Mitsui Yasuki stepped out from He Rui's place and, after walking only a few steps, felt himself sweating under the baking heat of the sun. Recalling the bitter cold of the winter outside the pass, Mitsui was somewhat surprised by the intensity of the summer; even in Japan, the temperature didn't reach this level.

Noguchi Nobuo caught up and, seeing Mitsui Yasuki in a good mood, asked, "Mr. Mitsui, did Marshal He like the gift you gave him?"

Mitsui thought for a moment and couldn't recall He Rui even glancing at the gift. Mitsui ordered Noguchi, "Go ahead and do it. No matter what, we must get the coal mines in Hegang operational as soon as possible."

"The mines in Siping have also been developed, but the cost was higher than expected. Could Mr. Mitsui speak to Marshal He about this?"

Mitsui Yasuki then began to understand why Noguchi Nobuo had asked if He Rui liked the gift. Recalling the penny-pinching and greed of those in charge of procurement at the Japanese General Staff Headquarters, Mitsui was somewhat surprised. "Do He-kun's subordinates not accept gifts?"

"Yes. I have tried my best, but no officer of any value accepts money."

Looking at the pedestrians on the streets of Fengtian dressed in light clothing and feeling the blazing heat, Mitsui Yasuki felt that this was truly an interesting place with truly interesting people.

What Mitsui didn't know was that He Rui, at this moment, was also lamenting that there were indeed many interesting people in this world.

Even though he had already heard about the French merchant Terezhov from Wu Youping, seeing this somewhat carefree fellow now, He Rui couldn't help but be impressed.

Organizing his thoughts, He Rui asked, "Mr. Terezhov, you mean to say that you used the advance payment Mr. Magloire gave you, and you didn't use it to purchase equipment. Is my understanding correct?"

Faced with such an accusation, Terezhov showed not the slightest shame. Instead, he replied self-righteously, "Yes, I bought jewelry from Jewish merchants and gave it to the wife of the Russian Quartermaster General."

He Rui understood what this meant. Accepting bribes was a European tradition. Since Terezhov was so self-righteous, he was either an excellent swindler or he truly had connections.

So He Rui smiled and asked, "Did the Jewish profiteers give a reasonable price?"

Seeing He Rui ask this, Terezhov smiled. "That set of jewelry was a family heirloom of a great French noble family. It was a treasure that wasn't even sold during the French Revolution. This time, they really had no choice but to sell it. The Countess had seen this piece of jewelry at a ball..."

While Terezhov spoke with great animation, the French merchant Magloire beside him had a complicated expression. He Rui recalled the rumor that young Magloire had achieved his current position by sleeping with a minister's wife, and couldn't help but find both of them very interesting.

Fortunately, Magloire also felt that Terezhov's rambling was boring, so he interrupted Terezhov's narrative and made a concluding statement to He Rui himself. "Your Excellency, can you start stocking up?"

He Rui felt he could understand Wu Youping's difficulty. In the initial agreement, Magloire still needed to provide a batch of equipment, and He Rui would produce a batch of weapons for Magloire. Risk sharing. Now that the money Magloire gave Terezhov to buy equipment had been embezzled by Terezhov for gifts, regardless of how many orders Terezhov could get after greasing the wheels, all the risk now fell on He Rui.

Since this fellow Terezhov already had a record, He Rui couldn't trust him. "Mr. Terezhov, are there any other joints that haven't been greased?"

Hearing He Rui ask this, Terezhov immediately looked pleasantly surprised. "Your Excellency, you are too considerate. I still need a sum of money. You know, the Russians have a large appetite, especially those generals."

Magloire covered his forehead with his hand and closed his eyes. It was visible that this brother was already somewhat desperate.

Even He Rui found it hard to believe Terezhov. But He Rui still asked, "Then how much will this sum be?"

"One hundred and eighty thousand, no, two hundred thousand francs. I will make up for any shortfall," Terezhov replied.

After Terezhov was led out first, Magloire almost collapsed onto the sofa. After a good while, Magloire barely managed to say, "Your Excellency, you heard it all."

"Yes, I heard it all," He Rui smiled. "That is why my desire to serve you has become stronger."

Magloire was stunned, thinking he had misheard. He Rui smiled and said, "Since Mr. Magloire dared to bring Mr. Terezhov here, presumably you hope that I can trust Mr. Terezhov. Mr. Magloire, what is your assessment of Mr. Terezhov?"

"He wants to succeed too much," Magloire sighed. Then Magloire recounted Terezhov's background to He Rui.

This guy's ancestors were French who went to serve in Russia during the time of Catherine the Great and became nobles. In the Napoleonic era, another of Terezhov's ancestors first participated in the war, defeating Napoleon in the ice and snow, and later, as a Russian officer, led Russian cavalry into Paris. However, this ancestor of Terezhov later joined the Decembrist revolt, and the whole family was exiled to Siberia. Later, Terezhov's grandfather was born in Siberia, lost his father when he was young, and returned to France with his mother.

With these connections, it was hard to say whether Terezhov was Russian or French. In short, he had contacts on both sides.

Hearing this, He Rui smiled. "It seems Mr. Magloire is still willing to trust Mr. Terezhov."

"But this guy is too much!" Magloire sighed. "I knew Russia was corrupt, but I didn't expect it to be this corrupt."

He Rui smiled again but said nothing. Even in the 21st century, Russia was still surprisingly corrupt. Even so, two hundred thousand francs was not a small amount. He Rui couldn't pay this money for no reason, not to mention that He Rui didn't have that much money.

Silence fell in the office, but Magloire quickly broke it. He asked with the desperation of burning his bridges, "Your Excellency, I have another technology here. I wonder if you are interested."

"Please speak."

"I told a friend about the situation here. That friend said that Your Excellency has vast farms here and should need fertilizer. Has Your Excellency heard of synthetic ammonia technology?"

He Rui did not answer, only staring at Magloire. Magloire became even more guilty under He Rui's sharp gaze, but he still forced himself to say, "My friend can provide complete sets of synthetic ammonia equipment. I believe that is very valuable."

After speaking, Magloire looked at He Rui expectantly.

He Rui did not answer. The value of synthetic ammonia equipment was not worth discussing for He Rui; it was invaluable. But the authenticity of this matter made He Rui afraid to believe it easily. Finally, He Rui decided to gamble. He asked, "Is it a complete set of equipment?"

Magloire was overjoyed and quickly said, "Yes, my friend already has the complete set of equipment. If Your Excellency has patience, I can ship a complete set of steel mill equipment within six months, but there really isn't enough time. The only equipment I can ship now is synthetic ammonia."

"Then can Your Excellency sign a grain export agreement for one million francs under the certification of the French Minister?" Magloire continued to ask.

He Rui laughed. "Mr. Magloire, can the agreements I sign be used as securities in Europe?"

Magloire smiled bitterly. "Although Jews are hateful, their commercial vision is indeed very different. Among the Jews I know, there are indeed some who can probably mortgage this kind of agreement at a 50% discount."

"The interest must be very high, right?" He Rui asked.

Magloire did not answer, only sighing, a look of anger appearing on his face.

He Rui knew that this kind of business was what Jews were best at, so it was not without reason that they faced a total liquidation during World War II. But none of this mattered. What surprised He Rui was that the financial industry of this era had reached such a level that even someone of He Rui's status could obtain high-risk financing in the financial market. He didn't know whether to say that the finance of this era was fierce enough or terrible enough.

"Then let us invite Mr. Terezhov in," He Rui said to Magloire.

With the agreement reached, Magloire and Terezhov did not delay and immediately mobilized. Although Terezhov was somewhat unreliable in doing things, he wasn't unreliable in every aspect. This guy had come to Fengtian with blueprints. Samples of Russian standard rifles were not difficult to obtain, but blueprints for individual parts were not so easy.

Terezhov left the blueprints and promised to get some technical personnel from Russian arsenals as soon as possible.

He Rui didn't believe it at all. Russia was now so short of weapons that it had to import them from abroad; the country must be producing desperately. But He Rui still encouraged him, "I believe in Mr. Terezhov. I wish you success."

After Terezhov and Magloire left, He Rui immediately called Wu Youping and the person in charge of the Siping Arsenal from Siping.

The person in charge of the arsenal was very young, a graduate from when Zhao Tianlin was the president of Peiyang University. Now Zhao Tianlin was writing letters every day, inviting graduates of science and engineering from Peiyang University to the Northeast.

The young man's name was Chu Zuoping. He was slightly reserved when he saw He Rui, but as soon as he saw the blueprints, his eyes lit up.

Wu Youping was also somewhat excited, but the content of his excitement was obviously different. Leaving Chu Zuoping to look at the blueprints, Wu Youping pointed outside the door. The two went to the next room, and Wu Youping immediately said, "Chairman, it is not appropriate to do this. If attracting investment reaches this level, if subordinates follow the example of superiors, I am afraid something will happen."

He Rui was very satisfied. "You are right. This matter need not be promoted as a case study for now. The introduction of complete sets of equipment and engineers must continue to be trained."

Wu Youping nodded, but still did not understand why He Rui was so bold. "Chairman, will Russia really be that bad in the future?"

"Firstly, the situation is bad. Secondly, once a civil war breaks out in Russia, we must quickly recover the Chinese Eastern Railway. Our current weapons production capacity is too weak. We must use the current opportunity to improve our production capacity. Making money is not our goal; our goal is to improve production capacity. We are currently just borrowing a hen to lay eggs. The eggs are for hatching chicks, not for eating."

Wu Youping nodded, but his brows could not help but furrow. "Chairman, we all understand. But now Director Morrison of the Merchants Bureau obviously wants to expand the influence of British and French merchants here."

"Then let him do it. What are you worried about?"

Wu Youping didn't want to speak ill of anyone behind their back, but the situation forced him to voice his concerns. "Those British and French merchants have started bribing our cadres, and the Mitsui family is also bribing. Although many cadres now take pride in refusing bribes, I don't think this will last long. If this goes on, something will happen."

"Don't worry, things won't turn out the way you think," He Rui answered decisively.

Wu Youping was stunned. He came from a merchant family and knew very well about bribery. Preventing trouble before it happened was indeed useful, but the relaxation of discipline was also inevitable. He Rui's confident answer did increase Wu Youping's confidence, but these words did not put Wu Youping at ease.

"Youping, we will fight foreign countries sooner or later, and the faster our construction speed, the sooner the war will be fought. If our strength reaches the Japanese level now, rest assured, I will mobilize troops now."

"Really?" Wu Youping couldn't help but feel joy in his heart. But after a moment, Wu Youping turned his attention back to the present. "Chairman, but what does this have to do with what we are talking about?"

"With the current income of officials and cadres, if those merchants casually give some money, it could be a year or even two years of income for the cadres. If this continues for a long time, no one can withstand the temptation. But why does everyone take pride in refusing bribes now?"

"...Uh, everyone has high morale," Wu Youping gave his opinion.

"Because cadre training is going well, proving that the work of you and the comrades is very effective. Everyone understands that accepting bribes is wrong."

Being praised by He Rui to his face, Wu Youping blushed and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Another reason is that everyone has benefited from the current construction of the new system, and everyone identifies with our new system. This is what you call high morale. Now, the more complete sets of equipment are introduced, and the higher our ability to learn to use these equipment and copy them through reverse engineering, the higher everyone's morale will be. I am not saying that there will be no corrupt elements in the future. As long as some people feel they have no future development, corruption will immediately become their choice. When the number of cadres increases, we will establish an Anti-Corruption Bureau. For now, education and encouragement are the main focus."

Wu Youping felt he couldn't be as optimistic as He Rui, but he liked He Rui's optimism. After thinking for a while, Wu Youping asked, "Chairman, many comrades now have many views on what the First Five-Year Plan actually is. I also often think about it now. But looking through the documents, I still don't quite understand what the core of the First Five-Year Plan is. Could the Chairman please explain it?"

He Rui answered without thinking, "The essence of the Five-Year Plan is an investment plan. The documents talk about investment directions. If you can't understand it, the reason may lie here."