Zhong Yifu didn't want to argue with He Rui, but hearing He Rui talk about cooperating with Britain, the nameless fire in his heart couldn't be held back and had to be forcibly suppressed.

He heard He Rui say to Xu Jia, "Britain has Morrison of *The Times*. We also need to find journalists who can publish news in major French newspapers. It would be best if journalists from *Le Figaro* are willing to cooperate..."

Zhong Yifu really couldn't bear it and finally exploded a little. "Chairman, isn't doing this too servile? Even if we really support Britain, cooperation is enough; why make such a noise in the newspapers... I even feel ashamed."

The group of young officers looked at Zhong Yifu, but no one spoke. He Rui knew this was because the young officers felt the same way as Zhong Yifu. He laughed. "This proves you are immature in struggle and still can't help using that set of moral judgments. International politics is about the principle of strength."

"I think those foreign devils are all bastards morally," Zhong Yifu finally exploded.

He Rui didn't give Zhong Yifu a chance to vent and asked directly, "Yifu, what is the population of Britain?"

Zhong Yifu was stunned. Xu Jia here was still calm and answered, "About 40 million."

He Rui continued to ask, "Not counting the elderly and children, and the number of women in the army can be ignored. How many soldiers do you think Britain can mobilize, Yifu?"

Zhong Yifu frowned, not knowing what He Rui wanted to say for a moment. Xu Jia calculated calmly and answered, "Probably between 6 to 7 million."

Now Zhong Yifu also felt something was wrong. After a little mental calculation, he was a bit dazed. "One out of six for the entire population?"

Xu Jia and Hu Xiushan remained calm, while Zheng Silang had the same expression as Zhong Yifu; both were shocked by this terrible ratio.

"Without our help, the Allied Powers can still fight on and win the war. Can everyone understand now why we need to propagate more in British and French domestic newspapers? Facing the torment of war, the Allied Powers need support. Even if this support is more spiritual, the Allied Powers will need it."

Zhong Yifu was puffing with rage but found he could completely understand what He Rui was saying. After adjusting his mindset for a while, Zhong Yifu continued to ask, "Chairman, I know helping people means sending charcoal in snowy weather. But if we develop ourselves in this process, will those people in the Allied Powers not know?"

He Rui laughed. "If we don't have strong production capacity, how can we help the Allied Powers? If we just sell them a few hundred military uniforms, isn't that making a joke of ourselves?"

"Chairman, I'm talking about our own development. For liberation, we have to cooperate with Britain and France..." Speaking of this, Zhong Yifu paused. He found his train of thought was indeed different from He Rui's. After thinking for a while longer, Zhong Yifu suddenly realized. Although there was some hesitation in his tone, he began to speak righteously, "If we are not strong, we can't help even if we want to. To help better, of course, we have to let Britain and France help us develop industry. This... this is a matter of course."

He Rui looked at the other young officers. Seeing that everyone also understood this line of thought, he replied, "This is grasping the principal contradiction and seeking the basis for cooperation. If the Allied Powers are defeated, they will lose everything. To win, the Allied Powers naturally hope to receive all effective help. We want to establish a military industry through the Five-Year Plan and use the acquired military industry to support our army in protecting China's national interests. Finding the overlap of interests between the two and establishing a direction of cooperation based on this interest is diplomacy."

Zhong Yifu pondered He Rui's words and suddenly felt somewhat relieved. "It seems I am indeed not material for diplomacy."

Other young officers also felt Zhong Yifu's words were correct, only they didn't say it out loud.

He Rui felt a little more relaxed because the subsequent work would inevitably make Chinese nationalists very unhappy. If the core Party members couldn't understand the necessity of diplomacy, the work would be very passive.

After talking with the Party members, He Rui met with the two deputy editors-in-chief of *Northeast Daily*. The editor-in-chief of *Northeast Daily* was now Zhao Tianlin. Among the five deputy editors-in-chief, Morrison was one, and Mo Yang and Tong Bokang from *Shen Bao* became two others after defecting.

He Rui met with Mo Yang and Tong Bokang. Without pleasantries, He Rui went straight to the point. "Editor-in-Chief Tong, I want you to return to Shanghai as the Station Chief of *Northeast Daily* in Shanghai."

Tong Bokang was stunned. He had traveled thousands of miles from Shanghai to Fengtian; returning to Shanghai so soon, he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"Our Northeast is a good place, but Shanghai thinks this place is a bitter cold land. So we must vigorously promote the Northeast in Shanghai. Can Editor-in-Chief Tong understand?"

Tong Bokang understood He Rui's arrangement and was somewhat disappointed. "Marshal, I still want to look around more in the Northeast."

"As long as there is big news in the Northeast, I will naturally let you come back. But establishing a branch station in Shanghai requires you to lead the team."

Here, Mo Yang couldn't help asking after hearing this, "Marshal, what about me? Do I have to go back to Tianjin too?"

"If you are willing, that would be best. The Northeast has a very important job right now, which is recruiting skilled workers. If you two can establish branch stations in Tianjin and Shanghai, you can pass the most accurate news to these two largest cities in China. Provide employment opportunities for skilled workers in the two cities and also help the Northeast obtain suitable manpower. Moreover, the reputation of the Northeast also needs you two to introduce it."

Hearing this, Tong Bokang's expression became serious. "Marshal, did something happen?"

He Rui liked Tong Bokang's keenness very much and asked, "You have both interviewed regarding the distribution of Land Use Certificates, right?"

"Land Use Certificate Distribution" was an official name for land reform; the two journalists had some ideas after hearing it.

He Rui continued, "Some local tyrants and evil gentry falsely accused the government of seizing their land. They went to Minister Duan to complain and published untrue statements in various newspapers, deliberately smearing the Northeast government and the Northeast people. We absolutely cannot sit idly by regarding such matters. If you two return to Shanghai and Tianjin, you must expose the evil deeds of these people by publicizing the actual situation."

Mo Yang and Tong Bokang looked at each other. Mo Yang was still hesitant, but Tong Bokang answered readily, "Marshal has orders; I naturally obey. I wonder who the Marshal plans to send with me back to Shanghai."

After discussing work, Mo Yang went to Tong Bokang's office and whispered, "Brother Tong, are you really going back to Shanghai?"

"Land reform was done very correctly." Tong Bokang's expression became serious. "I have wanted to see a life where the tiller has his land all my life, and finally saw it outside the pass. Returning to Shanghai to vindicate the land reform outside the pass is my bounden duty."

Mo Yang was speechless for a moment. Among the various policies underway in the Northeast, the one Mo Yang accepted least was land reform. However, this didn't mean Mo Yang opposed land reform; if he really opposed it, Mo Yang would have left.

It was just that the land reform was too fierce. Regardless of how that much land was acquired, the government took it away just by saying so. Even though the land was truly distributed to the farmers, and He Rui and the government didn't keep an inch for themselves, Mo Yang still felt this policy was too cold and ruthless.

In comparison, subcontracting clothing production to rural households was the part Mo Yang appreciated most. Every household could get an extra way to make money without anything sordid happening between them, just happening simply and plainly. It made Mo Yang feel the beauty of an idyllic pastoral song where men plow and women weave.

Seeing Mo Yang remain silent, Tong Bokang looked even more serious. "Brother Mo, land reform is justice. Doesn't Brother Mo want to speak out for justice?"

Being spoken to like this by his old classmate, Mo Yang felt somewhat embarrassed and could only answer, "You don't need to say more; I understand. We'll set off together—you go to Shanghai, I return to Tianjin."