November's cold air swept down from Siberia, crossing Mongolia to meet westerly winds blowing from China's Xinjiang Province, forming a biting northwest wind that howled southward. A million Northeast Army troops and a million cadres heading south formed wave upon wave of torrents, advancing southward alongside the cold wind.

Steamships loaded with personnel departed from the Liaodong Peninsula, sailing for ports on the Shandong Peninsula.

Trains passed through Shanhaiguan, traveling from the Northeast to Hebei.

On the narrow road leading from Inner Mongolia to Shaanxi through Shahukou (the West Pass), the long dragon of troops stretched beyond sight. Trucks swayed as they passed the columns, carrying equipment and supplies to provide logistical support for the army.

The wind stirred the Northeast's flags; the flying red banners pointed south. The accents conveying military orders included Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Hebei (Zhili), and Shaanxi, with no shortage of southern accents as well. These soldiers and cadres—whether driven by ideals of national salvation, seeking a better life, or simply trying to survive—had left their hometowns for the Northeast, which was said to be able to change their fate.

Now, everyone retraced the paths they or their comrades had once traveled, marching in the opposite direction. Each person believed that upon reaching their destination, they would surely build an entirely new world, bringing a better future to the local people while delivering deserved punishment to those villainous enemies.

The troops didn't sweep past everything like the cold wind. Operational plans had long designated government and military objectives in each city. Government offices, banks, treasuries, granaries, tax bureaus, armies, armories, police stations, railways, schools, and newspapers were the Northeast Army's first targets for control.

In Beijing, the cold wind dispersed the odor of waste that lingered in the capital's streets due to lack of public lavatories. Fresh, icy air rushed into the collar of British Ambassador Plenipotentiary Sir Jordan as he stepped down from his car. The old man couldn't help shivering.

Upon entering the reception room of the Presidential Palace, the warmth from the stove made the entire room comfortable. Feeling the warmth, the old man shivered again. After this shiver passed, the old man felt his body gradually warming. Moreover, he saw He Rui in the reception room set aside the document he'd been reading and rise to his feet. Just seeing this old acquaintance He Rui, Jordan felt his heartbeat involuntarily quicken until he no longer noticed the cold.

Not long ago, the British Foreign Office had issued instructions based on China's latest developments: "Make every effort to promote a partition of China along the Yangtze." Though Jordan was doing his best to execute this, he personally felt it wasn't the best choice. From Jordan's understanding of He Rui, He Rui would absolutely never accept such an arrangement.

Jordan walked expressionlessly toward He Rui without extending his hand. He Rui invited Jordan to sit, then took his own seat on the sofa. Red tea was immediately brought in. He Rui smiled: "Sir Jordan, you've worked hard coming from the south."

Jordan was somewhat surprised. He Rui's manner was as friendly as before, yet what he said wasn't about the current issues—it seemed to have deeper meaning. Jordan asked probingly with a stern face: "General, are you clearly aware of what kind of military conflict your actions will lead to?"

The Northeast Army hadn't just moved against British and Japanese concessions, but against all foreign concessions in the cities they'd reached. According to information Jordan received, the Northeast Army had proactively attacked various nations' garrisons in China, and the process had been extremely violent. The Northeast Army had simultaneously entered the concessions, arresting concession police and personnel from organizations with law enforcement powers.

Foreign warships anchored in ports around the Bohai Sea had also been raided by the Northeast Army—sudden explosions outside the hulls had disabled their sailing capability. Even the brave sailors had no choice but to surrender.

Though the powers had suffered tens of millions of casualties in the European Great War, they had rarely encountered such losses in Asia. The powers couldn't possibly pretend nothing had happened; they would certainly take action.

Yet He Rui answered in a relaxed tone: "Of course I know what results this will provoke. Sir Jordan should also understand why I must do this."

Jordan shook his head. "I don't understand."

He Rui smiled slightly. "No nationalist nation can accept damage to its sovereignty. Concessions in China are nations within a nation—an injury to Chinese sovereignty. Never mind that countries currently don't recognize our central government; even if they did recognize it, we couldn't possibly make any other choice."

Hearing this, Jordan very much wanted to advise He Rui not to be hijacked by intense nationalist emotions and to be rational. Before the words left his mouth, He Rui waved to cut him off: "My apologies, let me finish first. The impact of concessions and garrisons isn't just about sovereignty integrity—they also pose a military threat to us. This is even more unacceptable. Abolishing concessions isn't an issue of nationalist sentiment; it's an extremely practical military security issue. To ensure security, we fully accept any military conflict that may result from this."

Jordan understood this topic could no longer be discussed. Negotiations were impossible when they were based on extremely practical security needs. Since He Rui's starting point was this clear, Jordan didn't want to waste words. He brought up another topic: "General, have you given no consideration to resolving problems through negotiation? It's truly regrettable that you didn't participate in the Washington Conference. If you had, you would certainly understand that the nations took China's demands to recover sovereignty very seriously and agreed to sincere discussions on this issue. You may well become China's leader. At such conferences, using diplomatic action to help nations understand and accept China's proposals would yield effective results. General, you should be able to imagine that Britain has already proposed to various nations a trade embargo against China. If you continue these unreasonably brutal actions, the consequences will be very serious."

Having offered this reminder with the greatest goodwill, Jordan felt parched. He picked up his tea and took a sip but still felt unsatisfied, then took a large gulp before feeling his dry throat moistened.

He Rui also picked up his tea and sipped slowly. Jordan carefully observed He Rui's expression and noticed that He Rui's reaction was very similar to that of a British Oxford political science professor Jordan knew well. This professor showed exactly this expression—prepared to properly educate his students—whenever students voiced foolish opinions.

Sure enough, after He Rui set down his teacup, he adjusted his posture on the sofa before speaking in a serious tone: "Sir Jordan, you've disappointed me."

Jordan wasn't about to lose ground before He Rui and retorted: "Does Your Excellency believe I've failed to express goodwill toward China?"

He Rui shook his head. "Saying that makes me more disappointed. You are a British elite—experienced, broadly knowledgeable. What you just said completely fails to demonstrate your abilities and offers no help whatsoever for the current situation. Don't you think we should discuss more valuable questions?"

Jordan felt He Rui was bluffing, yet also felt that given He Rui's capabilities, he should know bluffing was meaningless now. After deliberating, Jordan finally answered: "...Forgive my obtuseness, but I cannot understand Your Excellency's meaning."

He Rui seemed somewhat helpless. "Sir Jordan, right now those people on Downing Street should have issued you orders to achieve partition along the Yangtze as much as possible. This is a microcosm of the current situation. There's no need for us to waste energy discussing things that don't need discussing. I believe, with Sir Jordan's wisdom, you should discuss with me more fundamental issues that will have greater impact."

Jordan pondered for a while before asking: "Does Your Excellency believe your power can truly influence Britain's decision-making?"

Hearing this, He Rui finally showed an appreciative smile. "Sir Jordan, what do you believe determines Downing Street's decisions?"

The attendants nearby, hearing the two discuss this question, held their breath and listened intently. In the reception room, only the soft scratching of the recorder's pen across paper could be heard. The 71-year-old Jordan's gaze at this moment was as bright as a young man's, while He Rui's bright eyes were deep and calm, like a fathomless ancient pool.

In this silence, Jordan picked up his tea and took another sip. He felt he needed to adjust his thinking a bit more, arm his spirit, and prepare for what would likely be a very serious discussion ahead.

He Rui also raised his cup and took a sip. Both cups were nearly empty. When the cups were set back on the table, a servant walked to the table and refilled both cups with fragrant red tea. Jordan decided that when the cups were full, he would pose his question to He Rui. Since He Rui—China's greatest warlord, the Elector of the Eastern Empire, self-proclaimed commander of the central government—had decided to unify China through violent means and eliminate all foreign military influence in China, what strategic considerations would He Rui have when entering the jungle of international politics? This scholar-politician, considered wise and learned by the West, Jordan very much wanted to find out.