At 5 p.m. on May 31, the Chief Secretary of Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson of the MacDonald Cabinet pushed open the door and entered the Secretary's office. He saw Secretary Arthur Henderson lying quietly on a single sofa, motionless as if in a posed death photo of a famous assassinated figure.

The Chief Secretary walked up to the Foreign Secretary, bent down, and said to the Cabinet Minister, "Your Excellency, the latest news has arrived."

Arthur Henderson woke up from his nap. Just as he opened his eyes, he felt a stinging pain in his swollen eyelids and had to close his eyes while sitting up. The Foreign Secretary said, "Please bring me a towel."

This task did not require the Chief Secretary's responsibility. The Minister's private secretary walked out quickly and returned with not only a towel but also a basin of cold water. While the Foreign Secretary applied the cold wet towel, the Chief Secretary said, "Minister, the Japanese fleet has arrived at Tianjin Port. Oh, it is 10 a.m. local time now. The BBC is broadcasting the news."

Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson put down the towel and sat back in his seat. His private secretary turned on the radio and tuned to the BBC channel. The rhythmic voice of the BBC news reporter came from the radio: "...According to BBC reporters in China, the Japanese fleet has sailed into the Bohai Sea of China. There are two ships in the fleet, the battlecruisers *Kongō* and *Kirishima*. From the moment the Japanese Navy entered the Yellow Sea, the greeting fleet of the Chinese Navy accompanied the visiting Japanese fleet throughout the journey. The appearance of the fleets of China and Japan in a friendly posture is a breakthrough development in the relationship between the two sides..."

At this moment, Chinese Minister of National Defense Cheng Ruofan and others were watching the new Japanese Minister of Defense, Nagumo Chuichi, step onto the pier from a small boat with the characteristic brisk movements of the navy, leading a group of Japanese naval officers along the trestle bridge.

Sa Zhenbing, standing beside Cheng Ruofan, felt a mixture of sadness and joy in his chest, but he knew very well that this was not the time to vent emotions, so he carefully observed the Japanese soldiers. He saw that the incoming Japanese officers were generally between 30 and 40 years old, slightly older compared to Chinese officers. But in the armies of various countries, this was the most capable age.

This comparison made Sa Zhenbing feel very gratified. The current Chinese National Defense Force had not experienced a gap in officer development. Elderly officers like himself were very few and were largely seen as a conciliatory gesture by He Rui's National Defense Force toward Chinese soldiers of the previous era. If a 71-year-old like himself were still an officer with real power in the Chinese Navy, it would only prove that the Chinese Navy had no future.

Nagumo Chuichi was not tall. When he stopped in front of Defense Minister Cheng Ruofan, he did not look up but looked straight ahead and saluted General Cheng Ruofan. After Cheng Ruofan returned the salute, Lieutenant General Nagumo Chuichi stated the purpose of this trip at a measured pace. "Today, our Republic of Japan returns all relics such as the anchors and marine clocks of the former *Zhenyuan* and *Jingyuan* to China. Thirty years ago, out of misunderstanding, a tragic war broke out between the two countries. The Republic of Japan believes that any memories causing hatred should be eliminated. The friendship of thousands of years between China and Japan should be maintained."

Sa Zhenbing recalled his comrades who died for the country in the fierce battle with the Japanese Navy in the Yellow Sea, and grief arose spontaneously. But seeing Japan forced to bow its head before a powerful China, joy overflowed in his chest, almost turning into tears bursting from his eyes.

Compared with Sa Zhenbing, Cheng Ruofan had no psychological barriers brought by historical baggage. From entering the juvenile military school at the age of thirteen, Japan was Cheng Ruofan's hypothetical enemy. Cheng Ruofan had defeated the hypothetical enemy Japan on the battlefield when he was twenty-eight or twenty-nine. Now facing Japanese Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Nagumo Chuichi, Cheng Ruofan was not excited but replied politely, "Our Chinese National Defense Force welcomes the attitude of the Japanese National Defense Force. Let us witness this historic moment together."

The anchors and other items were very large and required cranes to move. Soldiers from China and Japan lined up on the pier, while members of the two fleets at sea stood solemnly by the ship's rail. After a twenty-one-gun salute, the naval canvas covering the deck of the docked Japanese naval transport ship was slowly uncovered, revealing the relics of the Beiyang Fleet underneath.

The pulleys of the crane turned. Japanese naval personnel hooked the lifting hook onto the rigging already tied and then signaled the commander of the Chinese crane. The wheel turned, and with a sound of metal collision, the rigging tightened under the pull of the crane's traction rope. The heavy anchor finally left the deck of the Japanese naval transport ship, causing the hull of the Japanese transport ship to start swaying slightly.

At this moment, the Chinese National Defense Force military band began to play military music composed for fallen soldiers. Reporters from various countries on the pier also began to take photos and film, recording this moment with their lenses.

Fifteen minutes later, the BBC news channel interrupted the analysis of this joint Sino-Japanese exercise by British experts and inserted the latest news: "According to reports from BBC frontline reporters, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has handed over to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense the anchors, marine clocks, and other items that Japan held as memorials of the victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. In addition, Japan, in accordance with the Sino-Japanese agreement on the political future of various regions in East Asia, has practically transferred the administrative power of Taiwan to the Chinese government. Except for the war reparations paid by the Qing government in the Treaty of Shimonoseki not being returned, the results between China and Japan caused by the First Sino-Japanese War have been adjusted back to the traditional East Asian pattern. Shortly, the militaries of China and Japan will hold a joint press conference, and the BBC will broadcast the content of the press conference to the vast audience as quickly as possible."

British Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson couldn't help but let out a long breath. Recently, the MacDonald government had convened consecutive full cabinet meetings, demanding that the British Cabinet propose plans to effectively promote Sino-British relations. Arthur Henderson felt he couldn't quite understand the mindset of some cabinet members. The third cabinet meeting was about to be held, and in the first two cabinet meetings, a cabinet minister actually euphemistically proposed, "The British government had absolutely no intention of harming the Chinese populace; do the Chinese lack the ability to understand this fact?"

If Arthur Henderson were the Prime Minister instead of the Foreign Secretary, he would definitely fire the few cabinet members who said this. The so-called idea that the British government did not harm the Chinese populace was actually that the British government did not treat Chinese people as human beings when formulating policies. Just like when swatting a mosquito, no one thinks about hurting the mosquito, only eliminating anything disturbing one's sleep. If Britain propagated this to China, judging from the results, it would be better to declare war on China directly.

Moreover, this statement undoubtedly pushed all responsibility onto the British Foreign Office. If the British Foreign Office's propaganda alone could change the view of a large country with a population of 500 million towards Britain, the British Prime Minister should be hereditary from the Foreign Office, not concurrently held by the First Lord of the Treasury.

Fortunately, Prime Minister MacDonald severely reprimanded such cabinet members, finally stopping those damned cabinet members from talking nonsense. But regarding how to promote Sino-British relations, the British Cabinet still had no very effective ideas.

The information collected by the British Foreign Office on He Rui and the cabinet members of the He Rui government filled a huge archive room. What could be confirmed was that these members were initially, without exception, Chinese nationalists. Although their origins and early experiences varied, when encountering Chinese people who betrayed Chinese interests, their first thought was probably 'death penalty.' The British Foreign Office believed there was no hope of these people cooperating with British government policies from within the Chinese government.

If the upper-level route didn't work, only the non-governmental exchange route remained. This also encountered huge resistance based on the cultural differences between the two countries. Although China's national strength was weaker than Britain's, ordinary Chinese people did not envy the British lifestyle. Reports from the British Foreign Office showed that the Chinese public at most envied the privileges of the British upper class in China during the Qing Dynasty and the Yuan Shikai era, and the excess profits brought by such privileges in China.

With a nationalist government like He Rui's in power, what Britain most wanted to wash away was the historical image of Britain having privileges in China. Using this image of foreign privilege holders to attract current Chinese people would be worse than starting a war with China.

Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson felt that the actions of the Republic of Japan government were a very good case for himself at the upcoming third cabinet meeting. The British government needed to show such an attitude to possibly gain true understanding and trust from the Chinese government.

Arthur Henderson sat in the single sofa pondering what to do, completely unaware that his brows were about to knit into a knot. At this moment, the private secretary interrupted the Foreign Secretary's train of thought. "Minister, there is one hour before the banquet at Cambridge University starts this evening."

"Oh..." Arthur Henderson remembered this matter. Although China was currently the primary issue for the British Foreign Office, the Foreign Office had a lot of work. For example, Cambridge University recently organized a meeting of European economists, with the theme of discussing the economic crisis originating from the US. Today's evening banquet hosted scholars and economic bigwigs from various countries, and the Foreign Secretary had to attend, at least to show his face.

"If there are any new developments in this diplomatic action between China and Japan, please notify me as soon as possible," Minister Arthur Henderson instructed his Chief Secretary, then got up to head to Cambridge University.