Wang Youhong had always thought that dying should be an easy thing—just a breath that doesn't come up, a kick of the legs, and it's over. However, when arranging his posthumous affairs, Wang Youhong discovered that wanting to die without regrets seemed harder than not dying at all.

For this bunch of dregs in the Jiangsu Assembly, Wang Youhong first of all had no way to make them see reason. It was truly a case of "people will risk beheading for profit, but no one does a losing trade." No matter how much they shouted as if they had realized the truth, saying "The People's Party's huge investment in infrastructure guarantees their high output," Jiangsu's infrastructure investment remained like dregs.

In the 1924 fiscal budget regarding infrastructure, Wang Youhong had hoped to expand revenue through increasing the business tax, using the raised funds for water conservancy construction. Southern Jiangsu was originally wealthy, and although it encountered an economic crisis after the end of World War I, due to the deliberate support of the British who increased their purchase of raw silk and silk fabrics from Jiangsu, it managed to avoid a civil uprising.

With the pressure of the People's Party from the outside, Southern Jiangsu had at any rate implemented some bourgeois reforms, such as curbing land annexation, developing industry and commerce, government implementation of project support, promoting education, and building water conservancy works. The proportion of owner-peasants in the whole of Southern Jiangsu was very large; after the ruling class had squeezed the owner-peasants for all they were worth, these policies plagiarized from the People's Party played a huge role, and the people's overall standard of living was much better than before. However, to bring water conservancy construction up to the level of the People's Party, Southern Jiangsu needed a large sum of funds. Wang Youhong was prepared to expand taxation on the citizen class, to at any rate scrape together enough money to strive to solve the water conservancy problem.

As soon as tax collection was mentioned, the members of the Jiangsu Assembly became hyperactive as if their tendons had been pulled out, and all sorts of reasons came flooding in. "In order to expand production, we have already borrowed a large sum of money from the Bank of Jiangsu, collecting taxes now will kill us!" "The shortage of labor has led to a rise in the price of labor, the cost of building water conservancy is too high!" Even though Wang Youhong had known long ago that he would encounter such a situation, he still couldn't help but want to curse angrily in his heart. The People's Party's engineering corps might not earn wages lower than Jiangsu's laborers, but look at their efficiency—that was the style of a champion army.

The external problems were complex and thorny, and Wang Youhong's family had also caused trouble. His sons and wife simply didn't want to leave Jiangsu.

"Master, we don't want to go back to Tianjin. Tianjin is under the rule of the People's Party, will we have any good fruit to eat if we go back?" Wang Youhong's first wife had already passed away, and his second wife took the lead in opposing Wang Youhong's suggestion.

Wang Youhong said with a cold face, "If you don't want to return to Tianjin, then go abroad."

"Father, Jiangsu is your territory anyway, what's wrong with us staying in Jiangsu?" Wang Youhong's eldest son said.

Hearing this bullshit from his son, Wang Youhong was furious in his heart. What's wrong with staying in Jiangsu? Wang Youhong had actually heard the news long ago that this bastard eldest son of his was taking the lead and actually trying to "succeed Wang Youhong."

Looking at his sons who had been blinded by power, Wang Youhong felt that he had some vitality—that was the vitality to beat his sons soundly. He managed to suppress his anger, frowned and said, "Some of Yuan Weiting's sons saved their lives abroad, and some are honestly muddling along in Beijing. You stay in Jiangsu, what play are you planning to stage?"

Seeing that Wang Youhong was truly angry, his family temporarily dared not utter a sound. Wang Youhong continued, "I am the head of the family, surely I must consider for you. You think that because you are my sons, the people of Jiangsu will submit to you? If you go to Tianjin, the People's Party will at least have some regard for face and won't make an example of you. I am the Military Governor of Jiangsu, but how many people have I offended while being this Military Governor? Once I die, I'm afraid there are people who will want your lives! What's wrong with staying in Jiangsu? Staying in Jiangsu to wait for death?!" Speaking to the end, Wang Youhong still couldn't help but get angry and shouted loudly.

Wang Youhong's sons hadn't expected their old man to view the problem this way at all. Wang Youhong called the wind and summoned the rain in Jiangsu, and the people of Jiangsu were also respectful to the Wang family. Wang Youhong said someone wanted the Wang family's lives, but they didn't believe it.

Seeing the look of his family, Wang Youhong was even more angry, "You refuse to go, right? No problem, I will send soldiers to tie you up right now and send you to Tianjin. I will also establish a law in the Assembly forbidding you from entering Jiangsu again!"

Wang Youhong's family knew that Wang Youhong had really made up his mind. The youngest son was quite clever; he stepped forward a few steps, knelt in front of Wang Youhong and hugged Wang Youhong's legs, "Father, if we go, let's go together. Wherever you take us, we will follow you. Wherever you let us go, we will also go. But you can't not let us fulfill our filial piety in front of you. You can't!"

Hearing his son say this, Wang Youhong's heart immediately softened. He first let his youngest son get up, and then said, "I am really doing this for your own good. This place, Jiangsu, will have trouble sooner or later. Once something happens, what will you do? Going to Tianjin is good, going abroad is good, leaving this place of trouble that is Jiangsu is truly for your own good."

Wang Youhong's eldest son was not convinced. He couldn't help but say, "Father, you say someone wants to do something to our Wang family, then we should strike first and gain the upper hand, directly wipe them out..."

"Get out! Get the hell out of here!" Before his eldest son could finish speaking, Wang Youhong pointed at his eldest son and cursed. Not only did he curse, Wang Youhong even wanted to stand up and kick and beat his eldest son. It was a pity that Wang Youhong's legs could no longer support his own weight. In such urgency to stand up, Wang Youhong almost fell to the ground.

When Yu Chen arrived at Wang Youhong's official residence under orders, he saw Wang Youhong looking composed, even extremely relaxed, leaning against the bed. Seeing the panicked appearance of Wang Youhong's personal soldiers, Yu Chen had thought something big had happened, but now he was somewhat confused.

Seeing Yu Chen come in, Wang Youhong opened his mouth and said, "Yu Chen, send someone to escort my sons back to the old home in Tianjin. If they are not honest, binding them with ropes is also fine. Treating them as prisoners is also fine."

Yu Chen was just stunned, but not panicked. Hearing Wang Youhong's order, the first thing Yu Chen thought of was that he could indeed become the Military Governor of Jiangsu after Wang Youhong. Yu Chen said gently, "Governor Wang, why is this necessary?"

"I am their father, after all, I feel for them. I really cannot bear to watch them seek their own death helplessly." Wang Youhong smiled bitterly, "At this time, I can't care about matters of face anymore. Even if I'm laughed at by others, I can't manage that much."

Yu Chen of course wouldn't be foolish enough to think Wang Youhong really wanted to be laughed at, and what benefit would it be to Yu Chen if Wang Youhong was ridiculed because of family matters? He answered gently, "Governor Wang, I will definitely send the young masters safely back to Tianjin, please rest assured."

Seeing Yu Chen being so sensible, Wang Youhong felt relieved, "I hand over the burden of Jiangsu to you. This Jiangsu will be your world in the future, you have a hard task ahead."

Yu Chen smiled, "Governor Wang, the Manchu Qing has fallen, Yuan Shikai has fallen, so many forces have fallen. Where is there any talk of 'my world'? If Governor Wang trusts me, I can only do my best. However, Governor Wang, there is one thing I have never been able to understand, what exactly is this 'heroic spirit'? You are also a hero, and I see Chen Ke can also be counted as a hero. I know clearly that heroes must be different from the masses, but I do not know where this difference lies. I still hope Governor Wang can teach me."

"Heroic spirit?" Hearing this, Wang Youhong first frowned slightly, then actually laughed mockingly, "Heroic spirit is never spoken of by heroes themselves. Yu Chen, go get that copy of the *Analects* from the bookshelf."

Yu Chen took the *Analects* somewhat unexpectedly and handed it to Wang Youhong. Wang Youhong opened a page and handed it to Yu Chen. Yu Chen looked carefully at the page and felt that this copy of the *Analects* didn't seem to have anything different. Looking at the content again, it was *Analects - Zilu Chapter 13*.

*Zigong asked: "What must one be like to be called a scholar?" The Master said: "He who in his conduct of himself maintains a sense of shame, and when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his prince's commission, deserves to be called a scholar."*

*Asked: "May I venture to ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?" Said: "He whom the circle of his relatives pronounce to be filial, whom his fellow-villagers and neighbors pronounce to be fraternal."*

*Asked: "May I venture to ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?" Said: "They are determined to be sincere in what they say, and to carry out what they do. They are obstinate little men. Yet perhaps they may make the next class."*

*Asked: "What is the character of those who administer the government in the present day?" The Master said: "Pooh! They are people of small capacity, not worth counting!"*

After reading it, Yu Chen didn't understand what these words actually meant.

Wang Youhong didn't explain the words in the *Analects* either. He said, "Heroic spirit, to put it plainly, is having no way of retreat, only being able to move forward. Those bastard sons of mine, they certainly won't admit it with their mouths, but in their hearts they always feel that no matter what trouble they cause, there is always a way out, there is always someone to take responsibility for them. But look at Chen Ke, when did he ever have a way out? Who could take responsibility for him? I am naturally not a hero, but all these years in Jiangsu I have felt that my life hangs by a thread. No matter how mentally and physically exhausted I was, I had nowhere to go, I had no way of retreat. So later, I didn't think about a way out for anything I did. Either I knew I could do it, so I did it. If I couldn't do it, then I resolutely wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't even think about things I couldn't do myself. That's how I've dragged out my feeble existence until now. You say I'm a hero, that's flattering me. But after I understood this principle, thinking back on those heroes I've seen before, regarding their actions when they accomplished things, without exception, they had never thought of a way of retreat."

After saying this, Wang Youhong saw Yu Chen frowning slightly, seeming unable to understand. Wang Youhong couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. Did he choose the wrong person? Wang Youhong felt somewhat flustered in his heart.

After a while, Yu Chen spoke, "Governor Wang, thank you for your teaching. I have understood your point about having no way out, but I feel that you and Chen Ke, apart from having such spirit, are always able to find a road to walk. I still hope you can give pointers on this."

Wang Youhong couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed in his heart, but Yu Chen being able to understand "having no way out" could be considered picking the general from among the cripples in Jiangsu. Thinking about it again, given Jiangsu's state, what way out was there to speak of? Wang Youhong himself was just muddling along, living one day at a time. If there really was a way out, why would he need to forcibly send his sons back to the old home in Tianjin? Expecting Yu Chen to find a way out himself was also fundamentally impossible.

"Yu Chen, I read an article written by a man named Lu Xun. It said that originally there is no path in the world, but when many people pass, a path is made. The path Chen Ke walked was unprecedented, but he was able to pull countless people to walk with him. Even if there was no road, they trampled out a road. Therefore, the will of Heaven is the hearts of the people. No one can stop the direction of the people's hearts. In all my years in Jiangsu, what I could do was merely to conform to the people's hearts as much as possible..."

Describing Jiangsu's path to his successor, Wang Youhong couldn't help but praise Chen Ke again. If Chen Ke could hear this, he probably wouldn't be able to make any other expression besides a bitter smile. The path Chen Ke walked was the one that countless "predecessors" had trampled out. But Wang Youhong naturally couldn't understand that.

Wang Youhong continued to recount his feelings and experience of being this Governor to his successor, "As the Military Governor of Jiangsu, what needs to be done is to manage Jiangsu's affairs well. Whether they are managed well or not, the people below actually know clearly in their hearts. What the Jiangsu Governor needs to do is merely to maintain the rules well, maintain the system well. Everyone wants to complain that they get too little, but this entire distribution system has to abide by the rules set by everyone gathering together. Chen Ke's capacity is much larger than mine; he can set the system of distribution for the whole world, so he can naturally sit in his current position. And the Jiangsu Governor must be someone who can set the rules for Jiangsu's distribution well. Offending someone isn't scary, making someone lose face isn't scary either. What's scary is if you can't be true in word and resolute in deed. Confucius said that people who are true in word and resolute in deed are merely obstinate little men. However, for a person who only knows how to be an official, only knows how to smooth things over to keep his own position, what did Confucius say? People of small capacity, not worth counting!..."

The People's Party's intelligence agency soon obtained the information that Wang Youhong was dying, was arranging his posthumous affairs, and promoting a successor. The most obvious example was that on October 25th, Wang Youhong's family was sent to Tianjin.

And Chen Ke at this time had also been invited to visit the Soviet Union, on the way to attend the Soviet Union's National Day. Of course, the journey basically wouldn't take two months. Chen Ke's itinerary included inspecting work in Hebei and the Northeast along the railway as he went north. So the work of handling Jiangsu affairs fell on Shang Yuan.

A Jiangsu [situation] couldn't possibly even warrant convening a Politburo Standing Committee meeting. You Gou and the others' children had just been weaned, and they hurriedly went south to Wuhan and other places to inspect work. Xu Dian was straightening out a series of major cases triggered by the implementation of the "Marriage Law" in Henan and other places. Chen Tianhua, Qi Huishen, Zhang Yu, and Li Runshi were responsible for the new Party School cadre training together. Of the Standing Committee members, only Shang Yuan was left to preside over government work. And Shang Yuan himself was preparing to go to Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou to inspect, and was also making work arrangements. regarding the request for instructions on "how to handle the Jiangsu issue," Shang Yuan had just one sentence: Let them handle it themselves, we will not intervene.

So at the end of 1923, no force in China took the British seriously, and as a result, the British became depressed. They had never encountered such a thing in other countries of the world. Even with the United States, a country quite hostile to Britain, Britain had sufficient influence. At least when the British made some moves, the United States had to respond seriously no matter what. Yet they didn't expect to hit a snag in China. The British Empire had never been ignored like this!

According to the British style, what they needed to do at this time was to create some trouble for China, forcing China to approach Britain. But the Battle of Lushun, which had just ended not long ago, gave the British a huge shock. In terms of airplanes, artillery, and submarines, the British level was above that of China.

The British were very clear about the news that China had hired a large number of former German General Staff personnel. There were quite a few among the German Junkers who defected to Britain, and among this group of Germans in China, there were those who provided intelligence to Britain. The British were very clear about what the Germans had provided to China. An expert sees the trick; comparing the technology the Germans provided to China with the technology China ultimately produced, Britain understood that China not only had the ability to imitate but even had its own innovation capability. This meant that China possessed its own powerful technical military force, which triggered strong unease in Britain. Britain didn't even have the mind to create trouble for China anymore.

Sir Humphrey held the report he wrote, picked up his pen wanting to revise it, but didn't know where to start. In terms of data, Sino-British trade had recently gone up a level. The British pound had depreciated significantly once after WWI, requiring the currencies of various countries to appreciate by double against the pound. The Renminbi was a fiat currency, requiring no precious metal collateral; before appreciation, it was a piece of paper, and after appreciation, it was still a piece of paper.

Until now, the British had not been able to obtain an alternative production area for raw silk. Plus, tea among Chinese agricultural products had once again regained market dominance in the world tea market. Traditional Chinese porcelain trade had even driven Japanese porcelain to a dead end in terms of price, and high-end bone china products also appeared. Industrial product prices similarly maintained great competitiveness.

Conversely, because of the depreciation of the pound, China increased the scale of imports. China became the biggest buyer of raw materials in the entire Southeast Asia, and even oil in the Middle East. With such a big buyer intervening in the world market, Sino-British trade volume advanced by leaps and bounds.

Sir Humphrey, however, felt an indescribable, immense danger. China's strength meant that the Far East system Britain had constructed with great difficulty faced a situation of total collapse. What Britain should consider most now was either to increase support for Japan to "maintain the balance of power," or to choose a new "partner."

However, Britain's tradition was to weaken large countries like China as much as possible. If Britain turned to cooperate with China, that meant China would inevitably obtain hegemony in the Far East.