The wind over the land seemed to pause for a moment. But then, the clouds shifted, the moon and stars looked down upon the ancient earth, and the night's pace continued its indifferent flow amidst the changing tides.

As stars shifted and the moon waned, the light of sunrise gradually took over everything on this land, and billions of living beings began a new day's work. In a corner of the southwest, the light and fire that had briefly illuminated the area near a village called Xiao Ye wouldn't disrupt people's lives. After the explosion at the 223rd Institute that night, the slight ripples it caused gradually subsided the next day.

Besides the few new topics of conversation that people added to their work and lives, the only other notable change was in the town of Wenpu, a dozen or so miles away. The Hua Xia Jun member who used to collect waste every morning from the night soil carriers, hunched over, didn't return for a long time. More than ten days later, a new member arrived to take over the job, even putting up a sign for a literacy class, with a proper teacher to take charge of the night soil carriers' children or their relatives.

The new teacher no longer read newspapers bought from outside, but systematically distributed standardized primers. This education continued quietly, and after half a year, only a few of the night soil carriers would occasionally mention the former "Teacher Tang" in their conversations. And even many years later, when accomplished people returned here and talked about the magnificent era of transformation, about the first waste collector who taught the children of the night soil carriers, people had little impression of his identity and name, as if washed away by the waves of time into that golden age...

The land reform process in Erqing Village was slightly delayed, but few people knew the reason. Soon after, everything returned to normal.

Only in the most hidden places, the threads of cause and effect were quietly extending to greater and more distant places...

On March 14th, near midnight, Hu Tai, the second-in-command of the Wenpu County police system, arrived at the mountaintop behind Xiao Ye Village, confronting Fang Lu, who already had his bow aimed at Tang Minjie. He was a veteran who had retired from the battlefield and was now part of the security system led by Hou Wu. Due to his injuries, he was certainly no match for Fang Lu and the others in martial arts, but at this point, violence could no longer determine the outcome.

"...I already know what you've done, and I've been commissioned to investigate. Killing him now is meaningless... If the matter isn't confirmed, he lives, and you're fine. If he dies, there will be more investigations continuing. If the matter is confirmed, killing him will only add to your crimes..."

"...My brother is dead! I am Fang Lu, Major Staff Officer of the 3rd Division of the 5th Army, my brother is dead! What qualifications do you have to stand in my way—"

"...It doesn't matter who you are, you can't escape responsibility if you kill someone in front of me—"

"...My brother is dead, no one can stop me from killing him—"

In the darkness of the night, the confrontation between the two sides was hysterical. The young soldier covered in blood even shouted and lunged towards Tang Minjie—his hands were still bound, otherwise he would probably kill with a knife. This struggle was also to provide Fang Lu with a final opportunity, while Hu Tai held a musket and Fang Lu drew his strong bow, both sides engaged in a fierce standoff...

Until Chen Ci let brought more people to surround them...

The next day, someone came to Wenpu County to smooth things over and plead for mercy, but in fact, the whole thing was already unstoppable. On the night of March 14th, Hu Tai had sent a letter to a larger system. At the same time, the methane explosion at the 223rd Institute, which could not be concealed, was also reported on the afternoon of the 15th, along with Chen Ci let's preliminary report, sending some of the origins that could be told to the central government.

The matter fermented for a few days, but the subsequent feedback was far more serious and powerful than Hu Tai had imagined. On the morning of March 17th, he saw Tang Minjie's injuries at the 223rd Institute, relayed the preliminary developments of the matter to him, and then saw soldiers and convoys approaching silently. After that, he saw Chief No. 1 Ning Yi, who he couldn't understand why he would be here no matter how he imagined it.

In theory, the development of land reform was in full swing, and Ning Yi would be sitting in the central government in Chengdu, not leaving easily. On the other hand, no matter how complex Tang Minjie's identity was, it wasn't worth it for him to make a special trip to the small corner of Wenpu—he could have simply summoned Tang Minjie to Chengdu. Ning Yi's appearance could only mean that he had arrived near Wenpu because of something else.

Of course, these were not things that Hu Tai dared to think deeply about. After being received, Hu Tai revealed his previous relationship with Tang Minjie, his understanding of him, and his understanding of the matter in detail: he had been paying attention to Tang Minjie because of Peng Yueyun's request here one day last year, but he didn't know Tang Minjie's specific identity. Afterwards, he only received one request from the other party for a long time, which was to order some newspapers from Chengdu through Hu Tai on a regular basis. This matter was not taboo, and Hu Tai provided assistance. Later, he also heard that the other party used these newspapers to teach the children of a group of night soil carriers.

And on the morning of March 14th, Tang Minjie came to him, hoping to secretly treat a landlord in Erqing

Village through him. Under Hu Tai's questioning, Tang Minjie seemed to think it was necessary, so he also made a notification and record of some questions about Erqing Village: he currently had questions about the whole thing and didn't want to casually harm the staff there, so he asked Hu Tai to conduct a simple investigation, and emphasized that this was a private request, hoping not to enter the procedure for the time being, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble for the other party.

By the afternoon of March 14th, Hu Tai had investigated Fang Lu's identity background and some of his ways of doing things. Soon after, he heard the news that the other party had left Wenpu County in groups. Out of keen insight, he thought about it and took a gun and chased after Xiao Ye Village overnight...

When Ning Yi asked, he told all these things in detail, without embellishment, and then was asked about various details, including the process of the other party opening a school for the night soil carriers and their children, and the situation of the confrontation that night.

On March 17th, at 1:15 pm, Tang Minjie met Ning Yi who came here...

...

Spring is in full bloom.

Even Xiao Ye Village, which is close to the barren Liangshan Mountains, can see wildflowers blooming everywhere in such a world.

The people in the village have already passed the busiest period of spring plowing, but there are still many figures busy outside. Near the composting field of the 223rd Institute, the traces of the explosion have not been removed. Tang Minjie, with bandages wrapped around his body, followed Ning Yi around this place and walked towards the mountain on the side.

He didn't understand why Ning Yi had come here.

But Ning Yi then told him about Fang Lu's ending.

"...Just last night, after Fang Lu took responsibility for all the problems in his confession, he committed suicide by piercing his throat with a chopstick."

Tang Minjie's body swayed, unable to speak. After a moment, Ning Yi took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket: "This is the confession of the young man named Yu Jue who was held hostage by you. I've also read it, and it's basically consistent with your statement, repeating the things you talked about that night..."

Ning Yi handed the paper to him: "Take a look, is there anything you need to add?"

Tang Minjie spread out the confession and looked at it. He blinked his eyes and thought for a moment: "This... young warrior, is decisive, responds well, and is not afraid of death, even... he is willing to sacrifice himself for his companions. If... if it weren't for this incident, he would be a good warrior..."

Ning Yi nodded and sighed: "...What he said was also deafening, right?"

Tang Minjie shook his head: "These statements are not worth refuting, but if... there are many such voices inside..."

"There will always be all kinds of voices inside, especially extreme voices. And people who want to make money, once they have a legitimate reason, they can make it even more comfortably." Ning Yi waved his hand and then said, "According to... this Yu Jue's confession, and some of Hu Tai's retelling, you don't really want to live. After the composting field incident, after confirming that they had problems, you could have shouted loudly in the institute or in a crowded place in the village, and the matter would have been resolved. But you didn't do that, but turned around and ran to the mountain... What were you thinking?"

The two stood by the stream where Tang Minjie fought with Yu Jue on the 14th, and Ning Yi looked at him. Tang Minjie thought for a while: "I was afraid that they had a lot of people and would take risks, harming the people of the entire institute."

"Hmm..." Ning Yi nodded, "If they hadn't said that you finally released that Yu Jue and pointed at Fang Lu to shoot you to death with an arrow, I would have believed this reason of yours."

Tang Minjie was silent.

"But you're also ruthless enough. After confirming the problem and deciding that you wanted to die, you still lied to Yu Jue at that time, saying that Qiu Zishu died after coming out of the manure bucket. In fact, he was treated by Hu Tai and finally died on the evening of the 16th. You're ruthless... Even if Fang Lu risked killing you, heaved a sigh of relief, they didn't know that Qiu Zishu was still alive, and even had Hu Tai as a double insurance. So even if you said good things about them and thought Yu Jue was a good person, at the point of death, you didn't let them off the hook at all, except to use their knife to kill yourself. You like this... how can I look at you, Tang Minjie?"

On the hillside, Ning Yi looked at him, with complex and even compassionate expressions floating in his calm eyes. But Tang Minjie did not notice this scene.

"I didn't think that much," he said.

Ning Yi didn't press him any further. They looked at the village below the hillside. After a while, Ning Yi opened his mouth to speak.

"After defeating the Jurchens, the Hua Xia Jun is very popular. On the surface, the 7th Army manages the trade route out of Sichuan and took advantage of it for a while, but later it was severely rectified. And in Chengdu, many merchants and heroes from outside are very willing to make friends with members of the Hua Xia Jun. The curbing and investigation of this matter is done every year, but there must be a lot of loopholes. Just like Fang Lu, Yu Jue said in his confession that Fang Lu took the money to support the orphans of more than a dozen comrades. This is true, but on the other hand, he is generous and has wide social circles, is loyal to his friends, and has high demands for his own life. Part of the money is spent on dead comrades, and part of the money is used to take living comrades to extravagant parties... This person has no

extra money. As long as he gets money, he will definitely spend it with his comrades and friends, and even if someone borrows money from him, he will help without reservation. Tang Minjie, do you want to have such a friend? To be honest, I want to have one too."

"This kind of 'Timely Rain', a big brother in the jianghu, has always been the most popular outside, and some brothers will be very willing to risk their lives to help him. But where does his money come from? In the past two years, he has helped some heroes from outside to make connections, and these heroes from outside are flexible and know that as long as they have power, they can cash in, so they have been making friends for two years. And since half a year ago, when the news of the land reform was released, they have already made various calculations and preparations..."

"When the land reform officially started, the initial pilot project of a hundred villages was personally supervised by me, so there were not many problems. But when it started to spread from a hundred villages to a larger area, I couldn't really grasp it, and they started their own plans at this time. Even using internal differences of opinion, they can have their own ideas and slogans... So at this time, Tang Minjie, do you still sympathize with them?"

The wind blew over the ridge of the mountain. Tang Minjie didn't speak. Ning Yi said, "The land reform is going well. In Chengdu, discussions about the four classes of people are slowly starting to take root. When everyone talks about it, it's no longer like the empty talk of those young people in the past. But where will the biggest problem appear if this reform is to continue? Do you know?"

"Internally," Tang Minjie said.

"Yes, internally." Ning Yi nodded, "The principle of the operation and collapse of all social models is, in the end, that an unfair distribution of benefits, over a long period of time, will accumulate to the point of collapse. In terms of slogans, we can pursue an idealized fairness, but in practice, we have to find a workable operational model that is better than the previous one in order to extend this time as much as possible. In other words, this is the process of civilization progress... In the past, the local gentry held the power of distribution at the grassroots level. They had a distribution ratio. Now that we want to replace this distribution power, we must ensure that the ratio that actually falls is better than theirs."

"If the land reform is implemented, the control and mobilization of grassroots forces will increase tenfold compared to before, and social civilization will improve a lot compared to before. But people have a tendency to self-destruct... Fang Lu, Yu Jue, these people should be regarded as their tendency to self-destruct being revealed. Tang Minjie, if the land reform can maintain a good result for ten or twenty years, all the people of later generations will think that such equality and human rights are natural. By that time, discussions about the four classes of people may become a common sense, so no matter what, we must maintain its benign development for at least twenty years and try our best to curb those self-destructive tendencies within us that are dressed up as 'human nature'..."

"I came here this time, not to find you originally." Ning Yi said, "After making arrangements for the affairs of Chengdu, I secretly came out, intending to go to the front-line villages of the land reform as much as possible to see and collect various possible problems... It just happened to meet this incident on your side."

"...Teacher, are you so unconfident?" After a long time, Tang Minjie asked.

Ning Yi turned his head to look at him and smiled: "The local gentry themselves have their own advanced and inevitable aspects. If you want to rely on a single bureaucrat to replace them, either the supervision of discipline has been strict to a certain extent, or they need to be noble enough themselves. If there are only some people who easily forgive themselves and shout about human nature, they can't make this revolution. Backward materials cannot build an advanced society."

Tang Minjie raised his head: "But we are taking a two-pronged approach."

"So we can rely on the current organization to truly implement the first round of land reform." Ning Yi said, "We can barely promote the subsequent development, but every step is already very tight... The pilot project of a hundred villages, a thousand working groups, ten thousand people, this is already the administrative elite we have accumulated, but do you know how many people are needed for supervision behind it? Next, they will develop to a thousand villages, ten thousand villages, and continuously absorb new people in the ongoing land reform. What level of supervision can ensure that there is always pressure on their heads, without affecting efficiency too much? Tang Minjie, if you talk about confidence... that's right, I don't have 100% confidence, not even 80% or 70%..."

"That's already very high. We are already some of the most highly organized people in this world... in this era. No matter what, I think..." Tang Minjie paused slightly when he said this, "We... will succeed..."

Seeing his attitude when he talked about this matter, Ning Yi laughed, but he didn't refute it. After a while, he took a breath.

"In short, that's what happened... I was thinking on the road about how to pull in people everywhere, and I also heard that you didn't want to live anymore, so I suddenly thought that it would be good to make use of waste. Come out and do something."

"I..."

Tang Minjie was about to refuse subconsciously, but Ning Yi waved his hand, his eyes becoming serious.

"Don't be long-winded." He looked at the mountains below in front of him, with his hands behind his back, and was silent for a moment, "Supervising internally is the most difficult thing to do now. In the past, the Hua Xia Jun was as united as a monolithic board, but it also made many people inside

become friends. Where to put the degree of supervision, how to break these private friendships, I can't say how well it's done here. If it was really very good, Fang Lu's incident would not have happened today. To say it more deeply, your good friend, my new son-in-law, Angry Banana is now doing this. He has my background, the background of the Western Army, and is not afraid of offending people, but does he really want to offend people every day? When will he be soft-hearted, when will he lift a hand, who knows? I can't give him a guarantee either."

Tang Minjie became serious and didn't dare to speak.

"On the other hand, this is also the most dangerous thing now. In the past, we fought against the Jurchens and said that the Jurchens were dangerous, but what is more dangerous than the Jurchens? To be blunt, it's your comrades. If some of them are corrupted and regressed in human nature and become people like Fang Lu, when they are investigated, if they take risks, what needs to be considered is whether the people who investigate them can live well."

"So Tang Minjie, since you are not afraid of death and don't want to live, I suddenly thought that this might be the most suitable job for you."

On the hillside in the afternoon, the sunlight fell down. Ning Yi said such a decision calmly. Tang Minjie was silent for a long time, the coldness in his body and the flames in the sunlight pulled him at the same time. He had almost accepted death, but at this moment, the world seemed to be pulling him again, wanting him to contribute his last value. And in his heart, that tired him seemed to be saying that it was no longer necessary, but the final reason seemed to be saying again: This is reasonable.

It is reasonable to let yourself do it.

"Also... Do you want to know about Chen Wenjun and Xiyin?"

Afterwards, he heard Ning Yi talk about this topic. Tang Minjie raised his head. Above the hillside, the sunlight was dazzling.

...

"...In the second half of last year, after making the decision to go north to rescue Madam Chen, in order to avoid unnecessary complications, several people were sent to the Jin Kingdom as soon as possible. Then, not long ago, at the beginning of this month, the first batch of people from this team returned to Chengdu and reported the experience in the north..."

"...According to them, since Xiyin's problem was exposed in the Jin Dynasty court, the development in Yunchong has been very exciting in the past year. Wanyan Zonghan certainly wanted to do his best to protect this old comrade and the second-in-command of the Western Route Army, but it was impossible. There were several tugs in the court, and Xiyin was convicted. But he still stayed in Yunchong for the whole year. Wanyan Zongbi and others launched an attack in the court, while Chen Wenjun and Xiyin, as husband and wife, in this year, one was still organizing the Han slaves in the north to escape, and the other was intercepting all the hands of the Han ladies who fled from Yunchong..."

"...The two people lived together - basically under house arrest. On the one hand, they lived like husband and wife, on the other hand, they killed each other's subordinates for the country and the nation... This process was romantic and stupid, and lasted for a long time. Our people went in and saw Chen Wenjun. What I must confess to you is that she certainly did not live well. Her two sons did not forgive her, and sometimes people would beat and scold her. Some people even wanted to kill her, but she was unwilling to come back. This can perhaps be seen as her explanation to her family, but what I want to emphasize to you is: Tang Minjie, you are not the last Han people she saved..."

...

"...In December last year, Zonghan finally failed to protect Wanyan Xiyin. The poisoned wine sent from Shangjing entered Xiyin's residence. Wanyan Xiyin probably didn't want to drag on and drank the wine... Chen Wenjun is not dead yet. She refuses to come back, and there will be no good days in the future, but I think, if it's fast enough, maybe one day we will enter Yunchong... she is still alive..."

"...As for you, in the last meeting, she only said that what she should have said to you has already been said... Then I think it should be that sentence that let you come back and use your cunning schemes to benefit the Han people, something messed up. I can't remember it clearly, you can slowly recall it yourself."

...

"...Then, because there is a very shortage of people, I don't want to drag it out with you anymore. After the injury on your body is healed, go to Wenpu to report... No, you don't have to wait that long. Give you two days to clean up and arrange things here. The day after tomorrow, go to Wenpu to receive orders. People of your age shouldn't rest for too long anyway. Go to Peng Yueyun's side to lead a team and help him out. Before you accidentally sacrifice... go and work hard for me."

...

"...I hope this time... I arranged the right place for you to go..."

...

On the hillside, the spring sun shines warmly. They talked about these things, which was a detailed conversation that the master and apprentice had not had for many years. Ning Yi looked at Tang Minjie's slightly hunched but still trying to straighten up figure, reached out with a complex expression, and patted him on the shoulder. Tang Minjie stood up straight again, raised his hand, and saluted.

They returned to the foot of the mountain. When they were about to part, Ning Yi seemed to remember something and opened his mouth to speak, but finally waved his hand again: "It's not a big deal... You'll know in a while..."

...

On March 19th, Tang Minjie went to Wenpu to accept his new job. He was very clear about the theory of land reform and the necessity of supervision, and the experience of leading the team in the north for a long time

also allowed him to quickly get started in this regard. He quickly threw himself into this work and joined the tide of innovation in this land.

Only Ning Yi's last words, which he stopped talking about, left him with some doubts in his heart, and this doubt was not truly resolved until a long time later.

But the clue of the matter occurred in May of this year.

That day was May 27th of this year. The season was already summer. He was leading his team to verify the cases related to land reform. On this evening, the superiors suddenly asked him to pick up a person, saying that it was a new member of the team. Tang Minjie was buried in the documents and his head was dizzy. He was a little puzzled for a while and wanted to refuse, but the other party said that the superiors had issued an order and he had to personally be responsible for the arrangement.

I don't know what kind of relationship it is, Tang Minjie thought to himself and went to the street outside. At this time, it was the evening when it was time to eat. Zizhou was a big city, and the newly established public carriage drove from one side of the street, with people getting on and off. Tang Minjie distinguished the people getting off the bus in the sunset. Soon, he saw a figure with a baggage on his back, looking around.

Tang Minjie was stunned there.

After scanning around, the other party also saw him. First he was surprised, then his eyes widened and turned into a smile, and he waved his hand hard and ran over.

In the sunset...

...That was Cheng Min.

Her appearance was dignified, and there was a familiar mole at the corner of her mouth, but at this time she smiled almost without any image, her white teeth were all exposed, and tears were about to fall, only to hear her say: "Why is it you, why is it you... Unexpectedly, it's an acquaintance..."

She bent over with laughter.

Tang Minjie blinked his eyes blankly, and he didn't know when he felt that there were vague water droplets suddenly appearing on the glasses he wore to read the books. He also laughed, not violently, but softly, like an expression that didn't belong to him.

"You... Why are you here..."

"I just came back not long ago. The superiors asked me to come over and help you..."

Cheng Min said cheerfully. Her bright voice seemed to melt into the sunlight.

Tang Minjie did not ask about the specific process afterwards.

Some things, he didn't understand clearly until a few years later.

That year, when he came back from the north, he talked about the process of betraying Chen Wenjun, and also roughly explained all the mental processes. He simply mentioned the humiliation he felt after meeting Cheng Min in Shangjing. Not long after, the team responsible for going north to try to rescue Chen Wenjun set off. Ning Yi gave them an order to order Cheng Min, who was doing intelligence work in Shangjing, to leave her job immediately after going north and return to the southwest for debriefing.

In this March when he encountered Fang Lu and was subsequently arranged for work, since Cheng Min had not yet arrived in Chengdu, Ning Yi did not tell him the news...

This is just, a small matter.