Inside the provincial government building in Jinan, Shandong, while the mayors and municipal party secretaries who came for the meeting were waiting, someone couldn't help but say, "Shandong is Chairman He's hometown. If the capital were moved to Jinan, it would also be a beautiful thing."

This was the disappointment of Shandong after the Political Consultative Conference ended. However, everyone knew very well that this was a matter only the central government had the authority to decide. Everyone just sighed and no one took it too seriously.

Soon, Provincial Party Secretary Chen Deli and Governor Han Haitao entered the conference room, and these conversations stopped immediately. Han Haitao didn't sit down either; he walked directly to the blackboard and began to arrange the data spot check work.

The basis for the spot check was simple. First, some districts were divided within each county according to terrain characteristics. These districts were not fixed administrative units but divided according to similar production characteristics. Every three months, supply and marketing cooperatives were randomly selected from these districts by rolling dice, and their sales records were brought back for analysis.

The municipal party secretaries and mayors couldn't figure out what incredible information such a supply and marketing cooperative record could provide. Before everyone could ask, Han Haitao, the former director of the Liaoning Price Bureau, took the initiative to raise the question, "Why did we adopt a command-style management method when we were in the Northeast? Provinces, cities, counties, townships, and villages all had task arrangements for various arrangements? Can everyone give a reason?"

The comrades thought about it and were not quite sure. Someone asked, "Is it because Chairman He was directly managing it at that time?"

Han Haitao shook his head slightly. "No. Because before Chairman He went to the Northeast, he was already prepared to fight a war with Japan. In order to improve war capabilities as quickly as possible, the war potential of the Northeast had to be tapped to the maximum extent."

Many comrades had long felt this way. Hearing it from Han Haitao's own mouth at this moment, a burst of sighs rang out in the conference room. Someone excitedly said, "Chairman He really has great foresight."

Before everyone could participate in the discussion, Han Haitao hurriedly stopped the comrades from discussing. "We can chat about this properly when we have time. Because we were worried about the plan leaking at that time, nothing could be said, which is why everyone felt it was unclear. We can talk about this later. What we need to talk about now is that we have liberated the whole country. The rural economic operation policy at this time is no longer run through command methods, but through market mechanisms. Or to put it this way: one is you have to obey whether it works or not; the other is that obedience is the best way, but it is not forced."

The cadres seemingly understood but basically didn't understand these words. Han Haitao didn't intend for everyone to comprehend it on their own, so he distributed a sales record to the comrades. Since there was a lot of content, two people shared one copy and read it together.

"This is the sales record of a village supply and marketing cooperative near Jinan for the past six months. Everyone take a look at what the masses of non-landlord origin mainly bought, and what the masses of landlord origin mainly bought."

Amidst the rustling of turning pages, those extremely ordinary commodities made everyone a little dizzy. Han Haitao had also experienced these dizzy times. Seeing everyone frowning, he distributed the statistical table, this time one copy per person. The data had been summarized, and the sales situation immediately became clear.

The masses of non-landlord origin purchased the most basic daily necessities such as salt, soy sauce, vinegar, cooking oil, needles and thread, which were all low-priced goods. The masses of landlord origin purchased a much richer variety, reaching the level of daily necessities like vanishing cream for skin care, which were bought by those relatively wealthy families. Seeing the gap in living standards, many comrades frowned.

Han Haitao asked a question, "If next year, the originally landless peasant families can also buy a few feet of cloth and make a set of new clothes, what does that mean?"

"Everyone has money?" someone asked unconfidently.

Han Haitao laughed, "What's there to be embarrassed about? That means they have money in their hands. Who can answer where this money comes from?"

The atmosphere became active at this time, and someone immediately answered, "Money from selling surplus grain."

Han Haitao immediately expressed agreement. "Exactly so, money exchanged for selling surplus grain. Everyone take a look at this statistic of sales by agency for the supply and marketing cooperative."

The secretary distributed another statistical table to everyone, which listed commodities purchased and sold on commission by the supply and marketing cooperative. Among them, there were relatively many handmade products such as cloth shoes and hemp ropes. The quantities were not large, and the consignment time varied.

After everyone finished reading, Han Haitao asked, "Have any comrades themselves or their families participated in the production of military supply orders during the European War?"

A small half of the comrades raised their hands to indicate they had participated. Instead, among the comrades who hadn't participated, someone suddenly saw the light and couldn't help but say, "Governor Han, in the past, the government sent orders to the villages. After comparison, subsequent orders were sent to villages that produced better. Are we going to do the same now?"

Someone saw the characteristics first, and these cadres suddenly realized and understood. Han Haitao let everyone sigh for a while to express their feelings, and then said, "Rural areas can't make money just by selling grain. With just one more child, not much grain can be sold. If we want everyone to earn money, we have to provide orders to the rural areas. During the European War back then, the orders came from foreign armies fighting wars. Later, when fighting the Japanese, the orders came from our troops. Now, foreigners won't fight with us. We must first distinguish three things clearly: in various places now, what is the consumer market, who is the supplier, and what is the supply channel. Among these three, regarding the position of the masses and the government within them, who is in the leading position and who is in the passive position."

The meeting lasted for two days. Everything that should be said was said. Afterwards, an exam was held. After the exam ended, there was an analysis of the test papers. Everyone's exam papers were a bit hard to describe in a few words.

After the test paper analysis was finished, a comrade raised a question, "Does mastering all sales content mean mastering the entire economic operation situation?"

This question reminded Han Haitao of the past. He had also asked He Rui such a question. With a complex feeling of carrying forward the past and opening up the future, Han Haitao explained, "Theoretically, this is the case, but it is not so in actual operation. Because the Supply and Marketing Cooperative cannot be the only sales channel in China, and a large number of private enterprises will appear in the sales field. At that time, we won't be able to ask those private owners to provide detailed sales records like the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. With the rapid development of China's economy, people will have more and more money, and the volume of commodity trading will reach a number we can't imagine. At that time, other statistical means will be adopted to count economic activities."

Hearing such an answer, some comrades were very disappointed. Seeing that many other comrades reacted the same way as themselves, Han Haitao felt very relaxed in his heart and couldn't help smiling. Such a smile was incomprehensible to the comrades. Some comrades hurriedly put away their smiles and tried hard to make their expressions serious and earnest.

This amused Han Haitao even more. He sighed, "Comrades, don't worry. I also asked Chairman He the same question."

"Really?" many comrades asked in surprise. Hearing that they had the same question as the governor, everyone's confidence in themselves immediately increased a lot.

"Chairman He said that with the development of technology, more advanced technical equipment will eventually appear. At that time, currency will still exist, but everyone will no longer use banknotes when trading, but use new technology. At that time, no matter how many trillions of data there are, the state can count them in place. Now we conduct statistical analysis on rough and limited data to lay the foundation for the future. As long as we develop to that stage, our understanding of the economy will be extremely precise. So, we must work hard and go all out. Try to live until that day and see with our own eyes how economic statistics are completed at that time."

Most of the comrades attending the meeting only learned of the decision to go to war with Japan in September 1922. The shock at that time was like being electrocuted. But now, less than two years later, China was unified, and everyone had become a mayor or municipal party secretary of a city.

When waking up at midnight, many people had an unreal feeling in their haze, wondering if they were still in their dormitories or homes in the Northeast, not yet awakened from a big dream. It wasn't until they walked out of the room and saw the new office location that they were not yet very familiar with that they had to admit that all this had indeed happened.

No one suspected Han Haitao of fabricating He Rui's words, and no one even thought in that direction. Everyone felt that since Chairman He Rui said it personally, it would definitely come true. The atmosphere immediately became enthusiastic. Everyone felt that Han Haitao was right; work hard, go all out, and that day would come.

The work meeting ended, and the comrades left the provincial committee compound. Chen Deli, who had maintained a serious expression all along, sighed, "Judging from the exam papers, the comrades still haven't understood."

The Provincial Party Committee managed personnel, and the Provincial Government managed the execution of the central government's work arrangements. Hearing the Provincial Party Secretary so disappointed, Han Haitao laughed, "Secretary, that's because we can't compare with Chairman He. That we can understand now is also because Chairman He has been teaching us all along. I now feel that I let Chairman He down; I didn't know how disappointed Chairman He was at that time."

Now even Chen Deli smiled bitterly, and his dissatisfaction dissipated in the memories of his own incompetent past.