Most of the British upper class spoke with a standard London accent, but business was business, and a master from London was merely a merchant in China. Since this gentleman expressed that he had misunderstandings about China, the merchants of the British Chamber of Commerce in China were willing to listen to what those specific misunderstandings were. This British gentleman, who had not been in China for long, said solemnly: "The CIF price of British goods is already much higher than that of similar Chinese products. We once thought that China did not have the capability to produce industrial goods, but now it seems that is not the case at all!"

Hearing this, the British merchants present looked at this gentleman with that characteristic British detached expression. For the British, a polite, detached expression was a display of disdain. These British merchants indeed did not wish to mock a grand gentleman. To inform a gentleman who claimed he wanted to be a merchant that he was completely unsuited for the profession was a cruel thing. The British merchants could only watch impassively as this gentleman continued to make a fool of himself.

This gentleman ignored the detachment of the other merchants and continued: "If we still cannot be cheaper than similar Chinese products even after the depreciation of the Pound, we can only earn profits by providing components for British equipment in China. But is there data available in this regard?"

This remark actually showed some level of insight, because in the past two years, British merchants exporting cheap industrial goods to China had basically all gone bankrupt. Those people eventually had to sell their houses in China and leave the country with some profits earned from the rising property prices. Upon leaving China, the British traders all remarked resentfully, "I finally understand how correct the choice of the Opium War was!"

Yes, British merchants all understood how correct the Opium War was for Britain. Less than ten years after China's complete unification, British civilian goods shipped to the Chinese market had lost their cost-effectiveness. China had defeated British civilian goods with similar commodities that possessed greater cost-effectiveness. But based on the comparison of strength between China and Britain, the British merchants knew these words were merely venting. So, the merchants began to suspect whether this gentleman had some ideas regarding the current personnel selection of British diplomatic institutions in China.

On March 4, 1932, the British Board of Trade received an investigation report forwarded by a member of the House of Lords. This report provided a data analysis of Chinese and British industrial goods and solemnly gave a conclusion: "...The efforts of British goods to obtain the Chinese market are facing increasingly fierce competition. If we cannot conduct a more effective analysis of the Chinese market now, British industrial goods will be driven out of the Chinese market within a few years."

Purely from the perspective of this report, it was a genuine comparison table of similar Chinese and British commodities, possessing considerable academic research value. However, this report was proposed by the House of Lords, and this point alone doomed it to fail in gaining the support of the British House of Commons. Therefore, the British Board of Trade was quite cautious about this report and did not treat it as content that must be responded to.

On March 8, *The Times* reported on this matter and published part of the investigation report's content. For British scholars, this report was attractive, yet it was merely one of the basic research tasks that the academic community should be doing. Apart from some interest from the academic community, various sectors in Britain had absolutely no interest in this.

For a hundred years, the British fleet had run rampant, taking the initiative to attack globally under the banner of free trade, so "Free Trade" had become the faith of the British economic circles and even the public. Now, Britain was in a difficult stage of ideological transition. Although trade with China was important, it was a case of Britain lending money to China to let China buy British goods. The economic circles and the public only hoped that this cooperation could be completed as early as possible. As for the competition between Britain and China in specific trade commodities, the ordinary people did not care at all, and at this stage, few in the British academic community truly cared either.

Even if the columnists of *The Times* noticed this detail with their keen economic literacy, *The Times* itself soon focused most of its attention on the 'London Naval Armament Conference' convened on March 6, 1932.

The participating countries of this armament conference included the signatories of the Washington Naval Treaty—Britain, the United States, Japan, Italy, and France. Moreover, in the previous preparatory meeting, the five countries unanimously passed the decision to 'invite China to participate in the London Naval Armament Conference' and formally submitted the request to the Chinese government.

For this reason, the Parliament of the Republic of China conducted a special vote, and the Parliament passed the proposal authorizing the Chinese government to dispatch a delegation to participate in this conference.

European and American newspapers conducted large-scale publicity on this. China had once been excluded from the World Great Powers because of its defeat in war, but this time it returned to the ranks of the World Great Powers. Furthermore, among the six participating countries this time, two countries, China and Japan, appeared, accounting for one-third of the total number. In the view of European and American newspapers, the comparison of world power had undergone a huge change, and East Asia had become a region that all countries in the world must take seriously.

The total number of people in China paying attention to this matter was not small, but the proportion was not large; Hu Lei was one of them. Chinese people concerned about this matter generally preferred to read the Asian editions of *The Times* and *Le Figaro*. For a newspaper, selling tens of thousands of copies a day was considered very successful. And Hu Lei was undoubtedly the bread and butter of *The Times* Asian edition.

*The Times* Asian edition detailed the content of the Washington Naval Treaty. In 1922, what the countries of the world needed was peace. At that time, all countries were using the experience accumulated in World War I to build a new generation of capital ships. Therefore, the Washington Naval Treaty first required countries to stop shipbuilding, and only then distributed the tonnage of naval vessels for each country based on the naval strength they already possessed.

After reading the introduction, Hu Lei felt that it seemed secretive, appearing to hide some unknown content. But the hands of the clock pointed to 2 PM, so Hu Lei hurried to the workshop. This batch of components was about to be completed, and Hu Lei decided to work for a while longer with his two apprentices, trying his best to finish the work tomorrow. After that, he would take the next batch of orders and finish them quickly. As long as he hurried to finish the work, Hu Lei hoped to pay off all loans this year. As for understanding the Washington Naval Treaty, that could be pushed back.

At 6 PM, the workers finished the component processing in their hands and prepared to get off work. But unlike before, the workers did not leave. They waited until the last worker finished his work. They gathered together, and the squad leader among them walked towards Hu Lei.

Hu Lei's concentration was very intense when working. Even though he knew the workers had something to discuss, it did not affect his precise control of the machine tool. After processing the component, Hu Lei picked up the calipers to measure it, confirming that the tolerance was within the range of excellent products, before putting down the tools in his hand and greeting the squad leader.

Soon, the squad leader and the workers arrived in front of Hu Lei. The squad leader smiled apologetically and said: "Boss, this year's training is about to start. There are four workers in our factory who want to participate in the training."

Hu Lei's expression was not very good. The current Adult Education Law stipulated that adults needed to receive one month of training every year. During the training period, the enterprise had to pay the workers a basic salary. The state would give the enterprise compensatory treatment such as tax rebates based on the number of workers trained and their training results.

The Ministry of Industry had formulated regulations specifically for machinery factories. The regulations stated that every worker had the right to apply for a three-month training period every year, the main purpose of which was to upgrade the worker's skills. During the period when workers participated in training, the enterprise must provide a basic salary. In addition to normal subsidies, the state would also give subsidies to the enterprise based on the workers' training results. Similarly, the state would also support workers in completing their contracts in an enterprise.

If four of the dozen or so lathe operators in Hu Lei's factory left, it would indeed affect Hu Lei's production volume. The workers saw Hu Lei frowning and felt that he might not agree. Some workers were already considering that if Hu Lei did not agree, they would ask the trade union in the industrial zone to come forward and pressure Hu Lei, as discussed before.

"I agree," Hu Lei said.

The workers were stunned for a moment, then revealed smiles. But before the workers could say anything, Hu Lei continued: "Show me the specific content of the training. I will help everyone choose the training subjects."

The workers instinctively rejected the boss intervening in their lives and hurriedly declined: "Boss, wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

Hu Lei was already prepared. Even if the damn trade union from the industrial zone came, he would not make concessions. Hu Lei's tone was firm, "The training I choose for everyone must match the equipment in our factory. If everyone learns to operate other equipment, it won't be of much use when you come back!"

Seeing that Hu Lei was not prepared to make further concessions, the workers could only helplessly take their leave. Hu Lei looked at the workers' retreating figures, pursed his lips hard, and continued to process components. Originally, Hu Lei planned to work until 8 PM and then call it a day, but feeling in a bad mood, he worked straight until 10 PM before stopping.

Because it was too late, Hu Lei called home and said he wouldn't be going back. He went directly to sleep in the office.

He slept quite soundly that night and was not woken up by his secretary until nearly 8 AM the next day. The secretary looked at Hu Lei's sleepy face and reminded him: "Boss, your classmate is coming today."

Hu Lei was stunned for a moment before remembering that Feng Qian was indeed coming today. Originally, Hu Lei thought that since he worked too late yesterday, his working state today would not be too good. Now he felt that it was fortunate he worked late; even if his state was not good enough, he could still cope with the conversation with Feng Qian.

At 9 AM, Hu Lei had just finished breakfast and was drinking tea when Feng Qian arrived. Upon meeting, he said: "Old classmate, have you heard about the treatment for demonstration factories?"

Hu Lei thought for a while but could only shake his head. Feng Qian then briefly introduced it. Demonstration factories referred to those factories that were exceptionally outstanding in one of the following areas: management level, equipment advancement, or technical level. They would become demonstration factories. These factories would undertake teaching and training work and could also receive certain support from the state departments organizing the training.

After Feng Qian finished speaking, without waiting for Hu Lei's answer, he added in a low voice directly, "If your factory becomes a demonstration factory, you can enter the list. That's all I'll say."

Hu Lei was originally just annoyed and didn't really want to refuse. Hearing this, he also knew he couldn't let down his old classmate's good intentions, so he immediately replied: "I am willing, but what is there in my factory that can catch the government's eye?"

"We'll talk about that after the Ministry of Industry's assessment personnel complete the assessment." Feng Qian didn't say much and changed the topic, "Also, the latest document from the Ministry of Science and Technology has arrived. People with your education and work experience need to report. It's not impossible that some projects in the ministry will propose cooperation suggestions to you, and you can undertake a bit of research work."

"F*ck me!" Hu Lei cursed, but then he sighed: "Thanks!" Hu Lei knew very well that one shouldn't fail to appreciate favors.

What Hu Lei didn't expect was that the very next day, just as Hu Lei was organizing the shipment, the assessment personnel from the industrial zone arrived. They patiently waited for Hu Lei to arrange the shipping work first, then toured the factory equipment under Hu Lei's guidance, and asked Hu Lei and the two technical workers he personally taught to operate them in practice. After seeing everything and measuring the precision of the components, the assessment personnel took away the produced components and left without any explanation.

This made Hu Lei very unhappy. He couldn't help but call Feng Qian. Feng Qian surprisingly adopted the style of a government official and said nothing. Just when Hu Lei thought he probably wouldn't get any news, he heard Feng Qian say: "I know you like to care about military-related news. You only have *The Times* Asian edition there, why not buy a copy of the *National Defense Journal* to take a look?"

Hu Lei was amused by the sudden suggestion, "Heh, can I still see the enterprise list published in the *National Defense Journal*?"

"I'm just suggesting it. If you don't want to, forget it." Feng Qian on the other end of the phone replied glibly.

Passing the newsstand on his way home at night, Hu Lei had already walked past, but suddenly stopped, walked back directly, and bought a copy of the *National Defense Journal*. After dinner, Hu Lei checked the children's homework and scolded them. Only then did he helplessly go to sleep. While eating breakfast the next day, he habitually prepared to pick up the newspaper to read, when he suddenly saw the *National Defense Journal* bought yesterday. Suppressing his resistance, he picked it up and saw that the front page happened to be introducing the content of the London Naval Armament Conference and the Washington Naval Conference.

After reading for a while, Hu Lei actually got absorbed. The *National Defense Journal*'s commentary on the Washington Naval Conference was much clearer and brisker than *The Times*. Or rather, it suited Hu Lei's taste better. Regarding the allocation of naval shares among various countries, the *National Defense Journal* introduced it this way: "...Based on the situation where all countries have stopped building super-dreadnought battleships, the naval tonnage share of each country has become a compromise of their international strength. The United States obtained the same tonnage as Britain, which is an acknowledgment of America's national power. However, this does not equate to the US fleet being able to win if a naval battle breaks out between the US Navy and the British Navy.

As for the naval tonnage ratio of 3.15:1.75 between Japan and France, it is completely mismatched with the strength of the two countries. France possesses overwhelming strength over Japan from every angle. Such a disparate tonnage ratio means that Japan's status in Asia has been recognized by the Great Powers..."

After reading this passage, Hu Lei felt suddenly enlightened. He originally thought that the Washington Naval Treaty was a purely military treaty, but now he understood that this armament treaty was actually a product of political compromise. Previously, Hu Lei loathed those views of He Rui's government. A few years after graduation, Hu Lei discovered that he seemed to have been somewhat biased.

Since the work was done, Hu Lei participated in the work arrangement after arriving at the factory. With Feng Qian's reminder, Hu Lei spent more than two hours analyzing the courses to be attended with the workers and selected the course content suitable for his factory. Although the training time required for participating in the training for these new devices was relatively long, Hu Lei accepted it. At least the government did not support the termination of contracts after workers received training without encountering intentional difficulties. And among the four workers participating in the training, three had signed five-year contracts with Hu Lei's factory. In the long run, their increased skills were not a bad thing for the factory.

The workers seemed to still have concerns, so Hu Lei simply suggested they go to the trade union for discussion. After the workers left, Hu Lei continued to read the *National Defense Journal*, "...In the ten years since the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, the navies of all countries have entered a naval holiday state, during which only Britain had a squadron sunk by our country. At this time, all countries are facing the problem of the construction and practice of the next generation of naval equipment. What this London Naval Armament Conference needs to solve is this matter.

Judging from the current needs of various countries, this conference will make more accurate requirements for various 'treaty-type warships', rather than making general regulations like the previous Washington Naval Treaty. And this requirement will inevitably reflect the needs of the naval powers themselves. In all likelihood, there will be very fierce struggles over these treaty regulations. It is even not ruled out that some countries may choose to withdraw from the treaty.

Even if there is progress in the regulations on capital ships and a breakdown is avoided, in terms of naval tonnage allocation, there will not be the kind of politicized tonnage allocation seen in the Washington Naval Treaty. The economic policies adopted by major powers under the economic crisis have already torn the world economy apart. In order to protect their own economic frontiers and restrict the threat of other countries' navies to their own navies from the source, the tonnage negotiations this time will be unprecedentedly white-hot. After all, the purpose of the last negotiation among the countries was to prevent war. And for this London Naval Armament Conference, the countries are preparing for war.

From a certain perspective, it is very likely that we will see the scenes of various armament conferences before the Great War in Europe..."

Reading this, Hu Lei felt his heart surging. He Rui's government had a feud with Hu Lei's family over land seizure. During the subsequent three-year land reform, some of Hu Lei's distant relatives participated in the resistance against He Rui's government and were immediately met with clean and efficient suppression. Therefore, Hu Lei did not like He Rui, who was privately called 'Living Cao Cao' by the old Beiyang clique.

Cao Cao, nominally the Prime Minister of Han, was actually a traitor to Han. In actual history, during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, in order to disperse the military power of General-in-Chief He Jin, Emperor Ling set up the "Eight Colonels of the West Garden". These eight people were Colonel of the Upper Army and Palace Attendant Jian Shuo, Colonel of the Central Army and General of the Household for Rapid as Tigers - Yuan Shao, Colonel of the Lower Army and Colonel of the Cavalry - Bao Hong, Colonel of the Dian Army and Court Gentleman - Cao Cao, Colonel of the Assistant Army of the Left - Zhao Rong, Colonel of the Assistant Army of the Right - Feng Fang, Colonel of the Left and Grand Master for Remonstrance - Xia Mou, and Colonel of the Right - Chunyu Qiong. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were both among the Eight Colonels.

In the eyes of the old Beiyang clique, He Rui, as a member of Beiyang, gained recognition at a young age, and his entire life completely coincided with Cao Cao's. It was just that there was no emperor at this time.