At 9:00 PM in the Capital, 24 hours after the United States declared war on China, Duan Qirui was sitting in a hotel in the Capital. His attendant came in and was about to speak when Duan Qirui preempted unhappily, "I said, no visitors."

The attendant looked a bit embarrassed but still said, "It's President Xu."

Hearing it was Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui was somewhat troubled. Finally, he said helplessly, "Please ask Mr. Xu to come in."

Soon, Xu Shichang walked into Duan Qirui's room and closed the door. Duan Qirui stood up to welcome him and mocked himself as soon as he opened his mouth, "I've been so senile these past few years that I talk nonsense. Brother Xu is here to reprimand me, right?"

Xu Shichang sighed and swallowed the words he wanted to say.

Duan Qirui asked Xu Shichang to sit down and sighed, "Alas. Back then, seeing Brother Zhang Xiluan living so relaxed and comfortable after retirement, I thought it would be easy to say nothing. I didn't expect that I am just a mediocrity, worlds apart from Brother Zhang."

Xu Shichang instead comforted Duan Qirui, "Brother Zhiquan, at least you could endure the unhappiness and didn't take it a step further. Just this point is beyond ordinary people."

Duan Qirui smiled bitterly. "The Current Emperor has already spoken. If I still don't know my mistake, I am really confused!"

After resigning as Speaker, Duan Qirui was still a Member of Parliament. Duan Qirui also knew that his position as an MP was actually an honorary job, so he didn't really push any proposals.

Starting from March 1940, in addition to insufficient domestic and external demand, the previous policy of migrating a large number of people from mountainous areas to plain areas caused the already tight Chinese job market to be unprecedentedly tense, and the unemployment rate soared.

The policies of the Wu Youping administration seemed to run in the opposite direction: eliminating backward production capacity, eliminating zombie enterprises, strengthening adult education, and requiring all workers to undergo three months of paid training every year. This series of policies directly triggered overwhelming opposition.

The reason for the opponents was straightforward: China's production efficiency was not high now, and the economic situation was not good. If eliminating backward production capacity and zombie enterprises still made a little sense in improving labor efficiency, carrying out adult education was equivalent to having four people do the work originally done by three people. This was simply baffling!

Scientific communism was the fundamental philosophy of the Civilization Party, so these critics dared not mention communism. Even so, many "economists" scolded the State Council led by Wu Youping for being bewitched by the Soviet model.

Seeing that He Rui hadn't expressed his attitude, Duan Qirui made some remarks not supporting Wu Youping based on his true views. Duan Qirui felt that as a retired person, saying a few grumbling words would not attract others' attention. But he didn't expect his words to be immediately quoted by many "economists" as a stance to attack Wu Youping.

Facing such fierce criticism, Wu Youping not only did not change anything but intensified the implementation of the new rest policy. Working hours changed from one day off per week to two days off, from "work six rest one" to "work five rest two," continuing to reduce working hours.

Duan Qirui was really angry, thinking Wu Youping's policy was nonsense. He publicly expressed opposition when interviewed by newspapers and even mocked Wu Youping with a few sentences.

Just as the wave of opposition reached its climax, He Rui frequently accepted interviews with TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers, stating that reducing working hours was the central government's idea, and vigorously praised Wu Youping for being bold and capable.

Now Duan Qirui was dumbfounded. Previously, He Rui had remained silent, making Duan Qirui think these policies were really policies of the State Council led by Wu Youping himself. When He Rui came out to express his attitude, most people shut their mouths.

But there are people who do business that risks beheading, but no one does business that loses money. The "economists" who continued to oppose these policies brought Duan Qirui out, as if Duan Qirui were the leader of the opponents.

Duan Qirui was a person who wanted face after all. He didn't want to make himself look worse, so he could only shut his mouth.

Xu Shichang didn't come here to make fun of Duan Qirui about this matter. He asked in a deep voice, "Brother Duan, I heard that the Current Emperor is preparing to change the parliamentary system."

Duan Qirui didn't have any particularly good evaluation of the parliament, so he immediately replied, "If the Current Emperor wants to change it, I firmly support it."

Thinking of what he had done, Duan Qirui probed, "Does Brother Xu not support it?"

Xu Shichang knew he couldn't oppose it, but he really didn't support He Rui's political design. He answered resentfully, "If it is changed like this, the pattern of separation of powers will be completely changed."

Hearing that the new change would actually overturn the separation of powers, Duan Qirui was overjoyed in his heart and couldn't help asking happily, "Really?! Can this separation of powers really be abolished?!"

It wasn't that Duan Qirui didn't know that power needed checks and balances and supervision, but Duan Qirui believed that the separation of powers was a kind of game, and China didn't need this model of complete gaming to govern the country.

Seeing the gloom between Xu Shichang's brows, Duan Qirui confirmed that during the period when he did not communicate with the outside world, He Rui had decided to change the current political form. Seeing that he could finally firmly support He Rui's policy, especially since this change was what Duan Qirui sincerely supported, the unhappiness accumulated due to standing on the wrong side before dissipated from Duan Qirui's heart. Duan Qirui changed from just wanting to go through the motions and leave quickly for tomorrow's vote to preparing to vote seriously.

Xu Shichang sighed, "Brother Duan, the country was in chaos back then, plus the parliament had just been established; this kind of chaos was not uncommon."

Duan Qirui didn't expect Xu Shichang to actually support the parliament, and he disapproved in his heart. He didn't want to say more, but a burst of anger rose from his heart and couldn't be suppressed. Duan Qirui simply expressed his feelings directly. "Brother Xu, I, Old Duan, am not a good person. When I was in power, at least I knew I didn't have the ability to save the country and the people; I just felt that if the country was unified, it would get better. But those MPs are full of -isms in their mouths, but full of business in their hearts; they can sell anything in their hearts! Federalism, provincial autonomy—weren't they all proposed by these MPs?

"What I said two years ago is indeed wrong looking at it now. I, Old Duan, just didn't understand that when the economy is bad, even if wages are lowered, employment must be protected. What I, Old Duan, think in my heart, I say with my mouth. But what bullshit are those MPs talking about? What thoughts are moving in their hearts? Don't you know, Brother Xu?

"In my opinion, the parliament only produces such filthy stuff. Closing down is very good!"

Xu Shichang originally thought Duan Qirui might oppose He Rui reforming the parliament. He didn't expect Duan Qirui to explode like this, making it awkward. He knew Duan Qirui's temperament very well and knew he couldn't persuade him at all, so he could only stand up to take his leave.

As soon as Xu Shichang left, Duan Qirui happily told his attendant, "I'm going to sleep; don't wake me no matter who comes."

After speaking, Duan Qirui lay down on the bed and suddenly felt very sleepy. A moment later, Duan Qirui fell asleep easily. Since he was set up by those "economists" supported by the MPs, he was finally able to sleep peacefully.

Early the next morning, Duan Qirui got up, ate breakfast, and went to the meeting. At this time, 36 hours had passed since the United States declared war on China. Logically speaking, China should also declare war. However, the Chinese Parliament did not immediately convene an emergency meeting but required all MPs to go to the Capital for a meeting immediately.

Getting off the car in front of the magnificent Parliament building, Duan Qirui saw that a large number of MPs had also arrived. Several senile MPs were sitting in wheelchairs, attending the meeting with IV drips, all old faces Duan Qirui was used to seeing. Duan Qirui wished the meeting would start quickly so the Parliament could close down and be done with it.

The first topic of the parliamentary meeting was declaring war on the United States. Duan Qirui originally thought it would be a quick decision, voting immediately to pass the war declaration resolution. Unexpectedly, MPs from several political parties insisted on speaking. Duan Qirui patiently prepared to listen to this group of MPs taking the opportunity to gain prestige. Hearing that an MP actually raised the question of whether China needed to reflect, Duan Qirui was really stunned.

Hearing this, some radical MPs immediately booed loudly, some of whom shouted "Traitor! Get down!" But the MP on stage still insisted on speaking. Order on and off stage was in chaos. Finally, the Speaker had to bang the gavel wildly to order order.

Duan Qirui knew why such guys dared to speak like this. Before the United States declared war, some people in the country compared this war to the Eight-Nation Alliance. China and the United States fought in Singapore. When the battle report of our losses came out, seeing hundreds of casualties in the Air Force, more people were worried about the war. This gave those with ulterior motives an opportunity to incite.

Although Duan Qirui had not participated in military affairs for a long time, he graduated from a German military academy after all, and his level of understanding of war was still there. Based on the news data in the newspapers at home, Duan Qirui felt that although the US military did not announce losses, the actual losses were very large. Duan Qirui knew that those MPs always pretended to understand very well, but in fact, they were a bunch of idiots. So Duan Qirui couldn't be sure whether these people claiming that the new Eight-Nation Alliance was very powerful were stupid or bad. But the original intention of these people shouting like this was definitely not considering the country and the people as they said.

Having finally survived this farce, the Parliament began to vote. The final result actually had 38 votes against declaring war, making Duan Qirui feel that these people were crazy.

At this time, the Speaker announced that He Rui's proposal would be reviewed. Duan Qirui immediately made preparations.

He Rui's proposal was quickly distributed. The first paragraph was the renaming of the Parliament, changing from "Parliament of the Republic of China" to "National People's Congress of the Republic of China," followed by a greatly shortened session.

After reading these two items, Duan Qirui understood why Xu Shichang opposed this parliamentary reform. The final result of He Rui's proposal would inevitably be that the real power of the Parliament was comprehensively weakened, and the actual influence of MPs would plummet.

The content that followed also fully confirmed Duan Qirui's thoughts. Not only the national parliament but also local parliaments were weakened. A large part of real power was transferred to the administrative system of the State Council.

As for why Xu Shichang opposed it, Duan Qirui saw it as clearly as a bright mirror. Some time ago, there was a farce expecting He Rui to proclaim himself emperor. Those who jumped the highest on this matter were all people outside the system. The purpose of these people was simple: they wanted to show loyalty to He Rui through this matter in order to gain power. He Rui ignored these clowns at all, and the matter dissipated.

The reason why this group of people jumped so happily was that the power of the He Rui administration had become stronger. After the Unification War in 1924, local forces still existed. Moreover, in economic development, the power of the bourgeoisie increased rapidly. These bourgeoisie originally thought they were very awesome and could control the country's economic lifeline, but unexpectedly the Civilization Party quickly built a state-owned economic system and soon became the dominant force.

These bourgeoisie competed with the state-owned economy economically and cooperated with MPs politically. After nearly 20 years of struggle, they were completely at a disadvantage. If He Rui succeeded in reforming the parliament, a political and economic system comprehensively dominated by the Civilization Party would be established. Many of these bourgeoisie were merchants who rose during the Qing Dynasty and Beiyang era. They survived decades of turbulent times and naturally didn't want to be eliminated in peacetime.

Duan Qirui didn't want to finish reading the proposal anymore. He made a decision completely at this time: he must vote in favor! Looking at the noisy MPs and the Civilization Party MPs who occupied the majority of seats, Duan Qirui felt very cool in his heart. It turned out that he was not the only one who could be confused; people like Xu Shichang were still confused in the end.

After 1924, the reason why He Rui didn't make a move and maintained the old model was just that He Rui needed China to develop rapidly at that time, and the timing hadn't arrived. Now the time had come, and the Civilization Party could operate a powerful regime independently. Now was indeed a good time to make a move. Of course, changing the national system now would indeed encounter a backlash. But as long as He Rui won this war, no one could oppose this restructuring anymore. Although there would still be bastards in the future NPC, the impact caused by the bastards would only become smaller and smaller.

Just as Duan Qirui expected, MPs not from the Civilization Party began to try every means to delay the agenda. The Civilization Party did not intend to force pass relying on numerical superiority, but just promoted the normal progress of the bill according to the current system of the Parliament.

With the relaxed mood of watching a big drama, Duan Qirui observed the last-ditch resistance of the MPs who would soon become the old parliament. Thinking that he could actually see the end of the Parliament in his lifetime, Duan Qirui felt that his life was not in vain.

The US government soon learned about the political reform launched by He Rui through its intelligence network in China. Roosevelt sighed, his heart full of envy. China's centralized system was too powerful; the power of the central government was an existence that the US federal government could not catch up with.

Under this centralized system, political officials became a department under the government, rather than a tool for power games. Although from the perspective of American political philosophy, this was a dictatorship, Roosevelt knew very well that dictators could not exist in an industrial society.

In He Rui's works, he had commented on various social systems. Roosevelt was deeply impressed by He Rui's evaluation of centralized industrial countries: "...The centralized system requires a highly specialized government and a highly professional gaming environment. Due to different cycles of economic development, the rule-making for the gaming environment must be very clear. Especially in the definition of long-term and short-term..."

Roosevelt also had a deeper understanding of He Rui's perseverance in politics. He Rui, who became China's highest leader at the age of 34, only made such a major institutional reform at the age of 51. This was unimaginable for European and American politicians.

Similarly, Roosevelt's evaluation of He Rui was also much higher. Because after 17 years in power, He Rui still had the spirit to carry out political reform, which was more like a young man with a 34-year-old mindset than a 51-year-old old man.

Regarding this opponent who was 8 years younger than himself, Roosevelt admired him very much but also gave birth to a considerable sense of crisis. Except for Roosevelt, the United States currently did not have a politician comparable to He Rui. As for politicians who reached the peak of their country's power in 1924, there were few left in the current world. Roosevelt could only think of Stalin, General Secretary of the CPSU. So he must defeat He Rui.

Calling Secretary of State Hull, Roosevelt asked Hull about the progress of the meeting of Allied heads of state. In the current world, only the Soviet Union, an industrial country, had not yet participated in the war; other industrial countries already had clear camps. Although Roosevelt didn't like Hitler and Mussolini, as allies on the same boat, a meeting of heads of state had to be held anyway. This was the magnanimity of a politician that Roosevelt believed in.

Moreover, knowing that Stalin would most likely not attend, Roosevelt still asked Secretary of State Hull to prepare to send an invitation to the Soviet Union, inviting the Soviet Union to attend the Allied heads of state meeting as an observer. Analyzed from a political perspective, it was impossible and inappropriate for the Soviet Union to send someone to attend the Allied heads of state meeting.

But the Russians' opportunistic habit was very strong, especially after signing the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union's speculation gained huge rewards. If the Soviet Union made a fool of itself there, even if it sent someone with no rank to come as an observer, it would be enough to cause huge distrust between the Soviet Union and China.

For the United States, sending an invitation would not bring any loss. A simple effort could bring huge benefits, so of course, they had to try.

At this time, there was no spare time in the US Philippines Command at the forefront of the war. Even though MacArthur had understood China's campaign thinking, he had no way to counterattack tit-for-tat.

As soon as dawn broke, dense signals of Chinese aircraft appeared on the radar stations of Luzon and Mindanao. And US airfields, bases, and military warehouses on the islands in the central Philippines were bombed violently by the Chinese Air Force. According to reports, 7 of the 12 airfields on the central islands lost takeoff and landing capabilities.

The limited fighters sent from Luzon and Mindanao were attacked by the Chinese Air Force with clear targets. It could be seen that China's maritime infiltration continued last night, and more temporary radar stations were built. The increase in Chinese radar stations led to the air support from Luzon and Mindanao being even more afraid to let go.

The US military had only so many planes in the Philippines. Sending a large number of planes to fight in the central part would be discovered. At that time, the Chinese Air Force might bomb the US air bases on Luzon and Mindanao. Even if they won in the central part, the planes would have no airfield to land.

Even with such cautious response measures, bad news still reached Manila at 12:13 PM. In the gap when the US Air Force on Mindanao Island sortied, 6 Chinese fighters broke through radar monitoring at low altitude and suddenly attacked the largest US airfield on Mindanao Island. Just one round of attack basically destroyed the airfield.

MacArthur threw his corncob pipe directly on the table and said angrily, "Is there a more accurate report?!"

The staff officer hurriedly went to contact, and gave an answer a few minutes later: "Report Commander, Chinese planes used rockets to attack the airfield. All 6 runways of the airfield were blown into a series of deep pits..."

"Enough!" While roaring, MacArthur tightly gripped the corncob pipe picked up a few minutes ago, as if gripping someone's throat. As a US engineering professional, after hearing such an accurate description, MacArthur understood why 6 Chinese bombers could destroy a major airfield. Originally MacArthur thought the US troops in the Philippines could hold out for at least 5 days, but now he found he might not be able to hold out for 5 days.

Professionals' intuition for bad things was often extremely accurate. After confirming the destruction of the main US airfield on Mindanao, the computer center just built on Borneo began to calculate at full power. The computer continuously output data at millions of times per second, and well-trained Air Force personnel marked the sortie time of the US Air Force based on these data.

With the assistance of equipment specially customized for dynamic deduction, a possible defensive gap of the US military appeared on the map in the deduction. This was a gap calculated in minutes and was also full of various unpredictable dangers. But once the raid was successful, it could inflict heavy losses on another major US airfield. Most importantly, this airfield was next to the previously destroyed US airfield. With these two airfields destroyed, a larger gap appeared in the air defense zone on Mindanao Island, which could be fully utilized by the Chinese Air Force.

Four of the six H-5 fighters that raided the previous airfield returned successfully after completing the rocket attack. The Borneo Command decisively issued a sortie order.

In order to create a gap for the raid, before the bomber team took off, more fighters approached other airfields, forcing the US Air Force to take off to meet the enemy. So the bomber formation had a very smooth journey. Relying on radar altitude measurement equipment, the planes maintained a flight altitude of 100 meters from the ground. Although they could see some looming fighter figures in the distance, they never encountered any obstruction.

So much so that when seeing the US airfield, the bomber team suspected whether the US military had set a trap. But there was no time to think so much. The operator in the rear pressed the button one after another, and the rockets on the 15 hardpoints were fired in turn. The formation composed of 6 H-5 fighters fled along the scheduled route without looking back. The US troops on both sides of the airfield runway threw themselves to the ground in panic or tried their best to flee far away. The operator in the H-5 fighter shouted happily seeing a series of smoking big pits on the airfield, "Hit! All hit!"

The captain was calm. He shouted into the radio, "Shut up, everyone. We are going to accelerate; don't bite your tongue!"

The communication channel instantly became quiet. Six H-5 fighters pulled up quickly towards the front where no US planes appeared for the time being. Both pilots and operators felt a strong push back; that was the feeling brought by the full power of the aircraft.

The Chinese Air Force did not fear sacrifice, but the Chinese Air Force would never make meaningless sacrifices after completing the mission.

By evening, the Chinese side stopped attacking. MacArthur received today's battle loss report. Yesterday he lost more than 240 fighters; today it doubled to nearly 500. The staff officer thoughtfully wrote today's report and handed it to MacArthur. MacArthur glanced at the column "Lost 443 fighters" and didn't know for a moment where the meaning of continuing to play this kind of petty cleverness lay.