Before going on stage for the first meeting of the New Year convened by the Japanese House of Representatives, the two MPs, Ishii and Shibata, looked at each other.

Neither of them was a member of the Seiyukai, nor did they belong to any faction. Both won the Kansai local elections with personal charisma. Judging from the current situation, both were likely to lose in the next parliamentary election. Precisely because of this, Shibata saw a kind of determination in Ishii's eyes. If there is only one such chance in life, of course, one must give it a try.

Stepping onto the podium, Ishii read out the title of his proposal loudly. Hearing the name "Japan Land Restoration Plan," the MPs were stunned. Ishii saw light in the eyes of many MPs; whether it was the light of hope or a fierce glare, Ishii didn't care. There was only this one chance in life to truly implement his own philosophy, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

There wasn't much specific content in the proposal, at least not much that could be narrated on the podium. '...Gentlemen MPs. According to the deduction of the Business School of Tokyo Imperial University, the industrial products needed to maintain Japan's domestic demand only amount to 3.3 billion yen. In 1922, Japan's industrial output was 7.7 billion yen. Of this, 4.4 billion yen worth of goods were used for export. The Japanese economy has always relied on exports. Compared with domestic demand, exports exceeded domestic demand... Domestic demand has the characteristics of persistence and stability and is not affected by the world situation. Developing domestic demand requires the people to have consumption power. Through land restoration, letting Japanese farmers all own land will comprehensively drive the Japanese economy. According to the deduction of Tokyo Imperial University, once land distribution is completed, Japan's domestic demand will reach more than 7 billion. As long as exports improve slightly, the economy can exceed the boom triggered by the European War in the past...'

The Japanese Diet included the House of Peers and the House of Representatives. The House of Peers was one of the houses of the bicameral Imperial Diet established under the "Constitution of the Empire of Japan." Members of the House of Peers were composed of unelected Imperial Family members, Kazoku (nobility), and Imperial nominees (must be over 30 years old and appointed by the Emperor personally). Abbreviated as "Peers' House," it had equal authority with the House of Representatives, but the House of Representatives had the right to discuss the budget first. The origin of the House of Peers was limited, so its representativeness was naturally insufficient.

Members of the House of Representatives were elected by voting according to population proportion across the country, and the members came from various backgrounds.

Although some Japanese House of Representatives members had no interest in land distribution, more members had various ideas about land distribution. Hearing Ishii Yoshiya propose such a plan, the thought of most members was 'Finally someone proposed this!'

Japanese *zaibatsu* had a large amount of land belonging to them, but Japanese *zaibatsu* did not fiercely oppose the land reform policy. As the saying goes, 'what is lost in the dam is gained outside the dam'; if the Japanese economy continued to be so sluggish, the overall economic losses of the *zaibatsu* would exceed the land losses.

China's success had long stimulated Japanese MPs who were more inclined towards socialism. They knew the situation in rural Japan well and believed that land reform policies could definitely solve the problems of ordinary Japanese people.

Having completed his speech within the allotted time, Ishii Yoshiya walked down from the podium. Every MP in the venue was watching Ishii, but no MP cheered or applauded him. Only when Ishii sat back in his seat did MP Shibata next to him reach out his hand, and the two shook hands.

According to the procedure, after someone introduced the proposal, it naturally entered the debate process. People off stage were eager to try, wanting to say something, but no one stood up to discuss. Openly opposing such a proposal also required certain courage. If one's opposition was spread, it would certainly meet with great opposition. If one didn't want to oppose, there was nothing to say. MPs were smart people, so everyone remained silent.

It could be seen that the Speaker himself also wanted to end this topic as soon as possible. Seeing no one raised an opinion, the Speaker's gavel struck down. "This proposal will be conducted in a recorded vote mode!" Saying this, his unhappy gaze swept over the two MPs, Ishii and Shibata.

Ishii frowned, while MP Shibata had already stood up to express dissatisfaction. "According to the rules of procedure, a secret ballot should be conducted."

The Speaker answered immediately, "This proposal also meets the requirements for a recorded vote, and it is necessary to implement a recorded vote."

Some MPs felt that MP Shibata's action of standing up to oppose was inappropriate. This matter was of great importance. If a secret ballot was adopted, this proposal might be passed due to emotional relations. The current Japanese Diet was not a power organ like the Western parliament, but an organ providing 'advice' services to the Emperor. It was inappropriate to submit such an emotionally driven proposal to the Emperor.

Apart from Shibata, no other MPs supported a secret ballot. Twenty-some minutes later, the voting results came out. MP Ishii Yoshiya's proposal was short by 14 votes from being submitted to the Emperor. After the results came out, two kinds of sighs rang out in the parliament. One was a sigh of disappointment, and the other was a sigh of joy. Even though everyone had their own attitude, no one discussed this proposal.

Ishii had mixed feelings at this moment. He initially thought his proposal couldn't be passed and didn't harbor any illusions. However, the gap in votes for passing was so small that Ishii truly felt regret. If he had insisted on a secret ballot at that time and was prepared for a secret ballot, maybe the proposal would have really passed.

But things had come to this; it was useless to say more. Conducting a recorded vote also had benefits; Ishii had learned how many MPs held the same attitude. Ishii planned to meet with this group of MPs later.

As for those MPs who opposed his proposal, Ishii planned to meet them as well to see if he could persuade these people to change their positions.

At this time, Ishii didn't think of Ishiwara Kanji. After all, Ishiwara himself had no influence on the Diet. The Japanese Diet upheld the political rule that military personnel could not participate in politics. In the Diet, only the House of Peers had military personnel. These military personnel of hereditary noble origin, according to convention, never entered the House of Peers when truly discussing topics, except for attending ceremonial events that could not be refused.

MP Ishii Yoshiya didn't expect that Ishiwara Kanji paid considerable attention to him. So much so that on January 10, Ishiwara was stunned by news from the Metropolitan Police Department.

"...MP Ishii Yoshiya hanged himself at home. The result of the Metropolitan Police Department's investigation is that MP Ishii chose suicide because he couldn't bear the inner pressure due to family conflicts!"

This was news sent by comrades of the Future Society within the police system. Although their rank was not high, the content they obtained should be the final verdict of the Metropolitan Police Department on this matter.

Ishiwara knew that these two MPs would definitely face a counterattack, but he didn't expect the counterattack to be so fierce and fatal. Many MPs and even Prime Ministers had been assassinated in these years. The assassins had the same characteristics: they were all Japanese right-wingers, peripheral members of various ideological organizations. This was also the reason why Ishiwara Kanji initially didn't think Ishii would be assassinated.

Japanese right-wingers generally came from rural areas and understood the suffering of rural areas very well. They might express unhappiness and dissatisfaction with Ishii's proposal because of their persistence in tradition, but they really wouldn't develop a murderous intent. Moreover, those right-wingers killed people with short knives in public assassinations, or even with firearms. Such an assassination, confirmed by the Metropolitan Police Department, was definitely not done by right-wingers.

Ishiwara sighed slightly and ordered someone to inform Mitsui that he wanted to meet with Mitsui. Soon, the person responsible for contact replied that Mitsui wanted to have dinner with Ishiwara in the evening.

The dining hall was in Akihabara, not far from the Army New Technology Training Bureau. The two sat down in a quite elegant restaurant. Ishiwara had something on his mind and had no interest in the interior decoration of this shop. After Mitsui finished ordering and the owner turned back to the kitchen to start cooking, he said, "Mitsui-kun, have you heard about MP Ishii hanging himself?"

Mitsui Yasuki was stunned; this was the first time he heard about this. After pondering for a good while, Mitsui asked, "Has the Metropolitan Police Department expressed any views on this matter?"

"I haven't heard of any Japanese newspaper reporting this matter yet," Ishiwara replied.

In Japanese newspapers, murder and brawl cases often appeared in the papers to fill content. Hearing Ishiwara's statement, Mitsui Yasuki understood Ishiwara's meaning. Someone must be manipulating this matter behind the scenes.

"Who does Your Excellency think did it?" Mitsui asked frankly.

Ishiwara now realized that Mitsui was also paying attention to this Diet discussion; otherwise, Mitsui should have first asked who MP Ishii Yoshiya was. Since Mitsui dared to ask like this, presumably it wasn't Mitsui who ordered the killing. So Ishiwara answered readily, "In my opinion, this was not done by the *zaibatsu*."

Mitsui wanted to understand Ishiwara's magnanimity towards industry and commerce, so he deliberately asked, "Land reform will make us lose land; why shouldn't we be annoyed?"

Ishiwara Kanji shook his head. "Annoyance is probably the limit for the *zaibatsu*."

Seeing Mitsui Yasuki's expression unchanged, Ishiwara Kanji continued to explain. For business owners, land reform is just an economic issue. Since it is an economic issue, the *zaibatsu* will consider it according to economic thinking. Land is a very valuable asset. Being taken away by land reform like this, the Mitsui family indeed suffered a loss. Suffering a loss makes one unhappy, but that's all.

In Ishiwara's analysis, the Mitsui Conglomerate and other conglomerates were indeed landlords, but their reasons for opposing land reform were not strong. Of course, there was no need to expect any support for land reform from the four major *zaibatsu* like Mitsui themselves.

Since land is a form of wealth, relevant discussions on wealth are necessary. Both Ishiwara Kanji and Mitsui Yasuki knew that after China's land reform, the "Land Use Standardization Regulations" were proposed, giving guiding opinions on the definition and division of various land uses.

The *zaibatsu* did not rely on land rent collection as a source of livelihood. The greatest use of land for them lay in 'cheap industrial land.' Ishii's proposal did not express opposition to industrial land.

Mitsui was relatively satisfied with Ishiwara and asked, "What does Ishiwara-kun think will happen next?"