That night, He Rui returned from meeting with the four selected candidates before interviewing Xu Chengfeng and Zhong Yifu.

The last interview was with Xu Chengfeng. The initial questions went very smoothly; Xu Chengfeng was a young man filled with patriotic fervor. He Rui felt that if a war required a "daredevil squad" for a decisive assault, Xu Chengfeng would very likely volunteer to lead it.

Precisely because of this, He Rui was exceptionally sharp on the most critical question. "Cadet Xu. Enemies, whether domestic or foreign, are still enemies. If we strike at the landlords and gentry who do not engage in production, confiscate their land, and distribute it to the tenant farmers—realizing 'land to the tiller'—would you support it?"

"I support it," Xu Chengfeng answered crisp and clean.

He Rui looked at Xu Chengfeng's family background; the words "Large Landlord" were conspicuous.

"Cadet Xu, if such changes came to your own family, would you agree to it?"

"I... would not oppose it."

"Why?" He Rui continued to ask without any perfunctoriness.

"I hate landlords. I can't stand the things they do every year." There was genuine displeasure in Xu Chengfeng's tone; he seemed to be speaking from the heart. However, Xu Chengfeng quickly turned the topic back to He Rui. "Commander He. You said that doing things requires formulating policy. Is 'Land Policy' a policy?"

Hearing this question, He Rui was delighted. "Land Policy is indeed a policy. It is, in fact, a very core policy at this stage."

"Please tell me, Commander He, what is your land policy?" Xu Chengfeng looked at He Rui intently.

He Rui answered frankly, "In the long term, land ownership belongs to the state; no individual shall own an inch of land. Usage rights are granted by the state to production units. These usage rights cannot be bought or sold between users. In the short term, in a sense, it can be viewed as 'land to the tiller'..."

***

June 1st. Outside the gate of the Baoding Military Academy.

He Rui said to Zhou Yinshan, "Brother Zhou, no need to see us off any further."

Zhou Yinshan looked at the six young men behind He Rui. They all wore the rank insignia of Second Lieutenants. From this moment on, they were true military officers.

"Brother He, take good care of them. I await news of your great success."

He Rui didn't say much. He raised his hand to salute his old classmate. Zhou Yinshan returned the salute, and they then shook hands.

It was no different from their reunion a few days ago—the same courtesy, the same calmness. But now, there were no longer any barriers between them. Even such a simple farewell conveyed all their respect and expectations.

Releasing his hand, He Rui shouted, "Squad, attention! Salute!"

The six young military men immediately obeyed the order and saluted Zhou Yinshan. Zhou Yinshan looked at this group of cadets, stepped forward to pat them on the shoulder one by one, then turned and walked back toward the school gate.

He Rui ordered, "Order arms."

The young men lowered their arms, and He Rui continued, "The train to outside the pass leaves from Tianjin. We must go to Tianjin now to recruit cultural instructors for the army."

"Report. I have a question," Xu Chengfeng asked.

"Speak."

"Commander He, what do cultural instructors do?"

"an army without culture is a dull-witted army [^1]. China currently has a low literacy rate, so we cannot build an army where everyone is literate from the start. So, what do we do? There is only one way: build the army itself into a school. Educate every member of the military! Make every soldier a person of knowledge and culture. Cultural instructors are the civilian staff in the army who perform this work."

It was obvious that Cheng Ruofan envied Xu Chengfeng's ability to speak up so readily. He rushed to ask, "Report. Should we train the cultural instructors to be able to go onto the battlefield as well?"

The other young officers looked puzzled by this question. He Rui also felt the question lacked depth, but he answered it nonetheless.

"Eliminating ignorance and lack of knowledge through education is a true war. You have just graduated, so you should be very clear about what this war looks like. Schools open every year, and students attend classes for nine months every year. I have never seen any war that continues so endlessly without pause. Cheng Ruofan, training is training—it is to let cultural instructors master the ability to protect themselves. But beyond that, Cheng Ruofan, are you actually considering sending cultural instructors to the battlefield?"

Cheng Ruofan looked moved, yet a bit ashamed. He straightened his back and answered loudly, "I understand! I certainly won't think that way again."

He Rui continued to order, "For an army to have combat effectiveness, culture is a basic requirement. Officer-soldier unity is also a basic requirement. In terms of address, our unit will henceforth only use titles or 'you' and 'I'. No terms of hierarchy or humble submission are allowed. Do you hear me!"

The six young officers were stunned. He Rui gave them no room to object, shouting loudly, "Do you hear me!"

Facing such a commanding voice, the young soldiers answered almost reflexively, "Heard!"

"Good. Squad, at ease. Attention. Right face. Forward, march!" He Rui finished speaking and was the first to step onto the road to the station. Behind him, the six men formed a column, carrying their luggage, following He Rui with brisk steps.

***

The group took the train to the capital [Beijing]. He Rui first went to request a meeting with Duan Qirui's aide to report his current progress. After listening, the aide said, "Understood. I wish Brother He a smooth journey." The two bid farewell.

The aide then met with Zhang Zuolin. At this time, Zhang Zuolin had been summoned to the capital and left hanging. However, Old Zhang wouldn't give up; he was visiting Beiyang bigwigs everywhere, wanting to return to the Northeast. The aide didn't even accept the gift Zhang Zuolin presented; he just offered a few perfunctory words before heading straight back to the flower hall where Duan Qirui worked. He reported, "Director-General, He Rui has already departed for Tianjin. He will transfer trains there to go outside the pass."

Duan Qirui thought for a moment before recalling the matter of He Rui. He asked, "When did I last see He Rui?"

"Answering the Director-General, today marks exactly the eighth day."

Duan Qirui felt that this fellow He Rui was quite focused on getting things done. He tossed the matter to the back of his mind. "Is the car ready?"

"Director-General, the car is ready," the aide replied. Seeing Duan Qirui's grave expression, the aide hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself. This was Duan Qirui's third visit to persuade Yuan Shikai. The first two times had made President Yuan Shikai very unhappy, ending on bad terms. They say *do not do the same thing three times*; Duan Qirui going for a third time would only deepen the rift.

However, Yuan Shikai was set in his ways, and Duan Qirui refused to give up. The aide knew he couldn't persuade Duan Qirui; he could only hope that this meeting wouldn't further deepen the misunderstanding and rupture the relationship between Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui.

He Rui knew nothing of this. On the train, he chatted with the young men, making small talk and laughing, deepening his understanding of everyone. After getting off at the Tianjin train station, the unit formed a neat column and headed straight for the National Beiyang University.

***

[^1]: A reference to a famous quote by Mao Zedong: "An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy." (没有文化的军队是愚蠢的军队，而愚蠢的军队是不能战胜敌人的). He Rui is adapting this concept.