109 The Wind Rises (10)

In *The Legend of Maoshan Demon Slayer*, the "Yin Kingdom" was used as a stand-in for the United States, but anyone with eyes could see that China was mocking the US. As for the American blue-blooded aristocracy, the slaughter of Native Americans, the abuse of Chinese laborers, and even the *Chinese Exclusion Act* were all facts. After the British upper class watched this film, on one hand they were moved by the color film and the magical special effects, and on the other hand, they felt great delight at the hostile sentiments between China and the US.

The British naturally knew that the Americans hoped for China and Britain to come to blows, while the British hoped for the US and China to come to blows. If two emerging industrial powers were to fight, the British would be the greatest beneficiaries. With British help, this film became popular in Europe, and quite a few American elites traveling in Europe saw this highly entertaining movie.

In the 21st century, China and the United States would not misjudge each other. There were dozens of ministerial-level meetings between the two countries, and both sides truly and fully understood the other's thoughts. Conflicts were merely about whether there was common ground in their standpoints; these were essential conflicts of interest and had nothing to do with confrontation caused by misjudgment.

In the 20th century, limited by communication conditions, confrontation between nations appeared more neurotic. Movies were also a form of stating one's position, and the vicious mockery from the Chinese side naturally made the American upper class furious. Roosevelt himself really hadn't expected China to directly mock the Roosevelt family. As a white-haired old fox, Roosevelt was broad-minded enough to naturally hold the view that for a gentleman, ten years is not too late for revenge. Another reason was that Roosevelt's staff had also once mobilized the American film industry to produce a classic that could overwhelm China. Unfortunately, after American filmmakers watched the movie, their minds were full of how to learn from it. They clearly stated that it was unrealistic to want to produce a film like this in the short term.

Aside from noting this down heavily against the People's Party in his heart, Roosevelt let the matter drop. What he cared about was China's strategic stance. Under China's support, Japan had recovered very quickly, and the three countries of China, Japan, and Korea had begun to build a closer alliance.

The British policy of appeasement towards Germany was becoming stronger. In September 1938, the leaders of Britain, France, Nazi Germany, and Italy—Chamberlain (Prime Minister), Daladier (Prime Minister), Hitler, and Mussolini—signed a treaty at the Munich Conference. To avoid the outbreak of war, Britain and France sacrificed the interests of Czechoslovakia and ceded the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. Even earlier, Germany had smoothly annexed Austria.

Only 20 years had passed since the First World War. Regarding the *Treaty of Versailles*, the commander of the Allied forces during WWI, French Marshal Foch, pointed out sharply, "This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years!" On this point, Roosevelt felt somewhat different. The Disarmament Commission stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles existed in name only, and Germany's war reparations were continuously reduced until they were completely cancelled. This financial burden and the cost of post-war reconstruction in the victim countries were effectively shifted from Germany to the victim countries. Moreover, changes in the European situation after WWI had separated Germany from bordering the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, post-war Germany maintained greater influence over the Balkan states than its southeastern neighbors, and other countries made no effort to change this situation.

But China's performance made Roosevelt feel extremely uneasy. The speed of this country's resurgence far exceeded any nation's imagination. If WWI gave Germany an advantage over the new and old surrounding countries, China had actually re-established its hegemony in the Far East. What Germany needed was someone to lead them out of humiliation, and China undoubtedly already possessed such a leader much earlier.

Roosevelt could understand Chamberlain's appeasement policy; appeasement was essentially diverting trouble eastward. It attempted to use appeasement to let Germany border Russia. The result of two great powers bordering each other was predictable. Especially a Germany full of offensive posture and extremely anti-communist—what choice would it have when facing the Soviet Union?

Compared to that, China, having integrated Japan and Korea, had the choice of going north or south. For the past dozen years, the area between China and the Soviet Union that could still be called a "border" could be freely crossed with an ID card. The only issue was that Stalin requested China to prohibit Soviet citizens from settling long-term in China. This was a major issue on the Sino-Soviet border. Survival conditions on the Soviet side were relatively harsh, and with the "mountains high and the emperor far away," many Soviet citizens partnered with Chinese to work together, and whenever there was a chance, they would run over to live in China. Conversely, apart from going to the Soviet side to do business or work to make money, Chinese citizens had no willingness to stay on the Soviet side. Expecting a Sino-Soviet conflict with such a border was obviously unrealistic. Stalin clearly had no intention of falling out with China; there were some things he just pretended not to see after knowing about them. Even the people from the Soviet People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs in the Siberia region didn't want to live on the Soviet side.

Since China didn't want to go north, the only choice was to go south. Roosevelt made this easily derived judgment.

On the Chinese side, there was no sign of signing a new naval limitation treaty, so China began to build warships on a large scale according to the original plan. After receiving news of the Munich Agreement, Chen Ke convened a People's Party meeting. "Germany has been tossed about miserably because of the Great Depression. Without the Great Depression, the Weimar government could have completely stood its ground. What Hitler wants is living space in Europe; the Treaty of Versailles is merely an excuse. Our political philosophy runs completely counter to Nazi Germany's; there is no reason for the two sides to coexist. It is only because the distance is great that we are beyond reach. I also want to remind everyone of one issue: morally, we have already seen Hitler's attitude towards Jews. We cannot form an alliance relationship with such a country."

"Then does Chairman Chen mean we should go south now?" Li Shouxian asked. The Standing Committee of the Politburo naturally needed to know Chen Ke's vision for going south. Li Shouxian understood that if Chen Ke wanted to go south but didn't want to get involved with Germany, then the only way was to launch a war before Germany did. Li Shouxian suggested, "Why not make use of the British appeasement policy?"

Chen Ke replied, "Because Britain can appease Germany, but it cannot appease China. The British have no way to continue retreating; if they retreat one step, we will advance one step. Last time we discussed investing in Australia and developing minerals with the British, the British did not agree."

These words already belonged to a naked imperialist style. The comrades all knew Australia's fear of China. China requested exploration and mining rights in northwestern Australia from Australia and Britain, and agreed that if minerals were found, they would help Australia build railways and other infrastructure. Australia rejected China's request without hesitation. Because this could potentially allow tens of thousands of Chinese to set foot in the sparsely populated northwestern Australia. If the Chinese stayed there and didn't leave, Australia with only a few million people would have no way to expel the Chinese.

Clearly, Chen Ke was drooling over Australia's minerals again, looking determined to get them. This situation looked rather like Britain demanding trade with the Qing government, and after the Qing government refused, Britain used "protecting free trade" as a reason to open China's doors with warships.

Listening to Chen Ke's murderous words, Li Shouxian plucked up his courage and said, "I think letting Britain appease in this regard is also a relatively safe method, right?"

There was no lack of imperialists in the Politburo, but there were no imperialists in the Standing Committee. Chen Ke actually had to spend considerable energy to persuade these comrades he identified with. "This is the biggest problem. The British want to maintain their colonial system, and we must destroy this system. I do not have a plan to take other British colonies as Chinese territory. After this unavoidable war, I hope that each colony can become independent. Therefore, Australia must be taken out. Sometimes these things are hard to distinguish. I make this judgment because Australia is one of Britain's die-hard followers. Solving Australia is no different from solving Britain. We naturally must support those black nations in Africa oppressed by Britain to gain independence. The mainstream in Australia is already British; don't expect them to have any thoughts of sudden repentance. By attacking Australia, we are attacking the British homeland."

"Identifying with the current British system is identifying with imperialism, especially backward colonial imperialism," Chen Tianhua added a sentence. "The existence of Australia itself is to maintain British colonialism. Does anyone have an opinion on this?"

This old veteran of the People's Party had fallen ill two years ago, but after recovering, he forcibly continued to work. At this moment, Chen Tianhua expressed his support for Chen Ke.

"Only if Britain falls can the possibility of independence for colonies everywhere emerge. If Britain maintains its current strength and its power is not fatally weakened, Britain will still be able to rely on violence to maintain its rule in the colonies." Li Runshi also expressed his support for Chen Ke.

Chen Ke saw that Xu Dian was still hesitant, so he said, "We will not seek territory in other parts of Southeast Asia, but Australia is a die-hard part of Britain. Australia and New Zealand must be taken out."

Xu Dian himself actually didn't care about foreign wars; he just felt that he didn't understand war at all, so he could only listen more and speak less on issues regarding war. Since Chen Ke had clearly stated his position, Xu Dian also expressed his agreement.

"Will Germany move against Britain?" Qi Huishen asked. If Germany moved against Britain, China only needed to hold on in the war until Germany made its move. If Germany didn't move against Britain, China would have to face the likely various sieges with the power of just one country. If Germany moved first, China's pressure could be greatly reduced. But this involved the issue that Germany and China would likely be seen as being in the same boat. This conflicted with the matter Chen Ke raised about absolutely not getting involved with Germany.

"I wonder what the Soviet comrades think?" Li Runshi pointed out the crux of the problem.

The Soviet purges had basically ended. This movement came suddenly and ended quite swiftly. After Dzerzhinsky, the earliest person in charge of the Cheka, left office, he had been responsible for economic work. Although he always had some differences of opinion with Uncle Steel, it was not a struggle over the line. Uncle Steel trusted and respected Comrade Dzerzhinsky's opinions very much. When the Great Purge carried on until 1937, Comrade Dzerzhinsky, a first-generation leader of the Cheka, couldn't stand it anymore. He formally raised accusations and opposition against Yezhov to Stalin.

The comrades of the People's Party were not roundworms in Uncle Steel's belly; everyone could only judge Uncle Steel's thoughts based on specific events and China's history.

The People's Party had an absolute leader. Chen Ke's role was subtle; one of the important reasons he could obtain an unshakable status was that Chen Ke himself had the ability to take charge of economic, scientific, educational, and cultural work. These were undoubtedly the weaknesses of the leader Uncle Steel. In other words, comrades engaged in economic work in China simply couldn't fool Chen Ke, whereas comrades engaged in economic work in the Soviet Union could fool Uncle Steel.

Russia's feudal system did not develop smoothly; serfdom was not even completely eliminated before the revolution. This was completely different from China's highly developed feudal system. Industrialization directly combined the feudal system with the bureaucratic system, creating many problems for the Soviet Union. The Great Purge itself looked cruel enough, but for a leader like Uncle Steel who could point out the correct path, it was also a forced necessity. Submitting to Comrade Stalin's status and being able to execute Comrade Stalin's policies were two different things. Uncle Steel wasn't a god; it was a very common thing for subordinates to act recklessly under Uncle Steel's banner and push all the blame onto Uncle Steel.

Another of Chen Ke's strengths was institutionalized management. The People's Party had the ability to solve problems through institutions. But the Soviet comrades obviously lacked this ability to perfect institutions. Rather than that, it was better for Uncle Steel to conduct a great cleansing, truly creating a situation where no one dared to disobey a single order. Such things had appeared not just once or twice in China's feudal era. Clearly, the Soviet Union led by Uncle Steel was "making up missed lessons."

This trend could also be seen from Yezhov's end. Yezhov was famous for his unconditional loyalty to Stalin. This could be clearly seen from a speech he wrote in 1935. In that piece, considered "the fuse of the Great Purge," he expounded the view of classifying dissenting thoughts as "extremely dangerous violent terrorism."

Comrade Stalin wanted to cleanse those officials and party members he deemed unqualified. The result of the People's Party's discussion was that this had a bit of a Wu Zetian flavor. Comrade Yezhov was playing a role similar to Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen.

But Comrade Yezhov obviously hadn't read Chinese history; he didn't understand his own positioning at all. The skyrocketing Yezhov finally reached his peak on October 27, 1937. On that day at the Bolshoi Theatre, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), his portrait was hung side-by-side with Stalin's giant portrait on countless red curtains, surrounded by countless flowers. The host, Mikoyan, dressed in a black Caucasian shirt, highly praised "Comrade Yezhov's tireless work": "We should learn from Comrade Yezhov's spirit of constantly aligning with Comrade Stalin; all Soviet citizens should become agents of the secret police." After speaking, Yezhov received an unusually enthusiastic welcome. "He stood there," an observer said, "'looking very embarrassed, as if he wasn't sure if this was what he deserved.'" Stalin's assistant also reported the day's situation to Stalin himself.

After receiving this news, Qi Huishen only said one sentence, "This man is dead for sure." Disdainful or mocking laughter came from within the People's Party Politburo. This laughter was naturally not directed at Qi Huishen, but at Yezhov. Anyone who had read a little Chinese history knew what this kind of behavior meant. Quite a few people even felt that Mikoyan was insidious enough and was a subject that needed attention.

Even without reading history, as long as one listened to more storytelling, there were simply too many stories about the moon waning when it becomes full. The result of such arrogance was always accompanied by rapidly arriving death.

Sure enough, on April 8, 1938, when he was appointed as the People's Commissar for Water Transport, Yezhov finally began to go downhill. On June 22, 1938, Lavrentiy Beria became his deputy and replaced him in a short time. After Stalin attacked the NKVD's records and working methods on August 10, 1938, Yezhov was forced to resign on August 15, 1938, and Beria immediately succeeded him. On December 3, 1938, Yezhov was relieved of all positions in the CPSU Central Committee, and subsequently, on December 24, 1938, he was arrested and detained in a prison located in Sukhanovka.

There were simply too many records of such things in Chinese history, and the People's Party high command couldn't even be bothered to evaluate this kind of thing. Even Comrade Stalin—everyone didn't want to evaluate him anymore. Whether the Great Purge was correct or not, if viewed from a socialized perspective, it should be correct. Eliminating factions, getting rid of some guys who were inconvenient to get rid of, especially getting rid of those guys who shouted about standing with Comrade Stalin—this method was actually quite appropriate. After this wind passed, it would be necessary for Yezhov to "bravely take up the responsibility." His destruction was also inevitable.

With this comparison, the People's Party comrades' trust in Chen Ke deepened a step further. Chen Ke was far more capable of launching such actions than Uncle Steel, but Chen Ke had never done so. The People's Party Central Committee would rather use a hundred times the work to solve these problems by constantly perfecting institutions. Xu Dian's role in this could not be underestimated. With this comrade from the judicial department responsible for the discussion and elaboration of many systems, he could truly explain legal principles, legal intent, and legal limits clearly. The People's Party also held onto the political struggle line of "anti-feudalism" without relaxing.

After solving that gang of stubborn feudal elements who "occupied the latrine without shitting" and expelling that gang of slackers, the People's Party's operations could at least still be maintained at a fairly high efficiency level.

After Comrade Beria came to power, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs could be considered to have gotten on the right track, at least starting large-scale rehabilitation. This was also something that had happened many times in Chinese history. After cruel elimination and selection, having an unknown person trusted by the highest power resolve a batch of "unjust, false, and wrongful cases" accumulated before through rehabilitation, and restoring a calm attitude—this was also something China had played out before.

At this stage, presumably, the Soviet Union already had the leisure to solve external problems. If they wanted to determine the German issue, they could only negotiate with the Soviet comrades. Propaganda Minister Comrade Li Runshi took a plane to the Soviet Union.