Russia used to be a pure land, and Petersburg was also beautiful. After Li Xin boarded the pier in Petersburg again, he found that his impression of Petersburg had changed dramatically. There were more chimneys, more coal, and a lot of coal ash on the docks of St. Petersburg, and the clear skies of St. Petersburg were somewhat gray, as had happened in the Chinese capital, Nanjing, and other industrial cities.

The Russian industry developed rapidly in these years, and the gold earned from the sale of land to China played a great role in this, and the abolition of serfdom was another reason, and the third major reason was the large investment of the French. France did not have enough money to carry out a large-scale second industrial revolution, and France was not too short of money, so French money began to be invested in industrialized Russia. China also contributed to it, discovering the Baku oil fields and obtaining the right to develop the Baku oil fields, so that Russia's oil supply was satisfied.

Thinking of this problem, Li Xin could not help but envy Russia, which has amazing oil reserves in the elite regions of Russia. China's oil supply depends on the South China Sea and its vast ocean-going oil fleet. In fact, the only people in the entire central government who have reason to oppose the use of radio throughout the country are the military, and other departments support the use of radio on a larger scale, which is too beneficial to the national economy and the people's livelihood.

Retracting his thoughts, Li Xin got into the car of the Chinese embassy and went to the Russian Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg. The issue of demarcation between China and Russia has been completed, and theoretically the two sides have made peace. In such a situation, China's visit to Russia is of great significance, and China's main task in the near future is to properly integrate the 30 million square kilometers of national territory. At this stage, peace itself can pay huge dividends.

The Tsar's palace was splendid, and along the way, these countries that were not as powerful as China were richer than China in the palace, which could not help but make Li Xin a little unconvinced. It is true that the Chinese architectural model is different from that of Europe, and the most important reason is that Weeser has no interest in building palaces. Wei Ze's statement is really full of his personal style, "Let everyone have it first, and then have the foundation to seek beauty." At this time, designers can have something to eat, and the designer base is large and the accumulation is thick, so that the master can appear. When the master is out, we can design as much as we want. ”

What Li Xin felt from Wei Ze's words was Wei Ze's concept of governing the country, and he also knew that a considerable number of other people felt Wei Ze's attitude against the construction of the palace. Regardless of what kind of understanding, everyone also followed Weese's orders. It must be said that Li Xin agrees with Wei Ze's attitude. Nowadays, there are more and more people engaged in interior decoration in the city, as long as they have a little financial resources, most of them will pay attention to the decoration after purchasing those basic large items. Or hang a calligraphy and painting, or put up some vases. In recent years, colored room painting has become popular. Although white walls are still the mainstream, colored wall paint, wallpaper, and wall coverings have also begun to become popular in large numbers.

In the early years, hanging curtains was to drive a nail and tie a wire. Nowadays, after processing, smooth curtain rods and expansion bolts are becoming more and more popular. These changes have unconsciously made those guys who study "art" find a way to eat, and Li Xin once thought that these graduates belonged to guys with no future. I didn't expect that those who were clever enough to work found their "way of money" in the city.

On the way to the palace, looking at the houses of ordinary Russians on the side of the road, Li Xin noticed that there were also curtains on the small windows of these houses. But after thinking about it, Li Xin was also a little relieved. In the Crimean War, the Russians faced the onslaught of hundreds of thousands of Anglo-French troops, and although they did not win, they did not collapse. During this period, more than 10,000 British troops defeated the Manchu emperor and fled the capital. Weeser also said at that time that if the British were willing to send 200,000 British lobster soldiers into Guangdong, they would still be able to win.

It has only been 35 years since Weeser joined the army. The Republic of China was formally established in 1869, and it has only been 15 years since then. The Chinese Navy outperformed Britain in less than three years. It is unrealistic to expect China to surpass Russia in such a short period of time. Not to mention that St. Petersburg is the capital of Russia, and it is normal for the people in the capital to have a higher standard of living. Thinking about it like this, Li Xin's heart felt a lot better. At least in the matter of curtains, the level of ordinary industrial cities in China has reached the level of the Russian capital. It is indeed a bit cautious to complain about the relatively high standard of living of the Russians.

With a serious expression, he was thinking about something that had nothing to do with the situation in Russia. This is indeed because the in-depth exchanges between China and other countries in this era are basically fighting, which also proves that Russia only occupies such a position in China's diplomatic concept. China will be concerned about Russia's war potential, and as for the war that may break out now, China is quite confident in itself. The attitude of the central authorities is very consistent, the Chinese population is ten times that of Russia, and as long as China itself does not have problems, there is no possibility of defeat in future wars.

China and Russia have long informed each other of the contents of their official exchanges, and the first thing to be discussed between the two sides is security, and the second is security. Russia cannot really be reassured about China, any more than China now thinks that now is not a good time to start a war.

Because of this, both sides are very concerned about negotiations. In order to win the future Sino-Russian war, both sides have work that must be done now. And in a sense, the border between the two sides is indeed peaceful. The ice field is strategically just an over-the-top zone, and it is a terrible job to maintain a large army on the ice field, and China is an agricultural nation, and the army can still cultivate land, engage in breeding, build greenhouses, grow vegetables, reduce logistical pressure, and pass the time at the same time. The Russians don't have this talent, and they stay in a hellish place in Siberia where the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures can reach 100 degrees Celsius. Maozi relied on the rear to transport food and supplies, and hunted and fished in the local area. Those troops were not so much combat units as the Siberian armed colonization regiments tasked with guarding the border.

Neither side believed that the war would be fought in Siberia, and that the real outbreak could be in Central Asia. At this time, both China and Russia were trying to digest the territory of Central Asia, and neither had the strength to fight a big war. Based on the status quo of peace, the two sides are discussing peace enthusiastically. Confirm with each other whether the two countries have the possibility of war in the short term.

After discussing these issues, the foreign ministers of the two countries began to discuss the international situation. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Xin is very interested in this, because Russia is also a big European power, and their diplomatic attitude has a very great impact on Europe. What are the polar bears' plans for Europe?

"Your country gives Britain so much gold, I don't know what your plan is?" The Russian Foreign Minister finally raised the question.

Li Xin said seriously: "China is a country that attaches importance to peace, and if peace can be bought with money, we will not refuse it." ”

These words made the Russian foreign minister's face show a very complicated expression, and at least thirty percent of this expression was to scold. If China really loved peace, it would not have killed hundreds of thousands of Russians in the Far East and Alaska. Similarly, China's expansion in North America was carried out by stepping on the blood of the British. As for the British navy, which was dealt a heavy blow on the Chinese side, and the Chinese shelled the main British ports in India all the way. Saying that the Chinese are peaceful, the ghosts don't believe it.

The other 30% of the expressions were due to jealousy. Being able to take out so much gold with one guy is a great shock for the Russians and even European countries. This means that China's wealth, as Europe dreamed of, has a huge gold mine.

The remaining forty percent of the emotions are a kind of incomprehension. The Chinese dare to use force, but they also know how to restrain it. If the Russians had gained such a big advantage, they would not have stopped there. How do the Chinese judge the limits of the use of such power? Russia did not discuss this matter with China before, because the Russians believed that the British would launch a counterattack against China in a very short time, and Russia has not seen any signs of a counterattack by the British so far. This can probably only be explained by China's success in grasping the strategic calculations of the British.

In response to these questions, the Russian foreign minister very cleverly raised questions. Li Xin only felt helpless in his heart. Alaska and Yukon have a large number of placer gold mines and gold mines. The gold reserves throughout North America are huge. China mines with the power of the state, and gold is really not a problem.

The other is the British's free trade policy. I don't know whether to say that the British are firm, or whether to say that the British really have ideas. The gold standard in Britain meant that you could go to the bank to exchange gold for pounds, and trade between China and Britain had resumed in the last two years. This compensatory explosion has allowed China to get a large amount of pounds. After exchanging pounds for gold and shipping it back to China, the British bank did not refuse. Although only a few tons of gold have been brought back so far, if the current situation continues, the gold that China gave to the British will sooner or later be moved back to China. This, of course, would provoke war, for which the British were clearly not ready at the moment.

China's thousands of years of coinage have left China with little interest in the gold standard, which itself has too many problems, at least at the moment of the explosive growth of China's productive forces.

Of course, these things about China's basic policy cannot be told to the Russians, Li Xin said with a smile: "I believe that the British side is working hard to build warships and try to fight with us, China." ”

Li Xin thought it was a joke, so he was ready to wait for the Russian foreign minister to laugh along. Unexpectedly, the Russian Foreign Minister looked solemn and did not take this as a joke at all. This made Li Xin unable to laugh by himself, this feeling was held halfway, and it was really uncomfortable.

Russian Foreign Minister Zhengse said: "Minister Li, perhaps you think that after the British built the Grand Fleet, they bypassed Africa and went straight to the Indian Ocean to start a war with China. But for us in Europe, the British fleet is really close at hand, ready to attack us at any time. To you Chinese, you can laugh. For us in Russia, this is really not laughable. ”