Inside the Chairman's residence at No. 7 Renmin Road, Li Runshi looked pleased, feeling that the visit had been well worth it.

The research and development of the Dongfeng-2 (DF-2) was not much different from that of other advanced equipment. The main difference was that by the time work began on the DF-2, He Rui no longer needed to establish technical categories from basic theories.

In 1940, with the maturation of various jet engines, China had accumulated immense experience in the R&D of high-temperature and high-pressure engines, and aerodynamics had seen massive development.

With the realization of laser gyroscopes and integrated circuits, He Rui's request to build ballistic missiles did not cause much of a stir. Once He Rui provided two system architects to the project, the comrades felt the project was as good as done.

And so it was. The job of a system architect is not to direct how to do things, but to provide systemic solutions for project R&D. As for the specifics, they were all researched and resolved by the scientists working on the project through their own study and discussion.

Having reaffirmed the application of system analysts and system architects in policy-making, Li Runshi had no further thoughts on the technical details.

Zheng Silang felt somewhat relieved, yet he laughed with a hint of embarrassment. "So, in the Chairman's eyes, missiles are far less important than launch vehicles."

Seeing Zheng Silang looking a bit dejected, He Rui could understand his frustration. He Rui's starting point for developing rockets was the "sea of stars"—the primary reason for rocket research was not weaponized use like ballistic missiles. This original intent had indeed stung Zheng Silang.

He Rui encouraged him: "Silang, you don't necessarily have to think my view is right. Rockets are a strategic type of equipment; you don't need to get hung up on it."

Zheng Silang felt drained by these words. Having clarified the R&D logic of ballistic missiles, he was indeed quite discouraged. While the "sea of stars" was very attractive, for Zheng Silang, seeing China achieve world hegemony was the most valuable thing.

But He Rui meant well, so Zheng Silang could only glance at Li Runshi and accept it in his heart. After all, He Rui had said long ago that war-fighting ability was perhaps the weakest of the disciplines he mastered—He Rui's greatest pride was in strategy, and Li Runshi was precisely a fellow strategist, so He Rui naturally appreciated Li Runshi more.

Amidst these reflections, He Rui had some snacks served. "Silang, it's been a while since we've just had a casual bite."

Zheng Silang looked at the snacks and sighed, "Has the Chairman heard about the 'sky-high price mooncakes'?"

Snacks were common enough, but Zheng Silang rarely saw He Rui having time for such seemingly leisurely activities. Looking again at He Rui's complexion, which still showed a lack of vitality, Zheng Silang decided to stay and chat with him.

Although they called it chatting, even though Zheng Silang avoided the topic of missile R&D, he couldn't avoid the war. After a few sentences, Zheng Silang posed a question that had been troubling him: at what point of desperation would an imperialist nation finally surrender?

Zheng Silang had personally interrogated many captured British and American generals and had sought advice from scholars of various countries. These people had offered various opinions, but not one was something Zheng Silang truly agreed with.

Now, with the sweet snacks and the slightly bitter Mingqian tea, Zheng Silang felt the mood was perfect for discussing such a problem.

He Rui did not give a direct answer. He smiled and said, "Haha, I can understand."

Having said that, He Rui pointed to Li Runshi. "If you want to solve such problems, look to Chairman Li. You two should get closer."

Zheng Silang knew what He Rui meant, but at this moment, he didn't want to let He Rui have his way, so he continued: "There is a theory that resonates with me—that the most fundamental thing for a society is its lifestyle. To protect their lifestyle, many people are not even afraid of death. So I want to know, if this theory holds, how many people in the United States would rather die than fight us to the end?"

Li Runshi looked at He Rui and saw that he was pouring tea for Zheng Silang but didn't answer. Li Runshi didn't intend to answer either, since Zheng Silang was asking He Rui.

However, Li Runshi had his own guesses. There were two possibilities for why Zheng Silang would ask such a question. One was that even a commander as fierce as Zheng Silang had developed a resistance to massive casualties. In the early stages of the war, breaking a hundred thousand enemies, seizing a thousand miles of land, and "swallowing a thousand miles like a tiger" had indeed given Zheng Silang great satisfaction. Not just Zheng Silang, but nationalists across China were experiencing a psychological carnival. More than 80 years of humiliation had been washed clean, and Li Runshi himself was happy in his heart.

But as the war had reached this point, it was the imperialist nations' turn to show a facade of being willing to protect their homeland at any cost. This would inevitably cause massive casualties.

Li Runshi believed that a fierce general like Zheng Silang was not a demon; he was a normal person. Having witnessed such widespread death, and even slaughter-style combat, Zheng Silang's heart had been deeply moved. At least in his subconscious, he had begun to consider how to end the war.

However, Zheng Silang was a soldier after all; his mastery was in the military sphere. And military struggle alone cannot end a war in a way acceptable to a normal human being.

The other possibility was that Zheng Silang still couldn't skillfully apply the transformation of contradictions in his thinking.

The view Zheng Silang mentioned—that people would sacrifice for a lifestyle—is correct at a certain stage. But things themselves are constantly changing, and especially the internal contradictions that constitute the things themselves will constantly change with the shifting of objective facts.

To simplify Zheng Silang's view: the American people enjoyed a more comfortable and wealthy life than Europeans. To protect this lifestyle, they did indeed join the war. Because in the U.S. government's propaganda, China's war against the U.S. was due to envy of the American people's wealthy life. Therefore, China supposedly intended to carry out a massacre of the American people, just as the Americans had massacred the Indians, in order to replace the current white population of North America.

However, as the war progressed, the American people would soon discover that because China had not invaded the U.S. mainland, protecting the "American lifestyle" meant going to Canada to die.

Whether the American lifestyle could be protected was an uncertain future, but dying in the war was a reality right before their eyes.

As the contradiction shifted, the American people would begin to oppose a lifestyle that required them to die immediately. As for whether China can formulate new forms of political struggle based on this shift in the contradiction—letting the peace-seeking American people break away from the hardliners—that is a very serious test for a politician.

Because this requires not only a very accurate grasp of the changes in the American people but also the ability to grasp the internal emotions of the Chinese people and raise their level of cognitive understanding. It is necessary to ensure that China itself does not slide toward the backward path of savage conquest like Genghis Khan.

While Li Runshi was thinking, he heard He Rui say: "To solve the doubts in your heart, at your level, Silang, I will offer a suggestion. Silang, do you consider yourself a radical or a conservative?"

Zheng Silang was taken aback. "What's the difference between a conservative and a reactionary?"

"Reactionaries want things to stay the same. Every historical era has such people. Conservatism itself, however, is closely linked to industrialization," He Rui explained.

"The conservatism I speak of is opposed to so-called radicalism and utopian idealism. Conservatism does not seek to avoid progress; it also seeks progress. It's just that on the philosophical question of human nature, conservatism believes that human nature is flawed and believes that social ills can only be mitigated, not eradicated. The core concept of conservatism is opposition to all radical revolutions and innovations, advocating for restrained politics and the use of compromise to harmonize the interest conflicts of various social forces. Conservatism views the state as an organism—the parts cannot exist independently of the whole. Inequality of status and property is naturally formed, and social leadership should belong to the virtuous elite rather than to the leaders of the masses. Conservatism emphasizes law and order representing continuity and stability, maintaining traditional social bonds such as family, ethics, and religion."

After hearing this explanation, Zheng Silang felt even more confused. He asked: "If seen this way, then so-called conservatism itself is not any ideology, but a kind of mature state of being?"

He Rui took a bite of a peanut cake, his mouth filled with sweetness. He replied: "I think you are quite right. Therefore, I am a conservative, and Chairman Li is a radical revolutionary. But based on appearances, many might feel I am far more radical than Chairman Li."

Li Runshi also found He Rui's words very reasonable and listened carefully. Zheng Silang felt He Rui was entirely right but couldn't find a rational explanation. While eating some mint paste, he looked at He Rui, his silent gaze urging him to continue.

He Rui explained: "Because Chairman Li advocates building a new world, he unconsciously chooses to cut ties with the old world. I personally fully understand Chairman Li's view from a technical perspective, because the people cannot distinguish between the fundamental differences of the new and old worlds. In fact, the people are more accustomed to the old world.

"Everything I personally do is not entirely severed from the old era. I acknowledge we come from the old world, so we must move forward even more. We must criticize the old systems.

"It's equivalent to me doing a very dangerous and potentially futile work; once economic development is interrupted, everything I've pushed forward could see a regression."

By the end, Zheng Silang didn't know how to comment. What He Rui said was very clear, especially since the patterns of the new era were truly fair, based on equity of property. On such matters, even Zheng Silang felt it was very dangerous. Only He Rui could still hold it together; once He Rui passed away, there would surely be trouble.

But it wouldn't be appropriate not to speak, so Zheng Silang said: "Whoever opposes the Chairman, I will oppose them!" After saying this, he swallowed the rest of the mint paste.

He Rui smiled. At least Zheng Silang's statement was heartwarming. So He Rui chatted with Li Runshi and Zheng Silang about global changes.

London's East End is a working-class district. On the streets at this time, a group of unemployed British citizens were marching, their leaders holding signs against hunger. As the march proceeded toward the city center, a group of British mounted police appeared. The officers raised their batons and began striking their saddles. The front of the saddles were made of iron, and the striking produced a dull, heavy sound.

The protesting British public on the other side let out boos, mocking the police as the rich man's dogs. To the British mounted police, this was already the gentlest way to express themselves, and they felt somewhat wronged.

But the ordinary British citizens didn't see it that way. Those ordinary laborers who did the most difficult work found their way of life severely disrupted. First, they were unemployed. The reason for their unemployment was that their employers had fired them for various very strange reasons—reasons that sounded as if they were intentionally making things difficult for the workers.

As for the actual reasons they were fired, the unemployed workers didn't know.

At this time, at 10 Downing Street, the cabinet members hoped the police would quickly suppress the workers' march. As for the fundamental reason for the march, these cabinet members were actually aware of it.

The reason was not complex: mainly that China had released the ordinary British citizens from the areas it had liberated. Especially in India, it had released a million British people all at once.

These British people needed jobs upon returning home. The British cabinet felt they had to give these people work, so they took certain measures. The result of these measures was that a large number of the original British "poor devils" became unemployed. And the British military at this stage didn't even have the capacity to absorb so many poor devils, and the poor devils didn't want to be soldiers either. Thus, the contradiction became this intense.

Here, the Home Secretary had already made a suggestion: "I suggest that those who disrupt the general mobilization be exiled."

The Home Secretary's suggestion was not original; during the Victorian era, prisoners had been exiled to Australia. But Australia had also been "liberated" by the Chinese. According to the Chinese side, they were currently repatriating the British in Australia back to Britain. If millions of people like this returned, Britain's employment situation would be completely finished!

On the streets of Britain, a mounted officer shouted: "You lot, move aside!"

The crowd of marchers hesitated; they couldn't be sure what to do. From all angles, it seemed the British government wouldn't let them starve to death. But this time they were wrong. After receiving orders, the police on their high horses charged into the crowd. The way they gripped their batons was almost identical to the way knightly lords of old had charged with their weapons.

While in the United States, North America, and Canada, the war was dominated by jet fighter air battles, in the Red Sea and Arabian regions, the war had downgraded. Propeller fighters flew back and forth in the skies over the Arabian Peninsula and Northeast Africa.

Both sides used such fighters, to the point where China didn't even need aircraft carriers cruising the Indian Ocean and the East African coast now. Such fighters were enough to pose a threat to the enemy.

In Johannesburg, the negotiations between the representatives of the World People's Liberation Army and the South African Boers had entered their final stage. On this land, the Boers had shed too much blood. They couldn't accept waiting even one more day; as long as they could escape British control, the Boers were willing to do many things.

The representative of the World People's Liberation Army emphasized with a serious expression: "We welcome the Boers to join the World People's Liberation Army, but in all areas liberated by the World People's Liberation Army, everyone must be equal. Black and white, as well as people of other skin colors, all possess the same rights."

Hearing this, the Boer representative couldn't help but bite his lip. He couldn't understand why the Boer delegation would suddenly be subjected to such an insult. Compared to continuing as a colony under the British, having the same rights as black people was even more unacceptable.