It had been less than six years since the establishment of the Northeast Government. After listening to Cheng Ruofan's overview of general mobilization during the training course, a mayor raised a question. "Chief of Staff Cheng, how long will the general mobilization last?"

Cheng Ruofan thought for a moment before replying, "I am not clear on what exactly you are asking. If you mean when this specific mobilization action will end, I have not received a notification yet, so I do not know. Or, are you asking when the general mobilization *system* will cease operation? Comrade, could you clarify?"

The questioning mayor was stunned. Chief of Staff Cheng Ruofan's deconstruction of the mobilization issue was quite different from his initial perception. After a brief thought, the mayor reaffirmed his idea. "I want to ask, how long will the operation of the general mobilization system be maintained?"

This answer was still inaccurate, or rather, it still suffered from conceptual confusion. However, Cheng Ruofan did not wish to dwell on these details; after all, he himself had once been confused. Cheng Ruofan answered frankly, "The general mobilization system is a part of the modern state system, just like one of our arms. This arm can do things, or it can do nothing, but this arm must exist. If it does not exist, one is disabled."

Provincial Party Secretaries and Governors had undergone general mobilization training and had already grasped the key points in this regard. The Municipal Party Secretaries and Mayors, however, might not have. Hearing Cheng Ruofan speak so clearly, their lack of overall understanding gave rise to more questions.

Cheng Ruofan answered the questions patiently. It was an absolutely normal process for students to ask foolish questions initially. Moreover, the general mobilization system was an advanced part of state capacity; Cheng Ruofan himself had only truly begun to understand it the year before last.

The trainees' reactions were also interesting. From initially not understanding the basic concepts to linking them with their work practice and gaining some understanding, some of them then became excited. Some even asked, 'Is the general mobilization system really that powerful?'

These emotions were all past experiences for Cheng Ruofan. It wasn't that 'general mobilization' was powerful, but that a political entity had to be strong enough to build and execute a general mobilization system.

For instance, because the Northeast had a paper industry and had developed various papermaking technological routes, it could continuously produce various types of paper. Without this paper, the vast ocean of archives could not be created. Combined with metal smelting and processing, as well as mechanical processing technology, this allowed for the 'punch-card retrieval machines' made based on various rosters.

He Rui had once described future technological developments to the comrades. With the development of 'electronic technology', more efficient computers would appear in the future, capable of establishing comprehensive archives for a population of one billion and providing various data services.

This filled Cheng Ruofan with drive. Cheng Ruofan looked forward to living long enough to see the future development He Rui described.

Cheng Ruofan's explanation of the general mobilization system had given the mayors a similar excitement. Placing oneself in a broader system and realizing the significance of one's hard work made it very easy for people to identify more strongly with their own value.

During the lectures, several mayors were very curious about the purpose of this 'general mobilization drill'. They stopped themselves from asking, barely holding back. This made Cheng Ruofan feel very good; among the disciplines of the Civilization Party, 'do not ask what should not be asked' was one.

The Party organization did not want to hide anything from the comrades, but at certain stages, the things of that stage had to be done. Including the confidentiality work of this stage.

Cheng Ruofan knew very well that once general mobilization began, it couldn't be hidden from others. The Northeast's mobilization this time was already on the scale of four million people. Even though various localities had frequently organized 'ten-thousand-man water conservancy campaigns' in recent years, and cities and counties had accumulated considerable experience, the population covered barely meant that every person in the Northeast had participated in fewer than five large-scale actions. The population that had directly participated in county-level large-scale engineering actions was only over ten million, less than twenty million. Cheng Ruofan was now very clear that He Rui and the comrades had truly done their best in constructing the Northeast's general mobilization system.

Just as Cheng Ruofan expected, even though the Northeast Government tried to use terms like 'mobilization drill', news of the Northeast beginning large-scale mobilization was still transmitted through very normal channels.

In recent years, there had been mobilizations in all regions of the Northeast Government, from spring planting and autumn harvest to large-scale construction of water conservancy and transportation, from education and literacy campaigns to the Patriotic Health Movement. When the Northeast stirred up things, Japan and Britain, if not accustomed to it, were at least no longer startled.

However, general mobilization could not be hidden. That was a massive conscription of millions of people. According to treaties signed previously, Japan possessed a large number of privileges in China and could naturally organize a larger-scale intelligence network. Once various pieces of news were aggregated, it was easy to judge that the Northeast had begun a round of massive conscription.

There were many factories opened by the British in the Northeast. The eligible population within these factories was conscripted, and workers were organized under management agencies. These workers naturally had to inform the British factory owners. Britain had mobilized 20% of its nationals during World War I; how could it not understand such changes?

When this news reached the Legation Quarter in Beijing, where foreign diplomatic missions gathered, British Minister John Jordan felt that He Rui was finally about to make a move on North China.

Previously, He Rui had proposed to the Beiyang Government that the Shandong issue be resolved at the Washington Conference. In Jordan's view, this action was somewhat similar to a declaration of 'clearing the Emperor's side' (*Qing Jun Ce*). In Chinese tradition, one certainly could not directly declare, 'I'll chop off the dog emperor and sit on the dragon throne myself.' One needed a justification, a very high-sounding reason.

'Clearing the Emperor's side' was undoubtedly a good reason. When the civil and military officials around the Emperor were cleaned out, the Emperor would naturally be cleaned out as well.

He Rui had previously never expressed any views on the struggle between the Anhui clique and the Zhili clique. Jordan agreed that He Rui did not want war to break out between the two sides. However, Jordan did not believe a word of it when He Rui said he would never start a civil war. The Northeast's economy was doing well now, and its population had surged due to a large number of refugees. Combined with the Northeast's current commencement of major mobilization actions, Jordan felt that from He Rui's perspective, it was a very good time to launch a war.

Of course, this did not mean that Britain was prepared to watch helplessly as He Rui unified China, or at least North China.

As a civilian official, Jordan immediately sent a telegram to London. He also had his secretary go to the Republic of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a 'low-level personnel' exchange.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was currently eagerly awaiting the results of the Washington Conference. The Foreign Ministry staff were not time-travelers, so they naturally did not know that the Washington Conference was a few months later than in history.

The Versailles Conference had determined the situation in Europe. As the world's number one industrial power at the moment, the United States possessed powerful strength. If the United States did not accept the general world order determined by the Versailles Conference, this order could not cover the globe.

The United States was very dissatisfied with the Versailles order. Since it wanted to expand its sphere of influence globally, the British and Japanese sides already knew that the United States had decided that the 'Anglo-Japanese Alliance' must be terminated to weaken Britain's power in Northeast Asia.

Perhaps because of the changes triggered by He Rui, Kolchak's million-strong White Army had managed to run to Vladivostok alive. Therefore, both Britain and Japan felt there were still opportunities to exploit in the Russian situation. At such a time, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance still had value, so the Washington Conference was delayed for a period, half a year later than in history.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not know this. They had already sent their strongest diplomatic delegation to attend this conference.

The United States naturally did not want to see Japanese power expand, so at the beginning of the conference, it emphasized that all countries must declare to guarantee China's territorial integrity and that its sovereignty not be infringed. Based on this principled position, the Chinese and Japanese sides discussed the Shandong issue.

On the third day after He Rui's request was made, the diplomatic delegation's Wellington Koo (Gu Weijun) sent back a telegram. The Chinese and Japanese sides had already completed negotiations on the recovery of rights in Shandong. The Chinese side would recover all leased territories and other areas. Although Japan still retained some privileges, these privileges were nothing compared to those of Britain, France, and other countries.

The final part of the negotiations concerned the houses and other assets newly built by Japan during its occupation of Shandong. China would purchase them at a reasonable discounted price and would not acknowledge Japan's fixed asset acquisitions in China.

Diplomatically, this was undoubtedly a huge victory. This victory made the request He Rui had proposed look ridiculous.

The Foreign Ministry was very happy about this matter until Jordan's secretary had a meal with a counterpart of the same rank from the Foreign Ministry...

Duan Qirui listened quietly as the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yan Huiqing, recounted the latest news. Yan Huiqing tried his best to suppress his emotions; even so, this talent skilled in diplomacy knew very well that He Rui's statement was truly ill-intentioned.

In today's China, everyone knew that although He Rui had risen for a short time, he had developed extremely fast. Compared to Duan Qirui's Anhui clique, he was by no means inferior. Even leaving aside how He Rui had managed to build a military-industrial system capable of supplying weapons to Russia by utilizing the opportunity of the Great War in Europe, just the fact that He Rui could take in millions of refugees caused by the great drought in the North made Yan Huiqing very clear about just how strong He Rui really was.

It couldn't be said that there were no talents in the Anhui clique, but these talents couldn't even govern the millions of people under their rule well, let alone take in millions of refugees who owned nothing.

Throughout the dynasties, let alone millions of refugees, even if hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees gathered, if someone raised a cry, a riot of hundreds of thousands of refugees could cause chaos in the world, or even a change of dynasty. He Rui now only needed to enlist the refugees into the ranks to have an army of hundreds of thousands.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yan Huiqing no longer knew what he could do. All he could do was inform Duan Qirui of the latest news.

Duan Qirui didn't say much either. After listening to the report, he ended the meeting. Sending Yan Huiqing away, Duan Qirui sat in the flower hall, very unhappy.

Having experienced so many storms, Duan Qirui had long known that He Rui would definitely try to seize great power, including unifying China. As early as when Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, He Rui had expressed his willingness to reunify China.

So Duan Qirui couldn't understand why someone as clever as He Rui would start acting foolishly in the face of interest. Does acting against the Anhui clique now benefit He Rui? Duan Qirui really couldn't figure it out.

After thinking it over, Duan Qirui still didn't understand where He Rui's goal lay. If He Rui wanted a voice in the Republic's central government, could Duan Qirui refuse to give He Rui face if a letter was written?

Even if He Rui wanted to be the Premier of the Republic, as long as everyone met and talked things over clearly, Duan Qirui himself didn't mind letting He Rui be Premier. They were all Beiyang brothers; what couldn't be discussed? Why did they have to resort to swords and guns? Duan Qirui was almost sixty years old; He Rui could easily outlive him.

So Duan Qirui felt there must be an inside story. As for what exactly the inside story was, Duan Qirui couldn't figure out He Rui's calculations.

However, this matter couldn't stump Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui went to see President Xu Shichang. "Mr. President, have you seen the letter Brother He Rui sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

Xu Shichang also couldn't figure out what medicine He Rui was selling in his gourd. However, Xu Shichang himself had absolutely no military power, so his attitude towards He Rui was even more relaxed. After the dispute between the Presidential Palace and the State Council, Duan Qirui no longer served as Premier. Xu Shichang felt that if He Rui was willing to come to the capital to be Premier, he had no objection.

Of course, the premise of such an approach was that He Rui only wanted to obtain such benefits. So Xu Shichang waited for Duan Qirui to continue. If Duan Qirui proposed such conditions first, it would naturally be best.

He heard Duan Qirui say, "Mr. President, I wonder if Brother Zhang would be willing to make a trip to Fengtian."

There were many people named Zhang in the world, and Duan Qirui and Xu Shichang knew enough figures named Zhang. Although he just said this, Xu Shichang already understood.

This was indeed a good method, but Xu Shichang laughed, "If so, what should he bring when visiting?"

Duan Qirui then replied, "The country is in urgent need of personnel; the younger generation should be allowed to serve the country. Zhuge Kongming defeated Cao Cao's army at thirty; with Kongming's talent, even if he had become Prime Minister at that time, it might not have been insufficient."

The so-called Prime Minister was the Premier. Hearing Duan Qirui speak like this, Xu Shichang understood. It seemed that Duan Qirui was also trying his best to avoid a fight between the Anhui clique and the Fengtian clique's He Rui.

As the President of the Republic, Xu Shichang naturally could not go to Tianjin in person. But this matter could not be treated lightly, so he wrote a letter inviting Zhang Xiluan to the capital to admire flowers.

Living as a recluse at this time, Zhang Xiluan naturally did not know what had happened in the capital. But the talk of admiring flowers was undoubtedly nonsense.

As the largest industrial city in the North, although Tianjin had shown a trend of being surpassed by Shenyang in recent years, it had been a Chinese industrial city for half a century. No matter how fast Shenyang developed, it would not be surpassed that simply.

Currently, the dignitaries of the capital brought their families to live in Tianjin on weekends. How could there be talk of going to the capital to admire flowers?

Zhang Xiluan wanted to decline. But on second thought, Zhang Xiluan felt he couldn't do that. So Zhang Xiluan simply replied by telegram, "My body is unwell for long travel, yet I miss Brother Xu very much. I am willing to prepare a family banquet to chat freely with Brother Xu."

The meaning was already in place. As a recluse in his seventies who had not offended Xu Shichang, what could happen even if he didn't see Xu Shichang? If Xu Shichang really had urgent business, he would naturally come to meet him. This saved a lot of effort.

Sure enough, Xu Shichang really came to Tianjin. Hearing this, Zhang Xiluan knew the matter was not small.

The two old brothers sipped tea in the flower hall. Zhang Xiluan frowned slightly after hearing Xu Shichang explain the situation. What He Rui did this time was too clumsy, clumsy to the point that it was unbelievable that this was a decision made by He Rui. If He Rui had only this much ability initially, Zhang Xiluan would never have handed over the Northeast to He Rui.

But Xu Shichang had absolutely no need to lie about these things. Zhang Xiluan didn't want to go to the Northeast. But thinking it over, Zhang Xiluan found that he really had to go.

Hearing Zhang Xiluan agree, Xu Shichang simply informed Zhang Xiluan of his willingness to invite He Rui to be Premier.

Zhang Xiluan was somewhat surprised. Listening to Xu Shichang, he was willing to let He Rui come to the capital as a commander without an army to be Premier. This request was truly absurd.

Thinking about it again, he felt that Xu Shichang's request was also sincere enough. Of course, it also implied some traps.

What He Rui lacked now was a national reputation. Becoming the Premier of the Republic could undoubtedly complete He Rui's national reputation. However, in the current situation, whoever became the Premier of the Republic held a very terrible position. If He Rui wasn't careful, his reputation would likely be damaged immediately.

But if He Rui wanted to take a gamble, it wasn't without opportunity.

In short, Zhang Xiluan didn't take this concession seriously. He felt that no matter what, the Beiyang brothers should not kill each other internally anymore.

As soon as He Rui received Zhang Xiluan's telegram, he immediately replied, "I am overjoyed that Duke Zhang is willing to visit the Northeast. Please wait at home, Duke Zhang; the Northeast Government will immediately dispatch a special train to welcome you."

This was not just talk; He Rui immediately asked the office to arrange this matter, while he himself convened a Civilization Party Central Committee meeting.

At the meeting, He Rui re-emphasized the arrangement of 'Strategic Deception'.

"We must now make all countries believe that our goal is to go south to liberate all of China. Of course, all powers will think so; only in this way can the suddenness of the campaign be achieved."

The members of the Military Commission were very clear about this. Even if Japan was strategically misled, they would likely mobilize somewhat. After all, the current Japan would not allow China to complete unification under any circumstances.

Wu Youping offered a suggestion. "Since we want to liberate China, should we really spend some effort now to formulate a plan for liberating China?"

Xu Chengfeng immediately expressed his approval upon hearing this. And he discussed it with Wu Youping.

During this period, He Rui was calculating the future situation. According to history, Duan Qirui was already finished by this time.

In the ninth year of the Republic (1920), the Zhili and Fengtian cliques formed an anti-Anhui alliance to attack the Anhui clique. The Anhui side called itself the National Pacification Army, with Duan Qirui as Commander-in-Chief. At first, the Zhili offensive was slightly set back. Qu Tongfeng, commander of the 1st Division of the Anhui West Route Army, led his troops to fiercely attack the Zhili army, and the Zhili army withdrew from Gaobeidian. On the Anhui East Route, Xu Shuzheng attacked Zhangzhuang, Caicun, and Yangcun with four independent brigades of the Northwest Frontier Defense Army. On the 17th, Wu Peifu led troops to raid Songlindian, and the Anhui West Route Army retreated in defeat. The Zhili army then occupied Zhuozhou and pursued towards Changxindian. The Anhui East Route Army under Xu Shuzheng pursued the Zhili army to the area of Beicang and Lijiakou. At this time, the Fengtian army arrived in force, combined with the Zhili army, and turned defeat into victory.

This war lasted five days. The Anhui army was defeated, and more than half of the tens of thousands of newly formed Frontier Defense Army were annihilated.

On July 19 of the same year, Duan Qirui was forced to resign. On July 23, the Zhili and Fengtian armies arrived in Beijing, took over the Nanyuan and Beiyuan barracks, ordered the dissolution of the Anfu Parliament, and issued wanted orders for ten people including Wang Yitang, Xu Shuzheng, and Duan Zhigui. Xu Shuzheng and others fled to Japan.

After the Zhili-Anhui War, Cao Kun was appointed by President Xu Shichang as the High Inspecting Commissioner of Zhili, Shandong, and Henan, with Wu Peifu as Deputy Commissioner, and the High Inspecting Deputy Commissioner's Office of Zhili, Shandong, and Henan was established. The Zhili and Fengtian warlord cliques then controlled the Beijing regime.

...

This is the expectation of some people in China right now.