He Rui thought for a moment and said something to his secretary. After listening, the secretary hurried out. He Rui then said to Itagaki, "Itagaki-kun, please rest in the adjacent living room for a moment."

"Yes." Itagaki quickly bowed and responded. In the next room, the secretary brought tea and newspapers. Itagaki flipped through the *Northeast Daily* and saw the headline: "Third Compulsory Education Review Begins, Northeast Literacy Work Continues to Strengthen."

After reading the content, Itagaki recalled seeing many newly painted slogans on his way here, such as "If children don't go to school, the whole family pays more taxes." As the head of the "He Agency," Itagaki knew that He Rui was truly committed to education.

According to investigations, compulsory education had been fully popularized in the cities of the Northeast, and primary schools had been built in every village. The curriculum even borrowed heavily from Japanese textbooks.

With so many schools opening suddenly, there was certainly a shortage of teachers. He Rui adopted a rotation system where two people were recruited for one teaching position; one would teach while the other underwent rotation training. The school year consisted of eight months of classes, with a rotation every two months.

In addition, teachers had to undergo collective training during holidays to improve their own knowledge levels as quickly as possible.

Beyond these temporary measures of "going all out to stack numbers," He Rui also established normal schools and implemented teacher qualification certification. Itagaki was somewhat resistant to such a certification mechanism. In Japan, teacher qualification was a very important status. Itagaki agreed with the rule of strict entry and exit for granting teacher qualifications.

However, under He Rui's current approach, the threshold for teacher qualification certification was set very low, while the conditions for maintaining it were gradually raised. When teaching became a profession rather than a status, Itagaki did not care for this disrespectful atmosphere of a "grassroots troupe."

As an intelligence officer, Itagaki had to admit from a policy perspective that He Rui's methods were very pragmatic. Japan invested heavily in education, while He Rui used grain as a means of payment, supplemented by a certain amount of currency. The Northeast was vast and sparsely populated, and He Rui's agriculture was doing well, so he happened to have enough grain for payment. The education expenses that once put tremendous pressure on Japan's finances did not cause an overly heavy burden for He Rui.

Itagaki sighed, feeling some regret that the investment in Northeast education hadn't crushed He Rui. While vigorously promoting education, He Rui still had the capacity to build an army of 120,000 men, which made the Japanese General Staff feel the pressure.

The General Staff did not feel that He Rui's 120,000 troops could threaten Japan; the pressure lay in Japan's inability to effectively threaten He Rui. Japan had only sent tens of thousands of troops to Shandong, which rendered the Beiyang government unable to cope. But based on the General Staff's understanding of He Rui, if the Japanese army dared to do in the Northeast what they did in Shandong, He Rui would truly dare to go to war with the Japanese army.

While he was lamenting, the secretary came in and invited Itagaki to He Rui's office. Upon returning to the office, he saw four young men in the room. Their gazes towards Itagaki held curiosity and vigilance. He Rui maintained his composed expression. "Itagaki-kun, in what capacity are you asking the previous question?"

Itagaki felt that He Rui was indeed He Rui, able to grasp the crux of the problem. He took out an official document and presented it to He Rui.

He Rui took a look and saw it was a document issued by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hoping to have a dialogue with He Rui regarding the Russian issue.

Putting down the document, He Rui continued the previous Q&A. Itagaki repeated his earlier question, "General, do you have any next steps regarding Russia?"

He Rui replied, "The Japanese side has misunderstood one thing. We have not done anything to Russia; we have merely fulfilled our obligations to the Allied Powers on Chinese soil. As for the next steps, that is a matter for the Allied Powers to discuss. We will not unilaterally do anything to Russia."

Itagaki Seishiro saw the young men begin to take notes. Unsure of their identities, he continued to the next question. "If the Allied Powers take military action against Russia, will Your Excellency participate?"

"If it is a collective decision by the Allied Powers, I assume tasks will have been assigned to China by then. If it is a military action launched by an Allied member state individually, I can only provide support within China based on the situation. I will not join."

"Will Your Excellency oppose or terminate support for the Allied troops attacking Russia due to certain agreements?"

He Rui knew what Itagaki meant but asked in return, "Which countries would prevent which countries from attacking the Russian homeland?"

Lieutenant Colonel Itagaki Seishiro knew He Rui couldn't possibly misunderstand, so he was puzzled by He Rui's request. As a guest complying with the host, Itagaki added, "For example, some countries preventing Japan from attacking Russia."

"Then we must clarify which countries they are, and our actions also need to obtain the maximum understanding from all nations. If Japan acts on its own, it can purchase supplies and support through commercial channels."

After the meeting ended, He Rui asked the four prospective diplomatic personnel observing the session about their feelings. Everyone was a bit reserved and couldn't open up. Seeing this, He Rui didn't force them to answer immediately and ordered, "Then go back and write an analysis."

"Chairman, can you give us some instructions?" one of them mustered the courage to ask.

He Rui smiled. "Analyze what you saw, and the views and positions of both sides. Write whatever comes to mind."

Wait for these young comrades to leave, He Rui then had someone call Zheng Silang over. As soon as Zheng Silang saw He Rui, he said, "Chairman, I know I was wrong. I criticize myself. I acted on impulse and made my own decision. I was wrong."

"How should the battle to attack Shanhaiguan be fought?" He Rui asked calmly.

"According to the plan, implement a coordinated infantry-artillery attack."

"Since the plan was already set, you changed it without authorization. From the results, neither part was problematic. What happened in between?"

"In between?" Zheng Silang was stunned. He had prepared himself to be severely criticized by He Rui, but he didn't expect He Rui to separate the matters. Zheng Silang suddenly clearly recalled where his initial impulse came from. At that time, he was prepared to execute the combat plan. However, during an assessment of enemy and friendly casualties with the staff officers, they found that under a frontal attack, the frontline Shanhaiguan defenders would likely suffer hundreds of casualties.

Zheng Silang was already worried about his teacher Li Yidao's safety. Seeing the assessment data, he truly couldn't bear it in his heart. The idea of reducing casualties through a surprise attack popped up. Afterward, Zheng Silang began to guide the discussion direction and finally made the decision for a surprise attack.

When making the judgment, Zheng Silang actually didn't think that much; he just made the decision on an impulse. With the matter clarified, Zheng Silang suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Suppressing his shame, Zheng Silang told He Rui exactly how he felt. After finishing, Zheng Silang earnestly requested again, "I was wrong this time. I will never make my own decisions or change combat plans without authorization again."

He Rui was calculating in his mind whether to let Zheng Silang lead the troops to execute the plan to recover Outer Mongolia. Xu Chengfeng, Cheng Ruofan, Zhong Yifu, Hu Xiushan—none of them would act like Zheng Silang. Among the candidates He Rui currently had in hand, Zheng Silang had the most straightforward personality but also the softest heart. But for the upcoming recovery of Outer Mongolia, He Rui felt Zheng Silang might be the most suitable one.

Mercy does not command soldiers, but a soldier cannot lose the heart of benevolence and righteousness. Zheng Silang's mistake was not in hoping to reduce casualties, but in his failure to observe the laws of war.

He Rui finally made up his mind and stated his decision to Zheng Silang. "For your violation of discipline, there will be a criticism notified to the entire army. Including a demotion. The Chief of Staff this time will also receive the same criticism and demotion."

Zheng Silang puffed out his chest. "Chairman, I understand. I implicated my comrades; I want to apologize to them."

"It's not implicating. It was your wrong choice that interfered with the unit's system. When the Chief of Staff encountered such a situation, he did not consider his duties. If the Chief of Staff could completely disregard your resume and status as a military commander and act entirely according to the system, naturally only you would be punished!"

Zheng Silang originally intended to take full responsibility, but classes in the army had taught that taking full responsibility was to avoid punishment and was an act of open defiance. Whoever did that would have to leave the army. The army was an organization composed of various departments, not a gang where one person could shoulder all the blame. If Zheng Silang wanted to continue serving, he had to obey discipline.

Seeing that Zheng Silang hadn't crossed the bottom line, He Rui felt somewhat relieved. Within two days, the punishment results were announced to the entire army. Many soldiers were confused by this. Why did a good result receive severe criticism? This was counter-intuitive.

The political commissars and instructors in the army had completed their studies and began to explain the issue to the officers and soldiers. Facing the soldiers' questions, the political commissars and instructors raised the issue taught since enlistment: "Must soldiers obey orders first and foremost?"

Now the soldiers understood. Zheng Silang's problem was not about success or failure, but violating military orders. More bluntly, he was disobedient. Since the doubts were resolved, the price was that Zheng Silang's trustworthiness was greatly reduced because of this incident.

With their military commander suffering such a blow, even the officers originally assigned to Zheng Silang's unit felt they couldn't hold their heads up.

At the same time, He Rui summoned the main cadres for a meeting in Fengtian and informed everyone of Japan's attitude. Upon learning that Japan intended to invade Russia while it was in a civil war, Cheng Ruofan's delicate face was full of mockery. "This country, Japan, is like a hungry wolf; it bites whoever it sees."

Xu Jia reminded him, "Don't personify the country. This isn't a decision made by all the Japanese people."

Cheng Ruofan did not back down. "But those Japanese support this war!"

Although Xu Jia didn't agree with Cheng Ruofan's idea, he couldn't find a suitable rebuttal, so he looked at He Rui.

Xu Chengfeng followed up, "Chairman, can Japan achieve its goal?"

He Rui answered decisively, "Absolutely impossible. Japan can invade Russia in the short term and occupy a piece of land in Russia's Pacific region, but it can't swallow this land. So no matter how Japan tosses and turns, in the end, it will be a waste of money and manpower."

Xu Chengfeng, Zhong Yifu, and others' eyes lit up. Anything that made Japan suffer was something they agreed with. Given the accuracy of He Rui's past deductions, everyone had confidence in his judgment.

Thinking He Rui would continue to explain the reasons, they saw He Rui turn to Cheng Ruofan. "Ruofan, if things were as you said, the Japanese government would certainly be a government capable of effectively integrating all of Japan's power. Based on my understanding of Japan, they really don't have that ability. Your judgment of the Japanese government really overestimates them. If the content of your description counts as 100 points, the Japanese government scores at most 40 points. In fact, they likely only have 25 points."

Cheng Ruofan had long been convinced by He Rui's judgment ability, yet hearing that Japan's true strength was only 25% of his own judgment, he was still shocked by this figure. Before he could ask, he heard He Rui continue, "You say the Japanese people support the Japanese government sending troops to attack Russia; this is not a fact. When the Japanese government fought the Manchus back then, they announced to the whole country that in order to donate money to build warships, the Emperor ate one less meal a day, and all the people had to donate whether they wanted to or not, which was disguised taxation. Before sending troops this time, let alone discussing it with the Japanese people, the Japanese government won't even announce it to them. So the idea that the Japanese people and the Japanese government are of one heart simply doesn't exist."

Even though Cheng Ruofan was very convinced by He Rui, being pointed out that his theoretical basis was wrong still made him feel a bit awkward. Fortunately, Zhong Yifu interjected, "Chairman, Japan raised taxes and borrowed money during the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. Why won't they borrow money this time?"

"The Sino-Japanese War was a war Japan fought to win a strategic opportunity for development, so it could get domestic support in Japan. For the Russo-Japanese War, Britain chose Japan to contain Russia's expansion in the Far East. Japan's international borrowing was supported by Britain from the start. As long as they won, Britain would naturally provide various conveniences regarding repayment. For example, borrowing new debt to pay off old debt. As the world's financial center, a few hundred million pounds is easy for Britain to solve. But this time, Japan is acting on its own to expand its power in the Far East. Britain refused to let Russia expand in the Far East, so why would they accept Japan expanding there? Now that Britain is in the heat of war, it's even less likely they'll support Japan."

Zhong Yifu thought for a moment and sighed, "Britain is indeed the scourge of the world!"

He Rui didn't wait for everyone's emotions to ferment and immediately explained, "Not necessarily. Any country attempting to establish a world order will consider its own interests as the highest priority, and there is also path dependence. Britain plays balance of power in Europe, and the same goes for the world. Let's look at it from another angle. If there wasn't Britain's balance of power strategy, we wouldn't have the chance to obtain so much machinery and equipment. You know, British colonialists absolutely do not wish for the emergence of a new industrial country."

Zhong Yifu fell into thought again, but after a moment, he obviously didn't want to bother anymore and asked, "Chairman, listening to what you said, we are providing support to Japan within our borders. Why is that? Can Japan really not swallow Russian territory?"

"Japan can't do it. Because if Japan wants to swallow Russian land, unless Russia voluntarily cedes it, they have to rely on military occupation. And military occupation costs money. If that land produces nothing, Japanese finances will be like a wound bleeding non-stop; if the bleeding isn't stopped, they will bleed to death. If they want that land to be productive, they have to invest huge manpower and material resources to develop it. We all participated in land reform; does everyone think that's an easy task? We are in the Northeast and have obtained the support of the Northeast people. Can Japan get the kind of support we have on Russian land?"

The cadres felt the reasoning sounded correct, but they still felt it lacked convincing power. Finally, Xu Chengfeng asked, "Why did the Chairman agree to Japan providing support to Japan?"

"This isn't called support; it's a service purchased by Japan with money, so we are not supporting Japan. To show that we won't oppose Japan acting against Russia, it's like Japan is sprinting towards a big pit. When passing by us, they even actively begged us to sell them something to make them run faster. How would you comrades choose in such a situation?"