Insufficient balance

  Looking at the manuscript in front of him, Chen Ke was extremely dissatisfied. This had been revised several times already, and yet Chen Ke still wanted to start all over again. Chen Ke knew why he was so dissatisfied - it was because in this manuscript, he still hadn't spoken the "truth".

  When Chen Ke went to see Xue Xilun, he wrote a lengthy article. In that draft, Chen Ke didn't need to say anything "true", all he needed to do was write something that Xue Xilun could understand. "Seeking truth from facts" doesn't mean you have to "tell the truth". It means you should be able to understand the other person's needs and know what they desire. To put it bluntly, Xue Xilun is a rich revolutionary, his wealth came from the old system. Xue Xilun hoped to overthrow the Qing dynasty, but that didn't mean he would agree to destroy the old system.

  Chen Ke's goal was to gain Xu Xilin's support, not to guide him onto the true path of revolution. To achieve this purpose, Chen Ke had to speak according to Xu Xilin's ideal expectations, making Xu believe that he was a "like-minded" comrade. Of course, "Mr. Daoxue" can say that Chen Ke is a "master of lies", but such an evaluation is meaningless to Chen Ke himself, as he has always adhered to the theory of "seeking truth from facts". In the end, Chen Ke achieved his goal.

  His association with Qiu Jin, his association with Cai Yuanpei and Tao Chengzhang, including his association with Hua Xiongmao, You Lun, Zhou Yuanyao, and Qi Huishen. Chen Ke had to be like a chameleon, showing each person what they wanted to see. This was also an attitude of being practical.

  The speech in front of him made Chen Ke feel very embarrassed. Knowledge is power, but power does not equal justice. A kitchen knife is a necessary tool for cooking delicious food, and it can also be a deadly weapon. From a pragmatic point of view, Chen Ke firmly believed that after learning the knowledge he imparted, there would inevitably be people who chose a different path from his own.

  As a communist and an inheritor of Chinese culture, Chen Ke knew the story of Shang Yang's changes. Shang Yang first used the Emperor's Way to move Qin Xiao Gong, but was called by Qin Xiao Gong as "How can he be a nonsense person." Shang Yang used the Kingly Way to move Qin Xiao Gong, and Qin Xiao Gong thought that "This man is okay, can talk together". Shang Yang finally used the Hegemonic Way to move Qin Xiao Gong, and Qin Xiao Gong was excited to talk with Shang Yang for several days and nights.

  Chen Ke believed that his own knowledge encompassed the "Imperial Way", the "Kingly Way" and the "Hegemonic Way". He pessimistically thought that these comrades would inevitably prefer the "Hegemonic Way". Chen Ke had little contact with contemporary intellectuals. Even in such a short period of time, the vast majority of people believed that as long as China underwent a revolution, it could become a first-rate power overnight. They did not understand the world and therefore did not know the true gap between China and the major powers. If Chen Ke made this enormous gap clear to them, how many would actually join a "people's revolution" that destroyed all old systems, rather than joining a "bourgeois revolution"?

  Chen Ke was not confident about this.

  "Is this the manuscript for today's lecture?" Qi Hui walked in from outside. He picked up a sheet and took a look, but only saw the title. He looked at several other sheets as well, all of which were just titles.

  Qī Huìshēn furrowed his brow, ever since he met Chen Ke, Qī Huìshēn felt that Chen Ke was different from the others. It was a fundamental difference, compared to the overseas students he had seen before, they were always complaining about something - the sky, the earth, or the air. They would complain about not having enough money, being unable to start a factory, or that equipment was too expensive and insufficient, or that workers were lazy. This was still considered somewhat capable. Those who were discontented would curse heaven and earth, saying that they were talented but had no opportunities, bumping into walls everywhere. Next would inevitably be a torrent of complaints about the imperial court and foreign powers. Finally, with gritted teeth, they would vow to revolutionize, overthrow the Qing dynasty, and drive out the foreigners.

  It's the same with this batch of "revolutionaries". Once they have the opportunity to mix into officialdom, join a foreign firm, they immediately become arrogant and domineering. Although when drinking privately, they still curse, but at this time what they curse is how their superiors are bastards, how foreigners are bastards, so that they can't get benefits. This is also why Qi Hui's father was deeply disgusted with Qi Hui making revolution.

  At first, Qi Hui Shen thought that the imperial court and foreigners were indeed a bunch of idiots, but he felt that this conclusion was correct, although the reasoning process was completely wrong. Those two were indeed idiots, but not the kind that those former "revolutionary comrades" had said. Qi Hui Shen always hoped to figure out where the mistake lay, no matter how many "revolutionary comrades" he befriended or how many "learned" people he asked, yet he never got a satisfactory answer. Until he met Chen Ke.

  The night he was beaten and dragged into an unfamiliar courtyard, really scared Qi Hui deeply. However, after understanding that it was a misunderstanding, and learning that Chen Ke was actually a "revolutionary party member", Qi Hui initially didn't believe it. How could someone busy working in the workshop be a "revolutionary party member"? In Qi Hui's experience with revolution, revolutionary parties were always idle. People who had nothing to do would go join revolutions, but those who had real work to do, who would go join revolutions?

  Qī Huìshēn had been following the revolution for too long, and couldn't find a way to continue it for too long either. He even repeatedly asked his father for money to go study in Japan. A father knows his son best, Qī Sī'ěr's old man was very clear that his son's intention wasn't to study abroad, but rather to go to Japan to look for "revolutionary comrades". So he completely cut off Qī Huìshēn's financial support.

  It was a coincidence that Chen Ke met, in Qi Hui's deep eyes, it was just a huge question mark. In Qi Hui, who had no other way to go, he could only take a gamble. Perhaps this unusual "revolutionary party" could explain the many doubts that Qi Hui had always had.

  Qihui Shen felt that he had gambled correctly. Chen Ke's lectures each time could reveal some of the problems that Qihui Shen couldn't understand, making him admire them endlessly. Chen Ke's style also made Qihui Shen extremely admire him. Not only did Chen Ke hold meetings for others, but when Chen Ke was exhausted and went to rest, others would also hold private meetings. Chen Ke, who could start from scratch with just a few dozen taels of silver, was someone that Qihui Shen had never seen before. For the sake of a colleague, Chen Ke could go without sleep for several days, risking his life to make medicine, which was also something that Qihui Shen had never seen before. In this workshop, there were no sighs or complaints, nor was there any blaming of heaven or others, only work and laughter. This should be what "revolution" is, this should be what "revolutionary comrades" are.

  Regarding Chen Ke's re-start of lectures, Qi Hui Shen was extremely delighted. To be honest, regarding the first few days of Chen Ke's lectures, Qi Hui Shen was very dissatisfied. Compared to Chen Ke's previous inspiring courses, these recent lectures lacked his usual flair. The content often contradicted itself and was unclear. Although no one directly said it in class, privately, whether it was Qi Hui Shen, You Yun, Hua Xiong Mao, or even Zhou Yuan Xiao, they had all been very dissatisfied for a long time.

  After hesitating for a while, Qi Hui finally spoke up, "Wen Qing, I have something that I don't know whether I should say or not."

  "We're all comrades, what's there to say or not say?"

  "What the literati say has always given me a feeling of wanting to speak but stopping short. I don't know what unspeakable secrets they have."

  Chen Ke was slightly taken aback, and Qi Hui's words were not spoken lightly. It seemed that he had been thinking this way for a long time and couldn't hold it in anymore. Moreover, the other comrades around them probably had similar thoughts. Since that was the case, Chen Ke decided to speak the truth.

  "I'm afraid of leading everyone astray."

  "Led astray?" Zhi Hui Shen was quite perplexed by the subtle wording. He tentatively asked: "Is it that the literary youth have led us astray, or is it that our knowledge is insufficient, and we've gone astray?"

  "I would rather compare myself to Xunzi, but two of Xunzi's most famous students were Han Fei and Li Si."

  "What happened to them?" Zhi Hui didn't have a deep understanding of ancient Chinese history and couldn't comprehend the metaphor.

  "Xunzi was a great Confucian master of the Warring States period, while Han Fei and Li Si were representatives of the Legalist school. Han Fei's legalist theories won the approval of Qin Shi Huang and were put into practice. Li Si was the prime minister of Qin Shi Huang and also implemented the techniques of the Legalist school."

  "What then? The teacher and apprentice had a falling out?" Qi Hui still didn't understand Chen Ke's meaning.

  "That's not the case. Although those two men were disciples of Xunzi, they only learned a part of their teacher's knowledge and applied it in completely different directions. The Qin dynasty unified the world, abolished enfeoffment, established prefectures and counties, standardized writing and axle tracks. For all eternity, people would bathe in the benevolence of the ancestral dragon. However, Xunzi had long said that within the Qin system there were major structural contradictions, and once they unified the world, these contradictions would thoroughly erupt. Indeed, the Qin dynasty collapsed after two generations. In what I have learned, there is the Way of Kings and the Way of Hegemons. What I worry about is that everyone does not want to take the difficult path of the Way of Kings, but instead chooses the expedient and selfish path of the Way of Hegemons."

  "Originally, the literary youth were worried about this." Qi Hui said with a deep smile.

  "Facing this Huarong Road, why does the Prime Minister smile?"

  "I laugh at Zhuge Wenqing's ignorance of military strategy." Qi Hui also responded with a phrase, "Justice is in the hearts of men. Does Xunzi only have two disciples?"

  "Many disciples."

  "Are Han Fei and Li Si the only famous ones?"

  "That's right."

  "Can Xunzi's argument be known to people?"

  "After Qin, China's politics actually made quite a few uses of Xunzi's propositions."

  "Since Xunzi advocates for the ultimate goal of practicing his way, why doesn't Wenyang teach everyone what he knows? We don't know what Wenyang wants to teach, so how can we know who is right or wrong between the Wang Dao and Ba Dao that Wenyang talks about? Wenyang, you are being so ambiguous, it's making us anxious. Is this what Wenyang means by 'being honest with comrades'?"

  Zi Hui's words were already considered frank, and in fact, Chen Ke had originally planned to teach everyone everything he knew.

  "If you want me to give a lecture, that's fine. But since Hui Shen has mentioned Xunzi having many students, this matter of running the school still needs to be promoted by Hui Shen." Chen Ke smiled and said.

  "Is Wen Qing really going to pour out all his knowledge?" Qi Hui's eyes lit up with excitement.

  "If you want to hear me lecture, it's not that easy."

  "What instructions does Brother Wenqing have?" Qi Hui quickly sat down and picked up his pen.

  "Gather your friends who you think can attend the class, and have Youshuang gather her friends who she thinks can attend the class as well. Also, we need to post some posters saying that our school is going to open and teachers will give trial lectures. We welcome parents who want their kids to study in our school to bring their kids to attend the class. Moreover, the advertisement says that we also have a night school for workers, and we welcome willing worker brothers to come and attend the class."

  "Should intellectuals be lecturing them on revolution?" Qi Hui felt that Chen Ke had become very strange.

  "Tell them about revolution? That's openly inciting counter-revolution. I'm not that stupid. I teach some basic courses, like how to understand the world."

  "What does this have to do with revolution?" Zhi Hui couldn't understand deeply.

  "How can I become a revolutionary? If you don't have a correct view of the world, you cannot become a revolutionary. A revolutionary must have some basic understanding of the world. I'm telling you this because it's essential for your education. This is the foundation of everything."

  Although Zhi Hui Shen didn't quite understand, he still nodded his head.

  "By the way, how's my Shanghainese now? Can everyone understand me?" Chen Ke asked.

  "I think it's okay, actually the official language of Wenqing is also good."

  "We're going to put up posters anyway. Many of those who come to listen are locals, I speak Mandarin, but they may not necessarily understand it. When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

  This sounds like the familiar Chen Ke of Qihui, with meticulous thinking and considering problems as thoroughly as possible.

  "It's deep, I'll list a course schedule now, different classes have different lecture times. Let's discuss it together in a while."

  "Okay, I'll go confirm the flyer thing first."

  Having someone in a higher position makes all the difference. A few days ago, he obtained the British documents and had no problem at all with the local authorities in Shanghai. Although the documents required the Shanghai authorities to approve the land allocation and pay for it, Chi Hui-shen wisely did not mention this matter. The school's documentation and hospital's documentation were all processed quickly. On paper, the Shanghai Ren Xin Medical College was officially established.

  The affiliated hospital was one of the earliest to open, and in these days, Wu Xingchen's medicine sales were very good. In just over a dozen days, he had treated more than sixty people. The doctor Wang Qinyan found by You Huan, killed one person. Fortunately, they signed a contract before treating the illness, and since the patient was an unmarried Tian Di Hui helper, things didn't get out of hand.

  Chen Ke was quite grateful to Wu Xingchen at this time. Wu Xingchen had already let go of the words, "This medicine is too potent, and it's estimated that one out of ten people will die." Each patient was repeatedly informed of this fact before receiving treatment. So, in the end, they were able to resolve the matter peacefully.

  In this day and age, syphilis is an incurable disease. Having medicine to treat it is already a blessing. Not to mention that at least nine out of ten people can survive. This rate is a revolutionary progress compared to the traditional treatment methods in the past.

  Qihui Shen had never seen such a bright and open advertisement, only the content changed from revolutionary propaganda to advertisements. The manual screen printing machine was newly bought and worked very smoothly. Qihui Shen was tirelessly pushing the handle when suddenly there was a commotion outside. He poked his head out to take a look and saw several foreigners shouting something at the door.

  The hospital was just an ordinary courtyard with a two-story building. A door curtain with a red cross hung on the gate. Some disinfectant water was sprinkled in the yard, and Wang Qinyan had been practicing medicine outside for days, so there was no one inside the hospital at all. Besides the foreign devil, there was also an interpreter next to him. Seeing Qi Huishen come out, he asked with a high tone: "Are you a doctor?"

  "The doctor is not in." Qi Hui replied coldly. Upon closer inspection, several foreigners were found to be suffering from venereal diseases. Each of their faces and mouths had festering sores, a rather disgusting sight.

  "Come back again after tomorrow. There are no doctors on duty today or tomorrow." Qi Hui Shen said bluntly.

  Qiwu Shen's expression was not weak at all, and his words already had the intention of driving people away. He quickly turned around and said a few words to the foreigner, which was beyond Qiwu Shen's expectation. The foreigner shouted a few sentences at the translator, then smiled kindly at Qiwu Shen. Although the smile was very polite, it was even more disgusting when combined with those big scars. Qiwu Shen was also a graduate of the Foreign Language School, and his English did not lose out. Those foreigners were very dissatisfied with the translator's attitude. However, Qiwu Shen was too lazy to bother with the foreigner, and he pretended not to understand what the foreigner was saying.

  After being shouted at, his swagger immediately disappeared. He also forced a smile and said: "May I ask how to address this gentleman?"

  "My name is Qi Hui Shen, I'm the Dean of the Medical School. I am not a doctor, I don't treat illnesses."

  "Mr. Natsuki, when will the doctor be back?" The translation asked with a fake smile.

  After all, this hospital also has a British title, so Qi Huishen didn't dare to refuse the foreigner. He took out his pocket watch and looked at it, 11:40. Wang Qinyan said he would come to pick up the medicine at noon. It's about time for him to return now. Qi Huishen replied, "You wait a little while longer, the doctor will probably be back."

  The hospital didn't even have an outpatient department, and although Chen Ke had included this item in the construction plan, he was now too busy with his medical practice to attend to it. He casually found a sickroom and let a few people enter. Qi Hui Shen had heard Chen Ke describe the transmission routes of venereal diseases before, and he felt disgusted, so he left the room himself. At this moment, Wang Qi Nian had already returned. Qi Hui Shen briefly explained things to Wang Qi Nian, then quickly hid back in the printing room to continue printing his own flyers.

  The printing hadn't gone on for long when a commotion broke out from the ward. It wasn't exactly a commotion, but the translator was almost screaming in the room. A few foreigners were also speaking, but their voices weren't loud. Qi Hui sighed deeply, how could these messy things not be resolved? He had no choice but to go and settle it. Similar to what Qi Hui thought, Wang Qinyan told the foreigners that they must sign a waiver contract. The medicine might cause the patient's death. When the foreigners didn't say anything, the translator started wailing first.

  Wang Qianian has had people sign this kind of contract many times before, and he unyieldingly tells the translator that it's either signing the contract to get treatment or getting out. Pretending not to understand is no longer an option. Qi Hui asks in English, "Ladies and gentlemen, our rule is either you sign the contract or leave. There are no other options. Especially for you foreigners, we can't afford to offend you."

  The foreigner and the interpreter did not expect that the man in front of them, wearing a deep blue short-sleeved shirt with his sleeves rolled up high and with ink stains on his hands, could speak fluent English.

  The foreigners inquired about the efficacy of the medicine, and Qi Hui-sheng told them that it was very potent, with a mortality rate of nearly one in ten. The foreigners thought for a while, discussed it again, and finally agreed. Qi Hui-sheng had Wang Qi-nian follow him to the printing room, took out the printed receipts, and set a price of 10 pounds per person for the medicine.

  "This price..." Wang Qiniann hesitated and stopped speaking.

  "Does Mr. Wang think the price is high?" Qizui asked deeply.

  "I think it's too low." Wang Qiniann replied honestly.

  "It's just two shots at this price, and it's not even the full course. I think it's very reasonable." Qi Hui said lightly.

  "That makes sense." Wang Qiniang replied.

  Qī Huì stared at Wáng Qǐ Nián for a few moments, seeing that when Wáng Qǐ Nián talked about money, he didn't seem to care. He was quite curious. But what needs attention now is the foreign devil outside, and the investigation can only be discussed later.

  This price is really expensive, and Qi Hui Shen doesn't quite believe that the foreign devils can afford this price. The reason for setting this price is first because it was the price that Chen Ke strongly advocated for at the meeting. Secondly, Qi Hui Shen didn't particularly want to treat the foreign devils. If they were scared off by this price, it would be a wonderful thing.

  As expected by Qi Hui Shen, after finishing reading the English prescription, five foreigners' faces showed a difficult expression, and they began to whisper together.

  Get out of here quickly, Zhi will think deeply about it.

  The discussion finally came to an end, and a foreigner who was the most seriously ill stood up and said, "I'll sign first."

  Although Qihui was disappointed in his heart, he didn't have the nerve to drive the patient away. Seeing the foreigner sign a waiver contract and pay 10 pounds, Qihui invited Wang Qiannian to start treating the foreigner.