When a state grants power to its diplomats, it must bear the consequences of that delegation. Li Runshi did not wish for the leaders of the French government to disturb He Rui’s rest, yet he felt compelled to relay the results to him. Each time he saw He Rui, Li Runshi felt an increasing sense of heartache.

Seeing the look of pity on Li Runshi’s face, He Rui couldn't help but smile. "Comrade Runshi, I heard a joke once."

"Oh? What joke has made such an impression on the Chairman? Let’s hear it," Li Runshi said, forcing a smile.

He Rui spoke lightheartedly. "One day, a mother was looking at a photo album, staring at one particular picture for a long time, sighing deeply. Her daughter, hearing the commotion, leaned over to look. In the photo, a long-haired young man was playing the violin in a courtyard at night."

Hearing this, Li Runshi smiled. "That is quite a poetic scene."

"Indeed," He Rui nodded. "The daughter asked her mother who the man was. The mother said nostalgically, 'That’s your father.' The daughter was shocked and quickly asked, 'Then Mama, who is that bald, fat guy in our house?'"

After finishing, He Rui couldn't help but laugh.

Li Runshi laughed along for a few moments, but then a sudden wave of grief washed over him, and he couldn't help but reach up to wipe away his tears. *Since ancient times, beautiful women and famous generals have not been permitted to see their hair turn white.* Seeing He Rui, who had pushed the entire world to its current stage, now unable even to support his own weight, Li Runshi truly felt the cruelty of human mortality.

He Rui, however, seemed unconcerned. As the war neared its end, he worried more that his comrades might fail to see the essence of things. The essence of many matters was far more cruel than imagined; even a top-tier politician like Li Runshi could make imprecise judgments due to a lack of detailed knowledge.

Wait for Li Runshi's emotions to settle, He Rui continued, "In the world today, if we rank countries by how 'docile' their people are, Britain undoubtedly ranks first. The United States would be in the top three. The most defining characteristic of the populace in these nations is that they are docile subjects, possessing unparalleled obedience."

"Surely not the United States?" Li Runshi immediately sharpened his focus to listen to He Rui's explanation.

He Rui shook his head. "In the past four hundred years, Britain's taxes have been the heaviest in the world, yet the British people endured them. In other parts of the world, even in Japan, the Shogunate issued one 'Frugality Ordinance' after another. Whenever an *Ikki*—a peasant uprising—occurred, the local lords and the people would be killed together.

"Britain was different. For four hundred years, the core theme was the government and the lords working together to demand the death of the poor. Once a poor person became a vagrant, they were to be hanged. Under such harsh policies and exorbitant taxes, only the docile could survive in Britain.

"The United States was slightly better due to its abundant resources. However, the American people are capable of enduring all sorts of taxes, bowing submissively before the Internal Revenue Service. Comrade Runshi, you must have heard the saying: in America, only death and taxes are unavoidable.

"The people of these two nations are docile subjects. Therefore, in a war against them, this factor must be taken into account."

Li Runshi sensed a thick aura of lethality in He Rui's words. If the British and Americans were such docile subjects, it meant the war to finally and completely destroy these two nations would have to be even bloodier to thoroughly extinguish their will to resist.

"Chairman, I feel it shouldn't come to that now, should it?" Li Runshi asked.

He Rui had seen the Britain of 2030, where the docile subjects were still as obedient as a flock of sheep. He replied, "We've barely begun. The British poor are currently digging fortifications on the coast under the orders of their lords. These docile British subjects will surely fight to the end on the coastline, until their lords tell them to lay down their weapons."

"I... find that hard to believe," Li Runshi answered seriously.

"Then let the facts prove it. Whether the docile British subjects continue to fight or fight to the death," He Rui replied somewhat apathetically. At this stage, his physical condition no longer allowed him to continue detailed work. Since Li Runshi was unwilling to believe in the obedience of the British subjects, then let the facts demonstrate it. In any case, the current Britain no longer had the capacity to cause any major trouble.

Although Li Runshi had countered He Rui's words, he quickly felt a lack of confidence and asked, "Has the Chairman abandoned the use of historical materialism and class analysis to analyze problems?"

He Rui laughed. "Haha, when the teacher Marx arrived in Britain and saw that under such harsh oppression the British people remained so submissive, he believed that a communist revolution would first erupt in advanced capitalist countries. In my view, the teacher was clearly misled by the social conditions in Britain. A country that can even collect a 'Window Tax' must be founded upon a base of docile subjects."

Li Runshi knew the story of the Window Tax. "'Since the Window Tax began, sunlight and air are no longer free,'" he quoted. The British writer Dickens complained in 1850: 'These are blessings bestowed upon us by nature, yet we must pay so much tax for every window each year. The poor who cannot afford it are deprived of two essential things for life.'

The Window Tax was once popular in several countries, including Britain, France, and Spain. This loathsome tax was also known as the 'Sunlight and Air Tax.' Britain levied the Window Tax for 155 years before it finally exited the stage of history under strong criticism from doctors, writers, and social activists. France began collecting it in 1798 and did not abolish it until 1926.

The Window Tax originated in Britain. In those years, counterfeit coins were rampant. After Newton became the Master of the Royal Mint, he cracked down on counterfeiting while simultaneously creating a new system and introducing new technologies to raise the threshold for forgery. The Royal Mint vigorously collected old coins, melting them down to cast high-quality new coins for the market. To encourage the public to turn in old coins and phase them out as quickly as possible, they even allowed old coins to be exchanged for new ones by face value rather than weight. The benefit was stabilizing the financial order in the shortest time, promoting market prosperity, and boosting the value of the Pound, but it caused massive losses to the government.

To compensate for the losses brought by the currency reform, under the promotion of King William, the British Parliament in 1696 introduced the 'Act for Remedying the Ill State of the Coin,' preparing to tax windows.

Taxing based on the number of windows in a house was unheard of in Asia, but it was actually implemented in Europe. When Napoleon was at war with Britain and heard of this tax, he immediately introduced it to France. However, the French people were not docile subjects, and in the end, it was France that was defeated.

The reason Britain abolished the Window Tax in 1851 was that they created a new tax—the 'Property Tax'—to replace it. The United States learned of the Property Tax and implemented it firmly. Although the rise of the United States was due to its full-scale industrial development, the Property Tax did indeed provide the state with a massive source of revenue.

Whether a nation can bear a heavy tax burden determines its upper limit, and Britain has indeed led the world in this regard for four hundred years.

Li Runshi had intended to argue with He Rui, but ultimately decided to be more cautious. He asked, "Does the Chairman believe that we will inevitably encounter fierce resistance on the coast when we land in Britain?"

He Rui shook his head. "Fierce resistance will only end after the British government completely surrenders. As long as the British government does not surrender, the British poor will fight to the end. Of course, the British army will only surrender when the officers are dead or when the officers take the lead in surrendering."

"What about America?" Li Runshi asked. Li Runshi, along with the Central Committee and the Military Commission, felt that ending the war was proving more difficult than imagined. Yet He Rui's description was unexpectedly consistent with reality. They had originally thought the highly individualistic American people would have no intention of surrendering by now. Populist figures were desperately inciting the American public to continue the fight, and the US military was indeed baring its teeth and engaging in combat along the borders with the newly formed North American indigenous nations. There was no sign of an intention to withdraw from the war despite losing nearly ten million troops.

Originally, Li Runshi thought this was the result of deep-seated racist sentiments in America. But He Rui's "docile subject" theory gave Li Runshi another very persuasive line of thought.

"This is path dependency. If being a docile subject brings benefits, then being docile becomes a moral tradition. Comrade Runshi, breaking a moral tradition is an extremely difficult task. I remember we released a group of American POWs. Afterward, some of those American POWs, who had previously appeared to strongly identify with socialist ideals, directly murdered the POWs who truly believed in socialism, as well as the Black American soldiers among them."

He Rui paused here. On one hand, he was indeed very tired; on the other, he wanted to let Li Runshi digest such negative news. For this news was true. China and the US had conducted a prisoner exchange. At the time, China's goal was simple: to boost morale and also to prevent the Americans from using Chinese prisoners to practice amputation surgeries.

Most of the American personnel in the Chinese POW camps claimed to identify with socialism and oppose America's racial discrimination policies. It must be said that most of the American POWs at that stage truly believed it. However, once these prisoners had the chance to return to America, their first reaction was not to prepare to go back and eliminate injustice within the US, but to first eliminate the converted POWs who had witnessed their statements, ensuring that after returning to America, their "shameful deeds" would not be revealed.

This was the true color of America. As long as Americans lived in America, they would be brainwashed by this combination of feudalism and fascism. This was a matter determined by their way of life, not because these people were born evil.

Only those POWs who truly decided to give up returning to America truly escaped this fate. From a cold political perspective, however, keeping these POWs in China was far less effective than letting them return to America to start a revolution.

According to intelligence provided by American socialists within the US military, those American POWs who murdered their comrades had actually made the right choice—after all, Americans understood Americans best.

The US government conducted careful screening and investigation of the exchanged POWs. Those American prisoners deemed unreliable were immediately incorporated into units performing the most dangerous tasks. These units soon received new combat orders and were consumed on the battlefield.

He Rui looked at Li Runshi, and Li Runshi looked back at He Rui. After a short while, Li Runshi lowered his gaze, avoiding He Rui’s eyes. He Rui knew that Li Runshi was too kind. In a straightforward military struggle, Li Runshi could be described as ruthless, never stopping until his goal was reached. But for an action that clearly intended to waste lives, Li Runshi would carry a very heavy burden.

In this regard, the reason He Rui was calmer and more cruel than Li Runshi was simply because He Rui had truly witnessed the traditions of Western racists and knew that these people likely could not be saved.

But He Rui did not pressure Li Runshi. He believed that as long as a leader was not pedantic, kindness was actually more beneficial for the future of China. Of course, the premise was that China's leaders did not carry an imperial burden. Including the United States, there existed an imperial burden: wanting to act like a predator while maintaining a facade of virtue!

One of the advantages of the Chinese government was its absolute pragmatism. Pragmatists would respect bottom lines and rules, but they would not destroy reality by putting on airs to appear grand.

"Comrade Runshi, you should head back for now. I am a bit tired and want to rest for a while," He Rui said, giving Li Runshi an out.

After Li Runshi left the Chairman's residence, his mood remained quite heavy throughout the journey. However, upon returning to the Military Commission, he decided to first see how the situation developed. Perhaps He Rui’s view was flawed; maybe the British people still had a bit of a fighting spirit left and were not as docile as He Rui described.

As the days passed, one of the latest pieces of news was that units commanded by former members of the Spanish International Brigades, who had previously been barred from returning to Spain, had finally marched onto Spanish soil. These men had extensive experience in fighting Franco's forces, especially in the screening of prisoners.

After Franco's troops were captured, despite various political works being carried out—even telling them about the changes in the world and the destined end of colonialism—the personnel within Franco's army appeared to agree on the surface while actually resisting resolutely.

By this time, Nazi Germany had also discovered the Soviet massacre in the Katyn Forest. Facts proved that it was still the Soviets who understood Europe. Following this massacre, the Polish intellectual class suffered catastrophic losses, which meant that in the areas allocated to the Soviet Union, Polish resistance was mediocre. They were easily manipulated by the Soviets.

Li Runshi did not intervene in this matter. At this stage, liberating Europe required this group of European revolutionaries, and China could not manage too much. Furthermore, the units currently fighting those difficult, high-tech battles were Chinese troops. In many arduous combined-arms campaigns, Black units had paid a heavy price. The work of the European units was more about launching revolutions on European soil and building a new society. Whether the European units possessed exceptional combat capability was not, in fact, the most important matter.

In September, Franco did not die on the battlefield as he had proclaimed. Seeing that the war had no possibility of victory, Franco boarded a plane directly for Britain and fled Spain. He subsequently established a government-in-exile in Britain.

Li Runshi looked down on Franco somewhat; this man, who had suppressed Spain with bloody means and obtained resources through a quite clever stance, was unexpectedly cowardly.

However, news from France at this moment captured all of Li Runshi's attention: the French Parliament had passed a resolution to withdraw from the Allied powers. Neither Germany nor Britain had launched an offensive against France. As for the United States, currently unable even to look after itself, an offensive against France was even more impossible.

The only one to issue an order to attack France was Mussolini in Italy. It was unclear whether Mussolini was simply foolish or if he wanted to boost morale, but he once again ordered 200,000 Italian troops to seize the border between France and Italy. As it turned out, the 200,000 troops still couldn't handle 60,000 French soldiers. After a brief and intense conflict, the French launched a counteroffensive, and the 200,000 Italian troops collapsed entirely, with 60,000 captured by the French.

Although the French revolutionaries did not recognize the Vichy government, France, as a member that had actively withdrawn from the Allies, could not be subjected to a military invasion to overthrow its current government. Moreover, the presidential system established by Vichy France was actually a political advancement. The stable political situation maintained by the presidential system ensured that France could finally designate long-term plans, and these plans had the consent of the entire French government rather than being bargaining chips for secret political deals among politicians.

At this time, Northern Italy was pinned down and forced to deploy large numbers of troops to defend against the French. The World People's Liberation Army (WPLA) took the opportunity to launch a cross-sea operation. After traveling over 300 kilometers, the fleet liberated Sicily in southern Italy.

In the prisons of Sicily, large numbers of the Italian Mafia were being held. In history, these Mafia members had been released by the US military and transformed into local officials, causing the Italian Mafia to become an incurable cancer ever since. So much so that by the 21st century, many right-wing parties in Italy deeply admired Mussolini. Their reason was simple: Mussolini had almost eliminated the Mafia, and he had at least made the Italian trains run mostly on time.

This time, the WPLA not only executed all these Mafia members by firing squad but also began land reform on Sicily and conducted a more thorough purge of the local Mafia. The targets of the purge included not only the Mafia but also the officials and capitalists who had utilized them to construct monopolies.

The Sicilians participated in many public trials and execution rallies during this period. In these meetings, these locals, who had adhered to the law of *omertà*, heard true revolutionary principles for the first time.

These revolutionary principles differed from those of the traditional Italian Communist Party, as the latter had never become a ruling party, nor had they possessed a powerful armed force. Thus, their revolutionary principles often tended toward emotional venting.

The WPLA's revolutionary principles were much more pragmatic. The reasons for resolving these Mafia members and capitalists were listed one by one. First, they began by dealing with the officials and police who engaged in extortion. These individuals, who held public power and exploited the people, were the primary culprits in corrupting the atmosphere of Italy.

Seeing the officials killed, the Italian people attending the rallies felt the resistance in their hearts begin to loosen.

Next were the capitalists who monopolized local resources, keeping the people under their thumb. Seeing the lords killed, the Italian people began to feel some joy.

When the Mafia, acting as the running dogs and executioners, were legally executed, the Italian people began to feel that perhaps these outsiders could bring true justice.