"...From the early years of opening up newsprint, to our entry into Chengdu, especially after the national attention we received last year, and the establishment of the People's Government, Chengdu's newspaper industry can be considered thriving. As of today, our statistics show that there are over two hundred and fifty different types of newspapers in Chengdu alone – including privately circulated tabloids."

"This prosperity was created after last year's opening, but now it has caused a lot of chaos. Some scholars from outside, with deep pockets, write articles that can't be published in major newspapers, so they simply create their own tabloids. Some newspapers deliberately oppose us, publishing articles without investigation, which seem to record real events, but are actually pure fabrications, just to smear us. We have banned several such newspapers, but there are still some..."

"There are also those that don't seem to be against anyone, but are purely messing around. For example, the 'Tiandu Daily'. The name sounds very formal, but many people privately say it's a 'trouble-making daily'. Bizarre stories, rumors, all kinds of fabricated news. Each issue looks like it's something, but you don't know which story to believe. The true and the false are mixed together, so the true becomes false..."

"So, these things need to be rectified. But we need a good reason. First, we need a more detailed set of regulations to govern these things. It's not that we can't write bizarre novels, but you have to clearly label them in the beginning, so as not to mislead others. The description of events and the expression of opinions need to be separated, not completely mixed together. The formulation of this set of regulations is what we will discuss next, trying to put together its first draft within the next two weeks..."

The next morning, the Propaganda Department held a meeting in a conference room on the second floor of the newly built conference building. The meeting place was bright and clean. Through the glass windows on one side, you could see the green and yellow leaves on the tree canopy outside. Rainwater gathered on the leaves, slowly dripping from the tips.

This was the most important meeting of the Propaganda Department in August, presided over by Yong Jinnian, with Shishi taking notes on the side.

"...The document on this matter was issued last month, so there are many opinions collected, which have been filed item by item here." Yong Jinnian said, patting the uniformly printed filing booklets on the side, and each participating member already had these placed beside them.

"...So, what we'll do next is put in the hard work. Every day, we'll work overtime for half a day to have meetings, discussing each item one by one, expressing our opinions, and then summarizing and discussing again. In this process, if anyone has any new ideas, they can speak up at any time. In short, this will be the basis for us to manage newspapers for many years to come. Everyone should pay attention to it and do their best."

"Okay, let's start discussing the most important one, the first article..."

Water droplets spread down the bright windows. Their route was winding and uncertain, sometimes merging with other droplets, moving quickly for a few steps, sometimes staying on a certain spot on the glass, hesitant to drip. At this time, not many people in the conference room were in the mood to pay attention to this interesting scene.

The newly built conference building had five floors in total. At this moment, crowds gathered in many conference rooms. These meetings were mostly tedious and boring, but the participants still had to muster their greatest energy to participate in them and understand everything in between. They were weaving some key things that might affect all aspects of the Southwest and even the entire country for many years to come.

If the disturbance of all things in this world is a storm, this is one of the core points of the storm. And after many years of internal peace, it may very well be the largest one.

The autumn rain briefly stopped.

Outside on the nearby street, horse-drawn carriages still clattered along. They stopped at the platforms, and people poured out of the large carriages. Crowds going forward, backward, left, and right intertwined in the square outside. Faintly, in the bushes after the rain stopped, came the voices of children calling.

The first meeting lasted the entire morning. After lunch, the most core members of the meeting, including Yong Jinnian and Li Shishi, conducted another round of closed-door summary to further sort out the direction and framework of the discussion for the next half month.

After the meeting, Yong Jinnian and Shishi laughed and talked about Yong Jinrou's pregnancy.

"...A few days ago, Qu Qing came over to deliver the self-inspection summary from Zhang Village. After the meeting, the Chairman... Haha, couldn't wait to send Qu Qing back immediately, he just... told him a lot of experiences after women get pregnant, saying that Xiaorou is not young anymore, pay attention to this, pay attention to that. Qu Qing was originally a rough man, and he was also taken aback. He ran to the military medical center to find midwives and obstetricians and asked them one by one. The midwives were very casual, saying that as long as the body is good at ordinary times, what can happen? Our Huaxia Army women are not delicate young ladies who don't go out. Qu Qing didn't know who to believe, so he had to buy a lot of tonics to take back. In fact, Xiaorou's body was not good in the past, but she has been exercised for so many years in the Huaxia Army. Now she is teaching in Zhang Village, and every teacher is watching her. What can be a big deal?"

Shishi also laughed: "He is a man, what does he know about women's affairs? This is just unnecessary worry."

"The Chairman is also concerned about people. It's just that he is a little too careful about this matter."

Shishi said: "Mrs. Jin'er has never had a child."

"Yes." Yong Jinnian nodded, "A hero may not be truly heroic, how can one not be a husband if he loves his children? This is right."

The two chatted for a few more words at this time, left the conference building, and then separated and walked in different directions. Shishi followed the road with tall trees planted on both sides and few people, heading west, passing through a gate, walking past a pond with a simple garden, it was a courtyard hidden in the woods. Shadows walked under the eaves, and in the rooms of the courtyard, different secretaries and visitors were handing over or working on documents. This was the most core point of the storm's center.

At this time in the afternoon, as long as there were no sudden events, Ning Yi would usually not be too busy. When Shishi walked over, he was sitting in a chair under the eaves, staring blankly with a cup of tea in his hand. On the tea table next to him was a simple map and paper and pens for writing and drawing.

"Is the meeting over?" Without turning his head to look at her, Ning Yi looked ahead and said with a smile.

"What are you planning again?" Shishi smiled and placed today's meeting minutes on the table. There was no extra meaning to her words, because there were many people coming and going in this office, and there was no room for doing anything private. The two of them occasionally met here, limited to reporting work or chatting.

"I'm thinking about how to write an article to scold that Jia Ding, who has been going against me in the newspaper lately, until he cries... Alas, he has a lot of dirt, but I can't expose it." Ning Yi tilted his head, revealing a "I want to cause trouble" smile. Shishi was already familiar with this side of him in private.

"Don't mess around, we are having a meeting here, be careful we issue a clause and arrest all of you who write articles anonymously."

"Don't scare me. I talked to Yong Fuzi, what's so forbidden about a pseudonym." As the de facto mastermind, Ning Yi rolled his eyes, very smug. Shishi couldn't help but laugh.

At this time, the intermittent autumn rain had stopped for a long time. Looking out from the eaves where Ning Yi was sitting, the setting sun showed a golden rainbow above the pond between the trees in the distance. The two sat and watched for a moment. Ning Yi poured her tea, and Shishi held the teacup.

"Hou Yuanyong said a few days ago that Brother Yu would come to find me, and he did come yesterday." she said.

"What interesting things happened?"

"Yan Daolun's side, there is trouble..."

Shishi sat sideways, calmly talking about the things related to Yan Daolun and Yu Hezhong. Ning Yi listened, and raised his eyebrows: "It's not a big deal to deal with Yan Daolun, but if we can hold on to him, of course it's good."

"Liu Guangshi is fighting, will there be any problems if we delay the goods for so long?"

Ning Yi turned his head to look at her: "What do you think?"

"The first thought is of course that you don't want Liu Guangshi to win easily. The longer they fight, the more money we make."

Ning Yi smiled. After a moment, he shook his head: "If this is really the case, it would be a great thing. However, Liu Guangshi has already transported a lot of military supplies to the past. To be honest, even if we don't give him anything next, it can support him to fight until next year. After all, he is rich and willing to go all out. This time the Northern Expedition to Bianliang is quite well prepared, so delaying it for a month or two is actually not a big problem overall. Liu Guangshi will not be angry about this."

"...If it's not for this reason, it's another one..."

Shishi said these words in a low voice. She did not break the guess in her heart, because it may involve many extra things, including a large number of non-public works of the intelligence department. Ning Yi could hear the prudence in her tone, but he shook his head and smiled.

"It's not a big secret, the initial deduction of the General Staff itself included this guess."

He held the teacup, looked at the pond in front, and said: "The so-called troubled times, the collapse of the world, heroes rise together, dragons and snakes rise from the land, in the beginning of this period, snakes, insects, rats and ants will all come to the stage to perform for a while, but some of them are really capable, some are in response to the times, and some are purely lucky. The uprising has become famous, which is the same as the chaos when the Central Plains fell."

"But next, snakes, insects, rats and ants will begin to bite in the Gu pot, and it is necessary to take out the truth. At this time, the rules and gameplay of the troubled times will really come out to dominate everything. Only the barrel of a gun can produce political power, who is a coward, who looks fat, but his steps are vain, and he will be gradually filtered out. This filtering has already begun."

Speaking of which, he took a sip of tea, and Shishi nodded. She remembered everything Yu Hezhong said last night, pushing up and down, making money separately... In fact, she had already seen these things in her eyes.

"...Actually yesterday, I told Brother Yu, should he move his sister-in-law and children to Chengdu."

"Look, without intelligence support, you also feel this possibility." Ning Yi said with a smile, "What was his answer?"

"He... is reluctant to leave the two confidantes here, saying that the past year has been the happiest time of his life..." Shishi looked at Ning Yi and said helplessly.

Ning Yi nodded: "If there are no major events, there are still days to live, but once Liu Guangshi is out, he may not have such a moist life now."

"He has money, and he has invested money to build factories and workshops. In addition, he has taken over the relationship with Yan Daolun and others to transport the population in from the outside."

Ning Yi took a sip of tea: "This is quite smart..."

"He is in partnership with Li Rulai..."

"Cough cough cough..." Ning Yi put the teacup aside, coughed several times, pressed his forehead and didn't know whether to laugh or scold, then said: "This... this also... forget it, you can persuade him in the future, when doing business, do more with conscience, money cannot be earned all the time... maybe there will be no big deal..."

"Yesterday he told me that if Liu Guangshi's affair is done, Yan Daolun will have a reward, and he also said he would help me invest in Li Rulai's business. I'm thinking, is it possible to make a record first, once Li Rulai has an accident, change it anyway, these money, give him a lesson."

Ning Yi thought for a while, and shook his head.

"It's better not to, once things involve you at this level, the truth can't be explained, then you put yourself in it, pull him out, the morality is exhausted, but who will believe you? If this thing is changed, in order to protect you, you have to kill him... Of course I don't mean this, this thing should be able to suppress it, but... why bother?"

Shishi nodded: "Then I'll think of other ways."

"Yeah."

The two sat quietly for a while, and Shishi said: "...Do you really think Liu Guangshi will lose? That is to say, dragging on for a month or two, just to rely on these two bills? I thought it was a bigger strategy..."

"Two bills are also a lot, it is already a big strategy." Ning Yi said with a smile, "As for Liu Guangshi, there is certainly no conclusive evidence, but according to the information sent back from the front line, although Zou Xu betrayed, he is still very strict with the discipline of his subordinates, Chen Shiquan and Yin Zong, the two big landlords, were almost hollowed out by him, and they were selling pots and irons to bet on this one. His troops have combat power, and after Liu Guangshi crossed the river, several small victories gradually turned into big victories. We think that Zou Xu is holding back bad..."

"Private festivals are private, but Zou Xu, in the big strategy, has his abilities. From the beginning of the first battle, what he seeks must be a complete victory. Now we are too far away from Bianliang to predict where he will put his winning hand, but if it is a speculation without anger, 90% of the people in the staff who know him buy him to win."

Ning Yi turned his head: "So now I don't know how he will win, but it is estimated that he will win."

"...Can't you intervene and let them fight for a while?"

"It's too far away. We initially tried to help Liu Guangshi to make up for some shortcomings. But you look at Yan Daolun and others, and you can see clearly... At the real strategic level, Liu Guangshi is a very fat man, but he is full of flaws. We can't block so many flaws, and Zou Xu only needs to punch one of the flaws to kill him. We have no ability to help him predict which flaw will be hit, so I have been emphasizing acceleration in the early sales, you guys will transport things here as soon as possible, pay quickly, and now... drag two months to count two months, if he is lucky enough not to die, the business will continue to be done, anyway, this matter was made by their people."

Ning Yi paused: "So this is a pig teammate. In the next wave, not to mention other small warlords who don't understand, Wu Qimei, Tie Yan, and Liu Guangshi, once the real swords and guns start, the list of the first round of elimination is mostly them. I guess, if He Wen can still stand after the martial arts conference in Jiangning, Wu Qimei and Tie Yan will be killed."

Speaking of which, he tapped his finger on the small map of the tea table. Shishi looked down, and saw that there were indeed many symbols marked on the small map, probably representing a certain force, all lined up around Jiangning. Ning Yi did not mark as many things in the direction of Bianliang as in Jiangning.

"So you are thinking about the matter here." She smiled, "Jiangning is so lively, and it's still a martial arts conference. I heard that Lin Pangpang also went there. Do you actually want to join in the fun?"

Ning Yi sighed: "Just thinking about it when I'm bored."

"I haven't been back for many years, I don't know what it will look like."

"After several massacres, it is estimated that you can't see the original appearance." Ning Yi looked at the map, "However, someone is helping to see... it is estimated that it is almost there..."

He said this softly, and Shishi only thought that he was talking about the working group that was rumored to be sent to Jiangning. At this time, he talked to Ning Yi about the memories of when he was there. Then the two stood under the eaves and talked for a while.

This is a peaceful courtyard in the autumn afternoon, with people coming and going nearby, and the voices of speaking are also plain, but Shishi knows in her heart what kind of information will appear here. At this moment in August, the seventh army is rectifying from top to bottom, the conspiracy against Liu Guangshi is underway, and the promotion of "Good Learning" by the Ministry of Education inside and outside the city is underway. The work of countless departments, large and small, of the same level, will extend here.

And including the Propaganda Department, a major meeting related to the development of the newspaper industry for the next few years or even decades is not enough to become a formal report because it has just begun.

The center of the storm is always calm. They sometimes talked about some homely things. The sun fell, and the fish in the small pond touched the water, spitting out a bubble. And only in places that are truly far away from here, on a scale of tens of miles, hundreds of miles, or thousands of miles, will the sweep of the hurricane erupt into truly enormous destructive power. There, the sound of cannons rumbled, swords and guns saw red, and blood flowed into a red fertile field, where people were ready to go and began to confront each other.

That is the scene that has already bloomed north of the Yangtze River. Next, this huge storm will also descend on the long-awaited...

——Ancient City Jiangning.