"The government's responsibility is to provide public service products to society. Whether officials or clerks, they are all just components of this bureaucratic machine called the government; in fact, they are neither good nor evil in themselves. Now that we hold the Siping government, everyone here is a government official. Comrades, how should we do proper work and not bully people?"

The young men responded immediately, "We are good people; of course, we will do proper work and not bully people."

These slogans were exactly the thoughts of the young men in the spontaneous stage—simple and plain, but confusing concepts.

He Rui continued, "Government public function is a serious technical job; it has nothing to do with good people or bad people and cannot be evaluated by moral standards. From an objective perspective, there is only achievement or non-achievement, or the level of efficiency in achievement. Sometimes, an honest official has high morals but cannot provide good government service; he is still a bastard. Conversely, although a corrupt official raises execution costs, if he provides some government service, he is actually better than a muddled honest official. It just needs to be carefully evaluated based on cost standards. If the cost is too high or far exceeds the people's burden, it will degenerate into a moral concept."

Seeing the puzzled looks in the youths' eyes, He Rui explained, "Doing anything requires payment. Even a small matter like eating every day—from obtaining rice and flour to cooking them—requires paying money or labor. I call this payment 'cost'."

This statement was loose and boring. Cheng Ruofan's humorous nature flared up, and he laughed. "Governor, isn't eating labor too? Sometimes eating a meal is quite tiring."

Some young comrades laughed heartily, while others rolled their eyes at Cheng Ruofan.

He Rui knocked on the table. "This is a good question. Cheng Ruofan, if someone eyes that meal, and after you finish cooking it, they snatch it away—you busied yourself for a whole round, but can you eat the meal?"

Cheng Ruofan instantly couldn't laugh. Not only Cheng Ruofan, but the expressions of the young comrades also became serious.

"I say this is a good question because this question describes the law of the jungle in nature: the weak are meat for the strong, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp. Essentially, it is the plundering of results and the transfer of costs. Many reactionary governments generally perform by frantically plundering the fruits of the common people's labor, yet conversely cannot fairly share the social public costs. Therefore, at the end of every dynasty, you will see the lower-class people working hard all year round but starving bodies fill the ground, while the upper class does nothing but live in drunkenness and dreams."

The young men were momentarily shaken by what He Rui described, and everyone showed a more or less solemn expression.

He Rui knew that it was impossible to give the young men a basic cognitive framework of society through just one lesson. He pulled the topic back to the present.

"Let's talk about costs. Clothing, food, housing, and transportation all require costs. None of our clothes were made by our own hands. Since we can wear clothes, it proves that someone paid the cost of the clothes for us. The most main struggles and games of the court, the government, the state, and society for thousands of years have revolved around who bears the cost and who is responsible for distributing the output."

"Right now, we only have this many people, so let's first solve the realistic problems within our power in Siping City. We want to provide social services—taken from the people, used for the people. The biggest enemy we face right now is the 'middleman' earning the price difference! Ten *wen* of money can only do ten *wen* worth of things. If the people pay twenty *wen* to obtain public services but only receive ten *wen* worth of social services, then someone must have taken the other ten *wen*. This kind of person is the corrupt official that everyone hates."

Chen Deli frowned and asked, "Governor, where can we find people who are capable of tax collection but aren't corrupt officials?"

Hearing this question, Zhong Yifu hurriedly answered, "I can't do that. Let me be a soldier and fight to protect everyone's labor results. Please ask other comrades to work hard on the tax collection cost."

There were quite a few people with similar thoughts to Zhong Yifu. Everyone acknowledged the effort and merit of taxation but didn't want to do tax work.

"Comrade Chen Deli, do you want to collect taxes quickly, or do you want no corrupt officials collecting taxes?" He Rui asked.

Chen Deli frowned and thought for a long time, stopping himself from speaking several times. Finally, he answered, "I'd rather not collect taxes than let corrupt officials harm the people."

He Rui nodded. "That is to say, if the tax collectors are not very skilled and the efficiency is relatively low, you can accept that?"

Chen Deli hadn't thought of this result. He hesitated a moment, then nodded forcefully. "Yes."

He Rui smiled. "Then let's think of a way together to see who in Siping City can complete this work."

***

The small merchants in the city still hadn't waited for the news from the Chamber of Commerce President to pay the contribution money. Anxious, the crowd went to Shopkeeper Han's teahouse whenever they were free to drink tea, chat, and exchange the latest news.

The news that Governor He had renamed clerks to "cadres" didn't interest Shopkeeper Han. They were all doing the same things; what was the use of giving them a name no one had heard of?

Just as he was chatting idly with a guest, he saw a person standing outside the door. Shopkeeper Han hurriedly went out. "Brother, haven't seen you for a long time."

This person was the "Inquirer" [news peddler] who had previously sold Shopkeeper Han the inside information about Zhang Xiluan sending weapons to He Rui.

Seeing Shopkeeper Han come out, the Inquirer chuckled. "Shopkeeper Han, this brother has a piece of news. I don't know if Shopkeeper Han wants to know it."

Shopkeeper Han didn't say much and directly lowered his sleeve. A moment later, Shopkeeper Han was somewhat surprised; the price of the news this time was actually five times that of before. Shopkeeper Han gritted his teeth and gave the money. The man then leaned into Shopkeeper Han's ear, said a few words, and left leisurely.

The crowd in the teahouse saw Shopkeeper Han walk back into the teahouse with a gloomy face. He went back to the inner room, and not long after, brought out a sign. He directed the waiter to hang the sign in a conspicuous place. Everyone looked and saw the sign read: "**Do Not Discuss Politics**."

The shop owners were all cautious people. After seeing the sign, they stood up one after another, paid for their tea, and slipped away. A moment later, the lively teahouse was left with only a few scattered people and tables full of leftover tea and nut shells.

The next day, Shopkeeper Han's teahouse was still empty, no longer lively like the previous days. Shopkeeper Han sat behind the counter, bored to death, when he saw two people stride in from outside, both wearing military uniforms. They wore conspicuous official badges on their chests.

The leader gave Shopkeeper Han a familiar feeling, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him. The man stepped forward and said, "May I ask, are you Shopkeeper Han?"

Shopkeeper Han hurriedly stood up. "That is me. How should I address this officer?"

"I am Chen Deli, under Governor He. I came this time to deliver an official document, inviting Shopkeeper Han to report to the Finance and Tax Bureau." After speaking, an official document was handed to Shopkeeper Han.

This was the first time Shopkeeper Han had received an official document. Opening it carefully to look, Shopkeeper Han's legs went soft, and he slumped back onto the stool. Fortunately, he was knowledgeable and quickly steadied his mood. He stood up again and asked, "Master Chen, did I do something wrong? Is Master trying to play a joke on me?"

Chen Deli laughed. "Shopkeeper Han has a very good reputation in the neighborhood. We have no grudges in the past or present; why would I play a joke on Shopkeeper Han? Since you've seen the document, please follow us, Shopkeeper Han."