"Didn't Wenqing want Comrade Li Runshi to solve the Japan issue?" You Gou voiced her guess.

"Comrade You Gou, are you accusing me of engaging in personnel maneuvering?" Chen Ke immediately asked.

You Gou was never polite with Chen Ke. She laughed, "A little bit. Even if the Japan issue can't compare to China's problems, it's still a future strategic pivot for China. Why are you so determined to hastily give up on it?"

"When China is in chaos, Japan excitedly runs over to intervene in Chinese affairs. What is our People's Party's attitude towards Japan?" Chen Ke asked in return.

You Gou naturally had her own understanding of international politics. To Chen Ke's question, she answered frankly, "So you'll just watch the Japanese revolutionaries get finished off? Or is there any necessity for us to wait any longer?"

Chen Ke knew that what You Gou hoped for most now was a stable situation. If Japan could stabilize, China would have a great opportunity to integrate Japan into China's economic sphere. So Chen Ke replied, "The current state of the Japanese revolution is no longer a question of how to walk the future path. I've looked at the materials; although the route formulated by the Toseiha has many problems, the general framework has redeeming qualities. We can reach a cooperation relationship based on peace with Japan at any time. Japan's current core issue is a problem of power distribution. The Emperor, the Emperor's trusted Showa warlords, the traditional old guys, the democrats, and those zaibatsu. How many soldiers do the revolutionaries have? How many Japanese troops can the revolutionaries actually unite? To what extent can they gain the support of the people? These are all unknowns to us."

"Hehe," You Gou laughed. "Wenqing, at any rate, you wrote the draft on social behavioral science. I read some of your attitudes regarding males and females based on physiological characteristics, and I think there are some redeeming qualities. Men like excitement and face when doing things. National face, rationality, and so on. Anyway, you guys think the things concocted in your brains are real. Actually, when the stomach is hungry, one must eat. When you analyzed the root of the Japanese revolution, you spoke with righteous assurance that Japan's economic problems determined Japan's political struggle. The upper strata fight for power and profit, but the common people below need jobs and income. When the Toseiha contacted us, we could say that because Japan wasn't revolutionary enough, we'd leave them hanging. Now that someone has risen up to rebel, why can't we support Japan a little?"

This line of thought was quite unique. Chen Ke found it a bit interesting. He asked, "Then why didn't you raise this at the Standing Committee meeting?"

You Gou laughed, "Reasoning has never been a woman's strong suit. I can't out-debate everyone at the Standing Committee meeting when it comes to reasoning. But why not try it this way? Even if the sincere goal is to prevent other factions from dealing a killer blow to the revolutionaries, we should at least make a statement. Later, even if these people who started the incident really fail, wouldn't we have a clear conscience? Besides, this happens to be a legitimate reason to refuse cooperation with other Japanese factions."

If Chen Ke could analyze many things theoretically, making these tasks conform to human feelings was undoubtedly his weakness. Not just Chen Ke, although the People's Party had always advocated against adopting a military control model, in reality, the command-style model was somewhat deep-rooted. Chen Ke's role was to point out the path, and so far his work had been considered successful. This directly led to the command-style working method not only not weakening but showing a trend of strengthening.

Under such a male-style atmosphere, You Gou's suggestion undoubtedly appeared very "fresh." This wasn't because the method was so different, but because You Gou's starting point and thinking mode were indeed vastly different from Chen Ke and the others. Chen Ke and the others used a "rational attitude" to believe that failure was inevitable, which didn't mean they thought failure was deserved. You Gou's starting point was undoubtedly that since they would likely fail, why not try with a friendly gesture? At least this also conveyed friendliness. As a woman, this was almost instinct. Without this instinct, mothers would have probably beaten their mischievous children to death long ago.

"Then let's convene another Standing Committee meeting to discuss this issue," Chen Ke made the decision.

The next day, the Standing Committee met again. You Gou discussed her thoughts with the comrades. The members of the Standing Committee were quite appreciative of You Gou's attitude. Japan's geographical location was critical to China. Unless they were prepared to let Japan fire the first shot and then have China enter Japan, a Japan with good relations with China was obviously more beneficial.

How to utilize the Japanese situation to drive the Japanese situation was a rather interesting method.

"We can send a special envoy to visit the King of Japan," You Gou proposed.

"Isn't this plainly making it hard for the Emperor to step down?" Chen Ke laughed. Back then, he copied Chairman Mao and shouted, "The Chinese people have stood up!" After these years of stable life and a series of foreign victories, China had indeed stood up. No matter what kind of person, none dared to rely on foreigners to boost their own weight. Anyone who dared to do so was destined for a miserable end. If judging others by oneself, the Japanese side would certainly feel great humiliation.

You Gou didn't care much about this. "If he can't step down, it's the Emperor who can't step down. What does it have to do with the Japanese upper strata? If we can lobby the Japanese upper strata and make them believe that sufficient adjustments to domestic policy will yield huge benefits, it might not be a bad opportunity. We want a Japan that no longer thinks about sneak-attacking China all day long. Isn't achieving this goal enough?"

Theoretically, this was not bad. It was just that even if the comrades of the People's Party were proficient in dark matters, that was a struggle against the darkness in their own hearts and against those guys in the system who drilled for loopholes. These comrades at least had male self-esteem. Everyone was clear about power tactics but might not necessarily like them.

From the perspective of seeking truth from facts, You Gou's suggestion was actually quite good. After all, facts always override face. The Standing Committee finally agreed to "give it a try." Then the representative figure became a bit difficult to choose. If it were Zhang Yu, this relatively shady guy, as the special envoy, the comrades would feel at ease. The current Standing Committee was truly "full of righteousness." The shadiest was none other than Chen Ke, and everyone knew that Chen Ke actually disliked this kind of action the most.

Although Foreign Minister Gu Weijun was proficient in diplomacy, he was of the scholarly path. Letting him do this, it was uncertain if he wouldn't be sold by those old slippery fellows. Now, a "treacherous person" was really needed. Everyone looked at Organization Minister Qi Huishen. When Qi Huishen pondered, he would frown, and the comrades waited. After a good while, Qi Huishen replied, "Comrade Hu Fu might be relatively suitable for this special envoy job."

Whether it succeeded or not, it wouldn't have much impact on China. Since Qi Huishen recommended a comrade, everyone fully trusted Comrade Qi Huishen's judgment.

On April 7, 1937, the Chinese side sent out a special envoy. Things turned out just as You Gou had predicted; the Japanese side did not refuse at all. Instead, they waited nervously and excitedly for the Chinese special envoy to go to Japan.

The Japanese were also afraid that China would loot a burning house, and the Toseiha's original plan also included a temporary comprehensive easing of relations with China to expand Japan's import and export trade. This wasn't because the Toseiha really adhered to the "Sino-Japanese Friendship" stance. Raw material development in Southeast Asia was limited, and the United States and Japan were separated by a Pacific Ocean. Importing raw materials and equipment from these two places had the problem of high costs. If they could get raw materials from nearby China, costs could be greatly reduced.

The timing of this mutiny happened to be at the critical moment when the Toseiha was about to complete domestic integration and establish a new order for future Japan. The core figures of the Toseiha had been caught in one net, and other factions were in a leaderless state. And the most interesting thing was that this period, where everything was ready and only the east wind was lacking, happened to be leaderless. So whoever could become this dragon head naturally had a good opportunity to claim the completed work for themselves.

The troops after the mutiny did not engage in a massacre; they only implemented military control in Tokyo, Japan. The news of the Chinese special envoy's arrival made Kita Ikki extremely happy. He immediately notified the imprisoned high officials. This news brought a considerable impact to these Japanese who harbored various thoughts.

For Japan, "who takes the lead" to convene an important meeting was a big issue. This determined the status of the meeting convener. At least in terms of Japanese historical tradition, the Emperor had always been behind the scenes, or even controlled by the bosses below. Convening meetings basically had nothing to do with the Emperor. Given the current situation, the ones convening the meeting were undoubtedly this group of mutineers who controlled Tokyo.

Comrade Hu Fu quickly discovered the problem with his keen observational ability. Moreover, after visiting the heads of various factions in Tokyo with amazing physical strength and energy, he straightened out the current situation in Japan.

Suzuki Kantaro, who was detained by the uprising troops, obtained permission to go see the Emperor. He recounted the demands that Lieutenant Colonel Kato Teruzo had already presented to the Emperor. The demands of the uprising troops were relatively simple.

The Emperor's power to rule personally must be restored; arrest the "ringleaders and traitorous officials" of the anti-Kodoha faction such as Minami Jiro, Koiso Kuniaki, Tatekawa Yoshitsugu, and Ugaki Kazushige; immediately dismiss Hayashi Senjuro to deter Russia. And implement the "Showa Restoration" in Japan, start land reform, rebuild state-owned enterprises, and complete the state's means of macroeconomic control over the economy.

It wasn't just Suzuki Kantaro, a heavyweight of the Navy, who came to advise. War Minister Kawashima also got the opportunity to come and persuade the Emperor. After introducing the demands of the mutiny troops, Kawashima took the opportunity to suggest, "Please, Your Majesty, consider that the insurgents acted in Your Majesty's name and adhered to the intent of the supreme command. It is entirely a sincere heart of loyalty to the country. Please, Your Majesty, grant forgiveness."

Before Kawashima could finish, Hirohito said in a tone of great rage, "Leaving aside where their spirit lies, their actions primarily damage the essence of the national polity. Murdering my股肱 (right-hand) old officials, such brutal officers, no matter what their 'spirit' is, should not be granted any forgiveness. I absolutely will not allow violent officers to act wildly. This incident must be suppressed as soon as possible! As soon as possible!" Seeing the Emperor's rage, Kawashima had to click his tongue and retreat. Hirohito, with his anger still unappeased, muttered to himself, "The Army's lawlessness is unimaginable; they are simply strangling my neck!"

Regarding the Kodoha rebellion, the staff officers of the Toseiha naturally wished to suppress it immediately. However, unable to directly mobilize troops, they had to seek help from the Emperor's highest authority. On the afternoon of the 4th, 2nd Division Commander Umezu Yoshijiro, who was out of town, and Tani Hisao and Tojo Hideki of the 6th Division clearly expressed their attitude of resolute suppression.

The Emperor naturally wanted to resist desperately and refused to yield to the mutineers, but other forces might not be so.

The demands put forward by the mutiny troops sounded very appetizing to the group that had reached a consensus with the Toseiha. Apart from the land reform matter being relatively ambiguous, the other demands seemed very familiar and very reasonable to the upper strata.

Kita Ikki naturally had his own plan for this. There was no need to force everyone into an opposing stance. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he began to mobilize the grassroots forces of the Japanese Anti-Feudal Alliance in the countryside and started organizing the "Audience with the Emperor" action. People from various places who were dissatisfied with the existing order selected their own representatives. These representatives, carrying the trust of their hometown elders and full of grief and indignation as well as hope, personally went to Tokyo to pour out their hearts to the Emperor.

The grassroots personnel of the Japanese Anti-Feudal Alliance guaranteed these people that after arriving in Tokyo, they would definitely be able to see the Emperor personally and personally relay these tragic facts happening in Japan to the Emperor.

After such a series of visits, Comrade Hu Fu sent a long letter to the People's Party Central Committee on April 14. The beginning wrote straightforwardly, "The Japanese mutiny is transforming in a revolutionary direction."

Kita Ikki's idea really fit Japan's national conditions. Japan's problem lay in the power being completely held in the hands of layers of the ruling class. The people's voice could not "reach the heavens directly" at all. Of course, reaching the heavens directly actually didn't have much meaning. The Emperor never represented the Japanese people.

But the purpose of this approach was a major reshuffle. Once this action of reaching the heavens directly could be realized, the Japanese people who suffered from conservative oppression would naturally hope that this situation could be maintained. This was like ordinary Chinese people suing to the Emperor. Actually, everyone hoped to be able to contact the highest ruler directly. Even if this suing to the Emperor was actually a joke, having this thought or not was truly vastly different. This was the people rising up to resist.

On October 28, 1922, Benito Mussolini, dissatisfied that the Fascist Party only won 105 seats out of 535 in the 1921 Italian parliamentary election, called on 30,000 supporters to march into Rome. This event successfully forced the then King of Italy, Emmanuel III, to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister. It also demonstrated the power of the Fascist Party to the outside world. The only reason the King of Italy succumbed was that he feared civil war.

With tens of thousands of Japanese people full of grievances marching into Tokyo, it was impossible for the Japanese Emperor not to be afraid. As for the thoughts of the soldiers in the Japanese Army, they would also be greatly different. This group of people who launched the mutiny would undoubtedly be seen as their own by the lower class.

However, the most critical issue now was not the Japanese Army. The old guys in the Army obviously didn't see how powerful the means adopted by Kita Ikki were. The Kodoha had always been shouting about touching the pain of the common people; this was the banner the old Army guys used to dupe the young officers into dying for them. A considerable number of low and middle-ranking soldiers sincerely supported this view. Even Obata Toshishiro, one of the former "Three Crows of Baden-Baden" and the only one currently alive, thought so.

The problem lay with the Navy.

Navy General Staff Chief Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu convened his staff that day and clearly stated the attitude of suppression. At 12:00 noon on the 3rd, Combined Fleet Commander Takahashi Sankichi issued an order to the fleet exercising off Tosa to have the First Fleet enter Tokyo Bay and the Second Fleet enter Osaka Bay. Toyota Soemu, then Director of the Naval Affairs Bureau, roared, "If the Army doesn't have the intention, then we will do it!" On the afternoon of the 5th, Yokosuka Naval District Commander Yonai Mitsumasa's First Destroyer Squadron sent the landing force ashore via Shibaura, piled up sandbag fortifications, and assumed a combat posture.

For the whole day of the 6th, Emperor Hirohito spent it in anxiety. Because Suzuki Kantaro had already informed Hirohito that at this time, the First Fleet, led by the flagship battleship "Kirishima," had mightily sailed into Tokyo Bay, and all ships had aimed their guns at the rebel positions on land. The "Kirishima" was aiming at the Diet Building occupied by the rebels. Lieutenant Nagamitsu, leader of the 9th Division responsible for determining the target, used a rangefinder to carefully measure the distance from the "Nagato" to the Diet Building as 19,000 meters. The Second Fleet commanded by Kato Takayoshi also arrived in Osaka Bay around 9 am on the 6th under the lead of the flagship heavy cruiser "Atago" and began to implement vigilance.

In the Taiwan campaign, three Kongo-class battleships were lost in one go, and other warships also suffered significant losses. But the Combined Fleet still dispatched all warships, attempting to intimidate the mutiny troops so they wouldn't dare to do anything more.

Just as Comrade Hu Fu's letter was transmitted all the way to Zhengzhou by plane, the situation in Japan changed again. Although the high officials of the Navy were filled with righteous indignation one by one, led by Navy General Staff Chief Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu expressing that they must kill all the rebels, the first batch of more than three thousand public representatives from Honshu finally arrived in Tokyo. Under the arrangement of the mutiny troops, these representatives went to have an audience with the Emperor in ten batches.

Many of these ordinary public representatives hadn't even seen their local mayor, but now, after seeing the living god Emperor of Japan with their own eyes, they knelt humbly on the ground to pay respect to the Emperor one by one. Hirohito was forced to meet this group of people, and he was greatly unwilling in his heart. But hearing these people state their names and origins one by one, turning out to be public representatives from various places, he couldn't help but feel some shock in his heart.

Although these representatives lacked language organization skills, the pain they had suffered over these years was real. Moreover, before seeing the Emperor, the mutiny troops and the Japanese Anti-Feudal Alliance had helped them summarize their greatest pains. After these people kowtowed piously, they requested the Emperor to make decisions regarding the various unreasonable and unequal things they suffered.

Hirohito really didn't know what the situation was like among the Japanese folk. After listening to these people's outpourings, Hirohito was really frightened. This wasn't because he had much sympathy for the people, but because Hirohito felt that the conflicts among the Japanese folk were so intense at this time, posing a posture of a powder keg. If ignored, it wouldn't be just a mutiny. It was very likely that a real civil war would break out.