On December 20, 1917, Duan Qirui, having just resigned as Premier of the Republic, swept his gaze over the front page of the *Northeast Daily*. In a small "tofu-block" space in the bottom right corner, there were merely two simple sentences regarding his resignation.

Compared to the coverage in other newspapers, such space was truly insignificant. Yet, even with He Rui being this discourteous, Duan Qirui could not afford to focus his energy on him. His immediate priority was to reach a compromise on power distribution with President Feng Guozhang.

Having finished the headlines, Duan Qirui put down the *Northeast Daily* and stood up to walk into the flower hall. A trusted aide nearby, who had already seen the news, followed behind Duan and suggested, "Chief, He Rui harbors unfathomable motives."

A cold smile involuntarily surfaced on Duan Qirui's face. The front-page headline was news concerning the Northeast: *The Northeast Regional Government Designates January 1st of the Western Calendar as the 'Start of the Year' (Suishou), and the Spring Festival as New Year's Day (Yuandan).*

The article reviewed China's traditional calendar, arguing that the 'Start of the Year' should ideally be a fixed date, making the adoption of January 1st of the Western calendar a convenient choice. However, China's calendar must conform to Chinese tradition; thus, the Spring Festival should be designated as New Year's Day.

Even though this article contained no attacks on the Beiyang government, Duan Qirui still saw through the intent. Establishing the national calendar was the work of the central government. As a regional administrator, what right did He Rui have to dictate such matters? His ambition needed no questioning.

Seeing Duan Qirui remain silent, the aide could only probe, "How does the Chief view He Rui?"

Duan Qirui let out a light laugh. "I am now a man without office or post. Let President Feng worry about this matter."

The aide paused slightly, feeling he understood Duan's thinking.

First, forcing the Qing court to abdicate; second, opposing Yuan Shikai's proclamation as Emperor; third, defeating Zhang Xun's restoration. Duan Qirui was now hailed by sycophantic newspapers as the "Three-Time Creator of the Republic." Yet, after joining forces with Feng Guozhang to force out the outsider Li Yuanhong, Duan still could not sit on the President's throne. So at this moment, let Feng Guozhang fret over He Rui. The more Feng felt the threat from He Rui, the more he would have to compromise with Duan Qirui to jointly handle He Rui's challenge.

The aide recalled being ordered to escort He Rui outside the Pass two years ago. When Duan Qirui gave the deployment funds, the aide had felt some emotion. Back then, He Rui was just a brash youngster; now, he had become one of the top three most influential figures among the Beiyang armies.

Just as Duan Qirui predicted, Feng Guozhang's aides were scratching their heads over He Rui. British Minister Jordan, who had left Beijing a few days ago, publicly stated that he firmly would not accept such reckless behavior from a regional power like He Rui. The French Minister expressed the same view.

This made President Feng Guozhang extremely displeased. Having finally found an opportunity to suppress Duan Qirui, Feng did not want to be distracted by such matters, yet he could not ignore them.

The aides thought back and forth but could not come up with a way to deal with He Rui. Several aides frowned as they looked at the news in the *Northeast Daily*. Suddenly, someone's brow relaxed. "We can shut down the *Northeast Daily* branch in Tianjin!"

Hearing this, the other aides immediately felt it was a good solution. Organizing troops to fight all the way to Fengtian was absolutely out of the question right now. But cleaning up the *Northeast Daily* branch in Tianjin—that was as easy as grasping something in one's hand.

Immediately, the aides went to see Feng Guozhang and presented this view. Feng Guozhang had no desire to focus his mind on He Rui. Upon hearing this suggestion, he immediately ordered, "Send a telegram. Have the Tianjin Military Governor shut it down!"

Watching his subordinates leave to convey the order, Feng Guozhang withdrew his gaze unhappily. He Rui's sudden rise was truly beyond expectation. Feng felt that once Jordan arrived outside the Pass, he would surely make He Rui obedient. At that time, in order to negotiate with the British, He Rui would likely have to beg Feng Guozhang to mediate.

When that time came, he would make that brat pay!

Just as Feng Guozhang's order was being issued, in Beijing and Tianjin, many young students were heading to various venues. Upon entering, they noticed that among the staff sent by the *Northeast Daily*, a few familiar faces were missing, replaced by several new ones.

These new *Northeast Daily* personnel first introduced themselves, then explained the personnel adjustments. "In the Northeast, we work while we learn. Those comrades went back to the Northeast to attend study classes first, and we came here after attending the classes."

The students who came to listen were somewhat surprised. However, the new Civilization Party members did not waste words and directly began the lecture. "Students, everyone feels that recovering the Chinese Eastern Railway relieves our anger. This thought is very normal. But General He's thinking regarding the recovery of the Chinese Eastern Railway did not stem from simple emotion. International politics has its own internal logic. We came this time to explain this logic of thinking to everyone clearly."

After speaking, looking at the excited and expectant students, the Civilization Party members smiled. "We all received course training in Fengtian, and it was General He who lectured personally. The content here will definitely not be wrong. Please listen with peace of mind."

Although most of the young students were not from poor families, they had no opportunity to access high-level political judgment. Everyone held their breath and concentrated; many even took out notebooks.

The Civilization Party members then recounted the lessons learned in Fengtian to the students. He Rui's logical judgment was very clear and brisk: Since China had joined the Allied Powers, it must take actions consistent with the overall interests of the Allied Powers. As a member of the Allied Powers, Russia's new government deciding to withdraw from the war was a betrayal of the Alliance. As a member of the Allied Powers, China had an obligation to safeguard the interests of the Alliance.

"Once Russia formally withdraws from the Allied Powers, is it possible for them to attack China, a member of the Alliance? Such a possibility exists. As a preventive measure, China must recover the Chinese Eastern Railway and impose protective restrictive measures on all Russian personnel in China!"

School education in this era was divided into lower primary, higher primary, middle school, and university. Those who came to listen were the university and middle school students of this era, so most people's emotions shifted from excitement to astonishment, and even some displeasure.

Seeing the expressions of the young students, the Civilization Party members inevitably sighed inwardly. When they listened to He Rui's lecture, they had gone through the same psychological journey.

"Students, do you feel that we are somewhat bullying others by flaunting powerful connections? Using the tiger's skin as a banner, borrowing the Allied Powers' stance to act, rather than waging war against Russia openly and squarely?"

The young students were initially just displeased, but they did not necessarily truly understand the political logic within. Hearing such a clear statement now, the displeasure of many directly turned into anger. Someone asked, "Russia occupied so much of our territory. Why not declare war on Russia?"

"This is political reality. We are not invading Russia. We are not aggressors." The Civilization Party members clearly pointed out the core point.

Some youths became even more unhappy and spoke up to argue with the Civilization Party members. The party members had all walked this mental path and could patiently discuss the logic. This made some short-tempered youths extremely unhappy, and they finally just stood up and left.

The Civilization Party members sighed in their hearts but swept their gaze over the young students who remained. They saw that the expressions of some of these students had become serious and earnest. Although they lacked their previous agitation, they clearly wanted to clarify the logic of He Rui's actions even more.

Before leaving the Pass this time, the Party Committee selected these members so that they could inform the youth of the truth of the matter, and also select those youths who were relatively mature and could understand politics.

Just as He Rui had said, "What we need are comrades who can advance with the organization, not those who want to use our organization to realize their personal impulses and passions. The distinction therein—I expect comrades to deepen their understanding of it in their work."

After the class ended, some youths stayed behind to ask the Civilization Party members some questions. These one-on-one conversations more clearly revealed the youths' personalities. Some youths believed that He Rui also had his own difficulties, so he could not go all out.

Only a few youths proposed their own views. "If it is according to what the teacher said, this recovery of the Chinese Eastern Railway is a political battle, not a purely military operation."

"Yes," the Civilization Party member replied.

"But this method won't work for everything under heaven." The young student's expression held expectation.

"If you want to understand more, I look forward to you coming to the Northeast. In the Northeast, there are more teachers who will lecture to students. Everyone must understand clearly: in the Northeast, it is not just Chairman He alone doing things, but hundreds of thousands of comrades working together for China's rejuvenation."

The youths' expressions were somewhat excited, but soon dimmed again. The Civilization Party members could understand without asking. Even if these youths were happy to see the success of recovering the Chinese Eastern Railway, it did not mean they could abandon everything to go outside the Pass and follow the revolution.

The lectures went on until very late, especially in Tianjin. Because Zhao Tianlin, the President of Peiyang University, had gone to outside the Pass, the schools in Tianjin felt a closeness to the Northeast that exceeded that of many other cities.

It was dark. When the Civilization Party members were preparing to return to the newspaper office, someone hurried over. "The Tianjin Military Governor ordered the newspaper office sealed. Everyone, hurry to the safe house."

He Rui received the news two days later. Since the Beiyang government had made the first move, He Rui had no reason not to follow through. Summoning Hu Xiushan, the Commander of the Liaoning Military District, He Rui ordered, "Send troops to take Shanhai Pass."

Hu Xiushan asked simply, "Chairman, what is the objective of doing this?"

He Rui told Hu Xiushan the news of the Beiyang side sealing the *Northeast Daily*. "We could send someone to talk to them, or we could send troops to take Shanhai Pass. I have decided to use force. This is also unavoidable. If Beiyang had a newspaper office in Fengtian, I could retaliate reciprocally. Since Beiyang is useless and has no newspaper of its own, there is no other way. Even if the severity of the retaliation exceeds Beiyang's methods, we can only do this."

Over the past two years, Hu Xiushan, who was already serious in speech and manner, had become increasingly calm in his demeanor. At this moment, he thought quietly for a while and asked, "May I ask, Chairman, in your view, what is the importance of propaganda? Can it be compared to armed forces?"

He Rui thought for a moment. "Attacking the heart is superior; attacking the city is inferior. Psychological warfare is superior; military warfare is inferior. Beiyang wants to embarrass me; if it were something else, I wouldn't care. But the *Northeast Daily* is our window to let the broad masses inside the Pass understand us and understand the new life of the future China. It is our mouth, it is our eyes. Someone wants to sew our eyes shut, sew our mouth shut. This cannot be accepted."

Hu Xiushan pondered for a moment after hearing this, then stood at attention and saluted. "I will go execute it now."

Watching Hu Xiushan's retreating figure, He Rui felt the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curling upward slightly—a muscle movement triggered by a genuine smile.

Every day, apart from reading and studying, Hu Xiushan looked at maps and went to inspect the field. Even if He Rui didn't ask, he knew that Hu Xiushan must have already completed the operational plan for attacking Shanhai Pass.

This was not because Hu Xiushan was uniquely gifted. The general staffs of modern military powers would naturally make contingency plans for various potential military threats and operations. Even in Japan, the work of those in the General Staff Headquarters was to create various operational plans.

The more military men like Hu Xiushan there were, the more the Northeast Army would grow in the direction of a military power. Seeing such a young military man maturing was truly a gladdening thing.