The Weihua Company was an enterprise that had risen to prominence in recent years. Internally, the company employed a system of virtual shares distributed according to a member's ability. While the formula for calculating these shares included parameters for tenure, it placed far greater emphasis on individual learning, experience, participation in projects, and actual contribution.

Within the industry, Weihua was most criticized for its practice of "persuading to resign" once an employee’s personal potential was deemed exhausted. There was no room for veterans to rest on their past laurels—a policy many regarded as "callous."

However, this systemic "callousness" ensured that seniority carried little weight, leaving the employees highly motivated. Counterbalancing this perceived coldness was the fact that Weihua's average salary was three to five times higher than the industry standard, attracting a vast influx of top-tier talent.

In present-day China, there was no shortage of orders or technical demands. These "techies" organized themselves into research groups following a model of technical iteration. While competitors could produce similar products, Weihua invariably held a technical advantage in several key areas. This edge allowed them to sweep up contracts in every bidding competition.

Li Runshi had studied the case of Weihua. His research had given him a profound understanding of the level of subjective initiative that could be sparked by combining "technical gains" with "capital gains."

Those who applied to Weihua believed they were the best, and their goal was to work and learn at the most elite enterprise while earning a fortune.

Where talent congregates, strange and troublesome things inevitably follow. To address this, Weihua had built a powerful internal management system. While they couldn't achieve perfection, they strived to ensure that "mistakes are not repeated and anger is not displaced." The company even maintained its own Marxist research team, which used a materialist approach to analyze the root causes and conditions of various internal problems. Once a study was completed, the findings were codified into management regulations.

This went beyond minor matters. Weihua possessed a Strategic Department, a Systems Analysis Department, an Execution Department, an Organizational Department, and a Lifestyle Management Department. It could be said that every system found in a state was replicated within the company. Furthermore, it truly operated according to the methods of state management.

The Strategic Department formulated the company’s development strategy. This strategy was not merely a list of the company's wishes; it involved analyzing the development direction of China and the world. Based on these trends and the company’s own strengths, they formulated Weihua’s path.

When Li Runshi studied this, even a cursory glance revealed an extremely familiar pattern. The He Rui government and the internal organs of the Civilization Party were organized exactly this way.

In Li's view, Weihua could no longer be described as simply "good" or "bad"; it had to be judged by "whether it is capable." Just as present-day China possessed formidable governing capacity, Weihua possessed a powerful corporate organization and operational ability.

Thus, Li Runshi felt that if it ever became necessary to act against Weihua for the sake of regime stability, he would not hesitate. Yet, even if he were to destroy Weihua in the future, he would not criticize the enterprise. For like a treasure trove, it possessed a value that demanded respect.

Seeing Li Runshi fall silent, Premier Wu Youping assumed he was overly concerned about the combined impact of technical and capital gains. Wu offered his own suggestion: "Chairman Li, as long as Weihua continues to operate according to a model of free competition, I believe we should leave them alone. But the moment they attempt to establish a monopoly, they must be struck down."

Li Runshi, realizing Wu had misunderstood his attitude, explained: "I share that view. However, Weihua’s Strategic Department has reached the same conclusion. I wonder if the Premier is aware?"

"I’ve heard of it," Wu replied with a smile. "Since they have such strategic vision, we are naturally pleased to see it."

Li Runshi nodded. "I cannot judge how long this model of brutal competition will last. Absolute fairness only creates absolute unfairness, and absolute unfairness triggers system collapse. Heh. I first heard this argument from the Chairman, but it was in Weihua’s Systems Analysis Department that I first saw this mathematical model."

Wu Youping was amused. "The government cannot conduct such research internally because its inherent goal is to maintain the stability that ensures its own survival."

Li Runshi couldn't help but smile bitterly at this harsh reality. The more thoroughly one researched the future world, the more one realized that all present governments were makeshift operations. It was hard even to consider the He Rui government as anything else.

However, the greatest advantage of the He Rui government was that within its centralized system sat an incomparably powerful strategist guiding the direction of policy. The makeshift governments of other nations lacked a strategist of the same caliber—they often lacked any qualified strategist at all. This gave China an overwhelming advantage over other nations.

Wu Youping understood where Li’s pressure came from. As long as China’s current institutional model remained unchanged, it required its leaders to be powerful strategists. In this regard, Wu felt He Rui was an excellent leader, and his selection of Li Runshi proved his own strategic depth.

Just as he was about to give Li a word of encouragement, Li asked, "Premier, do you think the war will end next year?"

"...I believe that even after the sessions of Congress and the Central Committee conclude, the war will not have ended," Wu Youping gave his assessment.

China held elections every five years. Normally, the Congress and the Central Committee of the Chinese Civilization Party convened in March of years ending in 0 and 5. They would elect the new leadership of the Civilization Party, followed by a new session of the Congress of the Republic of China, which would then elect the National Chairman from among the MPs.

Li Runshi smiled. "Heh. In that case, the Allies will get to witness the death of the Republic of China."

Wu Youping was momentarily stunned, but then he burst into laughter. "Haha, you're right. I imagine the member states of the Allies would be very happy to see that. *Cough, cough, cough...*"

Because he laughed so heartily, Wu Youping choked on his own saliva.

*Cough, cough, cough!* US President Henry Wallace coughed as he set a bottle of Coca-Cola on the desk in the Oval Office.

Recently, Wallace had received numerous threatening letters, mostly from hardliners opposed to an armistice. The Coca-Cola in the bottle had a strange taste, leading Wallace to suspect it might have been poisoned.

Though he thought this, he did not voice it. He had never been a politician and had no desire to become one. In this election, his platform had been clear: an armistice with China.

Wallace didn't truly believe he could win. The reason he ran was because he believed he had a responsibility to the United States. Since he didn't understand politics, he simply spoke of his armistice plan in language that ordinary people could understand.

Now that he had been elected, many people secretly told him that most within the Democratic Party had believed he couldn't win. If it weren't for the fact that the presidency was such a difficult role at this time, the old Democratic politicians would have risen up to get rid of him.

The Republican candidate, Dewey, had thought he would win. He never expected that the vast majority of American voters would firmly support Wallace. After all, Dewey was a politician, and the things he spoke of were too elitist. They required explanations from the educated upper and middle classes for the American people to understand what he was saying.

In contrast, Wallace, who had no politicians to help him, spoke in a way that required no translation for ordinary Americans. He frankly admitted that the American people had made immense efforts and sacrifices to win the war. In fact, America's military progress had been such that it could easily defeat any enemy except China.

But China had also made great progress—a fact that America had not understood at first. This had led to the series of failures thus far.

At present, what America needed was not meaningless sacrifice, but the signing of an armistice agreement rather than a peace treaty. Even with an armistice, America would continue to assert its ownership of places like Hawaii and Alaska.

Although it was humiliating, Wallace decided to take responsibility and end this meaningless war first. At the end of his crucial campaign speech, he had said: "We must first allow the fathers, brothers, sons, and sisters of the American people to return home from the prisoner-of-war camps. Only when we ensure everyone has returned to their hometowns can we begin the next step. God bless America."

Wallace’s words struck a chord with the American people. While people everywhere cursed him and even threatened to kill him, seventy percent of the voters chose him when it came time to cast their ballots. It wasn't that these voters thought Wallace was highly capable, but because they believed he would truly carry out his campaign promises.

Ordinary Americans were now weary of the war; they only wanted to return to their former lives. Wallace’s speech mentioned "hometown," giving many Americans a sense of homecoming.

Setting aside the strangely flavored Coca-Cola, Wallace discussed the arrangements for the Sino-American prisoner exchange with Secretary of State Hull. Hull was an old bureaucrat who understood American politics well. Seeing that Wallace was truly concerned about the exchange, Hull felt the man before him was a truly remarkable fellow.

He understood nothing of politics, yet he had been pushed into the presidency by the times. Because he understood nothing of politics, he chose to tell the truth, which instead narrowed the distance between him and the American voters.

And as for the current prisoner exchange, because Wallace truly understood nothing of grand strategy, he had unexpectedly gained He Rui’s cooperation.

Seeing such a man become President and truly fulfill his duties, Hull couldn't help but wonder if some mysterious power, like God, had intervened on Wallace’s behalf.