The convoy entered the city with the last rays of twilight, heading towards a courtyard with green walls and gray tiles on the east side of the city as the night gradually fell.

The first batch of people brought by Lao Niutou totaled fourteen, mostly core department staff who survived by following Chen Shanjun and others during the turmoil. Among them, eight originally had Huaxia Army identities, while the remaining six were staff members promoted after the equal land distribution. There were guards who appeared to be reckless and young orderlies who served tea and water to Chen Shanjun and others. Their positions were not necessarily high, but they were rescued and brought along due to circumstances.

These fourteen people were arranged in this two-courtyard compound. The soldiers responsible for guarding them announced the rules: one room per person, no random movement allowed for the time being, no random conversations allowed for the time being… a form similar to imprisonment. However, the people who had just escaped the turmoil of Lao Niutou didn't have much to complain about at the moment.

Not long after everyone entered their rooms, simple meals were delivered. After dinner, the night in Chengdu was quiet. The people confined to their rooms were confused and anxious, unsure of how the Huaxia Army would deal with them. Li Ximing repeatedly checked the arrangement of the room, carefully listened to the outside, and sighed as he brewed himself a pot of tea. Chen Shanjun in the next room was just sitting quietly.

Around Hai hour (9-11 PM), they heard footsteps coming in from outside, about seven or eight people. The leader first walked to Chen Shanjun's door and knocked. Chen Shanjun opened the door and saw Ning Yi standing outside in a black military overcoat. He whispered something to the person next to him, then waved them away.

"Mr. Ning..." Chen Shanjun looked at him and slowly gave a salute. Ning Yi returned the salute: "You look much older." His gaze was calm, without accusation or judgment, nor the smugness of "I told you so," but a solemnity in the calmness. Chen Shanjun opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"Shall we go inside and talk?" Ning Yi said.

Chen Shanjun moved aside: "Please come in, please come in..."

The room was simply furnished, but it had tables and chairs, hot water, teacups, and tea leaves. Ning Yi walked into the room and sat down, picked up a teacup, and started making tea. With the sound of porcelain clinking, he spoke directly.

"Your isolation won't last too long. I've arranged for Chen Zhusheng and others to come and take your first round of statements, mainly to avoid anyone among you today who has bullied men and women or committed bloody crimes. And for the first impression of this Lao Niutou incident, I hope it can be as objective as possible. You all came from the center of the turmoil, and your views on things are mostly different, but if you have a conscious discussion, this concept will converge..."

As Ning Yi spoke, he placed the large porcelain cup in front of Chen Shanjun. Chen Shanjun was still a little confused as he listened: "Statements..."

"There must be a review after success, and lessons after failure, so that we are not completely without gain."

"Lao Niutou..." Chen Shanjun murmured, then slowly pushed away the stool beside him and knelt down, "I, I am the biggest criminal..."

Ning Yi crossed his fingers on the table, sighed, and didn't go to help the almost completely white-haired loser in front of him: "But Lao Chen... what's the use of you kneeling to me..."

The sigh dissipated in the air. The room was quiet, and tears flowed from Chen Shanjun's eyes, falling on the ground with a pattering sound.

Ning Yi was silent for a long time before looking out the window and speaking: "Two circuit court teams received orders today and have already gone to Lao Niutou. They will record the crimes of those troublemakers they catch next as soon as possible. In the meantime, their views on Lao Niutou and your views will also be recorded. If you have indeed done things that are harmful and unreasonable for your own selfish desires, you will be dealt with accordingly, and there will be no leniency, so you can think clearly about how to speak next..."

He paused: "But apart from that, regarding your adventure in Lao Niutou... I don't know how to evaluate it yet."

"Of course it is a crime." Chen Shanjun stood up slowly, holding the stool. His tone was firm when he said this, "It was me who encouraged them to go to Lao Niutou together, it was me who used the wrong methods, it was me who killed so many people. Since I made the decision, of course I am guilty—"

"You used the wrong methods..." Ning Yi looked at him, "Where did you go wrong?"

"Lao Niutou... so many mistakes, I... if I..." Speaking of this, Chen Shanjun shook his head in pain, seemingly wanting to express it simply and clearly, but he couldn't make an accurate summary for a moment.

"Lao Chen, you don't have to tell me today." Ning Yi said, "I will send Chen Zhusheng and others to record your testimony as soon as possible, and record what happened in Lao Niutou. In addition to you fourteen people, a large number of testimonies will also be recorded, whether they are guilty or innocent. I hope that someone can summarize what happened in Lao Niutou and what you did wrong in the future. And on your side, Lao Chen, your views will have a long time to slowly think about and slowly summarize..."

"I shouldn't be alive..."

"You may not be able to live! Chen Shanjun, do you think I care about your life or death!?" Ning Yi stared at him.

Chen Shanjun was stunned.

Ning Yi said: "If you really did something that deserved to die in Lao Niutou for your own selfish desires, I will immediately execute you! But at the same time, Chen Shanjun, is the ideal of Datong (Great Harmony) wrong? Is the ideal of equality for all wrong? You failed once, and you think these ideas are all wrong?"

"..." Chen Shanjun shook his head, "No, these ideas are not wrong."

"Yes, these ideas are not wrong. What's wrong with Lao Niutou? It failed to get things done. What's wrong is naturally the method." Ning Yi said, "Before you did things, I reminded you of the issue of long-term interests and short-term interests. The driving force behind all actions in this world is needs. Needs generate interests. A person needs to eat today, wants to go out to play tomorrow, and wants to satisfy his phase-related needs within a year. In the biggest concept, everyone wants the Great Harmony..."

"But long-term interests and short-term interests cannot be completely unified. A person living by the water wants to eat and play today, but half a year later, floods will wash away his home, so he takes time out today to repair the river embankment. If the world is not peaceful and the governance is problematic, his daily life will also be affected. Some people will study to become officials. If you want to do something with long-term benefits, it will inevitably harm your short-term benefits, so everyone will balance their expenses on something..."

"Lao Niutou started by dividing the land of the landlords and distributing the property equally. You said that it was to achieve fairness in the means of production, but the short-term interests of everyone in the middle were greatly satisfied. After a few months, no matter what they do, they will not get such great satisfaction. This huge gap will make people bad. Either they start to become lazy, or they rack their brains to find ways to obtain the same huge short-term benefits, such as abusing their power for personal gain. The acquisition of short-term benefits cannot last for a long time, there is a blank in the mid-term benefits, and then a long-term benefit that may only be realized in a hundred or several decades is promised, so it collapsed..."

Ning Yi looked at him: "I thought of this principle, and I also saw that everyone is driven by their own needs, so I want to develop Gewu Zhi Xue (investigation of things) first, and first try to expand productivity, so that one person can抵 (compare) several or even dozens of people, and try to make things abundant, and people will know honor and disgrace when they are well-fed and clothed... Just like some landlords we see, the saying that the poor are计 (scheming) and the rich have良心 (conscience), so that everyone can satisfy themselves and have a little more conscience..."

Chen Shanjun shook his head: "But such people..."

"You want to say they are not really kind." Ning Yi sneered, "But where are the truly kind people? Chen Shanjun, people are just a kind of animal! People have their own habits and change into different appearances under different environments and rules. Maybe in some environments, they can become better, and what we pursue is this better. Under some rules and premises, people can be more equal, and we pursue more equality. All things have spirits, but heaven and earth are not benevolent, Lao Chen. No one can truly get rid of their temperament. The reason why you choose to pursue the greater self and give up the smaller self is only because you regard the greater self as a higher need."

The room quieted down. Ning Yi tapped his fingers on the table a few times: "So, Chen Shanjun, is my idea correct? Can my path... work?"

Chen Shanjun raised his head: "You..." What he saw was a calm face without an answer.

Ning Yi stood up and put the lid on the teacup: "Your ideas took away more than a thousand members of the Huaxia Army. He Wen in Jiangnan, under the banner of dividing poverty and wealth, has already raised an army of hundreds of thousands of people. From here onwards, the Fang La Uprising said that the law is equal and there is no high or low. Before that, there were countless uprisings, all shouting this slogan... If we don't summarize and summarize time after time, the word equality will always be an unattainable pie in the sky. Chen Shanjun, I don't care about your life..."

Ning Yi looked at him, his eyes seemed to have both fiery flames and cold ice at the same time.

"I don't care about your life." He repeated, "For the fire you lit in Lao Niutou, the Huaxia Army gave you a way out and resources despite being stretched thin. One thousand people is neither too many nor too few. If there were these one thousand people, many of the heroes who died in the Southwest War might still be alive... I have paid so much to explore this path for you, and I want to summarize its truth for future pathfinders to use."

He paused: "Lao Chen, every change in this world will shed blood. Going from today to the world of Datong will never happen overnight. From today onwards, countless blood will be shed. Failed changes will make the blood flow in vain. Because there will be bloodshed, will we not change? Because we want to change, do we not care about bloodshed? We must cherish every bloodshed and let it have lessons and generate experience. If you want to atone for your sins, if you are lucky enough not to die this time, then leave me with true reflection and lessons."

"Think carefully these days." After Ning Yi finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the door.

……

The autumn wind was rustling, blowing through the courtyard in the night.

After leaving Chen Shanjun's room, Ning Yi went to Li Ximing's room next door. For this double agent who was caught out early on, Ning Yi didn't need to lay too much groundwork. He briefly explained the entire arrangement and asked Li Ximing to recall and explain in detail what he had seen and heard in Lao Niutou in the past two years, including the reasons for the problems and the reasons for the failure of Lao Niutou. Since this was originally a scholar with ideas and knowledge, it was not difficult to summarize these.

However, after the matter was finished, Li Ximing surprisingly opened his mouth. He was a little timid at first, but then he plucked up the courage to make a decision: "Mr. Ning, I have an idea, and I dare to ask Mr. Ning to agree."

"Hmm?" Ning Yi looked at him.

Since he had started speaking, Li Ximing's expression gradually became calm: "Student... came to the Huaxia Army because of a conversation with Li Dexin. Originally, I just wanted to be an internal respondent and do some sabotage in the Huaxia Army, but in the past two years, influenced by Mr. Chen in Lao Niutou, I have slowly figured out some things... Mr. Ning split Lao Niutou off, and now he is sending people to record it and seek experience from the beginning. His mind is not small..."

"Get to the point and don't flatter me."

"...I will make a record of the things in Lao Niutou one by one. After the record is completed, I want to go to Fuzhou, find Li Dexin, and tell him about the affairs of the Southwest one by one. I heard that the new ruler has been enthroned in Fuzhou, and He Wen and others have raised the Fair Party in Jiangnan. What we have seen and heard in Lao Niutou may be helpful to them..."

Li Ximing was originally not young. Because he had been threatened to work as an undercover agent for a long time, he had difficulty straightening his back at first. After he finished speaking these thoughts, his eyes became firm. Ning Yi looked at him coldly. After a long time, he retracted his gaze, pressed on the table, and stood up.

"Next, I will give you two months to leave behind everything you need to leave behind, and then go back to Fuzhou and tell Li Pin everything... If you don't play tricks in the meantime, your family and dogs will be safe."

Ning Yi's language was cold. He left the room. Behind him, Li Ximing, with his sideburns slightly white, folded his hands and bowed deeply to Ning Yi's back.

Ning Yi left this ordinary courtyard. A group of exhausted people in the courtyard were waiting for the next review. Soon, the things they brought would go to different directions in the world. Under the dark sky, a dream started unsteadily and fell to the ground. Ning Yi knew that countless people would grow old in this dream. People would be in pain, bleed, and give their lives. People would be tired, dazed, and speechless in it.

But apart from moving forward, what other path is there?

……

The carriage, illuminated by the lights, passed through the streets of the city and went to the distant place in the blur. In the sky, the Milky Way flowed.

For the small things under this sky, the pace of the galaxy never lingered. In the blink of an eye, the night passed. On the morning of July 24th, in a corner of the vast land, Wanyan Qingjue heard the order to assemble.

He and the Jurchen generals and elites went out of the barracks, driven by the Huaxia Army, gathered in the square, and then the Huaxia Army put shackles on them.

"It's time to hit the road."

The Huaxia Army officer said this.

Wanyan Qingjue knew that they would become part of the Huaxia Army's Chengdu prisoner dedication...