At 10:30 AM, Zhang Xiluan, dressed in a long gown and mandarin jacket, stepped out of the car. Entering a rather large courtyard, he saw nearly a thousand children lined up in neat formation, standing on the snow-swept playground. Zhang Xiluan had come outside the pass forty years ago relying on military merit. At this moment, just a few glances made him feel that the formation of little dolls and half-grown kids before him had the feel of a military camp.

"Lord Zhang, please." He Rui invited Zhang Xiluan to walk past the front of the formation.

As Zhang Xiluan walked past, voices of greeting immediately rang out from the ranks he passed: "Hello, Grandpa Zhang."

The children's voices were very tender, especially the little girls'. Hearing so many children greeting him in unison, Zhang Xiluan felt his emotions surging for a moment.

Walking past all the formations and accepting all the children's greetings, Zhang Xiluan walked up to the platform. Looking down for a while, he asked He Rui, who was accompanying him, "He Rui, this Charity Hall has taken in quite a few people. You have truly worked hard."

Adjutant Liu felt Zhang Xiluan's suspicion was very reasonable upon hearing this question. Nearly a thousand people, organized so orderly. It wouldn't be strange to say He Rui got some students from respectable families to impersonate them.

It wasn't that Adjutant Liu thought it strange for He Rui to do this. When governors arrived in a locality, they usually started scraping for oil and water. Some governors bought houses and land and took a few concubines after getting money. If He Rui did this, it was called "blending in with the dust" [hiding one's light/conforming to custom].

Others were more ambitious and used the scraped money to recruit soldiers and buy horses. If He Rui did this, it would be "forging ahead with determination."

Getting money but not spending it on himself, nor recruiting soldiers, but using it to take in the lonely and poor and revitalize the locality—it wasn't that it was very strange for He Rui to do so much, but taking in nearly a thousand lonely and poor people was obviously a bluff.

This wasn't Adjutant Liu underestimating He Rui's character. After going to the Kwantung Governor-General's Office with He Rui, Adjutant Liu actually approved of He Rui's personal integrity. He felt He Rui was bluffing now because Adjutant Liu felt He Rui was not the type to levy exorbitant taxes.

Running a Charity Hall required money. To make the Charity Hall this big, what kind of bone-scraping methods would He Rui have to use to rake in so much money!

He Rui didn't defend himself, just smiling. "Lord Zhang, these dolls are about to go to class. This subordinate would like to invite Lord Zhang to see other parts of the Charity Hall."

Zhang Xiluan didn't say much. He followed He Rui to look around the classrooms before leaving the school. Inside the Charity Hall, there were also a few elderly people who had basically completely lost their labor ability. They sat around the fire with dull expressions.

Others who still had some labor ability were doing manual work in large rooms, or slowly collecting glued paper boxes and the like to send to the receiving point.

Just looking at the physical condition of these people, Zhang Xiluan had a judgment. Outside the pass, these frail people would hardly survive this winter.

Zhang Xiluan still said nothing and continued to visit with He Rui. Everyone arrived at the superior department of the Charity Hall, the Health Bureau. The Director of the Health Bureau hurriedly welcomed Zhang Xiluan and took him to the newly established Medical School of Northeast University.

Under the Medical School were two units: the Medical University Affiliated Hospital and the Medical University Affiliated Health School.

Doctors in white coats came and went in the affiliated hospital, while health workers and nurses were in the health school.

In Siping, a health clinic was established in every district. Besides the Medical School, every school had a health clinic, mainly providing medical services for students, and also for the surrounding populace.

Zhang Xiluan had been outside the pass for 40 years and had prestige in governing people and fighting wars. What Adjutant Liu knew, Zhang Xiluan naturally knew inside out; he just didn't want to say it due to his status and the current situation. At this moment, even Zhang Xiluan couldn't stand it anymore and simply asked, "Brother He, I wonder how the tax revenue situation in Siping is?"

He Rui didn't explain much. He invited Zhang Xiluan into the car and drove first to the grain depot outside the city. Zhang Xiluan went in and walked a big circle, sighing slightly.

He Rui laughed. "Lord Zhang, do not think this subordinate is hoarding wealth. This is 30% of Siping's grain this year. It looks like a lot, but it is only this much. Any more, and this subordinate really doesn't have it."

Zhang Xiluan felt He Rui wouldn't tell such a meaningless lie, so he said, "The Jilin Governor highly disapproves of the land reform Brother He did in Siping. There were also quite a few people who went to Fengtian to sue you, but I suppressed them all. I am somewhat puzzled why Brother He had to be so drastic."

"Lord Zhang, this subordinate collected 30% of the grain, which is already a lot. The remaining 70% is just enough not to go hungry. As for what other governors think, this subordinate really can't care less."

Zhang Xiluan knew He Rui's words were correct. But he also felt He Rui didn't tell the truth, at least not the whole truth. If he only collected 30% of the grain, He Rui absolutely couldn't have so much money to do so many things.

He Rui understood Zhang Xiluan's doubts but didn't point it out. He called for the car. At this time, the car wheels were fitted with non-slip chain nets. After a few people got in, accompanied by the clattering and crunching sounds on the snowy ground, they drove out along the main road.

Arriving at a town, He Rui invited Zhang Xiluan to get off and led him to nearby households. Zhang Xiluan saw that the roads in the town were also swept of snow, and some townspeople were clearing snow from their roofs. He felt very disbelieving in his heart.

Winter outside the pass meant "Cat Winter" [hibernating indoors]. The whole family squeezed onto the *kang* at home, not moving and going out as little as possible. Moving in winter meant eating more; hiding away meant eating less grain.

Now clearing accumulated snow, clearing snow from roofs, obviously made it convenient to go out and do things. This was already unreasonable.

Entering several households in succession, he saw family members sewing clothes, hats, and the like. Zhang Xiluan frowned at this scene. Zhang Xiluan knew very well what Siping was like. Even wealthy families didn't have so many clothes to sew.

After asking He Rui, Zhang Xiluan learned that He Rui had reached an agreement with foreign merchants. These clothes were work pieces distributed to the common people. After sewing according to specifications, they could be exchanged for grain.

He Rui laughed. "Lord Zhang might wonder where this subordinate's money comes from. Actually, this subordinate doesn't spend much money; wages are paid in grain. In fact, grain doesn't sell for much money, but when used as wages, it is valuable."

Zhang Xiluan still felt disbelief. "Brother He, are the people in the village really so obedient?"

"Lord Zhang, this subordinate has his own ways." Saying this, He Rui called over a town cadre beside him and whispered a few instructions.

Not long after, footsteps sounded. Dozens of villagers came with the town cadre from various places. They first lined up and counted off. The town's Militia Captain stepped forward to report, "Report to the Governor. The town actually has sixty militiamen; fifty-nine are present. Please instruct, Governor."

He Rui took a few steps forward and ordered loudly to the militia team, "Squad, attention! Right dress! Right face!"

Zhang Xiluan saw that these people were dressed differently, aged between twenty and forty, all able-bodied men. Although their movements following He Rui's commands weren't very uniform, they had all undergone at least a month or two of training.

When He Rui commanded the sixty men to run a lap around the field, with the town Militia Captain shouting the cadence "One, two, one," the militiamen could actually run with uniform steps. This greatly shocked Zhang Xiluan. Zhang Xiluan came from the military and knew He Rui had been in Siping for only half a year; he was very clear about what such training results meant.

He Rui didn't hide it either. "Lord Zhang, if the town wants to take government contracts, it's not that easy. If they can't do this, hehe, this subordinate won't be polite to them either. Not just militia training; Lord Zhang, please look."

He Rui finished speaking and pointed to the big slogans painted on the town walls. Zhang Xiluan had seen them long ago, just didn't ask. Seeing He Rui point them out personally, he pretended to look carefully for the first time.

Hearing He Rui explain one by one, Zhang Xiluan didn't respond. After thinking for a while, Zhang Xiluan suddenly clapped his hands and laughed. "Brother He, when I was fighting the Japanese, I went to a place called Niujiapu in Siping. I suddenly remembered it now; I wonder how that village is?"

"Please get in the car, Lord Zhang. This subordinate will revisit the old haunt with Lord Zhang."

Zhang Xiluan didn't go straight to Niujiapu. On the way, whenever he saw a village, he went in to look. Every village had swept snow and cleared roof snow. Although the number of militiamen varied, they had all undergone training.

Niujiapu was a small village by the mountain, with only dozens of people. Zhang Xiluan stopped just at the village entrance, seeing a water diversion canal. Looking at the newly built canal, then at the somewhat bleak village, Zhang Xiluan couldn't help sighing, "Brother He coming to Siping is truly the fortune of the Siping people."

"This subordinate coming to Siping was entirely arranged by Lord Zhang. If the Siping people are grateful, they should also thank Lord Zhang," He Rui replied.

Adjutant Liu had long lost the mind to expose He Rui's "lies." He couldn't help sighing, "Governor He, with your troops strong and horses sturdy, where are there any bandits to suppress?"

He Rui shook his head solemnly. "Adjutant Liu says this completely based on previous thinking. In the past, bandits robbed ordinary people's homes and couldn't grab anything. Ordinary people actually wouldn't encounter bandits. Now ordinary people have a little grain at home; if bandits rob them, the family will really be ruined and dead. Siping must not only suppress bandits but also exterminate evil thoroughly!"