At the entrance of Majiagou Village, He Rui shook hands with Tang Gui to say goodbye. "Comrade Tang Gui, work hard. Take care of your health."

"Governor, please take care of your health too after you return."

Tang Gui was very clear about He Rui's workload. When in Siping, He Rui worked until very late every day. Besides compiling teaching materials, he also had to give lectures. He seemed to move little, but the workload was actually immense.

Take this land reform for example. Everyone originally had their own ideas and wanted to propose them for discussion at the preparatory meeting. However, as soon as the meeting started, He Rui took out his complete set of arrangements. The text content alone was thousands of words, and the specific work involved covered all aspects.

With the plan executed to this point, Tang Gui could already understand what a massive amount of thinking that was. And He Rui's purpose in returning to Siping was not to rest, but to preside over the cadre training work about to be conducted in Siping. There were about 400 villages in Siping. If four people went from each village, that would be 1,600 people. The workload of training such a large scale of people was something Tang Gui didn't dare to imagine.

He Rui smiled. "Accumulate more experience. After you return, you guys will be responsible for lecturing in the land reform cadre training class."

"I will definitely complete it as soon as possible," Tang Gui answered loudly.

He Rui was about to mount his horse, but after stepping into the stirrup, he pulled his foot back. "By the way, among the village cadres selected this time who pass the political review, choose young ones as much as possible, especially those with low seniority in the clan hierarchy."

Tang Gui nodded, but his expression was somewhat puzzled.

"Clanism relies on ranking by seniority to maintain itself. To break clanism, young people must be made to shoulder the work. If the people selected are all the oldest and highest-ranking in the village, they will really see themselves as grandfathers."

Tang Gui nodded repeatedly after listening. "I've noted it."

"If there are no suitable ones, chat more with the masses. Ask them who among the young people is reliable. As long as we open our hearts to the masses and seek truth from facts, the masses can exert tremendous power."

"Yes!" Tang Gui replied, watching He Rui leave.

He Rui didn't go back to Siping first but went from the village to the town. Siping had about 20 towns. After He Rui discussed work with the comrades in Zhangjiatun Town and instructed them to establish a militia team in the town as soon as possible, he finally set foot on the road back to Siping.

Back in Siping, Lu Daoming, who was responsible for water conservancy work, came to He Rui's place. Lu Daoming came to ask He Rui if he could allocate more surveying personnel, especially if he could give some personnel who understood a little mathematics. If the students were middle school students, Lu Daoming could teach them surveying technology.

"I will definitely do my best to fulfill Brother Lu's needs." He Rui changed the subject. "Water conservancy surveying must be different from the map surveying taught in the army. I want to transfer people to build a Surveying School. I invite Brother Lu to be the Vice Principal; what does Brother Lu think?"

Lu Daoming hesitated. It wasn't that he had any dissatisfaction with being a Vice Principal; he also understood the importance He Rui attached to various types of education at this stage. But the water conservancy profession required traveling everywhere. If he really became this Vice Principal, he would inevitably be tied down.

Moreover, the status quo of Siping also made Lu Daoming hesitate. Although he hadn't been in Siping for many days, he already knew that Siping was currently just an ordinary county town, perhaps slightly more prosperous than ordinary county towns because of the railway. The investment required for a professional educational institution like a Surveying School was actually not low, at least not matching Siping's current situation. Lu Daoming could understand and respect He Rui's idea of eagerly expanding education work, but specifically regarding this matter, there was indeed a suspicion of reaching for what was beyond his grasp.

Thinking of this, Lu Daoming was direct and simply spoke his views.

"Brother Lu speaks well." He Rui nodded. "But for China to be liberated, it won't work without a Surveying School. Of course, we can't afford to build a first-class Surveying School right now, but if we work hard and squeeze a little, we can still bury a seed. Planting a day earlier means sprouting a day earlier."

"I will be responsible for the funding," He Rui added.

Seeing He Rui's determination, Lu Daoming couldn't help but feel respect. "Since Brother He says so, I am willing to be this Vice Principal." He paused. "However, how to solve the problem of student sources?"

"I will try my best to recruit graduates from higher primary schools and middle schools. When the time comes, I'll let Brother Lu select the students first," He Rui replied.

After dealing with Lu Daoming's matters, He Rui met Wu Youping, who had stayed behind in the city these past few days.

"Governor, the tax situation is truly as you said. It's actually three times what it was before. Before, I only heard that tax collection was very corrupt, and compared to the money tax collectors received, only thirty percent could truly enter the treasury. It turns out this is true." Wu Youping briefly introduced the changes in the city during this period.

"As long as a government doesn't aim for development, it is a government that has lost its vitality. People working in that kind of government—who doesn't have to consider their own future?"

Wu Youping was stunned. If this perspective had been mentioned a few days ago, he might not have understood it, but now, he had a deeper level of realization. After pondering slightly, Wu Youping stepped forward. "Governor, I've had a change these past few days. I can't hate those corrupt officials from before anymore. It's not that I sympathize with them; in short, I don't hate them with itchiness in my teeth like before when I think of them."

He Rui looked at Wu Youping, casting an appreciative glance. "This is a very good change. Looking at people from the perspective of the environment, rather than looking at the environment from the perspective of people—only in this way can our work guarantee seeking truth from facts to the greatest possibility."

Wu Youping nodded heavily, then turned to ask, "Governor, according to the current tax situation, the tax collected this year will probably be forty to fifty thousand. Plus the money in the treasury, it's enough to last through the end of the year. But with so many places to invest money, I'm afraid the money won't be enough for next year."

"Land reform has already begun to unfold. I went down personally this time for two things. The first was naturally to see the real local situation; the second was to see if the comrades could complete the land reform work. From the current point of view, land reform work can be promoted relatively smoothly. As long as this work is promoted well, money is a problem, but not a big problem."

Wu Youping was somewhat confused. "But Governor, our Siping is only this big; rural income is probably limited."

He Rui patted Wu Youping on the shoulder. "Yes, relying only on Siping is definitely not enough, but with the area outside the pass being so big, what is there to fear?"

Wu Youping was stunned for a long while before he was sure he hadn't misheard.

Now, Wu Youping became a little uneasy. "Governor, if we conduct land reform outside Siping, what will other governors think?"

"Let them think what they like."

"But..."

"Youping, we want to liberate the whole of China in the future. If we dare not even face a few local governors, then what should we do when we encounter the Marshals and Directors-General in the future?"

He Rui put away his smile. "We aren't sending troops to attack other governors now only because our number of cadres is insufficient and the level of cadres is inadequate. After completing these tasks, we will naturally send troops proactively. Whether now or in the future, these governors are not problems we need to consider. Their appearance is like the crucian carp crossing the river [numerous], but their fate can only be a flash in the pan."