Li Taihu, a Chinese member of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks), set off from Blagoveshchensk in the middle of the night and crossed the Songhua River by boat. As soon as the boat reached the opposite bank, troops on the other side arrived at the ferry crossing with live ammunition and shouted at them, "The border has been closed due to epidemic prevention. Go back!"

Li Taihu on the boat was stunned; he hadn't expected the warlord chieftain He Rui to actually close the border. Seeing the other side had live ammunition, the boat could only turn back. Returning to Blagoveshchensk, Li Taihu hurried back to the local Bolshevik party branch and informed the party committee of the news.

The Party Secretary couldn't help but frown. The number of people in the Bolshevik branch in the Far East was very small; some were railway workers from the Chinese Eastern Railway, and they had also recruited some Chinese members.

One of the most important tasks at present was to rescue those Russian Bolsheviks and restore the party organization. But He Rui's action of sealing the border made this plan fall through.

Just as the Far East Bolshevik party committee members were having a headache, Li Taihu made a suggestion. "I can cross the river quietly and go make contact."

The Bolshevik party committee didn't agree immediately. Ever since He Rui recovered the Chinese Eastern Railway and immediately established a state-owned railway company, the party members recruited by the Bolsheviks among the railway workers in the Northeast had quickly ceased taking the initiative to contact the Bolsheviks. The situation had become even worse recently, with Bolshevik members in Northeast China even refusing to see members of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

Li Taihu was Chinese, which was already unreliable. However, Li Taihu wasn't from the Northeast but had been selected from the Chinese Regiment in Moscow and sent to the Northeast. Openly suspecting Li Taihu would be suspecting Moscow. At least until instructions were received from Moscow, they couldn't do anything to Li Taihu.

So the Party Secretary told Li Taihu to be patient, and that work would be arranged for him later.

At this time, He Rui, regarded as a warlord chieftain by the Communist Party (Bolsheviks), was convening a party and government leadership meeting in his 'devil's den', Shenyang. As soon as He Rui finished speaking, the comrades exchanged astonished glances. Everyone had expected He Rui's speech to come up with some big project, and that was indeed the case, but the work goal He Rui proposed was too unexpected, leaving all the comrades unsure of how to understand it.

Because what He Rui proposed was a two-year work arrangement to eliminate infectious diseases. Smallpox, plague, and cholera were all virulent infectious diseases, and the Northeast was to eliminate these scourges within the next two years. To this end, the entire Northeast had to mobilize, relying on the government organization that now covered all grassroots villages to complete this matter.

Zhao Tianlin was even more puzzled, because one of the contents of this work was strict epidemic prevention management for people entering from outside the borders, which happened to overlap with the strict epidemic prevention He Rui previously wanted to implement against countries like Britain, France, and America.

If He Rui's purpose in doing this was just to coordinate with strict external epidemic prevention, wouldn't it be like making a whole batch of dumplings just for a saucer of vinegar?

However, Zhao Tianlin knew it wasn't suitable for him to raise this question at this moment. Moreover, the Department of Education bore a very large workload in this major event covering the entire Northeast and Inner/Outer Mongolia; a large part of the health propaganda had to be completed by the education system.

Everyone felt something wasn't right, but after the work was assigned, only Wu Youping asked a question excitedly, "Chairman, plague and cholera have run rampant in the Northeast for the past twenty years; are we really going to solve them thoroughly?"

He Rui nodded. "We are currently under the threat of infectious diseases at all times. We must save ourselves together with the people of the Northeast!"

Even if the party and government personnel had their own thoughts, no one said anything more. Especially the officials and cadres native to the Northeast; many were even moved to tears. In the past twenty years, at least two large-scale outbreaks of plague and cholera had occurred in the Northeast, killing tens of thousands each time. Small-scale outbreaks were impossible to count, and truly quite a few people died every year.

Since He Rui came to power, the situation had improved somewhat, but it hadn't been thoroughly resolved. Since He Rui wanted to thoroughly solve the plague problem in the Northeast, everyone couldn't find any reason to refuse.

At the meeting, the Health Department brought out an overall plan. While the officials and cadres were studying it, Zhao Tianlin took the work content assigned to the Ministry of Education and found He Rui. "Chairman, does the Ministry of Education really have to teach these things? Even I haven't studied the ecosystems in here; I'm afraid the teachers will find it even harder to understand."

The propaganda content assigned to the Ministry of Education was prepared personally by He Rui. Zhao Tianlin's reaction didn't surprise He Rui; if Zhao Tianlin already had 21st-century concepts of nature, He Rui would have been puzzled instead.

He Rui tried to discuss it with Zhao Tianlin. "Director Zhao, if these advanced concepts can only be fully proven in 20 or even 30 years, do you think there's a problem with popularizing education starting now?"

Zhao Tianlin hadn't thought that much originally. He was just troubled by a whole set of knowledge systems including the history of Earth's evolution centered on continental drift theory, the history of biological evolution, and the history of evolution. In Zhao Tianlin's view, he himself felt dizzy reading this knowledge system; how could those teachers with low education levels possibly figure it out?

Hearing He Rui's words, Zhao Tianlin thought for a moment and tried to understand He Rui's line of thought. "Does the Chairman mean to force it through?"

"Yes. Force it through!" He Rui answered decisively. "Our current promotion of education is forcing it through to begin with. Since it's all forcing it through, let's not care about so much. If the details are incomplete, they can be gradually filled in by scientific research and development. But if the system is incomplete, what will everyone feel? My guess is it would be a muddled feeling of not understanding the whole."

After He Rui finished speaking, he was also very uncertain in his heart. Because this was He Rui's personal learning experience, not a universal one. Moreover, as a person from the internet age, He Rui could find corresponding information for whatever knowledge system he wanted to see. Whether this mindset was suitable in 1918, He Rui completely didn't know.

Zhao Tianlin figured out He Rui's line of thought. Frowning and thinking for a moment, he replied, "Chairman, allow me to go back and think. No, allow me to go back and hold a meeting."

"Good, thanks to the comrades of the Department of Education and Director Zhao for your hard work." He Rui felt a lot of weight lifted off his mind.

Watching Zhao Tianlin's retreating figure, He Rui felt somewhat uneasy in his heart. Because there were still quite a few things He Rui hadn't said at all. News came from the neutral country Spain in Europe that large-scale influenza transmission had appeared in Spain, which meant the 1918 flu pandemic had broken out after all.

Originally, He Rui still held onto a fantasy that perhaps history would change somewhat. After all, viral infection is a matter of probability; maybe it wouldn't happen. However, that hellhole America was originally where various coronaviruses lay dormant. When America joined the Entente Powers, large numbers of troops were thrown into combat in Europe, bringing the local coronaviruses to Europe.

Since it had happened, he could only deal with it seriously. The Northeast had now started industrialization, and the urban population had exploded. Once the flu invaded, cluster infections could easily occur.

Preparing for the pandemic was something that had to be done, yet he couldn't say it. This was probably the difficult situation all those in power encountered.

The study sessions after the meeting lasted for three days. Some people say the more you know, the less you fear. However, things often don't seem to be like that. Because they learned the basic principles of infectious diseases, the comrades' fear not only didn't decrease but increased instead.

Finally, Zhao Tianlin made a request, asking He Rui to personally take charge of this work. Hearing that the supreme leader He Rui would lead everyone in doing this, apart from some hesitation from the comrades in the army, everyone else immediately expressed approval.

He Rui hadn't expected things to turn out like this, but what else could he do besides accept it?

Standing up, He Rui said, "Then I will serve as the commander-in-chief this time. But there is one thing I must say first."

The comrades immediately quieted down, waiting for He Rui to speak. He Rui said in a loud voice, "This campaign needs a name; let's call it the Patriotic Health Campaign. From now on, April of every year will be Arbor Day, promoting the protection of the natural environment and ecosystems. May will be Patriotic Health Month, conducting health propaganda."

Although they didn't know what He Rui's purpose was, since He Rui was leading, the comrades immediately expressed agreement.

Amidst the enthusiastic applause, He Rui wasn't happy at all. A heavy burden was pressed onto his shoulders just like that, especially facing China's frail medical status and the coronavirus originating from America. He was truly betting everything!

When the applause died down a bit, He Rui quieted everyone. "Comrades, this is a heavy task. The only ones we can rely on are the people. We must believe in the people, mobilize the people, and solve the people's suffering together with the people. This is the only path to victory!"