Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

Unfortunately, someone had already tipped them off.

Many independent farms in Japan are trying to break free from the closed structure of agricultural cooperatives and sell their products directly to the market. However, the results are often disastrous: the farm is suddenly sprayed with herbicides, the farmer dies in a car accident, or they can't buy fertilizers and pesticides.

Therefore, the eager new agricultural department secretly reported to Li Xinghe about the impending rebellion by agricultural associations in various regions.

Upon receiving the news, Li Xinghe, accompanied by the Nagumo sisters and Lin Youzi, arrived at the Ichigaya Honmura-cho base, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces, in his capacity as the deputy commander of the US-Japan Joint Forces and the commander of the Japan Joint Operations Command.

The officers and soldiers at the scene all raised their hands:

"salute!"

"Commander, welcome back to headquarters."

Theoretically speaking, Li Xinghe was already the number one military figure in the entire Japanese Self-Defense Forces at this time.

He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Operations Command, the de facto Commander of the U.S. Forces in Japan, and the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, holding significant financial power, which was equivalent to controlling three major positions.

Li Xinghe, who had recently bombarded this place, has returned as a conqueror, which makes many self-defense officers feel uncomfortable.

Adding to the pressure of orders to take action against the farmers' associations, many officers lined up outside the command post to plead for mercy:

"Hey, you can't do that!"

"Hey, I'm from Akita Prefecture, and farmers have their own difficulties too. Please retract your order."

Even so, Li Xinghe did not stop.

These are not considered radicals.

The true radicals of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces have either been killed by Li Xinghe after several rounds of beheadings, or they have voluntarily resigned and left.

Radical rebels like Uchikura Hiroaki are now in jail, and many have been exiled to Taiwan by Li Xinghe to dig sand pits on the beaches. Not only do they have to dig pits, but they also have to shield themselves from bombs. Even if they die on the beach, they still have to write reports for Li Xinghe, effectively acting as inside agents for Li Xinghe's remote control of Taiwan.

"commander……"

Chief of Staff of the Joint Operations Staff, and theoretically Li Xinghe's deputy, Nobutaka Minamikawa, an official from the Defense Operations Agency of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, helplessly watched a group of radical officers cause trouble, unsure of what to say. In reality, he had no intention of coming to the Joint Operations Headquarters; he was simply selected when personnel were drawn from various departments to form the Joint Operations Command.

Since the Chief of Staff couldn't utter a single word, the Commander's Assistant, Tetsuya Ito, who was actually in charge of the department's general affairs, and the Operations Chief, Hajime Kitajima, were eager to talk to Li Xinghe about the attitude of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

A woman of considerable height, no less so than a man, with a long ponytail resembling that of a dancer, dressed in a pure blue military uniform, and appearing to be around 35 years old, stood up to protest against Li Xinghe:

"Your Excellency! If things continue like this, even if the Self-Defense Forces are extremely loyal to the country, they must take some action, right?"

Everyone was shocked.

How dare you, a woman, speak before us?

Because the pronunciation of "Taiko" is similar to "Your Excellency" (or "Kaka"), and because Li Xinghe's recent behavior has indeed gone too far, resembling Toyotomi Hideyoshi's usurpation of power, the practice of calling him "Taiko" has quietly become popular. This is not new; powerful Japanese prime ministers are often referred to as Taiko, such as Kakuei Tanaka.

Whether this woman's direct address of Li Xinghe as "Your Excellency Taiko" was a slip of the tongue or a common practice within the Self-Defense Forces remains unknown.

Li Xinghe asked casually:

What is your background?

Someone in the queue shouted:

"It's a tiny underwater man!"

Tawara Senjou-hime glared at the man and hurriedly reported:

"I was originally the submarine commander of the Sasebo Naval Base, and now I am appointed as the Chief of General Affairs of your Joint Operations Headquarters, First Class Marine Captain Tawara Chiki-hime!"

In a sense, submarine commanders are among the most composed of all military branches, but she clearly doesn't fit that description.

Li Xinghe pondered:

"Colonel."

Seeing the crowd's agitated emotions and Li Xinghe's serious expression, as if he would only stop the argument by arresting a few people and putting them in jail, Lin Meng's mother, Lin Youzi, became Li Xinghe's loyal deputy and a social terrorist who worked for him everywhere under the alias 'Amakusa Maki'.

Upon seeing Tawara Senjou-hime, she pulled her behind her:

"Oh my, isn't this Princess Senjou?"

As she spoke, she introduced him to Li Xinghe:

"She was originally my subordinate when I was in office. She was a very talented dentist. I never expected that she would later transfer to the submarine force."

Li Xinghe finally understood.

No wonder others don't think much of Tawara Senjou-hime; she's a colonel who's been transferred to a higher rank.

This is a special service measure taken by the Japan Self-Defense Forces to increase the number of female officers. Many female Self-Defense Force officers in military medical positions are given temporary expedited training and transferred to the air force, naval vessels, or ground self-defense forces to serve as officers, in order to make up for the problem that although there are many female soldiers in the Self-Defense Forces, there are very few female officers.

Given her background as a dentist and her special training for retraining, her transfer to the Joint Operations Headquarters was likely intended to create a female officer position within the headquarters, thus achieving gender balance.

The rank of colonel is nothing special, because the ranks in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are always distributed in bulk, and all sorts of miscellaneous unit leaders can be assigned the rank of colonel.

Hayashi Yuko's attempt to win over Tawara Chikihime was most likely motivated by a desire to undermine the unity within the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

When everyone was arguing like they were in a market, Li Xinghe spoke up.

He scanned the group and said:

"You bunch of useless trash."

This statement caused a great uproar at headquarters.

Even if the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are all useless, it's not right to say that openly.

Li Xinghe calmly criticized:

"In terms of the Air Self-Defense Force, it couldn't even completely destroy the Imperial Palace. In terms of mechanized forces, it only has the 7th Division. In terms of combat troops, it has less than 70,000 men. In terms of tanks, it has less than 300 in total. In terms of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, it has repeatedly attempted to assassinate its superiors. In terms of ships, it is perhaps the only unit with some combat capability. But it can only defend itself."

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are indeed the most useless force in the entire US camp. They're so useless that the US has been trying to get them to improve, offering them various technology licenses, but the Japanese have simply given up.

The entire Ground Self-Defense Force is a defensive unit organized entirely for local defense, with almost no mechanized units. At best, the entire force is a motorized organization from the Cold War era, not to mention the combined arms heavy brigades after the reforms.

Therefore, Li Xinghe looked down on the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. The reason why a coastal combat brigade stationed in the port could continuously sweep through Tokyo and regain its dominance was because the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, especially their mechanized warfare capabilities, was too poor.

If the South Korean army had this level of combat capability, Lee Sung-ha's Yongsan base wouldn't even need repairs.

His strong criticism:

"If we don't get enough fiscal budget, how can we order American aircraft carriers? How can we buy Chinese aircraft carriers? How can we build our own aircraft carriers? How can we get enough cheap tanks? How can we maintain the country's road infrastructure? How can we develop better radar and missiles? All you do is yell at me about 'peace and stability.' If we get 100 trillion yen, we can revitalize the national economy, formulate the '5-Year Japan Rejuvenation Plan,' revitalize Japan's military industry, recruit more soldiers, purchase imported supplies to feed the soldiers, and revitalize the agricultural market, allowing farms that have long yearned for free trade to grow bigger and stronger."

Li Xinghe continued to hurl insults:

"But you just sit idly in your tombs, clinging to the status quo."

After finishing his tirade, Li Xinghe began ruthlessly deleting personnel:

"It's time to give you a thorough training."

"I have made up my mind. I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Unified Operations. Anyone who thinks my orders are wrong should voluntarily remove their rank and I will arrange for them to work overseas as military attachés. Anyone who disobeys orders in the future will be sent directly to prison and severely punished."

Soon, officers from the Tokyo Garrison Brigade of the Japanese Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces were summoned to the parade ground.

Li Xinghe's decision was communicated to everyone.

A small number of officers chose to leave the military, while the majority went overseas as military attachés or were assigned to work in offices in military-related enterprises.

Tawara Senjou-hime wanted to leave, but was pulled aside by Hayashi Yuko and stayed after a whispered conversation.

The remaining officers were those who were willing to work with Li Xinghe.

After consolidating the Joint Operations Command, Li Xinghe pointed to Tawara Senjou-hime, who was in charge of general affairs:

"Send a telegram to mobilize reconnaissance teams and armored squadrons from the six major army corps across the country to serve as assault forces at the agricultural association headquarters in their respective counties and districts, and to arrest the main leaders of the agricultural associations in each region. If they are besieged by protesters, they are permitted to fire guns, artillery, and tanks."

Tawara Senjohime typed in a daze.

“Repeat it.”

Lin Youzi pinched Tawara Senjou-hime, making her quickly stand up and salute:

"Yes, Your Excellency! Arrest the main leaders of the local farmers' associations by arresting all reconnaissance teams and armored squadrons of the six major army corps, nine divisions, and six brigades nationwide!"

"Execute it."

"Yes!"

Immediately, the Self-Defense Forces within the 46 administrative units of the 47 prefectures and counties across the country, excluding the Ryukyu Autonomous Prefecture which had already eliminated agricultural cooperatives and formed an agricultural assistance partnership with Zhejiang Province of China, received Li Xinghe's orders.

"United Front Command Order No. 1: Eliminate the Farmers' Cooperatives... Repeat, eliminate the Farmers' Cooperatives..."

The reconnaissance companies and armored squadrons from various regions who received the order to deploy troops stood in the hall, completely bewildered and at a loss.

They were still worried about not having enough to eat when they were suddenly gathered together and made to ride in a few wheeled assault vehicles, trucks and motorcycles to suppress the local farmers' association's march.

"Each person will receive a special operation allowance of 1 yen per day per deployment..." The voice paused, then continued, "The Commander-in-Chief personally ordered that 'Military Self-Defense Officers' be established throughout the Self-Defense Forces to investigate corruption, bullying, and embezzlement of food and lodging. The budget for the U.S. military stationed in Japan will be reduced to provide all soldiers with a high-welfare lifestyle, including meat and eggs at every meal and subsidized lodging."

Commander-in-Chief's supreme directive: Every meal must include meat and eggs.

Some people might think this is a bit outrageous in Japan, but it's actually a luxury that only exists in a dream world.

Under Li Xinghe's nationwide command, the first-ever nationwide mobilization of the Japan Self-Defense Forces began.

Just as the Americans expected, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces deployed their full force, striking first at ordinary rioters.

But contrary to what Americans expected, they were fighting against the most pro-American old feudal landlords.

……

Soon, the conflict between Li Xinghe and the Farmers' Association escalated to a point where they completely broke off relations.

"The Japan Agricultural Cooperatives were shocked by the ban and issued a tearful appeal to the public, hoping that the people would understand their contributions."

Indeed, in its early days, the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives made indelible contributions to the development of Japanese agriculture. But the past is the past, and the present is the present.

But Li Xinghe pressed on relentlessly:

"The Cabinet Secretariat has issued an executive order allowing large agricultural companies to lease and operate large-scale farms on a voluntary basis. If abandoned farmland exists in rural areas, the Cabinet is authorized to forcibly reclaim it and lease it out uniformly. Foreign agricultural companies are permitted to enter the Japanese agricultural market with Cabinet approval."

This is tantamount to stripping them of their control over local land.

Li Xinghe wanted to open the eyes of the old folks in the countryside.

Due to declining land productivity over the past few decades, large areas of farmland in Japan have been converted to other uses or abandoned. Li Xinghe is now going to take back all of these lands and hand them over to people who are willing to engage in agriculture.

This further enraged the Japanese agricultural cooperatives.

This leads to a situation that differs from traditional Chinese perceptions.

Because Japan never underwent a comprehensive de-feudalization revolution, even MacArthur's land redistribution only allocated a portion of the land to peasants. In reality, feudal landlords largely remained in various regions. Based in local agricultural cooperatives, they controlled numerous self-operated post offices (many of which went bankrupt after privatization), and rose to positions such as governor in local governments, forming local feudal forces. They then joined the Liberal Democratic Party and advanced into Tokyo.

Yoshihide Suga, who comes from a family that produced strawberry tycoons, is a typical example of this kind of feudal landlord.

The reason why people often overlook this landlord model is that they are only lower-level units in the Japanese hereditary system. The old aristocrats, such as the Abe family, the Kishi family, Aso, and Kato, who were high-ranking officials before the war, are the senior masters of the feudal hereditary system.

Today, the old Chinese political system is becoming unsustainable, and many long-established families that have held high office for four generations have either lost their lineage or been wiped out by Li Xinghe.

Therefore, Li Xinghe's knife slashed downwards from high to low, heading towards the agricultural associations in various places.

In other words, Li Xinghe was indeed eliminating the backward feudal landlord class.

The Japanese are quite bewildered by the continuous dominance of the trending topics.

"How can they be so aggressive in their public confrontation? The stock market has fallen again."

"If you're going to fight, then fight. Don't make a scene online, okay?"

The Japanese way of thinking is quite peculiar, even by global standards.

They particularly enjoy observing the world through their own limited perspectives, then converging their ideas within their own small circles to develop all sorts of bizarre theories that deceive themselves. After being ridiculed by others, they return to their small circle of public opinion in Japan to continue deceiving themselves.

The Japanese attitude toward Li Xinghe has always been very complex.

He was genuinely working on things, and he had been trying to resolve decades-old social conflicts in Japan. The problem was, however, that his solutions always left the Japanese feeling cuckolded and resentful.

The current civil war with the farmers' association is even more worrying.

The situation inside and outside Tokyo was relatively stable, but on the Kanto Plain outside Tokyo, a large line of tractors mobilized by agricultural cooperatives had been set up, preparing to launch a large-scale occupation protest, just like the Indian farmers.

The old Dengs, mainly landlords and distributors, were the main force behind the rebellion.

When it was discovered that many distributors and middlemen who made money in the distribution sector by hoarding and speculating were joining the anti-Li Xinghe movement under the guidance of Ja Quan Nong's unified purchase and sales system, netizens quickly split into two different voices.

The voice of mainstream netizens is actually:

"Those old guys should have died long ago!"

"These are the people who are causing prices to skyrocket and making our lives so difficult! They should just die already."

The non-mainstream opinion is:

"Fire! Damn it, fire now!"