On the morning of May 21, 1928, a passenger liner arrived in Shanghai. Among the stream of people disembarking were several men of short stature. They quickly spotted a welcome sign written in Japanese amidst the crowd of placards and immediately approached it. Before long, these Japanese men boarded a van and headed straight for Hongkou District.

Peering through the windows, the Japanese visitors surveyed the Shanghai outside and couldn't help but exclaim, "I didn't expect it all to be torn down!"

Indeed, the city of Shanghai had been almost completely demolished. If not for the bustling crowds on the streets and the unique composure characteristic of people living in an era of peace, one might easily have assumed the city had been ravaged by war.

The narrow streets of the old city had been entirely removed. Lining the unimaginably wide avenues were newly built walls of various kinds, or walls topped with iron fences. Inside these enclosures stood rows of orderly buildings. As the van passed through what was once the most prosperous "Ten Mile Foreign Concession," the Japanese noted that those buildings had also been thoroughly demolished, replaced by various new-style structures flanking the equally broad avenues.

"Shi... China really has changed!" the leader of the Japanese group sighed in the car. The government of the Republic of Japan, in compliance with a diplomatic request from the Chinese government, had completely banned the official use of the term "Shina" domestically.

Shanghai was originally a bustling port city, a gathering place for large numbers of people from various countries and all parts of China, making it extremely lively. At the same time, the poor were visible everywhere. Four years later, those bewildered unemployed and the precarious beggars were gone, replaced by laborers rushing about the streets and alleys. Goods were transported to all parts of the city by various vehicles, and also converged from all over the city towards the ports and train stations.

If this Japanese man could have seen through time and understood the astronomical funds spent on Shanghai's demolition and relocation in another timeline, he might not have been so surprised. Shanghai's geographical location destined it to become a megacity, so the planning started with a fifty-year horizon, reserving all locations for subways and elevated roads, which would be extremely beneficial for the city's future construction.

Of course, these Japanese men did not know He Rui's thoughts on planning China's major cities. The former Japanese intelligence officers in China felt quite sentimental at this moment, especially their leader, Kawashima Naniwa. As a Japanese intelligence officer, Kawashima had lived in Shanghai, Beiping, and the Northeast.

The Japanese concession in the Hongkou area had become history four years ago, and now the former buildings no longer even existed. The van stopped at the entrance of a residential community. Revisiting this old haunt, it wasn't just in Shanghai that he couldn't see the houses he once lived in. In Beiping and the Northeast, the foreign concession buildings had also been swept away. The Japanese domestic intelligence community believed that He Rui intended to thoroughly erase all traces of China's colonial era, a judgment Kawashima Naniwa fully agreed with.

The group entered a house within the community, where people were already waiting. When the two sides met, bowed, and saluted, their gestures revealed an unconcealable military bearing. Following the custom of the country, few people in Japanese residences in China used tatami mats anymore; they used ordinary Chinese or Western-style furniture. After sitting down on the sofa, Kawashima Naniwa looked serious. "Compile the latest information on the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai."

Opposite him, Yamaguchi Toyo-o immediately replied, "I will hand the report to Kawashima-kun right now."

"No rush," Kawashima ordered. "The situation in Korea has been extremely chaotic recently. Although the riots by the rebels have been suppressed, the entire situation in Korea has changed. The rebels inside Korea are now divided into two categories: one part is the traditional rebels, and the other part is the Communist Party. The Communist Party, in particular, seeing the land restoration in Japan, has proposed a new program: immediate implementation of land reform upon Korean independence."

The work of intelligence officers required a high level of knowledge. These carefully selected Japanese intelligence officers could all understand the appeal of this program and the threat it posed to Japanese rule in Korea. China, such a massive country with a long history of private land ownership, had completed land reform in just three years.

In Japan's land system, the degree of private land ownership was originally very low; rapid privatization only began after the Shogunate was overthrown. Although the current land reform in Japan was bloody, with a hundred thousand people killed or arrested, the Japanese farmers who received land quickly became supporters of the new Japanese government. The various former rural factions had now completely swung their support to the Future Society.

Kawashima Naniwa explained, "Gentlemen, the Intelligence Department believes that the land conflict in Korea is comparable to that in Japan. As long as the Korean Communist Party mobilizes the farmers, who make up the majority of the Korean population, plus the majority of the workers in the urban population, under a worker-peasant alliance, Japan's rule in Korea will face a tremendous challenge."

Yamaguchi Toyo-o and the others nodded slightly. Having witnessed the changes in both China and Japan with their own eyes, such a thing was practically a certainty. Yamaguchi asked, "What are the specific orders from the Bureau?"

"The Bureau wants to determine the exact movements of the Korean government-in-exile personnel in China, so as to make diplomatic demands to the Chinese government through diplomatic channels. We need to collect evidence of violent and illegal acts by these Koreans in China to gain a certain advantage diplomatically."

Upon learning the specific content, Yamaguchi Toyo-o bowed slightly. "Apologies, Kawashima-kun. We currently have no way to collect intelligence in China as we did before. Although our manpower is working very hard, we cannot grasp the movements of the Korean government-in-exile in Shanghai."

Kawashima Naniwa did not blame Yamaguchi. previously, China was internally chaotic and had numerous concessions. Japan not only had full freedom of action but could also hire Chinese people to work for them. At this stage, let alone acting freely, Japanese intelligence personnel in China had to be extremely careful, terrified of exposing themselves and being directly arrested. He Rui valued Sino-Japanese relations, but that did not mean He Rui would allow Japanese intelligence personnel to operate in China. So Kawashima simply said, "Yamaguchi-kun, just do your best."

On June 1st, the Japanese Ambassador to China, Saionji Kinkazu, went to visit the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Li Shiguang. This ambassador, considered pro-China in Japan, placed a report in front of Li Shiguang. "Minister, Your Excellency, please take a look at this report."

Li Shiguang quickly scanned the document and asked calmly, "I believe the intelligence in this report is not necessarily accurate, and I do not agree with the Japanese government's conclusion regarding this report."

Saionji Kinkazu immediately expressed the Japanese government's request. "Based on the long-term support for Korean riots by Koreans in China, Japan requests that the Chinese government cut off the channels through which Koreans in China provide funds to Korean rebels. When the visas of these Koreans expire, we hope they will not be renewed."

"I will convey the Japanese government's view to my central government." Li Shiguang first gave Saionji Kinkazu a reply, then raised a personal inquiry. "Tonight, the French Embassy in China is hosting a ball. Is Mr. Saionji interested in attending?"

The current French Embassy frequently hosted balls. Li Shiguang and Saionji sat down in a pavilion, and Li spoke of his own views. "The French government has ended another military operation in Syria. According to what I've read in French newspapers, the colonies have become a significant burden for the French government."

Saionji knew that the new Foreign Minister, Li Shiguang, was formerly the Director of the Western Europe Department, and he also understood that this remark was not just about France. He feigned ignorance and asked, "If the Chinese government faced such a situation, what method of response would it choose?"

Li Shiguang answered frankly, "China would form an economic community to unite these colonies. At the same time, we would establish transitional colonial governments to prepare them for independence."

"If you do that, you will lose a lot," Saionji replied thoughtfully.

"From an economic perspective, what has France gained from its colonies? First, raw materials; second, markets. Everything France is doing now provides limited help toward this goal. Low-priced raw materials and grain are plunder of the local area, which naturally invites resistance from the locals. And the constant fighting between the locals and the French colonizers consumes France's national strength. Rather than continuing to bleed both sides like this, it would be better to abandon that set of colonialism and build a French-led economic cooperation system with the economy as the link."

Saionji Kinkazu knew Li Shiguang was talking about China's view of Asia. For the past thousand years or so, the national borders in East Asia had changed little. China, Japan, Korea, and Ryukyu had always maintained stability. The biggest change was the increase in Korea's territory. That was until Japan caused tremendous changes to the borders of East Asia.

Now that the Republic of Japan government had basically established its footing, for the current Japan, China had returned to its traditional status, making Korea and Taiwan extremely troublesome.

Saionji asked, "If the old Japanese government were still in power at this stage, I wonder what action China would take."

Li Shiguang did not hide anything. "We in China might not take any action. However, the resistance of the Korean people against the old Japanese government would be more intense and more effective, wouldn't it?"

This was not a threat, but very simple geopolitical thinking. Saionji believed this possibility was almost inevitable. Current China had the ability to send troops directly to drive Japan out of Korea.

"Is there a way to solve the problem peacefully?"

"Whether there is peace or not depends first on Japan's view. If Japan truly regards regions like Korea as its homeland, that is also a path to peace."

Saionji did not answer. He knew very well that there were indeed a small number of people in Japan who thought this way, but their numbers were far too few to form a consensus. Moreover, now that China had restored its historical status, the people of Korea and Taiwan saw the possibility of breaking free from Japanese rule and returning to their historical state. Many had already begun to struggle for this.

Seeing Saionji ponder in silence, Li Shiguang spoke straightforwardly, "China hopes to see peace in the East Asian region. As long as Japan continues to implement discriminatory policies, it will continue to encounter resistance. The conflicts triggered by resistance will cause Japan to continue losing blood. This blood loss will not only lead to turmoil in Japan but also cause chaos in the East Asian situation, perhaps even spiraling out of control. China cannot sit idly by."

Saionji could understand this, but thinking of the opposition he would encounter within Japan, he truly could not find a solution. He could only ask, "Does China have any suggestions?"

"Please convey our views to the Japanese President and Prime Minister. Establish a co-management agency with the goal of East Asian economic integration to implement joint management of Korea, Taiwan, and Ryukyu. With a ten-year term, after ten years, each region will decide its own choice."

Hearing Li Shiguang's suggestion, Saionji fell silent. He felt this method was actually a very good choice, but once implemented, the result was inevitable. That is, East Asia would certainly return to the traditional pattern of the past thousand years.

Li Shiguang waited for a while, and seeing that Saionji remained silent, he could only take the initiative to say, "Japan seems to lose some things, but Japan gains a new model of economic integration for the entire East Asia. In an integrated East Asia, the free flow of personnel can solve Japan's domestic population problem, and comprehensive economic cooperation can solve Japan's raw material and market problems. If East Asia remains a situation of beggar-thy-neighbor, it cannot become truly powerful. I believe the government of the Republic of Japan can understand this. Please, Mr. Saionji, convey this suggestion to the Republic of Japan government."