"The Japanese Minister requests an audience!" The guard at the British Legation passed the message inside.

Since Japan's defeat in Qingdao, the Japanese Minister had been quiet for a few days. The British Minister could imagine that during those days, Japan was frantically trying to find a way out of its predicament. Japan seemed to have come up with a solution, as the Japanese cabinet met with the British Minister to Japan, demanding that the British honor the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and launch a military strike against the People's Party.

Britain found Japan's request rather laughable. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was a collar Britain had placed around Japan's neck. A dog wearing a collar belongs to its master; in no way was it the dog's turn to command the master. After the Japanese were defeated by the Beiyang forces in Rizhao, Britain was re-evaluating Beiyang's combat effectiveness. Before a final assessment was made, the British Minister to China could not give Japan any reply.

"Tell the Japanese Minister I have no time to receive visitors recently," the British Minister replied crisply.

The Japanese Minister was not surprised to be given the cold shoulder. A loser has no right to negotiate terms; this is a fundamental element of diplomacy. Losing first to the People's Party and then to Beiyang had a tremendous impact on Japanese diplomacy. In fact, it wasn't just the British side; even the Beiyang side unhesitatingly shut the door on Japan. Just a month ago, when the Japanese Minister sought an audience with the Beiyang side, they were all smiles and absolutely dared not be so rude.

"Those useless Army horse manure!" The Japanese Minister cursed inwardly as he resentfully sat back in his carriage.

Facing this defeat, a monstrous wave had risen within Japan. Modern warfare is a very expensive endeavor. Before this war, Japan was full of confidence. The People's Party, an organization established less than eight years ago, could not possibly be a match for the Great Japanese Empire. Britain's tacit consent and Beiyang's acquiescence gave Japan diplomatic victories that made them feel this was an excellent omen.

It wasn't that no one was worried about this war beforehand. For example, Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo had expressed his opposition quite implicitly: "The People's Party was able to make Britain and Beiyang make concessions to Japan in a very short time. Will our war with the People's Party be pulling chestnuts out of the fire for others?"

This meritorious official, who had realized five bond issuances for Japan during the Russo-Japanese War, cutting off Russia's funding sources and forcing Russia into severe failure in the economic war and into bankruptcy, did not dare underestimate the People's Party in the slightest. "Although the People's Party is located in China's interior, it can strike against the United States in our country's important export industry—raw silk. This shows that the People's Party is not isolated and helpless."

But this admonition not only failed to stop the war, it actually fanned the emotions of the war supporters. "If we cannot defeat the People's Party as soon as possible, when will our raw silk exports recover? The land and population China possesses are not something our Japan can compare with. Just the People's Party's controlled areas can almost satisfy the entire demand of the United States. Without breaking the United States' fantasy about the People's Party through war, our silk industry has no way out."

"Shandong's rights and interests originally belonged to Germany and were stolen by the People's Party through war. Only by defeating the People's Party can we seize the rights and interests in Shandong." Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu's supporter, the Army Minister, stated toughly. This time the Army requested an increase of two divisions. All forces supporting the Navy expressed opposition, while the Army Ministry urgently needed a victory to prove its capabilities.

The operational plan against the People's Party was finally finalized. The supporters from various factions had different goals: some believed in seizing the industrialized city of Qingdao to increase Japan's power; some believed that after seizing Qingdao, they could take advantage of the momentum to expand interests in Shandong; others believed it was necessary to strike at the People's Party's raw silk trade. Ultimately, these were all because Japan's economic situation had taken a sharp downturn in the last three years. The already terrible economy was greatly affected by the competition from the People's Party, especially after the fixed-quota trade agreement signed between the People's Party and Britain dominated the East Asian trade system.

War, war, war. Japan had seized immense profits through war after war. So, to solve the current predicament, war was already the best choice. In order to fight this Qingdao campaign well, Japan spent nearly 100 million yen and mobilized two Class A divisions from the Navy and Army. It cannot be said that Japan made the mistake of underestimating the enemy.

But wars have winners and losers. Japan had won every war in the past. But this war ended in an extremely humiliating situation. The Kyushu Division had over 17,000 killed or captured; the combat troops were almost completely wiped out. The Sendai Division had over 5,000 killed, but fortunately, with the cover of the Navy, they managed to retreat, unlike the Kyushu Division which was annihilated in one fell swoop. Losing to the People's Party might be excused as not knowing the enemy well enough, but losing to Beiyang was completely unacceptable to everyone in Japan. Beiyang was the successor to the Manchu Qing, and the Beiyang Army was a "Chinese Army" through and through. How could the Great Japanese Empire's Army lose to a Chinese Army?

The carriage wheels made a rumbling sound. Whenever the Japanese Minister thought of this defeat, his heart felt as painful as if it were being squeezed. The Army's "horse manure" actually managed to get an entire division wiped out. The Minister thought that a few deaths were nothing, but the entire division's equipment was lost completely. In Rizhao, the Japanese army had also looted a bit, but the People's Party had long since taken people and supplies clean away. It was said that the largest-scale destructive action the Japanese army carried out was smashing all the glass windows in Rizhao with rifle butts. They also transported a few dozen tons of steel bars and hundreds of tons of cement. The looting operation hadn't gone on for a few days before the Japanese army left behind several thousand corpses in Rizhao and fled onto ships in disgrace. The division's artillery had to blow up their cannons to escape.

The Navy felt even more aggrieved. Hundreds of casualties were nothing compared to the Army, but the shells fired were already worth a fortune. But compared to two battleships being hit and over ten warships sunk or damaged, just the repair costs would be at least several million yen. The total loss would likely exceed ten million. The Navy's losses were not necessarily any less than the Army's.

To shirk responsibility, the Navy and Army accused each other, even pushing the blame onto the Minister to China. The Navy Ministry and the Army Ministry reached a rare consensus, both believing that the intelligence department led by the Minister to China operated ineffectively and provided intelligence with major errors, which was one of the major reasons for the defeat. The Minister to China was a man sent by the Navy. He could understand the Army "horse manure" talking nonsense, but it was really too heartbreaking for the Navy Ministry to talk trash.

Because of this defeat, the Okuma Shigenobu cabinet, which had only been in power for a year, fell. No one was willing to take over as the next Prime Minister. The Saionji Kinmochi cabinet in 1911, the Katsura Taro cabinet in 1912, the Yamamoto Gonnohyoe cabinet in 1913, and the Okuma Shigenobu cabinet in 1914—Japan had four cabinets in four years, and now it had even reached the point where no one was willing to take over the cabinet.

Thinking of the domestic situation, the Japanese Minister felt his heart ache even more. Relying on wars that gambled the nation's destiny time and again, Japan had managed to reach its current position in an era fraught with crises. But with just one failed war, Japan faced a massive crisis. Did Japan's luck end here?

The feeling of heartache and chest tightness became stronger. The Japanese Minister took out some Compound Danshen Dripping Pills, put a few grains in his mouth, and in less than two minutes, the pain in his heart was greatly eliminated. Compound Danshen Dripping Pills were also Chinese goods, or more accurately, a product of the People's Party. This newly risen political force was rising at a terrifying speed, not just in military affairs, but in technology, culture, and medicine. Now everyone knew that Chen Ke was a chemist and a pharmacologist. Even now, the "914" produced by the People's Party had a very good reputation in Asia. It even sold well in the Indian market. So the few new drugs launched by Chen Ke also sold very well in the world market. Under the leadership of such a prodigy, the People's Party's power was becoming stronger at an unprecedented speed, so strong that Japan had no way to deal with the People's Party.

Of course, this Japanese Minister did not know the actual situation of the People's Party, so he overestimated Chen Ke. Compound Danshen Dripping Pills was actually an old Chinese medicine. Chen Ke came from a chemistry background, and many of his classmates and brothers worked in medicine. When drinking and bragging, he had heard his brothers talk about so-called proprietary Chinese medicine knowledge. Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on practice and efficacy. After the liberation, the development of proprietary Chinese medicine went through a series of processes: decoctions (boiling medicine), large honeyed pills (mixed various drug ingredients, crushed, mixed with honey and kneaded, sealed with wax), granules (Chinese medicine boiled, vacuum distilled to remove water, added sugar to make granules), sugar-free granules (further purification of decoctions), and dripping pills. The core point is the step-by-step concentration of active ingredients.

The main ingredients of Compound Danshen Dripping Pills are Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), Sanqi (Panax notoginseng), and Borneol. When Chen Ke engaged in the People's Party's pharmaceutical industry, he hoped to have fist products. Seeing this formula, he felt extremely familiar with it, so he directly had it boiled and concentrated, then added glycerin. Glycerin is a common drug for soothing cardiovascular vessels. The People's Party's oleochemical industry certainly did not lack glycerin. As for the drugs originally boiled from Danshen, Sanqi, and Borneol, these three ingredients required large-scale planting of the corresponding plants. Borneol required camphor trees, so the People's Party handed this project over to the Forestry School for research. The vast working masses lacked practice the least, and camphor tree planting was relatively successful. Not only was the supply of Borneol guaranteed, but the production of Fengyoujing (Essential Balm) and Cooling Oil, which use camphor, was also guaranteed.

The People's Party's medical system for the masses had countless users and experimenters, so drug testing was also guaranteed. After a large number of experiments and repeated improvements, once the Compound Danshen Dripping Pills came out in 1912, they caused a huge sensation in the world. It was hailed as a specific drug for treating heart disease. 914, Compound Danshen Dripping Pills, Fengyoujing, and Cooling Oil all sold well in industrial countries around the world. There were millions of pounds in profit a year. Compound Danshen Dripping Pills were products of the army pharmaceutical factory, and since the Chinese medicine ingredients were complex and difficult to analyze, the People's Party dared to sell them in large quantities without fear of others counterfeiting them.

This behavior, which could almost be described as swindling, turned into foreign admiration for Traditional Chinese Medicine because of the drug's efficacy. Moreover, foreigners had always had a reverence for herbal medicine, even in the 21st century. Chen Ke's deceptive behavior was a huge success. Taking the People's Party's medicine temporarily cured the physical pain of the Japanese Minister, but it aggravated the pain in his heart. Japan lacked these products that the People's Party could sell in large quantities, so its industrialization speed could never pick up. The Japanese Minister was a knowledgeable figure; he had clearly felt the trend of China's re-emergence, and the Japanese Minister understood very well that China's re-emergence meant Japan's decline. It had been hard to reach today's position and become Britain's collaborator in the Far East. If it were suppressed by China again, Japan would never have a day to turn over.

*Or I could suggest to the domestic government to find a way to physically eliminate Chen Ke.* The Japanese Minister could only come up with such a solution. In the Japanese Minister's view, the rise of the People's Party depended entirely on Chen Ke's personal outstanding qualifications and abilities. If Chen Ke were removed, the overall power of the People's Party would be lost by at least half. Since the Japanese Navy held absolute dominance in the Far East, even if the matter were exposed, it would not allow Japan to suffer a blow from the People's Party. The greatly weakened People's Party would inevitably be destroyed under the strikes of Britain, Beiyang, and Japan. At that time, Japan could still obtain huge benefits. Having determined this idea, the Japanese Minister began to brew a report to the domestic government.

The Beiyang government at this time could be described as smug. Wu Peifu's Beiyang Fourth Army suffered over 50% casualties but repelled the Japanese army in Rizhao. This proved that in terms of land warfare, the Beiyang Army was superior to Japan. The British attitude changed immediately. Although Wu Peifu retreated onto the fleet and ran away before the People's Party's siege, Beiyang knew that such a retreat was not enough to lower their weight in the eyes of the British. Anyway, the British would not think that the current Beiyang could really defeat the People's Party.

As the strategist, Gu Weijun naturally became a new dignitary of Beiyang. Yuan Shikai appointed Gu Weijun as the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, concurrently serving as a senior advisor to the Presidential Secretariat. This arrangement was firstly to reward Gu Weijun for his achievements, and secondly to protect Gu Weijun. "The wind will destroy the tree that stands out in the forest." If a 26-year-old young man suddenly gained real power in a short period of time, the result was destined to be tragic. Countless people would try to pull Gu Weijun off his horse in actual work no matter what. Yuan Shikai had not only encountered such attacks countless times, but he himself was also proficient in playing with these means. As a senior advisor to the Presidential Secretariat, Gu Weijun had to often accompany Yuan Shikai to attend various meetings and experience various talks. This was also an important step in gradual cultivation.

For the next direction, Gu Weijun's suggestion was very simple. "Join the Entente Powers and undertake obligations within our capabilities."

Military victory in Rizhao did not mean that Beiyang could really completely overwhelm Japan. Beiyang knew this, and the British knew it too. Once Japan recovered, they would definitely continue to oppose Beiyang. After proving Beiyang's strength, if they wanted to maintain this image of victory against Japan, nothing was better than not participating in war anymore. The best way not to participate in war was to join the Entente Powers. With the fierce war in Europe right now, once they joined the Entente Powers, Britain would absolutely not allow countries under the Entente banner to fight each other. At that time, they could use British power to avoid a new Sino-Japanese war.

Wu Peifu's Fourth Army had nearly 20,000 casualties out of 40,000 men. It was only because Wu Peifu trained soldiers strictly and managed them effectively that the Fourth Army persisted until the end. According to internal battle reports, the Beiyang Army also almost collapsed twice, and it was Wu Peifu personally commanding the supervising team that held the line. Even so, under the fierce shelling of the Japanese Navy, the Beiyang Army ultimately could not continue fighting. This allowed the Sendai Division to calmly board ships and retreat. So Beiyang actually didn't want to continue fighting either. When able to get off the donkey along the slope, Yuan Shikai naturally agreed.

At this time, the title of "Senior Advisor" showed its effect. Some high-ranking Beiyang officials tried to provoke Gu Weijun, hoping this ignorant brat would act on impulse. Gu Weijun was smart enough originally, and his father-in-law Tang Shaoyi had repeatedly instructed him, "Let the Great President make the decision on all matters." Gu Weijun simply said, "I am just an advisor, responsible for making suggestions. The Great President is the one to make the final decision." Those provokers had no way to deal with Gu Weijun.

Yuan Shikai certainly agreed to join the Entente Powers, but he was not in a hurry. "Then how should we talk about undertaking obligations?" he asked.

"Undertaking obligations is bargaining. What we can undertake, what we cannot undertake—talk openly with the British. If we can do it, we can do it; if we can't, we are helpless," Gu Weijun answered very crisply.

"Then what benefit is there for us?" Yuan Shikai continued to ask.

Gu Weijun answered very seriously, "Our products will have a market. Why has the People's Party's economy developed very quickly in these few years? Because their foreign trade is huge. When the People's Party talks about economics, they clearly point out that with trade comes markets. Our Beiyang is not without factories, just without markets. In the obligations we undertake, we can sell the goods the Entente Powers need. If various factories have business, they can flourish and develop. The government's tax revenue will naturally increase."

Hearing that money could be made, the eyes of the Beiyang heavy ministers lit up. These people had long wanted to get rich. If the situation was as Gu Weijun said, that they could reach a sales agreement with the British, it would really be a good opportunity to make a fortune. Rarely, this time no one made sarcastic remarks to embarrass Gu Weijun.

"Then the matter of joining the Entente Powers might as well be the responsibility of Shao-chuan," Yuan Shikai said to Tang Shaoyi. Both Tang Shaoyi and Gu Weijun had the courtesy name Shao-chuan. But Gu Weijun would absolutely not be stupid enough to think that Yuan Shikai wanted to hand this matter over to him. So he didn't say a word.