When Zhao Tianlin went to see He Rui, he brought the latest news: Lu Zhengxiang was going to take the people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back to Beijing. Hearing this, He Rui chuckled lightly but didn't answer.

Just then, someone came to report that Lu Zhengxiang was asking for a meeting. Zhao Tianlin pushed up his glasses. "Chairman, if we could be responsible for the negotiations this time, perhaps we could recover Shandong."

Seeing the strong impulse of this Doctor of Law to join the negotiation delegation, He Rui waved his hand, telling Zhao Tianlin to calm down.

Lu Zhengxiang was soon brought in. The Foreign Minister mentioned his departure and then asked, "I wonder what suggestions General He has for recovering Shandong?"

He Rui answered confidently, "With the current strength of the central government, no matter how hard you gentlemen responsible for the negotiations try, it will be like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water; the rights and interests in Shandong are destined not to be recovered. What I'm about to say is a heart-to-heart talk between Minister Lu and me privately: if this subordinate were to serve as the Military Governor of Shandong, I would definitely be able to recover the rights and interests in Shandong."

Hearing He Rui speak like this, Lu Zhengxiang's expression changed.

He Rui, however, laughed without any pressure. "Minister Lu need not mind; given the current situation, I'm just saying it. Such a thing will definitely not happen. If Director-General Duan asks, Minister Lu can tell Director-General Duan that I have absolutely no intention of intervening inside the pass. But would Minister Lu like to know why this subordinate sees it this way?"

Lu Zhengxiang had always stayed away from politics and was a recognized good person in the Beiyang government, which was why he maintained a relatively detached status. Hearing He Rui speak like this, he originally wanted to refuse to know. However, He Rui's attitude could influence the future of the Beiyang government, so he couldn't help but ask. He had to say, "I would like to hear the details."

Three days later, when Lu Zhengxiang returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, someone was already waiting there—a person from Duan Qirui's Anhui clique. Lu Zhengxiang took out a letter. "This is a letter from General He to Director-General Duan; presumably, everything Director-General Duan wants to ask is inside."

The visitor was somewhat surprised. Lu Zhengxiang replied, "General He only told me that although President Feng has ambitious goals, precisely because of this, he doesn't care particularly about empty fame. But President Feng is in poor health; once there is an unforeseen event, what the Zhili clique and others under President Feng see will be another matter. The position of the President has great attraction."

Hearing Lu Zhengxiang speak like this, the person from Duan Qirui's side was so shocked he didn't know what to say. He heard Lu Zhengxiang continue, "General He's other words are all in the letter. I still have matters to attend to."

The visitor could only leave. Although somewhat hesitant, he still delivered the letter to Duan Qirui. Seeing the Northeast postal seal on the perforation line intact, Duan Qirui sighed in his heart that He Rui was truly meticulous in doing things. Opening the letter and reading for a moment, a wave of desolation surged in Duan Qirui's heart.

Ten years ago, the New Policies at the end of the Qing Dynasty seemed quite effective to Duan Qirui. However, the Qing imperial clan was too selfish and created a Royal Cabinet, completely losing the people's hearts. At that time, Duan Qirui felt that if Yuan Shikai came to power, much could be achieved.

However, in reality, after the collapse of the late Qing New Policies, the country declined day by day. He Rui naturally didn't mention this in the letter, but only made a prediction about the future Beiyang civil war. He Rui also expressed deep heartache over such a future, but couldn't participate, so he asked Duan Qirui to pay attention to this matter.

Duan Qirui inexplicably believed He Rui's statement very much, because regardless of who won or lost in the battle between the Anhui clique and the Zhili clique, the final result would be He Rui continuing to grow stronger. Moreover, although He Rui was young, less than 30 this year, he was a very patient person. If considering the thought of casting a long line to catch a big fish, as long as He Rui never participated in the Beiyang civil war, when other Beiyang factions declined, sooner or later they would have to beg He Rui, who was constantly accumulating strength, to come out and stabilize the situation.

As for how bad the situation would be at that time, looking at the changes in the ten years from the late Qing New Policies to now, one could naturally see clearly. It was truly going from bad to worse.

Putting away the letter, Duan Qirui suddenly had no interest in asking what He Rui said to the people of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Compared with the direction of the country, those trivial matters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were really small matters. Duan Qirui no longer had the heart to care.

At this time in the Northeast, He Rui also tossed the matter of the Paris Peace Conference aside. After listening to He Rui's prediction of the future situation earlier, Lu Zhengxiang became completely depressed. Under such circumstances, Lu Zhengxiang actually agreed to a request from He Rui: to take He Rui's people to France to discuss grain export issues with major European belligerent countries.

The autumn harvest of 1918 was truly a bumper harvest. The land reform starting from 1916 and the movement to build state-owned farms on a large scale finally bore fruit. The grain output of the entire Northeast skyrocketed from 3 billion *jin* to 6 billion *jin*. The entire Northeast government was almost jubilant because of such a harvest.

Taking advantage of the high grain prices at the end of the war, the Northeast government decided to make a big profit by exporting grain this year, thereby importing more machinery and equipment.

Current grain prices were truly encouraging. One *sheng* of rice was 1.5 *jin*. Even in nearby Japan, one *sheng* of rice sold for 0.12 yen before the war. Now that the Rice Riots were suppressed, the rice price remained at the level of 0.3 yen.

Japan was a poor country with little purchasing power. Britain and France were both very rich, and after the war ended, they would naturally be willing to pay for grain; opportunity truly knocks but once.

The Northeast now had a population of 20 million. Calculating at 250 *jin* of grain per person per year, the grain He Rui could export exceeded 1 billion *jin*. The income could very likely exceed 30 million silver dollars.

He Rui was discussing the export volume with government comrades to see what each department needed, trying to use this money well.

Budgets from various departments had been sent to the Northeast government. He Rui tirelessly reviewed them department by department and made instructions on various budget categories.

After the budget for introducing a full set of steam engines, He Rui scribbled instructions at the back: exchange grain exports to Germany for relevant patents and personnel. Especially introduce steam turbine technology for power generation.

For the budget for introducing internal combustion engines, He Rui added funds for introducing patents and personnel.

Seeing that the Mining Bureau actually hadn't considered introducing electric mineral extraction equipment from Germany and the United States, He Rui directly instructed: Why not consider introducing mechanical extraction equipment? If difficulties are encountered, submit a report!

...

After reviewing documents for a long while, He Rui felt a bit tired. Only then did he put down the pen.

The management of an industrial country is like this... not just the management of an industrial country; as long as it is a centralized country, what the supreme leader has to do is not to do something right, nor to satisfy his own emotions.

Power is a tool to achieve goals. Specific work is naturally executed by high-level, mid-level, and grassroots personnel. He Rui had to judge whether the direction and content of the proposals and execution met He Rui's expectations for the country.

In this regard, He Rui had incomparable confidence. The decisions he made could indeed most effectively turn China into a powerful industrial country.

He Rui was also very clear that the comrades were by no means loyal to He Rui personally, but loyal to the cause of making China powerful. The more loyal the comrades were to this cause and willing to struggle for their ideals, the faster China's rise would be, and the more united the organization would be.

Thinking of this, He Rui sat back in his seat and continued his work.