Except for some doubts about the "market competition" proposed in the People's Party's economic policy, Kita Ikki's other economic policy proposals were completely a copy of the People's Party. Strategically, Kita Ikki boldly proposed the idea of a Sino-Japanese alliance, "Construct a future alliance of new Asian nations with equal laborers!"

This was not just Kita Ikki's personal view; Japanese People's Party members, and even many Japanese living in China, shared this idea. The revolutionary storm in China over the past decade or so, and China's rapidly developing national power, had deeply touched the Japanese who joined this revolution.

"Are you trying to destroy Japan?" Okawa Shumei's eyes widened. It was not easy to transcend the stance of nationalism. Japan had been fighting with China for spheres of influence and annexed Korea less than ten years ago. If they were to form an alliance with China, it was naturally very easy to think of the word "annexation".

"Construct a future alliance of new Asian nations with equal laborers!" Kita Ikki emphasized this foundation again, "The new alliance of nations is a union of nations of equal laborers. Hebei and Yunnan-Guizhou in China are almost completely different countries. Language, customs, clothing, and lifestyle are all worlds apart. If we don't discuss the historical issue that both places have always been within China's territory, the only similarity between these two places is that the people live by labor."

"Say what you will, this is still annexation!" Okawa Shumei shook his head repeatedly.

Kita Ikki could understand Okawa Shumei's thoughts. He said loudly: "A union of nations, where China and Japan fully realize the free flow of personnel and the full integration of economies. The technology, raw materials, and markets that Japan needs can all be obtained from China. Okawa-kun, what do you think is the biggest problem facing China's population of 600 million right now? Precisely, it is not a surplus of labor. From the situation I understand, labor shortages have appeared everywhere in China."

A labor shortage in China with a population of 600 million? Okawa Shumei frowned suspiciously, "Kita-kun, don't joke."

"I'm not joking!" Kita Ikki said seriously, "There is a labor shortage everywhere in China. China is now building railways on a large scale, connecting various cities together. Is building 10,000 kilometers of railway a year a lot? But even if China builds 10,000 kilometers of railway every year, it will take twenty years to complete 200,000 kilometers of railway. That would only just catch up to the level of the United States. This is not just about people laying tracks; the trains running on the tracks, the wagons, management, railway maintenance, and the materials transported on the railways all need people to operate them. In the vast rural areas, China is building reservoirs, leveling land, and planting trees. There is a bunch of old fogeys in China who have already criticized the People's Party's economic policies for not sparing the people's strength. At present, there is a shortage of labor everywhere in China, and anyone with labor power has the opportunity to make money."

Originally, Japan collected a relatively large amount of intelligence on China, but in recent years, Sino-Japanese relations have been tense, and intelligence collection work has also lagged significantly. Okawa Shumei did not have first-hand information like Kita Ikki. Hearing about the changes in China, he was skeptical and didn't know whether to believe Kita Ikki's words.

"The state is a tool for class rule. The ideals of Japan's Meiji Restoration have been completely destroyed. The current Japan is merely a tool used by the great clans to extract wealth, not a country for Japanese laborers to live in. Even if Japan does not merge with China, I absolutely cannot accept Japan turning into the living hell it is now." Kita Ikki impassioned explained his views. Sino-Japanese alliance, after the merger of the navies of the two countries, would be the number one navy in the entire Western Pacific, and in terms of overall scale, it could even equal the tonnage and capital ships of the British and American navies. China possessed the world's largest army and had established a peaceful stance with Russia, ensuring stability in the north. The rest was to strive to liberate all of Asia and build a World Island composed of laborers together with the Soviet Union. In the further future, liberate the whole world.

Okawa Shumei could be considered a so-called "radical reformist", but Kita Ikki had obviously found the wrong comrade. Okawa Shumei listened more and asked less afterwards. Most of what he asked was Kita Ikki's views on the Japanese government.

The two talked until late at night before parting. Early the next morning, Okawa Shumei ran to find Lieutenant Colonel Okamura Yasuji of the Army Ministry and talked to him about Kita Ikki's "ideological problems".

The old "China Hands" in the Japanese army were no longer taken seriously because of the rise of the People's Party and various misjudgments. Since escaping from the Northeast with his life, Okamura Yasuji's views on China were very different from those of the Army Ministry, yet he was often able to make correct predictions. Okamura Yasuji was now a "China Hand" of some renown in the Army Ministry. When Kita Ikki, a famous anti-establishment element, returned from China, the Japanese Army Ministry sent Okamura Yasuji to be responsible for the surveillance work.

After listening to Okawa Shumei's exposure, Okamura Yasuji asked unhurriedly: "Does Kita Ikki merely want to overthrow the Japanese government?"

Okawa Shumei didn't quite understand why such a big thing as overthrowing the Japanese government became "merely" in Okamura Yasuji's mouth. He said decisively: "Kita Ikki indeed wants to overthrow the current government!"

Okamura Yasuji continued to speak unhurriedly: "If Kita Ikki says anything else to Okawa-kun in the future, I hope Okawa-kun can report it in time."

It was extremely normal for the Army Ministry to dislike the government, but Okamura Yasuji's attitude had actually reached such a level of disregard that Okawa Shumei couldn't help but feel very surprised. However, Okawa Shumei had already acted as an informer, so he couldn't possibly accuse Lieutenant Colonel Okamura Yasuji of disrespect to the government with any righteous attitude. Harboring great puzzlement, Okawa Shumei took his leave.

Kita Ikki didn't know what Okawa Shumei had done. After getting up early in the morning, Kita Ikki changed into a kimono and went out with a shoulder bag. Since returning to Japan, being followed was something Kita Ikki could completely imagine. He walked onto the street leisurely as if he hadn't seen anyone following him at all.

Japan was able to produce gramophones as early as 1910, and many recording companies had been established. Many relatively high-class shops on the street had gramophones placed in them, and would often play records to attract customers. Kita Ikki didn't go to Ginza, but went to a shop in a lower-consumption area. After entering the shop, Kita Ikki gave the shop owner a dime, but didn't want to buy anything. Instead, he asked the shop owner to help "test a record". The shop owner was naturally quite satisfied with this business. After starting to spin the record, he placed the needle on the record. Amidst the faint crackling sound of electric current, a thick male voice came out of the horn.

The record was playing a song, and the lyrics went: "Waves surge in the abyss of Miluo, clouds fly chaotically over Mount Wu. Standing in this muddy world, my blood boils with righteous indignation..."

This was the only old Japanese song that Chen Ke could remember the lyrics to. Firstly, the lyrics were full of allusions to China. Secondly, Chen Ke happened to have discussed the February 26 Incident with people on a forum before he time-traveled. Like ordinary time-travelers, Chen Ke was full of thoughts of destroying Japan and slaughtering the US at first. In order to avoid forgetting it inevitably in the future, this original Japanese rebellion song was recorded by Chen Ke.

It wasn't written very completely at the time, and relied on Japanese comrades to supplement and modify it to be complete. Paired with a simple tune, it was simple, clear, and tragic in atmosphere. Another Japanese song recorded by Chen Ke was the original version of "Senbonzakura". These records remained in Chen Ke's database, and unexpectedly, these preparations only came in handy more than ten years later. Before Kita Ikki, the revolutionary, returned to Japan, the People's Party recorded a record for Kita Ikki to take back to Japan.

Of course, this song was also modified. 1923 was not the Showa era; Taisho was still on the throne. So "Song of Showa Restoration" became "Song of Taisho Restoration". The difference of a few notes did not affect the integrity of the song.

"Stop the sad song of Li Sao, the days of tragic singing and generous indignation are gone. Our swords right now, are leaping in the blood of purification." Coming out of the gramophone's big horn, many people passing by on the street had already noticed this song and began to stop and listen.

Kita Ikki liked this song very much. Historically, the author of this song was himself a follower of Kita Ikki's thoughts. On the contrary, the latter song "Senbonzakura" did not please Kita Ikki. Apart from the tune being too Westernized, the lyrics were inevitably too sarcastic. There were also some vocabulary words in it that he couldn't understand. For example, ICBM and ray gun. It was just that professional rebellion songs were not so easy to write, so Kita Ikki could only make do with what was available.

The two guys following him outside were obviously soldiers. They stood outside the shop with gloomy expressions, staring closely at Kita Ikki. Kita Ikki wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes, but found that the price of cigarettes was at least four times more expensive than in China. After getting used to prices in China, Kita Ikki felt uncomfortable looking at prices in Japan no matter how he looked at them.

The song wasn't long. Kita Ikki played it three times in a row before taking the record and leaving the shop. He walked on the Japanese streets as if taking a walk to investigate, finding a shop every now and then to play the song a few times. By the afternoon, the two followers finally couldn't bear it anymore. After waiting for Kita Ikki to play the record again, they directly blocked Kita Ikki on the street.

"Mr. Kita, what exactly are you trying to do?" Both soldiers were not old. One of them, who looked twenty-four or twenty-five, asked relatively politely.

"I want to attract other people's attention." Kita Ikki answered very crisply.

The young spy was stunned. The spy who was nearly thirty years old took over the conversation and asked: "And then?"

"And then naturally, it is to propagate the method to save Japan." Kita Ikki didn't hide his views at all. After a large part of the day's investigation, Kita Ikki had come into contact with more of Japan's specific current situation. The Japanese economic situation was even worse than Kita Ikki had thought.

"Are you trying to incite a riot?" the older spy sneered.

Facing such an accusation, Kita Ikki laughed instead, "Who exactly is inciting a riot? If Japan's situation was very good and everyone lived without worry, what ability would I have alone to incite a riot? Aren't the people who are truly inciting a riot precisely those who are in charge of Japanese politics?"

The older spy's face became even more severe. Hearing this, the younger one was first stunned, then appeared bewildered.

"If you two have nothing else, I will continue shopping," said Kita Ikki.

After tossing about for a day, Kita Ikki returned to the inn in the evening. The room was on the second floor. Kita Ikki saw from the window that the two spies downstairs first guarded for a while, then the older spy left first. The younger spy looked up at Kita Ikki's room from time to time.

Kita Ikki didn't care about this. Japan's situation was much worse than imagined. He classified and listed the data copied during the day, put the data into the price index equation written by the People's Party, and could roughly calculate the comprehensive price level. This was one of the People's Party's methods in social management. Although the data was still very insufficient, having calculations was better than having no calculations.

After writing for a while, someone knocked on the door outside. Kita Ikki got up and opened the door. The person outside was actually that young spy, with a cramped expression on his face. Kita Ikki let him into the room, and the young spy said: "Mr. Kita, I wonder what you think of the future of Japan at present?"

"Japan's economy is getting worse and worse," Kita Ikki replied. While inviting the young spy to sit down, Kita Ikki took out the data he had already listed. Kita Ikki still remembered Japan's data before World War I. If consumer goods and wages were each 100, according to the incomplete data investigated by Kita Ikki, Tokyo's prices had already risen to over 300, while wages were only 190.

"What does this mean?" The young spy couldn't understand the data table at all, and could only ask for the result directly.

"This means that everyone's actual income has not only not increased, but is decreasing," Kita Ikki explained. Normally, if the price index rose from 100 to 300, the wage index would also have to reach 300 to be considered breaking even. Those above 300 were the population with increased real income, and those below 300 were the population with decreased real income.

Even a lackey like a spy who was taken relatively seriously could not have received such professional political training. Not to mention that the spies doing the shadowing were even less likely to receive administrative training. If he hadn't stayed in China for so many years, Kita Ikki wouldn't have had such professional knowledge.

Listening to Kita Ikki explain the economic problem so seriously, the spy was confused about the sampling calculation method, but he agreed quite a bit with the result judgment. He finally understood why he earned more money, but felt that life was getting worse. Because price increases were never in place all at once, every time the price rose, it was only for a part of the commodities. Everyone needed different commodities, and it was impossible to notice the prices of all commodities. As a result, everyone's overall feeling about the price increase was the same, but the degree to which they were affected by the price increase varied, and they could not feel the details of the price increase.

After Kita Ikki's explanation, the young spy's attitude towards Kita Ikki became more respectful. He nodded repeatedly, "Things are indeed getting more and more expensive, and life is indeed getting harder and harder."

"More and more factories are opening now, which shows that money has been invested in production," Kita Ikki continued to explain. Capital operation was to continuously expand the scale of production. Even without more specific data, in the situation Kita Ikki saw and asked about, there were more and more factories in Tokyo, indicating that funds were being invested in the production field at great speed.

The spy was already quite impressed by Kita Ikki's knowledge and insight. Kita Ikki had left Japan for a long time. The spy had been in Tokyo since graduating from the military academy, so he simply provided his own observations to Kita Ikki. Since the spy was already following Kita Ikki's train of thought, the next things were simple. Since Japan did not lend on a large scale, the total amount of money was relatively stable. Since capitalists frantically squeezed workers' wages and invested money in expanding the scale of production, then the workers had no money in their hands and insufficient purchasing power. Meanwhile, the expanded production scale produced more commodities. If the commodities could not be sold, operations would naturally be greatly affected.

Capital had no profit, and the direct result was that factories were under-operating. Under-operation of factories in turn affected the plummeting prices of industrial products used for industrial purposes.

The young spy had to ask Kita Ikki about almost all the nouns to ensure he understood the sentences Kita Ikki said. However, he had to spend even greater effort to try to understand Kita Ikki's explanation of concepts such as industrial production and consumption. When he finally barely understood these facts, the spy did not have a look of sudden enlightenment, but instead his expression was filled with doubt.

Kita Ikki could understand this doubt. When he studied sociology in the People's Party base area back then, he also had such profound doubts. So Kita Ikki patted the young spy on the shoulder, "If you can't understand the concept of capital, it is naturally very difficult to understand what I said. If you are interested, you can invite your young friends to discuss these things with me when you have time. I believe this knowledge is helpful to everyone."