"What can be said is also divided by levels. The cultural instructors are with us; their task this time is to collect intelligence. Show them the plan and tell them the content and methods of intelligence collection. As for how to analyze the intelligence, they don't need to know that for now."

Hearing this, Cheng Ruofan asked carefully, "Commander. We are newcomers. Even if we change into plain clothes, we will be seen. If others find out, what will they think?"

This question was quite clever, so much so that He Rui smiled.

Four of the six young military men were selected by He Rui, and they probably understood. Xu Chengfeng and Zhong Yifu looked at each other; it was clear they understood too.

"Ruofan, there are two types of people in the city: one is the populace, and the other is the prominent figures. For the populace, as long as we don't actively cause trouble, they don't care at all who comes. As for the prominent figures, as long as we go there, they will have their own ideas. And what they think is pretty much what you don't want them to think."

Hearing He Rui say this, Cheng Ruofan felt even more anxious. Recently, he had discussed future development with Xu Chengfeng. Xu Chengfeng believed that wherever they went, they had to seize local control. Before that, they must be careful not to arouse the vigilance of local prominent figures.

Originally, Cheng Ruofan hadn't thought that much. It wasn't until he heard He Rui's lectures on how to form a local government and linked the two things together that he truly realized the importance of seizing power.

He Rui continued, "Start collecting intelligence after you arrive in Siping. For other matters, wait until I return from the Kwantung Governor-General's Office."

Cheng Ruofan wanted to know He Rui's overall plan immediately, so he simply recommended himself. "Commander, please let me accompany you to the Kwantung Governor-General's Office."

Zhong Yifu had the same idea. Seeing Cheng Ruofan trying to jump the queue, he immediately asked, "On what grounds?"

Seeing the conversation reach this point, the other young officers stopped hiding their thoughts. Xu Chengfeng was the first to ask, "Commander, since we already have Siping as our jurisdiction, we can't just listen to others' orders in that place, right?"

"Yes, yes!" Everyone expressed their attitude.

Zheng Silang asked, "Commander, what should we do next?"

"I'm not discussing this with you not because I don't know, nor because I haven't considered it. It is precisely because I have considered it that I don't want to say. Because my starting point is the liberation of China. I don't talk about seizing Siping because I want you to be able to follow my train of thought."

Cheng Ruofan felt a bit aggrieved. "Commander, I also want to liberate China. But to liberate China, we need a territory, right?"

He Rui nodded. "Correct. I agree with this thought. So, what's next?"

"Commander, you asked us to scout. I also agree; scout before fighting."

"Right, no problem with this part. Next?"

"Those local prominent figures certainly won't give up Siping voluntarily. I was thinking we should be careful and not let them know." Cheng Ruofan continued to explain his thoughts, feeling slightly wronged.

Hearing this, Zhong Yifu wanted to interrupt. Cheng Ruofan guessed that Zhong Yifu was going to criticize him for underestimating the enemy, so he hurriedly stopped Zhong Yifu. "Let me finish. I know I underestimated people, is that okay?"

Zhong Yifu touched his nose and held his words back.

Cheng Ruofan hurriedly continued, "Since those people know we want to grab territory, I'm considering how to get rid of them. I just thought of several methods, but I don't know which is better. So I wanted to hear what the Commander thinks."

Seeing Cheng Ruofan finish, Xu Chengfeng spoke up. "I think the last step isn't quite right. The Commander said we need to seize Siping. Since seizing Siping is to make Siping our territory, shouldn't we start more from what Siping will look like in the future?"

Hearing this, He Rui found himself forced to make a comparative evaluation between Cheng Ruofan and Xu Chengfeng.

In terms of intelligence, Cheng Ruofan was probably not inferior to Xu Chengfeng. However, Cheng Ruofan's strength was also his weakness. If given a clear starting point and end point, Cheng Ruofan could understand the intermediate steps extremely quickly. But without a starting point and end point, this guy likely couldn't firmly rely on methodology to find direction.

Looking at the current Siping matter, Cheng Ruofan felt that seizing Siping was the goal. His thinking unfolded linearly, starting from arriving in Siping and ending with seizing Siping. All actions were deployed along this line.

Xu Chengfeng also believed that seizing Siping was a goal that must be achieved, but he would consider that the goal of seizing Siping was subordinate to the higher goal of constructing Siping.

Although Xu Chengfeng's thinking was also immature, his overall direction of thought was superior to Cheng Ruofan's. Xu Chengfeng was a Grade-A excellent student, while Cheng Ruofan was only a C-grade upper-middle student. He Rui didn't completely agree with the views of the Baoding Military Academy instructors, but he definitely couldn't say the instructors had misjudged them.

Since Xu Chengfeng could push the discussion to this level, He Rui didn't want to lower the scope. He followed the line of thought proposed by Xu Chengfeng. "Understanding that seizing territory requires struggle is not a bad thing. But even if you seize territory across the whole country, it has nothing to do with building a new nation. The reason a new nation is 'new' is that this nation is established entirely according to top-level design. Top-level design is not considering how everyone should live *in* the new nation, but considering how the new nation will *make* everyone live."

After speaking, He Rui picked up the plan. "In the future Siping, the populace must live in peace and contentment. Who among us supports this, and who opposes it?"

Although the young men felt this question was baffling, they still decisively expressed their firm support.

"How to achieve living in peace and contentment? Start from three aspects: public security, people's livelihood, and education. regarding public security: Who is managing Siping's security? What is the current security situation in Siping? How many bandit gangs are there? How much petty theft? How many market bullies and local tyrants? This question can only be answered by collecting intelligence. Once the intelligence is collected, won't it be clear whether the people managing this aspect in Siping should be kept or not?"

He Rui finished and pointed to the relevant content. "The detailed items for understanding Siping's security situation are already set here. Take a look."

The young men indeed saw these contents in the items; they stopped talking and read quietly.

He Rui continued, "Livelihood investigation: What do the people of Siping eat? Can they eat their fill? What do they rely on to make a living? Whose hands are the lands in? Whose hands are the shops and businesses in? Who opened the factories? Education is a plan for a hundred years, and it is also an urgent problem right now. How many schools are there in Siping? Who runs these schools? What is the scale? What is the general education level in Siping? What is the literacy rate? How many primary school graduates, higher primary school graduates, and middle school graduates are there?"

After speaking, He Rui put down the plan. "Comrades, if we set the goal at seizing Siping, then everyone inside Siping city is our enemy. If it is to let the people of Siping live a life of peace and contentment, then the enemies of the Siping people are our enemies. Who our enemies are—this result will naturally surface during the investigation process."