"In our economic landscape, the Africa and South America puzzles are nearing completion. Once these two major pieces are finished, only the North Atlantic Economic Circle, the Mediterranean Economic Circle, and the semi-subordinate Black Sea Economic Circle will remain. At this stage, the Black Sea and Mediterranean directions are the easiest to resolve..."

The members of the Chinese Civilization Party Politburo listened intently as Premier Wu Youping reported on the current situation. Two years ago, He Rui had already pointed these out, but at the time, the comrades had felt they were far off, even somewhat unrealistic.

Had it been anyone other than He Rui saying these things—even Premier Wu Youping—there would have been a degree of opposition and a general sense of being at a loss.

But now, the comrades held no such thoughts. What Wu Youping was describing was no longer a vision, but a fact.

The standard for materialists is to acknowledge the primacy of matter over consciousness. To put it bluntly, it means acknowledging reality.

Taking religion as an example: a materialist is not necessarily an atheist but is opposed to the ghosts and gods proposed by current religions. If "gods" truly existed in the world, materialists would acknowledge the existence of the truly existing "gods."

Two years ago, when He Rui pointed to the future, the Politburo comrades chose to firmly obey him despite their disbelief because they believed supporting He Rui was the best choice at the time. Now that the future He Rui pointed to had become reality and China truly controlled such vast liberated areas, no one doubted any longer; they only considered how to complete their work.

Wu Youping's mood was much the same as his colleagues', so his attention was entirely focused on how to effectively complete the World Liberation War.

Li Runshi listened quietly, but his mind couldn't help but reflect on yesterday's report.

After China liberated Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, it gained vast markets and unprecedented resources. But from a numerical calculation, it was still unlikely that China could win World War II without a total mobilization.

However, once East Africa was liberated and the World People's Liberation Army gained a base for advancing into Europe, the calculations changed fundamentally.

China did not conduct an offensive in Africa like a "autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves"—or rather, the first stage of the WPLA's liberation of Africa only swept away the colonial forces in East Africa and carried out a targeted purge of the local black vassal forces created by the European colonizers.

In the subsequent six-plus months, the WPLA spent enormous effort in East Africa to build a very crude "pre-agricultural era" social structure, organizing four million households of *Bianhu Qimin* (registered households of equal subjects).

In the eyes of the global powers, the agricultural era was already a relatively backward stage of social development, and the "pre-agricultural era" was even less developed. But compared to the more primitive production models of the East African people, it was a great step forward.

As for *Bianhu Qimin*: managing the people by household unit is called *Bianhu* (registering households). Simultaneously, the original local leaders under the old feudal system—nobles, elders, patriarchs—were abolished, and everyone became a subject of the monarch, called *Qimin* (equal subjects). Together, they are called *Bianhu Qimin*.

What level of strength does four million households of *Bianhu Qimin* represent? The peak of the Eastern Han's official census was in the third year of Yongshou (157 AD), with 10,677,960 households and 56,476,856 people. By the time the Three Kingdoms were unified under the Jin, the population that could be officially counted was less than six million, with households falling to just over a million.

Of course, the population hadn't actually dropped by 90%; a vast number of people were held by local powerful clans and were not in the government's statistics. Even so, according to later judgments, when the Western Jin was established, the population was only around 16 million.

Under the leadership of the world's most powerful nation, China, an African base with four million households of *Bianhu Qimin* possessed a strength greater than that of the Western Jin. Combined with the 3.47 million WPLA personnel as of early May 1943, its strength was greater than that of Italy—the "pauper imperialist." It could rank seventh in the world.

Thus, a day later, Li Runshi was still deeply shaken by the massive change in the results of the two calculations, and his emotions were hard to restrain.

According to assessments, as the African liberated areas continued to expand, the scale of *Bianhu Qimin* would increase by about 1.3 million households per year. By the end of 1944, it would reach six million households. Since Africa was vast and sparsely populated, land was not scarce. On average, every household of African *Bianhu Qimin* would provide enough food for two full-time soldiers and provide 1.5 recruits.

That meant nine million soldiers and food for 18 million. Africa also had a large number of displaced people who would engage in mining or be organized into engineering teams for infrastructure construction.

Although Africa lacked domestic industry, China had overcapacity. Therefore, China would handle shipping and raw material processing, while Africa provided food, raw materials, manpower, and labor.

Through such calculations, the African local base could already bear at least two-thirds of the resources for a 12-million-man European Liberation War. Through trade with Africa, China's tax revenue alone could cover one-sixth of the resources. With the Chinese government providing another sixth, the basic requirements for a European Liberation War based in Africa were complete.

Li Runshi had once discussed the European Liberation War with the late German Field Marshal Reichenau. At that time, since the source of fiscal expenditure was not yet determined, it had to be based on China's unilateral contribution. Although Li Runshi was confident then, he knew the difficulty of such a war.

The current situation was entirely different. China only had to bear one-sixth of the cost, which was no longer a particularly large pressure.

Furthermore, the current calculations used a very conservative model. In a less conservative one, by the end of 1943—six months from now—China could have eight million households of *Bianhu Qimin* in Africa. Then, China wouldn't even need to rely on fiscal spending to fight the European Liberation War; it could sustain the effort solely through trade and investment returns from Africa.

Fighting the European Liberation War would not only cost China nothing but could even turn a profit. Li Runshi had gained an extremely intuitive sense of the dividends of being the world hegemon. Simultaneously, he was also intuitively certain that after World War II ended, the interests brought by China's hegemonic status would be closely linked to the lives of ordinary Chinese, making the imperialist tendency within China terrifyingly strong.

Under Chinese civilization, the Chinese people were a people with a sense of justice and a concept of good and evil. But the people would inevitably demand more from the global dividends of the world hegemon. Even if the Chinese people did not advocate for aggression and oppression, there was a high probability they would not oppose sharing the interests obtained through such means.

With these thoughts, Li Runshi reflected as Premier Wu Youping's report came to an end.

This report triggered no discussion. At this point, the Chinese leadership was very clear on what they had to do. Moreover, during the Chinese economic adjustment (economic crisis) that began in 1938, China had built up a powerful transport capacity through industrial development via debt and government orders for ships. At this stage, there was no situation of "hastily embracing Buddha's feet" or rushing production.

The leadership only needed to let China's existing strength play out normally to resolve all the problems they faced. For these experienced leaders, the nation had goals and resources, and they themselves had experience and ability. There was no easier situation than this.

Just as the Politburo members were preparing to end the meeting and return to work, Li Runshi spoke. "I have already requested the Chairman to return to his post. The Chairman is still somewhat worried about his health and is hesitating. I hope the Politburo can jointly write a letter to the Chairman, asking him to continue presiding over the work as his health permits."

The Politburo members were all stunned. But they quickly understood Li Runshi's true purpose—or at least, they believed they did.

He Rui had created the opportunity for Li Runshi to hold power, but the position ultimately had to be proven by strength. If Li Runshi could not prove to He Rui at this stage that he had mastered the situation, He Rui would certainly have a negative view of him.

The method of proof was certainly not for Li Runshi to sideline He Rui, but for him to be able to make a unanimous decision as the Politburo leader—for example, asking He Rui to resume presiding over the work.

Although they knew this was a good time to make things difficult for Li Runshi, the members chose to support him. The reason was simple: they believed Li Runshi indeed possessed the strength to succeed He Rui. Moreover, the entry point Li Runshi had chosen was very clever.

Those comrades who supported Li Runshi naturally supported He Rui coming out to lead, while those who opposed He Rui would be viewed with suspicion, so they couldn't oppose it and had to support it.

The Politburo secretary quickly drafted a letter to He Rui, which was approved by the comrades. The content explicitly stated that the letter was written by the Politburo at the proposal of Chairman Li Runshi.

When the signing began, Li Runshi's name was first. After him, it was naturally Premier Wu Youping, the person with the highest seniority and status, who would sign.

Wu Youping first looked around and did not pick up the pen. After a moment, he said something to his secretary, then sat down and picked up his teacup to drink. No one knew what Wu Youping was doing; those hoping for trouble waited expectantly for his next move.

Soon, the secretary returned and handed a paperweight to Wu Youping. Wu Youping placed the paperweight over Li Runshi's signature. With the paperweight pressing down, the name Li Runshi signed first was no longer just the first in line—it occupied the first line all to itself.

Having secured the position, Wu Youping picked up the pen and signed his own name as the first on the second line before yielding the spot.

The members all saw Wu Youping's actions, and their expressions grew serious. Li Runshi alone on the first line. Premier Wu Youping as the first on the second line. This was He Rui's position within the party.

Wu Youping had followed He Rui since 1915. In Siping, while he wasn't the first to be mayor, he was the first in the administrative system to hold real power—from Siping Mayor to Governor of the Northeast Government, and then to Premier of the Republic. The party high command knew that Wu Youping had always been He Rui's loyal follower and had never thought of usurping power.

Therefore, Wu Youping's action could not possibly be him jumping onto Li Runshi's boat; it represented the opinion of Wu Youping and his entire faction. This faction's strength within the party was immense, and the power of those members who currently did not support Li Runshi was completely disproportionate to the ideals of Wu Youping's faction.

Ultimately, all the signatures were written below the paperweight, after Wu Youping's. Not one person dared to sign their name in a position more prominent than Li Runshi's.

From the perspective of political struggle, bowing one's head at such a time was equivalent to publicly expressing a non-oppositional attitude to the faction supporting Li Runshi. And bowing this once meant they would have to bow in public from then on.

Those who did not support Li Runshi could only rely on their own strength to persuade He Rui in private or seize upon a problem of Li Runshi's later to make an issue of it.

In future public occasions, the political seating order was already set. Anyone who went back on their word would only be seen as breaking the rules.

When He Rui received the letter, he quickly recognized Li Runshi's progress from the signatures. He felt very relaxed. Setting the letter aside, he walked to the window and took a long stretch.

Looking at the vibrant garden outside, a thought suddenly occurred to him: he would likely be vacating No. 7 Renmin Road very soon. Although he felt no lingering attachment, the thought of moving was a bit of a hassle.

As for what to do in the future, He Rui now had a clear goal. Before China attacked North America, because there was a possibility of the U.S. directly yielding, He Rui hadn't been entirely certain about serving as the leader of the future United Nations.

Now that the United States had decided to fight to the end, the path forward was clear. Once the U.S. was thoroughly defeated and Europe liberated, the United Nations would transform from the organization of He Rui's original timeline—which was more about consultation and speech—into something like the U.S. federal government or the model of the Holy Roman Empire.

Whether the U.S. federal government or the Holy Roman Empire, their structures were composed of sovereign political entities. The future United Nations would be the same: a union of sovereign states possessing a degree of supra-national sovereignty. Therefore, there was no longer a need for the UN Secretary-General to come from a non-permanent member state; they should come from a permanent member.

He Rui serving as the first Secretary-General of the United Nations was the most suitable choice. Of course, the prerequisite was that China must defeat the U.S. and liberate Europe.

Actually, He Rui didn't care if some European countries and the United States didn't join the United Nations and instead organized their own little circles.

Thinking of those countries naturally becoming the fringe of the civilized world after not joining the future UN, and gradually declining due to their sought isolation, He Rui couldn't help but laugh aloud.

Hearing the laughter, his secretary hurried in. He saw He Rui in high spirits and in an excellent mood. The secretary couldn't help but guess that perhaps He Rui saw the issue of the successor finally being resolved, and that was why he was so happy.

Seeing that He Rui had no orders for him, the secretary closed the door and breathed a long sigh of relief outside.

In Chinese history, power transitions—especially between strategists like He Rui and Li Runshi—never had good outcomes. Between Li Yuan and Li Shimin, or the Jingnan Rebellion after Zhu Yuanzhang's death—it was always the same.

Even if it wasn't a transition between strategists, as long as it wasn't a mediocre one, whenever both the predecessor and successor had strong personalities, the transition would trigger intense upheaval. The history books were full of such accounts.

And the strength possessed by the Civilization Party, as the ruling party, was unprecedented in Chinese history. The talent within the party was like schools of fish crossing a river—every one of them having achieved great merit and possessing superb ability. If these people were to riot, it would surely cause a monumental disaster, potentially even leading to a civil war.

Now Li Runshi had finally settled the Politburo and established his leadership. Since He Rui was not a man with an obsession for power, this transition should satisfy him.

If the current Churchill cabinet knew the secretary's thoughts, they would likely be so envious they'd burst into curses. In the current British Parliament, the opposition parties only hurled insults at the Churchill cabinet, belittling them as worthless.

What frustrated the cabinet was that although the opposition parties cursed, they did not move to bring down the government. They simply let the Churchill cabinet face the reality of constantly losing land. The cabinet members knew very well that even if the government fell and the opposition took over, they would have no way to solve any problems.

Therefore, the opposition would likely maintain the status quo until the war ended. What they expected was to let the Churchill cabinet members bear all the responsibility after the war, so they could govern with a clean slate and escape all blame.

Compared to the change of government between Britain's ruling and opposition parties, China's power transition could indeed be described as great, glorious, and correct.

But Churchill truly had no solution. When the Royal Navy could no longer suppress the four seas, Britain was just an ordinary power. After the Chinese fleet captured Saint Helena, it continued to cruise northward. The He Rui government issued a succession of requests to visit South American countries.

According to intelligence gathered by the British intelligence system in South America, those nations had indeed politely declined the requests for Chinese fleet visits, but they generally believed that Anglo-American strength had suffered a major setback and was no longer sufficient to interfere in their internal affairs.

At this stage, the various South American governments decided to strengthen the level of diplomatic exchange with China, striving to understand China's attitude toward South America.

Previously, for their own interests, Britain and the U.S. had propped up many South American regimes. The stability of these regimes came from foreign support, rather than the government's own ability to master domestic politics. Given the setback to Anglo-American strength, signs of impending regime adjustments had appeared in many South American countries.

In British eyes, China had gained a massive opportunity. As long as China could reach an agreement with some of the internal forces in South American countries, they could bring pro-Chinese governments to power.

If that happened, the Allied nations on both sides of the North Atlantic would fall into complete isolation. Furthermore, China was attacking the Allied bloc from West to East, while the Soviet Union was attacking from East to West.

The doom of the West had reached a stage where it could be seen with the naked eye. But even as the Churchill cabinet saw this doom, they could only watch. This pain was like the torment of purgatory. 州。