"China is adopting a capitalist mode of production." Someone labeled the Republic government first.

"This backward mode of production of the small peasant economy has no future." Others criticized the Republic government's policy in order to defend the agricultural policy in the New Economic Policy.

Although He Rui himself believed that the small peasant economy was backward and was a stopgap measure rather than a long-term national policy, in the face of political correctness, these could all be ignored. If He Rui were really on the scene at this moment, he would probably be questioned, 'Knowing that the small peasant economy is backward, why not adopt a brand-new collective agriculture?'

The CPSU committee members didn't really care about the Republic government's policies, but wanted to elaborate on their own positions. Except for those who remained silent, all evaluations were negative.

Lenin did not speak, but he was quite disappointed in his heart. Comrades who had previously questioned the New Economic Policy failed to make valuable speeches at this time. Comrade Lenin actually wanted to hear someone analyze 'market orientation' versus 'command economy.'

"The market plan adopted by China will likely be inefficient and useless in Russia," General Secretary Stalin spoke up.

Amidst the various gazes of the Central Committee members, General Secretary Stalin's eyes were bright and his tone calm. "According to this interview, China is trying to establish a market with rules set by the state, allowing Chinese capital to enter this market. While trying to maintain economic vitality, it ensures that the market does not cause harm to the state. This is impossible. At the same time, the efficiency of such development is very low. A large amount of capital is wasted on market competition and does not enter the areas urgently needed by the state."

Speaking of this, Committee Member Stalin continued, "However, I see that China is very confident in building its own socialist system by itself and will not yield to imperialist forces. I believe that at this stage, we have reason to maintain good relations with such a country."

As soon as these words came out, some committee members remembered that the main purpose of this meeting was to discuss the positioning of relations with China. It was just that tossed around by Committee Member Trotsky, it almost turned into a critique of the capitalist system.

Trotsky wanted to say something more, but he suddenly saw Comrade Lenin's brows furrowing in pain. Soon, Comrade Lenin was clutching his chest and bending over. The shocked Central Committee members hurriedly went to call a doctor, but just as the doctor entered the door, Comrade Lenin had already collapsed clutching his chest.

Those committee members who opposed Stalin had complex expressions, painful and disappointed. Comrade Lenin believed that Stalin was a weak liberal with an overly crude style and was not suitable to be General Secretary. However, he had not been able to prevent Stalin from being elected General Secretary of the CPSU in April 1922.

Starting from the year before last, Comrade Lenin's health had been very poor. Last year, he was once in critical condition. After being forced to take the risk of using new drugs from China, Comrade Lenin's condition stabilized. When Comrade Lenin returned to his post, many people thought that Comrade Lenin would find a way to revoke Comrade Stalin's position as First Secretary.

In the following period, Comrade Lenin talked with many CPSU committee members, hoping they would oppose Stalin, but the overall effect was very average. Because the New Economic Policy failed to effectively change the Soviet economic situation, General Secretary Stalin paid great attention to trade with China and eased relations with Europe and America. In early 1924, Britain and France recognized the Soviet government and established diplomatic relations.

Most importantly, Zinoviev, Stalin, and Trotsky all opposed the New Economic Policy.

The next day, those CPSU committee members who were expecting Comrade Lenin's health to recover received shocking news: Comrade Lenin had suffered a stroke and fallen into a coma.

Five days later, on June 26, Comrade Lenin passed away in this state.

It was June 29 when He Rui learned the news. At this time, the Political Consultative Conference officially ended, with local assembly elections scheduled to begin in October 1925 and parliamentary elections to be completed before November.

Hearing the news brought by the secretary, He Rui put down the document in his hand and sighed, "A hero of a generation has passed away. Has there been a change in the CPSU General Secretary?"

The secretary thought for a moment. "The one who announced this news was CPSU General Secretary Mr. Stalin."

He Rui gestured to the secretary to leave first. Leaning back in his chair, He Rui lit a cigarette. If Stalin continued to be the CPSU General Secretary, it meant that the divergence on the line within the CPSU Central Committee was not intense at this stage. The Soviet Father still had to struggle with the comrades in the party for a while.

If Comrade Stalin was on stage, with his economic thinking of prioritizing the development of heavy industry, at least there was no need to worry about problems with Sino-Soviet trade, and one could even expect rapid development of Sino-Soviet trade. Thinking again that even Comrade Lenin failed to bring Stalin down, He Rui couldn't help sighing in his heart about how much of a failure the Soviet New Economic Policy must have been for this to happen.

While he was sighing, Wu Youping arrived. He placed a survey plan in front of He Rui. "Chairman, we are ready. Take a look. If there are no problems, we can prepare the dice-rolling plan."

He Rui picked it up and browsed through it. this was a survey plan for rural development. After reading it, He Rui felt there was no problem and signed it. Wu Youping asked at this time, "Will this data lack representativeness?"

He Rui asked back, "Is there a better way than this? Or do you think the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives will falsify accounts?"

Wu Youping shook his head. "Which Supply and Marketing Cooperative's report to spot check is selected by rolling dice. I don't think every county will specially order all Supply and Marketing Cooperatives to falsify accounts for this. I'm just worried that the representativeness isn't enough."

Seeing Wu Youping's unease, He Rui wanted to correct Wu Youping's view on consumption for being too out of touch with reality, but he still explained the specific situation to Wu Youping first. "The representativeness is definitely enough. The current living state of farmers is that they don't have enough money to spend, so they have to go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives to buy things. The Supply and Marketing Cooperatives are the channel where they can buy the cheapest goods. This data must be real."

Wu Youping hesitated to speak. The central government periodically transferred sales records from unspecified Supply and Marketing Cooperatives from various counties and studied the rural economic situation by analyzing villagers' shopping records. This was the method proposed by He Rui. Logically, there was no problem with this. But Wu Youping felt that conducting a more detailed investigation was the way to obtain more detailed economic data.

But before He Rui's proposed plan was proven truly unfeasible by facts, Wu Youping would never oppose it. He did ask a question, "Chairman, is it true that we have liberated the whole of China?"

He Rui laughed, "Naturally it is true. After getting used to the Northeast, is your mood now overwhelmed by the vastness of China?"

"Hmm... I completely didn't expect this day to come so quickly. I am completely ignorant of what various parts of China look like." Wu Youping voiced the heaviest pressure in his heart.

"So, with this data in hand, you can go to various provinces to inspect the work. There are many people who, the moment they alight from their official carriage, start making noise, expressing opinions, criticizing this and condemning that. In fact, ten out of ten such people are bound to fail. Because such comments or criticisms are not based on thorough investigation and are nothing but ignorant nonsense. Centering around the purchasing power of the masses, at least you won't be shooting arrows without a target."

Hearing He Rui speak like this, Wu Youping understood that He Rui wanted him to go to various provinces to prepare. For a moment, the gratitude in his heart was indescribable.

Seeing He Rui yawn, Wu Youping stood up. "Chairman, I will take my leave first. Regarding this parliamentary election, I was a bit worried. But now I am somewhat relieved about this matter."

He Rui agreed deeply. "As long as they face tangible interests, the eyes of the masses are sharp. So we don't have to worry at all."

Wu Youping didn't say much more and stood up to leave He Rui's office. On the way back to his own office, Wu Youping's confidence increased greatly. If he could walk around the whole country, the unease in his heart would surely be greatly alleviated. At this time, Wu Youping already had a route in mind: first go to the future capital, then go south along the railway, arrive in Wuhan, transfer to water transport to enter Hunan, and enter Guizhou and Yunnan.

In the future, the Republic of China National Defense Force would advance towards Burma along this route. Taking a look at these provinces now would help him understand how to use the opportunity of this military operation to create some development opportunities for places like Yunnan and Guizhou.