"It seems Kita Ikki has already noticed," Okamura Yasuji said to Nagata Tetsuzan.

There was no need to mention anything specific; Nagata Tetsuzan knew exactly what Okamura Yasuji was referring to. He laughed coldly, "Since Kita Ikki is determined to restrain the Imperial Way Faction, let's see if the Imperial Way Faction is willing to listen to him."

Having the intention to ally and actually achieving an alliance were two different things. Not to mention that even after Nagata Tetsuzan's promotion to Major General, he was still just a Major General. There were many Generals and Lieutenant Generals in the military headquarters, so Nagata Tetsuzan couldn't decide everything.

"But with Kita Ikki restraining the Imperial Way Faction, we can't temporarily use them to deal with those big shots," Okamura Yasuji wasn't so optimistic. The core of the Control Faction was Nagata Tetsuzan, and for Nagata Tetsuzan to ascend to power in the military headquarters, those big shots had to be dealt with. The people of the Imperial Way Faction were the most impulsive; believing their ideals were correct, they were prone to acting recklessly. They were actually the best candidates for eliminating the big shots in the army. Besides the military big shots, there were also a bunch of important ministers now, all of whom were major enemies of the Control Faction's desire for power.

The military big shots at least advocated for the military to hold power, whereas Takahashi Korekiyo was one of the biggest pillars of party politics, known as the "God of Constitutional Government." In the eyes of the Control Faction, Takahashi Korekiyo was the pillar behind the zaibatsu and a political enemy that absolutely had to be eliminated. The best way to eliminate Takahashi Korekiyo was physical elimination.

Who should be sent to accomplish this task of "Heaven's Punishment"?

When Nagata Tetsuzan discussed sending someone to assassinate Takahashi Korekiyo, he always felt a bit uneasy in his heart. He had also probed Hirohito's attitude towards Takahashi Korekiyo multiple times. Although this Japanese Emperor, who was just over 30 years old, had a dislike for the old fogies, he trusted Takahashi Korekiyo very much.

This wasn't just Hirohito's feeling alone. Any faction in Japan, whether they liked Takahashi Korekiyo or not, trusted this old man's economic abilities. For over 20 years, Cabinet Prime Ministers had changed like a revolving lantern, and Cabinet Ministers had taken the stage in rotation like cutting chives, but Takahashi Korekiyo had always stood firm in the Cabinet. Regardless of who sent someone to kill Takahashi Korekiyo, and regardless of whether the instigator's faction could take charge of Japan's power, the instigator would absolutely not remain safe and sound. Nagata Tetsuzan and Okamura Yasuji had no intention of being pawns for others.

"Then let's start with synthetic ammonia. Have the newspapers publish articles saying that once synthetic ammonia is controlled by private enterprise, the price will definitely not come down," Okamura Yasuji suggested.

After Kita Ikki mobilized retired soldiers to return to their hometowns to promote the "50% Tax" issue, he was also promoting the popularization of synthetic ammonia along the way. Naturally, Nagata Tetsuzan had no reason to let Kita Ikki get his way.

After the People's Party and the United States jointly developed synthetic ammonia, the industry became a money-printing machine for the People's Party, earning countless amounts of money over twenty years. After Japan finally mastered the relevant technology for this industry, they realized just how much profit this industry could generate and how significant it was for the country.

Currently, the state was investing in building fertilizer plants, and the Army controlled the reactor steel. This industry, which was extremely important to Japan, absolutely could not fall into the hands of the zaibatsu, nor could it be controlled by bureaucratic departments like the Ministry of Commerce. The synthetic ammonia industry had to be firmly controlled by the Ministry of the Army!

"I already have a plan," Nagata Tetsuzan said.

"Oh?" Okamura Yasuji was somewhat surprised by Nagata Tetsuzan's statement. Without being 100% sure, Nagata Tetsuzan would not have said this.

"According to the Americans, the People's Party already has a 70,000-ton synthetic ammonia production line. We might as well import such a production line from the People's Party," Nagata Tetsuzan replied.

"Where will the money come from?" Importing core technology from the United States and Britain had already cost a lot of money. Okamura Yasuji couldn't think of how to get such a large sum.

"We can raise this fund from the soldiers," Nagata Tetsuzan replied.

Okamura Yasuji rolled his eyes and roughly understood Nagata Tetsuzan's meaning. Most Japanese soldiers were from peasant backgrounds, and their desire for fertilizer that could increase yields by 20% was the strongest. Once this project could be introduced and completed, not only could the Ministry of the Army exclusively possess the most advanced synthetic ammonia production, but they could also control the peasants through the distribution and rationing of fertilizer. At the same time, it could also express a friendly attitude towards China.

Even if this project fell through, the military headquarters could push the responsibility onto the "sinners." At that time, those sinners would have to face the wrath of all the soldiers who had invested in this project.

"But will China agree?" Okamura Yasuji was very worried about this.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Okamura-kun, to make a trip to China personally," Nagata Tetsuzan said.

Okamura Yasuji didn't really want to stick his neck out, but one sentence from Nagata Tetsuzan made him dispel the thought of retreating, "I have already mentioned this matter to His Majesty, and His Majesty is very interested."

So, in January 1934, Okamura Yasuji stepped onto Chinese soil once again.

Okamura Yasuji's last visit to China happened to coincide with the People's Party executing Cai Yuanpei, back when the People's Party had just seized national power. In Okamura Yasuji's impression, some large cities in China might not necessarily be more prosperous than Tokyo, though the ordinary countryside was more advanced than rural Japan.

This time coming to China, Okamura Yasuji specifically chose to enter via Shanghai. Shanghai had been the largest city in the Far East since the late 19th century. After arriving in this city again, Okamura Yasuji was stunned. The Shanghai port had undergone massive expansion and was vastly different from before.

For a metropolis like Shanghai, expanding the port was nothing. After passing customs and entering Shanghai city, Okamura Yasuji discovered that the Shanghai of a dozen years ago had vanished. The Shanghai filled with longtangs and alleyways had completely disappeared. Unfolded before Okamura Yasuji was a gigantic modern city. Ordinary roads were basically six lanes, while broad avenues were ten or even twelve lanes. On both sides of the roads were beautiful green belts, and cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles streamed endlessly on the roads.

Looking at those broad and straight avenues, Okamura Yasuji felt that the Chinese had simply built the roads as airport runways. His soldier's intuition was not wrong; when those main roads were constructed, there was indeed such an intention. In the event of a sudden state of war, the large avenues could immediately be converted into temporary airfields. Of course, Okamura Yasuji did not know these things.

In the space framed by the curving or straight lanes were six or seven-story buildings. These buildings had no particular distinctiveness, but the buildings nestled among the greenery stretched on endlessly. Compared to the low wooden houses of Tokyo, these buildings in Shanghai fully embodied China's industrial capacity, which far exceeded that of Japan.

"Is this the gap between China and Japan?" Okamura Yasuji said silently in his heart. Facts always speak louder than words. Regardless of whether Okamura Yasuji had once advocated war with China, after seeing the changes in Shanghai, he had already dispelled that notion.

"Such a city is not inferior even compared to the United States," said Yamamoto Isoroku, standing beside Okamura Yasuji. The Ministry of the Navy naturally wouldn't sit by and watch the Ministry of the Army swallow the big pie of synthetic ammonia all by itself. Since Okamura Yasuji was leading the team, the Ministry of the Navy sent Yamamoto Isoroku, who had once studied at Harvard University, as Okamura Yasuji's "assistant."

"If we were to attack such a city, what method does Yamamoto-kun think would be best?" Okamura Yasuji asked Yamamoto.

Yamamoto Isoroku thought carefully for a while, then shook his head, "The Navy has no way. What would the Army do?"

Okamura Yasuji actually hadn't come up with any method either. The city before him was massive in scale. According to Japanese intelligence, Shanghai already had a population of over 5 million. If the Army were sent to attack such a city, they would probably have to commit at least 500,000 troops. Currently, the total number of Japan's Army and Navy combined wasn't that high. Okamura Yasuji and Yamamoto discussed it, and the two decided to temporarily change their schedule. They would first tour Shanghai and the nearby cities to see what kind of strength China actually possessed.

Cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Zhenjiang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River were not far apart. These cities, large and small, formed a city cluster. It could be said that the essence of China's Yangtze River basin was almost all gathered here. If one went upriver, past Nanjing were Wuhu, Anqing, and Wuhan. That was where the People's Party had started. Okamura Yasuji had been there; the industrial level there was already quite strong a dozen years ago. Looking at the changes in Shanghai, the situation there should presumably be even stronger now.

Another reason for deciding to change the itinerary was that neither Okamura Yasuji nor Yamamoto Isoroku believed that what they saw before their eyes was real. They both suspected that this was a vanity project created by the Chinese government, making the important city of Shanghai magnificent to keep up appearances.

Thus, the head of the Japanese delegation and his assistant took their subordinates on a tour of Jiangnan. Railways had been built between all the cities, and transportation was extremely convenient. Okamura Yasuji understood intelligence work well, and Yamamoto Isoroku had a broad horizon. Moreover, the work of introducing technology itself wasn't particularly urgent. The Japanese delegation spent fifteen days in Jiangnan touring the city cluster between Shanghai and Nanjing.

The silk and embroidery of Suzhou and Hangzhou, the cuisine of Zhenjiang, the historical sites of Nanjing—these were originally things pleasing to the eye and mind, not to mention that the scenery of Jiangnan was inherently good. Even in the cold of January, it didn't appear lifeless. But these two outstanding figures of the Japanese military felt a chill in their hearts, as cold as the near-freezing air.

The results of what the Japanese group saw and investigated along the way proved that this was absolutely not a prosperity feigned for show. There were no extremely wealthy people in China now, but there were also no people who lacked food and clothing and had nothing. The latter was arguably too rare in this world. Of course, the Japanese also saw some Chinese people dressed in rags and looking dirty. But a glance revealed that it was due to personal reasons, because these people didn't have the complexion caused by starvation. On the contrary, there were some guys who looked like technicians with dark circles under their eyes and poor complexions. That was obviously a problem caused by working too hard and had nothing to do with starving.

There weren't many people on the streets during the day, but after work in the evening, the entire city bustled with activity. With the Spring Festival approaching, business on the streets was booming with people buying New Year's goods. At night, these cities were brightly lit; at the very least, the streetlights on every street were on.

The area toured by the Japanese group was at least half the size of Japan. The stability and affluence here proved that this fertile land of China was far stronger than Japan. The industrial and agricultural strength of this land alone exceeded that of the entire country of Japan.

Yamamoto Isoroku was rather free-spirited. Yamamoto had a gambling addiction, and he knew that Shanghai and other places originally had casinos. He also wanted to gamble a few hands to satisfy his craving, but the local Japanese consulate told Yamamoto Isoroku that China had banned gambling, and the casinos had long been eradicated. Finally, after they arrived in Nanjing, they finally found a professional casino, and Yamamoto Isoroku went in and satisfied his craving in a big way. To Yamamoto Isoroku, whose gambling skills reached the level of a professional gambler, the level of Chinese gamblers was really quite lousy. He won over twenty thousand in one go at the casino, and in the end, the casino manager "escorted" him out.

With extra money in hand, Yamamoto first set aside a portion to pay back a good friend of his. He had previously lost 3,000 yuan to this good friend over a small bet. Although Yamamoto's friend didn't take it seriously, Yamamoto was willing to bet and willing to pay. He would pay back whenever he had some spare money, and he had been paying it back for several years. Winning so much in the Chinese casino was enough to pay off the remaining debt. Then, playing the host, Yamamoto rented a pleasure boat on the Qinhuai River and called some girls to drink with them.

Okamura Yasuji didn't talk much, but seeing Yamamoto's style, he couldn't help but mock in Japanese, "If only the level of the Chinese army were the same as the Chinese gamblers' gambling skills."

Yamamoto shook his head, "The stronger a country is, the worse its gambling skills probably are. Everyone is busy with proper business; who has time for this?"

Okamura Yasuji hadn't expected Yamamoto Isoroku's mind to still be so clear. He couldn't help but size up Yamamoto carefully for a few moments before continuing to ask, "Does Yamamoto-kun think Japan still has the strength to fight China?"

Yamamoto Isoroku sighed slightly, "We still have the strength for a fight, but the war will inevitably end in defeat."

"Inevitably end in defeat?" Okamura Yasuji repeated, as if asking a follow-up question, or perhaps asking himself.

"Inevitably be defeated!" Yamamoto Isoroku didn't have any taboos. "China and Japan are too close, so close that a complete defense is impossible. The Navy can launch landings directly on Kyushu and southern Honshu from Korea, and the Air Force can bomb Japan directly. I originally thought the Chinese newspapers saying steel production broke 20 million tons was boasting, but now it seems they indeed have this strength."

Okamura Yasuji actually acknowledged Yamamoto Isoroku's point of view. Along the way, they had seen too many construction sites in Chinese cities. The buildings in those cities were all reinforced concrete frame structures, and the scaffolding was made of steel pipes. Not to mention the cars on the streets and the bicycles in every household. These all required massive amounts of steel, as well as sufficient steel processing capability.

There was no need to say the rest; Okamura and Yamamoto were both smart people. They wouldn't conceive plans of invasion just because they saw China's wealth. This steel could be used for civilian purposes, and it could just as easily be used in the military field. The Taiwan Campaign had proven just to what extent China could be armed. Neither of them mentioned the issue of a Sino-Japanese war again, because both knew that unless China itself experienced some special turmoil and suffered a fatal blow from another powerful country, Japan no longer had the power to challenge China.

After determining these things, the Japanese delegation transferred from Nanjing to Xuzhou, and then took the train from Xuzhou all the way to Zhengzhou. After all, their official mission was to discuss purchasing Chinese synthetic ammonia production lines with China.