Takahashi Korekiyo took the business card handed over by his secretary and looked at the name 'Fukada Mitsuko', then at the title: *Asahi Shimbun* Reporter. Minister Takahashi was momentarily puzzled as to when the *Asahi Shimbun* had started recruiting female reporters. At least judging by the name, Fukada Mitsuko was a woman.

Before Takahashi could think much more, the secretary said, "Excellency, it was you who wrote the recommendation letter for this Miss Fukada, recommending her to take the entrance exam for Tohoku Imperial University."

Even though Takahashi was busy with work every day, he still had an impression of this event from three years ago. Takahashi sighed, "Has it been three years already?"

The secretary did not say anything this time. He knew very well that Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo was not asking anyone; the remark was merely a lament over the passage of time.

Sure enough, Takahashi continued to ask, "What did the *Asahi Shimbun* send her here for?"

"I heard from Miss Fukada that the *Asahi Shimbun* wanted to interview Prime Minister Hara, but was refused by His Excellency. So Miss Fukada wanted to come and ask for your assistance."

Takahashi thought for a moment, then ordered, "I happen to be going out, so please ask Miss Fukada to join me in the car."

Fukada Mitsuko left Takahashi with the impression of being 'very polite'. That is to say, aside from the customary greetings, Fukada Mitsuko only explained that she had been assigned to interview Prime Minister Hara, and did not take the initiative to say another word after that.

Takahashi Korekiyo also did not mention the interview at all, simply inquiring about Fukada Mitsuko's studies at Tohoku Imperial University. Hearing that Fukada Mitsuko had graduated with straight As, he praised, "Miss Fukada has not failed Professor Taira Toyomori's expectations."

Fukada Mitsuko replied, "Receiving such grace from Your Excellency and Professor Taira, other than my grades, there is nothing that can prove my gratitude."

Takahashi's evaluation of Fukada Mitsuko rose even higher. With a faint smile, Takahashi spoke no more. The interior of the car fell into silence for the time being. It was not until the car stopped outside the Prime Minister's official residence that Takahashi asked Fukada Mitsuko to remain in the car first, while he got out and went straight to Prime Minister Hara Takashi's office.

Seeing Takahashi enter, Hara Takashi stood up. Takahashi smiled and said, "Excellency, I have had an audience with His Majesty. His Majesty does not support a full-scale war."

"That is wonderful!" Hara breathed a long sigh of relief, but a moment later, his expression turned worried again. He asked, "Is His Majesty's health stable?"

At this, even Takahashi Korekiyo could not help but show a look of regret. The current Emperor of Japan, Taishō, was seen as a wise ruler by both Hara and Takahashi. He possessed very clear judgment regarding Japan's political development, especially with his clear recognition of Japan's movement directly toward party politics.

However, this inevitably offended the old Japanese forces of military background. Therefore, open and secret attacks regarding Emperor Taishō having mental illness had never ceased.

Even so, Emperor Taishō did not retreat because of this. He continued to strive to stabilize the direction of Japan's political development and push Japanese society toward a more open direction. The fact that the Hara cabinet could come to power was the result of this progress.

But the greater the progress, the greater the resistance. The attacks on Taishō had now reached an unscrupulous level. Yamagata Aritomo had publicly stated that Emperor Taishō had suffered from meningitis as a child and had not fully recovered, and now had mental illness.

How would the Japanese citizens have the opportunity to contact the Emperor? At the very least, Hara and Takahashi were quite angry at such claims. Yamagata Aritomo and his ilk were already trying hard to get close to the princes and trying every means to influence the young royals. If Taishō were driven from power, the next Emperor would very likely be a monarch who shared the same mindset as the military men.

Although his heart was heavy, Takahashi still replied, "His Majesty is in good health. Would Your Excellency be willing to accept an interview with the *Asahi Shimbun*?"

Hara hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is that reporter reliable? How is their ability?"

Takahashi Korekiyo then recounted Fukada Mitsuko's background to Hara. Hearing that the interviewing reporter was a woman and had a deep relationship with He Rui, Hara remained interested even while facing immense pressure at this time. "Then please invite this Miss Fukada in."

Waiting for the secretary to go and bring the person in, Hara sighed, "Excellency Takahashi, Japan has not easily achieved today's state of enlightenment; I will absolutely not allow the era to turn back!"

Takahashi Korekiyo only nodded slightly and did not speak. Because there was nothing to say. If he were not like-minded with Hara, there would have been absolutely no need for Takahashi to have gone to the lengths he had. Takahashi was working for a shared ideal, not working for Hara.

Soon, Fukada Mitsuko was led into the Prime Minister's office. It could be seen that Fukada Mitsuko was somewhat nervous. But this did not make her lose her composure. Seeing Fukada Mitsuko's graceful and natural demeanor, Prime Minister Hara, who had been a reporter for many years, could not help but feel joy in his heart. *This* was what Japan's future ought to look like; Hara hoped that more Japanese women could become like Fukada Mitsuko.

Upon learning that she was permitted to interview Prime Minister Hara, Fukada Mitsuko was stunned for a moment. She immediately asked, "Excellency, could you please allow me to go out and prepare for a few minutes?"

Hearing this, Hara could not help but recall his own feelings when he first interviewed a big shot. That excitement, unease, and the mixture of expectation for his own success and fear of failing the interview—it had taken Hara a great deal of effort to calm himself back then.

Since Fukada Mitsuko had made the request so sincerely, Hara agreed. It was a good opportunity to discuss some small matters with Takahashi Korekiyo. After Fukada Mitsuko was led out by the secretary, Hara asked, "The workers at Kawasaki Shipyard have already won the eight-hour workday. How many people within the Seiyūkai want to implement the eight-hour workday across Japan?"

Takahashi Korekiyo's expression grew solemn. "Only a minority want to legislate it; the majority do not wish to see it."

Hearing that the eight-hour workday had not become a policy-making issue within the Seiyūkai, Japan's current 'ruling party', Hara relaxed. The nationwide Rice Riots in Japan had led to the collapse of the Terauchi cabinet, allowing the Hara cabinet to take the stage.

Hara knew the intense emotions of the Japanese populace, and also knew the desire of the opposing dignitaries and capitalists to suppress them with all their might. As Prime Minister, Hara absolutely could not let the situation deteriorate. Otherwise, the Hara cabinet would collapse directly. To quiet the populace while also making the dignitaries and capitalists make certain concessions—to achieve such a result, Hara had already exhausted his mental efforts. There absolutely could not be a new flashpoint now.

Just as they finished this topic, a knock sounded at the door, and the secretary led Fukada Mitsuko in. Although Takahashi could have left, he stayed, sitting to the side to watch this interview.

Fukada Mitsuko posed the first question: "Excellency, will the government use all means to support the White Russian Provisional Government?"

Hara shook his head. "The Japanese government is paying close attention to the Russian Civil War, but we will not let the Japanese military and citizens risk intervening in the Russian Civil War for the sake of Russia."

"Excellency, do you believe that the overthrown Tsarist government and the current Soviet Russian government, when the situation is unfavorable, will differ in their attitudes when ending a war?"

Hearing this question, Hara felt that it sounded tricky, yet was actually a softball question.

Looking at Fukada Mitsuko, he saw that this young girl had a somewhat petite figure and a sweet, round face. She looked very cute.

When Hara was a reporter, he was at the *Mainichi Shimbun* and did not have a deep understanding of the *Asahi Shimbun*. So Hara could not be sure if this question was thought up by Fukada Mitsuko herself or set by the *Asahi Shimbun*.

Thinking of the female reporter Fukada Mitsuko's academic background, Hara decided to gamble. The General Staff Office had already started using newspapers to stir up the emotions of the Japanese citizens; if he wanted to counterattack, Hara also had to utilize the propaganda power of the newspapers.

So Hara replied, "From the intelligence we have obtained so far, the Bolshevik government is an extremely radical Russian political organization. And the Russian domestic populace has already fallen into radical emotions. Under such emotions, it is impossible for Russia to make a decision to cede territory and pay indemnities."

"Excellency, in the latter stages of the Russo-Japanese War, it was heard that Russia was transporting troops to the Far East. Meanwhile, Japan's economy at the time was being maintained by loans. Was such information accurate?"

Hearing this question, Hara understood. The *Asahi Shimbun* was prepared to stand on the anti-war side this time, which meant standing on Hara's side. Since that was the case, Hara analyzed the comparison of strength between the two sides behind the Russo-Japanese War. And coordinating with Fukada Mitsuko's questions, he continued to expound that if war broke out with the Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia now, the result would be no different from the Russo-Japanese War.

Russia could afford to drag it out, whereas if Japan could not achieve a decisive victory in the short term, the country would be crushed by massive military expenditures.

More importantly, even if war broke out with Soviet Russia and the Japanese army advanced continuously in the Far East, achieving some military victories, they could not hit Russia's core heartland in Europe. Soviet Russia could continue to fight the Japanese army indefinitely.

The result of the Russo-Japanese War proved that as long as a vast major power continued to fight, its costs would be much lower than that of Japan, hanging alone overseas, sending troops to the continent.

Finally, the interview was completed. Fukada Mitsuko closed her notebook and asked, "Does Your Excellency have anything else to add?"

Hara was in a much better mood by now and smiled, "When can Miss Fukada write up the interview article?"

Fukada Mitsuko did not have confidence that her news piece would quickly pass the editor-in-chief's review, so she replied, "I will bring the first draft the day after tomorrow. Please have someone review it, Your Excellency."

For Hara, who had been a reporter for several years, reviewing and editing drafts was once a daily meal. He encouraged her, "I will be waiting to see Miss Fukada's masterpiece."

After the secretary saw Fukada Mitsuko out, Takahashi sighed, "I didn't expect a young girl to have such insight. The people at the General Staff are inferior even to such a girl."

Hara was also speechless, yet helpless.

The Japanese populace's attitude toward war was very simple: as long as they could win the battle and make the defeated country cede territory and pay indemnities, allowing the people to catch their breath, the Japanese populace supported the war. If the result of the war could not achieve this goal, the Japanese populace would vent all their anger on the Prime Minister.

If this was the mood of the Japanese people during the Russo-Japanese War over a decade ago, the situation Hara faced now was even more difficult. The resistance of the Japanese people was becoming increasingly intense. Because the small parties had to rely on the radicals, in order to cater to the dissatisfaction of the people, the political slogan of 'Universal Suffrage' had been shouted by the small parties for several years.

Hara said helplessly, "Actually, the future development of democracy is a terrifying thing. regarding this, I share the same worries as the bureaucratic forces. The difference lies in the fact that the bureaucratic forces want to block this trend, whereas I want to prevent this trend from developing too fast, channeling it so that it does not cause great chaos. The Qing Dynasty collapsed under excessively radical reforms."

Takahashi Korekiyo expressed agreement. However, what Takahashi thought of in his heart was He Rui. He Rui had cut through the knot of landlords and gentry in the Northeast with a sharp knife, resolving the mess, and immediately pushed through extremely radical policies. The Bolshevik government had seized national power in Russia within an extremely short time. The situations on both sides were quite good. Takahashi felt that whether a policy was radical or not did not have as much influence as imagined. The key lay in whether power was unified.

It was said that the Bolshevik leader, Lenin, held the leading power of the Bolshevik party. As for He Rui, more evidence proved that He Rui held absolute leadership status within the Northeast Government.

Yet Hara, this Prime Minister, had to maneuver among various forces. Not only could he not command other forces, but he also had to negotiate with them to coordinate relationships.

Two days later, Hara received the interview news. Just as Hara had hoped, this exclusive interview was very well-written. More importantly, it was an easily understandable news draft. By comparing it with the Russo-Japanese War, the interview clearly wrote out the huge losses the Russo-Japanese War brought to Japan and the reasons behind them, so that even ordinary people could understand.

The entire article did not lack praise for the victory of the war, not being annoying in the slightest. Similarly, the price the Japanese people had to pay was also described vividly. After all, the Japanese who had experienced the era of the Russo-Japanese War were mostly still alive.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan owed huge foreign debts. It was not until the Great War in Europe two years ago that they paid them off due to the sudden explosion of exports.

Reading it once more, Hara felt that the article's sense of propriety was grasped extremely well; no problems could be found in the writing style or content. Thinking of the reaction of those people at the General Staff after seeing this article, Hara only felt some anticipation.

Just as Hara expected, after General Uehara Yūsaku, Chief of the General Staff, finished reading the article in the *Asahi Shimbun*, he was so angry that he directly called Lieutenant Colonel Ikeda, who was responsible for leaking information to the *Asahi Shimbun*, and scolded him directly: "Ikeda, is this how you contact the *Asahi Shimbun*?!"

Ikeda endured General Uehara Yūsaku's scolding and did not particularly care. As a major newspaper in Japan, the General Staff really had no way to order the *Asahi Shimbun* to be submissive. After General Uehara finished scolding, Ikeda asked for the newspaper. After reading it and seeing the pen name 'Fukada Rui' written in the author column, he felt he probably knew who the author was.

Originally, Uehara Yūsaku's anger had not yet subsided, but hearing that the author was actually a female reporter with a deep relationship with He Rui, his other thoughts were immediately put aside. Uehara knew that He Rui was favored by Takahashi Korekiyo, and could not help but think that Takahashi had suspicions of colluding with foreign countries.

A few days later, He Rui, who was considered to be colluding with Takahashi Korekiyo, received a piece of intelligence: Japanese Chief of General Staff Uehara Yūsaku had submitted a request to Emperor Taishō to go to war with Soviet Russia during an audience, and was directly refused by the Emperor. This left Uehara in a very awkward position.

He Rui put down the urgent intelligence delivered to him and continued to assign work to Director Zhou of the Foreign Affairs Department. "If the Bolshevik side sends someone to contact us and asks if the Soviet Red Army can pass through our territory, you tell the Soviet Red Army representative to contact the comrades responsible for foreign affairs in the Northeast Army."

"We are going to let Soviet Russia pass through?" Director Zhou was greatly shocked by this news.

He Rui shook his head. "We absolutely cannot allow any foreign army to pass through China's borders. This concerns national dignity and is a matter on which we absolutely cannot back down."

Hearing He Rui answer this way, Director Zhou finally relaxed. Then he heard He Rui say, "Therefore, regarding this matter, if the other party does not raise such a request, we must not raise it either. And Director Zhou must pay attention: you cannot converse with the representative of the Russian Red Army. This is not a matter of whether you can talk or not, but concerns the principle of diplomatic reciprocity."

Director Zhou did not quite understand. But since He Rui spoke this way, he could only obey orders. Then he heard He Rui continue, "Director Zhou, from now on, we must be particular about diplomatic reciprocity. This is not about personal face, but if we don't do this, we will be considered unprofessional."

Hearing the word 'unprofessional', Director Zhou immediately replied with a hundredfold spirit, "Yes!"

In the Civilization Party's current definitions, the most serious offense was 'unserious'. This referred to issues of cognition and attitude.

And while 'unprofessional' referred to issues at the execution level, it was a very severe criticism within the execution level.

With the matter discussed, Director Zhou, facing He Rui who was dressed in ordinary clothes convenient for going down to the fields, knew that the Chairman was going to the countryside for inspection. Director Zhou said, "Please rest assured, Chairman. I will do as the Chairman requested. Once there is anything I don't understand, I will also contact the Chairman."

He Rui shook his head. "Don't consider contacting me first. Hold party meetings, hold departmental meetings. Three cobblers equal a Zhuge Liang; as long as the direction is correct, there is strength in numbers."

Hearing He Rui speak amusingly, and thinking of the situations where everyone spoke at once during meetings, Director Zhou could not help but ask jokingly, "Chairman, if the direction is correct, there is strength in numbers. What if the direction is incorrect? Will we fall apart?"

Unlike what Director Zhou thought, He Rui's expression was solemn, and his tone was also solemn. "If the direction is correct, there is strength in numbers. If the direction is incorrect, the more knowledge one has, the more reactionary one becomes."

The word 'reactionary' was an even more serious matter within the Civilization Party. Unserious and unprofessional referred to internal problems, while reactionary referred to contradictions between the enemy and us. That was a matter of determining victory or defeat, or even life and death.

Just then, someone came in from outside. It was a staff member from the telegraph room. "Chairman, we received a telegram. General Kolchak wishes to request an audience with the Chairman. I wonder if the Chairman has time?"