The gathering ended. After bidding farewell to his Army War College classmates, who were flushed with drink, He Rui and Hu Xiushan rode their horses across the pontoon bridge over the Yalu River. The comrades who had been waiting on this side for a long time breathed a sigh of relief. He Rui smiled, "Haha, comrades, I told you long ago. As long as we stand here on the side of the Yalu River, I am safe."

The comrades didn't joke with He Rui. They hurriedly escorted He Rui and Hu Xiushan into a car and retreated along the safest route towards the Yalu River defense line.

Back at headquarters, Xu Chengfeng, Zhong Yifu, and Cheng Ruofan came out to welcome them. Seeing He Rui, Xu Chengfeng stepped forward and said, "Chairman, we are relieved that you are back. Is the situation in Japan as you expected?"

He Rui walked into the headquarters with the comrades and said, "Japan does not yet have the external conditions to change its policy, but the conditions for a ceasefire are basically complete. By the way, has the dismantling of the pontoon bridge begun?"

Xu Chengfeng replied, "Except for the two that we agreed to keep, the others have already started to be dismantled. Chairman, when do we march south? Should we send an advance party?"

He Rui shook his head, "Advance combat preparations must be made, but not against the Beiyang government."

Zhong Yifu was the first to understand and immediately shouted, "Chairman, please entrust this operation to me!"

Other comrades also understood by now. However, everyone had commanded battles, so no one fought with Zhong Yifu. Xu Chengfeng's face was beaming with a smile, "Chairman, the political significance of doing this is great. I want to ask, how will the Soviet Union and Japan view this?"

By this time, everyone had entered the headquarters and gathered around the table. He Rui explained, "Japan will certainly be relieved. If we only fight Japan, it is actually very disadvantageous for Japan. If we sweep away the foreign garrisons in Beijing, Tianjin, and Zhili in one fell swoop, Japan will certainly feel that they have another opportunity to exploit. As for the Soviet Union, what do you all think?"

Xu Chengfeng had his own judgment, while Cheng Ruofan volunteered to explain, "The Soviet Union has actually been very happy over the past year. The two greatest powers in the Far East are killing each other, so the Soviet Union's pressure is naturally minimal. Now that Japan has ceased fire and we are so tough on other countries, the Soviet Union feels that its good days are continuing."

He Rui expressed his agreement, "Precisely so. Moreover, the Soviet Union may not expect that we will put these garrisons on trial. The personnel sent this time, in addition to keeping an eye on the foreign garrisons to ensure they cannot escape by ship when we act, have a more important job: to collect evidence of the crimes of those foreign garrisons. Witnesses and material evidence must be as complete as possible. Any foreign troops who have committed crimes in China should be executed if possible after the trial is completed. The staff of formal diplomatic embassies and consulates are on a list at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apart from these people, do not let anyone else go; arrest them all without exception. The troops should not discuss diplomacy with those people. If they protest, tell them that the Northeast Government did not participate in those so-called negotiations, so the Northeast Government has no obligation to recognize the so-called treaties. This operation is bandit suppression, not war."

Hearing this, Xu Chengfeng slapped Zhong Yifu hard on the shoulder, "Yifu, if you feel you can't handle it, why don't let me take over for you."

Zhong Yifu's face was full of excitement, "How can I let others have this kind of thing! Don't even think about this good fortune."

Looking at the joy and anticipation of the young soldiers, He Rui was truly happy in his heart. He continued to arrange things for Zhong Yifu, "After you resolve the foreign garrisons, I should have arrived in the capital. If Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui can see the situation clearly and issue orders to the Anhui clique Beiyang Army to obey our command, our army will go forward to take over. Do you know exactly how to do it, Yifu?"

"Roughly like in Siping, and when we took over Shenyang?" Zhong Yifu had participated in these two military operations and had some experience.

He Rui didn't know exactly what would happen, so he ordered, "You guys seize the time to make a plan now. Our attitude towards the Beiyang Army is very clear: the Beiyang Army must accept complete reorganization. Those who do not accept will be forcibly disarmed. If they resist, they will be annihilated. Of course, if we can kill fewer people, we should kill fewer. After all, they are our fellow Chinese. There is another possibility: they might pull their troops and go south to defect to the Zhili clique's Cao Kun and Wu Peifu. For this kind of troops, just drive them away. There is no need to annihilate them through pursuit."

Zhong Yifu nodded repeatedly, "Is this to let the enemies gather together as much as possible?"

He Rui nodded, "This is one purpose. I also want to observe one thing: how the British will support the Zhili clique. The foreign Yangtze River Patrol often overturns our fishing boats and shoots at our people from their ships. I believe such bandits must be exterminated."

"Yes!" The crowd answered together.

On September 10, current Japanese Prime Minister Kiyoura Keigo resigned as Prime Minister to the Emperor of Japan on the grounds of heavy casualties among the people in the Great Kanto Earthquake. On September 13, the Emperor of Japan appointed Minister of Finance Takahashi Korekiyo as Prime Minister.

On September 14, Japan's new Army Minister Terauchi Hisaichi publicly stated, 'We must punish the violent Chinese in Manchuria and Mongolia.'

On September 15, the Northeast Government sent a letter of condolence to the Japanese government through the Beiyang Government, and stated that if Japan was willing to accept it, the Northeast Government could donate the prepared 50,000 tons of relief grain and medical supplies worth 1 million Fengpiao to Japan at any time.

On September 16, the Northeast Government did not cancel the general mobilization and began to recruit a new batch of 'combat troops'. The previous conscriptions did not draft government personnel, railway personnel, educators, or students. This conscription targeted only these three categories of people.

On September 17, the Japanese Navy Minister declared that they would absolutely not accept any peace negotiations with the violent Chinese army.

These news items were all public. Inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs Gu Weijun put down the newspaper and looked at the group of seniors in the diplomatic circles in his office. He saw that all the seniors were looking at him. Gu Weijun knew that as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he should make a judgment at this time. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he still hesitated. After all, this was the first time Gu Weijun viewed problems from the perspective of a de facto victorious country, and it was inevitable that he would feel all kinds of uneasiness.

But calming his mood, Gu Weijun still said, "Both the Japanese Navy and Army Ministers have publicly stated their positions, but they did not criticize Prime Minister Takahashi Korekiyo. It should be that Japan's Navy and Army Ministers have already accepted the decision to cease fire."

The diplomatic seniors nodded slightly, but no one dared to give clear support. Everyone wanted to wait until the situation had a clear result before commenting.

Just then, the door opened. The person who pushed the door used too much force; the door not only swung wide open but also banged against the wall behind it. With this shock, a piece of damp and loose white lime on the wall fell down with a crash, making some inappropriate noises in the not-so-spacious office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

However, the incoming Foreign Ministry staff member was not affected at all. He strode in and said loudly, "Report to the Minister, the British Plenipotentiary Envoy, Sir John Jordan, and the British Minister to China have jointly requested the Beiyang Government to explain the government's attitude towards this war to the diplomatic corps. According to the British attitude, they seem very dissatisfied with the Beiyang Government."

Now the diplomats were all stunned. The British attitude had always been very restrained, so why did they suddenly become so agitated? There must be some problem here. Gu Weijun thought for a moment and came up with a possibility, "Could it be that the British have confirmed that Japan wants to sue for peace?"

Lu Zhengxiang was somewhat puzzled, "Then why do the British want the central government to state its position with such a tough attitude?"

Just as the others were a little confused, Yan Huiqing spoke up, "The British are probably not asking the central government about its attitude towards this war, but rather want to express their attitude that they do not want to see General He become the President of the Republic of China."

As soon as these words came out, the other diplomats fell silent. Once the Northeast Government and the Japanese Government ceased fire, there was no doubt that He Rui would enter the central government with the victory of the largest war in China in a hundred years. Even if the Beiyang Central Government refused to submit to He Rui, He Rui could seize the regime in the capital by force alone, and then unify China. However...

Seeing that everyone still had concerns, Yan Huiqing slapped the table and stood up. Under everyone's gaze, Yan Huiqing said impassionedly, "Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion, it has been 70 years. In these 70 years, the country has become increasingly divided. Until 25 years ago with the Mutual Protection of Southeast China, the prestige of the central political power was completely gone, and military and government orders were completely unified. In the past 70 years, among the world powers, whoever could strengthen the center, even if blood flowed like rivers in civil war, once the situation was settled, they could all achieve progress. Whoever had internal chaos, without exception, saw their national power plummet. From this, it can be seen that having centralized power is certainly better than not having centralized power, and having unified military and government orders is certainly better than not having unified military and government orders. Do you all agree?"

The people in the office had all seen the world. Hearing Yan Huiqing pierce the matter that everyone was unwilling to touch and speak so clearly, they could only nod in agreement.

Yan Huiqing continued, "No matter how radical General He's governing philosophy is, externally he can defeat Japan, and internally he can develop national power. Furthermore, he can rebuild the center, and from then on, government and military orders will be unified. If we have suspicions, why not recommend ourselves as officials? If we are lucky enough to serve the country, we should work together with one heart, check for gaps and fill omissions, and make the top and bottom communicate. In the final analysis, those who have concerns are all worried about their landed property. A few days ago, Director-General Zhang Xiluan published an announcement in the newspaper, donating all the landed property and real estate under his name to the Northeast Government. Have you noticed that Director-General Zhang did not donate his [liquid] assets? And the Northeast Government expressed welcome, but did not mention Director-General Zhang's assets."

Hearing this detail that had not been directly publicized, the group of diplomats thought for a moment and suddenly saw the light. Lu Zhengxiang said with joy, "Director-General Zhang doing this is to let everyone know that although in the land policy, land must be state-owned, they will not want everyone's assets. If this is true, it is good news."

Yan Huiqing immediately replied, "Although this is my guess, I feel it is likely not wrong. Whether the provinces are sensible, or it is unification by force, the faster the better, the sooner the better. At such a time, I am not willing to be a spectator. I am willing to be an official in the new government and serve the country. With Duke Zhang's example before us, I will also publish in the newspaper and donate my landed property and real estate to the Northeast Government. Gentlemen, I will take my leave first."

Watching Yan Huiqing stride away, the group of diplomats did not expect him to be so urgent. However, after Yan Huiqing's analysis, everyone also saw a new direction. At this time, the major event in China was no longer caring about how the Great Powers viewed it, but whether China could complete unification again and rebuild a unified regime.

No one present was over 70 years old. As Yan Huiqing said, for 70 years, China's military and government orders had always been in a game between the center and the frontier officials and various forces, and there was no longer a case where the center commanded military and political affairs by virtue of the system.

The various rules and habits up to now were all formed after the central power fell by the wayside. A centralized government was something that the group of diplomats had only read about in books.

Gu Weijun's eyes brightened. He stood up and said, "Seniors, I am going to resign from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China. When I arrive in Shenyang, I will write to you to report my safety. Farewell."

Looking at Gu Weijun's back, the other diplomats no longer had a look of loss in their expressions. Lu Zhengxiang sighed, "Today, listening to Brother Yan's high opinion, I realized that I was just like Lord Ye who loved dragons [professed love for something but feared the real thing]. Although I cannot be as free and easy as Brother Yan and Nephew Gu, I am willing to stay in the capital to watch the situation develop."

"It should be so!" The others all agreed.