The new government issued an administrative order in 1924 requiring civil servants at all levels to simplify weddings and funerals and prohibiting the participation of religious personnel. Hu Xiushan's wedding not only fully complied with the administrative order but was even very simple. It included the parents, brothers, and sisters of both the bride and groom, and a small number of close friends.

Eight Immortals tables (square tables), eight people per table, three tables in total. The ceremony was very simple; the only thing requiring He Rui's presence was to issue the marriage certificate to the newlyweds. Apart from this, the families of the newlyweds seemed very sensible, at least toasting He Rui, Xu Chengfeng, Cheng Ruofan, and others completely according to etiquette, and daring not disturb them afterwards.

Zheng Silang looked at He Rui, who had absolutely no appetite, and laughed, "Did the Chairman stay up all night again?"

"Mm," He Rui answered somewhat wearily. In front of these old comrades-in-arms, He Rui never pretended to be energetic. They used to go without much sleep for days and nights together during the war; doing that now was meaningless.

Hu Xiushan was mainly attending to his father-in-law's family. The few people at He Rui's table obviously intended to finish eating quickly and leave. At this status, social dining had become a burden. If they really wanted to eat happily, eating and chatting in the office was more refreshing.

However, before the meal was finished, a secretary brought the latest urgent news. He Rui opened it and couldn't help smiling, "It seems it's about the end." Saying this, he handed the intelligence to Xu Chengfeng. Xu Chengfeng and others took turns reading it once and then handed the intelligence back to He Rui. Zheng Silang laughed, "For the Japanese Navy to do this, it counts as treason, right?"

Zheng Silang hadn't expected that two Japanese naval vessels actually mutinied and sailed towards Taiwan, which hadn't declared its stance yet. After thinking about it, he asked, "Chairman, should we make a move?"

He Rui shook his head. "No. The current new Japanese government has a very low tolerance capacity. If we take Taiwan at this time, it would be tantamount to toppling the new Japanese government."

Xu Chengfeng felt Zheng Silang was too impatient and whispered, "Work can be discussed at any time. Xiushan only gets married once in his life. Let's wait until tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" Zheng Silang was very puzzled.

"Let the Chairman go back to sleep today." Xu Chengfeng gave the answer calmly.

Only then did Zheng Silang remember that He Rui hadn't slept all night, and he couldn't help sighing, "I feel I'm old; the drowsiness has been particularly strong recently."

The old comrades-in-arms had nothing to scruple about; they all expressed that their bodies were obviously not as good as when they were in their twenties. At that time, it really didn't matter how late they stayed up; sleeping for a while would make them energetic.

He Rui was the oldest among them, 37 years old this year. In He Rui's own feeling, perhaps the family pressure borne by marriage was great, with many scruples. Although He Rui now had to sleep for 8 hours a day, no matter when he went to sleep, he would still be in good spirits after waking up.

However, what He Rui minded a bit at this time was Zheng Silang's words about recovering Taiwan. Zheng Silang himself certainly wouldn't really think now was the best time to recover Taiwan, but Zheng Silang's strong offensive spirit already proved that he was not suitable to be the Chief of General Staff for this term. Plus Cheng Ruofan, who would only be considered as a last resort, two of the five people had already been removed from the quota.

Although Xu Chengfeng had no problems, according to the promotion order, Xu Chengfeng should be the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission in charge of military administration. The most suitable candidate had to be chosen from Hu Xiushan and Zhong Yifu. Of course, if these two were not suitable, he would have to choose from younger comrades.

Although he came to attend Hu Xiushan's wedding, He Rui ultimately considered national affairs. This made He Rui have to admit the 21st-century definition of political figures; political figures basically no longer had the thoughts of ordinary kind people. For the current He Rui, apart from sleeping which could still arouse a little interest in him, nothing outside of national affairs was attractive to He Rui anymore.

Of course, He Rui felt that being like this might be because his inner cultivation was not high enough. If he could really reach a higher level, maybe he could put a little energy into some relaxing things. But thinking left and right, He Rui could only think of the old three: swimming, pumping iron, and playing the piano. Even playing the piano, because he hadn't played for more than ten years, he probably really didn't have time to practice.

After the wedding, He Rui and others stood up to leave. The bride and groom sent everyone out of the restaurant. The bride looked at He Rui's back and asked somewhat puzzledly, "Xiushan, I see Chairman He is just like in the portraits, very spirited and steady."

Hu Xiushan asked puzzledly, "What's wrong? The Chairman has always been like this."

Hu Xiushan's wife sighed, "But why does the Chairman have no intention of getting married? It's a pity for such a good man not to marry."

"The Chairman probably doesn't want the other party to live like a widow with a living husband (shou huo gua)," Hu Xiushan answered calmly.

Although Hu Xiushan's tone was calm, as if saying something perfectly normal, Hu Xiushan's wife was shocked. Her big beautiful eyes stared at Hu Xiushan's face, wanting to see how her husband could say such intense words as 'living widowhood'.

Hu Xiushan was looked at by his wife somewhat inexplicably and asked puzzledly, "What's wrong?"

Hu Xiushan's wife didn't know what to say. She suddenly discovered that her understanding of her husband was far less than she imagined. With such emotions in her heart, Hu Xiushan's wife suddenly smiled brightly, "Let's go back first. The family is still waiting for us."

As newlyweds, Hu Xiushan took marriage leave and accompanied his wife to travel to Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. Along the way, the two were naturally very happy, but what Hu Xiushan showed was smiling and agreeing to his wife's requests, but not speaking much.

The couple traveled around a big circle and arrived at the last stop of the honeymoon trip, Jiangning (Nanjing). On Jiangxinzhou, Mrs. Hu asked Hu Xiushan to take photos of her. Although Hu Xiushan was reticent, he was indeed very excellent at photography. His hands were very steady, and the photos taken were also quite aesthetic. This was a major reason why Mrs. Hu fell in love with Hu Xiushan.

After playing for half a day, the couple took a boat to Jiangbei. The plane tickets had been bought long ago, and the two prepared to return to the capital. There was still some time before boarding the plane. The two sat in a private room on the second floor of the lounge where they could see the scenery. Mrs. Hu finally couldn't help asking, "Xiushan, will you be very busy? Too busy to go home at all?"

Mrs. Hu originally thought Hu Xiushan would hesitate, but unexpectedly he answered decisively, "No. As long as there are no meetings that must be attended, I will go home on time."

Hearing her husband speak seriously, Mrs. Hu was overjoyed, holding Hu Xiushan's arm and leaning against him, asking, "Really?"

"Really," Hu Xiushan answered.

If Hu Xiushan had only spoken up to here, it would probably have been perfect. However, the tail of a steel-straight man cannot be hidden. Hu Xiushan had emotions in his heart and couldn't help saying to his wife, "Having seen Chairman He's life, I understand. I can't do what he does, where every day apart from eating, sleeping, bathing, and using the toilet, only work remains. I still want to have a life."

Hearing this, Mrs. Hu suffered a mental shock, and her body stiffened immediately.

For a straight man of steel like Hu Xiushan, this was already what he considered an expression of tenderness and valuing his wife. But to a woman's ears, it was a completely different feeling. Mrs. Hu thought about their shared life after marriage. Although she knew a soldier like Hu Xiushan would inevitably be busy because of war, even if they couldn't be together all the time in married life, it would be because war and official duties pulled Hu Xiushan away from the family.

However, listening to Hu Xiushan's words, Mrs. Hu found that the family life Hu Xiushan considered was just not 'every day apart from eating, sleeping, bathing, and using the toilet, only work remains'. Hu Xiushan's meaning seemed to be that he would squeeze out some extra time to be with Mrs. Hu.

This had reached a point where it was almost unbearable!

With such thoughts, Mrs. Hu suddenly remembered Hu Xiushan's evaluation of He Rui. Mrs. Hu originally thought 'living widowhood' was because Hu Xiushan drank too much on the wedding day and his words didn't convey his meaning. Looking at it now, if one married someone where 'every day apart from eating, sleeping, bathing, and using the toilet, only work remains', wouldn't it be just like living widowhood!

But looking at her husband's serious expression, a burst of pity surged in Mrs. Hu's heart, and she immediately felt moved by Hu Xiushan's sincerity. Precisely because of the struggle of people like Hu Xiushan who abandoned everything, China could defeat Japan and Britain successively in a few years, establish the Asian International Tribunal, and make China a respected great power in the world. Pies don't fall from the sky; to achieve these, someone must make huge sacrifices.

When she first met Hu Xiushan, Mrs. Hu even suspected the introducer had made a mistake. She thought she would see a commanding general, a tough strong man. However, after contact, she found that Hu Xiushan was a quiet, rational young man. He was even somewhat shy when facing women.

Seeing He Rui and those renowned soldiers sitting at one table, it was as if a doctoral supervisor was leading his doctoral students. Although one could feel the sharp aura on them, they were unexpectedly not aggressive.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Hu smiled, "You agreed, if there's no meeting, you must come home."

"Mm." Hu Xiushan nodded.

This reaction was on track, making Mrs. Hu feel satisfied, happily waiting to board the plane. If Mrs. Hu could hear Hu Xiushan's inner voice at this time, she would probably scream, or at least sigh.

Hu Xiushan felt he couldn't reveal strategic content, so he didn't dare tell Mrs. Hu that for at least the next 10 years, Hu Xiushan would devote himself fully to war preparations. Moreover, Hu Xiushan had already built a considerable part of the strategic analysis framework according to the strategic formulation methods he had mastered.

After Hu Xiushan completed the strategic analysis framework, he would conduct several deductions, and then take his strategic concept to have another long talk with He Rui.

At this time, He Rui finally had the opportunity to talk with Zhao Tianlin. He placed an outline in front of Zhao Tianlin, then asked Foreign Minister Yan Huiqing beside him to explain the key points of the speech to Zhao Tianlin.

Yan Huiqing said confidently, "Premier Zhao, we demand that the headquarters of the International Human Rights Organization be located in China. Shanghai or Suzhou are both suitable as the main venue and branch venue of the Asian International Tribunal. We oppose placing the headquarters of the International Human Rights Organization in Europe or the United States. The reason is simple. Given the long history of suppressing academic freedom in Europe and the United States, placing the headquarters there would prevent the human rights organization from operating effectively."

If it were before, Zhao Tianlin would inevitably worry that Europe and America would bite back. At this time, he also figured it out, so he responded, "Europe and America have always persecuted human rights academic research; this action has continued for hundreds of years."

Hearing that Zhao Tianlin was on track, He Rui nodded. "Brother Zhao, do you have any questions about the overall understanding? If not, please find time to chat with Minister Yan about the details."

Zhao Tianlin felt the overall idea had become clear, so he stood up to leave. As soon as Zhao Tianlin left, Yan Huiqing said with some relief, "Chairman, both Britain and the United States have sent people. Especially the United States; they said they have a very important suggestion."

"Did the Americans mention the issue of the 'Chinese Exclusion Act'?" He Rui had absolutely no intention of caring about the US suggestion.

"They didn't mention it."

He Rui answered immediately, "Tell the people on the US side that we have no interest in having deep communication with a barbaric country."