On April 14, 1919, the Chinese delegation, all wearing splendid diplomat suits, returned to their residence in Paris exhausted.

The Chinese delegation consisted of five plenipotentiaries: Chinese Government Representative Lu Zhengxiang (then Foreign Minister), Gu Weijun (Wellington Koo, then Minister to the US), Shi Zhaoji (Alfred Sao-ke Sze, then Minister to the UK), Wei Chenzu (then Minister to Belgium), and Wang Zhengting (C.T. Wang, originally in the US, representing the Southern Military Government).

Entering the room, the delegation members who had tried hard to show strength looked completely fatigued. As senior diplomats, all five representatives felt that things were developing in the direction Japan expected. This was not because the Japanese representative Makino Nobuaki had any incredible ability in international law, but because Japan, as a great power, had too many bargaining chips to exchange.

Even Wang Zhengting, representing the Southern Military Government, hadn't expected things to reach this stage. Even though he initially decided to watch the situation closely and not let those Beiyang diplomats betray the Southern Military Government, Wang Zhengting couldn't recall his original intention by now. He asked Gu Weijun urgently, "Brother Gu, President Wilson suddenly changed his mind, but there should still be a possibility to win him over, right?"

Gu Weijun shook his head helplessly. At this point, there was nothing to hide. "President Wilson's purpose for this trip is not to uphold justice, but to make the great powers accept his Fourteen Points for Peace. Now that Italy has withdrawn, President Wilson needs more countries to support him."

"We China will support him!" Wang Zhengting almost shouted.

The other diplomats looked bitter. China would indeed support Wilson. But everyone knew perfectly well that the purpose of this trip was not to support US President Wilson, but to obtain interests in Shandong. If Shandong could be fully recovered, abandoning President Wilson decisively wouldn't be impossible.

Similarly, President Wilson was also for himself. If he could succeed at the Paris Peace Conference, giving up China's interests wouldn't be a problem either.

Finally, Gu Weijun sighed painfully, "Weak countries have no diplomacy!"

As the head of the diplomatic delegation, Foreign Minister of the Republic Lu Zhengxiang was equally heartbroken. Amidst despair, Lu Zhengxiang suddenly thought of the Chairman of the Northeast Government, He Rui. Before Lu Zhengxiang left Shenyang, this young man who had risen to fame said in a calm tone, "At the Paris Peace Conference, the great powers will definitely hand over the rights and interests in Shandong to Japan. I presume Minister Lu understands this too, right?"

Lu Zhengxiang felt incomparably sad. Originally, he was a devout Christian. Facing such a situation, the impulse he had long ago to become a monk was almost uncontrollable, wishing he could resign and leave right now. But the wavering of his heart didn't last long; Lu Zhengxiang still held on. If he couldn't struggle to the end, Lu Zhengxiang wouldn't be reconciled.

Not only Lu Zhengxiang was unwilling; the other four diplomats also showed unwilling expressions. But within the unwillingness, there was despair. With things at this stage, these experienced diplomats understood they couldn't change anything on their own. Wang Zhengting stood up first and went out wearily; the other diplomats also left Lu Zhengxiang's room with the same expression.

Gu Weijun didn't leave. He closed the door and whispered, "Minister Lu, General He said the government would definitely want us to sign. When that time really comes, I will absolutely not sign."

Lu Zhengxiang felt another wave of heart-wrenching pain. Three years ago, under Yuan Shikai's orders, Lu Zhengxiang signed the *Twenty-One Demands* as a representative. After signing the treaty, Lu Zhengxiang felt physically and mentally exhausted. He said to Yuan Shikai, "I signed my name, and I also signed my own death warrant."

Hearing Gu Weijun say this now, Lu Zhengxiang said coldly, "If they ask me to sign, absolutely not!"

Gu Weijun already knew nothing could be done and believed He Rui's prediction. Saying this now was because he worried Lu Zhengxiang would sign under government pressure. Hearing Lu Zhengxiang's firm attitude, Gu Weijun nodded to Lu Zhengxiang and stood up to leave.

Returning to his room, Gu Weijun took out a fountain pen, scribbled a note, and went out. The streets of Paris were bustling with lights and wine, having recovered 50 to 60 percent of the prosperity of old Paris. Gu Weijun didn't look at all and went straight to a hotel two streets away. Entering the second floor of the hotel, he knocked loudly on the door of room 212. The door opened quickly, and a Chinese face appeared. Gu Weijun handed the note to that person and turned to leave.

The Chinese person stared at Gu Weijun's back for a while, turned back, and handed the note to the others holding a meeting in the room. After everyone gathered and read it, they all sighed. Although these Chinese people also cursed that imperialists were all bad, they didn't seem particularly annoyed.

As the working group sent to Europe by the Northeast, the comrades believed that He Rui would lead everyone to defeat Japan and recover all of China's rights.

Soon, a radio telegram sent the news back to Shenyang. The time difference between Paris and Shenyang was about eight hours. It was around 4 PM in Paris, and less than 8 AM in Shenyang. The permanent telegraph office of the Northeast Government quickly received the message. Around 8:20, when He Rui walked into the office, the telegram had already been placed on He Rui's desk along with other documents.

He Rui frowned slightly after reading it. Originally, He Rui's interest in the May Fourth Movement was very limited. Now that enough intelligence had been collected, He Rui felt things weren't that simple.

Since the news from the Paris Peace Conference was basically confirmed, He Rui considered writing a letter to Duan Qirui. In any case, He Rui didn't quite want a major war between the Anhui clique and the Zhili clique to break out. The country's vitality should be preserved as much as possible. So He Rui would rather give Duan Qirui some more advice.

After writing for a while, He Rui stopped his pen. Duan Qirui did things very absurdly too, just relatively less absurdly compared to other warlords.

In early 1918, Japan provided large loans to the Beijing government controlled by Duan Qirui and assisted in forming and equipping a Chinese War Participation Army. The loans were also used for the huge bribery expenses of the Anfu Parliament.

In September of the same year, the Beiyang government exchanged official documents with Japan regarding loans from Japan. As one of the exchange conditions for the loans, they also exchanged notes regarding the Shandong issue. The main content was:

Japanese troops along the Jiaoji Railway, except for a unit left in Jinan, would all be concentrated in Qingdao.

Regarding the security along the Jiaoji Railway: Japanese troops would withdraw and be replaced by a patrol team commanded by Japanese.

The Jiaoji Railway would be jointly operated by China and Japan.

In the exchange of notes, the Beiyang government expressed "glad consent" to Japan's proposal. The Minister to Japan, Zhang Zongxiang, personally delivered the exchange of notes to the Japanese government. In World War I, China declared war on Germany and was a victorious nation along with Japan, but Germany's rights and interests in Shandong were not only not recovered but expanded by Japan. This exchange of notes became Japan's excuse for forcibly occupying Shandong at the Paris Peace Conference.

He Rui himself was not opposed to cooperation between various countries, but Duan Qirui using the money for bribery to build his 'Anfu Club'—He Rui felt this was very absurd. With Duan Qirui's level, one indeed couldn't expect him to use this money for construction. But wouldn't it be great if Duan Qirui used this money to build an army?

As long as there were soldiers in hand, the cost of buying assembly members would be much lower. Duan Qirui insisted on seeking help from afar instead of what was near at hand; he was truly an incompetent person.

Thinking of this, He Rui continued scribbling. After finishing writing and browsing through it once, he signed it.

On April 19, He Rui's personal letter was delivered to Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui opened it and read for a moment, and his face changed. He slammed the letter on the table and shouted at his aide, "Bring the letter He Rui wrote last time!"

The aide didn't know how He Rui had offended Duan Qirui again, but He Rui was already a big shot now, and there was a dedicated place to store his letters. Soon, the letter was delivered to Duan Qirui.

Duan Qirui looked at it carefully and finally realized. He Rui's previous letter was delivered by Lu Zhengxiang, and Duan Qirui hadn't fully understood it at the time. Combining it with He Rui's latest letter now, Duan Qirui finally understood. For a moment, he was so angry he stood up and paced back and forth in the flower hall with his hands behind his back.

The aide spread out the two letters and browsed quickly, finally understanding why Duan Qirui was so angry. However, having read the *Northeast Daily* every day for over a year, the aide had gained some insights imperceptibly, so he carefully stepped forward to advise, "Director-General, this subordinate thinks that the grassroots rising He Rui mentioned may not necessarily be disrespectful to the Director-General. What he said might be true."

"What true or false!" Duan Qirui said angrily. "If according to what He Rui said, the country supports these students to study, and it's bad enough they don't think of repaying the country, but they also cause trouble. Do I really have to believe what He Rui said, that the people inciting students to cause trouble actually didn't play a major role?"

The aide dared not speak, nor did he want to. As far as he could see, He Rui spent ink describing the difference between pre-modern countries and modern countries. Modern countries reject personal dependency relationships; the function of the state is to promote economic development, leading to responsible politics.

Duan Qirui's angry scolding now was exactly as He Rui said in the letter: Duan Qirui felt that students enjoying the services provided by the state formed a personal dependency relationship with Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui was the superior, and those students were the subordinates. Subordinates should serve the superior in exchange for the superior's favor and promotion.

The aide lowered his head. With things at this stage, the aide knew whatever he said was useless; giving advice to Duan Qirui was meaningless.

Duan Qirui walked around angrily for a few more rounds and finally suppressed his anger. Unlike what the aide thought, Duan Qirui's anger at this time stemmed from fear. Due to Duan Qirui's meticulous planning and multiple contacts, a balance had finally been created among President Xu Shichang, the Parliament, and the Beiyang factions, allowing the country to run relatively smoothly.

Achieving such a situation naturally made many people unhappy. Duan Qirui felt that since He Rui wanted to be the President, he naturally wouldn't be happy to see such a situation. Writing a letter addressing him as 'Old Chief Duan' to remind him was actually to probe and threaten.

Duan Qirui even suspected whether He Rui was the mastermind behind the disturbance. Thinking of this, Duan Qirui ordered the aide, "Call the Minister of Education!"

The current Minister of Education was Fu Zengxiang. This former Qing dynasty *jinshi* (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) had been Minister of Education for a year and a half. During his tenure, the President changed once, and the Premier changed three times, but Fu Zengxiang's position as Minister of Education remained firm.

Duan Qirui asked straightforwardly, "May I ask Minister Fu, how many students from outside the pass are currently in Beijing universities?"

Fu Zengxiang hadn't expected Duan Qirui to ask such a question and didn't know what Duan Qirui meant for a moment. But the Minister of Education was responsible for educational content; how could he know the source of students in each school? He could only reply, "I will go back and inquire of each school."

"Send the list up after inquiring!" Duan Qirui ordered with a straight face.

Fu Zengxiang was both puzzled and dissatisfied with this order. Listening to Duan Qirui's meaning, was he going to arrest people?

After returning, Fu Zengxiang really ordered various schools to count students from outside the pass. Outside the pass was not a place with a strong scholarly atmosphere, while Beijing universities gathered excellent students from all over the country; Fu Zengxiang felt the number probably wouldn't be large.

When the schools actually sent the numbers of students from outside the pass, Fu Zengxiang found it incredible. The presidents of various schools were people of noble character; they might not write it, but they wouldn't write nonsense. According to the figures provided by various schools, there were only sixteen students from outside the pass studying in universities in Beijing.

Even if there were few students from outside the pass, it shouldn't be so few. Fu Zengxiang still couldn't figure out Duan Qirui's thoughts but felt Duan Qirui must have a definite object in view, so he ordered someone to send the numbers to Duan Qirui.

Several days had passed, and Duan Qirui's unhappiness had long dissipated. Seeing this number, he only felt very puzzled, but with so few people, it really didn't look like they could cause any big trouble.

As for what exactly He Rui thought, Duan Qirui had also given up considering it. He Rui's current status relied on the twelve divisions of the Northeast New Army under his command. Until now, there had been absolutely no news of He Rui moving troops. At least within the next month or two, He Rui shouldn't take any action.

Moreover, Duan Qirui had other annoying things at this time. Every family really has its own difficult scripture to read; Duan Qirui's son got involved with Duan Qirui's third concubine, and this matter still needed to be dealt with.

As for He Rui predicting to Duan Qirui that the whole country would be turbulent because China failed to recover rights and interests in Shandong at the Paris Peace Conference... if He Rui wanted to make astonishing statements, Duan Qirui decided to let him say whatever he wanted.

On the morning of May 4th, Duan Qirui's aide hurried to Duan Qirui's study and said as soon as he entered, "Director-General, students are marching on the street!"

Duan Qirui was stunned but didn't get angry. Pondering for a moment, Duan Qirui sneered, "Did He Rui guess it right?"

The aide knew Duan Qirui wasn't really asking and didn't answer. He was just quite surprised in his heart at He Rui's ability to predict things like a god. Recalling what He Rui said in the letter, '...If the Director-General thinks someone is instigating behind the scenes, I'm afraid it may not be so. The citizens all think that as a victorious nation, China should recover Shandong. Knowing negotiations failed and Japan took away rights and interests in Shandong, they are naturally angry. I hope the Director-General can channel it in advance...'

Since things happened as He Rui predicted, what puzzled the aide most was why He Rui warned Duan Qirui in advance. What benefit could this have for He Rui?

He Rui also received the news immediately. Looking at the short telegram, He Rui couldn't help sighing. Did Duan Qirui really not understand how tricky the matter was at all?

Duan Qirui had his current status and prestige largely because he indeed made the correct choice of sides in the European war. But this anticlimactic coping method, caring for the head but ignoring the tail, was enough to prove that Duan Qirui completely couldn't understand what kind of existence a modern country was.

The diplomatic achievement of becoming a victorious nation turned into evidence of Duan Qirui's crime of humiliating the nation and forfeiting its sovereignty in the blink of an eye; a good hand of cards was ruined by Duan Qirui himself!

Next, He Rui only hoped that no one in Beiyang would be blind enough to actively challenge the Northeast. If such a fool really appeared, He Rui would have to launch some military actions against Beiyang for his own political reputation. This would go against He Rui's original intention.

In He Rui's plan, the Northeast should maintain a very low-profile attitude until the war against Japan began.