Two gray-painted military transport planes landed in Dhaka, the capital of Bengal, British India. The British officers receiving the plane seemed not to see the Asian faces in the cabin, but only directed their Indian subordinates to take over the boxes of goods in the cabin.

When the ground crew refueled the plane, they noticed that there were no markings on the plane to prove its nationality, only patches of paint used to cover the markings, which looked quite abrupt. After the two planes were refueled, they took off quickly and flew towards the east.

At this time, the sky over Burma had been occupied by the Chinese. East of Dhaka was Burma. The ground crew very sensibly did not discuss this matter, but some of them had seen some latest pictures of aircraft. These two transport planes looked quite similar to the planes of the Chinese Air Force no matter how one looked at them.

Two days later, Rear Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, Commander of the Japanese Expeditionary Force Navy Squadron, went to the Japanese headquarters in Chittagong to find Lieutenant General Ishiwara, Commander of the Japanese 15th Army, for a drink. Both were wearing short-sleeved shirts, but they were still sweating a little in the headquarters. Fortunately, Ishiwara had an electric fan here, which made the summer heat of the Indian Ocean bearable.

Ishiwara saw Yamamoto's gaze fixed on the label 'Tianjin Electric Fan Manufacturing Factory' on the electric fan, so he simply told the truth: "Subordinates said this is smuggled goods."

Hearing the word 'smuggling,' Yamamoto showed a helpless look on his face. "Britain is smuggling drugs from China."

Ishiwara was not surprised because the Army in the Expeditionary Force actually smuggled a large batch of anti-malarial drugs from China through the channel of the Mitsui family. The British India region was said to be rich in cinchona bark, also known as quinine. Quinine hydrochloride used to be a specific drug for treating malaria until China produced artemisinin. Quinine's strong side effects, relatively slow effect, and high price were quickly replaced by artemisinin.

Seeing Ishiwara's calm expression, as if turning a blind eye to this, Yamamoto wanted to probe Ishiwara's opinion even more. "Ishiwara-kun, why does China export scarce drugs to the British army? Isn't there a war going on right now?"

Ishiwara thought this question had some value. Tropical malaria was rampant, and soldiers could easily lose combat effectiveness on a large scale. Specific drugs for treating malaria appeared extremely important. If Britain obtained a large amount of cheap specific drugs, it could guarantee combat effectiveness. Therefore, in general opinion, these drugs should be prohibited from being sold to enemy countries, especially to enemy frontline troops.

But this is just a general opinion.

Ishiwara wiped the sweat from his forehead. The average daytime temperature in Chittagong in May was 32 degrees Celsius, and 25 degrees at night. It wasn't particularly hot, but the humidity here was too high, making it very uncomfortable. At least for Japanese people, it was very uncomfortable.

Picking up the green tea and taking a sip, Ishiwara asked, "Yamamoto-kun has been to the United States; you should know how large the production capacity of the United States is."

"Hmm." Yamamoto recalled the dense factories in the industrial zone he saw in the Great Lakes region of the United States, feeling very emotional.

"When the economy develops to that stage, what is contested is no longer land, but raw materials and sales markets. The Sino-British war is by no means a war for hegemony, nor is it a campaign to fight for spheres of influence. It is a war based on economics. He-kun does not accept the status quo of being excluded from the world trade system, and insists on forcing Britain to negotiate with him on this matter. Since the purpose of the war is economics, what does smuggling some drugs count for?"

Yamamoto was obsessed with military affairs and had little interest in economics. But Yamamoto could still understand what Ishiwara said. As a naval officer, Yamamoto's tolerance for heat was much higher than Ishiwara's. After all, when the navy trained, the warship deck temperature could burn feet. So Yamamoto didn't drink tea to relieve the heat, but lit a cigarette, trying to fully understand Ishiwara's meaning.

According to Ishiwara's analysis and the current war situation, Britain was already in a comprehensive disadvantage on the battlefield. China did not intend to strike Britain's core interests either. Under such pressure, Britain was very likely to compromise with China. More importantly, Ishiwara clearly identified China's war purpose. And this purpose did not exceed the range Britain could bear.

Thinking of the result once China and Britain made peace, Yamamoto felt as uncomfortable as a cat scratching his heart. "Ishiwara-kun, if China and Britain negotiate peace, where should the Empire go?"

Ishiwara had long reached a conclusion about the future and answered in a calm tone, "In 1921, Japan sold 1.1 billion yen of goods to China annually. Now Sino-Japanese trade has completely stopped. Britain and Japan re-concluded the alliance, and Britain opened part of the Southeast Asian market to the Empire, and military supplies were also purchased from the Empire's mainland. As far as I know, the increased trade volume in a year is at most 100 million yen. For the Empire, it is just a drop in the bucket. If the Empire still wants a future, it must find a new market! If the market scale is too small, the Empire will not have the opportunity to continue developing. If the Empire cannot develop for 30 years... Hehe..."

After sneering, Ishiwara picked up the teacup and drank green tea again. Two years ago, after Ishiwara reached such a conclusion, he almost couldn't sleep or eat for two months. Now seeing He Rui's strategy moving towards realization step by step, Ishiwara was calm instead.

Yamamoto was stimulated to stand up by the future blueprint of Japan's complete sinking. But Yamamoto was also a sensible person. He just hadn't learned to look at problems from an economic perspective. He walked back and forth in the headquarters a few times but couldn't find a possibility to break the game. As a naval general, Yamamoto knew very well that Japan's markets were just a few: China, the Soviet Union, Southeast Asia, and the United States.

US industry is powerful and has low demand for Japanese goods. Southeast Asia is the forbidden territory of the equally powerful industrial country Britain; how could it let Japanese goods be sold freely? The population of the Soviet Far East is sparse, and the relationship between the Soviet Union and Japan is very poor, so the trade volume is negligible.

China has vast land, rich resources, and a large population. China and Japan are close, and trade costs are low. The Chinese market should be Japan's real reliance.

Sitting back in the chair somewhat dejectedly, Yamamoto said helplessly, "There is a saying in China called lifting a stone only to drop it on one's own feet. If those rulers of the Empire after Prince Ito could maintain relations with China instead of aggressively focusing only on immediate petty profits, how could there be today's predicament?"

Ishiwara had heard such lamentations too many times. Those members of the Japan Future Society, only after truly understanding the basics of 'He Studies,' that is, the basics of political economy, would issue such lamentations. And every time Ishiwara would tell these comrades who seemed to understand, "This is impossible! Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. Japan will never give up the excess profits brought by privileges in China."

For Yamamoto Isoroku, Ishiwara didn't bother to waste this breath. Because the Navy belongs to a technical branch, the treatment of officers and soldiers is much higher than that of the Army. So the development of the Japan Future Society in the Navy was not so smooth.

Yamamoto didn't think so much. He thought in a mess for a while and asked helplessly, "Ishiwara-kun, do you think His Majesty the Emperor should know about the recent call among the imperial people for building Japan's domestic market?"

"Both you and I know; how could His Majesty the Emperor not know?" Ishiwara replied coldly. Although his expression looked cold, in fact, this matter was promoted by Ishiwara and some people. The Rice Riots were not a revolution. The promotion of Japanese social progress by the Rice Riots stemmed from the struggle carried out by Japanese workers and peasants united after the Rice Riots.

What the Japan Future Society promoted was the awakening of the Japanese people. Only when the Japanese people realized where Japan's way out lay could they move towards that road...

"Ishiwara-kun..." Yamamoto could no longer suppress the panic in his heart, "...I think someone will stop this matter. What do you think?"

Ishiwara hoped Yamamoto could wake up as soon as possible, so he said very bluntly, "Yamamoto-kun. Even if His Majesty the Emperor is willing to promote the construction of Japan's domestic market, can His Majesty the Emperor promote it?"

Yamamoto certainly knew it couldn't be promoted. Carrying out land reform in Japan, even if it was a redemption-style land reform, could not be accepted by the Japanese upper echelon. Thinking of this, Yamamoto said hatefully, "Those parasites of the nation!"