In March 2009, the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress was held in Beijing.

Secretary Liu returned to Beijing.

After Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and collapsed, another investment bank, Merrill Lynch, was also acquired by Goldman Sachs, and three of the five major investment banks in the United States collapsed at once. The stock price of the two housing companies has fallen all the way to the bottom, and there is no hope of a comeback for a long time to come.

The U.S. government has invested nearly $100 billion to save the two-house company. But for the huge real estate bubble and derivative financial bond markets, this is a drop in the bucket. Some conservative economists estimate that the U.S. government will need to invest at least $300 billion to save the company, while others, more pessimistic economists, may need to invest $1 trillion to make it happen.

Whether it is $300 billion or $1 trillion, it is beyond the limits of what the US government can afford.

The new president of the United States, Jack, is deeply troubled by this, and even anxious. U.S. dignitaries have visited countries around the world to seek assistance. But with little success. Because of the impact of global integration, EU countries are also deeply affected by the financial crisis and are too busy to take care of themselves. Even the traditional "blood bank" of the United States*** has suffered serious blood loss and can no longer receive much money from the United States.

At this time, the United States and Western countries pinned all their hopes on the east of the world. If the Republic, together with another large developing country, are willing to lend a helping hand, it may be able to help the United States tide over the difficult times, or at least buy some respite.

However, it is not up to the Americans to decide whether this hope can be realized.

In a villa in Longshan Park, Guo Qiliang sat around a table with Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan.

This is Guo Qiliang's mansion.

This party was invited by Guo Qiliang, and it was nominally a private party. Guo Qiliang invited Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan to his home for dinner. If you invite one of them individually, that's no problem. There will also be personal interactions between senior leaders. just invited Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan at the same time, but it seemed a little out of line.

The close relationship between Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan is known to many high-level bigwigs. However, a private relationship is a private relationship, and a public friendship is a public friendship, two different things. Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan often sit together and drink tea and talk, others are used to it, it doesn't matter. It is not so good to appear in Guo Qiliang's house at the same time.

But Guo Qiliang doesn't seem to care much about this.

He invited Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan over, not to contact the relationship, there are very important things to discuss. Tomorrow a meeting of the Politburo will be held to discuss further measures to deal with the US financial crisis. As vice premier in charge of the financial system, Guo Qiliang is bound to put forward his own plan at the Politburo meeting. Before that, Guo Qiliang wanted to ask Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan for their opinions.

These two are both known as strongmen in economic construction, and they participated in the "Hong Kong Blockade" campaign together 10 years ago, and successfully defeated the invasion of Hong Kong by international financial predators, and won a complete victory.

In terms of financial strategy, it is necessary to communicate with them.

"Secretary Liu, everything is as you expected......"

Guo Qiliang took a sip of the teacup and said with emotion.

Guo Qiliang's words are really emotional. It's not just about Yoo's prediction of the U.S. financial crisis. The year before last, the New Century Financial Corporation went bankrupt and the US financial crisis was beginning to take shape, and the US Government worked very hard to "whitewash the peace," but some discerning economists were still aware of the huge risks hidden in it. However, it is the first time that Liu Jun has systematically expounded the causes and consequences of the possible outbreak of the US financial crisis at a Politburo meeting. Moreover, on the occasion of the Politburo meeting, Liu Jun's prediction this time is also destined to be extraordinary. Once the prediction is wrong, resulting in a response error, Yoo Jun will be criticized by many parties.

But Yoo Jun made no mistakes, as if he were the director, and the US financial crisis was played out exactly according to his "script".

After the outbreak of the financial crisis, the Politburo held several meetings to discuss countermeasures, and each of Yoo Jun's proposals was highly valued by everyone.

In this process, the United States will not stand idly by and has taken various measures to exert pressure on us. In particular, the arms sales to the treasure island area are regarded as a super bargaining chip, and they are taken out from time to time to talk about it.

And every time Liu Jun proposes, the core idea is only two words - tough!

It should be said that Liu Jun's attitude has caused serious differences. Some veteran leaders believe that in view of the actual disparity in the national strength of the two countries, it is not appropriate to completely tear up the face with the United States at this stage, and that it is necessary to give them some benefits in an appropriate manner. At the same time, we should also shoulder the responsibilities of a great power, so as to shape our image as a great power and establish our status as a great power. Other leaders, on the other hand, support Yoo's approach, saying that at this stage, they should be tough. More than 50 years ago, we established our status as a military power and demonstrated our national and military prestige through a war of foreign aid, and now we can still play a majestic role in this financial war and establish our status as a financial power.

From the perspective of formal development, basically Liu Jun's response measures are more appropriate. The United States has begun to offer us overtures and ask for support.

In the final analysis, successfully predicting the overall financial situation is still just the "duty" of a strongman in economic construction, but in the contest between countries, every response is roughly appropriate, and this is not trivial.

Liu Jun not only completely established his prestige in Province D, but also gradually established his position at the central level. At almost every Politburo meeting, Chairman Li Zhiguo asked Liu Jun by name.

This is a clear signal.

Liu Jun smiled slightly and remained silent.

In front of Guo Qiliang and Qiu Qingchuan, he didn't need to be polite.

"On the U.S. side, there are already a few congressmen who have put forward a bill on sanctions. This matter needs to be discussed. ”

Guo Qiliang then got to the point.

Qiu Qingchuan smiled and said, "Ignore him!" ”

After Qiu Qingchuan became the secretary of the provincial party committee of Province A, he took over all the team left by Liu Jun, and with the full cooperation of Baiyang, he has completely established his prestige and has become more and more taciturn and majestic.

In front of Guo Qiliang, he also behaved.

Guo Qiliang also smiled, glanced at Liu Jun, and said, "Secretary Liu also has this opinion?" ”

Liu Jun smiled: "Premier Guo is confident, why bother asking us!" ”

Guo Qiliang laughed, picked up the cigarette on the coffee table, and handed it to Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan. Although the age difference between the three is quite large and their experiences are not the same, Guo Qiliang found that many of his ideas are highly consistent with Liu Jun and Qiu Qingchuan, and most of the time they coincide.

It can be said that this has become a common practice and is also the usual method of some US politicians. When domestic contradictions are acute and difficult to reconcile, politicians usually use this trick to open fire on other countries in order to divert the attention of the domestic people and turn the domestic contradictions in the United States into international contradictions.

Under the aura of being the number one power for many years, many people in the United States have also developed this kind of arrogant mentality, believing that the United States has the right to meddle in the affairs of the whole world, and that any country should turn the baton according to the United States.

However, this method, in the eyes of Liu Jun and others, is not surprising, and it is already old.

A few years ago, there were many export enterprises in our country, and in order to generate foreign exchange income, they relied heavily on the US market, and the United States often wielded the big stick of "sanctions," which could often suppress them. For the sake of the overall situation, certain concessions will be made to them. Not only us, but also many other developing countries have also been "blackmailed" by the United States.

But this time, the situation is markedly different. The United States is actively seeking our support, and at this time, it is natural to take the initiative to communicate with us and find ways to cooperate. There is no doubt that now it is their turn to give in to us. But still comes to such a hand, according to our saying, it is simply too ignorant of current affairs, and the typical upside-down donkey does not fall down.

"However, this bill may be passed."

Guo Qiliang lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and said, his eyebrows frowning slightly.

Qiu Qingchuan said indifferently: "Even if it passes, it's not a big problem." We can counter-sanctions. ”

Liu Jun smiled and said, "If they were smart enough, they wouldn't do such stupid things." ”

Qiu Qingchuan smiled and said, "Some people always like to hit themselves in the mouth, what can be done...... On the contrary, their military budget for this year is worth paying attention to. ”

As soon as Qiu Qingchuan said this, Guo Qiliang and Liu Jun's expressions changed at the same time.

After Jack assumed the presidency, the draft military budget submitted to Congress was the highest in history, accounting for almost half of the world's total military budget, more than the military budgets of other countries combined, and tens of billions of dollars higher than the previous year's military budget.

Originally, the United States' military spending was extremely huge, and it was not too outrageous to be tens of billions of dollars higher than that of the previous year. However, under the current situation of financial crisis, it is extraordinary that such a huge military budget has been proposed.

Liu Jun pondered for a while, and said slowly: "It can be seen that in the minds of Americans, what is the most important thing. That's powerful! Whether in the military or economic sphere, they always want to maintain this hegemonic position. Only if you are strong enough, you can have enough dominance. Therefore, no matter how serious the financial crisis is, the military cannot be weakened. If a country is not protected by strong armaments, the richer it is, the more it will arouse the covetousness of the jackals. At all times, we must try to control the initiative, and I think this is worth learning from. ”

Guo Qiliang and Qiu Qingchuan both nodded slowly.