Korekiyo Takahashi took the business card handed over by his secretary, looked at the name 'Mitsuko Fukada' on it, and then looked at the title, reporter of "Asahi Shimbun". Minister Takahashi was not sure why "Asahi Shimbun" recruited a female reporter. At least.

Judging from the name, Mitsuko Fukada is a woman's name.

Before Takahashi Korekiyo could think too much, the secretary said: "Sir, this is the letter of recommendation you wrote to Miss Fukada, recommending her to take the exam to Imperial Tohoku University."

Even though Takahashi Korekiyo is busy with work every day, he still has an impression of what happened three years ago. Takahashi Korekiyo sighed: "Has it been three years already?"

The secretary didn't say anything this time. He knew very well that the Minister of Finance, Takahashi Korekiyo, was not asking anyone. This sentence was just a lament about the flying time.

Sure enough, Takahashi Korekiyo continued to ask: "What did the Asahi Shimbun send her to do?"

"I heard what Ms. Fukada said. The Asahi Shimbun wanted to interview Mr. Kei Hara, but Mr. Kei Hara refused. So Ms. Fukada wants to ask for your help."

Takahashi Korekiyo thought for a while and then ordered: "I am about to go out, so I will ask Miss Morita to get in the car with me."

Mitsuko Morita left a "very polite" feeling on Takahashi. In other words, apart from the polite greetings, Mitsuko Fukada only told about being assigned to interview His Excellency Hara Kei, and did not take the initiative to say a word after that.

Takahashi Korekiyo did not mention the interview at all, but only asked about Mitsuko Fukada’s studies at Tohoku Imperial University. Hearing that Mitsuko Fukada graduated with straight A’s, he praised: “Ms. Fukada did not disappoint Professor Taira Fengyun’s expectations.”

Mitsuko Fukada responded: "Except for my achievements, nothing can prove my gratitude for the kindness I received from Mr. Takahashi and Professor Taira Fengsheng."

Takahashi Korekiyo spoke more highly of Morita Mitsuko. After smiling, Takahashi stopped talking. The car fell into silence for a while. Until the car stopped outside the office of the Prime Minister of Japan, Takahashi asked Morita Mitsuko to stay first.

In the car, he got out of the car and went straight to Prime Minister Hara Kei's office.

Hara Kei couldn't help but stand up when he saw Takahashi Korekiyo coming in. Takahashi Korekiyo smiled and said: "Your Excellency, I have met with His Majesty, and His Majesty does not support all-out war."

"Great!" Yuan Jing breathed a long sigh of relief, but after a moment, his expression became worried again. He asked: "Is His Majesty's Holy Body in good health?"

At this time, even Takahashi Korekiyo couldn't help but show a look of regret. Today's Japanese Emperor Taisho, in the eyes of Hara Kei and Takahashi Korekiyo, Taisho is a wise emperor. He has very wise judgments in the development of Japanese politics, especially

He has a clear understanding of Japan's development towards party politics.

But this would inevitably offend Japan's old forces who came from the military, so there were many overt and covert attacks on Emperor Taisho's mental illness.

Even so, Emperor Taisho did not back down. He still worked hard to stabilize the direction of Japan's political development and promote Japanese society to develop in a more open direction. The Hara Kei cabinet came to power as a result of this progress.

However, the greater the progress, the greater the resistance. Now the attack on Taisho has reached an unscrupulous level. A friend from Yamagata publicly said that Emperor Taisho had meningitis as a child and did not fully recover. He is now mentally ill.

There is no chance for Japanese citizens to get in touch with the emperor. At least Hara Kei and Takahashi Korekiyo are quite annoyed by this statement. Yamagata Aritomo and others have tried hard to get close to the princes and tried every means to influence the young princes. If Taisho is ousted, he will

An emperor is likely to be a monarch who thinks like a soldier.

Although he felt really heavy, Takahashi Korekiyo still replied: "Your Majesty is in good health. Are you willing to be interviewed by the Asahi Shimbun?"

Yuan Jing hesitated for a moment before asking: "Is that reporter reliable? What is his ability?"

Takahashi Korekiyo told Hara Kei about Mitsuko Fukada’s background. Hearing that the reporter who interviewed him was a woman and had a close relationship with He Rui. Even though he was facing great pressure at this time, Hara Kei still became interested, "Then

Please invite me, Miss Fukada, to come in."

Waiting for the secretary to go to usher people in, Hara Jing sighed: "Your Excellency Takahashi, Japan has finally achieved the civilized situation it is today. I will never allow the times to turn back!"

Korekiyo Takahashi just nodded slightly and did not speak, because he had nothing to say. If he and Keihara Hara were not of the same mind, there would be no need for Takahashi Korekiyo to be where he is now. Korekiyo Takahashi is working for a common ideal, and

Not doing things for Yuan Jing.

Soon, Mitsuko Fukada was led into the office of the Prime Minister. It could be seen that Mitsuko Fukada was a little nervous. But this did not make Mitsuko Morita lose his composure. He looked at Mitsuko Morita's calm and generous appearance. Kei Hara, who has been a reporter for many years

The Prime Minister couldn't help but feel happy. This is what Japan should be like in the future. Hara Kei hopes that more Japanese women can become like Mitsuko Morita.

Mitsuko Morita was stunned when he learned that he was allowed to interview Prime Minister Hara Kei. Then he asked: "Sir, can you please allow me to go out and prepare for a few minutes?"

Hearing this, Yuan Jing couldn't help but recall the mood when he interviewed a big shot for the first time. The excitement, uneasiness, and expectation for his success were mixed with the fear of failure in the interview, which made Yuan Jing spend a lot of effort.

Only then did I calm down.

Since Morita Mitsuko could make such a sincere request, Hara Kei agreed. It happened that he and Takahashi were chatting about some trivial matter at this time. When Morita Mitsuko was taken out by the secretary, Hara Kei asked: "The workers of Kawasaki Shipyard have already won the

Eight-hour work system, how many people in the Seiyukai want to fully implement the eight-hour work system in Japan?"

Takahashi Shiqing's expression became solemn, "Only a few people want to legislate, and most are not happy to see it."

Hearing that the eight-hour working day has not become an issue affecting policymaking within the Seiyukai, Japan's current 'ruling party', Hara Kei is relieved. The nationwide rice riots in Japan led to the collapse of the Terauchi Cabinet, leaving the Hara Kei Cabinet

Get on stage.

Kei Hara knows the fierce emotions of the Japanese people, and also knows the mood of the powerful elites and capitalists on the opposite side who want to suppress it with all their strength. As prime minister, Kei Hara must not let the gaffe worsen. Otherwise, Kei Hara’s cabinet will directly collapse. In order to calm the people,

It also requires the powerful people and capitalists to make certain concessions. To achieve such a result, Yuan Jing has already worked hard. At this time, there must be no new flashpoints.

Just as they finished talking about this topic, there was a knock on the door, and the secretary led Mitsuko Morita in. Although Takahashi could leave, he still stayed and sat aside to watch the interview.

Mitsuko Morita raised the first question, "Your Excellency, will the government use all means to support the Belarusian provisional government?"

Hara shook his head, "The Japanese government is concerned about the Russian Civil War, but it will not let the Japanese military and citizens take huge risks to intervene in the Russian Civil War for the sake of Russia."

"Your Excellency, do you think there will be any difference in the attitudes of the overthrown Tsarist Russian government and the current Soviet Russian government in ending the war when the situation is unfavorable?"

Upon hearing this question, Yuan Jing felt that it was a tricky-sounding question, but also a question that was actually misleading.

Looking at Mitsuko Morita, I saw that this little girl was a bit petite and had a sweet-looking round face. She looked very cute.

When Kei Hara was a reporter, he worked at the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper and did not have a deep understanding of the Asahi Shimbun. Therefore, Kei Hara was unable to determine whether Mitsuko Morita came up with this question himself or whether it was set by the Asahi Shimbun.

Thinking of female reporter Mitsuko Morita's academic qualifications, Hara Kei decided to take a gamble. Now the General Staff Headquarters has begun to use newspapers to incite the emotions of the Japanese people. If they want to fight back, Hara Kei will also have to use the propaganda power of newspapers.

So Yuan Jing replied: "Based on the information that has been learned so far, the Bolshevik government is an extremely radical Russian political organization. And the Russian people have fallen into radical emotions. Under such emotions, Russia cannot

A decision may be made to cede territory and pay compensation.”

"Your Excellency, at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, I heard that Russia was transporting troops to the Far East. Japan's economy at that time was already relying on borrowing to maintain itself. Is this news accurate?"

After hearing this question, Hara Kei already understood that the Asahi Shimbun was preparing to stand on the anti-war side this time, that is, Hara Kei. In this case, Hara Kei analyzed the strength comparison between the two sides behind the Russo-Japanese War.

.And in line with Mitsuko Morita’s question, he continued to explain that if a war broke out with the Bolshevik government in Soviet Russia, the outcome would not be any different from the Russo-Japanese War.

Russia can afford to delay, but if Japan cannot achieve a decisive victory in the short term, the country will be overwhelmed by huge military expenditures.

More importantly, even if a war broke out with Soviet Russia, the Japanese army continued to advance in the Far East and achieved some military victories, but it would not be able to reach Russia's core European core areas. Soviet Russia could continue to fight the Japanese army.

The results of the Russo-Japanese War proved that as long as a large country with a vast territory continues to fight, the cost is much lower than that of Japan, which is alone overseas, sending troops to the mainland.

Finally, the interview was completed. Mitsuko Morita closed the notebook and asked, "Do you have anything else to add?"

Hara Kei was in a much better mood at this time and said with a smile: "When will Miss Morita write out the interview article?"

Mitsuko Morita was not confident that his news would quickly pass the editor's review, so he replied: "I will send the first draft the day after tomorrow and ask you to send someone to review it."

For Hara Kei, who has been a journalist for several years, reviewing and revising manuscripts was just a daily routine, so he encouraged him: "I'm just waiting to see Miss Morita's masterpiece."

When the secretary sent Mitsuko Morita out, Takahashi Korekiyo sighed: "I didn't expect a girl to have such knowledge. The people in the staff headquarters are not as good as such a girl."

Yuan Jing was also speechless, but there was nothing he could do.

The Japanese people's attitude towards the war is very simple. As long as they win the war and pay compensation to the defeated countries, so that the people can breathe a sigh of relief, the Japanese people will support the war. If the war fails to achieve this goal, the Japanese people will vent all their anger.

On the Prime Minister.

If this was the mood of the Japanese people during the Russo-Japanese War more than ten years ago, now Hara Kei is facing an even more difficult situation. The resistance of the Japanese people is becoming more and more intense. Since small parties must rely on radicals, in order to cater to the dissatisfaction of the people,

The political slogan of 'universal suffrage' has been shouted by smaller parties for several years.

Hara Jing said helplessly: "In fact, the development of democracy in the future is a terrible thing. I have the same worries as the bureaucratic forces. The difference is that the bureaucratic forces want to block this trend, and I want to prevent it.

This trend developed too fast, so we need to channel it so that it does not cause chaos. The Qing Dynasty collapsed under the overly radical reforms."

Takahashi Korekiyo expressed his agreement. However, Takahashi was thinking of He Rui. He Rui quickly eliminated the landlords and gentry in the Northeast and then implemented extremely radical policies. The Bolshevik government in a very short time

Within a short period of time, he seized the national power of Russia. The situation on both sides is not bad. Takahashi Korekiyo feels that whether the policy is radical is not as influential as imagined. The key lies in whether the power is unified.

It is said that Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks, controlled the Bolshevik party. As for He Rui, more evidence proves that He Rui holds an absolute leadership position in the Northeast government.

However, Hara Kei, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, had to deal with various forces. Not only was he unable to order other forces, but he had to compete with various forces in order to coordinate relations.

Two days later, Hara Kei received the interview news. Just as Hara Kei hoped, the interview was very literary. More importantly, it was an easy-to-understand press release. By comparing it with the Russo-Japanese War, the interview

The huge losses caused to Japan by the Russo-Japanese War and the reasons behind them are clearly written, even ordinary people can understand it.

There is no lack of praise for the victory of the war throughout the article, which is not annoying at all. Likewise, the price paid by the Japanese people is also vividly described. After all, most Japanese who experienced the Russo-Japanese War are still alive.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan owed huge foreign debts, which were not repaid until the European War two years ago due to a sudden surge in exports.

After reading it again, Yuan Jing felt that the article had a good sense of proportion and could not find any problems in its writing and content. Thinking of the reactions of those in the General Staff Headquarters after reading this article, Yuan Jing felt a little hopeful.

Just as Hara Kei expected, after reading the article in the Asahi Shimbun, General Yusaku Uehara, the chief of staff, angrily called Lieutenant Colonel Ikeda, who was responsible for breaking news for the Asahi Shimbun, and scolded: "Ikeda, you are doing this

Did you contact the Asahi Shimbun?"

Ikeda endured the scolding from General Uehara Yusaku and didn't pay much attention to it. As Japan's major newspaper, the General Staff Headquarters really couldn't order the Asahi Shimbun to obey. After General Uehara Yusaku finished scolding him, Ikeda asked for the newspaper and after reading it

, when I saw the pen name "Rui Fukada" written in the author column, I felt that I roughly knew who the author was.

Originally, Yusaku Uehara was still angry. Hearing that the author turned out to be a female reporter with whom he had deep connections, he immediately put all other thoughts aside. Yusaku Uehara knew that He Rui was favored by Takahashi Korekiyo, so he couldn't help but think that Takahashi Korekiyo had colluded with foreign countries.

suspicion.

A few days later, He Rui, who was considered to be colluding with Takahashi Korekiyo, received information that when the Japanese Chief of Staff Yusaku Uehara met with the Emperor of Japan, he proposed a request for war with Soviet Russia, but Emperor Taisho directly rejected it.

This made Yusaku Uehara very frustrated.

He Rui put down the urgent information sent and continued to assign work to Director Zhou of the Foreign Affairs Department, "If the Bolsheviks send someone to contact and ask if the Soviet Red Army can use the passage, you should ask the representatives of the Soviet Red Army to contact the Northeastern Army

Comrades in charge of foreign affairs."
To be continued...