Suzuki Yasuhiro left the capital with a trade document. There was no signature on the document, nor any official seal, and no special emphasis in the wording. But Suzuki Yasuhiro knew this was a very important document. If the content of the document could be implemented, the economy of the Japanese Republic could recover from the depression.

After Suzuki Yasuhiro left, Morrison specifically brought this document to He Rui. He Rui was in no mood to read it at this time, so he told Morrison, "I don't intend to read it; you can go ahead and execute it first."

Seeing the stacks of documents on He Rui's desk, Morrison laughed, "Chairman, what exactly is more important than this document? If you don't care about the work in Japan, you can listen to the recent economic cooperation plan with the Soviet Union."

He Rui tapped on these documents. "I would very much like to listen, but these are consumption capabilities statistics from various provinces. At least let me finish reading them."

Morrison couldn't help but crack a joke, "If you don't have time to listen to the report, I'm afraid someone in the Soviet Union will be sent to the Gulag."

He Rui was somewhat surprised to hear Morrison mention the Gulag. How did even Morrison know the name Gulag in 1927? The Gulag was an agency of the Soviet government responsible for managing the national labor camps. Its meaning in Russian is "Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps".

It is said that the "Gulag" is a branch of the Soviet State Political Directorate and the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, performing duties such as corrective labor and detention. The prisoners in these barracks include different types of criminals, numbering in the millions.

As far as He Rui knew, the scale of the Gulag was small at this stage, and its task was ideological reform through labor. It was completely different from the legendary hell-like place.

Morrison was just joking. Seeing He Rui's attention had shifted from his current work, he asked, "Chairman, through my conversation with the Soviet negotiators, I cannot be sure whether the Soviet side understands your expectations for cooperation."

He Rui smiled, "If that's the case, they might indeed be sent to the Gulag."

Morrison was stunned and had to smile bitterly. Previously, He Rui proposed to transfer a portion of civilian patents to the Soviet Union, but required the Soviet side to agree to China purchasing these industrial products from Soviet factories. The Soviet negotiation delegation expressed agreement, but Morrison found that these people didn't seem to figure out He Rui's original idea, so he was inevitably somewhat anxious.

He Rui could understand Morrison's feelings, so he advised, "Don't worry, Comrade Stalin will definitely understand our thoughts. If the Soviet representatives negotiating with us cannot understand, he will replace them with people who can."

Morrison felt He Rui might be a bit too optimistic, so he said, "Chairman, I think there are problems with the Soviet economic policy."

He Rui waved his hand. "If the command economy policy is not comprehensively adjusted after 20 years, this economic policy will be a fatal problem for the Soviet Union. But for the 20 years starting from now, this set of economic policies will quickly solve the problem of 'having or not having' faced by the Soviet Union. Therefore, I quite appreciate Comrade Stalin's strategic vision. I also hope you do not underestimate Comrade Stalin."

Morrison was unconvinced. "We are also solving the problem of having or not having; why don't we have problems?" After speaking, Morrison felt his statement was a bit arbitrary, so he adjusted it, "Indeed, the Soviet Union is being blockaded. But aren't we being blockaded now? But our introduction and development are much more effective than the Soviet Union."

"That's because the comrades, including you, are excellent and have better abilities than the CPSU Central Committee," He Rui answered.

Morrison was stunned. He Rui rarely praised comrades so frankly. In Chinese culture, such praise from a leader to high-ranking officials would be considered superfluous and inappropriate. So Morrison answered, "Chairman, I think it's the pros and cons of the social system. China's economic management model is different from the Soviet command style; it starts with statistical consumption capacity, local natural environment, and production capacity, adopting targeted development strategies."

"You are right, but a bit rigid and dogmatic. Since the Tsarist era, the Soviet Union has had few people and much land; a peasant owning 20 mu of land is common. In China, there are many people and little land. After China's land reform, land has been distributed very fairly, and a peasant only has a few mu of land. However, this situation of many people and little land in China is not completely without benefits. Due to the dense population, high frequency of grain transactions appeared in China. As long as past Chinese governments were decent, they would find ways to promote these transactions. You have been to the Soviet Union and seen the Soviet territory from a plane. How much do you think it costs for Soviet peasants to transport grain themselves?"

Morrison had stayed in southern China for a long time. Hearing He Rui say this, he remembered peasants using awning boats to transport grain to the market for sale after the autumn harvest. Thinking about the Russian land again, he could only nod.

He Rui continued, "So the Soviet Union's problem lies in poor infrastructure. But the Soviet territory is huge, and the population is just that small. If they invest in high-quality infrastructure, the Soviet Union can't afford it. So they can only make do. And this making do itself leads to many problems... How about this, Comrade Yang Chuliu from the Ministry of Railways happens to be coming to make a report. Listen together. Maybe you'll understand."

Morrison became interested and agreed immediately. Since He Rui's attention turned to Morrison, Morrison took this time to briefly and clearly introduce the Sino-Japanese economic and trade plan to He Rui. According to the verbal agreement reached between Morrison and Suzuki Yasuhiro, China was willing to purchase Japanese machinery products. Moreover, the transaction mode of these products was similar to the agreement China wanted to reach with the Soviet Union. China provided raw materials, technical requirements, and technical drawings; Japan produced according to the requirements proposed by China and finally sold the machinery products to China.

He Rui was very satisfied with this. Japan in this era had accumulated a lot of high-quality labor, but technically speaking, it was very average. What the Chinese side lacked now was production capacity; technology could be introduced from France, the United States, and even Britain. The direction of technological development was provided by He Rui. In the cooperation between China and Japan, Japan indeed made money. However, in order to produce the machinery products China needed, Japan needed to import three acids and two bases, coal and iron ore. To improve the processing precision of Japanese equipment, Japan would also import processing tools made of 'electroslag remelting steel' and 'powder metallurgy alloy steel', which China exclusively mastered now, as well as high-precision components produced by China.

In general, Sino-Japanese cooperation allowed Japan to make money. But for Japan to continue making money, it had to import a lot from China. Once Sino-Japanese cooperation was interrupted, Japan would not only lose the market, but its own production capacity would not be sufficient to maintain production scale and precision. From an economic perspective, this is 'cooperation benefits both, separation harms both'.

The cooperation He Rui wanted to carry out with the Soviet Union followed the same principle. As a person from the 21st century, He Rui knew very well to what height globalization could push the world economy. Moreover, the history of China's economic development also proved that even if New China's industrialization time was shorter than other industrial countries, as long as China had a globalized environment, it could also become a powerful industrial country with all industrial categories in the world in a very short time.

Take the home appliance industry as an example. In 30 years, from the perspective of making money, home appliances from various industrial countries in the world earned huge profits from China, even long-term excess profits. From the perspective of the existence of the home appliance industry, in 30 years, the home appliance industries of various countries were defeated by China, and China became the world's largest home appliance producer and supplier. So what is more beneficial depends on what the evaluation standard is.

Cooperation with the Soviet Union, Japan, and other industrial countries could greatly promote the development of China's economy and industrial level, so He Rui always supported cooperation that promoted the development of China's productive forces. Even if the other party made more money in the short term, with China's strength, it couldn't damage China's foundation.

Just as He Rui and Morrison were talking happily, the secretary came in and said, "Chairman, Comrade Yang Chuliu is here."

"Please let him in." As He Rui spoke, he and Morrison both stood up.

A young cadre came in. Seeing He Rui, he immediately stood straight and said, "Chairman, Yang Chuliu reporting for duty."

He Rui stepped forward to shake hands with Yang Chuliu and introduced Yang Chuliu to Morrison, "Minister Mo, Yang Chuliu is Premier Wu's junior fellow student, returned from studying in France. He studied railways."

When Morrison shook hands with Yang Chuliu, he felt that although the young man looked gentle and refined, his hands were very strong, obviously having done physical work. The three sat on the sofa. Yang Chuliu first gave the report to He Rui. Seeing that He Rui didn't intend to read it, he began to report, "Chairman, after investigating in the Soviet Union, I reached two conclusions after research. First, the Soviet technology for building railways originated from Tsarist Russia, and the technology is trash."

Pfft! Morrison laughed. As a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Edinburgh, even if Morrison didn't understand railway construction, he felt Soviet technology was very average. But Yang Chuliu's sharp statement amused him.

When Morrison stopped smiling, he saw Yang Chuliu's gaze was firm, not affected at all by a minister laughing. This made Morrison take Yang Chuliu somewhat seriously. A young man with such a firm attitude was either an arrogant scholar or really had some ability.

Yang Chuliu heard He Rui ask, "What about the second conclusion?"

"The Soviet Union does not have the ability to quickly repair railways destroyed by heavy artillery or heavy bombs in a field environment."

"Why?" He Rui continued to ask calmly.

"I carefully read the Soviet railway construction standards and parameters, conducted field inspections, and visited Soviet railway construction sites. I can be sure that the Soviet Union indeed constructs according to their railway construction standards."

Hearing Yang Chuliu say this, Morrison wanted to laugh again, but this time he held it back, with no strangeness on his face. Because there was nothing funny about Yang Chuliu's words this time; isn't it only right for Soviet railway construction units to proceed according to Soviet railway construction standards?

He Rui nodded, signaling Yang Chuliu to continue. Yang Chuliu opened the report and pointed to a paragraph, saying, "Chairman, the Soviet railway construction standards and parameters are all copied from France. The Soviet Union reduced the earthwork volume for roadbed construction by 30-50%. My personal guess is that because most of the Soviet Union is plain, after reducing this 30-50% earthwork volume, its construction speed increased, at least the engineering quantity was reduced a lot, the engineering difficulty was also reduced a lot, construction costs were greatly reduced, and railway construction speed increased. But such a fragile roadbed, and such simplified, even deteriorative construction, led to several results. First is the reduced safety and stability of Soviet railways. Take mud pumping (frost boiling) roads as an example. Although mud pumping is due to the Soviet permafrost problem, such a fragile roadbed cannot solve their problem even with other technologies. This is why I say Soviet railway technology is trash."

He Rui certainly understood, and even Morrison understood. Such a clear explanation made Morrison's evaluation of Yang Chuliu rise a lot instantly. Although the report stated it quite clearly in just a few sentences, this had to be based on Yang Chuliu's massive effort. At least, Yang Chuliu not only had to completely read the French railway construction standards and specifications and the Soviet railway construction standards and specifications, but also had to understand and compare them. This consumed a lot of time and energy.

Yang Chuliu not only had to understand the geological environments required for building various railways but also had to spend a lot of time inspecting them personally. If not a technical expert with solid basic knowledge and rich practical experience, it would be impossible to figure these out.

Just as Morrison made a high evaluation of Yang Chuliu in his heart, he heard He Rui ask, "Is it because of such railway construction in the Soviet Union that they actually lack the ability to repair railways damaged by high-yield explosives in the field?"

Yang Chuliu answered immediately, "Yes!" Because He Rui could understand, Yang Chuliu's tone had the feeling of meeting a soulmate.

Morrison couldn't figure it out, so he asked He Rui, "Chairman, why is this?" Actually, Morrison could ask Yang Chuliu directly, but Morrison knew He Rui was knowledgeable, so he deliberately asked He Rui, also wanting to see if He Rui really understood.

He Rui answered, "I don't understand railway terminology, so I can only explain it with my understanding. Expert Yang, if I'm wrong, correct me quickly. Old Mo, as long as you can understand."

Both agreed hurriedly. He Rui explained, "There's a saying among wags (Hua jiao ren) in China now, saying that a face thick enough can block bullets."

Morrison really hadn't heard such a saying. As a Doctor of Medicine, he certainly knew this was impossible. But as a former columnist for *The Times*, Morrison could completely understand where the sarcasm point of this saying lay.

He Rui continued to explain, "Skin has the texture of skin, and muscle under the skin has the tissue of muscle. If the face skin is thick enough, even if hit by a bullet and the face skin is injured, the muscle damage under the face skin is small. It's easy to repair the wound on the face skin. If the face skin is very thin, hit by the same bullet, the face skin breaks, and a large chunk of muscle under the face skin is also damaged. It is very difficult to repair, or even impossible to repair. Old Mo, can you understand?"

Morrison thought for a moment and nodded to indicate he understood.

He Rui continued to explain, "If you treat the railway as the face skin and the geological part under the roadbed as the muscle, that's about what it means."

Morrison understood He Rui's words and turned to ask Yang Chuliu, "Expert Yang, is the part under the roadbed so difficult to repair?"

Yang Chuliu nodded vigorously. "The geological conditions under the roadbed vary. Some can be repaired relatively simply, but a considerable part takes a very long time to repair, and materials cannot be sourced locally. Therefore, what I emphasize is that the Soviet Union does not have the ability to quickly repair bomb craters during wartime."

Morrison understood somewhat, yet didn't quite understand. But Morrison already believed in Yang Chuliu's professional ability at this time, so he nodded to indicate he knew.

Since He Rui already understood, Yang Chuliu's report ended. He Rui personally saw Yang Chuliu off. After returning to the office, he asked Morrison, "Minister Mo, can you understand why Soviet transportation is inconvenient now?"

"If relying only on railways, using this kind of railway for transportation will of course be very inconvenient. Moreover, with the Soviet Union doing this, I suspect their railway transportation intensity won't go up either." Morrison sighed sincerely, "If long-distance road transport is used, the cost will go up immediately."

He Rui answered, "So I don't agree with your criticism of the Soviet command economy. Engaging in infrastructure according to high standards, the Soviet Union can't afford so much cost. Moreover, the Soviet Union needs to accelerate industrialization now; time is tight and the task heavy. Comrade Stalin's command economic management is not the best at this stage, but it is likely the most suitable for the current Soviet Union. Soviet railways may really be very rotten, but as long as the railway construction speed is fast and the number of railways is large enough. Having railways is always better than having no railways, right?"

Morrison thought about the knowledge he just gained and tried to integrate this part of knowledge into his cognitive structure. Soon, Morrison suddenly figured it out, "Chairman, I now better understand why Stalin might really agree with the trade model we proposed with the Soviet Union. Although the Russkies are barbaric, they are not stupid. They are also very clear about trade balance. If there is no trade security, they will not expand trade with us."

Seeing Morrison's cognitive level improved, He Rui lit a cigarette relaxedly. "Exactly. Our trade policy must coordinate with the Soviet economic policy. The economic policy formulated by Comrade Stalin is to rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union. If we cannot help the Soviet Union industrialize quickly, the Soviet Union cannot establish economic mutual trust with us. Without economic mutual trust and rapid economic development of the Soviet Union, how could the light industrial product market of more than 100 million people in the Soviet Union let us have a share? Even if Comrade Stalin is willing, he can't do it."

Morrison didn't quite accept He Rui's view before, but now he understood. The wages paid by the Soviet Union to workers and collective farm farmers were not low, but the Soviet industry was undeveloped, and few industrial populations could get these wages. Their consumption capacity was also low.

China helped the Soviet Union improve the level of civilian industry and placed orders with those factories, so the Soviet industrial production capacity increased. The number of factories increased, and the industrial population increased. Their consumption power increased accordingly. China's light industrial product output was large, the price of light industrial products of the same quality was lower than in Europe, and it could also achieve mass supply. Light industrial products purchased by the Soviet Union from China also drove China's production capacity and improved China's domestic demand market.

The larger the industrial capacity, the lower the average price of industrial products. Cheap light industrial products could also meet the current low consumption capacity of the Chinese people, while promoting technological iteration of industrial products. China sent technology and orders, seemingly suffering a loss. But there is an old Chinese saying, 'Suffering a loss is taking advantage' (sometimes translated as 'losing is gaining').

Of course, to achieve such a result, the precondition is that the leaders of both China and the Soviet Union have sufficient standards. Morrison felt that He Rui evaluated Comrade Stalin so high, and Comrade Stalin's performance up to now was actually quite good. So he had more trust in He Rui's thinking.

Seeing it was late, Morrison stood up to leave, saying as he left, "Chairman, I will hold certain expectations for Comrade Stalin."

After sending Morrison away, He Rui sat back in front of the pile of statistical data. But having been distracted for so long, he couldn't pull his thoughts completely back to the analysis of the domestic situation in a moment. He Rui recalled the information he saw in another timeline and the observations of Comrade Stalin in this timeline. Comrade Stalin had the ability to understand this cooperation model; this was undoubted. As for whether Comrade Stalin would choose to accept such a cooperation model, it was at least fifty-fifty.

After confirming these, He Rui turned on all the lights in the office and continued to look at the statistical data on consumption capacity of various domestic provinces.