Early in the morning, Morita Mitsuko had already risen. Today she was to interview a big shot. Even though she had gone to the bathhouse yesterday, Mitsuko still went to the family kitchen, boiled two large kettles of water, and scrubbed herself down.

The aluminum kettle was a gift He Rui had asked someone to deliver to Mitsuko. Outwardly, the object was unremarkable, its shell quickly turning dull and lackluster from smoke and fire. But Mitsuko keenly noticed that the aluminum kettle did not rust like iron ones, and was much lighter than copper ones. Moreover, given the Morita family's income, even though she had finished her probationary period at the *Asahi Shimbun* and become a full-fledged reporter, she still could not afford an expensive copper kettle.

As a female reporter for the *Asahi Shimbun*, Mitsuko's family life was already much better than that of her neighbors. For instance, after washing up, Mitsuko put on her nightgown and began using a hair dryer to quickly dry her hair.

Hot air blew through Mitsuko’s very damp long hair, while she took the spare moment to lay out the clothes she would wear today on the bed.

The cotton sheets, duvet cover, and the cotton filling for the quilt on the bed were all sent by He Rui. The woolen coat and silk blouse were made at a tailor shop in Tokyo using fabric gifts sent by He Rui.

The coat's lining was made of rabbit fur sandwiched between silk, secured with buttons; it was both light and warm. In his letters, He Rui said these were all products of large-scale industrial production and weren't worth much money.

Mitsuko could understand that what He Rui said was likely true. After working for two years, she had come to understand the power of industrial mass production. As long as there were enough raw materials, any amount of goods was just another item on the production line.

Now He Rui controlled Manchuria and Mongolia, a vast land where a train might run for three days and not necessarily reach the other end. Many in the Empire of Japan coveted the land of Manchuria and Mongolia. Mitsuko also knew from those people's conversations and various data that Manchuria and Mongolia were ten times the size of Japan, with abundant resources and fertile land—absolutely incomparable to Japan.

Soon, Mrs. Morita, awakened by the noise of the hair dryer, walked into Mitsuko's room and helped her dry her hair. Watching her daughter’s hands busy taking out hair ribbons and ornaments, Mrs. Morita sighed slightly, "Mitsuko, you must be polite to His Excellency today."

Mitsuko could only murmur an assent. The person she was going to meet today was none other than Prime Minister Hara Takashi. To have the opportunity to interview Prime Minister Hara before interviewing He Rui—at least in Mitsuko's view—meant that someone behind the scenes had made preparations long ago. Although He Rui had graduated from the Army War College and his friends in Japan were people of status, there were some things these people simply could not say.

The most suitable person was, conversely, Mitsuko. Mitsuko used to not understand why political marriages in books were always tragedies, but now she understood: women positioned between various forces were tools from beginning to end. And who would care about the fate of a tool?

By 8:00 AM, Morita Mitsuko had finished sorting out the details of her attire. Reflected in the full-length mirror was a petite woman, less than 160 centimeters tall, filled with an intellectual air. She did not put on a strong front, nor did she have any imposing presence; it seemed as if any force could push her over.

Mitsuko took a short sword out of her handbag and placed it in a drawer. This was a self-defense weapon she had been carrying for the past year. Going to the Prime Minister's residence meant her bag would be inspected, and it wouldn't be good if it were discovered there. Besides, the security at the Prime Minister's residence was guaranteed, so there shouldn't be any danger.

Morita Mitsuko looked at herself in the mirror and steeled herself. She must not show the slightest loss of composure before Prime Minister Hara Takashi, nor lose her calm and self-control just because she was facing a big shot.

At 9:30 AM, reporters from several major Japanese media outlets, including the *Asahi Shimbun*, arrived outside the Prime Minister's office. Morita Mitsuko had seen photos of He Rui's office in Shenyang—it was several large buildings, looking majestic and imposing. Of course, the buildings weren't prepared for He Rui alone; the administrative and party core of the entire Manchuria-Mongolia region worked in those buildings. Compared to the photos, the Japanese Prime Minister's office before her eyes seemed too low and small.

The questions to be discussed had already been agreed upon with the Prime Minister's secretary. Moreover, Prime Minister Hara himself came from a newspaper background and had ample insight into various issues. The dialogue between the two sides was extremely polite and full of tactful propriety.

Facing the crowd of reporters, Prime Minister Hara introduced Japan's current economic policies, followed by the achievements in the selection of government personnel and the construction of new schools.

The Hara Cabinet had stood firm for over three years, from its inauguration in September 1918 until October 1921. It was already a long-lived cabinet. In the 41st Diet session in 1918, it had proposed the "Plan for the Creation and Expansion of Higher Schools" with a total budget of up to 44.5 million yen.

According to this plan, in April 1919, the government established four new national old-system high schools in Niigata, Matsuyama, Yamaguchi, and Matsumoto prefectures. In terms of higher education, it successively built 10 national old-system high schools, 6 national higher technical schools, 4 national higher agricultural schools, 7 national higher commercial schools, 1 foreign language school, and 1 pharmaceutical college.

In addition to building new schools, existing universities, including Imperial Universities, were upgraded and reformed. Several private universities, including Keio University, Waseda University, Meiji University, Hosei University, Chuo University, Nihon University, Kokugakuin University, and Doshisha University, were elevated to a status equal to that of national universities.

During this process of upgrading universities, student strikes broke out. However, the cause was a massive protest by teachers and students of the Tokyo Higher Technical School and the Tokyo Higher Normal School because they were not upgraded to universities. After government mediation, the strikes did not expand and subsided automatically within a short time.

In Japan, where domestic contradictions were like a powder keg, this was already an astonishing achievement.

Just when Morita Mitsuko thought Prime Minister Hara was going to boast about his achievements during his term, the 65-year-old Prime Minister spoke: "I have little talent and shallow learning. During my three years as Prime Minister, I have exhausted my strength. Even if I were to continue, I could make no further progress. Therefore, I prepare to submit my resignation in the near future."

Even facing the Prime Minister, the reporters couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Japanese Prime Ministers on stage were always targets of criticism, and Hara Takashi was no exception. There were right-wing newspapers among the seated reporters, who had consistently opposed Hara's party politics line.

But this didn't mean these reporters didn't understand the current situation in Japan. In terms of political achievements, the Hara Cabinet had passed many policies in the Diet over three years that greatly annoyed the right wing, but overall, Hara wasn't bad.

Moreover, at this stage, there were really no other politicians with appeal in the Japanese political arena. The domain clique forces that had founded the Meiji era had become objects of curses by the Japanese public over the past few decades. If someone were forcibly selected from among them, their influence would certainly not be higher than Hara's.

As for the left-leaning reporters, they were even more astonished. Deeply influenced by He Rui, Morita Mitsuko's reaction at this moment was calmer. A thought couldn't help but pop up: *Is Excellency Hara retreating in order to advance, throwing out the mess first to let other Prime Ministers screw things up completely?*

With the rise of the Seiyūkai represented by Hara, Japan had developed rapidly in party politics, creating a situation where even the military had to bow its head temporarily. In the last year, 1921, many corruption cases involving officials from the domain clique forces within the government had been exposed by newspapers, leading to the unexplained deaths of quite a few reporters.

Of course, in the newspaper industry, everyone knew the reason, though they never said it publicly. The exposed forces were not just one person's power; the people at the front were merely their representatives in the government. Exposing those people naturally meant being treated as an enemy by the forces behind them.

This was also the reason Morita Mitsuko had carried a self-defense short sword for the past year.

If Hara stepped down, the next Prime Minister to take the stage would likely be a representative of the old forces. They would certainly be unable to handle the immediate problems, and the political forces supporting the old guard would also lose face. At that time, if Hara made a comeback, he could likely be easily elected again.

Morita Mitsuko felt this was just her own speculation. Hara Takashi was 65 years old this year. Bearing the position of Prime Minister at such an age was indeed a heavy pressure for this old man.

Soon, the meeting with the reporters ended. The reporters wanted to ask more questions but were not permitted. As Morita Mitsuko was leaving, Hara's secretary happened to pass by her and handed her a note. Mitsuko opened it, looked, and then deliberately lagged behind. Using the excuse of going to the restroom, she avoided the crowd.

Sure enough, after Mitsuko touched up her makeup and tidied her appearance in the restroom with a small mirror, the secretary led her to another small office upon her exit.

The layout here was Japanese-style. A small table was placed on the tatami. Morita Mitsuko knelt on the cushion at the lower position. A moment later, footsteps sounded, and Prime Minister Hara Takashi walked in, kneeling on the cushion at the main position according to Japanese etiquette.

While the secretary poured tea, Hara smiled and asked, "I wonder what kind of news Miss Morita intends to write?"

Mitsuko already had some ideas by now, so she asked directly, "I am considering an article analyzing the unsolvable problems Your Excellency has encountered in economic construction."

Hara's secretary, who had just poured tea into the cup in front of Hara, paused upon hearing this and looked at Morita Mitsuko. Distracted, he spilled the tea. The secretary noticed quickly, apologized profusely, stood up to get a cloth to wipe the water stain clean, and then knelt aside on the tatami with correct posture.

Prime Minister Hara did not feel surprised. A young girl like Morita Mitsuko was not a significant figure in Japan's upper echelons; few people paid attention to or looked after her, and those who did mostly did so out of upper-class courtesy. However, it was precisely because of this that Professor Taira Toyomori, a close friend and academic advisor to Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo, had introduced Morita Mitsuko to Hara as "someone who understands how to look at problems from an economic perspective."

In Hara's view, Morita Mitsuko, having received this evaluation, was at least much better than those *baka* (idiots) in the military.

There were as many things worthy of Hara's attention as there were hairs on a cow. If Morita Mitsuko couldn't reach this level, Hara wouldn't have bothered to have a private conversation with this marginal figure of Japanese high society.

"Miss Morita, what do you think are the economic problems encountered by this government?" Hara asked.

Morita Mitsuko dared not speak recklessly. Even if she gave the correct answer, it would do her no good. For a girl from an ordinary samurai family of the former Tokugawa Shogunate to attend university and find a formal job as a reporter at the *Asahi Shimbun*—rather than serving tea or cleaning, with a fixed salary—was already the limit of what a woman of her background could achieve in this era. Even if she understood Hara's difficulties, stating the correct answer would only invite trouble. What's more, the Hara Cabinet faced countless problems, each one extremely thorny. Mitsuko didn't know which one the Prime Minister considered important.

So Morita Mitsuko bowed her head slightly. "Please enlighten me, Your Excellency."

Watching Morita Mitsuko's elegant movements across from him, Hara felt a bit of interest in this girl. Restrained and forbearing, displaying fine qualities—this was undoubtedly the Japanese public's imagination and expectation of upper-class women. In reality, upper-class women were not this excellent; many of them had personalities no different from shrews.

Those noble women born into the peerage were superior to Morita Mitsuko only in their birth. In terms of learning, insight, and cultivation, they were far inferior. At least, if Hara discussed politics with upper-class ladies, those women either understood nothing at all or immediately considered their private interests.

How much did Morita Mitsuko in front of him actually understand? Hara felt a desire to find out.

"Miss Morita, I want to hear your views," Hara said.

"This..." Morita Mitsuko bowed her head slightly again.

Hara had limited time, so he commanded, "I require you to state your views."

Facing the Prime Minister of Japan, Morita Mitsuko could only submit. She raised her head but lowered her gaze. "Your Excellency, the three most troublesome matters for Japan right now are: first, setbacks in imports and exports; second, domestic labor disputes; and third, in the allocation of the fiscal budget, a portion must be invested in fields that cannot promote reproduction. Or perhaps it can be said that there are great troubles with raw materials and product sales markets."

Only after finishing did Morita Mitsuko raise her gaze to look at Hara's reaction.

Hara's evaluation of Morita Mitsuko rose significantly. If she had just stated the problems, what she said were merely three among many. But by mentioning the essence of the problems, Morita Mitsuko had seized the crux of the matter directly.

If Morita Mitsuko were a boy, Hara would have been very willing to cultivate him. A boy graduating from Imperial Tohoku University, entering government service to become a civil servant, would be completely logical. After working for a period, if he performed well, he could form a marriage tie with some political force. Then he would inherit that political force, become a Diet member, and then a Minister of some department. If he could demonstrate leadership, become a faction leader, or even become Prime Minister one day—all this was possible.

But a girl, even with ability and insight, would not have the door of politics opened to her.

Hara quickly pulled back his wandering thoughts and brought the topic back to the area that should have been raised earlier. "He-kun is an elite cultivated by the Empire of Japan. When the Empire of Japan encounters difficulties, He-kun should have the will to assist. Now that He-kun controls Manchuria and Mongolia and has established trade relations with Soviet Russia, he has ample raw materials in his hands. If He-kun could share these raw materials with the Empire, he would undoubtedly gain the goodwill of the Empire of Japan. Moreover, with the population explosion in the Northeast, there would presumably be a great demand for industrial products."

Morita Mitsuko felt her hair stand on end, a chill rushing left and right within her body. Such words should not have been said by Hara. It would have been most appropriate if Hara's secretary had said them.

Although Hara hadn't explicitly asked Mitsuko to do anything, every sentence was an order.

If Hara's secretary had said this, there would still be a buffer for both sides. If Mitsuko couldn't persuade He Rui during her upcoming 'interview', it would just mean she failed to persuade him.

Now Mitsuko had no retreat. If she couldn't persuade He Rui to make concessions, once she returned to Japan, everything would be over.

And Morita Mitsuko absolutely did not believe her dear Brother He Rui would agree. When it came to being hardline, He Rui was by no means weaker than any of the Japanese high command. Mitsuko had seen with her own eyes a few Japanese officers drinking at He Rui's place getting drunk and, hugely provoked by what He Rui said, drawing their military swords partway and shouting about a 'duel'.

Mitsuko had been frightened badly, but He Rui had smiled and stood up, picking up the katana in the room. The result was that the Japanese officers drinking with them hurriedly held down the instigator and glossed over the matter with the excuse that he was 'drunk'. Mitsuko had seen He Rui train in swordsmanship; she didn't believe He Rui's lightning-fast sword technique would lose.

Just as now, Mitsuko didn't believe He Rui would compromise.

Afterward, Morita Mitsuko's head was buzzing, and she could only respond almost instinctively. By the time she left the Prime Minister's office, all she could remember was that Hara had only said some things and had not required Mitsuko to answer.

Morita Mitsuko did not return to the newspaper office but went straight home. She wrapped herself in a quilt and curled up on the bed, only feeling herself trembling involuntarily.

She didn't know how long it took before she recovered. The first relatively rational thought popped up: *Is Japan's economy really in such a critical state?*

But thinking back to the worker and peasant families she had interviewed, Morita Mitsuko had to admit that Japan's situation was indeed that critical.

Worker families worked hard at their jobs, but the money they earned was only enough to feed the family. The countryside was even worse; after paying land rent, a peasant family could only resolve their hunger by eating wild vegetables and those grass roots and tender leaves that were edible.

In fact, Morita Mitsuko had lived such a life in her childhood, until her mother, heavily oppressed by life, rented a room at a not-low price to the visitor He Rui, and Mitsuko's life suddenly improved.

Now, because of Mitsuko's stable income, the fact that her family only had two people had become an advantage. For those large families, even if one person had Mitsuko's income, life would still be hard to endure.