Chapter 330: The Sword That Expands the Nation

The Hongqi sedan glided smoothly through the night, and the cabin was filled with a distinctive, era‑specific scent of leather mingled with faint tobacco.

The previously amicable atmosphere had now frozen like ice, even a few degrees colder than the winter night outside the window.

Zhang Jian's knee, bruised from the impact, throbbed with dull aches, yet he felt nothing. The cold that shot from his tailbone up to his crown made his whole body rigid, as if his blood had ceased flowing. His eyes, rimmed with terrifying blood vessels, fixed on Lu Qingshan with a stare that seemed to drill two holes through him. The air was so oppressive that even the driver's breathing became cautious.

"You… you say that again?" his voice was hoarse and dry, each word forced out as if squeezed through rusted gears, "What are you going to London… for?"

Confronted with his earth‑shattering shock, Lu Qingshan remained as calm as a bottomless cold pool. He even reached out, offering a phantom support to Zhang Jian, his tone showing no ripple: "Minister Zhang, please don't get worked up, calm down. Is your knee okay?"

The casually phrased remark was like a bucket of ice water, instantly restoring a sliver of Rationality to Zhang Jian. He realized his lapse, slowly sat back, his back pressing heavily against the seat, yet his chest still heaved violently, each breath bearing a thousand‑pound pressure. The shock and anguish in his eyes remained undiminished.

"Do you even know what you're talking about? That's not Hong Kong Island, not Southeast Asia! That's London Financial City! The old stronghold of the century‑old firms like Jardine and Swire! The birthplace of modern financial rules, the heart of world finance! You're playing with fire in someone else's heart; a slip and not even a bone fragment would remain! The modest fortune we've painstakingly amassed cannot be squandered like this!"

Lu Qingshan offered no direct rebuttal; he watched the nightscape racing backward through the window, the city lights stretching into streaks of light in his deep eyes. From the depths of his gaze flickered a cold, bone‑piercing glint from a future age. The plunder and hegemony once seen only in history books and financial news, he would now settle with his own hands.

"Minister Zhang, what do you think, how did the old Sun‑Never‑Sets Empire build its fortune?"

The question was vague and abrupt, and Zhang Jian was startled, instinctively about to answer with colonization and plunder.

Lu Qingshan didn't wait for him to speak, continuing on his own, his voice steady yet bearing a history‑piercing coldness: "They relied on resources. They turned the world's resources into their wealth through the rules they set. Minerals are resources, land is a resource, labor is a resource, even war reparations are resources."

His words echoed in the cramped cabin, each syllable weighing a thousand pounds.

"We're talking about Short Selling now, which sounds like pure financial speculation. But in my view, it's different. The stocks of Yingzi companies, those century‑old enterprises, are their most vital resources today, the tools they use to siphon the world. Back then they sailed their gunboats to our homes and carted away our resources; now we must figure out how to walk into their exchanges, use their proudest rules, and see if we can become the masters for once."

"What I intend to do isn't mere speculation, but to seize resources. On their home turf, I'll tell them that the world needs a new way to play."

After those words, the car fell into a death‑like silence again.

Zhang Jian gasped heavily, staring fixedly at the young man before him, the turbulent storm in his heart threatening to overturn the veteran commander who had spent half his life in battle.

Madman! This kid is absolutely a genuine lunatic!

Yet each word from this lunatic hammered his heart like a heavy mallet. He had spent a whole career in economics and had never been without such ideas. It's just that his generation, terrified of poverty and of being beaten, fundamentally thought only of how to protect their own modest plots, how to cautiously seek development under rules set by others. They never thought, or rather never dared to think, that one day a young man would audaciously propose to "storm the gates"!

In that dead silence, countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Jian's mind like lightning. He recalled the war‑torn years, comrades who charged forward knowing it was a nine‑to‑death gamble; he remembered the early days of the nation, when, faced with technological blockades, the older generation of scientists pounded tables shouting "We'll do it ourselves." What was that spirit? Wasn't it exactly the same reckless drive in this kid to pierce a hole through the sky? We are old, we are cautious, we are used to weighing gains and losses, but the country must move forward; it cannot rely solely on us "old guys" to patch things up. It needs daring, fearless "madmen" to blaze new paths!

This is no mad rambling; it's clearly a new‑era declaration of advance!

Realizing this, Zhang Jian felt his blood surge from freezing to boiling in an instant! He slapped his thigh hard, producing a loud "Pa!" that rang through the car, and the atmosphere flipped from extreme tension to explosive exhilaration.

"Good kid! Good kid! I knew I didn't mistake you for anyone else! Hahaha!" Zhang Jian brushed away all the gloom, laughing out loud, his booming laugh rattling the car windows. His fan‑like massive hand pounded Lu Qingshan's shoulder with such force it seemed to slam him into the seat, the whole Hongqi swaying, "Your daring, your boldness, that drive to pierce a hole in the sky! On a battlefield you'd be a ferocious general leading assaults!"

He laughed till he was bent forward and backward, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes, and after a while he steadied himself, grasping Lu Qingshan's hand; in those weather‑worn eyes now flickered an intensely hot light, as if he'd seen a wildfire of sparks.

"Qingshan, now I can tell you that tremendous good news!"

He leaned forward sharply, almost touching Lu Qingshan's face, lowering his voice yet unable to hide the volcanic excitement in his tone: "According to the latest decision from the Central Committee, immediately the Import‑Export Administration, the Foreign Investment Administration, the Department of Foreign Economic Liaison, and the Department of Foreign Trade are to be merged!"

Lu Qingshan felt a stir in his heart; he knew the great wheel of history was rolling in.

"After the merger, a brand‑new department will be established—the Department of Foreign Economic Trade, overseeing all of the nation's foreign economic and trade affairs!" Zhang Jian's voice brimmed with boundless optimism for the future, "The future Foreign Economic Trade Department will be the sole window and command center for the country's external economy! From grain to oil imports, from technology to equipment acquisition, from foreign‑exchange revenue targets to foreign‑investment approvals, everything will be decided by this department. The pot will grow larger, the burden heavier, and naturally we'll need truly capable and charismatic talent!"

He stared intently at Lu Qingshan, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Chen Lao and I have consulted, and we have jointly reported to the higher‑ups with several departments; we unanimously recommend that you join our ministry and take on a crucial position!"

"Me?" Lu Qingshan was genuinely taken aback. This proposal was more unexpected than even going to London for Short Selling.

"Exactly, you!" Zhang Jian's grip tightened, as if clutching a peerless divine weapon, "Your sword that expands the nation's frontiers must not only charge outside; it must also arm our own arsenal, point the way, and pass on experience! We need someone to chart a course for the country's future foreign‑economic strategy!"

He inhaled deeply, his tone almost sacred as he solemnly announced: "We hope you will join the new Foreign Economic Trade Department as Director of the Foreign Economic Trade Development Division! You will primarily be responsible for researching foreign economic policies and planning future development, using your experience and perspective to help us avoid risks and seize opportunities. Comrade Qingshan, this position is tailor‑made for you! What do you think?"