"Don't talk about being forced into it. Look at those traitors, death row inmates, and criminals. How many of them say they did bad things because they actually wanted to? If they didn't want to, would they have done it? True cowards will always say they were forced. When revolutionaries face death on the execution ground, who says they were forced? At that moment, as long as they are willing to say they surrender, they can survive!"

There were many reasons why Chen Ke got beaten up when he was a child, but as long as he dared to say something like "I was forced to do so-and-so," a beating was inevitable. After his parents finished beating him, they wouldn't just let it go. After the physical stimulation ended, there would be a session of "mental torture."

Before joining the revolution, Chen Ke was very impatient with this kind of talk, even if he thought it was correct. It wasn't until after he joined the revolution that Chen Ke realized what his parents had actually taught him. Biological parents are still biological parents; facing a bastard like Chen Ke who was unswervingly committed to the wrong path, they really had to force the knowledge down his throat like forcing an ox to drink water.

Therefore, regarding Hirohito's assassination attempt on Kita Ikki, Chen Ke didn't think it was anything extraordinary. It was all too common for Hirohito to do such a thing; no one would obediently hand over power. Even Chen Ke himself wouldn't do so. The only thing to worry about was the viewpoint of the Showa Restorationists. If they felt that Hirohito was forced to do this, that would be terrible.

Almost at the same time Ando Teruzo received the news, Chen Ke ordered Li Runshi to go and talk with Ando Teruzo to see what the Meiji Restorationists thought about Hirohito. The news Li Runshi brought back made Chen Ke very satisfied. At least Ando Teruzo himself didn't think there should be any special treatment for Hirohito because of this. Since the weapons had already been confiscated, it would be enough to be more careful next time they negotiated with Hirohito. Moreover, Ando Teruzo believed that it was necessary to make Hirohito temporarily disappear from the political stage for a year or so at this time.

"To what extent does Comrade Ando Teruzo's attitude represent the thoughts of the Imperial Way Faction?" Chen Ke asked Li Runshi.

"He indicated that there are still some people in the Imperial Way Faction who hope for the Emperor's direct rule. It is said that this incident was also caused by Kita Ikki proposing to Hirohito that he should rule directly," Li Runshi had investigated very clearly.

"It seems Hirohito is not confused." Chen Ke was quite appreciative of Hirohito's judgment.

Unlike Chinese emperors, Japanese emperors did not have a tradition of direct rule. They were either played in the palm of the Japanese Shogun's hand, or, as is the case now, the current Emperor's lineage was legally traitorous. This knowledge was explained in detail to the comrades of the People's Party by Kuroshima Jinichiro. Kuroshima Jinichiro, or Kuroshima Jin, claimed to have three thousand years of noble blood and was a direct descendant of the Southern Court Emperor.

After Emperor Go-Daigo destroyed the Kamakura Shogunate, he carried out the first restoration of imperial rule and implemented new policies, known in history as the Kenmu Restoration. Because the new policies failed to satisfy the demands of the samurai and only reused the court nobles in Kyoto, it aroused the dissatisfaction of the samurai. Among them, the anti-shogunate general Ashikaga Takauji was even more dissatisfied. Although he was bestowed the character "Taka" (Zun) from the Emperor's name, he wanted to open a shogunate. As a result, Ashikaga Takauji forced Emperor Go-Daigo to abdicate. The new Emperor, Emperor Kogon, appointed him as the Seii Taishogun (Generalissimo Who Quells the Barbarians). This was the Northern Court.

After Emperor Go-Daigo abdicated, he took the Three Sacred Treasures, which symbolized the Emperor, and retreated to Yoshino in Yamato (present-day Nara Prefecture). This was the Southern Court. Thus, the Northern and Southern Courts were finally formed, and history books also call it "One Day, Two Emperors, South and North Capital."

After many offenses and defenses, the power of the Southern Court declined. In 1392, the third Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu forced the Southern Court to surrender. Emperor Go-Kameyama handed over the Three Sacred Treasures (the Yata no Kagami, Yasakani no Magatama, and Kusanagi no Tsurugi passed down by Amaterasu Omikami) to the Emperor of the Northern Court, ending the Northern and Southern Courts period.

The question of who was the orthodox lineage in the Northern and Southern Courts has been debated in Japanese history for hundreds of years. Some say that the Northern Court controlled most parts of the country, so they were the de facto rulers and should be orthodox. But others say that the sacred treasures handed over by Go-Daigo were fake, so the orthodoxy was still on the Southern Court's side. Until 1911, Kotoku Shusui, a pioneer of the Japanese socialist movement, still plausibly argued: "Isn't the current Emperor a descendant of the usurpers who snatched the Three Sacred Treasures from the descendants of the Southern Court Emperors?" For a time, it caused a huge uproar in Japan, and the political elder Yamagata Aritomo even consulted the Privy Council on this matter. Finally, Emperor Meiji, a descendant of the Northern Court Emperors, made a ruling, recognizing the Southern Court as orthodox. The Northern Court Emperors were not included in the imperial succession series, but their status and treatment remained unchanged. Therefore, Ashikaga Takauji was regarded as a rebellious subject and traitor, while Kusunoki Masashige became a model of loyalty to the Emperor.

Of course, Kotoku Shusui was killed. The People's Party did not care what role his remarks played in his death. Right now, Hirohito's actions were obviously intended to stir up trouble. No matter what, Hirohito was still the Emperor. Without the Control Faction composed of Showa warlords, there was still the banner of "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Traitors" of the Imperial Way Faction. Unless Hirohito was prepared to let Kita Ikki and his group of restorationists completely seize power, he had reached the point where he had to act.

Kita Ikki did not dare to directly kill the Emperor and set up a new monarch. If he did that, the legal basis for the restorationists' uprising would cease to exist. This was not the People's Party rising up in rebellion, where they didn't care about your status. Those standing on the opposite side of the revolution were all counter-revolutionaries. The People's Party simply did not have the need to rely on the other party's existence to establish its own legitimacy.

Whether the revolutionary concept is thorough is a very important matter for a revolutionary group. One of the reasons Lenin killed the Russian Tsar was to cut off the so-called "legal tradition" of old Russia. It's easier to die first than later. If Hirohito didn't want to be completely wiped out by the restorationists who were slowly accumulating strength in the future, then he had to establish his existence with the determination to die.

Li Runshi and Chen Ke talked for a while, and the two determined a common idea. "This is indeed a very thorny issue." Li Runshi sighed. Even with the People's Party's revolutionary theory being quite perfect, they still needed to snake around with Yuan Shikai for a long time. The future is bright, but the road is always tortuous enough.

"Hirohito is just afraid that this matter won't get big enough. Looking at it now, the restorationists still temporarily control the situation. I hope they can continue to control it." Chen Ke sighed.

"We can only wait like this!" Li Runshi, like Chen Ke, had enough patience.

Only the person finally chosen by the people can become the leader of the country. This is true for any country. The silent majority is expressing their attitude with silence. When the people speak out with their common voice together, no one can resist it. Chen Ke was very clear about this. Chiang Kai-shek possessed overwhelming power back then, but when the people shouted "We want liberation," Chiang Kai-shek was utterly defeated and finally ran away to that small island.

"What is the British reaction now?" Chen Ke asked. The Minister of Propaganda also held the responsibility of leading the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With Japan making such a fuss, the British shouted some words, but no real action was seen from Britain.

"Britain is still up to its old tricks, but the American side asked us a question. Are we involved in this matter?" Li Runshi replied.

"The United States..." Chen Ke just said a simple sentence and then fell silent temporarily. The attitude of the United States was very important. In the Western Pacific, Japan had always been the United States' toughest opponent. Since the implementation of the New Deal, the United States had been focusing on internal affairs, doing its best to get out of the Great Depression. However, temporary silence does not equal permanent silence. Chen Ke did not believe that the Americans would just obediently watch the show until the end. One must know that in the ongoing Spanish Civil War, the US attitude was very clear.

The United States believed that the Soviet Union participated in the overthrow of the Spanish royal family in 1931, so it was hostile to the newly appointed republican government. After the civil war broke out, Secretary of State Cordell Hull ordered a ban on all arms sales to the Spanish government, "upholding a policy of neutrality." However, private American companies provided support to both warring parties. Texaco provided the Nationalists with 3.5 million tons of gasoline on credit without a fixed repayment date. General Motors and Ford provided the Nationalists with a total of 12,000 trucks. The DuPont Company sold a lot of ammunition to Franco.

Anglo-Saxons seemed to be born with a shit-stirring attitude. Even if Chen Ke was not a racist, he couldn't help but have this thought.

The question the United States asked China was actually quite dangerous. It showed that the United States was very likely to show its hand to China on the Japan issue.

"If the United States shows its hand to us, isn't this a good thing?" Li Runshi couldn't help asking when he saw Chen Ke looking serious.

"Eh?" Chen Ke felt a bit puzzled.

"If the United States really wants to stage another Black Ships incident in Japan, then it is equivalent to forcing Japan to our side," Li Runshi replied. Seeing that Chen Ke's expression was still not that bright, Li Runshi smiled, "I don't think we can control the precise direction of the future. It's just that, as materialists, shouldn't we first believe in the facts that have already happened?"

A smile finally appeared on Chen Ke's face. Li Runshi's reminder allowed Chen Ke to break free from the thought of wanting to control the situation. This was one of Chen Ke's habits for a long time; he always tried to master the situation and lead the revolution in a better direction. This is the work that leaders must engage in, but in theory, it contradicts materialism. Materialists believe in the primacy of matter. All actions of materialists must be based on facts and must treat the world with an attitude of seeking truth from facts.

As a person from downstream in history, Chen Ke could base his actions on the facts of his time. When the two timelines overlapped highly, Chen Ke could also "predict the future and control the future." Now that there was a major divergence in the direction of these two timelines, Chen Ke had to respond to everything that happened with the actions of a materialist.

This was something Chen Ke knew, but also something difficult for him to do subconsciously. Li Runshi's reminder gave Chen Ke a sudden feeling of the clouds parting to see the sun. The various pressures accumulated over these days suddenly flew beyond the highest heavens.

Seeing the change in Chen Ke's expression, Li Runshi couldn't help but smile too. Many people had said that Chen Ke planned to let Li Runshi be the next Party Chairman, and Li Runshi knew this. According to Li Runshi's own judgment, Chen Ke's actions also clearly showed such a trend. But Li Runshi himself didn't care about this matter. He was first and foremost a materialist, so he was very anxious about Chen Ke's increasingly un-materialistic practices in the past two years.

Ever since Chen Ke told the 12-person meeting about the Southern Expansion Plan, Li Runshi had been observing Chen Ke. He found that the pressure Chen Ke was under was increasing. From a materialist's point of view, this pressure was very unnecessary. Chen Ke was increasingly pursuing results, rather than effectively promoting social progress through work as before.

Of course, Chen Ke was the leader of the People's Party after all, and his judgment was still correct. Even if the direction he led looked dangerous, when Chen Ke expressed his willingness to bear all responsibilities, the comrades could still obey Chen Ke's orders firmly and forcefully. Even Li Runshi felt that since Chen Ke dared to say so, the direction he pointed out should be able to achieve the goal to a certain extent.

Li Runshi knew very well that failure was normal. Chen Ke's willingness to take responsibility was just to control the hearts of the People's Party. This kind of statement was meaningless for avoiding risks in actual execution. Even if Chen Ke patted his chest and swore a poisonous oath, the possibility of unknowable and uncontrollable failure still existed in actual practice. And Chen Ke's actions themselves were very likely expanding this possibility of failure. This was what Li Runshi opposed. So taking advantage of this Japanese matter, Li Runshi simply and euphemistically criticized Chen Ke. What made Li Runshi happy was that Chen Ke was still that Chen Ke after all; he had already discovered the problem himself.

There is no need for smart people to talk too much nonsense. Chen Ke said to Li Runshi: "In the next two days, let's drink some wine, chat, and hold a retreat. Ideological problems are sometimes very difficult to solve."

Li Runshi smiled, "We can hold a retreat, and eating is fine too. As for drinking, my alcohol tolerance is one cup and I'm down. If you want the meeting to continue, you guys can drink, I'll just focus on eating."

"Thank you, Comrade Li Runshi. Most comrades at this time are thinking about how to understand the orders I issued and complete the work I gave. But you can consider whether I am wrong. Thank you so much!" Chen Ke said while pouring water for Li Runshi.

Li Runshi replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "I can only see this mistake you made. On other specific work, I am like other comrades, unable to make a judgment. Let the facts judge those specific tasks."

The judgment of facts came faster than Chen Ke thought. As long as Chen Ke acted in accordance with the attitude of seeking truth from facts, he was still that Chen Ke from downstream in history. The appearance of the US Pacific Fleet outside Tokyo Bay on September 11, 1937, caused a sensation in Japan.

In July 1853 (the 6th year of Kaei), Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858) of the US East India Squadron led four warships to the mouth of Edo Bay, threatening the Shogunate with force to open the country. The black modern ironclad warships in the fleet were seen by the Japanese for the first time in their lives. Perry presented the Shogunate with a model steam locomotive and a telegraph machine showing industrial civilization, while the Shogunate could only show its strength by having sumo wrestlers carry the return gift of rice. Perry's arrival shocked the Japanese, who deeply felt the huge gap between Japan and foreign countries. The Japanese called this event the "Arrival of the Black Ships." Since these four warships had a total of sixty-three cannons, while the range and firepower of the coastal defense guns in Edo Bay at that time were only comparable to about twenty of them, under the threat of opening fire if they didn't open the country, the Shogunate did not dare to refuse the request to open the country. But fearing that accepting the credentials brought by Perry would be criticized by the whole country, the chief senior councilor of the Shogunate at that time, Abe Masahiro, used the excuse that he needed the Emperor's approval to accept the treaty, and agreed to give Perry a reply the following spring.

This was the first Black Ships incident. The second event occurred the following year. On February 13, 1854 (the 7th year of Kaei), Perry led a fleet to Japan again. This time there were a total of seven warships, and the fleet went deep into Edo Bay and stopped near Yokohama. Facing Perry's tough posture, the Shogunate had to accept the request to open the country. Thus, the two sides signed the "Treaty of Peace and Amity" in Yokohama, which was also the first unequal treaty between Japan and Western powers. Other Western powers followed the United States and put forward requests for trade with Japan one after another. As a result, Western powers such as Britain, Russia, and the Netherlands all signed treaties of amity with Japan. Japan was forced to end the era of national isolation, and the Shogunate system collapsed accordingly.

Since then, the Meiji Restoration broke out in Japan. After the Japanese fleet seized hegemony in the Far East through the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, the United States became Japan's biggest enemy at sea.

Now that Japan's Showa Restoration was at its most dangerous time, the US Pacific Fleet appeared outside Tokyo Bay again. This undoubtedly triggered a great sense of crisis among the Showa Restorationists. Was the United States preparing to take advantage of the fire to rob them and launch a third Black Ships attack?

The Japanese transitional government immediately questioned the US side. The US Pacific Fleet's reply was "routine training." This extremely unfriendly remark made Japan even more nervous. After the United States occupied the Philippines, it hadn't conducted any military training in Japanese waters for decades. Why did it come for "routine training" this time? Was the United States planning to come to Japan for a stroll every now and then?

On September 14, in addition to the Japanese fleet confronting the US Pacific Fleet outside Tokyo Bay, a huge fleet appeared again. The fleet adopted a gray coating, and on the battleship serving as the flagship, the red flag of the Chinese People's Navy flew fiercely in the sea breeze. At the invitation of the Japanese transitional government, a joint maritime military exercise between the Chinese People's Navy and the Japanese Combined Fleet began outside Tokyo Bay.

China urgently mobilized the Yellow Sea Fleet with its home port in Qingdao and the East Sea Fleet with its home ports in Fujian and Taiwan. The combined fleet of the two fleets included two battleships, four aircraft carriers, and four heavy cruisers of around 10,000 tons. Flying in the sky were land-based bombers, as well as clusters of fighter jets and torpedo bombers taking off from aircraft carriers.

For a time, the open sea off Tokyo Bay became a place to show off military power. The sky, the sea surface, and underwater were all filled with equipment gathering the most advanced military technology of this era, swords drawn and bows bent, showing off their strength!