Siheyuan: I, Shazhu, started out as an army and became a general.

In early winter in Beijing, the wind howls like a boning knife.

But in a conference room in the Forbidden City, the atmosphere was scorching hot, like a freshly baked sweet potato.

The room was filled with smoke.

Calling it swirling is an understatement; it's practically a scene of cultivating immortality, except that this "immortal aura" is all the pungent smell of old-fashioned tobacco.

Several enamel ashtrays had long been piled up into a small mountain. The orderly went in and out several times, not daring to breathe loudly when emptying the ashtrays, for fear of spilling someone's teacup and disturbing the gods fighting in the room.

Marshal Rong sat at the head of the table, holding a thick, heavy battle report in his hand. His brows were relaxed, and the wrinkles around his eyes, etched with the marks of time, were filled with an unconcealable smile.

Opposite him sat several high-ranking officials from the General Staff Department, as well as political officers responsible for evaluating merits and awarding prizes. Their expressions were so varied they could be described as a colorful spectacle.

"Take a look, everyone."

Rong Shuai pushed the documents to the middle of the table with a loud "whoosh," which sounded quite exciting.

"This is the final result just sent from the front lines, and also... cough cough, a list of spoils that Comrade He Yuzhu 'snatched' back."

An old general wearing reading glasses reached out to copy the list, but after only glancing at it twice, his hand trembled and his glasses almost slipped off the table.

"Good heavens..."

The old general gasped, his eyes widening as he stared intently at Marshal Rong: "Did they add a few extra zeros to these figures? Annihilating an entire reinforced brigade? Capturing a brigadier general? I could tolerate that, but what's this next string of numbers? Fifty tons of gold? Fifty million US dollars? And these truckloads of supplies?"

Not a single zero more.

Rong Shuai picked up his teacup, took a sip, and forcibly suppressed his smirk: "That bastard He Yuzhu said this is called 'compensation for mental distress.' He said our soldiers ran all that way, wearing out their shoes, so we can't do a losing business."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

A hot-tempered lieutenant general next to him slammed his fist on the table and laughed wildly, making the tea lid dance.

"What a generous compensation for emotional distress! This kid's a genius at warfare, and a shrewd businessman too! This wasn't a war; it was a trip abroad to buy goods! He made a killing!"

After the laughter subsided, the atmosphere in the meeting room gradually settled down, becoming subtly heavy.

The cadre in charge of evaluating the merits had a bitter face. He spun the pen in his hand like a whirlwind, but couldn't bring it down. His expression was more troubled than someone suffering from constipation.

"Leaders, this achievement... it's beyond what we can assess, it's too much."

The cadre looked troubled: "According to the regulations, with this achievement, it's a sure thing to be awarded a special merit."

"The problem is, Comrade He Yuzhu has so many special-class merits that you can't even count them on two hands. Giving him another special-class merit would feel... it would feel like an insult to him, it would be too worthless."

indeed.

From "Tiger He" who instilled psychological trauma in the US military at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, to "Chief Designer He" who hand-crafted mushroom bombs in the Northwest, and now to the Indians who begged for mercy and the US aircraft carrier who fled overnight in fear.

Each and every one of these incidents was earth-shattering.

For He Yuzhu, a regular special-class merit award was just like a "Yiwu small commodity wholesaler"—it was nothing new, and he didn't even know where to hang it when he got home.

"And then there's Pang Guoxing's combat team," Rong Shuai added. "Three men chasing after hundreds of people, and they even complained that the enemy wasn't surrendering fast enough. Soldiers like that are kings of soldiers, deserving a hefty reward."

"In addition, the twenty-four aerial warriors led by Li Hai are also heroes."

"That's easy. Promote them, award them medals, set them up as role models—all arranged in one go, with the most impressive presentation possible."

The senior officer from the General Staff waved his hand, his gaze intense: "The key now is He Yuzhu. His role as commander-in-chief was top secret from the start. Now that the war is over, shouldn't his rank... be considered for a promotion?"

The moment those words were spoken, the meeting room fell into an eerie silence.

All that remained was the old clock on the wall, ticking away, each tick like a blow to the heart.

Everyone was silently smoking, and no one spoke first.

He Yuzhu's current rank is lieutenant general, equivalent to a full-fledged army commander. At his age, this is a speed that even a rocket couldn't catch up with; it's simply outrageous beyond belief—absurd to the extreme.

Should we move it upwards again?

That's the rank of a full-fledged military region commander, or even higher. That's the rank of general!

A 36-year-old general?

Unheard of! This is like punching a hole in the ceiling and then building an illegal structure on top of it!

"Cough cough."

Finally, a highly experienced veteran coach coughed twice, breaking the silence.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his voice a little hoarse: "In terms of merit, he deserves to be a general. After all, the hydrogen bomb is a national treasure, and in this aircraft carrier crisis, it was his single bomb that forced the Americans to retreat. His merits are immeasurable."

"but……"

The veteran coach's tone shifted, his gaze becoming somewhat complicated: "He's too young. Thirty-six years old. What were we old guys doing at thirty-six? Letting him climb so high all at once, will he be able to command respect? Won't we be overpraising him?"

"To win over the masses?"

Rong Shuai raised an eyebrow, his protective instincts instantly flaring up, his voice rising eight octaves: "Anyone who disagrees? Let him try building an atomic bomb? Or let him try going head-to-head with an American aircraft carrier? Whoever can do that, I'll personally lead his horse and put him in the stirrups! Anyone who disagrees, let him come find me!"

"Old Rong, look, he's excited again."

The old coach waved his hand: "That's not what I meant. I meant, 'The tallest tree in the forest catches the most wind.' This kid is wild and unruly. Shouldn't we try to temper him and temper his temperament?"

"It can't be suppressed anymore, and there's no need to suppress it."

The commander-in-chief, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

The commander-in-chief stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked at the few red plum trees standing proudly in the snow outside the window, and spoke in a deep and powerful voice, exuding an unquestionable majesty.

"You've all seen what happened with the aircraft carrier. Why did the Americans back down? It wasn't because we outnumbered them, but because we possessed the truth! And this truth was created for us by He Yuzhu."

"Times have changed."

The commander-in-chief turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping across the entire room: "Future wars will not rely on human wave tactics, but on technology, on missiles, on those things we don't understand. He Yuzhu is the one who can lead us into a new era."

"Special Merit? That's for ordinary heroes."

The commander-in-chief walked back to the table, tapped his finger heavily on the surface, and made the final decision.

"I think we should report it at the highest level! Promote him to general! Put him in charge of modernizing national defense equipment! If we're going to play, let's play big!"

"But...the rules..." someone muttered softly.

"Rules are made by people!"

The commander-in-chief glared, exuding an aura of dominance, as if he had returned to his days of leading troops with his sword drawn: "What? Afraid he's inexperienced? Tell everyone that if anyone has a problem with this, they should come find me! I want to see who dares to disagree!"