The French and Dutch 'liaison officers' in China finished their meal and walked out leisurely. Seeing a car with a British flag waiting at the door, the French 'liaison officer' smiled and asked Mr. Hoekstra from the Netherlands, "Are you going to see Lampson?"

Mr. Hoekstra thought about it and found that he really had nothing to say, so he could only shake his head. Things had reached the current stage; seeing Lampson wouldn't yield anything useful, not even useful intelligence. The means by which European powers fought for colonies for hundreds of years were no different. Now that China has revived, the more than 2 million troops under He Rui would naturally be used for expansion. If He Rui's troops shrank within the borders, Mr. Hoekstra would be surprised.

Lampson's view of the Chinese army was the same as Mr. Hoekstra's. When Britain attacked China back then, it was also Britain deciding to fight and then fighting. Now that China adopted the same method, Britain could actually understand it very well. The purpose of Lampson's visit was indeed to express Britain's anger to China because of China's attack on Burma, but it was just an expression. The power of European powers rose and fell; such things were not surprising in London.

Seeing the 'liaison officers' of France and the Netherlands coming out together, Lampson could only sigh that He Rui indeed understood diplomacy. If He Rui had started big moves before attacking Britain, Britain would naturally have discovered signs that He Rui was about to act. He Rui seemingly striking all powers in China was a very good strategic misdirection.

At this time, the guard of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened the door, and Lampson's car entered the compound of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Soon, Lampson appeared in front of Li Shiguang, Director of the Western European Department. Li Shiguang drank tea and slowly watched Lampson go through the process. Lampson also went through the process meticulously, expressing strong protest in an angry tone. And made a 'threat of war.'

After this set of procedures was completed, Li Shiguang saw that there was nothing out of line in Lampson's speech, so he invited Lampson to sit down and served tea. Li Shiguang saw Lampson take a sip and frown slightly, so he explained, "This is Pre-Qingming tea, tea picked and made before the Qingming Festival. In the grading of Chinese tea ceremony, Pre-Qingming tea is classified into a very high grade. Mr. Lampson, do you feel the refreshing bitterness and the lingering sweet aftertaste?"

In He Rui's Republic government, 'official modesty' was classified as an inferior attitude compared to confidence. China should have China's confidence. Taking tea as an example, it is natural to publicize that our Chinese tea is good, and we China indeed have very rich grading standards in tea tasting. No longer just blind politeness.

Sure enough, hearing this, Lampson tasted it carefully again, looking thoughtful when putting down the teacup. But Lampson didn't come to taste tea. Since the process was completed, the next step was work. "We completely cannot understand Your Excellency He Rui's strategic decision!"

"What is there not to understand? Mr. Lampson is too modest." Li Shiguang replied leisurely.

Lampson indeed had his own views, and the gentlemen in Downing Street also had similar views, but at this time he still wanted to hear the answer from the Chinese side, so he asked, "I would like to hear the details."

Li Shiguang gave the answer readily, "If a group of hooligans come to provoke, the best way is to catch the leading hooligan and beat him up. Seeing the leading hooligan being beaten up, other hooligans won't rush up to help but watch from the side. As long as the leading hooligan can be knocked down, the problem of being attacked can naturally be solved. To use a Chinese saying, this is called 'Punch one to avoid a hundred punches'."

Lampson felt that Li Shiguang's answer basically conformed to the judgment of Downing Street and himself, but there were still some differences in views between the two sides. Lampson asked unhappily, "I didn't expect your country to have such low self-esteem. The current China is already a world power; why consider it this way?"

"We do not have low self-esteem. Mr. Lampson, Chairman He said before that if the plan of the British elites is to be passed, Britain must sacrifice tens of thousands of young lads. Only when the British people start to worry about the conscription notice being delivered to their hands can the peace agreement be passed. We are sweeping away obstacles for the elites leading Britain, and also fighting for the peaceful future of the British people. Mr. Lampson, you have to be considerate of our hardships."

Lampson felt a vague familiarity with these words. After thinking for a moment, he realized that Li Shiguang, Director of the Western European Department of the Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, borrowed the rhetoric used by Europe when expressing itself as a 'spreader of civilization.' 'Tragedy is just a byproduct of world progress, and the world is moving towards a more civilized direction...'

Lampson really didn't want to discuss such a question, so he went straight to the point, "What exactly does Your Excellency He Rui want?"

Since Lampson was serious, Li Shiguang stopped playing diplomatic circle games and answered frankly, "Sino-British Joint Communiqué on Establishing Diplomatic Relations."

This request made it impossible for Lampson to answer immediately. From an economic perspective, signing a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations with China and establishing trade relations now would be very beneficial to Britain. However, this was the view of the elites. What ordinary public opinion saw was that Britain was attacked and then cowardly submitted to China. The British Prime Minister who did this would definitely step down... But considering the problem this way highlighted He Rui's keen insight into the world situation. He Rui knew long ago that such a thing would definitely happen. From the beginning, using war as a means, he pursued reaching an agreement with the next or even the next-next British government...

Such strategic design capability made Lampson feel that he was very likely overthinking, leading to an imagination of He Rui that exceeded reality.

Li Shiguang had participated in strategic discussion meetings. At the meeting, He Rui analyzed the future situation and then made the decision to fight against Britain and negotiate peace with the next or next-next British government. At that time, Li Shiguang just felt that what He Rui said made a lot of sense. When it came to execution, Li Shiguang began to deduce it himself and found that there were too many variables in the future. Although He Rui's view made sense, it might not be realized.

However, things had reached this point, and Li Shiguang no longer worried that Britain could organize a new Eight-Nation Alliance. While feeling relaxed, Li Shiguang also marveled at He Rui's strategic judgment ability. To point out the correct path amidst complicated possibilities required what kind of keen and profound understanding, and decisive and firm determination to execute!

The office fell silent temporarily. The orderly changed new tea for the two and served snacks. Eating some snacks while drinking tea was also a characteristic of Chinese tea culture.

Li Shiguang believed in He Rui's strategic judgment very much, so Li Shiguang only needed to execute He Rui's strategic judgment. Lampson didn't have such a good environment; he had to understand the status quo himself and make judgments on future strategic development. He even had to analyze China's strategy and submit reports at the request of the Foreign Office in Downing Street. In any industrial country, frontline staff undertaking these tasks were the hardest working. Without results, all responsibility would be pinned on the frontline staff. With results, the gentlemen in the rear would take the largest part of the credit.

Lampson thought for a good while before asking, "I wonder what demands China has for Burma?"

Li Shiguang was prepared and answered immediately, "We know very well that Britain will never give up India."

Lampson was really a bit angry. He sneered, "Hehe, I didn't expect Your Excellency He Rui to be so confident in the Chinese army."

Li Shiguang had prepared a template for the answer long ago and immediately retorted, "It's not that we are too strong, but that you are too weak. Mr. Lampson, the sooner Britain admits such a fact, the sooner Britain can make a rational and commendable correct decision."

Even with Lampson's self-restraint, he couldn't bear it anymore. He didn't use bad language but stood up to take his leave. Looking at Lampson's back, Li Shiguang couldn't help smiling. Being able to retort against Britain with such gentle words gave Li Shiguang huge joy.

After enjoying this moment of joy, Li Shiguang also devoted himself to new work. He Rui described three tasks for future diplomacy at the meeting. The first was He Rui visiting Europe, the second was He Rui visiting Japan, and the third was He Rui visiting the United States.

The first goal was not easy to achieve, but it was also the simplest of the three tasks. After all, Europe was currently in a divided state, and there was no organization unifying Europe. So Britain's pain was France's joy, the joy of European countries oppressed by Britain through offshore balancing diplomatic means.

China's domestic market was also needed by European countries in crisis, which also allowed China to pry open Europe more easily, paving the way for finally forcing Britain to accept the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Establishing Diplomatic Relations.

As for the other two tasks, Li Shiguang felt he couldn't think about their content completely. There were too many things involved, and the process was complex and subtle; at least Li Shiguang couldn't fully understand it yet.

Since he couldn't do it, Li Shiguang gave up readily for now. Anyway, with He Rui presiding over these two tasks, Li Shiguang was willing to follow He Rui and concentrate on doing the part he could do well.

There were many people who thought this way, such as General Zhong Yifu, a committee member of the Southwest Bureau. As a Southwest Bureau committee member of the Civilization Party, Zhong Yifu could not issue orders to the administrative departments in the Southwest region. All requests had to be conveyed to the State Council through the Military Commission, and the State Council was responsible for allocation.

However, Zhong Yifu didn't feel uncomfortable. Wu Youping was already very experienced and prepared this matter very well. Moreover, what Zhong Yifu really cared about was that executing a war involving 200,000 troops was done only with military expenses and special appropriations. The total mobilization system as in the war with Japan did not appear.

Nagata Tetsuzan, Director of the Japanese National Mobilization Bureau, also noticed this. At this time, the Japanese intelligence network in China had been greatly damaged. Even so, Nagata also made a request, asking the remaining intelligence network to use maximum strength to collect news of China's general mobilization.

But after the war started, let alone general mobilization, China didn't even show economic pressure. The most statements from the Chinese government collected by the Japanese intelligence gathering department were reports on China's economic recovery in 1924.

These reports did not brag, nor did they sing praises excessively. All reports tried their best to show the reality of rural China. These contents once made Nagata Tetsuzan addicted to them. The suffering on the heads of the Chinese people was too heavy: landlords, usury, exorbitant taxes and levies, and bandits and rogues. Reading these detailed descriptions, Nagata Tetsuzan felt disappointed. If Japan could have started a war against China regardless of everything at that time, it was very likely to seize the Manchuria and Mongolia regions.

Although seizing Manchuria and Mongolia would inevitably meet with opposition from the powers, compared with the current situation of being 'sympathized with' by the powers, Nagata felt that being opposed by the powers was not unbearable.

However, there was a question of degree here. If Japan seized Manchuria and Mongolia, it must never expand the war against China again. Japan had to withstand various pressures, even endure various blockades, and fully digest the Manchu Qing regions to turn them into part of Japan. This process was long and painful. Nagata doubted very much whether the Japanese army had the determination to survive this stage. If they couldn't survive, seizing Manchuria and Mongolia would become a burden that crushed Japan.

However, looking at the current suffering of the Chinese people, Nagata inevitably felt disappointed. This only opportunity had been lost. The current Chinese people were indeed still very bitter. According to various Chinese reports, at least half of the Chinese people had merely escaped the threat of starvation. They received land and, relying on hard farming, only harvested grain just enough to get rid of hunger. This grain only freed them from long-term hunger.

The He Rui government did not make an optimistic assessment of China's status quo. On the contrary, the He Rui government described the lives of the Chinese people with a very cold and realistic attitude. Among them, the Northwest region and the Henan region were the bitterest. For the Northwest region, the He Rui government issued construction bonds with an interest rate of 3%. And allowed the replacement of land bonds from land redemption.

Nagata Tetsuzan didn't know if this idea was proposed by He Rui, or by He Rui's Central Bank Governor or other officials. Nagata just appreciated such a regulation very much. The payment period of land bonds given by He Rui was 10 years, with an annual interest subsidy of 2%. The current construction bonds had an interest subsidy of 3%. As long as they weren't fools, as long as those landlords had basic confidence in the He Rui regime, the landlords would convert land bonds into construction bonds.

From a monetary perspective, the He Rui government suffered a loss. From a political perspective, the He Rui government solved China's land problem in one fell swoop. When land bonds no longer exist, it is when the land problem is completely solved. Nagata had to admit that the He Rui government was quite serious when facing political issues and was not blinded by petty profits at all.

However, Nagata also expected the He Rui government to stumble on the Loess Plateau transformation plan. According to the report of the He Rui government, the Loess Plateau is located in the north-central part of China and is one of the four major plateaus in China. The Loess Plateau in a broad sense is the loess area, with a loess area of 635,000 square kilometers, of which the primary loess is 381,000 square kilometers and the secondary loess is 254,000 square kilometers. It is mainly composed of Shanxi Plateau, Shaanxi-Gansu-Shanxi Plateau, Longzhong Plateau, Ordos Plateau, and Hetao Plain; the Loess Plateau in a narrow sense roughly starts from the Great Wall in the north, reaches the Qinling Mountains in the south, reaches Wushaoling in the west, and reaches the Taihang Mountains in the east, including most of Shanxi, central and northern Shaanxi, central and eastern Gansu, southern Ningxia, and eastern Qinghai, with an area of about 300,000 square kilometers.

The Japanese mainland is about 360,000 square kilometers, which is exactly about the same size as the Loess Plateau in the narrow sense. The Japanese mainland plus Korea and Taiwan has an area of about 600,000 square kilometers, which is about the same size as the Loess Plateau in the broad sense.

He Rui wanting to change the ecology of the Loess Plateau in a not-so-long time looked like an extremely reckless decision no matter how one looked at it. Especially at a time when He Rui was still fighting Britain in Burma. If the He Rui government could really do these two things well at the same time, Nagata felt that Japan could consider allying with China. Attaching to the strong was originally a Japanese tradition.

Of course, not all news in the He Rui government's reports was bad. For example, after the main body of the new Dujiangyan was completed, another project also began construction. That was to increase the irrigated arable land area of the Chengdu Plain from one million *mu* to 3 million *mu*. Improving the economy of the Sichuan region.

China's Ministry of Water Resources also proposed a Zipingpu Water Control Project plan, which would build an important regulating reservoir upstream of Dujiangyan, also a landmark project of the Great Western Development. Once completed, it would increase the water supply guarantee rate of the Dujiangyan irrigation area in the dry season from 30% to 80%. The water supply at the source of the ancient weir became increasingly abundant, and the "end" of the water network also expanded from the Chengdu Plain deep into the hills of central Sichuan. Dujiangyan had expanded from irrigating 1 million *mu* of farmland initially to more than 11.3 million *mu*.

In the Jiangnan region, the economic arrangement of the He Rui government was even bolder, bold enough to make Nagata Tetsuzan, Director of the Japanese Mobilization Bureau, feel uneasy. China currently prepared to rapidly expand raw silk production, increasing its output by more than 10 times within 3 years.

As the Director of the Japanese National Mobilization Bureau, Nagata could get too much information. After seeing China's policy, Nagata asked for the raw silk development report.

Although silk originated in China, Chinese silk had not made much progress for two thousand years. After experiencing the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, Europe had surpassed China in weaving, printing, and dyeing technologies. By the end of the 18th century, the main force of China's silk exports was no longer traditional silk finished products but raw silk.

Japan learned sericulture technology from China very early. After being opened by the West, raw silk also became Japan's main export commodity, but the export scale was only one-fifth of China's, the quality was inferior, and the price was lower than Chinese raw silk.

After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan established a new industrial direction, treating raw silk export as a key support object, working hard in two aspects, aiming to surpass Chinese raw silk and bring necessary foreign exchange for Japan's economic development.

The first aspect was seed selection. Starting from 1871, Japan sent people to European and American countries to learn advanced sericulture technology. Yes, European sericulture technology had surpassed China. France, Italy, and other countries had established sericulture research institutes, introducing the most cutting-edge bacteriology theory at that time, specifically cultivating silkworm breeds with higher yield and better quality.

Japan constantly promoted new silkworm breeds. By 1923, the latest F1 hybrid silkworm eggs had reached 100% market share in Japan, and the quality and output of raw silk comprehensively surpassed Chinese raw silk. In 1920, the unit yield of Japanese silkworm eggs exceeded China's by more than 30%.

Nagata believed in the strength of the He Rui government, so he felt that the future of Japanese raw silk might be over. This was a major event that could trigger a war. But Nagata found at this time that Japan could do nothing but welcome such a fate.