When Zhao Tianlin went to see He Rui, he brought the latest news: Lu Zhengxiang was going to take the people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back to Beijing. Hearing this, He Rui chuckled lightly but didn't answer.

Just then, someone came to report that Lu Zhengxiang was asking for a meeting. Zhao Tianlin pushed up his glasses. "Chairman, if we could be responsible for the negotiations this time, perhaps we could recover Shandong."

Seeing the strong impulse of this Doctor of Law to join the negotiation delegation, He Rui waved his hand, telling Zhao Tianlin to calm down.

Lu Zhengxiang was soon brought in. The Foreign Minister mentioned his departure and then asked, "I wonder what suggestions General He has for recovering Shandong?"

He Rui answered confidently, "With the current strength of the central government, no matter how hard you gentlemen responsible for the negotiations try, it will be like chasing the moon's reflection in a pool. The rights and interests in Shandong are destined to remain unrecovered. What I'm about to say is a heart-to-heart talk between Minister Lu and me in private: If I were to serve as the Military Governor of Shandong, I would definitely be able to recover those rights."

Hearing He Rui speak like this, Lu Zhengxiang's expression shifted.

He Rui, however, laughed easily. "Minister Lu need not mind; given the current situation, I'm just speaking theoretically. Such a thing will certainly not happen. If Chief Duan asks, you can tell him that I have absolutely no intention of intervening inside the Pass. But would you like to know why I see it this way?"

Lu Zhengxiang had always stayed out of politics and was a recognized 'good man' in the Beiyang government, which was why he maintained a relatively detached status. Hearing He Rui speak like this, he originally wanted to decline the explanation. However, He Rui's attitude could influence the future of the Beiyang government, so he couldn't help but ask. He could only say, "I would like to hear the details."

Three days later, when Lu Zhengxiang returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an envoy from Duan Qirui's Anhui clique was already waiting for him. Lu Zhengxiang took out a letter. "This is a letter from General He to Chief Duan; presumably, everything the Chief wants to ask is inside."

The visitor was somewhat surprised. Lu Zhengxiang replied, "General He only told me that although President Feng has ambitious goals, it is precisely for that reason that he doesn't care much for empty fame. But President Feng is in poor health; once there is an unforeseen event, what the Zhili clique and others under him see will be another matter. The position of the President has a great attraction."

Hearing Lu Zhengxiang speak like this, the envoy from Duan Qirui's side was so shocked he was momentarily speechless. He heard Lu Zhengxiang continue, "General He's other words are all in the letter. I still have matters to attend to."

The visitor could only leave. Although somewhat hesitant, he still delivered the letter to Duan Qirui. Seeing the Northeast postal seal on the seam-seal was intact, Duan Qirui sighed inwardly that He Rui was truly meticulous. Opening the letter and reading for a moment, a wave of desolation swept over him.

Ten years ago, the New Policies at the end of the Qing Dynasty had seemed quite effective to Duan Qirui. However, the Qing imperial clan was too selfish and created an Imperial Cabinet, completely losing the people's hearts. At that time, Duan Qirui felt that if Yuan Shikai came to power, much could be achieved.

However, in reality, after the collapse of the late Qing New Policies, the country had declined day by day. He Rui naturally didn't mention this in the letter, but only made a prediction about the future Beiyang civil wars. He Rui also expressed deep anguish over such a future, but noted he could not participate, and thus asked Duan Qirui to pay attention to the matter.

Duan Qirui inexplicably believed He Rui's words, because regardless of who won or lost in the struggle between the Anhui and Zhili cliques, the final result would be He Rui continuing to grow stronger. Moreover, although He Rui was young—less than thirty this year—he was a very patient man. From the perspective of casting a long line to catch a big fish, as long as He Rui never participated in the Beiyang civil wars, then once the other factions had exhausted themselves, they would eventually have to beg He Rui, who was constantly accumulating strength, to come out and stabilize the situation.

As for how bad the situation would be at that time, one only had to look at the decline of the past ten years since the New Policies to see clearly. It was truly a case of things going from bad to worse.

Putting away the letter, Duan Qirui suddenly lost all interest in asking what He Rui had said to the people at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Compared with the direction of the country, those trivial diplomatic matters were truly insignificant. Duan Qirui no longer had the heart to care.

At this time in the Northeast, He Rui also tossed the matter of the Paris Peace Conference aside. After listening to He Rui's prediction of the future earlier, Lu Zhengxiang had become completely despondent. Under such circumstances, Lu Zhengxiang actually agreed to a request from He Rui: to take He Rui's representatives to France to discuss grain export issues with the major European powers.

The autumn harvest of 1918 was a truly massive success. The land reform starting in 1916 and the large-scale establishment of state-owned farms had finally borne fruit. The grain output of the entire Northeast had skyrocketed from three billion jin to six billion jin. The entire Northeast government was almost jubilant over such a harvest.

Taking advantage of the high grain prices at the end of the war, the Northeast government decided to make a significant profit by exporting grain this year, using the proceeds to import more machinery and equipment.

Current grain prices were truly encouraging. One sheng of rice was 1.5 jin. Even in nearby Japan, one sheng of rice had sold for 0.12 yen before the war. Now that the Rice Riots had been suppressed, the price remained at 0.3 yen.

Japan was a poor country with little purchasing power. Britain and France, however, were both very wealthy, and after the war's end, they would naturally be willing to pay for grain; it was truly an opportunity that could not be missed.

The Northeast now had a population of 20 million. Calculating at 250 jin of grain per person per year, the amount He Rui could export exceeded one billion jin. The income could very likely exceed 30 million silver dollars.

He Rui was discussing the export volume with government comrades to see what each department needed, trying to put this money to the best possible use.

Budgets from various departments had been sent to the Northeast government. He Rui tirelessly reviewed them one by one, making annotations on various categories.

Following the budget for introducing a full set of steam engines, He Rui scrawled instructions at the bottom: "Export grain to Germany in exchange for relevant patents and technical personnel. Especially focus on introducing steam turbine technology for power generation."

For the budget for introducing internal combustion engines, He Rui added funds for acquiring patents and personnel.

Seeing that the Mining Bureau had not considered introducing electric mineral extraction equipment from Germany and the United States, He Rui directly annotated: "Why not consider introducing mechanical extraction equipment? If difficulties are encountered, submit a report!"

...

After reviewing documents for a long while, He Rui felt a bit tired. Only then did he put down his pen.

The management of an industrial country was like this... and not just an industrial country; as long as it was a centralized state, the supreme leader's task was not simply to 'do something right,' nor to satisfy his own emotions.

Power was a tool to achieve goals. Specific work was naturally executed by personnel at the high, middle, and grassroots levels. He Rui had to judge whether the direction and content of the proposals and their execution met his expectations for the country.

In this regard, He Rui had incomparable confidence. The decisions he made could indeed most effectively turn China into a powerful industrial nation.

He Rui was also very clear that his comrades were by no means loyal to him personally, but rather to the cause of making China powerful. The more loyal they were to this cause and the more willing they were to struggle for their ideals, the faster China's rise would be, and the more united the organization would remain.

Thinking of this, He Rui sat back in his seat and continued his work.