are superior to ours. They have more factories, their technology is more advanced, their guns are better, and their products are better. And the root of all this is that they have more science and engineering talent than we do, and our country has always neglected scientific research. And science and engineering, on the other hand, refers to studying mathematics, physics, chemistry, and so on."

Zhang Yinghao gave Bai Tianlong a detailed introduction to the role of industrialization and the development of modern technology.

industry.

Industry isn't simply about building a few factories. It requires a vast army of skilled workers, scientists, and engineers. Historically, from the Westernization Movement, when China began developing industry, all the way to the founding of the People's Republic of China, its industrial development remained at its most rudimentary stage. Even after decades of war, heavy industry at the founding of the People's Republic of China was even worse than it had been at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Northeast China, a legacy left by Japan, had been plundered by the Soviet Union. Many factories built during the Westernization Movement had ceased operations by the time the People's Republic of China was founded. Many items that were manufactured in the late Qing Dynasty were no longer usable.

This can be seen from the classification of universities. When the People's Republic of China was founded, almost all Chinese universities were liberal arts. While there were science and engineering programs, they were few and far between. For example, at the time, Tsinghua University and Peking University, the top universities in China, over 90% of their programs were liberal arts.

Why was Japan able to rise again in such a short time after its defeat?

Chapter 327:

The support from the United States did help Japan a lot, but the real reason was that their industrial base and talent were still intact. A mere defeat was nothing. Countries like Germany, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union were basically reduced to ruins during World War II, but they didn't take long to recover. Why was it that after the liberation of New China, so many industries were established in Northeast China? Although the rich natural resources of Northeast China are partly responsible, the more important reason is the large number of skilled workers left by Japan in Northeast China. Although the Soviet Union dismantled and blew up some of the machines, the workers in Northeast China continued to build, and this is the most valuable asset.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, large-scale industrialization took place, leading to a severe shortage of industrial talent. Consequently, the curriculum was completely altered, and until the 1980s and early 1990s, universities were primarily devoted to science and engineering. Especially in the early years of the People's Republic, over 90% of university courses were science and engineering, and even some social science majors were directly eliminated from the university curriculum. To support industrialization, the liberal arts curriculum was reduced, cultivating successive waves of science and engineering talent.

Even into the 21st century, New China continued to train vast numbers of engineers annually, using quantitative change to drive qualitative change. It was precisely because of this vast influx of engineers that China's industry was able to catch up. While it couldn't yet completely surpass European and American powers technologically, its industrial scale had already surpassed the United States to become the world's largest before Zhang Yinghao arrived in this world.

But today's education in China is different.

Although the imperial court had not abolished the imperial examination system, most scholars still aspired to enter officialdom, or at least government employment, after graduation. Consequently, the way schools train students today is largely the same as it was in the past. The Imperial University of Peking barely taught science and engineering, and the belief that pedantic skills were unwelcome in universities was a natural progression for these old-school scholars.

Zhang Yinghao wants to change this.

Zhang Yinghao had always understood that after the revolution, there had to be more than just fighting; construction was also needed, and construction was even more crucial. In particular, if China wanted to stand up to the great powers and avoid being bullied by them, it had to industrialize. But industrialization was no easy task; it wasn't something that could be created simply by boasting. To establish industry, a large number of scientific and engineering talents were essential. Only with sufficient scientific and engineering talent could industry flourish.

That's why Zhang Yinghao hopes to establish a specialized science and engineering university.

Bai Tianlong understood Zhang Yinghao's explanation perfectly. After all, he was a well-educated man. He also understood Zhang Yinghao's point: if China wanted to make its guns and artillery as good as those in the West, it would need sufficient technicians. And to have enough technicians, they needed specialized schools to train them.

"Chairman, running a university requires a lot of money!" "Haha."

Zhang Yinghao gave a wry smile and continued, "Problems that can be solved with money aren't really that big of a problem. It's not just a lack of money. It's more about a lack of teachers. China is so backward in this area, and there are very few people who truly study science and engineering. To establish a university like this, we need a lot of teachers. But we don't have that many talents."

"So you mean..."

"Tianlong, I hope that those of you who have studied abroad can become teachers at this university. Based on what you learned abroad, you can come here to teach and mentor students. Of course, while the emphasis will be on science and engineering, we'll also include history, philosophy, law, and so on. It's just a matter of increasing the proportion of science and engineering."

"I have no problem, Mr. Chairman."

"Also, mobilize your connections and recruit as many overseas talents as possible. More people means more strength."

"Okay. But there are very few students who actually study science and engineering right now. And those who really study science and engineering all study abroad in Europe and America. There are almost no such people here in Sichuan."

"Well, no matter how difficult it is, we have to do it. As long as we maintain a scientific attitude, just like our Engineering Command School, with each successive generation of students making progress, we will naturally be able to run the school better and better in the end."

Zhang Yinghao knew that his current abilities and connections weren't enough. These foreign students probably weren't much better either. However, they should have ways to bring in some teachers.

"Tianlong, if China is to rise, industry is essential. To complete industrialization, we need outstanding science and engineering talents. Perhaps the university we are establishing today will become the best university in Chinese history and leave a deep mark in history."

"Yeah, China is so big, but it's so hard to even find a decent university. I can't even find a professor. It's really too cold. No wonder I get bullied."

"Well, you should carefully select a candidate for the principal. I will first build the teaching building, no matter how simple or difficult it is. It must be built. Even if it is just for temporary further education for our comrades, it is better than nothing."

"Okay, Chairman."

"Let's set up a school construction committee. You'll lead it yourself, and get a few of your classmates to collaborate. Strength lies in numbers. How should we build this school? Give me a plan quickly. We also need to find teachers and get textbooks. These aren't easy. We need to develop a major. Even if we don't have teachers now, we'll have them in the future. Let's first solve the problem of whether we have one or not. As for whether it's good or not, we can leave it for later. Thank you for your hard work."

"Chairman, it doesn't matter whether it's hard or not. This is what I should do." After handing over the university affairs, facing the primary school enrollment rate, Zhang Yinghao felt that the publicity might not be enough. Even if the publicity was enough, it should be increased.

Arriving at the Propaganda Department, Zhang Yinghao immediately convened a meeting of its members and leaders. After Zhang Weiqiang stepped down as Director of the Propaganda Department, Chen Tianhua, who had experienced grassroots training, took over. The Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department was a later-discovered figure named Zou Guiwen, who later changed his name to Zou Rong. Zhang Yinghao had never heard of Zou Guiwen until he heard he was also Zou Rong.

Zou Rong is best known for writing "Liberation Army." In his previous life, guided by the ideals of "natural human rights," "freedom, equality, and fraternity" advanced during the Western bourgeois revolution, he expounded on the necessity of opposing feudal autocracy and carrying out bourgeois democratic revolution. He pointed out that "revolution" is a process of preserving good and eliminating evil, beauty and ugliness, and goodness and eliminating corruption in all things, ancient and modern, religious, moral, political, and academic, as well as in everyday life. Therefore, he praised it with the words: "How majestic! Revolution! How magnificent! Revolution!"

He also exposed the Qing government's oppression of the Chinese people, citing corruption in the bureaucracy, criminal trials, official ruthlessness, and policies toward intellectuals, peasants, overseas Chinese workers, merchants, soldiers, and a series of foreign policies. He analyzed the inevitability of revolution and clearly declared the fundamental purpose of revolutionary independence: "to forever break free from the yoke of Manchuria, to recover all lost rights, and to stand among the great powers of the world," "to maintain our natural position of equality and freedom," and "to safeguard our right to independence," meaning to overthrow the feudal autocratic dynasty and establish the "Republic of China." Zou Rong was ultimately arrested, imprisoned, and tortured to death.

However, in this life, Zou Rong's fate was completely different. After Zhang Yinghao quickly captured Chengdu and Chongqing, the 17- or 18-year-old boy no longer considered studying in Japan, but immediately wanted to join the revolution. However, at that time, many comrades in the liberated areas were still unsure how to deal with the bourgeoisie.

After all, Zou Rong's father was a well-known businessman in Chongqing, and his son's purpose in joining the revolution was unknown. This incident also attracted the intervention of the Safety Committee for the Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries and Work Sabotage. After all, accepting Zou Rong was easy, but this was a political issue. Accepting one person would lead to thousands of others.

Finally, after the Safety Committee for the Elimination of Counter-Revolutionaries and Work Sabotage confirmed through investigation that this individual had betrayed their own interests, they released him. The recruiting company was still unsure whether to hire him, but since he was a scholar, this was already quite rare. So they consulted Zhang Feng, who knew that this matter had set the tone from the beginning, and if other similar people came forward to seek refuge, it might become a basis for their decision.

So he sent a telegram to Zhang Yinghao, asking how to proceed. Zhang Yinghao still remembers the content of his reply: "As long as there are people who agree with our ideals of land revolution and people's revolution, we will take as many as we can." Zhang Yinghao knew that at that time in China, there was no propaganda like communism, nor were there any undercover agents from either party. Zhang Yinghao completely doubted that the Qing Dynasty would have the initiative to send an undercover agent for him.

Zhang Yinghao was willing to give more opportunities to historical figures who appeared in his ranks, as they had already proven their abilities in previous lives. Therefore, Zhang Yinghao dared to recruit anyone who supported the People's Revolution and the Land Revolution. Furthermore, even if they were from a landlord family, as long as they handed over their land, Zhang Yinghao would not make things difficult for them, let alone the descendants of the more progressive bourgeoisie.

When Zou Guiwen first joined the boot camp, he quickly showed his huge difference from other comrades. With a profound cultural foundation and a hardworking and studious personality, he was considered a standout in the boot camp. He was quickly assigned a corresponding job until Zhang Yinghao discovered his literary talent and transferred him to be his secretary for a while. Later, he went to work in the Propaganda Department. At that time, Zhang Yinghao was also the Minister of the Propaganda Department and was also interested in letting Zou Guiwen take over. However, Chen Tianhua's brilliance was so dazzling that he was made a deputy minister after an internship.

Revolutionary propaganda of this era shared a common characteristic: it was passionate and avidly inspiring, as if speeches and propaganda were ineffective without slogans and inspiration. As Li Dazhao said, "Look at the world in the future; it will surely be ruled by red flags." This statement was practically useless, but it was nonetheless inspiring. It was like visualizing a vivid image of red flags waving, welcoming victory.

Although Zhang Yinghao knew that there were many heroes in this era, he had no interest in collecting them. Instead of searching for a few people he remembered, he would rather teach a few more classes himself, perhaps cultivating a few more. In this era of rapid change, as long as one dares to fight, is good at learning, and follows the right people, then one can definitely achieve something and achieve great success.

After all the relevant personnel arrived, Zhang Yinghao repeated the relevant data on children's enrollment and immediately asked about the publicity for children's enrollment.

"Chairman, we've already promoted everything we need to. Now we just have to see what the enrollment rate is like this year."

“How did you promote it?”

"Publish articles in newspapers and magazines."

"Do you think people from poor families can recognize so many words?" "Chairman, this..."

"Alas, our propaganda needs to be targeted. People who can understand so much text, don't they know the importance of reading? Our current propaganda targets are mainly those families who don't send their children to school, or parents of children who dropped out again after a period of education. If you write an article, will they understand it?"

"Chairman, I know what to do."

"Well, that's good. We must do everything we can to spread the word and let those parents know that only by studying can one have a bright future. We must create an atmosphere in society where all children must be sent to school, so that parents will feel that not sending their children to school is a mistake. Comrades, it takes ten years to grow a tree, and a hundred years to cultivate a person. Can these people be cultivated and become the pillars of the country if they don't study?

"If we encourage every child to go to school now, we will have one more qualified builder in the future, contributing to the building of our new nation. We should start promoting this now, using our propaganda tools, creating plays to perform in rural areas, composing some catchy rhymes, and finding ways to get every child into school."

"Chairman, we will set up the arrangements right away."

"Well, we can't relax on this matter. We must take it as the most important thing. We must let every citizen know about sending their children to school. When everyone sends their children to school,

If only a few families don't send their children to school, then the war will still have consequences for them. So the publicity cannot be a passing fad, but must be sustained.

We can promote the law together with education."

"it is good."

"Oh, by the way, don't miss out on Shaanxi either." "What else does the Chairman have to say?"

"In Sichuan, except for the minority areas, the rest of the country has basically completed the land reform. The next step is to carry out construction. You should vigorously publicize the idea of ​​women comrades coming out to work. You should contact the comrades of the Women's Federation and encourage women comrades to work.

Women comrades should come out to work. Women hold up half the sky, and half of the population is made up of women. Promoting them is also a top priority."

In fact, if we follow common sense in this era, there are not so many job opportunities, and the employment problem of women comrades cannot be solved at all. Zhang Yinghao racked his brains to increase employment. Heavy industry cannot accommodate so many women comrades. Later generations relied on manufacturing to solve a large number of

Why is the manufacturing industry so developed in later generations? It is because of the large-scale use of electricity and the huge demand. But in China today, there are few electricity.

How can we talk about developing electrical appliances? How can we talk about manufacturing? Without manufacturing such as electrical appliances, Zhang Yinghao naturally developed light industries such as textiles and food.

Although it could not completely solve the employment problem, it could still provide a lot of jobs for women. This is one of the reasons why land reform was necessary in this era, to solve the problem of food and employment for women.

The western Sichuan plain is the heart of Sichuan, home to sugar from Zizhong and Neijiang, grain from Luzhou and Xufu, and the Ziliujing salt region, rivaling Yangzhou. In the past, Sichuan warlords initially had a military budget of only six million, but after a decade of fighting, it reached fifty million, financed entirely by the Ziliujing salt. Furthermore, Xufu was the trading center of southern Sichuan, a bustling hub second only to Chengdu and Chongqing, with numerous factories and a flourishing trade.

Almost three years had passed since the last minor conflict between Sichuan and Yunnan. While the Qing governments in Yunnan and Guizhou hated the Sichuan Communist bandits, they couldn't stop the complementary needs between the two sides. The Qing government, with its shabby grassroots structure, couldn't possibly resist the people's demands. Initially, the Qing government in Yunnan and Guizhou set up checkpoints to block the flow of goods. After being defeated twice by the People's Liberation Army, the Qing simply withdrew the checkpoints. Trade between Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan was largely concentrated in western Sichuan.

In order to guard against surprise attacks by the Qing Dynasty and to ensure the stability of Xuzhou, the People's Liberation Army stationed troops in Xuzhou. The person in charge of garrisoning Xuzhou is Cao Qiang. He had just completed training at the Army Intermediate Command College and was transferred here to be stationed. He has now been promoted to a regimental commander.

Shortly after arriving in Xuzhou, he launched a major sweep of the area, including surprise inspections of many rarely traveled paths. The results were shocking. Just three days earlier, his patrol had been attacked and successfully apprehended—a group of opium traffickers, who were purportedly transporting local specialties from Yunnan and Guizhou.

Since Sichuan no longer uses silver and money, most traders would ship their goods to Sichuan, sell them, then purchase more goods directly from Sichuan and ship them away, spending all the RMB they earned. This round trip actually allowed them to make more money. In fact, many local specialties from other provinces appeared in Sichuan, and Yunnan and Guizhou also had many specialties shipped to Sichuan. The prices were not low, and the sales were also good. Even if they relied on formal trade channels, they could still make a lot of money, without having to sell harmful substances like opium.

So, under normal circumstances, no one suspected anything was wrong with the cargo. However, no one would engage in a losing trade, but as long as there was enough profit, someone would still do it, even if it meant risking their life. However, this time, over two thousand kilograms of goods were transported, and most importantly, these drug traffickers were unaware of the police dog unit already deployed in Xuzhou, specifically for Yunnan and Guizhou. Cao Qiang hadn't anticipated his successful operation.

Chapter 328:

Yunnan and Guizhou haven't been wealthy places since ancient times, and most people there are tired of poverty. Now that Sichuan is improving, they're itching to do more. Getting them to honestly do business isn't easy; they dream of getting rich overnight. Businesses require capital, and many want to but lack it.

Furthermore, the roads in Yunnan and Guizhou are truly inadequate. To succeed in business, or to become wealthy, one must first build roads—this is an irrefutable truth. However, Yunnan and Guizhou are located on a plateau with rugged mountain roads, making road construction exceedingly difficult. The Qing government in Yunnan and Guizhou simply cannot afford to build roads, and even if it could, no one in the Qing Dynasty is willing to invest the considerable time required. After all, road construction isn't a business that pays off quickly. Successive governors-general, fueled by the lucrative opium trade, simply weren't willing to invest in road construction.

Yunnan and Guizhou were impoverished provinces, burdened with the heavy responsibility of defending their borders, and simply couldn't afford such high military expenses. Consequently, Sichuan had long relied on them for support. After the Sichuan Revolution, Yunnan and Guizhou simply couldn't sustain the Qing army's operations in the region. Now that Sichuan was growing stronger, the once-powerful Yunnan and Guizhou armies were increasingly struggling. Furthermore, after their previous defeat, the Qing Dynasty no longer valued their army, forcing them to rely on the opium trade to maintain their operations.

However, Sichuan prohibited smoking, and importing opium could fetch several times the profit. Consequently, countless criminals from surrounding provinces set their sights on the enormous profits. This operation yielded over 2,000 kilograms of opium, and Cao Qiang naturally dared not conceal the seizure. He was unwilling to face the guillotine for this haul, so he immediately reported it to his brigade commander, Li Lao Hu. Li Lao Hu, realizing the seriousness of the matter, immediately rushed to Xu Prefecture to investigate.

After Ouyang Jun was transferred to march into XZ, Li Lao Hu took over his job. When Li Lao Hu looked at the seized cloud soil with a gloomy face, he immediately ordered another full-scale investigation in the Xu Prefecture area and asked Cao Qiang to bring in those big opium dealers. As soon as these people came in, Li Lao Hu saw that they were all from the military and had considerable training.

Li Lao Hu grabbed the arm of one of the men and opened his palm to observe it. He found a layer of calluses on the palm, which usually form when using a gun for a long time.

"Comrade Cao Qiang, you seized these things. What do you think about this?"

In the liberated areas, Party members and cadres differed only in position, not status. Zhang Yinghao explicitly forbade them from addressing each other as "brothers." In his previous life, Zhang Yinghao would watch those anti-Japanese dramas, and whenever someone called for a charge, they would usually use the words "brothers." This sounded particularly awkward to Zhang Yinghao. In fact, using the word "comrade" was much better than using the word "brother." After all, brothers are related by blood, but comrades share a common goal. The number of brothers is limited, while the number of comrades is unlimited. Furthermore, calling someone "brother" would imply forming cliques, while calling someone "comrade" would not. Brothers need to respect each other, but comrades only need to maintain camaraderie. There's no need to save face. Comrades focus on getting things done, while brothers focus on distribution.

"Brigade Commander, I think this was premeditated by Yunnan and Guizhou. They're selling opium to our liberated areas to raise military funds, and secondly, to reduce our combat effectiveness. The fact that they're able to traffic drugs in on such a large scale suggests there's a problem within Sichuan. Otherwise, there's no way they could sell all this stuff."

Li Lao Hu nodded and said, "I'll give you a mission now. Search the entire city again immediately. No matter who is involved, arrest them all. Drugs are extremely harmful. I will report this to the Chairman immediately..."

After finishing the publicity work, Zhang Yinghao received a telegram from Xuzhou: 2,000 kilograms of opium were intercepted.