That night, He Rui returned from meeting with the four candidates he had initially selected before holding his final interviews with Xu Chengfeng and Zhong Yifu.

The last interview was with Xu Chengfeng. The initial questions proceeded very smoothly; Xu Chengfeng was a young man clearly possessed of intense patriotic fervor. He Rui felt that if a campaign required a "daredevil squad" for a suicidal assault, Xu Chengfeng would almost certainly be the first to volunteer for the mission.

Precisely because of this, He Rui was exceptionally pointed when he reached the most critical question. "Cadet Xu. Enemies, whether domestic or foreign, are still enemies. If we strike at the landlords and gentry who do not engage in production, confiscate their land, and distribute it to the tenant farmers—realizing 'land to the tiller'—would you support it?"

"I support it," Xu Chengfeng answered, crisp and decisive.

He Rui glanced at Xu Chengfeng's file; under the heading for family background, the words "Large Landlord" were written in bold, conspicuous ink.

"Cadet Xu, if such changes were to come to your own family, would you still agree?"

"I... would not oppose it."

"Why?" He Rui pressed, refusing to let the boy off with a perfunctory answer.

"I hate the landlords. I cannot stand the things they do, year after year." There was a genuine note of disgust in Xu Chengfeng's tone; he was clearly speaking from the heart. However, Xu Chengfeng quickly turned the question back on his interviewer. "Colonel He, you said that to accomplish anything, one must first formulate policy. Is 'Land Policy' a true policy?"

Hearing this, He Rui felt a surge of delight. "Land Policy is indeed a policy. In fact, at this stage of our development, it is the single most core policy of all."

"Then please tell me, Colonel He, what is your land policy?" Xu Chengfeng looked at him intently, his gaze unblinking.

He Rui answered frankly, "In the long term, land ownership belongs to the state; no individual shall own so much as an inch of land. Usage rights are granted by the state to production units, and these rights cannot be bought or sold between users. In the short term, in a certain sense, it can be viewed as 'land to the tiller'..."

***

June 1st. Outside the gates of the Baoding Military Academy.

He Rui turned to Zhou Yinshan and said, "Brother Zhou, there is no need to see us off any further."

Zhou Yinshan looked at the six young men standing behind He Rui. They all wore the rank insignia of Second Lieutenants. From this moment on, they were no longer students, but true military officers.

"Brother He, take good care of them. I await news of your great success."

He Rui wasted no words. He snapped a sharp salute to his old classmate. Zhou Yinshan returned the gesture, and then they shook hands.

It was no different from their reunion just a few days ago—the same professional courtesy, the same unruffled calm. But now, the last of the barriers between them had vanished. Even this simple farewell conveyed the full weight of their mutual respect and expectations.

Releasing his hand, He Rui barked, "Squad, attention! Salute!"

The six young officers snapped to attention and saluted Zhou Yinshan in unison. Zhou Yinshan looked at this group of his former cadets, stepped forward to pat each of them on the shoulder in turn, and then turned to walk back toward the academy gates.

"Order arms!" He Rui commanded.

The young men lowered their arms, and He Rui continued, "The train for Guanwai departs from Tianjin. We are heading there now to recruit cultural instructors for the army."

"Report. I have a question," Xu Chengfeng spoke up.

"Speak."

"Colonel He, what exactly is the role of a cultural instructor?"

"An army without culture is an army without combat effectiveness [^1]. China currently has a dismal literacy rate, which means we cannot hope to build an army where every man is literate from the day he enlists. So, how do we solve this? There is only one way: we must build the army itself into a school. We will educate every single member of the military! We will make every soldier a man of knowledge and culture. Cultural instructors are the civilian staff who will perform this vital task."

It was obvious that Cheng Ruofan envied Xu Chengfeng's ability to speak up so readily. He rushed to ask, "Report! Should we train these cultural instructors so that they can go into combat as well?"

The other young officers looked puzzled by the question. He Rui also felt it lacked depth, but he answered nonetheless.

"Eliminating ignorance and illiteracy through education is a true war in its own right. You have all just graduated; you should understand better than anyone what that kind of war entails. Schools open every year, and students attend classes for nine months of every year. I have never seen a conventional war that continues so endlessly, without pause. Cheng Ruofan, training is training—it is intended to allow cultural instructors to master the ability to protect themselves. But beyond that, do you truly intend to send teachers onto the front lines?"

Cheng Ruofan looked moved, yet a bit ashamed. He straightened his back and answered loudly, "Sir, I understand! I certainly won't think that way again."

"For an army to possess combat effectiveness, culture is a basic requirement," He Rui continued his orders. "Officer-soldier unity is likewise a basic requirement. Regarding forms of address: from this day forward, our unit will use only titles or 'you' and 'I'. No hierarchical or deferential forms of address are permitted. Do you hear me!"

The six young officers were stunned. He Rui gave them no room to object, his voice rising to a command. "Do you hear me!"

Faced with such overwhelming authority, the young soldiers answered almost reflexively, "Heard!"

"Good. Squad, at ease. Attention! Right face! Forward, march!" He Rui finished his command and was the first to step onto the road leading to the station. Behind him, the six men formed a column, shouldering their luggage and following He Rui with brisk, light-hearted steps.

***

The group took the train to the capital. He Rui first went to request a meeting with Duan Qirui's aide to report his current progress. After listening, the aide said, "Understood. I wish Brother He a smooth journey." With that, the two bid each other farewell.

The aide then met with Zhang Zuolin. At this time, Zhang Zuolin had been summoned to Beijing and simply left to wait. However, Old Zhang refused to give up; he was busy visiting Beiyang bigwigs everywhere, desperate to find a way back to the Northeast. The aide didn't even accept the gift Zhang Zuolin presented, offering only a few perfunctory words before heading straight back to the floral hall where Duan Qirui was working.

"Director-General, He Rui has already departed for Tianjin," he reported. "He will transfer there for the train to Guanwai."

Duan Qirui thought for a moment before the name He Rui registered. "When was the last time I saw him?"

"Answering the Director-General, today marks exactly the eighth day."

Duan Qirui felt that this fellow He Rui was quite focused on his duties. He tossed the matter to the back of his mind. "Is the car ready?"

"Director-General, the car is waiting," the aide replied. Seeing Duan Qirui's grave expression, the aide hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself. This would be Duan Qirui's third visit to persuade Yuan Shikai. The first two attempts had left President Yuan deeply displeased, and they had parted on bad terms. There was a saying that *things should not be done a third time*; Duan going back again would only deepen the growing rift between them.

However, Yuan Shikai was set in his ways, and Duan Qirui refused to yield. The aide knew he couldn't dissuade the man; he could only hope that this meeting wouldn't further poison the relationship between the two giants of the Beiyang clique.

He Rui knew nothing of these high-level maneuvers. On the train, he chatted with the young men, making small talk and sharing laughs as he deepened his understanding of each of them. After disembarking at the Tianjin station, the unit formed a neat column and headed straight for the National Beiyang University.

***

[^1]: He Rui is adapting a famous concept later popularized by Mao Zedong: "An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy." (没有文化的军队是愚蠢的军队，而愚蠢的军队是不能战胜敌人的).