September 8, 1924, White Dew. The early autumn wind blew through the streets of Beiping, making the perceived temperature very comfortable. This was no longer the capital, but the office location before moving the capital. Even the name had been changed due to the change in status.

A domestically produced Red Flag sedan passed through the streets of Beiping and stopped at the entrance of the Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A small Soviet flag was inserted at the front of the car, indicating the identity of the occupants. Even without this small flag, the license plate number could show its affiliation.

The current Soviet Union was the only foreign government that recognized the He Rui regime. Soviet Ambassador Milosevic walked into the Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs with considerable imposing manner. Mei Youqian, Director of the Eastern European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, didn't feel that the Soviet ambassador was anything special and treated him with due courtesy during the reception. In other words, he was very calm and had absolutely no intention of looking up to the Soviet ambassador.

Milosevic went straight to the point. "Director Mei, I would like to seek an explanation regarding your country inviting White Russian personnel to work in your government departments!"

Because the two sides had already communicated on this matter over the phone, Mei Youqian answered readily, "They did not enter our government to work, but entered Chinese enterprises to work."

Milosevic did not quite agree with the explanation. After all, many of these 'enterprises' were enterprises under the central government of the Republic, that is, state-owned enterprises, and some worked in departments like computing rooms. From the perspective of the Soviet Union's current economic system establishment, these enterprises were all part of the central government.

The two sides negotiated for a while, and Mei Youqian completely rejected Milosevic's request. He did not think the Soviet Union had jurisdiction over this group of 'White Russian refugees.' In Mei Youqian's view, this group of White Russian technical personnel rescued by China's humanitarian actions could not find jobs in other countries at this time and were invited to work in China, which had nothing to do with the Soviet Union.

No matter how Milosevic probed, Mei Youqian made no concessions. Milosevic could only leave resentfully in the end. In the judgment of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Republic government would be under long-term blockade and would easily accept the Soviet side's request. Now it seemed this judgment was wrong.

The result of this wrong judgment was somewhat embarrassing. Moreover, the Chinese side did not like to organize cocktail parties, which gave Milosevic no chance to feign drunkenness and conduct another kind of probing.

Just as the car passed the gate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, another car arrived outside, with a British flag inserted at the front. Milosevic couldn't help frowning; it seemed the Chinese side was still trying hard to restore relations with Britain.

At this time, there were no diplomatic relations between China and Britain. Even if the other party was a former British Minister, there were no diplomatic relations now. Even so, there was still tacit understanding between the two sides.

The new 'Ambassador' sent by Britain to China was named Miles Wedderburn Lampson. Compared with those senile old men who had served as diplomats in China since the Manchu Qing era, this brother was 44 years old, 10 years older than He Rui.

Receiving Lampson was Li Shiguang, Director of the Western European Department of the Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Having seen several British ambassadors and ministers to China, Li Shiguang saw that Lampson was also in a Victorian suit. The suit had few ornaments and looked concise and brisk. Lampson looked very ordinary, but his eyes were bright, and his face had few wrinkles; he could be said to be full of vitality.

Li Shiguang went straight to the point. "Our side requests Britain to explain the attacks on our merchant ships."

Lampson's voice was very gentle. "Mr. Li, your accusation is simply baffling. Attacking merchant ships at sea is an act of piracy. The British fleet is only carrying out anti-piracy missions, requiring some suspicious ships to stop for inspection."

Li Shiguang didn't want to play any diplomatic rhetoric games anymore and asked frankly, "Mr. Lampson, you know there will be consequences for doing this."

Lampson smiled slightly. "What are the consequences?"

"Our side has no intention of challenging the Versailles system. If China and Britain negotiate on diplomatic issues, very good results can be achieved."

Lampson replied with a smile, "Mr. Li, all negotiations must be based on the recognition of treaties recognized by the former government of the Republic. If China wants to revise treaties, it needs to convene a diplomatic conference of the treaty signatories and make a decision after collective discussion by the signatories. This is the basic rule of diplomacy."

Li Shiguang was very unhappy in his heart and didn't give Lampson a good face. "In other words, those people in Downing Street have absolutely no intention of conducting equal negotiations?"

"Please forgive me, I am just an ordinary diplomat and do not understand the thoughts of the Foreign Office. If Mr. Li wants to understand, you can go to the British Foreign Office to ask after China and Britain establish diplomatic relations. At that time, you will have the opportunity to solve the doubts in your heart."

Lampson looked elegant and had quite the style of a British gentleman. Li Shiguang knew he couldn't do anything about this guy, so he decisively ended the meeting.

Leaving the Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when Lampson sat in the car, the gentlemanly look disappeared. His eyes became bright and sharp, and his mood was quite unpleasant. Even though he had mocked the Director of the Western European Department of the Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to his face, the advantage of tongue could not make Lampson feel relaxed.

China wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the British Empire based on equality, and the British Empire could reject it decisively and politely. However, when the British Empire wanted to restore its previous status in China, it could also only be ruthlessly furious. If the previous Chinese government foreign affairs personnel dared to speak to the British Empire's diplomatic personnel like this, the British Empire would immediately send a fleet to demonstrate.

Now the British Empire could only listen to the other party expressing arrogant 'equality' demands and could only fight back verbally. If the British Empire's Grand Fleet dared to come to China to demonstrate now, the barbaric and fearless Chinese Air Force would dare to crash and sink the entire British Empire fleet.

Besides the comparison of military strength, political changes tormented Lampson even more. When He Rui's troops first started moving south, the headline of the Chinese newspapers controlled by Britain was "Berserk Northeast Armed Forces Plundering Land Claim to be China's Central Government".

The subsequent changes were like the famous French real event back then.

"He Rui starts a civil war, destroying peace."

"General He marches into Henan. Is unification achieved by blood and death worth it?"

"Fierce battle between Northeast Army and National Revolutionary Army; three divisions of National Revolutionary Army routed."

"Republic National Defense Force sinks British fleet; fear of triggering recurrence of Eight-Nation Alliance."

"Hong Kong returns to China's embrace; Guangdong Army accepts Chairman He's command; Chairman He announces march into the Great Southwest."

"Representatives from all provinces across the country gather in the capital to convene the Political Consultative Conference."

Those fickle Shanghainese changed immediately upon seeing the Republic National Defense Force towing two heavily damaged British warships back to the port. When He Rui restored order and placed orders with the Jiangnan Shipyard, asking them to hurry up and build cargo ships for Yangtze River inland navigation, the workers also turned to support He Rui.

The final resistance was borne by southern landlords and export-oriented enterprises.

"Land Nationalization Policy is a Ruthless Plunder"

"Redemption Must Be Completely Voluntary; Redemption Under Bayonets is Disguised Robbery"

"Land Nationalization Will Completely Destroy China's Beautiful Countryside"

"Everyone Having Land Equals No One Having Land—The Rural Culture of China's Men Plowing and Women Weaving Society Will Cease to Exist"

After the completion of land reform in the south, these voices disappeared. The forces Britain spent decades cultivating disintegrated in less than a year. Those who continued to support Britain kept their mouths shut at this time. The propaganda struggle between Britain and He Rui for the Chinese people was defeated so easily.

Because newspapers publishing articles opposing He Rui were either smashed by angry workers. Through investigation, British diplomatic personnel determined that these mob-like workers spontaneously launched attacks on the newspaper offices. They shouted angrily, "You are not allowed to attack the government with that bullshit!" They rushed into the newspaper offices and printing plants, destroying the typesetting and newspapers opposing the He Rui government. It wasn't until the new government's police arrived that the newspaper members were rescued from the beating of broomsticks by a group of female workers.

Other similar newspapers either closed down due to loss of readers, or remained silent, and some even turned around to praise the new government.

Back at the 'residence' in the Legation Quarter. Because China and Britain had not established diplomatic relations, the former embassy was currently just a 'residence.' Lampson began to write a telegram. After transmitting the news that the Republic government wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Britain to London, Lampson replied to the order given to him by the British Foreign Office, 'Try to stir up anti-He Rui public opinion within China as much as possible.'

A few hours later, the British Foreign Office received the telegram sent from the telegraph room. The former British Far East Department was not a particularly valuable unit. Now the Far East Department had only a handful of personnel left in China, and its actual status had fallen to rock bottom.

However, the telegram always had to be read. The Foreign Secretary's secretary read this telegram first, '...Because He Rui quickly restored order, distributed land use rights to farmers, provided orders to China's most valuable factories, and eliminated crime, restoring social order. It is completely impossible to achieve such a task in the short term. Only when the effectiveness of these social reform policies decreases, and the people get used to the new life and pursue a better life, will there be an opportunity to guide China's public opinion...'

Such a reply confused the Foreign Secretary's secretary a bit. Judging from his experience since he could remember, even in a small country, a long time was needed between conquest and takeover. In a large country like China, it was impossible to complete two tasks in such a short time.

Intelligence from all sides showed that the He Rui government had indeed completed these two tasks with incredible speed. So Lampson's suggestion was valuable. To confront He Rui, what was needed was an opposition party within China.

But such a reasonable suggestion made the secretary feel difficult. Because there were no political parties with Western characteristics in China. If one had to say there was, it was the 'Civilization Party' with He Rui as the party leader.

And those detestable yellow people were naturally cunning and greedy; changing allegiances seemed like an innate instinct. If one wanted them to oppose He Rui, a huge price must be paid in the current situation.

The secretary thought silently and considered for a good while before making a decision. Just at this time, the sound of the Foreign Secretary, who had just started work, walking into the office came through the door into the secretary's office. The secretary hurriedly picked up the box, prepared the documents, and sent them into the Foreign Secretary's office.

The Foreign Secretary was not only concerned with China; China was just a very inconspicuous piece among the many diplomatic affairs of the British Empire now. So the Secretary prioritized handling the recent talks with the United States, France, and Germany on war reparations.

He also handled some matters with Italy, Spain, and Japan. Finally, the matter of China was discussed.

When the Foreign Secretary asked him, the secretary answered decisively, "Our continued blockade of trade with China should be having an effect. Now China has begun to try to contact our country again, seeking to establish diplomatic relations. If we continue the current policy, we can maintain our initiative, and the passive Chinese side will definitely be willing to pay a greater price."

Hearing the two words initiative and passive, the Foreign Secretary suddenly felt he remembered something, but couldn't remember clearly. Faced with the China issue, the Secretary didn't want to intervene either. Since the Republic National Defense Force sank a British fleet, the use of suicide planes had attracted attention in European military circles.

According to news provided by British intelligence, those weak naval powers treasured this battle. Spain, Italy, Turkey, and even Japan conducted secret research in this area. This undoubtedly posed a potential threat to the naval power Britain.

The British Navy stepped up research on ship air defense. Judging from the Chinese Air Force intelligence obtained from Japan at a cost, the British Admiralty concluded that even Britain's most powerful battleships now, with existing anti-aircraft capabilities, could not withstand the impact of more than 20 suicide attack aircraft.

As for when sufficient air defense forces could be completed, there was no result yet. During this period, the British Navy could only stay away from the Chinese coast.

Since China could be contained by blocking China's trade lines, the Foreign Secretary did not consider actively provoking trouble. The suggestion of the Foreign Office secretary fully accorded with the Foreign Secretary's mind.

The two at this time did not know that Zhong Yifu, a member of the Republic's Southwest Bureau and Commander of the Republic National Defense Force Southwest Theater, was discussing the issue of 'initiative and passivity' with his old classmate, Cheng Ruofan, Chief of General Staff of the Republic National Defense Force, in an office in Changsha, Hunan.

Cheng Ruofan's eyes were bright. "At this stage, Britain indeed occupies the initiative. We do not have naval forces capable of launching active attacks. From the Northeast, we have always aimed to occupy the initiative. For this march into Burma, the General Staff has two plans. Plan A: make more preparations in advance; once the attack is launched, do not pause. Deal a fatal blow to British rule in the local area. Plan B: small teams enter Burma, constantly gain support during the offensive, attract British forces, and constantly weaken their strength with guerrilla warfare tactics. Yifu, what is the Southwest Bureau's view?"

"We have already started working according to Plan B," Zhong Yifu replied.

"Oh?" Cheng Ruofan was stunned.

Zhong Yifu was somewhat helpless. "We wanted to inform the central government of the intelligence as soon as possible, but things really deviated somewhat from the initial assumption, so we invited you over."

"To what extent has the situation developed?" Cheng Ruofan became a little alert.

Facing a clear question, Zhong Yifu gave a clear answer: "Initially, we were just doing preliminary preparations, selecting people from the cadres selected in Yunnan to contact people in Burma. After all, there are relatives between personnel on both sides of the border. The initial work was not very smooth. When those cadres applied the plan of our land reform in Yunnan to the Burmese side, the situation changed immediately. Although the mountain people in Burma lack our social culture, they also need the social revolution we are implementing. With the establishment of social order, those headmen who committed many evils were killed, their armed forces were taken over and reorganized, land was distributed, and local new governments were established. With our help, simple bridges were built, and the road to the Burmese plain is gradually being opened. With the current transportation capacity, logistics for sustaining 30,000 troops in combat is not yet possible; logistics for sustaining 2,000 troops in combat can barely keep up."

"...You didn't build the local governments in the mountainous areas as our country's governments, did you?" Cheng Ruofan raised a very sharp question.

Zhong Yifu hurriedly shook his head. "Are you kidding?! If the Southwest Bureau did such a thing without reporting it, would we be waiting to be dealt with by military law?"

Cheng Ruofan no longer discussed military issues. He stood up to send a telegram to the central government. Now was no longer the time to discuss military struggle issues; the current situation involved political issues with a priority far higher than military struggle. Even Cheng Ruofan couldn't have any delay; he had to report immediately.