Since the secretary came in to notify, it was time to depart. Even so, He Rui still wrote down four points. For intellectuals, writing something down as an ending fit their tone.

Seeing He Rui leave from the backstage after writing, everyone did not feel anything inappropriate about He Rui's action. Many people didn't even pay much attention to He Rui's departure. Their attention was all on those four points.

The first point read: The Republic government requires Britain to accept the Republic government's view. The Republic government does not recognize the benefits Britain seized through war, but the Republic government recognizes the benefits of normal foreign commercial investment.

The second point: Neither Britain nor China has defeated the opponent on the other's homeland. The outcome depends on the impact of this war on Britain's ability to control the British Indian colony. For China, there is no need to drive Britain out of British India. As long as British India no longer makes money for Britain, British India will become a heavy financial burden for Britain.

The third point: British India has always been an important source of cash for Britain and is the cornerstone of the British Empire. Without the profits of British India, Great Britain is still a European power, but the British Empire is nothing in the world. And it is the British Empire, not Great Britain, that determines the current Versailles order. If Britain wants to preserve the Versailles system, it must negotiate peace and establish diplomatic relations with China.

The fourth point: China needs to integrate into the world system, so China's war aim is to dock with the Versailles system with equal status, not to overthrow the Versailles system. Therefore, the war will not cause a huge shock; instead, it will quickly enter a brand-new peaceful stage because of the end of the war.

For intellectuals, these words themselves were not difficult to understand. Although the wording and phrasing were completely in vernacular Chinese, the general meaning could be understood from the text.

However, the content behind such a description made many people unable to truly understand. Everyone watched for a long time, but no one spoke to evaluate. The one who broke the silence was Huang Yanpei, the host of this meeting. "Brother Gu, I wonder what your brilliant opinion is?"

Gu Hongming had been staring at these points for a long time. Hearing Huang Yanpei's question, he answered readily, "What Brother He wrote is indeed a temple calculation. However, this temple calculation is so subtle and lofty that this old man cannot see through it completely and does not know how to evaluate it. I ask you gentlemen for guidance."

Hearing Gu Hongming frankly admit his lack of ability, none of the other intellectuals came out to speak. This was not because everyone wanted to save face for Gu Hongming, but because what Gu Hongming said was exactly what everyone felt at this time.

The venue fell into silence again. Gu Hongming stared at these few words for a while, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter. He spoke, "Gentlemen, may I say a word?"

Everyone looked over, and someone replied, "...Please speak, Brother Gu."

"Looking at this text, it is like seeing the *Longzhong Plan* of China today. If you gentlemen are unwilling to think too much, we will write an invitation letter to invite Brother He to gather when he is free and listen to him narrate in detail. However, this old man feels that if we can straighten out this temple calculation by ourselves, it would be the best. I wonder what you gentlemen think?"

Most people felt that what Gu Hongming said was exactly what they thought, but someone laughed, "If we haven't straightened it out yet, and Mr. He has already forced Britain to sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Establishing Diplomatic Relations with China, what should we do then?"

The person who said this originally intended to say something witty to ease the atmosphere of the venue. However, after speaking, not only did he fail to achieve the goal, but he was met with a burst of eye-rolling. This person shut his mouth immediately and just waited for others to speak.

As the host, Huang Yanpei's emotions were churning. He had no personal friendship with He Rui; he just appreciated the achievements of the new government. Whether unifying China or defeating Japan. For any Chinese government after the *Boxer Protocol*, these were achievements sufficient to secure its rule. Therefore, intellectuals might not agree with many policies of the new government, but no one really jumped out to oppose them.

If He Rui could really force Britain to establish diplomatic relations with China on an equal footing this time, his achievement would be no less than defeating Japan, or even above it. Huang Yanpei indeed expected the new government to do it, but a kind of unspeakable fear arose in him.

If victory was so easy to achieve in just ten years. Then how should the actions of intellectuals in the past ten years be evaluated? In the past ten years, intellectuals were not hostile to He Rui, but they definitely could not be said to be cooperative. Those hillbilly warlords of Beiping only knew how to fight for power and profit, which was fine. But how should intellectuals who claimed to be able to find the way to rejuvenate China be evaluated when they turned a blind eye to the principles of rejuvenating China?

Moreover, at present, He Rui had written down the strategic considerations for the war against Britain. If the situation really arose where He Rui won the war while the intellectuals still couldn't figure out the strategy...

Huang Yanpei had done a lot of things. Before 1908, Huang Yanpei had set up primary and secondary schools. In 1908, he co-founded Pudong Electric Company Limited with Tong Shiheng and others, which was the earliest power supply facility in Pudong. Later, he worked as a reporter for *Shen Bao* and founded two universities.

During this period, he also went abroad for inspection, greatly expanding his horizons. So seeing He Rui's strategy, Huang Yanpei intuitively felt that relying solely on their own understanding, it was entirely possible for intellectuals to still not figure out He Rui's strategy by the end of the war. That is to say, the Chinese intellectuals who had always thought they dared to be the first in the world had fallen behind the new government, and fallen behind by a lot.

At this time, there was a lot of discussion off stage, and more and more people agreed that the strategy of the new government should be understood first. Hearing this, Huang Yanpei said, "Gentlemen, in my opinion, Mr. He is not a person who hides secrets. What he said should be the government's strategy. I hope gentlemen will only discuss this matter among ourselves."

Someone off stage was already unhappy. Chen Duxiu said unhappily, "What kind of people does Mr. Huang think we are? Are we going to tell foreigners about this?"

However, more people did not respond. Because everyone felt that Huang Yanpei's reminder might not be unreasonable; Chinese intellectuals actually had connections with foreign countries. But just thinking about this kind of thing was enough. If it were said out loud, it would definitely offend people greatly and make one a target of public criticism in the circle.

Huang Yanpei knew this well, and this was all he could say at this time. However, what Huang Yanpei was thinking at this time was that perhaps he should accept Zhao Tianlin's invitation. Two months ago, Zhao Tianlin personally visited and invited Huang Yanpei to serve as the Minister of Education of the Republic. The reason was simple: Zhao Tianlin was in charge of science, education, culture, and health, and was too busy. At this time, the situation in the Republic was stable, so naturally, suitable people should be found to arrange these tasks for capable people. Huang Yanpei was the candidate Zhao Tianlin thought could take over as Minister of Education.

Huang Yanpei hesitated before because he was worried he wouldn't do well. As an intellectual, Huang Yanpei knew very well about the various messy things in the government. However, seeing He Rui's strategic ability today, Huang Yanpei began to feel that he should seriously consider Zhao Tianlin's invitation. If he was just a pure Minister of Education, Huang Yanpei thought he should be able to achieve some results.

At this time, the car was approaching the meeting place. Zhao Tianlin in the same car asked, "Is the Chairman really not worried that someone will tell the British about this?"

He Rui replied with a relaxed mood, "The British who can understand this strategy are also one-in-a-thousand talents in the British mainland. Their most likely reaction is to support my view. As for those who don't understand, if they don't know, they might act according to Britain's accumulated experience. Britain's accumulation of hundreds of years is indeed extraordinary. But if they know and then adjust against our strategy, trying to formulate a plan against our strategy. That would probably not be wishful thinking, but carrying firewood to put out a fire."

Zhao Tianlin couldn't help chuckling when he heard He Rui speak so interestingly, and simply admired He Rui's bearing. He Rui really thought so because after Chairman Mao wrote *On Protracted War*, it was sent to the Kuomintang side. Japan also quickly obtained *On Protracted War* through their channels within the Kuomintang. But what was the result? Japan still couldn't win.

The reason why it is said that only a correct strategy can lead to victory is that when formulating a strategy, one must uphold a materialist stance and take various situations into account. Therefore, after three days of discussion, the Military Commission and the high-level Party and government officials voted unanimously to go to war with Britain. Because everyone determined that Britain did not have other strategic possibilities.

The reason why Britain refused to relent and establish diplomatic relations with China on an equal footing now was simply that the British, having sat firmly in the position of world hegemon, became arrogant and couldn't lower their pride.

Arriving at the venue, he caught up just in time. Minister of Industry Zhuang Jiaxiong came to report personally, showing that the Ministry of Industry also attached great importance to this matter. Without pleasantries, Zhuang Jiaxiong went straight to the topic, "Bicycle enterprises have completed the layout. Now 12 node areas with convenient logistics have been determined to set up production factories..."

He Rui's requirement for leading enterprises in various industries to organize production models was not unconventional. From the perspective of the 21st century, it was even a very traditional practice.

The core of leading enterprises includes R&D centers, logistics deployment centers, and market analysis departments. At this stage, there is one R&D center nationwide. The logistics deployment center arranges logistics based on analysis data obtained by the market analysis center.

Logically speaking, these are very simple logical relationships. If a region has a population of 30 million, there are 6 million families. The upper limit of the bicycle market capacity in this region is probably about 30 million vehicles.

The work of the market analysis department is various statistics: how many sold each year, how much is the current private stock, and the approximate number of bicycles sold in each year. Although these analyses cannot be precise to the point of no error, the approximate numbers will not be wrong. It won't lead to the stupid idea that the region will have unlimited demand for bicycles.

Zhuang Jiaxiong had completely understood this. "In the first stage, branch factories in various provinces have established market analysis departments first, obtained market data from various provinces, and formulated relevant production plans. Based on the production plans, various cooperation requests have been made to upstream and downstream. However, there is a problem at this stage: whether the general assembly plant should still be located in the Northeast."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of many participating cadres changed. Based on what had happened, many cadres determined that industrial layout was a policy that would inevitably be executed. When the entire Northeast was first acquired, many cadres indeed proposed the suggestion of 'Siping Great Relocation.' As a result, He Rui rejected it and put forward the view that 'industrial integration and matching takes time to cultivate.'

In a blink of an eye, eight years passed. Siping's industrial integration had indeed made great progress and became a model textbook. Then He Rui gave an order, and the 'Siping Great Relocation' began. Almost instantly, Siping was emptied and returned to the original appearance of an agricultural area that Siping should have. Cities centered on Shenyang, Harbin, and Jilin quickly became new industrial cluster centers.

Zhuang Jiaxiong was no longer the 'Director of the Northeast Industrial Department' of the past, but the Minister of Industry of the Republic. Whether the center of the bicycle industry should be placed in the Northeast concerned the major issue of China's industrial layout. The Northeast now crowned China, but geographically it was a corner of China. From the perspective of covering the whole of China, the current Siping was the future Northeast, which would return to its due status.

He Rui didn't answer immediately. He wanted to make a decision to let the bicycle R&D center temporarily stay in the Northeast. However, from the perspective of overall efficiency, the R&D center did not have a great demand for locals. Just like Silicon Valley in the United States, including various industrial centers in the world, locals could have more employment opportunities due to the emergence of industrial center cities. But those who played the leading role were often outsiders.

Finally, He Rui just replied, "This will be formulated by the Ministry of Industry."

Hearing He Rui give the arrangement, everyone in the Ministry of Industry was quite happy. Everyone did not oppose accepting He Rui's leadership and arrangement, but it would naturally be better if their own department could make decisions. Seeing this situation, comrades from other departments also had their own thoughts.

Zhao Tianlin, like other comrades, remained silent. But in his heart, he quite supported He Rui's decision. Although the Northeast was not big before, it gathered talents far exceeding what the Northeast itself could cultivate. Everyone worked together to form the Northeast Government centered on He Rui. Only then did they have today's success.

Compared with the whole of China, the Northeast population was only one-twelfth. The natural environment and economic form were very different. What was needed more at this time was to build economies with local characteristics in various places. Completely controlling from the center as before was not appropriate from a realistic perspective. Just like Zhao Tianlin himself, he was also trying to distribute all science, education, culture, and health work. He didn't plan to grasp all departmental powers in his own hands.

Looking at the present from the perspective of an educator, Zhao Tianlin believed that the 'rest and recuperation' policy executed by He Rui fully conformed to the laws. Even the war with Britain aimed to seek an environment conducive to peace. It had nothing to do with militarism. Now letting various departments take responsibility would certainly lead to many problems. This was an inevitable stage in the learning process. The ministries and commissions were all comrades with rich experience in building the Northeast Government; even if problems were encountered in various provinces, they wouldn't be unsolvable.

Only by personally experiencing everything could it be determined who among the cadres in various provinces had the strength to undertake more important work. Blindly managing the country by central orders was not beneficial to the country. It wasn't that Zhao Tianlin had any opinion on He Rui; precisely because Zhao Tianlin believed in He Rui's ability, and He Rui was only 35 years old this year, having at least 20 years to lead China in the future. Therefore, as an educator, Zhao Tianlin was full of confidence in China's future.

It takes ten years to grow trees but a hundred years to rear people. Give China twenty years, and China will surely grow a younger generation who has received advanced education. At that time, China will surely be the strongest country in the world.

He Rui actually knew Zhao Tianlin's view and also appreciated Zhao Tianlin as an educator. But there was no need to mention these things. Seeing that the Ministry of Industry understood the layout of modern enterprises and other comrades had no explicit opinions, He Rui naturally settled this matter.

Then He Rui started the discussion on the next issue, "How is the current steel production capacity arrangement?"

Minister of Industry Zhuang Jiaxiong immediately took out the report, "Now the needs of all departments have been organized. This year's steel output is 4 million tons, domestic demand is 3.9 million tons, and Russia... Soviet Union demand is 180,000 tons. The gap of 80,000 tons can be made up at any time by working overtime."

He Rui was relatively satisfied with this answer. This was correct! In modern economics, any production must have orders or some very clear expectation.

Of course, under the capitalist system, this would not be called a 'plan.' After all, in the 21st century where the tail of socialism is cut, engaging in a new 'planned economy' would be considered heresy.

But in He Rui's view, the trick of burying one's head in the sand of the capitalist system was ridiculous. These countries were unable to complete socialized mass production, and one after another embarked on financialism and debt-driven growth, which was the wrong path.

"According to the intelligence we collected, what is the crude steel output of various countries in the world now?" He Rui asked.

This time it was the Vice Minister of Commerce's turn to answer. Because Minister of Commerce Morrison had gone to France for a visit.

In 1900, world crude steel output exceeded 20 million tons, reaching 28.3 million tons, an increase of 67.5% over 1895, with an average annual growth of 13.5%.

In 1901, after world crude steel output exceeded 30 million tons, driven by the rapid advance of US steel output, it exceeded 40 million tons four years later. From 40 million tons to 50 million tons took only one year.

In 1910, world crude steel output exceeded 60 million tons, taking four years. Two years later, it broke the 70 million ton mark. Stimulated by the First World War, in 1917, world crude steel output exceeded 80 million tons, reaching a historical peak during and before World War I.

After World War I, the crude steel output of various countries in the world declined, falling below 60 million tons in 1919. But with the impact of capitalist economic prosperity in the 1920s after World War I, world crude steel output was expected to exceed 90 million tons in 1925.

He Rui knew what happened later.

And two years later in 1927, it exceeded 100 million tons. Before the outbreak of the economic crisis sweeping the globe in 1929, world crude steel output reached 121 million tons. Afterwards, affected by the economic crisis, world crude steel output began to decline, falling to a trough in 1932. The world crude steel output that year was only 50.7 million tons, less than half of the output in 1927.

In 1936, world crude steel output recovered and exceeded the 1929 level, reaching 124 million tons, and broke 130 million tons in 1937. Stimulated by World War II, world crude steel output broke the 140 million ton and 150 million ton marks successively in 1940 and 1941, and approached 160 million tons in 1943. After the war, world crude steel output began to decline again, falling to 110 million tons in 1946.

Current China truly had a long way to go.