Morrison was Australian. When speaking of trying the ANZAC troops, he remained composed, a self-possession that Wu Youping greatly admired. Hearing Wu Youping mention adding a bit of "propaganda" to the media war, Morrison even appreciated the view.

Also attending the meeting was Director Lu from the Ministry of Agriculture, who was responsible for special economic crops. Director Lu was in charge of special economic crops in the southwest region. Hearing that they were to publicize Guangxi's "white-brown rope" (sisal rope), his face was full of joy.

As soon as Morrison finished speaking, Director Lu immediately began to introduce the matter, "The Chairman understands economic crops so well..."

"Don't speak carelessly!" Wu Youping unceremoniously interrupted Director Lu.

Director Lu was stunned, not understanding Wu Youping's meaning. Many arrangements for special economic crops were indeed arranged by He Rui, and the feedback was all good news. Just as Director Lu was at a loss, Wu Youping said seriously: "Do not attribute everything to Chairman He. Planting sisal was the Central Government's arrangement, hard-worked, researched, and completed by local comrades. If it is grown well, you pin it on Chairman He. Then if it is not grown well, who should be held responsible? Director Lu, science is science!"

Being lectured by Wu Youping like this, Director Lu was naturally unconvinced. But Director Lu had to admit that Wu Youping's attitude was more reasonable. At this time, Morrison smoothed things over, "How is the promotion in Guangxi going?"

Director Lu calmed himself as quickly as possible before saying with low spirits: "We started large-scale trial planting in the south in '23. After '24, as we entered the southwest, we began planting in some barren areas of Guangxi. In addition to planting, research institutes were also established. Comparatively, the sisal planted in Guangxi grows very well. Sisal is a plant that tolerates poor soil. Although it needs a lot of rain, it does not tolerate waterlogging. Many barren areas in Guangxi fit these conditions exactly. Besides Guangxi, we have also started promoting planting in areas of Myanmar with similar geographical environments. Those areas were sparsely populated to begin with, so the difficulty of implementation is very small."

Hearing this, an image of Zhong Yifu looking a bit smug involuntarily appeared in Wu Youping's mind. Among the generals capable of commanding a war zone, Xu Chengfeng was steady, Zheng Silang was fierce, Hu Xiushan was detailed, Cheng Ruofan was clever, and Zhong Yifu was a comprehensive type, quite well-rounded.

Promoting sisal in Myanmar, Zhong Yifu was obviously preparing for the future. And doing so was not without reason; war requires vast amounts of materials. If materials could be sourced locally, it would indeed greatly alleviate pressure on the front lines. While sourcing locally, it could also drive the economy. But Wu Youping felt that Zhong Yifu had other ideas, only Wu Youping did not want to puncture them right now.

Asking the Ministry of Agriculture to make an assessment report on the prospects of developing the sisal industry in the barren areas of Guangxi, Wu Youping asked Morrison, "Minister Morrison, do you think this matter is good for propaganda?"

Morrison was very confident, "Our Ministry of Commerce does not lack such people. Even if we don't have anyone good at propaganda, we can hire a team from Jiangnan. We will publicize the white-brown rope."

Wu Youping himself could not figure out how such propaganda should be conducted. Chinese people were very taboo about murder weapons. If white-brown rope was linked to nooses, even if they were high-grade nooses, presumably people would feel uncomfortable when seeing white-brown rope, right?

However, there are specializations in every field. Since Morrison thought there was no problem, Wu Youping could only let Morrison do it. After the meeting ended, Wu Youping felt uncomfortable no matter how he thought about it, so he simply ordered his secretary to send a telegram to Zhong Yifu, 'Commander Zhong, you have quite the style of Zhuge Kongming leaving Qishan.'

When Zhong Yifu received the telegram, he was holding a meeting with the logistics department. The front line had been temporarily stable for two or three months. This gave the Burma Theater ample time to build roads in Myanmar.

"Now, the two highways leading from the country to Myanmar have been completed. The road entering the Assam region from Myanmar has been completed and is now being widened."

"The work of recruiting laborers is proceeding quite well. The Myanmar masses are truly docile. We ensure that we execute according to the set wages and workload. Up to now, the Myanmar masses have not broken out in conflict with us."

...

When Zhong Yifu was engaging in revolution in Myanmar, he had absolutely no feeling of being bound hand and foot. Road building was a very important revolutionary method.

At this time, a communicator delivered a telegram to Zhong Yifu. Seeing that the telegram actually just wrote, 'You have quite the style of Zhuge Kongming leaving Qishan', Zhong Yifu was stunned, unable to figure out what Wu Youping wanted to say.

At this time, the logistics department had finished reporting their work. The comrades looked at Zhong Yifu, waiting for Zhong Yifu to give instructions. Zhong Yifu thought for a moment and asked: "Are the expenses within the budget?"

The comrades from the logistics department immediately answered: "All are within the budget."

Zhong Yifu was just preparing to dismiss the meeting when he looked down and saw the telegram in his hand, so he asked: "Who in the troops understands the *Three Kingdoms* relatively well?"

The comrades looked at each other. Everyone knew a bit about the stories of the *Three Kingdoms* more or less. But no one dared to say they truly understood *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*. After thinking for a while, someone said: "Division Commander Yu Cen seems to understand the *Three Kingdoms* quite well."

"Right, I've seen him carrying a copy of *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* to read on ordinary days."

"Ask Division Commander Yu to come to me," Zhong Yifu ordered.

The division commanded by Yu Cen had participated in two battles attacking the West Bengal region. Although losses were not large, the physical exhaustion was great. At this time, he and other troops who had participated in fierce battles returned to Kunming for rest and reorganization. Receiving the order, he immediately rushed to Zhong Yifu's office. Upon seeing Zhong Yifu, he raised his hand in salute, "Commander, Yu Cen reports for duty."

"Division Commander Yu, I have read your report. In your report, you believe that if we attack the West Bengal region next time, it would be best to be able to detour through Nepal. I wonder why you consider this?"

Yu Cen felt a joy in his heart. It turned out his report had actually been seen by Zhong Yifu, so he answered decisively: "Commander, Nepal is already controlled by Britain, but that country has always wanted to break free from its controlled status. Now Britain has constructed very strong field fortifications upon entering the West Bengal region. We can go through Nepal, circle to the rear of the British army, and launch an attack."

"We can send light infantry through Nepal, but the British positions are full of heavy firepower. Do you want light infantry to assault the British army's fortified positions?"

"I believe our targets should be the British army's communication lines and the Zamindar tax system. According to interrogation intelligence sent by General Wu Peifu from the prisoner of war camp, the local Indians hate the Zamindars extremely. Especially the low-caste Indian commoners. In our previous two advances into the West Bengal region, when we destroyed these tax systems, the local commoners did not participate in any actions opposing us at all. Moreover, when the captured Indian soldiers heard this, the soldiers who were not of high-caste origin were all very happy."

The Zamindar was a 'tax farmer' system constructed by the British in India. The work of the tax farmer was to complete the tax quota assigned by the British. As long as this quota was completed, the British rulers did not care what the tax farmers did. The report Zhong Yifu saw stated that these Zamindars had already begun to collect water taxes, to the extent that it incited great hatred among the Indian people.

Seeing Yu Cen analyze so clearly, Zhong Yifu felt that Yu Cen fit the needs of operations against Britain right now very well. He Rui repeatedly emphasized that if China wanted to end the Sino-British war, China could not truly invade India. India was the foundation sustaining the British Empire. If China wanted to shake Britain's foundation, Britain could only fight China to the death.

But if they didn't hit Britain until it hurt, Britain would not choose to compromise. How to hit Britain until it hurt without causing misunderstanding—this measure was very hard to master. Yu Cen undoubtedly understood how to master the measure.

"Since this is the case, have you made more preparations?" Zhong Yifu asked.

Yu Cen immediately took out the plan prepared before coming to the headquarters and presented it to Zhong Yifu. Zhong Yifu scanned it quickly once but made no comment. He only said: "You go back first."

This lukewarm attitude made Yu Cen somewhat disappointed, and he could only take his leave. Just as he turned and took two steps, he heard Zhong Yifu ask: "Wait a moment."

Yu Cen felt his plan should have gained Zhong Yifu's approval, and hurriedly turned back around. He heard Zhong Yifu ask: "Division Commander Yu, what exactly did Zhuge Liang do when he left Qishan?"

"Seven Captures of Meng Huo," Yu Cen answered offhandedly. After speaking, he realized it was wrong. Zhong Yifu asked about leaving Qishan, not conquering the Southern Barbarians. So he hurriedly corrected: "Not the Seven Captures of Meng Huo. I was thinking about fighting in Myanmar and got sidetracked."

After speaking, Yu Cen thought again and said: "Losing Jieting, executing Ma Su, wooden oxen and flowing horses, *tuntian* (military farming), the Empty Fort Strategy, Shangfang Valley..."

"Wait. What is this about *tuntian*?" Zhong Yifu asked.

Yu Cen didn't know why Zhong Yifu was interested in *tuntian*, but explained seriously: "After Zhuge Liang left Qishan, transport of military grain was inconvenient, so he farmed locally (*tuntian*), agreeing on grain distribution with the commoners. Afterwards, Sima Yi attacked, and he scared off Sima Yi with the Empty Fort Strategy."

"Understood. You go back first," Zhong Yifu ordered.

When Yu Cen left, Zhong Yifu thought slightly and determined the meaning of Wu Youping's baffling telegram.

Fighting a war relies on materials, which is 'money and grain' in the agricultural stage terms. Myanmar abounds in high-grade timber like teak as well as rubies, while the Assam region abounds in tea. The Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture naturally had views on this.

As long as the roads were connected, a very large amount of commodities could be transported to China through the Yunnan-Burma Road. Tea is a high-profit industry, which goes without saying. The departments responsible for the economy naturally had people come to bring word. When the logistics department reported to Zhong Yifu, Zhong Yifu expressed 'I don't want to hear it' at the time. Immediately after, he told the comrades of the logistics department, "We only care about whether the budget is exceeded."

Economic work was originally Wu Youping's responsibility, and Wu Youping should know these things. Then the meaning of this sentence was quite worth pondering. Zhong Yifu had never personally expressed that he had no intention of using Myanmar as a bargaining chip and returning it to Britain after the war.

This was not only because China paid too much for Myanmar, but also because after inspecting Myanmar, Zhong Yifu discovered that Yunnan Province, which bordered Myanmar, belonged to the impoverished provinces in China. Compared to Yunnan, Myanmar was even poorer. If Myanmar was returned to Britain, it would be equal to personally sending the Myanmar people back into a fiery pit. Zhong Yifu could accept not occupying India. Because up to now, the National Defense Force had not established a new government in India. But the Upper Myanmar region and Assam region had already established new administrative authorities. Unless these people were brought back to China, once the National Defense Force withdrew, the Myanmar local revolutionaries who joined the administrative authorities would be massacred by the British.

Wu Youping's telegram was likely a measured reminder to Zhong Yifu. Even knowing this, Zhong Yifu was still unwilling to give up. To break faith and abandon righteousness, pushing revolutionaries into a fiery pit—Zhong Yifu could not accept himself doing such a thing.