The "sincerity" of the Japanese side in the Sino-Japanese peace negotiations surprised both the British and the People's Party. Japan stated that it could fully cease hostilities with the People's Party under British supervision, hoping to restore peace on land, sea, and air. This sincerity came with no preconditions and no other issues discussed; it was simply, "Stop the war, restore peace."

To a normal country, such a statement would mean one thing: Japan sought a truce, not peace. War is never a game played by two bored parties; war always involves its own interests. When People's Party representative Li Runshi raised this issue, the Japanese representative with the Ren Dan mustache stated that Japan was willing to coexist peacefully with China. However, the People's Party was currently a local government, not the government of China, so Japan could not sign any agreement with the People's Party in the name of a nation. But since Japan desired peace, they could establish a memorandum to ensure both sides tried to resolve problems through consultation rather than resorting directly to force as they had a few months ago.

If the negotiations were with the Manchu Qing or the Beiyang government, they would likely be cheering for this "great victory." But the People's Party representatives were not happy about it. Japan's statement could be said to be "just right"; the approach proposed based on the reality of the situation completely guaranteed Japan's maximum current interests. This war between China and Japan was essentially a war between imperialism and the People's Party for China's interests. Ultimately, this contradiction was the most fundamental conflict point between China and the European and American powers. Japan cleverly withdrew from the vanguard position to a step behind the British, and the British intervened in the matter. The whole contradiction returned to the situation before the conflict. The People's Party had to reach a solution with the British regarding China's interests, and other countries would follow this model. If the People's Party bypassed the British to strike at Japanese "territory," it would be tantamount to directly challenging the British bottom line.

After hearing Japan's statement, the British representative took over the conversation, "We, the Entente Powers, absolutely cannot accept any act of attacking the territory of an Entente member."

Li Runshi spoke with full malice, "What if Japan launches an active attack on us from their territory?"

"We in Japan are willing to pursue peace," the Japanese representative replied with a straight face. "As far as the authorization I have received, our side can sign a two-year peace agreement with your side."

At this point, Li Runshi already understood that Japan did not seek peace at all. Just as the Party Central Committee had inferred, the Japanese side now needed a truce period of at least two years. According to the Japanese war history collected by the People's Party, in the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army had 55,655 killed in action or died of wounds, 27,192 died of illness (mainly due to beriberi caused by lack of vitamins), and 153,584 wounded. Although the Russo-Japanese War ended with a Japanese victory and Japan seized huge rights and interests in Northeast China, Japan itself still felt it was not worth it, and Japan was about to collapse.

In this Sino-Japanese War, Japan had nearly 150,000 men wiped out from start to finish. Especially in the last two major annihilation battles, due to the severe winter cold, the death rate soared, and the wounded Japanese soldiers set a new high death rate of over 95%. It was completely understandable that Japan sought a truce. The possibility of them continuing the war regardless of everything was actually not great.

Li Runshi felt that Japan's current strength was much stronger than during the Russo-Japanese War. If it had lost so many troops in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan would probably have collapsed. Now, without the support of other European and American powers, Japan was still able to stabilize the situation after suffering such losses alone; it was indeed quite remarkable. Of course, the European countries that had millions of soldiers die on the European battlefield and could still grit their teeth and persist in the war were even more forces not to be underestimated.

At the same time, Li Runshi also had more confidence in the current People's Party regime. If the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lost 150,000 troops, it would cause considerable damage to the army, but it would be far from breaking its backbone and forcing it to ask for a truce.

As a negotiator, Li Runshi's discretion was not large. The Central Committee had actually agreed to a truce in principle, and currently, the Central Committee did not think bargaining would have much meaning. International justice had always been within the range of cannons. Since the People's Party did not have a navy, forcibly demanding safety at sea would only give others a handle to grab. Besides, what the British needed now was not to disrupt the shipping order in the Western Pacific, but to try their best to maintain this shipping order during the war. The People's Party's request regarding maritime transport completely missed the point.

Glancing at the Japanese representative with the Ren Dan mustache, Li Runshi smiled and said, "Everyone wants peace. I wonder how the Japanese side plans to specifically implement this peace?"

After several days of discussion, China and Japan reached a framework intention for a "truce agreement" under British coordination. Japan suffered heavy losses this time, and both China and Japan tacitly accepted Japan's presence in Lushun (Port Arthur). Aside from this, the People's Party did not recognize any of Japan's special privileges in China. Regarding the Boxer Indemnity, Li Runshi clearly told the Japanese representative with the Ren Dan mustache that they shouldn't even think about it.

Even after suffering such huge losses, the Japanese side swallowed their pride and tacitly accepted these facts. In the implementation of the truce agreement, since both China and Japan had a need for a truce, it was actually easy to reach an agreement. Japan would withdraw all troops in China. The Japanese concessions could still exist, but judicial and other powers within the Japanese concessions would be reclaimed by the Chinese side. Japan only obtained the right of residence.

What surprised the British was that Japan's normal trade was not subjected to discriminatory treatment. The People's Party's attitude towards the transformation of the concessions was to "nationalize" them. As long as any Japanese enterprise operating in China abided by Chinese laws and paid taxes according to the law and on time, it would not encounter special problems. At least no special problems could be seen in the agreement.

If the People's Party really wanted to transform the concessions in this mode, although the British did not want to give up various privileges, let alone the various benefits brought by the concessions, they were not completely unable to accept such handling when the situation was unfavorable.

By mid-April, China and Japan reached the final written agreement. From beginning to end, the Chinese side did not mention the Sun Yat-sen provisional government, nor did the Japanese side. The truce was actually already being executed in fact; at least after the People's Party captured Tianjin, trains were running back and forth inside and outside the pass. After the agreement was signed, the Far East order was determined in legal form. Neither the People's Party, the Japanese side, nor the British side believed that this peace could be maintained for long, but every party believed that peace was needed now. And every party believed that time was on their side.

On the third day after the agreement was signed, Miyazaki Toten, who had already arrived in Beijing, took more than twenty Korean activists to the Northeast. Before departure, these people had received sufficient training. Their goal was simple: enter northern Korea, contact local Korean activists, mobilize the Korean masses, and prepare the foundation for the liberation of Korea.

Although Miyazaki Toten was a very idealistic person, he was not a naive fellow. He knew that the People's Party signed a peace agreement with Japan this time, he knew that the People's Party had no intention of breaking this agreement at the grand strategic level, and he knew even more about the People's Party's determination to retake Korea. These seemingly contradictory thoughts all fell under one fact, which was that the People's Party had no foundation in Korea. At present, these Korean activists were to lay the foundation for the future liberation of Korea.

Korea was not very large, and there were few trains. This group of Korean activists had never had the chance to ride a train for days and nights in a row. These Koreans had even become numb to the vastness of China's land. Although initially, they were amazed by everything they saw. Especially when the train passed through the boundless Huang-Huai Plain and the North China Plain, the neat fields on both sides of the railway, and the army-like neat trees that could not be seen to the end on both sides of the railway, really opened the eyes of the Korean activists. This neatness was definitely not natural; at least two rows of trees were planted between every field. In addition to windbreaks and soil consolidation, the forests also served as boundaries. For mountainous Korea, this design was not suitable. But what the Korean activists marveled at was how much manpower was needed to complete these not-yet-tall trees. This strict layout meant the People's Party's ability to control its territory. With such a powerful organization as backing, the Korean activists also felt their confidence increasing.

When the train arrived in Andong, Miyazaki Toten felt the atmosphere of war. This city had now turned into a huge military camp, with soldiers everywhere. The sound of drills and training was almost non-stop all day long. These people did not stop at Andong; they took a car to Benxi Lake, and the comrades from the troops who came to meet them took the Korean activists to Changbai Mountain. The People's Party had already arranged communication lines in the mountainous area, and what the Korean activists needed was to enter Korea along the communication lines to open up bases in Korea.

"Mr. Miyazaki, you have worked hard." Piao Youxi knew he was about to part with Miyazaki Toten, and he was quite emotional.

Miyazaki Toten smiled, "Be careful after returning to Korea."

Before Piao Youxi could speak, another Korean activist, Jin Chengri, interrupted, "We will definitely complete the mission as soon as possible. The activists hope the People's Party can fully support us."

"That is natural." Miyazaki Toten smiled.

What should be said had long been said on the road. The work of this group of Korean activists was not difficult this time; what they had to do first was to return to Korea and establish the communication lines on the Korean side.

After everyone bid a reluctant farewell and checked their weapons, the Korean activists followed the People's Party comrades who led the way and began to march into the depths of the dense forest. Miyazaki Toten watched the figures of the squad finally being obscured by the dense forest, and in his heart, he could only wish them all the best.

The communication line meant there were supply points and roads convenient for movement. The Korean activists entered Korea quite smoothly. Most of them were from northern Korea. According to the original plan, after crossing the border line, everyone would go home first, settle down in their hometowns, contact local Koreans who opposed Japan, and then establish an overall communication line.

Piao Youxi was from Seoul, Jin Chengri and Jin Liuling were from Pyongyang, and other activists were from everywhere. As the Korean guides for the future Sino-Japanese War, they found that unlike when they left, Japanese military camps could be seen everywhere in northern Korea, and the number of checkpoints for interrogation had increased a lot. The group managed to bypass them with difficulty, and after getting on the main road, everyone scattered one after another.

Jin Chengri and Jin Liuling trudged for more than ten days and finally returned to Pyongyang. Pyongyang was now full of Japanese people. The two specifically waited until night to enter Pyongyang. After parting in the dark, Jin Liuling went towards his home. But just as he approached his home, a burst of noise suddenly came from the road. A large group of Japanese troops came along the road carrying torches. Jin Liuling hurriedly hid by the roadside. Fortunately, he was familiar with this place and managed not to be discovered by the Japanese. Under the illumination of the torches, he saw several bound Koreans in the Japanese team being tied into a string with ropes, stumbling as they were dragged along.

Secretly watching the live-ammunition Japanese troops and those arrested Koreans from the dark, Jin Liuling's heart pounded wildly. He couldn't help thinking: Could it be that the Japanese have discovered that we Korean activists have returned?