The number of Europeans who sympathized with the Russian Bolsheviks was far greater than Comrade Lenin had ever imagined. When an intelligence report was delivered from London to the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), every member who read it was incensed.

In contrast to Comrade Lenin’s thinning hair, the mane of Comrade Trotsky, Chairman of the Military Committee, was so thick it could only be described as "insane." Scratching his head, Trotsky’s resonant voice echoed through the office. "That warlord has finally revealed his true counter-revolutionary face!"

Comrade Lenin did not get agitated. Having finished reading the report, he turned to Comrade Joffe, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Amid the fierce denunciations of the Chinese warlord He Rui by the other comrades, Joffe continued to read the document in silence.

Although the identity of the informant was unknown, the source was certainly someone highly placed within the British government. The Chinese warlord He Rui had proposed to the British government that weapons sold to the Russian White Army must be paid for by the Whites in internationally recognized gold.

The gold held by the White Army had been taken from the treasury of the Russian Tsar; it was the wealth of the Russian people. To take the wealth of the Russian people and sell weapons to the White Army to attack the Bolsheviks—who represented the Russian people—was an act that Comrade Joffe, like his fellow committee members, found infuriating.

Having vented his emotions, Trotsky turned to Lenin. "Comrade Lenin, we must struggle against such a reactionary warlord. China is still divided; we must support He Rui’s enemies. I’ve spoken with Comrade Joffe, and according to his analysis, the Beiyang government’s greatest enemy is Sun Wen in the south. We should immediately send personnel to contact Sun Wen and have him launch an offensive against Beiyang."

Playing one faction against another within a hostile nation was basic, entry-level strategy for the leadership of imperialist powers, and the members of the Bolshevik Central Committee possessed analytical capabilities far beyond such simple concepts. They considered such low-level methods only because their current strength was limited, preventing more effective means.

After Trotsky finished, Lenin turned to another comrade, one with thick hair but a leaner frame. "Comrade Yakov, what is your view?"

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov, a close comrade-in-arms of Lenin, possessed immense prestige within the party due to his extraordinary organizational skills. He was responsible for implementing Lenin’s policies throughout the organization.

Seeing Lenin’s hesitation, Yakov replied, "The Beiyang warlords have fully sided with the Entente. We must support the forces opposing them. Comrade Lenin could indicate to Sun Wen that if he seizes power in China, we will return a portion of the territories the Tsar annexed from China. This would bolster Sun Wen’s influence."

At these words, smiles appeared on the faces of many committee members. In the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which Joffe had negotiated with Germany, Russia had made massive concessions in land and reparations. Lenin had pushed the agreement through against immense domestic nationalist pressure, relying solely on his peerless prestige.

Because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Germany had been able to escape the crisis of a two-front war and launch the Kaiserschlacht (Spring Offensive) against Britain and France. Although the offensive ultimately failed, it had only been halted after being ground down by a million American troops. In the initial stages of that campaign, Germany's fierce assault had killed 700,000 to 800,000 British and French soldiers, though Germany itself lost 600,000 men.

Now that Germany could no longer hold on, Russia could treat the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as non-existent; the promised land and reparations became empty words. Furthermore, the powers of Western Europe had suffered such massive losses that they could no longer attack Russia at will after the war.

More importantly, by signing the treaty, Russia had been able to withdraw from the World War, allowing it to focus all its strength on the revolutionary war at home.

With such a grand success, Lenin’s foresight received unanimous praise within the party, and his prestige was even higher than it had been after the victory of the October Revolution. No one challenged his leadership anymore.

Promising such conditions to Sun Wen was merely a repetition of the tactic used with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

The committee members nodded one after another. At this time, they had never heard the term "path dependence"—a phrase coined by He Rui—but they naturally sought to reuse successful experiences. It was the most efficient way.

Lenin did not immediately express his stance. For the wise Lenin, a certain intuition was causing him unease.

Lenin was a master at harnessing such intuition. During the timing of the October Revolution, faced with a shifting and treacherous situation, he had been unable to keep up with the daily changes on the ground. After determining the general direction through systematic theoretical deduction, his grasp of the timing had relied on intuition. Until the moment when no one could explain it, Lenin had held onto his feelings, patiently calming the Bolsheviks and their supporters, continuously strengthening internal unity, and drawing the people closer to the party.

When the moment his intuition signaled finally arrived, Lenin had decisively launched the revolution and achieved a miraculous success.

Now, facing a warlord in distant China, Lenin unexpectedly felt that same intuitive pull, which left even him puzzled. Finally, he had the meeting skip over this matter and discuss the current situation with his comrades.

After the meeting ended, Lenin kept Joffe and Yakov behind. He asked Joffe, "How much intelligence have we gathered on He Rui so far?"

Joffe shook his head apologetically. "Very little. Most of it comes from reports in *The Times* and *Le Figaro*, and there isn't much useful information in those. What is certain is that He Rui is using the war to expand his power."

Comrade Yakov, who trusted Lenin’s judgment implicitly, waited quietly as Lenin studied the meager files on He Rui. After browsing the limited data, Lenin felt he had identified the source of his doubt. "Comrade Joffe, proceed with Comrade Yakov’s arrangements. However, you must also send someone to contact He Rui again to see what demands he has for our party."

Joffe immediately agreed. But Comrade Yakov asked, "Comrade Lenin, why do this? It might only make this warlord more arrogant and hostile toward us."

"Perhaps so," Lenin agreed.

Joffe and Yakov both stared at Lenin, wanting to know the reason behind his judgment.

Lenin flashed his characteristic witty smile. "This man’s luck is too good. Every opportunity in the Far East that favors him has fallen right into his lap. I don't believe this is mere luck."

The two committee members, whose own "luck" in the revolution had been deepened twice in less than a year, were stunned for a moment. They quickly understood Lenin’s meaning. If it wasn't luck, it had to be ability.

Comrade Yakov subconsciously stroked his beard, feeling the friction against his fingertips, his refined face showing a look of deep thought. After a moment, he asked, "Comrade Lenin, do you believe He Rui is more dangerous than we imagined?"

Lenin nodded. "Whether he is or isn't can only be determined through contact. Let us do it."

As Joffe prepared to rise, Lenin added a final instruction: "The person sent this time must remain polite. Do not let He Rui think we Bolsheviks are merely a group of radical revolutionaries. Also, have someone collect all available data on He Rui."

***

If He Rui had known that Lenin had finally decided to open a line of communication, he would have been delighted. For at this moment, He Rui had just concluded his negotiations with the British Minister and the representatives of the British banks in China.

London had finally issued orders agreeing to pay a portion in gold and the rest in pounds sterling. The subordinates finally had their authorized range for this decision.

The question of how large this "portion" was—whether 99% or 9%—made a massive difference. He Rui’s internal bottom line was 50%; it had to be at least 50% this time.

Although Jordan was the Minister, the bulk of the negotiation was left to the British bankers. Jordan found that He Rui and the bankers discussed everything from banking history to the Napoleonic Wars, and from the nature of currency to Britain’s utilization of the Jewish people. While questions of the ratio were interspersed throughout, the conversation would shift after only a few sentences.

By the time both sides were parched from discussing the difference between "old money" and "new money," the gap in their offers had narrowed to 40% versus 65%.

Jordan felt that if each side made a concession, the meeting would likely end with He Rui receiving slightly over 50%. However, He Rui put on a stern face and firmly refused to budge. Seeing that He Rui wouldn't yield, the bank representatives simply declared they would terminate the meeting.

For the next two days, regardless of the banking syndicate's requests to resume, He Rui did not agree. Out of necessity, Jordan was forced to seek a private audience with He Rui.

The old man had been having a pleasant time in Fengtien lately; the accommodations were excellent, and the temperature was lower than in Beijing. For an Englishman, the climate here was much more comfortable.

Thus, Jordan didn't feel particularly rushed. During his conversation with He Rui, he even expressed his confusion regarding the debate over "old money" versus "new money" from their previous meeting.

He Rui, however, did not answer that question. "Excellency, the British banking syndicate has indicated they might purchase weapons from Japan. I am very concerned about this news. I consider it a threat, and I do not accept such threats. Therefore, I will not yield on the payment ratio."

Jordan was momentarily speechless. He Rui’s implication was that he had made a judgment based on intuition. Yet, reality was exactly as He Rui’s intuition suggested: someone in the upper echelons of the British government had mentioned considering letting Japan produce a portion of the weapons for Russia, and Jordan had been ordered to have the British Minister to Japan contact the Japanese government.

This news was classified; He Rui could not have known it. Moreover, Jordan himself didn't think the bankers had made such a claim—if they had, it was likely just standard commercial bluster. The bankers didn't even know about the arrangements in London.

Regardless of how Jordan tried to persuade him, He Rui remained as stubborn as a mule, firmly sticking to his position. A helpless Jordan could only take his leave. When he returned to the consulate, he received a telegram from his colleague in Tokyo.

The Japanese side was willing to take the order, but they had their own demands: payment must be in gold, otherwise the price would increase to an entirely unreasonable level.

Clearly, Japan knew who these weapons were for and intended to make a massive profit. Compared to that, He Rui’s conditions became much more acceptable.

Jordan felt he couldn't handle this alone and sought another meeting with He Rui. The old man proposed the condition he could accept: "Fifty percent in gold, fifty percent in pounds sterling."

He Rui shook his head. "We must have sixty-five percent."

"If that is the case, we can only ask Japan to provide these weapons," Jordan said, presenting an impossible scenario as if it were a settled deal. This was a classic negotiation tactic: limit pressure.

"As you wish," He Rui replied immediately. He then counter-applied the same pressure: "In that case, let us conclude this meeting."

Since they were both "thousand-year-old foxes," they knew when to stop playing games. As if he had never made such a threat, Jordan asked, "General He, why do you believe we cannot cooperate with Japan?"

He Rui also acted as if he hadn't just called for the meeting to end. He asked frankly, "I do not know London’s view, but Your Excellency, does Britain accept Japan acquiring Russian territory?"

Jordan was stunned, beginning to understand He Rui’s leverage. He Rui continued, "Japan surely knows who these weapons are being sold to. If they have ambitions to occupy Russian territory, and the White Army wins the civil war, these weapons will be used by the Whites against the Japanese invaders. If the Whites lose, Japan will have to face the Red Army. In such a situation, Japan’s best move is to demand an astronomical price. If I were in their position, I would certainly do the same."

After a brief thought, Jordan was certain that London would never want to see Japan acquire vast swathes of Russian territory. He asked, "General He, do you have plans to acquire Russian territory?"

He Rui smiled slightly. "In my dreams, I think of it often. In reality, too many nations want to carve a piece of meat from Russia. I have no interest in fighting those countries for it. Excellency, do you think those nations would accept my presence?"

Jordan inexplicably felt that He Rui was being sincere. Currently, China lacked the strength to seize land from Russia; choosing not to involve itself in such military operations was a very rational move.

After departing, Jordan organized the latest news and sent it to London. Two days later, London replied: "Concur with Minister Jordan's view."

***

On June 15, 1918, a train fully loaded with weapons crossed the Chinese border and entered Russian territory. At the head office of the Northeast Bank in Fengtien, dozens of soldiers armed with live ammunition escorted several small crates into a heavily guarded vault.

The crates were opened, revealing golden-yellow straw. The soldiers carefully pushed aside the straw to reveal the gold bars within. The inspectors standing nearby all let out sighs of wonder.

This was five tons of gold. Based on the standard of 600 grams per Chinese jin and 16 taels per jin, five tons of gold equaled 133,333 taels. With the exchange rate of gold to silver at 1:20, even with a generous calculation, it was at most 2.7 million taels of silver.

The inspectors were simply seeing this much gold at once for the first time; many had come just to witness the spectacle. As for the money itself, they didn't particularly care. Those sighs were actually born from the feeling that this amount was quite small.

Currently, the Northeast Government’s annual fiscal revenue, denominated in silver, had already exceeded 30 million taels. According to the First Five-Year Plan, it was possible for it to exceed 60 million.

This gold hadn't come for free; the Northeast had to produce a massive amount of weapons and ammunition to sell to foreign powers. With factories and mines running, tens or even hundreds of thousands were spent every day.

The top leaders and high-ranking officials knew these figures. Regardless of whether they had initially been happy, their current sentiment was surprisingly unanimous: this gold was truly too little.

After seeing the "rarity," the leaders moved to the meeting room. He Rui asked, "Is the autumn harvest prepared?"

The Director of the Agriculture Department immediately produced a report, briefing the leadership on the preparations for weighing, transport, and storage. Seeing that the work was well-prepared, everyone was pleased.

He Rui then asked, "How much grain do we still have in stock?"

The Director was taken aback. After a brief thought, he replied, "Less than 70 million catties. It’s enough for the urban population to last until the autumn harvest."

He Rui said, "Allocate more meat and eggs."

The Director couldn't understand what He Rui was up to and asked, "Why?"

He Rui smiled slightly. "Grain might be insufficient. We can only adopt one method: 'Why don't they eat meat porridge?'"