The Japanese Army Ministry finally had some smiles on their faces. Although the economic investment in Korea was large, the returns were far greater than imagined. Selling mining rights had effectively earned a large sum. Even if enterprises related to the Army Ministry and private investors didn't necessarily have the money, the Ministry of Finance provided funds to mine owners through bank loans. These funds were transferred directly to the Army Ministry, giving them substantial revenue.

The families of officers who died in Northeast China received their pensions first, which effectively alleviated dissatisfaction within the army. The funding for rebuilding two divisions finally had a source, not to mention the substantial handling fees obtained at every step of the process. The entire situation was good—not just a little good, but very good. According to the Army Ministry's statistics, just the ore shipped to the Japanese home islands annually could earn immense profits, to say nothing of the pacifying effect these interests provided to the various forces closely related to the Army Ministry.

Even though they still detested the current Prime Minister Takahashi Korekiyo, the Army Ministry had to truly admit that Takahashi Korekiyo was very economically capable and was not a mortal enemy of the Army Ministry. What made the current Army Ministry dissatisfied was that the price Takahashi Korekiyo paid the Army Ministry for the ore was too low. Moreover, these mines, after a few years of operation, would have to be returned to state management. But there was no helping this; when the Army Ministry was allowed to lead mining in Korea, this was already a condition proposed by Takahashi Korekiyo. So the Army Ministry's idea was that when the next cabinet election came around, if Takahashi Korekiyo didn't extend the Army Ministry's control over the minerals, they would find a way to oust him. Of course, that was a matter for the future.

The Army Ministry certainly wasn't a gathering of benevolent men and believing women; they could imagine the results their actions in Korea would lead to. To deal with the difficult situation in the future, Japan specifically gathered the remnants of Mantetsu to discuss the future situation.

The conference room adopted the layout of a Japanese residence. On the left sat members of the Japanese Army Ministry in black military uniforms, and on the right sat Mantetsu members in black kimono. The first to speak was a Mantetsu member. "In the newly promulgated laws, should we add clauses for punishing the families of those rebel parties?" The eager expression of the Mantetsu representative proved they were very enthusiastic about this.

The Army Ministry representatives knew the Mantetsu representatives' thoughts very well. The so-called punishment of families actually had nothing to do with the law. The true purpose of the punishment was the confiscation of property. When the Army Ministry spoke of this with a slightly mocking tone, the Mantetsu personnel stated that for the female family members of the rebels, they could be fully utilized in the South Seas.

In Takahashi Korekiyo's economic policy, there was not only the full development of Korea but also a plan to expand Japanese investment in the South Seas. Seizing the opportunity of the Allied Powers, exerting the capacity of Japan's shipbuilding industry, and fully utilizing the resources of the South Seas was Takahashi Korekiyo's method of attempting to make up for Japan's losses in the Chinese market. Among Japan's major industries in the South Seas, the "flower and willow" establishments run by the Japanese state were a very large profit-generating project. If the family members of the Korean rebels could be fully utilized, it should increase revenue considerably.

The Army Ministry was somewhat dissatisfied with Mantetsu's wishful thinking. Suppressing local resistance in Korea cost money. Not only did it cost money, but there would also be soldier casualties. After some bargaining, Mantetsu agreed to provide funds to organize armed forces belonging to Mantetsu, and Mantetsu's military forces would participate in combat when suppressing the Koreans.

Disputes and even quarrels ran through the entire meeting process. The basis of discussion between the Army Ministry and Mantetsu did not change in the slightest. Revolving around the core of "how to fully utilize" Korean manpower and material resources, the Army Ministry and Mantetsu argued endlessly about the cost-effectiveness ratio between the costs they would pay and their future returns. Everyone wanted the lion's share, and everyone wanted to contribute less.

When the quarreling reached the point where faces were red and necks were thick, Tanaka Giichi, who was participating in the meeting, suddenly laughed loudly. This unexpected action surprised everyone participating in the meeting. Tanaka Giichi laughed for a while, then suddenly said, "Gentlemen, why do I feel like we are holding a parliamentary session here?"

Hearing this, the members of the Army Ministry and Mantetsu were stunned for a moment, and then after a while, many people couldn't help but laugh out loud together. Whether it was the Army Ministry or Mantetsu, they were quite opposed to the parliamentary constitutional system, but this did not mean that internal coordination was not needed. Every group was composed of different interest groups internally. Even if every interest group had a common broad goal, they still had different interest demands in the detailed process. Unless it was a political system with highly centralized power and strict divisions, such a situation of quarreling could not be avoided at all.

After Tanaka Giichi put away his smile, his gaze swept coldly across the faces of these people in front of him. The predecessor of the Army Ministry was a group formed by combining various "restoration activists" of the Meiji Restoration era. In such a group, killings due to interests were by no means something that had happened only dozens or hundreds of times. Choshu, Satsuma, Opening the Country, Overthrowing the Shogunate, Revering the Emperor, Expelling the Barbarians—various different ideologies were entangled together. There had been over a hundred famous assassination incidents alone. The leaders of the various factions rarely died on the battlefield; on the contrary, most were assassinated.

The surface reasons for various assassinations were very complex: differences in philosophy, or mutually believing the other party had betrayed the original ideals. But the essence was extremely simple: Japan's various interests simply could not be effectively governed and coordinated. Therefore, the Army Ministry loathed party politics extremely, believing that party politics allowed various quarrels to persist and expand without limit. Only by thoroughly destroying party politics and establishing a political system with Japanese characteristics—where upper and lower ranks were clearly distinct, subordinates must be unconditionally responsible to superiors, and those in lower positions "serve with death" to those in higher positions—was the only way for Japan to embark on prosperity and development.

Watching the dispute between the Army Ministry and Mantetsu, Tanaka Giichi felt very disappointed in his heart. The relationship between the Army Ministry and Mantetsu was extremely close, yet even so, real interests were still difficult to reconcile, and they even had to adopt this mode close to "parliamentary discussion" to make any progress.

Harboring disappointment, Tanaka Giichi had to console himself in his heart, "At least these people present won't start killing each other."

"Tanaka-kun, many merchants have already proposed importing goods from China. Some smugglers' business has even reached Japan. I think we need to manage these things properly," said the Mantetsu representative. Before Tanaka Giichi could answer, the Mantetsu representative continued, "Please let our Mantetsu be responsible for trade with China."

Looking at the sincere gaze of the Mantetsu representative, Tanaka Giichi didn't even have the strength to mock him.

Jin Liuling trekked through the mountains of Korea, panting. There were Japanese checkpoints on all major traffic routes. Approaching the summer harvest, Japanese management in Korea was becoming stricter and stricter. In these past few months, the traffic lines Jin Liuling had exhausted his strength to open up had suffered great destruction. This was not because the Japanese had uncovered the organizations of the Korean patriots; if measured by anti-Japanese ideology, there were few Koreans who were not "Korean patriots." The traffic lines had to rely on numerous mountain villages. The Japanese had launched surprise attacks on many mountain villages in the mountainous areas, and everyone in the attacked villages had been taken away. The houses in these villages were not wasted either; those who moved in locally were all Japanese. The Japanese side used this method to gradually Japanize the northern mountainous areas of Korea. This created endless trouble for opening up traffic lines.

Jin Liuling could only choose to take routes even farther from the main roads. Japanese tentacles had not yet been able to reach those areas for the time being. Exhausted and sweating profusely, Jin Liuling sat down by a large mountain rock, utterly spent. Taking out a towel to wipe the sweat constantly seeping from his forehead and neck, panting heavily, Jin Liuling suddenly felt a burst of loss. He never knew revolution was such an arduous thing. When in China, Jin Liuling had heard the story of the People's Party starting out during the great floods. Listening to that process of arduous struggle, Jin Liuling was truly moved. But when personally implementing the revolution, Jin Liuling realized what a world of difference there was between things said with a touch of the lips and the process of personal practice.

Taking a train from Wuhan to traverse thousands of li to arrive at the Sino-Korean border didn't take many days, nor did it require much effort. Walking from Pyongyang to the Sino-Korean border took nearly twice the time, and the troubles created by the Japanese encountered in between were not too many; the vast majority of the time was spent trekking alone in the barren mountains and wild ridges. If not for the intense emotions he held in his heart, Jin Liuling knew he actually couldn't have persisted.

The dry rations in his pocket wouldn't last much longer either. After all, having traveled back and forth on this route several times, Jin Liuling knew that half a day's time ahead, there was a small mountain cave. Stored there were canned goods and other supplies transported from the Chinese side, as well as beds laid with branches and straw mats. At least after arriving there, he could truly rest.

Standing up with difficulty, Jin Liuling continued to advance toward the supply point. With canned goods, these foods that could be stored for a long time, the traffic lines could exist independently without relying on residential points like villages. These supply points, with a little expansion and replenishment, could even provide food for nearly a hundred people, able to support small detachments fighting in the mountains for a long time. Personally walking in the mountains, Jin Liuling finally understood the difficulty of maintaining a march and combat on the scale of dozens of people, and even more preliminarily understood what was called the power possessed only by an industrial nation. Relying only on these supply points, Jin Liuling had already lived in the mountainous area for over a month.

By the time the sun was slanting west, Jin Liuling finally reached the supply point with difficulty. However, there were already guests inside the supply point. Jin Chengri and Piao Youxi, along with two other Korean patriots, were already inside. Seeing these comrades, Jin Liuling was quite pleasantly surprised. Especially Piao Youxi; they hadn't seen each other since parting ways.

But Jin Liuling quickly saw that things were wrong, because the several Korean patriots all had tear-stained faces. Before Jin Liuling could ask, Piao Youxi stood up unsteadily. With a crying tone, Piao Youxi said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Liuling! An uprising happened in Seoul, but the Japanese army suppressed the uprising on a large scale. Too many people died; the water of the Han River has turned red!"

Just as Jin Liuling was astonished, Jin Chengri also stood up and said, "Brother Liuling, you weren't in Pyongyang. Many comrades couldn't hold back and launched an uprising. But among our people, someone turned traitor. The Japanese surrounded our headquarters first. A good number of people died. I risked my life to escape."

The Seoul Uprising was only a shock to Jin Liuling, but the Pyongyang Uprising was a bolt from the blue. Because the current headquarters of the Korean patriots in Pyongyang was Jin Liuling's home. The Japanese besieging the Pyongyang headquarters meant that Jin Liuling's family was finished.