After discussing some troublesome matters with Chen Ke, Shang Yuan felt quite exhausted and wanted to switch to a lighter topic. "Wenqing, you didn't come to Beijing just to see me, did you?"

Chen Ke replied, "I really came specifically to see you. Originally, this time was to receive Hirohito and his group from Japan. I simply decided to invite them to Beijing. I now suddenly feel that this arrangement is actually quite good. The Japanese imperial system has also undergone fundamental changes. Talking in Beijing, this old imperial city, fits the scene very well."

"Haha! What are you hinting at?" Shang Yuan was amused by the implication. "The Imperial City is now the Palace Museum, and the former imperial gardens have all become parks. Of course, there are many tourists, and they've started charging fees. Are you trying to let Emperor Hirohito of Japan see with his own eyes how 'The swallows that once nested in the halls of the Wang and Xie families, have now flown into the homes of ordinary commoners'?"

Chen Ke laughed heartily. "True intellectuals don't show off their depth by quoting classics, but use more refined language to explain their ideas, especially to cleverly express their malice full of humor. This is one of the uses of reading. If he really has such sentiments, I would even think he is teachable. In the short term, I only pray that Japan doesn't act foolishly. Once the war is over and the situation is settled, Japan acting foolishly won't affect China."

"What kind of foolish path could they take?" Shang Yuan really wanted to hear just how malicious Chen Ke could be.

Chen Ke smiled and said, "It's very simple. Collude with the United States and let Japan become the springboard for the US to attack China."

Shang Yuan knew that this fellow Chen Ke always lacked a sense of humor. He often treated many very dangerous things as humor. This perhaps proved that Chen Ke was very aggressive by nature, even a bit bellicose. Japan could indeed choose this path. Once Japan made such a choice, it could indeed pose a huge threat to China. This was originally a matter that needed to be considered very seriously, but Chen Ke treated it as a "joke that might happen". Perhaps Chen Ke really thought such things were interesting, but Shang Yuan didn't feel that way at all.

With a serious expression, Shang Yuan asked Chen Ke, "What if such a thing really happens?"

"Then the Japanese will definitely be able to personally experience what true modern warfare is," Chen Ke said with a smile that looked very tranquil to outsiders.

Having worked with Chen Ke for so long, Shang Yuan knew what this tranquil smile meant. The comrades would summarize the meanings represented by Chen Ke's facial expressions. When this kind of smile appeared, the focus of Chen Ke's eyes would always inexplicably disappear, and his eyes would look shining. Moments later, vicious and ruthless tactical methods and weapon applications would be released. At such times, Chen Ke never had emotions like tolerance.

However, Shang Yuan couldn't say he wasn't curious about this pure destruction. He couldn't help but ask, "If such a thing really happened, what exactly do you plan to do?"

Since Shang Yuan wanted to listen, Chen Ke couldn't help but recount, "Japanese urban buildings are currently still mostly wooden structures. Get some flammable aluminum alloy tubes, fill them with fuel that can burn for a long time. A bomber drops hundreds or thousands of them at a time. The entire city will quickly turn into a raging sea of fire. For things that incendiary bombs can't easily destroy, the new type of bomb we are developing can raze all buildings within a few square kilometers to the ground. The center of the explosion will generate temperatures of thousands of degrees. Everything combustible within a few hundred meters, including people, will instantly ignite themselves and turn into ash in the blink of an eye..."

"Enough!" Shang Yuan couldn't help but interrupt Chen Ke's description. Since Chen Ke said so, Shang Yuan believed that China could definitely do it. The future of war described by Chen Ke sounded horrifying. An entire city turning into a sea of fire, sturdy buildings within a few kilometers being completely destroyed. This meant that if such an act of war occurred, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people could be burned to death at once. Is this "true modern warfare"? This is the destruction of the world!

Facing Shang Yuan's rather intense reaction, Chen Ke could only say seriously, "That is why I have always opposed war, because war is not good for anyone. I neither wish for China to experience such an encounter, nor do I wish for other countries to suffer such pain."

"In the time of Shun, the Miao people did not submit, and Yu wanted to attack them. Shun said, 'It cannot be done. To use force without first cultivating virtue is not the Way.' So he cultivated education for three years, and held a dance with shields and battle-axes, and the Miao people submitted. You should at least dance first... forget it." Shang Yuan denied his own words halfway through. He felt that his decline in physical strength brought about a decline in energy. During the conversation, he had an almost instinctive reaction to the terms used by Chen Ke, but his reaction to Chen Ke's specific ideas was much worse.

Now the People's Party is in the stage of "cultivating education for three years" and has not reached the stage of "dancing" at all. Now China and Japan are still in the process of striving for goodwill. If China were to pull out a pile of weapons capable of destroying Japan... Even if Japan originally sincerely wanted to befriend China, seeing China suddenly pull out these powerful things without reason, I'm afraid Japan would go directly to the United States.

"Wenqing, sometimes you focus too much on absolute power in doing things." Even knowing that he shouldn't blame Chen Ke for this, Shang Yuan couldn't help but speak his mind. Many times, not only enemies, but even his own comrades could not understand Chen Ke, and underestimated Chen Ke's power. In the industrial age that many people were exploring with great difficulty, Chen Ke was able to stand accurately at the forefront of the tide. What was even more incredible was that the more advanced the conditions, the more Chen Ke could be a step ahead of others. When the spirits of the vast majority of people were still stuck in the past and ignorant of the present that had already happened, Chen Ke seemed to live in the future. He turned around to lead China to stride forward towards the future where Chen Ke was.

In Shang Yuan's view, Chen Ke doing so was a manifestation of his sense of duty. Chen Ke had neither condescending self-satisfaction nor disgust and contempt for others. But for the vast majority of people, this attitude of Chen Ke was itself a kind of true arrogance. Because Chen Ke always chose the most efficient path. And if the weak saw with their own eyes the distance between the two sides that was like the difference between heaven and earth, the vast majority of people would not immediately let themselves live in the present, would not immediately choose to face the facts and adjust themselves in time. They would only think that all of Chen Ke's attempts to avoid conflict were a kind of posturing.

China indeed cannot reveal its strength to deal with Japan; doing so would be a naked threat. If they were shrewd and capable Japanese, they wouldn't have reached the point of armed conflict in the first place. If Japan's leaders are muddled eggs, they absolutely wouldn't know the true gap between the two sides. After peace efforts ultimately fail, China can only go to war with Japan.

Facing the asymmetry of the ensuing war itself, even if Chen Ke is genuinely avoiding war, it will make Japan feel that China is deliberately provoking war. Similarly, Chen Ke's efforts to avoid military conflict will be seen as posturing.

This matter is ridiculous, but this matter is also very real.

"Brother Wangshan, do you think I am very harsh on Japan?" Chen Ke asked.

Shang Yuan shook his head. Only the truly strong would genuinely think that Chen Ke is a tolerant and magnanimous person. Of course, the eyes of the strong cannot tolerate sand. The definition of tolerance between the strong and the weak is completely different. If Japan doesn't try to be clever, no matter how outrageous the demands Japan puts forward seem, the strong can tolerate them. If Japan dares to play little tricks and thinks it can deceive China, China's strong men will let Japan know what it means to dig your own grave.

"It is easy to serve a gentleman but difficult to please him. If you try to please him in a way that is not in accordance with the Way, he will not be pleased; but when he employs people, he uses them according to their capacity." Shang Yuan answered slowly. When saying this, Shang Yuan remembered a sentence Chen Ke often said before: even a poisonous snake can be used to guard treasure. In this regard, Chen Ke's attitude has been consistent.

Shang Yuan's answer made Chen Ke smile. "I hope the old Japanese upper class has Brother Wangshan's breadth of mind."

Hirohito certainly didn't know what exactly Chen Ke had prepared for Japan. During these months of "visiting" China, Hirohito not only witnessed China's elite regions and powerful industrial system. He also witnessed many areas that he found unimaginable.

Even though he has lost power now, Hirohito still hasn't given up on the plan to regain power. He has passed that stage of utter despair. Since Kita Ikki came to China to participate in the Chinese revolution and learned many things from the Chinese revolution, then there is no reason for Hirohito to gain nothing from coming to China. He also applied to listen to China's political classes. When Hirohito visited Europe, he also conversed with the King of England and learned the principles of constitutional politics from the monarch of this constitutional monarchy.

China's political classes opened Hirohito's eyes wide. Hirohito is also a monarch who has experienced many difficulties and obstacles, struggled with powerful ministers for a long time, and almost won the final victory. He soon understood why China is so strong, why the People's Party is so strong, and why even the "auditor" Kita Ikki, who switched professions halfway, performed so outstandingly. The Chinese People's Party's level of political cognition is indeed vastly higher than that of Japan.

As a monarch, as Japan's living god, Hirohito really has the common failing of monarchs, which is "L'État, c'est moi" (I am the State).

After listening to the People's Party's political class, Hirohito realized that his class stance was not clear enough and not firm enough. Even as the high-and-mighty Emperor, he must have his own class stance and his own base. Hirohito once wanted to use the "loyal and patriotic" Showa warlords. It cannot be said that the Showa warlords were not loyal and patriotic. But class stance first caused the Baden-Baden Three Crows to split among themselves. And even Nagata Tetsuzan and Okamura Yasuji, who were completely loyal to Hirohito, had to have their own class stance. They also had to struggle and game with other ruling classes.

Even if these two people could not be bought, and Kita Ikki directly adopted the method of physical elimination to kill these two people, other representative figures of the "Control Faction" defected to the "Showa Restoration Faction" as interests changed. Because of the lack of a class stance, having only the empty title of Emperor, Hirohito himself simply couldn't find true supporters belonging to the Emperor.

After understanding this, Hirohito felt a bit enlightened. But what gave him the biggest shock was another matter. Because he always felt that what China showed Hirohito was the best and strongest side, the former Chief of the Navy General Staff, Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, requested somewhat spitefully to visit a relatively poor area in China. The Chinese side was very straightforward and sent them to a mountainous area in Zibo, Shandong.

This is a mountainous area that looks very common in Japan. In Japan, this is an area destined to be very poor. This is also a very common example of China's poor areas. The local people used to flee from famine all year round. Hirohito was not clear why the Japanese Hirohito and high officials were invited here for interviews.

When the local village party secretary appeared in front of Hirohito, Hirohito was dumbfounded, and the Japanese high officials were also dumbfounded.

The man in front of them was in his forties, wearing a pair of large sunglasses, and less than 1.65 meters tall. Moreover, the two arms of this man exposed outside his sleeves were bare meat sticks. His hands were gone. And looking closely, this middle-aged man's legs were also very strange. At this time, the middle-aged man had already noticed the gazes of the visitors, and he smiled open-mindedly and said something.

After listening, the Japanese translator was stunned for a moment, swallowed subconsciously, and then translated: "Your Majesty, he said that his limbs and left eye were all blown away by artillery shells when he was fighting."

If they hadn't seen the stumps of his arms, if they hadn't heard this middle-aged man personally admit his disability, Hirohito and the others would never have imagined that this man, leaning on a crutch, wearing a pair of large sunglasses, standing in a slightly strange posture, yet full of vitality from head to toe, was actually a severely disabled person who had lost his limbs and one eye.

What are the Chinese doing? All the Japanese visitors couldn't help but wonder.