Seeing He Rui in a good mood, Wu Youping intended to chat for a while longer. However, there was a knock at the door, and a doctor specifically assigned to He Rui walked in. Although the doctor was only in his thirties, his words were extremely polite but firm. "Premier, the Chairman needs to rest."

Hearing such uncompromising words, Wu Youping knew he likely couldn't persuade the doctor to yield. At that moment, He Rui stood up, supporting himself against the edge of the desk. Wu Youping instinctively took a few steps forward, only to hear He Rui say: "Africans are people too. The development of human society naturally follows its own laws; the level of productive forces determines the relations of production. During stages where production relations undergo violent changes, social culture will serve those changes. Therefore, I do not believe we should interfere excessively in Africa's development process."

As he spoke, He Rui walked slowly toward the study door. Wu Youping followed him, still feeling that this was a rare opportunity, and replied: "If we don't implant Chinese elements into Africa now, will it allow Africa to continue being influenced by Europe in its future development?"

"Africa began to be influenced by Rome two thousand years ago. Among modern Africans, how many know anything about Rome? Even in Egypt, how many people know the relationship between Egypt and Rome back then?" He Rui asked.

Wu Youping could understand He Rui's methodology and said: "I also believe that as Africa develops economically and education becomes widespread, the people will need a completely new historical education. Establishing Chinese influence at such a time would be more beneficial for our future work."

He Rui shook his head. "When people think of New China, they immediately think of 1924, when China was once again completely unified. Is it because we were once subjects of the Qing Dynasty that the people think we are the same as the Qing?"

"Africa is the same. As long as the African people recognize the existence of a New Africa and truly lead better lives in this new African era, African thought will have its own roots. As for Africa's future development, we don't need to believe it can surpass the basic laws of human understanding of the world. After driving out colonialism and establishing local nation-states, it doesn't mean the old Africa won't fall into internal strife or even war. The question only lies in what Africa can learn from each instance of upheaval. 'If he is not frustrated, I do not open him up; if he is not angry, I do not help him express himself.' At that time, there will be true reflection among some Africans, and that will be the moment for us to provide solutions to their problems."

"The Chairman's thinking... haha... is too conservative," Wu Youping teased.

He Rui stopped at the top of the stairs. "Haha, I have always been a conservative. I've said it many times, but the comrades refuse to accept this fact. Regardless of how the comrades see it, my thinking remains unchanged. Ultimately, what attracts the African people will surely be the lifestyle we provide."

Knowing He Rui would not change his mind, Wu Youping replied: "Chairman, I shall take my leave then."

Walking down to the landing of the stairs, Wu Youping looked up at He Rui. He Rui was still standing at the top of the staircase. Wu Youping waved goodbye and then walked out of the Chairman's residence at No. 7 Renmin Road.

Back in his car, Wu Youping immediately told the driver to hurry back to the State Council. Since He Rui had made a decision, Wu Youping could only choose to comply with He Rui's views. After all, Wu Youping's own perspective did not represent that of the majority.

This level of disagreement was essentially a non-issue for modern China. The change in real estate policy had increased sales by millions of units in a short period. The massive number of houses being built by various real estate companies had turned the somewhat surplus raw material capacity back into a shortage.

Currently, sand for the Yellow River basin was collected from the river itself, while that for the Yangtze basin was obtained from natural sand sedimentation sites like Dongting Lake, where the water was shallow. The basic minerals needed for cement production, such as limestone, were not scarce in China.

The main difficulty had originally been iron ore, but the gap created by this massive demand was unexpectedly filled to a large extent by the iron ore producing regions of Western Australia. To transport over 100 million tons of iron ore from Australia annually, even infrastructure and industrial layouts needed adjustment.

Thinking about economic development made Wu Youping feel significant pressure. To maintain such a massive internal demand, one had to acquire vast resources. However, the enormous capacity fostered to meet current demand would eventually become surplus. How would they face such immense pressure then?

It was just after the Spring Festival, and massive demand statistics were flooding into the various ministries of the State Council like a tide. After returning to his office, Wu Youping continued reading documents, quickly immersing himself in the reading and data analysis. The strongest part of China at this stage was that with the concept of industrial chains, many production organizations could be rationally coordinated.

Wu Youping soon became intoxicated by this enjoyment. Even though he realized that modern China was rapidly moving toward becoming the world hegemon, personally feeling this development through data made him quite obsessed. In fact, Wu Youping was already semi-retired; he had enough time to enjoy the thrill of seeing his dreams gradually become reality.

Li Runshi did not have such leisure. He had heard about Wu Youping's idea of injecting Chinese cultural genes into Africa and thought it indeed addressed some problems but was far too wishful.

Realizing that such a suggestion would likely not be accepted by He Rui, Li Runshi didn't take it to heart. What Li Runshi was considering was exactly the African campaign. If the war continued into 1945, Li Runshi felt that Europe and America would definitely be finished. But now it was only the beginning of 1944, and a series of true decisive battles was about to begin. How to upgrade the World People's Liberation Army (WPLA) was what Li Runshi and the Central Military Commission (CMC) needed to consider.

On the North African battlefield at this time, British logistics were under unprecedented pressure. China and Britain were engaged in large-scale aerial combat over North Africa. Both sides had lost a significant number of fighters. The Churchill cabinet had just received an urgent plea from the commander of the North African theater, Montgomery, for more fighters.

The British domestic aviation industry was already working around the clock. However, Britain had to maintain the war in Canada on one hand and the war in North Africa on the other. Current British aircraft manufacturing companies had used all their strength to increase production but were still unable to achieve their goals.

Churchill put down the documents, thinking about where to find food to alleviate the scarcity of supplies in Britain. Domestic food production in Britain was insufficient to guarantee the needs of the British people. Britain now either had to buy food from the United States or from France. Now that its colonies were essentially lost, Britain was completely unable to obtain sufficient support from them.

Simply agonizing over it wouldn't solve anything, so Churchill summoned the Minister of Agriculture and asked if he had found a solution. The Minister of Agriculture had a distressed expression but actually answered Churchill's question. "Prime Minister, at this stage, we need to increase the price for purchasing grain from Ireland to ensure that we obtain more grain through the 'invisible hand.'"

Churchill knew why the Minister of Agriculture looked so distressed. From 1845 to 1850, Britain had caused a Great Famine in Ireland. At that time, due to the cultivation of potatoes, the population of Ireland had exploded, reaching 6 million.

After a continuous five-year Great Famine, 1 million people in Ireland starved to death, and another million emigrated overseas—a loss of one-third of the population.

Back then, Britain had held high the banner of free trade. Now, to practice free trade by buying grain from Ireland through higher purchase prices, Churchill felt that even more thorough preparations were needed.

After concluding his conversation with the Minister of Agriculture, Churchill summoned the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Although Ireland had established a local parliament and was effectively almost independent, for the survival of the British people, Churchill didn't mind certain things.

Perhaps sensing Churchill's mindset, the Colonial Secretary proposed two aspects: "Prime Minister, either we must increase the security protection for the grain transport teams, requiring them to take machine guns to Ireland to purchase grain. Or we directly station troops in Ireland and increase the population influx into Northern Ireland, allowing these new immigrants to ensure the demand for grain purchases."

The Colonial Secretary had once been tasked with managing colonies dozens of times the size of the British Isles. Although British colonies were now rapidly shrinking, with those under direct control limited to the British mainland and Canada—a total area of about 7 million square kilometers. From the numbers, this was indeed a world power. But from the geographical distribution, Canada's true grain-producing regions were concentrated in a narrow strip within 100 kilometers of the US-Canada border. Thirty percent of this area was already embroiled in war.

In contrast, Ireland, with its more than 60,000 square kilometers, was instead a region that could provide Britain with more grain.

"You believe that machine guns can solve the Ireland problem?" Churchill asked.

The Colonial Secretary nodded. "Prime Minister, I believe that moving a large number of immigrants into Northern Ireland is the most appropriate course of action."

After some discussion, the British cabinet ultimately decided to implement the plan of increasing population movement in the Northern Ireland region. This was on February 27th.

On March 1st, local Irish newspapers began to announce at great length: "One hundred years after 1845, Britain is again preparing to manufacture a new Irish food crisis."

"Northern Ireland is the territory of Ireland. We must never allow those traitors who converted to the Church of England to collude with the British again."

On March 2nd, several major landlords in different parts of Ireland were subjected to intimidating attacks. Lucky landlords and grain merchants were protected by bodyguards and suffered no physical harm. However, there were also unlucky ones who were beaten or even stabbed.

The experience of one major Irish landlord with a British peerage was the most bizarre. This landlord owned a thoroughbred mare. After receiving a threatening letter warning him not to provide grain to Britain, the landlord immediately chose to strengthen his residential security.

But on the morning of March 6th, the landlord woke up in his bed and found the head of his beloved mare drooping at the foot of the bed. The landlord was quite confused—how had his horse come to sleep in his bedroom?

Walking over in his nightgown, the landlord immediately began to scream. His large bed was of an older design with a wooden headboard and footboard. The horse's head was on the other side of the footboard; because his line of sight was blocked, he couldn't see that the horse's head had been severed at the base of the neck. The horse's head and a large piece of its neck were impaled on a long steel spike with a base.

Hearing the landlord's scream, a maid quickly pushed open the door. She saw the blood-soaked floor, the severed horse's head, and her terrified, screaming master. With a shriek, the maid fled from the doorway and rushed toward the butler's room on the first floor. When the maid reached the butler's door, the door opened. The maid cried out, "Go save the master!" then fainted in front of the butler due to extreme agitation.

That same day, the Irish landlord left his mansion in Ireland, fled to his residence in Northern Ireland, and requested full security protection from the British police.

The British police immediately assumed that the perpetrator of such terrorist acts was surely the Irish Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin was founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905, advocating for the establishment of an Irish Republic covering the entire island of Ireland.

This habitual thinking was quite accurate; this terrorist operation was indeed launched and executed by Sinn Féin. Upon learning that the landlord had fled to Northern Ireland, everyone at the internal Sinn Féin meeting was very happy.

In 1916, Sinn Féin participated in the anti-British Easter Rising, which was brutally suppressed by the British, with fifteen leaders executed. However, in the February 1917 elections, Sinn Féin was victorious in the Roscommon election. Eamon de Valera, a participant in the Easter Rising, became President, and Griffith was Vice-President. In December 1918, in the British parliamentary elections, Sinn Féin achieved an unprecedented victory, winning 73 out of 103 seats. In January 1919, the Sinn Féin members elected to the British Parliament refused to go to Britain and formed the National Assembly of Ireland (Dáil Éireann) in Dublin. They then declared the establishment of the Irish Republic, set up governments at all levels, and formed the armed "Irish Republican Army." Britain refused to recognize the Irish Republic, thus sparking an anti-British guerrilla war (1919–1921). During this period, two regimes appeared in Ireland: one was the British colonial regime, and the other was the revolutionary regime led by Sinn Féin. The former became increasingly paralyzed, while the latter's prestige grew daily.

In December 1921, Britain and Ireland signed a treaty allowing the 26 counties of southern Ireland to form a "Free State" with autonomy, while the six northern counties remained under Britain as Northern Ireland. In 1922, the Irish Republican Army was suppressed due to its opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that split Ireland into North and South.

After Ireland's independence in 1937, Northern Ireland remained under British rule. The Irish Republican Army declared it would continue the struggle for North-South unification and engaged in violent activities.

By this time, Sinn Féin had split. Most people were willing to shed their blood before achieving substantial independence, but once a certain degree of independence was gained, they were no longer willing to continue using their lives as the price for winning more. With the split of Sinn Féin, the faction advocating for the independence of all of Ireland quickly became a minority.

At this meeting, everyone was praising the role played by the young comrades led by Valle. Valle and others modestly accepted the praise of their comrades. This behavior was actually not very Irish, but Valle and several hundred other young Sinn Féin members had gone to China to study at the age of 14 or 15 and had been there for more than eight years. Even through mere immersion, they had accepted Chinese culture in many aspects.

Valle believed that struggle required skill. Sinn Féin had sent hundreds of Irish youth to study in China with the aim of having them learn techniques of struggle to return and fight for Irish independence.

If Valle and the others led the old-timers to believe that they had returned to seize power, it would be of no benefit to the Irish independence movement. At this time, modesty was undoubtedly the best way to lower the sense of mistrust.

After the old-timers finished their praise, someone asked Valle why he had insisted on letting the major Irish landlord go. Only then did Valle speak. "If we had killed him, it wouldn't have reduced the amount of grain he sends to Britain. Moreover, Britain would certainly have sent troops to conduct large-scale arrests because of the killing."

"More importantly, if we killed him now, other landlords would think it's impossible to negotiate with us and would thus turn completely toward Britain."

"Do you think if we don't kill people, these individuals won't turn toward Britain anyway?" an old-timer asked.

Valle shook his head. "Those people are turning toward Britain at this stage to protect their profit margins, not because they are collaborating with Britain to survive. Once we kill someone, the nature of the conflict changes."

Listening to this, the Sinn Féin veterans could understand a little bit, but they couldn't understand it emotionally. Since the Sinn Féin split, many loyal Sinn Féiners who were determined to liberate all of Ireland had been arrested. It was hard to say that there wasn't reporting by these local Irish landlords involved.

Valle had majored in law when he studied at Hangzhou University of Political Science and Law. The law department of that school did indeed teach law; as for how much of the content was actually law, it was a bit hard to say. However, if political struggle, military struggle, and revolutionary struggle were also considered part of the legal professional foundation, the basic knowledge of Valle and many of his Irish classmates was quite solid.

By fully utilizing the basic professional legal skills he learned in China—using methods such as bribery, winning people over, and threats to make a significant portion of the estate staff choose to support or remain silent—and then formulating a complete plan and using means such as the deployment of prepared drugs to put some key personnel who hadn't been bought off into a deep sleep, he completed a task that should have required a great deal of commotion without "waking" anyone.

The great success of this operation confirmed a belief for Valle. Although their own people weren't very loyal, the opponents were actually much the same. As long as one could understand where the opponent's interests lay and act with a baseline of principles, one could use many means to reach a compromise with a portion of the opponent's camp.

According to the Chinese saying, it was: "In his conduct of himself, he maintains a sense of shame; sent to the four quarters, he does not disgrace the lord's commission. Such a man may be called a scholar."

Valle did not show off the education he had received. He continued: "We have currently received two guarantees: China will support the unification of the entire island of Ireland into one country, and China will provide us with weapons and equipment through maritime transport. I believe that with these two guarantees, we can strengthen the equipment of the Irish Republican Army, allowing it to engage in guerrilla warfare with the British army. Furthermore, by striking the British army, we can form a deterrent against the wavering elements among the local Irish."

Hearing Valle speak of taking on the British army immediately, even the hearts of the staunch members within Sinn Féin wavered slightly. The island of Ireland was not large; if fighting broke out now, the chances of everyone surviving were not high.

However, as staunch members, these elders did not voice any discouraging words.

Valle continued: "We will soon go to the countryside. On one hand, we will spread the news that Britain will increase its plunder of Irish agricultural products; on the other hand, we will begin preparations for military struggle. We haven't been back to Ireland for a long time, so we must ask the Executive Committee to provide us with help such as guides."

Hearing that these young people were willing to take on such arduous work right away, the slight displeasure in the hearts of the Executive Committee members vanished. They immediately replied, "We will make the arrangements."