Sakata Keiji walked several laps around the streets of Siping but failed to find a single beggar or wandering child. He did, however, see quite a few schools and many factories. Everyone on the street seemed to have something to do, especially the porters. Although their carts still had wooden wheels, they were reinforced with iron parts, and the axles were also made of iron, making them move much more lightly and quickly on the roads than traditional wooden carts.

The police patrolling the streets wore sharp uniforms and stood out in the crowd. The people did not fear the police; some acquaintances even greeted them. The police would simply nod wordlessly and continue their patrols.

High walls surrounded the factories, with guards stationed at the gates. Workers lined up to enter and leave at the start and end of their shifts. This orderly process made it impossible for Sakata Keiji to discern the internal organization of the factories.

The arsenal was located quite far from the city center. The gates were guarded by soldiers with live ammunition, and troops patrolled outside the walls. Just as Sakata Keiji was considering how he might get inside to visit, two cars arrived and stopped at the gate. The doors opened, and two Europeans stepped out. They handed their credentials to the guard. The guard examined them for a while, then took out a logbook to verify something, and finally leaned into the car to inspect the interior for a moment before opening the gate and allowing the Europeans' cars to drive into the arsenal.

As the vehicles entered, the heavy gate immediately closed, once again blocking Sakata Keiji’s view.

Sakata Keiji felt a bit indignant. Although He Rui believed that China would have a decisive showdown with the European and American powers, he still relied so heavily on Europeans. It truly seemed like his words and actions did not match. He Rui’s cooperation with the Japanese side was too scarce; at least in Japan, there was no news of any cooperative projects.

If Sakata Keiji knew that those entering the arsenal were representatives sent by the British and French ministers, he would likely have been even more unhappy.

The British Minister's secretary and the French Legation counselor were unaware of the Japanese officer grumbling outside. They seriously inspected the Siping arsenal, seeing European technicians directing production in every workshop. British and French equipment was in operation, making various noises depending on the processing task.

There were military attachés among the group. They randomly selected a batch of Mosin-Nagant rifles and took them to the shooting range workshop within the massive factory for test firing. The attachés loaded Russian-produced bullets into the rifles produced by the Siping arsenal. Amidst the gunshots, holes appeared one by one on the target paper. The final result showed that the Russian-produced bullets loaded perfectly into the rifles, proving that the magazine machining met the standards. The sights and rifle accuracy were by no means inferior to the Mosin-Nagant rifles produced in Russia.

After the inspection, Morrison, the Director of the Northeast Investment Bureau who had brought them there, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of a smile appearing on his serious face. If the inspection results by the British and French attachés had been unsatisfactory, it would naturally have greatly affected He Rui's credit. Since the results were satisfactory, things would head in the other direction—the direction Morrison expected.

The French counselor, however, did not look pleased; instead, he frowned. He thought for a while, walked up to Morrison, and said, "Mr. Morrison, I would like to station Russian and French attachés at the arsenal to conduct random inspections on every batch of weapons."

Hearing this request, Morrison felt it was acceptable. But the factory manager, Song Xilian, frowned immediately upon hearing the translation. Seeing that Morrison did not answer, he said to Morrison, "Director Morrison, they want to station people inside the arsenal?"

Morrison initially just thought the request was understandable and within an acceptable range. Hearing the manager's question, Morrison began to feel that the request was indeed somewhat unreasonable. The arsenal was a sensitive area and could not allow outsiders to be stationed there.

Since the manager opposed it, Morrison felt he perhaps should make the manager understand the urgency of the matter. He advised that there were already so many foreign technicians in the arsenal, and the new inspectors would just be technicians as well.

The manager heard this but was not persuaded. "Director Morrison, the technicians are here to help us with production. What are those inspectors here to do? They are here to strangle us!"

Morrison hadn't expected the manager to be so firm, and there was some truth to his words. Whether to stand on the side of Europe or on He Rui's side—Morrison thought for a while and told the French counselor that he would give him a reply tomorrow.

The group left the factory, and Morrison went straight to Siping Mayor Wu Youping. If Wu Youping could accept such a request, the arsenal manager would have to obey orders. After listening to Morrison's account, Wu Youping frowned slightly but soon relaxed his brow. "Director Morrison, I will send someone to invite the French counselor over. Can you wait?"

Morrison felt he had been a bit careless. If he had brought the French counselor along, it would have saved a lot of time.

Fortunately, the distance wasn't far. The French counselor and the secretary to the British Minister, Jordan, were invited to Wu Youping's office together. Wu Youping did not cut directly to the issue but poured rum for the two of them so they could have a drink first.

The rum was brewed from molasses and had a fragrant aroma. In the comfortable scent filling the room, Wu Youping spoke. "I would like to know, is the request for Russian soldiers to be stationed in the arsenal intended to accelerate production efficiency, or to satisfy Russia?"

"Does Mr. Mayor think we are trying to curry favor with Russia?" the British Minister's secretary asked in a cold tone.

Wu Youping chuckled. "I think it is because you gentlemen do not believe that we can mass-produce high-quality weapons."

Now both the secretary and the French counselor fell silent. However, the attitude shown in their expressions already explained their thoughts; Wu Youping had hit on at least part of the reason.

"I do not oppose quality inspections, but this does not solve the fundamental problem. I hope you two can take a message back to Beijing. We request that Britain and France send more engineers and technicians to our factories to help us improve our production capacity. This is our request list." As he spoke, Wu Youping took out two documents and handed them to the British and French diplomats.

The diplomats did not care about these technical issues. After browsing through them and confirming that the contents of the documents matched what Wu Youping had said, both closed the documents and continued to look at Wu Youping.

Wu Youping replied calmly, "Our goals are the same. As long as it enables the Allies to achieve victory as quickly as possible, we look forward to more cooperation. Once the British and French engineers and technicians arrive at our factories and begin guiding us, we will invite Russian personnel into the factory for spot checks."

Seeing Wu Youping respond this way, Morrison momentarily suspected that Wu Youping had already received orders from He Rui. But this matter was initiated by the French counselor, and Morrison did not think the French counselor was controlled by He Rui. He began to lean towards thinking that Wu Youping had made the decision himself.

Watching this young mayor handle the issue—though still a bit green, it was already quite interesting—Morrison couldn't help but sigh with emotion. The response methods of the Northeast's main officials when facing forces outside of China had changed significantly.

In the eyes of the Beiyang government, foreign powers were a special existence. Beiyang did not want foreign powers to intervene in Chinese affairs, but would think of using foreign powers when they were desperate. This contradictory attitude made Beiyang's foreign policy very uncoordinated.

He Rui was not like this. Relying on Morrison's connections and the financial support provided by He Rui, in the past five months, an article about He Rui had appeared roughly every month in influential British and French newspapers.

Ordinary British and French people didn't care; they didn't know where Northeast China was and had even less interest in an Oriental general.

But the European and American upper classes had noticed He Rui's existence, which was exactly He Rui's goal. This young General Zhen'an was striving to mold himself into a local Chinese authority figure who could be completely understood by European nations. A qualified power holder in the European perspective.

If this image-building continued, it was very likely that He Rui would become the supreme authority in China recognized by both Britain and France. Moreover, He Rui did not gain recognition by bowing and scraping; it was evident that He Rui positioned his image as a partner.

Although he didn't know if such efforts would succeed, Morrison believed that Wu Youping was at least trying to execute He Rui's goals according to his own understanding.

The British and French diplomats did not consult with each other. The French counselor stated that he would contact the French Minister to China, but that the stationing of Russian personnel in the arsenal was also mandatory.

Hearing this answer, Wu Youping replied calmly, "I believe both are mandatory. Until the French Minister gives a clear answer, I will not allow foreign soldiers to be stationed in our arsenal."

"Mr. Mayor, your attitude is somewhat stubborn," the French counselor replied with dissatisfaction.

Wu Youping was unmoved. "We are the masters of our arsenal. If the Counselor considers this stubbornness, then I will hold fast to this stubbornness."