He Rui did not choose a Japanese restaurant when treating Saionji Kinmochi to a meal. Instead, he reserved a private room in Restaurant No. 6 within the Northeast Government office complex. It had a rectangular table and chairs, looking quite similar to a somewhat decent restaurant for common people in the 21st century.

Mitsuko finally saw the Northeast Government building with her own eyes; the architecture was indeed as magnificent as it appeared in photos. However, upon seeing the restaurant, she felt it was overly plain. The private rooms used for meetings among the Japanese upper class were exquisitely decorated. The room before her couldn't be called devoid of decoration, but it was so simple that it was clear the decorations were merely there for the sake of having them—no real effort had been put into it.

Saionji, however, did not dislike this style at all. When starting a great undertaking, one's whole heart should be on the work; where would there be energy for such trivial details? A room like this suited a young man full of vigor like He Rui perfectly.

Moreover, Saionji noticed that cushions and soft backrests had been added to his and Mitsuko's chairs. He Rui's chair was identical to the simple wooden ones in the cafeteria hall.

After the three sat down, He Rui invited them to order. Both guests expressed that they were 'unfamiliar with Chinese cuisine and would ask He Rui to order for them.' He Rui then asked if Saionji had any dietary restrictions. Upon hearing there were none, He Rui ordered four dishes and a soup based on recent popular choices.

Northeast cuisine is known for being substantial. Saionji smiled as soon as the dishes were served. Each portion was generous; in Japan, a single dish would almost equal the quantity of an entire table's spread.

He Rui did not serve <i>Baijiu</i>. Instead, the brandy brewed from Northeast fruits emitted a delicate fragrance in the wine glasses. Saionji was very westernized; after He Rui offered a toast of "Good health, eternal health," he began to eat and drink.

Although Northeast cuisine looks rough, the taste is excellent. Japan follows a custom of individual servings, where everyone eats their own portion. He Rui, being a person from the 21st century, was not in the habit of serving food to others unless they were very close. Everyone eating freely was actually quite refreshing.

After the meal, He Rui asked for the leftovers to be packed up to take back for a late-night snack.

Seeing that He Rui still hadn't taken the initiative to speak, Saionji understood that the current He Rui did not fear Japan. As long as Japan did not attack first, He Rui even held a certain degree of initiative. So, this meal turned out to be truly just a meal. Saionji then took the initiative and said, "He-kun, why don't we go sit at your residence?"

"This... alright," He Rui agreed.

Ten minutes later, Saionji looked around the one-bedroom apartment and couldn't help but sigh, "How nostalgic. I lived in a room like this in Paris."

Mitsuko also felt the room was very familiar. He Rui had lived in a small single room at her home—a bed, a wardrobe, a bookshelf. This small suite merely had an additional kitchen connected to the living room and a private bathroom compared to the one at her house.

He Rui rarely stayed here, but he paid a cleaning fee, so a cleaner came every three days. The room was exceptionally clean and tidy.

The guards stood in the corners, backs to the blind spots, keeping watch. The three sat in the living room while He Rui boiled water with an electric stove to make tea. Saionji took a sip of the Anhua dark tea and sighed, "He-kun left Japan in the fourth year of Taisho (1915). Before leaving, you proposed the concept of counter-cyclical investment, which the Japanese economic community appreciated greatly. After Hara-kun was elected, he applied He-kun's concepts in many of his policies."

He Rui shook his head, "Your Excellency Saionji is too polite. Prime Minister Hara already held a political philosophy of developing people's livelihood. Counter-cyclical investment simply fits the line of thought for developing livelihoods, so it appears similar to his policies."

Saionji actually shared He Rui's view. Saying that earlier was partly out of politeness and partly to gauge He Rui's magnanimity. Since He Rui was straightforward and frank, Saionji followed the topic, "He-kun has governed Manchuria and Mongolia with remarkable achievements. What is He-kun's governing philosophy?"

He Rui countered with a question, "Has Your Excellency read *The Communist Manifesto*?"

Saionji had, of course, read it. However, in a country like Japan, socialists were targets of suppression. Even a politician like Hara Takashi, who engaged in party politics, had publicly stated, 'Socialists must never be allowed into the Diet.'

However, this was the Northeast, He Rui's territory. Saionji eventually nodded.

"*The Communist Manifesto* points out three major future directions: Industrialization, Urbanization, and Globalization. All of Japan's development and progress have been derived from these three directions. The progress and development of the Northeast are also derived from these three directions. The basic concept of Communism is that the development of productive forces drives social progress. How to most effectively develop productive forces under existing conditions is the governing philosophy of the Civilization Party."

Saionji did not like such a political philosophy. "Does He-kun oppose Civil Society?"

"The state is a tool of class rule; the ruling class realizes its will through laws," He Rui replied. Seeing Saionji frown, He Rui knew that Saionji likely didn't know this description.

Apologizing first, He Rui wrote this passage down and placed it in front of Saionji. After Saionji picked it up and read it a few times, He Rui continued, "Civil Society—who defines the 'Citizen'? Do citizens define themselves? This kind of pleasant-sounding noun can be interpreted in various ways, but it is a concept created <i>a posteriori</i>. However, class division is based on the ownership and usage rights of the means of production—an objective reality. It is like the Imperial system versus the Metric system. The Imperial system exists because someone proposed that 'this length is one foot.' The Metric system is based on dividing a certain longitude line of the Earth into a number of parts, where one part is one meter. The two are completely different matters. I support the Metric system."

Saionji hadn't expected He Rui's political stance to be so radical; the gap between it and his own philosophy was too wide, creating a sense of talking past each other. However, this confusion did not deprive Saionji of his ability to communicate. The knowledgeable Japanese politician quickly tried to pull the line of thought closer to He Rui's, "He-kun, civic politics acknowledges the existing social structure and only opposes the privileged class. What about the Communist system you speak of?"

Since Saionji spoke so clearly, He Rui answered concisely, "Communism holds that the level of productive forces determines production relations. Since the Northeast Government's goal is to continuously improve the existing level of productive forces, our policies do not contain any part intended to maintain existing production relations for all eternity."

Mitsuko sat to the side, having completely lost track of what the two politicians were discussing. She did what was within her power; seeing the water boil again, she lifted the teapot to pour tea for them.

When two of the most outstanding politicians in Northeast Asia discussed politics, being able to do something within one's power by their side was a privilege possessed only by those from the Japanese upper class. Mitsuko was very satisfied with her current position.

He Rui was a bit thirsty. Mitsuko placed the tea in front of him. He said thanks and drank it in one gulp. Saionji looked serious, pondering for a moment, feeling even more displeased with He Rui's stance. Saionji sighed, "It seems He-kun is indeed of the violent revolution school. Does He-kun intend to use the army to eliminate China's existing rich people?"

He Rui shook his head, "Violence is used to eliminate criminals, not the rich. Using the army to suppress the rich—are they worthy of that? Your Excellency is truly joking."

Hearing this, Mitsuko couldn't help but chuckle. She felt the familiar He Rui-niisan had returned. His banter was filled with a sense of humor. Mitsuko thought, *how could rich people be that easy to deal with?*

She heard He Rui continue, "The government's job is to ensure the social baseline: paying wages on time, paying social insurance for workers, and having workers receive adult re-education during work. For enterprises that fail to do this, relevant departments will naturally deal with their illegal and non-compliant behaviors. Why mobilize the army for things the police can handle? As for the wealthy, if they just stay at home living off their own means or living off bank interest, why would the government move against them?"

As an outstanding politician, Saionji didn't think rich people were hard to deal with at all. The wealthy naturally wouldn't agree with He Rui's policies. However, those people were cowardly; not accepting didn't mean they would stand up and use violence to oppose the government and the army. In extreme cases, if He Rui's army went to their doors to arrest them, they would likely just stretch out their necks for the blade, at most groaning a few times before being killed.

For those rich people to stand up against He Rui, there must exist a hostile armed force capable of rivaling He Rui, so that the wealthy could attack He Rui by supporting his enemies. From his conversation with the tour guide, Miss Zhang, a few days ago, Saionji did not believe there was any force in the Northeast today that could threaten the Northeast Government.

Another possibility was that there were opposing forces within the Civilization Party, and these forces were very powerful. From the intelligence Saionji obtained, there were absolutely no signs of this. The entire Civilization Party completely submitted to He Rui's leadership, and it was internally very united.

Having determined He Rui's political stance and governing philosophy, Saionji turned the topic back to Japan. "He-kun, the number of people in Japan who are pro-China has increased greatly. I wonder how He-kun views the domestic attitude in China toward Japan?"

These contents were very different from abstract political understanding, so Mitsuko immediately listened attentively. She heard He Rui answer, "Japan being my second home, I have always looked forward to Sino-Japanese friendship. Sharing raw materials and markets, with labor able to flow between both sides. As civilized nations, an attitude of equality and mutual benefit is the foundation. Currently, Japan's posture is too high."

Saionji felt He Rui wanted to discuss the issue of forcefully unifying China, so he replied, "From Japan's perspective, He-kun is the one with the extremely high posture. Regardless of what decision He-kun makes, you never coordinate with Japan, but adopt an attitude of going it alone."

"Is Your Excellency referring to the issue that China must be unified?" He Rui asked, following Saionji's train of thought.

"If China is unified by He-kun's hands, it would be a blessing for China and a blessing for Asia. As a talent cultivated by the Empire of Japan, Japan is very clear about He-kun's strength, so many in the Japanese political circles feel immense pressure. I imagine He-kun can certainly understand this sentiment."

He Rui answered sincerely, "I understand very well. That is why I would like to ask Your Excellency Saionji to point out a path to resolve these misunderstandings."

Saionji thought for a moment. "Why doesn't He-kun visit Japan? Your friends in Japan would all welcome you."

He Rui thought briefly and replied, "I will consider it seriously."

"If He-kun has this intention, please do so as soon as possible. The situation in Japan changes quickly. Many people cannot understand He-kun's friendly stance. Once those people come to power, He-kun's efforts for Sino-Japanese friendship will face enormous resistance," Saionji Kinmochi advised with a sincere tone.

"Thank you, Your Excellency. I will definitely take these into consideration. It is late today, and I have a meeting. I will have my guards escort Your Excellency back to your residence."

Saionji could see He Rui was hesitant, but he wasn't confident he could persuade He Rui to leave immediately, so he stood up to take his leave.

After seeing Saionji off, He Rui stretched. The so-called most enlightened politician in Japan was only at this level; it truly disappointed He Rui.

The greatest advantage of Marxism lies in the methodology of materialist dialectics, which allows one to see the essence through phenomena. Just like the topic that wasn't continued in the conversation just now: Civil Society.

The foundation of Civil Society is the 'Citizen,' but citizens do not exist naturally. Those who created the concept of the citizen and hold the power to define it are the masters of the so-called 'Civil Society.' It is a concept created upon another concept.

Means of production, however, are a reality. Those who control means of production are the 'propertied class' (bourgeoisie), and those who do not are the proletariat. Its theory stems from objective facts, simple and clear, distinguishable even by children.

In terms of social progress, Saionji was progressive when facing feudalism. But facing socialist revolution, he was also a reactionary.

Having determined this, He Rui returned to his office and picked up his pen to write.

After writing this, He Rui put down his pen. There was actually a paragraph missing here: another objective of He Rui waging war against Japan was to pave the way for a revolution in Japan. The reason Japanese reactionaries were still active and jumping around was that they hadn't reached a dead end.

Even if they were only defeated by the United States, Japanese reactionaries would suffer a heavy blow. Facing a China that had realized a socialist revolution, Japanese reactionaries would only despair even more. And the Japanese people would be able to see hope, see a possible better future.

Only by winning this battle could the situation in Japan be pushed to this step. For the future global war of liberation, the power of China alone was not enough. If Japan could be liberated, making a post-revolution Japan a member of the ranks opposing the old world, the odds of completely winning the global revolutionary war would increase significantly.

If China couldn't even liberate Japan and could only brutally and savagely completely destroy Japan, then on what basis could China convince the world to follow it in liberating the globe?

Retracting his thoughts, He Rui continued to read documents. Although the war hadn't broken out, it had already begun. The mobilization of the Northeast Army was a very important link in the war operations. Ensuring the troops entered the war in good condition was He Rui's current job.

Saionji Kinmochi rested at the hotel for two days—waiting for He Rui for two days. To Saionji's disappointment, He Rui did not send anyone to contact him. This meant He Rui had absolutely no intention of visiting Japan.

Saionji Kinmochi felt helpless but had no other recourse. As the most important elder in the Seiyukai, he once thought the Seiyukai, which pioneered party cabinets in Japan, could govern for a long time. After Hara Takashi was assassinated, the Seiyukai's power immediately wavered. Scandals were constant during this period. Although the succeeding Prime Minister, Takahashi Korekiyo, was recognized domestically as the best Minister of Finance with unchallengeable fiscal ability, his ability as Prime Minister was obviously very weak.

As a result, in June of this year, Takahashi Korekiyo had to resign after multiple scandals. After clearing out relevant personnel within the Seiyukai, it was thought that Emperor Taisho would let him form a cabinet again. However, Emperor Taisho ordered the Vice Minister of the Navy, Kato Tomosaburo, to form a cabinet.

Kato Tomosaburo had no political party background; he was from the military. His cabinet had no partisan color and was called an 'administrative' cabinet. This cabinet's style was pragmatic, without the inflammatory style of political parties. Therefore, its attitude toward China was also very pragmatic.

Saionji Kinmochi believed that if it were the Kato Tomosaburo cabinet, they would negotiate with He Rui. But the content of the negotiations would certainly not be acceptable to He Rui. A unified China would inevitably begin industrialization, and an industrialized China would be Japan's greatest threat. This was the consensus of the Japanese upper class. With He Rui's understanding of Japan and his intelligence, it was impossible for him not to know this.

After staying another day and seeing that He Rui still hadn't sent anyone, Saionji Kinmochi sent someone to bid farewell. He Rui did not see him off personally, only having the Deputy Director of the Northeast Foreign Affairs Bureau escort Saionji Kinmochi to the train. The Deputy Director brought He Rui's message: 'When to visit Japan is still under consideration. At a suitable time, I will definitely visit Japan.'

Saionji Kinmochi could only ask the Deputy Director to pass a message to He Rui, "I look forward to He-kun visiting Japan soon."

Days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was October 1st. The Northeast Army units were ready, and every group army was waiting for He Rui's order.

He Rui was currently listening to the report from the Department of Agriculture. The Northeast begins harvesting every September, with the southernmost regions naturally harvesting first. By October 1st, the Liaoning region had finished harvesting. Most of the Jilin region had finished. The central and northern parts of Heilongjiang began harvesting on October 1st and would finish by mid-October.

This year saw a bumper grain harvest, with over 60% of regions already harvested. Thanks to meteorological cooperation with Russia and information exchange, the forecast for southward-moving cold air could reach 5 days ahead. Based on the known situation, future harvest expectations were good.

Having already confirmed the industrial production schedule, and now confirming the grain situation, He Rui finally picked up his pen to write a document.

He Rui handed the document to the Secretary's Office. He thought it would be sent out very soon, but unexpectedly, after a while, the General Staff Headquarters sent someone over.

The arrival was a Major. Upon seeing He Rui, the Major immediately stood at attention and saluted, "Report to the Chairman. I am Staff Officer Xiao Bailang from the First Operations Bureau of the General Staff Headquarters. I am under orders to inquire about an issue regarding the order."

"What issue?" He Rui didn't think there would be any issue worth running over for. Although the order was issued by He Rui, the General Staff Headquarters had already war-gamed the entire operation plan many times. The plan could be executed even without He Rui's order. If there were any problems, they would have been discovered long ago.

Xiao Bailang could hardly conceal his excitement. He puffed out his chest and asked, "May I ask what reason for war should be announced to the outside world?"

It took He Rui a few seconds to realize what Xiao Bailang meant. This wasn't Xiao Bailang's fault; from 1840 to 1922, China had only issued a *Declaration of War Against All Nations* under Cixi. At all other times, it was foreign countries attacking China.

He Rui himself had overlooked the matter of declaring war for this conflict. That the General Staff Headquarters remembered this showed their work was very meticulous.

After thinking for a moment, He Rui picked up his pen and wrote down the reason. Xiao Bailang stepped forward and took the paper He Rui had signed. He saw a single line written on it:

Xiao Bailang had expected some momentous reason and momentarily thought he had read it wrong or misunderstood something. He read the content a few more times, confirming he hadn't made a mistake. And in the bottom right corner of the paper, He Rui had signed his name.

Since this was an official document, Xiao Bailang couldn't say anything more. He could only salute and leave.

Watching Xiao Bailang's retreating figure, He Rui knew that neither Xiao Bailang nor anyone in the entire Northeast People's Liberation Army would understand what this reason meant to He Rui.

Such an arrogant reason, aside from being meaningful to He Rui, was also a form of psychological warfare. If a reasonable and fair reason were given, the Japanese army, suffering a surprise attack, might be confused. Seeing such an arrogant reason would make the Japanese army mobilize immediately. A Japanese army that mobilized immediately was beneficial for the Northeast Army to win the war.

Putting aside thoughts on this matter, He Rui buried his head in work again. The war had just begun, and the work to follow would only increase.