Wu Youping listened with surging emotions. He picked up the cup, drank a large mouthful of plain water, and took a moment to calm himself. Only then did he remember He Rui saying that the starting point was Siping, so he hurriedly asked, "I wonder how the Governor plans to govern Siping?"

"Student Wu, you are a native of Siping and a man of insight. I assume you have some ideas. Why not share them?"

Hearing this, Wu Youping steadied his mind, though his expression looked somewhat troubled. However, he still said, "When I studied in Tianjin, I felt heavy-hearted seeing the concessions. However, the governance within the concessions was indeed far superior to that outside the pass. If we can adopt their rational approaches without those humiliating treaties that forfeit sovereignty, they should serve as a model for Siping's current development."

He Rui's opinion of Wu Youping improved significantly. Even someone like Xu Chengfeng loathed the concessions with a passion. If Xu Chengfeng were ordered to seize the concessions at this time, he would certainly engage in construction too, but he would probably tear them down completely before starting anew, and would absolutely not consider the advanced elements inherent in them.

Wu Youping was equally pained by the humiliating concessions, yet he could already adopt a mindset of learning and borrowing; he was indeed promising.

During the exchange, Wu Youping pointed out Siping's advantages. Although this place wasn't a big city like Fengtian or Changchun, it was located in the middle of the Chinese Eastern Railway outside the pass. From the perspective of commercial trade, it possessed a superior location second only to Changchun. Natural resources were also very abundant, allowing for the concurrent development of industry and commerce and rapid growth.

After listening to Wu Youping's explanation, He Rui asked a question. "Youping, why did you say twice that Siping is constrained by a lack of water?"

Wu Youping didn't expect He Rui to ask this question. He had just spoken from his immediate impression without thinking too much. After pondering for a while, he answered, "Probably because one of the railway subjects I studied was about locomotive water supply. Outside the pass is not like inside the pass; there are no great rivers. Water is scarce during the dry season, so I spoke from experience."

Just then, the orderly reported again, "Reporting, Governor..."

"Alright. I understand." He Rui stood up and extended his hand to Wu Youping. "This is the first time I've met a youth who has read my books. When I have time in the coming days, I will invite you over again."

Wu Youping hurriedly shook hands with He Rui. "Governor," he suddenly blushed slightly, saying expectantly, "I am willing to serve the Governor."

He Rui patted his shoulder firmly and smiled. "We welcome all comrades who share our ideals!"

He Rui arrived at the meeting room and handed Wu Youping's business card to Xu Jia, who had been formally appointed as the Chief of the Statistics Section. "Send someone to investigate this person and prepare to conduct a political background check on him."

Xu Jia looked at the card, showing a slightly surprised expression.

"You know this person?" He Rui was a bit puzzled.

"I only saw this name when compiling the survey on Siping's prominent figures; I haven't met him. I just heard Hu Xiushan mention once that this person was his middle school classmate. I recorded it in the file, so I have an impression."

It was also the first time He Rui heard that Hu Xiushan had this relationship with Wu Youping. Hu Xiushan was usually reticent but completed his work extremely well. He was a man of hidden talent. It was normal for Hu Xiushan not to show off, but this Wu Youping relied only on learning and insight to seek a meeting with He Rui, without mentioning this relationship. It showed that although this person was young, he was confident.

Before He Rui could speak, Xu Jia added, "I absolutely won't mention this matter during the review. I'll just see if this Wu Youping writes it truthfully when listing his social connections."

He Rui nodded and began to preside over the meeting. "Comrades, the situation in Siping is now stabilized. Our goal in the next few years is to unify and liberate China. Judging by the international situation, once we start the process of unifying China, Japan, based on its own interests, will definitely try every means to add unnecessary trouble for us, and won't even rule out armed intervention. Therefore, we must defeat Japan before we launch our campaign, forcing Japan into neutrality, and clearing the obstacles for unifying the country in advance."

Everyone at the meeting showed expressions of surprise and joy. They hadn't expected to take down Siping so quickly. Naturally, they talked about the future during their late-night chats before sleep. They mainly discussed how to seize the Northeast and Mongolia as soon as possible to cut off Japan's ambition of coveting Manchuria and Mongolia. When talking about unifying the whole country, they all felt the immense pressure of Japan and Russia taking the opportunity to invade.

At this moment, hearing He Rui say they would use a preemptive strategy to deal with Japan, everyone couldn't help but think of Russia at the same time.

They heard He Rui continue, "Russia's industrial development was later than Western Europe's, but it developed rapidly with the support of French financial capital. One of the reasons Germany was eager to start the war was the fear that Russia would expand westward after developing, joining hands with France to destabilize the European balance of power. However, in Russian society at this time, the old agricultural society is beginning to disintegrate. Although industry has become the main part of the national economy, a political system suitable for an industrial society has not yet been built. It is precisely the stage where the domestic superstructure is most fractured. The World War is having a huge impact on Russia. I predict that before the war ends, a revolution will break out in Russia, plunging Russia into civil war. Even if a winner emerges, Russia will be greatly weakened. It will take at least a dozen years for Russia to recover its vitality. As long as we can use diplomatic means properly, we should be able to avoid Russian intervention."

The crowd had some doubts, but hearing He Rui's firm tone and authoritative words, they could only keep their doubts to themselves.

"As for Japan, although its domestic system is comparable to Russia's, due to geographical reasons, it did not participate directly in the World War and has temporarily maintained political stability. But once the Great War ends, the social contradictions accumulated during economic development will erupt violently. To divert this domestic pressure, Japanese politicians and soldiers will definitely choose to invade China. And our task is to strike preemptively before they launch their move, defeating Japan first to avoid interference with our development process."

Everyone looked at each other. Xu Chengfeng couldn't help asking, "Governor, Japan went through the Meiji Restoration and has a head start. I'm afraid it will be very difficult for us to defeat them, right?"

He Rui laughed. "I studied in Japan for many years and understand this country very well. In my judgment, Japan's national strength is very weak, domestic social contradictions are acute, and the army's combat effectiveness is very poor. As long as the strategic direction is set, dealing with it won't be difficult."

The group of young men was energized. After whispering for a while, they felt uneasy again. "Governor, Japan has fought our country many times. Judging from the battle situations, the Japanese army performed exceptionally well. Why does the Governor think their combat effectiveness is very poor?"

He Rui explained patiently, "That is because we have never established a truly modern army. When the Japanese army fights us, they are either fighting China's feudal armies or fighting semi-professional armies like militias. So looking at the battle records, they appear powerful. In reality, this army's navy is passable, but their ground forces are basically still in a semi-feudal, semi-modern state. The overall military quality of the officer corps is low, relying on extreme nationalism and fear and intimidation to control their soldiers. Their equipment can't be considered good either. They can perform some basic to intermediate tactical operations, but apart from not being afraid of death, they have no special characteristics. Overall, this is still an armed force stuck in a barbaric era."