Chapter 124: Manchukuo

In March 1932, Jinling was chilled by a lingering spring cold. Li Yuxuan's automobile halted abruptly before the President's Office gate; he flung open the door, his military boots thudding on the bluestone slabs, splashing a few puddles. The general who had just returned from the Southern Direction front wore days of fatigue on his face, yet a flame of anger burned in his eyes.

"Chairman, are you here?" he asked, striding through the long corridor, the hem of his military coat rustling behind him.

Qian Dajun jogged to keep up: "He is, he is, but the Chairman is meeting the British ambassador…"

"Step aside!" Li Yuxuan shoved open the carved wooden office door; the Chairman inside startled, his hand trembling, and tea spilled onto his brand‑new clothes.

"Jingxing! What are you doing!" the Chairman hurriedly grabbed a handkerchief to wipe, his face full of displeasure.

Li Yuxuan only then noticed that a blond, blue‑eyed foreigner was indeed seated in the office; he forced himself into a formal salute: "Report, Chairman, there is an urgent military intelligence report!"

The British ambassador, sensing the situation, rose and said in stiff Chinese, "Since Chairman Jiang has important matters, we shall discuss this another day." As he left, he couldn't help but glance curiously at the reckless general.

"Young Master! I told you so!" Li Yuxuan slapped the newspaper onto the desk with a "thwack"; the front‑page headline blared, "Manchukuo Established Today," and added, "We should have kept fighting the Japanese army in the Northeast back then! Look at it now—people have set up a central government right on our territory!"

The Chairman stared at the newspaper on the desk, then looked up at Li Yuxuan and suddenly sneered, "Ha, you think I'm destined to be unbearably sorrowful? …"

"Shouldn't I be sad?" Li Yuxuan paced back and forth in the office, "The four provinces of the Northeast have become someone else's Manchukuo! Young Master, isn't your current mood like… like…"

"Like what?" the Chairman squinted, his finger lightly tapping the tabletop.

"Like a daughter we raised with great effort, suddenly run off with the neighbor Old Wang!" Li Yuxuan blurted out.

The Chairman was momentarily tongue‑tied by the metaphor, and after a while said, "Jingxing, Jingxing, your metaphor… Niang Xipi, it's quite vivid."

"More than just vivid!" Li Yuxuan grew increasingly agitated, "Now look, they've even found a ruler—Ai Xin Jue Luo·Pu Yi! Isn't this a blatant slap in the face to us? In my view, we should have…"

"Should have what?" the Chairman suddenly stood, circled the desk to stand before Li Yuxuan, "Should we sacrifice the last of our assets in the Northeast? Jingxing, do you truly not know or are you pretending not to know? Over in Jiangxi, how large have the Red Bandits' forces become?"

"But the Japanese are openly waging war!" Li Yuxuan retorted, "Young Master, think about it—if we had decisively dispatched troops to the Northeast last year, would things be like this now?"

"You, you…" the Chairman shook his head and sighed, "All you think about is fighting and killing. Let me ask you, if we had fought as you suggested last year, how many of our Fifth Army would remain now? Moreover, didn't I send you to Modu to fight just last month this year?"

Li Yuxuan was momentarily at a loss for words, but quickly found a new point: "At least we wouldn't be this passive! Look, now that Manchukuo has been established, how will the international community view us? The British and American nations might be mocking us behind the scenes!"

"Mock?" the Chairman suddenly laughed, "They laugh at their own, we fight our own. Jingxing, remember, in this chaotic era, those who can laugh till the end are the true winners."

"But Young Master…" Li Yuxuan began to argue.

"Enough!" the Chairman raised his voice, "Do you think I don't feel heartache? The Northeast was Zhang Zuolin's stronghold for years; now the Japanese have seized it, and I feel it more than anyone!"

Li Yuxuan froze for a moment, then muttered softly, "So you still sit comfortably here on the Diaoyutai…"

The Chairman chuckled at the remark, walked to the window, and pointed at the scenery outside, "Jingxing, look at that tree."

Li Yuxuan followed his finger, his face blank, "What's wrong with the tree?"

"If a rotten fruit hangs on a tree, would you cut down the whole tree now, or wait for the fruit to fall on its own?" the Chairman asked meaningfully.

"Well…" Li Yuxuan was momentarily at a loss for a response.

"The Northeast is a rotten fruit now!" the Chairman turned, his eyes sharp, "What we must do is preserve the whole tree, not sacrifice the entire tree for a single rotten fruit!"

Li Yuxuan opened his mouth to rebut, but found the metaphor damned fitting.

"But Young Master," he finally couldn't hold back, "this rotten fruit is huge—four whole provinces!"

"So what if it's big?" the Chairman walked back to the desk and sat, "Even the biggest rotten fruit is still rotten. What we must do now is keep the roots, strengthen the trunk. When the time is ripe, why fear we won't bear new fruit?"

Li Yuxuan remained unconvinced, "Then Young Master, you say, now that Manchukuo has been established, Pu Yi is ruling there, and we just stand by and watch?"

"Who said we just watch?" the Chairman pulled a document from the drawer, "Take a look at this."

Li Yuxuan took the document and found it to be correspondence between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various foreign envoys. "This is…"

"We have never recognized any Manchukuo on the international stage," the Chairman said proudly, "Not only do we not recognize it, but the British and American nations also will not. This is called… what was it called again?"

"Called self‑deception?" Li Yuxuan whispered in response.

"Niang Xipi!" the Chairman fumed, nearly tossing his tea cup, "This is diplomatic wisdom! What do you know!"

Li Yuxuan quickly raised his hand in surrender, "Yes, yes, I don't understand. But Young Master, don't you feel suppressed? Our territory is being let others rule supreme…"

"Suppressed?" the Chairman suddenly laughed, "Jingxing, do you remember when we were at Huangpu? Back then we had no money, no men, yet we still made it step by step to where we are today?"

The office fell silent for a while. After a long moment, Li Yuxuan softly asked, "Then Young Master, what should we do next?"

The Chairman stood, walked to the map on the wall, and hammered his finger onto the Northeast spot, "Wait."

"Wait?" Li Yuxuan asked, puzzled.

"Yes, wait." The Chairman turned, his eyes flashing, "Wait for the Japanese to show a flaw, wait for the international situation to shift, wait until we are fully prepared. Jingxing, remember, in this chaotic era, patience outweighs bravery."

Li Yuxuan nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly recalled, "What if… what if that day never comes?"

"Then we create that day!" the Chairman declared resolutely, "But for now, we must endure."

Seeing the Chairman's steadfast gaze, Li Yuxuan finally sighed, "Alright, Young Master, I'll follow your lead."

The setting sun sank, and the office gradually darkened. Jiang Jieshi left the lights off, and the two sat opposite each other in the twilight.

"Jingxing, do you know?" the Chairman suddenly said, "Sometimes I wonder how wonderful it would be if we were born in a peaceful era. You and I could be ordinary people, find a teahouse, play chess, chat."

Li Yuxuan smiled, "If we truly lived in a peaceful age, someone of your stature would already have been hired by a university as a professor."

"A professor?" the Chairman shook his head, "I'd rather return to my former family business, free and easy, without worrying about state affairs all day."

The two laughed again, their laughter tinged with bitterness.

As they were about to leave, Li Yuxuan stopped at the doorway, "Young Master, do you think in our lifetimes we'll ever see the day the Japanese are driven out of Huaxia?"

The Chairman did not answer directly, but retorted, "You ask, if one day we truly win, what would you most want to do?"

"Me…" Li Yuxuan said, gazing at the evening glow, "I want to travel across Huaxia's great rivers and mountains, taste the local cuisine, and see if it's really as delicious as they say."

"Good!" the Chairman patted his shoulder heavily, "When the time comes, I'll treat you, plenty!"

The door closed softly, and the office fell back into silence. The Chairman stood alone by the window; his smile faded, replaced by deep worry. He whispered to himself, "Will that day truly come?" He walked back to the map, stared at the Northeast, and murmured, "Pu Yi, Pu Yi, do you think this is a restoration? It's courting death…"