After reading his parents' letter and learning they wanted him to pick them up and bring them to the capital, Xu Chengfeng found he wasn't particularly happy. The railway distance from Zhoukou to the capital Zhengzhou was 210 kilometers, and it was flat land all the way, so making a trip wasn't troublesome. But from his father's writing, Xu Chengfeng always felt his father had the posture of an old master going to the capital to enjoy life.

Xu Chengfeng naturally hoped his parents could live well, but under the current situation, Xu Chengfeng was a bit worried his father would bring out the mindset from the Qing Dynasty. But since his father had spoken, Xu Chengfeng naturally couldn't refuse. With some unease, Xu Chengfeng headed straight for his hometown.

In the discussion of moving the capital, both the Parliament and the central government thought Beiping (Beijing) was too far north. Jiangning (Nanjing) was too far south. Henan, being in the center of the world (China), was most suitable. Initially, Kaifeng was considered more suitable. However, the Yellow River beside Kaifeng had become a suspended river, which could definitely not be solved in the short term, so Zhengzhou, the railway hub of China at this time, was chosen as the capital.

Since Zhengzhou is located in Henan, in order not to split Henan in reality, the central government directly administered Henan. Other provinces had provincial capitals, but the directly administered Henan did not. The entire directly administered region belonged completely to the central government's direct management.

As a directly administered region by the central government, Henan also became a testing ground for many policies. Riding on the train, Xu Chengfeng saw the farmland on both sides of the railway was planned extremely neatly. Between patches of fields, rows of trees were planted on both sides of rural dirt roads. Earth mounds were greened, and small irrigation canals passed through the fields, very organized.

When the train entered the Zhoukou region, Xu Chengfeng was in a great mood. Zhoukou was called Chenzhou in ancient times, and now the name had been changed back. The Civility Party was very serious about restoring ancient place names; names like Shijiazhuang and Zhumadian were all changed back to elegant ancient place names.

Although these name changes added some trouble to military maps, Xu Chengfeng knew very well that if these things weren't changed now, it would be even more troublesome to change them later. What made Xu Chengfeng happiest was that the land reform in Zhoukou was done excellently. Because of private land ownership, land in Zhoukou had been divided into various small pieces.

In this respect, Henan and Hebei were actually very similar. Due to private land ownership, once it rained, dirt roads became muddy. When villagers walked, they walked in other people's fields to avoid stepping on their own fields. So every household built their field ridges high so others couldn't get up. Every household did this. Over hundreds or even hundreds of years, patches of high field ridges comparable to trenches formed on the land of Henan and Hebei. Xu Chengfeng was handy when he first entered Baoding Military Academy to learn fortifications because he had lived in an environment comparable to a battlefield since childhood.

These field ridges were all gone. The field ridges taller than a person, and the roads under the ridges that seemed to go deep underground, seemed to have never appeared. Everywhere the eye could see were patches of neat fertile fields and roads suitable for walking. Zhoukou had been very wealthy since ancient times because it didn't lack water unless there was a severe drought. Compared with the irrigation canals near the capital, the density of irrigation canals in Zhoukou was much higher, and there was water in the canals.

The golden fields were the color of harvest. Besides the people burying their heads in harvesting, some harvesters also participated in the harvest. This reminded Xu Chengfeng of the gradually mechanized harvesting on the vast black soil of the Northeast.

Returning home, Xu Chengfeng found only one set of houses left for his family. Originally, the Xu family also had their own armed forces, which had long been disbanded. The low-intensity civil war continued by the National Defense Force in the past three years targeted local tyrants with evil intentions. His family finally got rid of the terrible identity of a local tyrant and returned to being ordinary working people, which put Xu Chengfeng in a great mood.

Father Xu came out to welcome him. He looked neither enthusiastic nor intended to complain. Looking Xu Chengfeng up and down for a while, Father Xu's eyes suddenly turned red. He pressed his hands on Xu Chengfeng's shoulders, tears already streaming down his face.

His mother also walked out supported by his sister. His mother had bound feet and couldn't walk fast. Seeing Xu Chengfeng, she began to cry. Seeing his mother cry, those political matters in Xu Chengfeng's heart flew beyond the nine heavens. He hurriedly stepped forward to hug his mother, tears streaming down his face before he could speak.

The family cried for a moment in excitement, but this meeting was a happy event. In a moment, they were smiling. Xu Chengfeng held his sister in his arms and patted her back hard. Xu Chengfeng's sister shouted, "Brother, you're holding too tight." Xu Chengfeng let go of his sister and helped his mother into the house.

Family reunion, they talked about asking after each other's well-being. His parents didn't mention a word about the family's land being distributed, only talking about their worries when they heard about the war. Talking and talking, Father Xu became excited, "Your mother kept saying the Japanese and British were very powerful. I asked her, everyone is human, where exactly are they powerful? Your mother couldn't say why, just kept crying."

Hearing the old man actually speak ill of her in front of her son, Mrs. Xu was immediately unhappy. It could be seen that she wanted to refute, but what came out was something else, "What's wrong! My son is fighting a war; can't I, as a mother, worry about him?!"

Master Xu was originally just joking. Hearing his wife say this, he nodded in agreement, "I'm just worried that you worry too much and worry yourself sick."

At this time, Xu Chengfeng's sister asked, "Brother, there won't be wars in the future, right?"

Xu Chengfeng thought how could there not be wars, but smiled, "No more wars in the future."

Hearing Xu Chengfeng say this, Father Xu also felt very happy. He asked Xu Chengfeng's sister to prepare food first, then said, "Chengfeng, I've always heard that the capital is not a place to act wildly. I wonder what the rules are in the capital now?"

Xu Chengfeng's last worry also vanished. Seeing some meaning in his father's expression, Xu Chengfeng answered somewhat sheepishly, "Now that the country has restored order, with the law of the land present, where are there other rules?"

Father Xu laughed, "I read history books. Whenever a new dynasty is established, in order to stabilize the people's hearts, the court overcorrects, and punishments are all severe. Ministers saw officials and nobles acting willfully when the previous dynasty perished, knowing they must not repeat the same mistakes, and also restrain their families and children. The current ruler conquered the world on horseback, emphasizing strict enforcement of orders and prohibitions. You followed the current ruler when he started, so you naturally know the taboos outside the law. Your mother and I discussed it; asking you to pick us up was to ask clearly what taboos the current court has. If your mother and I see that we will definitely offend them, we might as well not go to the capital."

Xu Chengfeng was even more embarrassed now and answered hurriedly, "Father, Mother. You worry too much. Just live well when you get to the capital."

Father Xu raised an eyebrow. "That may not be so. Your mother and I are both country folk and don't understand reasoning. Having lived in the countryside for so many years, it's inevitable that our voices are louder. If we are in the capital, it's inevitable that people will think we are bullying others with power..."

Hearing the old man say this, Mrs. Xu said unhappily, "If you don't speak, no one will treat you as mute." After speaking, Mrs. Xu asked, "Er Xiao (Little Two), our family was a landlord; will anyone pursue this in the future?"

Xu Chengfeng shook his head. "Mother, where will there be landlords in the country in the future? Others can't wait to forget they were landlords; how could they mention it every day?"

Mrs. Xu actually still felt heartache, but since her son spoke so seriously, she knew she shouldn't even think about such things in the future, so she changed to another question, "Your uncle's family donated the boat business to the government, and the government gave your uncle's family a status in the Political Consultative Conference. We are going to the capital and want to bring your uncle's family along. Your uncle said, if we go to the capital, your cousin must be able to study. Can you handle this for your uncle?"

This was the old mother Xu Chengfeng was familiar with. He answered, "Going to school requires taking exams. If he can pass, he can naturally go. If he can't pass, I can't help either. But there are plenty of jobs now. Even if he can't go to university, he can enter a factory or do something else after graduating from middle school. Mother, let me give an example. There are many skilled workers in our military enterprises. Whatever precise parts are needed, they can make them. The income of these skilled workers is not low, and they are respected in the factory. In my opinion, the children of uncle's family should find a trade they like. If they don't like it and just do it to make a living, they won't be happy doing anything."

Hearing this, Mrs. Xu frowned slightly. "How can we be so indulgent? There are many things people like; eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, everyone likes."

Hearing this, Father Xu immediately interjected, "Er Xiao wasn't talking about that; don't talk nonsense."

After speaking, ignoring Mrs. Xu, he said to Xu Chengfeng, "Since you are back, go see your uncle's family. Sigh, your uncle's family is not doing well recently either. Your uncle was soft-hearted and helped a scoundrel transport some goods. Unexpectedly, that scoundrel was daring enough to rebel. He almost implicated your uncle. You go once."

Xu Chengfeng knew he couldn't avoid it, so he could only agree. Thinking of the smiling face of Wang Bin, Director of the National Security Bureau, Xu Chengfeng felt uncomfortable. Wang Bin was a smiling tiger, ruthless in action. Once he caught a clue, he often cast a long line to catch a big fish, catching a whole nest at once. Since his uncle's family hadn't been arrested, presumably they shouldn't have participated. Otherwise, they certainly couldn't escape.

In this timeline, since the KMT was not in power, there was naturally no Yellow River flood area. Zhoukou originally had river transport directly to Anhui, and the river channel was not affected at this time. The sparkling river water flowed quietly. On the riverside pier, cargo ships were equipped with internal combustion engine-driven power systems, the chugging sound spreading far on the river.

Xu Chengfeng's maternal grandfather's family had several houses near the pier. The eldest uncle already knew Xu Chengfeng was coming. As soon as Xu Chengfeng arrived at the door, the eldest uncle came out to welcome him. His face, purple from years of sun exposure, was full of smiles. He came up and pulled Xu Chengfeng, "Er Xiao, you are finally back. As soon as I mention you to your mother, your mother cries. She can't be persuaded. It's good that you came back this time."

Compared with Father Xu who considered himself a scholar-farmer, Xu Chengfeng's uncles didn't have that scholar's flavor because they ran businesses in the wild world. Several uncles came forward, asking after his well-being, looking exactly like uncles should.

Even after sitting down inside, the uncles didn't mention their own affairs. Finally, Xu Chengfeng took the initiative to ask what plans the uncles had. The eldest uncle said, "Your second uncle still wants to run boats. The government says he can do it, but we have no confidence in our hearts. You also know, running boats always encounters heroes of the Three Mountains and Five Sacred Mountains (bandits/triads), and some things are involuntary. Now I hear someone is settling our accounts. But we dare not do it anymore."

Xu Chengfeng felt his uncle was frank. He wanted to help his uncle but didn't dare. From 1915 to 1924, the world was in chaos; heaven knows what his uncle had done. Intervening really would be troublesome.

But Xu Chengfeng heard that his uncle still wanted to run boats, so he could only ask, "Uncle, can you tell me what you have done? I can also help Uncle take a look."