He Rui was treating his comrades to a meal, and Morrison also warmly entertained Jordan at his home. Walking into Morrison's house, Jordan was somewhat absent-minded. It wasn't until he sat on the *kang* that Jordan's expression relaxed a bit.

Morrison had heard a little news that the diplomatic talks were not going smoothly, but he didn't care. Such diplomatic maneuvering was common in Europe; it was just that British diplomats in the Far East had been bossy for too long, forming fixed impressions, and their diplomatic skills had become rusty and degenerated.

Jordan rested for a while before asking, "Mr. Morrison, does He Rui deliberately avoid letting you attend some meetings when arranging government work?"

"No," Morrison answered decisively. "I attend all government work meetings, and the content of these meetings is later made into work plans. General He's government is quite open."

"Higher than in Europe?" Jordan asked. Although he didn't want to believe it, Jordan was somewhat inclined to do so.

"General He's party meetings are not open to the public. Moreover, the Northeast has not yet established a parliament, so the overall political openness is not as good as in Europe. However, General He is checking the Northeast's parliamentary system, and I believe that in two or three years, we will see a political system similar to Europe's."

"Then will this political system be British-style? Russian-style? American-style? Or... Napoleonic?"

Hearing Jordan's words, Morrison smiled slightly. The first person in the Far East diplomatic circle to use Napoleon to describe He Rui was Morrison. Now that Jordan said this, it proved that Jordan had also begun to truly take He Rui seriously. Morrison sighed, "General He is a very brave man."

Jordan nodded slightly in agreement. In the whole of China, whether it was the Beiyang or the revolutionaries in the South, everyone would be scared by the name of the British Empire. Even Japan, where He Rui's alma mater was located, had the same attitude. But He Rui did not. Jordan had already applied the greatest diplomatic pressure on He Rui. If it were other upper-class Chinese figures, even if they used various tricks to muddle through and delay in every possible way, they would still be afraid, afraid from the bottom of their hearts.

He Rui was not afraid at all. Not only was he not afraid, but he also engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic games with Jordan. Looking back now, He Rui firmly grasped the principled issue of diplomacy: who is the rule-maker!

Jordan was just a diplomat and had no qualifications to formulate Far East political rules. This was the objective reality at present. But in the Far East, it seemed that no one had truly understood this yet. Even after a long time, Jordan himself had forgotten that he must consider this matter first.

Having figured out the reason for the failure of this diplomatic mediation, Jordan relaxed. He was getting on in years. Touching his bright head with only a little fluff left, Jordan asked Morrison about He Rui's administration so far.

Morrison appreciated He Rui's governance very much, and even gave a lot of praise to He Rui's land reform. This reminded Jordan of something. At this time, the food Morrison ordered had been served. Jordan ate a piece of stir-fried liver tip and laughed, "In Beijing, too many people fiercely criticized He Rui for plundering the local gentry. It seems that in He Rui's future parliament, it will be difficult to see MPs from gentry backgrounds."

Morrison liked 'Shao Nan Bei' very much. This dish stir-fried with mushroom slices and bamboo shoots was delicious. Eating a piece of bamboo shoot, Morrison shook his head slightly, "Your Excellency, General He is a very broad-minded person. The purpose of his land reform policy is not to eliminate the gentry, but to eliminate the unreasonable parts of the social system."

Jordan had been chatting with Morrison for quite a while. Hearing Morrison evaluate He Rui like this, he answered slowly, "If you persist in such an attitude, you will be considered a Communist."

Hearing this, Morrison was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help laughing with Jordan.

***

The next morning, Morrison found He Rui. "General, I heard that you and Minister Jordan had a very unpleasant conversation yesterday."

He Rui shook his head. "I think it was a very good meeting. Through frank talks with Minister Jordan, we fully exchanged views and enhanced mutual understanding."

Hearing He Rui use such a set of vocabulary, Morrison felt he understood something, so he smiled and said, "General, my wife's birthday is coming up. I want to hold a dance for her today. I wonder if the General can attend."

He Rui looked at Morrison with a smile. "Since it is an invitation from Director Morrison, presumably those attending will be famous foreigners in Fengtian."

Morrison, hearing He Rui say this, was even more sure of He Rui's meaning, and answered decisively, "They are all very prestigious foreign and even diplomatic figures."

"I will definitely attend," He Rui expressed his attitude.

Just as Morrison said, famous foreigners in Fengtian attended the dance. In such a world where a cruel war was going on, people with money were naturally famous. In the past two years, quite a few speculative merchants had run to the Northeast, but He Rui's requirements were very clear. If there was no asset certification or endorsement from those foreign banks in the capital, those coming outside the pass to do business had to take out real gold and silver. So most of the foreign figures who could still stay in Fengtian now had received invitations.

When Jordan entered the venue with European style, these invited people all came forward to greet him. Seeing such a group of well-dressed Europeans, Jordan's mood improved a lot.

Fifteen minutes later than Jordan, He Rui walked into the venue in a military uniform. Now the style of the Northeast Army uniform had been determined, but He Rui did not wear that black military uniform today, but changed into a set of 'Field Grey' military service uniform. As usual, there were no medals or ribbons on the service uniform. Only the gold stars on the General rank insignia were shining.

Seeing He Rui come in, the guests surrounded him even more enthusiastically. Although part of their purpose for this trip was indeed to celebrate the birthday of Morrison's wife, more of the purpose was to see He Rui. Especially the French merchant Maglon and the British merchant Johnson, both of whom had privately made requests to He Rui to serve in the Northeast government.

More British and French merchants wanted to see the result of the matter. If He Rui accepted more foreigners to serve in the Chinese government, it would naturally be very good news for the merchants.

Although Morrison had to some extent become a communication channel between foreign merchants and the Northeast local government, and Morrison had also completed the work this channel should complete, no one would think there were too many channels.

Sure enough, He Rui didn't care about the guest usurping the host's role, because the Northeast was He Rui's home field. After meeting and shaking hands with a group of merchants, He Rui asked Morrison, "Have Mr. Maglon and Mr. Johnson come?"

Without waiting for Morrison to answer, the two separated the crowd and walked up from the back row. He Rui waited for the two to walk in front of him and asked, "After discussion by the government, we would like to hire Mr. Maglon and Mr. Johnson as our formal consultants. I wonder if you two are interested?"

Hearing this news, many merchants could hardly conceal the envy and jealousy on their faces. Although Maglon and Johnson were very happy, they were not particularly excited. They just stepped forward to express their willingness to accept such an invitation. If China were a Great Power like Russia, Maglon and Johnson would be very happy from the bottom of their hearts. Unfortunately, it was not.

Even so, to be able to become officials, and officials with certain real power, the two merchants could completely accept it.

After announcing the news, He Rui began to chat with various figures attending the dance according to the proper flow of a dance. Not long after, the music for the start of the dance sounded. He Rui politely declined the invitations of several ladies, held a glass of champagne, and walked towards the rest area.

At about the same time, Jordan also walked towards the rest area. The two met again. He Rui raised his glass to Jordan, as if the verbal battle yesterday had never happened. Jordan had the same reaction, and the two sat naturally in a quite quiet position. Someone was already standing at the entrance, blocking out a relaxed conversation space for the two big figures at the dance.

"Does General He have any views on the future?"

"Does Mr. Minister want to talk about peace or victory?"

"No, I am very interested in the future situation in the Far East."

"From China's perspective, we will naturally strive to complete the industrialization process that was interrupted twenty years ago. A peaceful environment is beneficial to China. For peace, we will do our best. However, what ultimately determines the situation in the Far East is still the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In the future, there may also be American influence."

"The United States?" Jordan strongly disliked new interveners appearing in the Far East.

He Rui did not hide anything. "Even if the Anglo-Japanese Alliance cannot continue, the United States will also hope to have its own influence in the Far East. But no matter which situation it is, China will become the cornerstone of peace in the Far East region."

Since He Rui was so frank, Jordan also decided to try, "Does Your Excellency expect to become China's future leader?"

He Rui answered, "Is this question from your own interest, Minister, or is it authorized by the British Foreign Office?"

Jordan felt like he had hit a wall again. He Rui's tone was still so elegant and his attitude was very sincere. But his attitude was extremely tough. It could be seen that this local chief of Northeast China was very confident in himself.

Since he had not received authorization, Jordan brought the topic back to the original content, "Does Your Excellency consider Japan a threat to China?"

"No, Japan has never been a threat to China. Historically, Japan has become a trouble for China several times, which is a matter determined by the geography of the two countries. And China's threat always comes from within China. When China itself is weak, everything around it is a threat. When China can execute good politics and development, everything around it is a very good friend. In China's thousands of years of history, such changes have occurred too many times."

"Does Your Excellency have the confidence to complete China's industrialization?" Jordan asked, looking seriously at He Rui's reaction after speaking.

"It is China that needs industrialization, not that I want to complete China's industrialization," He Rui corrected.

Jordan thought for a moment, somewhat shaken in his heart. "Does Your Excellency mean that China wants to become a Great Power?"

He Rui smiled. "Your Excellency, there are so many countries in the world. Regardless of the characteristics of the country itself, purely from the perspective of national expectations, which country does not want to become a Great Power?"

Jordan lifted his champagne and took a slow sip, feeling truly emotional in his heart. He Rui had already made a judgment: because the Russian people's disgust for the war determined that a government advocating withdrawal from the war would come to power. And He Rui himself seized the need for China to become a world Great Power again and firmly pushed forward his efforts. Although it was impossible to judge whether He Rui would succeed now, such a person would definitely truly affect the entire situation in the Far East. What kind of challenges would He Rui bring to the British Empire?