Europe is bounded by the Ural Mountains and the Ural River in the east, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea in the southeast, the Atlantic Ocean, the Greenland Sea, the Danish Strait and North America in the west, the Arctic Sea in the north, and Africa in the south across the Mediterranean Sea. Adding up to that is 10 million square kilometers. It has one-third of the territory of the current Republic of China.

The combined population of European countries is more than 300 million, less than half that of China. If we look at the current rate of population growth in China, by about 1900, the Chinese population will be about three times the total population of Europe.

Li Xin did not want to laugh at the division of Europe into more than a dozen countries, and it continues to be divided. If Europe is to become a unified empire, with Europe's existing industrial strength and population, China must pay very, very much attention to European empires. Needless to say, a united European empire would be more than capable of driving China out of Africa.

In terms of practical interests, a divided Europe is a great thing for China, not an object to be ridiculed.

A lot of things can be very interesting when you look at them from the point of view of pure profit. Li Xin sometimes wondered if His Majesty Wei Ze was facing a completely unified European empire, and the difficulty of the Chinese Liberation War would be so great that it would be desperate.

So when he left Germany by boat from Hamburg, Li Xin was very satisfied with the results of this survey. The German Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the Emperor, and the heads of many factions of parliamentarians, Li Xin met with them and exchanged views on many issues. What satisfied Li Xin the most was that even though Li Xin was saying such straightforward things, when Li Xin left Berlin, the newspaper still published an incident, "Chancellor Bismarck has decided to prohibit Russian securities from being mortgaged in German banks."

Russia was engaged in the 11th Russo-Turkish War, and Prime Minister Bismarck chose such a time to prohibit the mortgage of Russian securities in Germany.

The cruise ship of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, numbered "Zhongyu 0095", was accompanied not only by Chinese diplomats, but also by German parliamentarians who had travelled to Britain on Chinese ships. After getting accustomed to the mugwort incense used by Chinese ships, German parliamentarians were full of praise for the more than 15,000-ton ship.

Teak decks are laid on the boat, as are the rooms inside. There weren't many passengers, so the passengers were assigned to first class. The whole room was carpeted. The walls are covered with plaster and beautiful wallpaper, which is in no way inferior to the top hotels in Germany.

Each cabin has running water and has its own toilet and bathroom. The toilet is a bidet-type flush toilet. The bathtub is made of ceramic firing as a whole. Stainless steel faucets are galvanized and shiny. The large mirrors were even clearer and brighter, and even at night, the electric light completely banished the darkness from the cabin.

The temperature in the North Atlantic is still very low in April, and the Chinese cruise ship has shown its advantage. Unlike the high-end hotels with fireplaces in Germany, Chinese cruise ships use wall-mounted radiators, which are clean, warm and quiet. This in turn surpasses the top hotels in Germany across the board.

There is also cold storage on board, where the division between refrigeration and freezing is clearly defined, and the main dishes on the table are fresh beef and delicious tuna. The vegetables are even more tender, and the ship's greenhouse and cultivation room are combined into one. Seeing the dirt, people moving on the sea felt the feeling of a small land.

"It would be nice if Germany also had such ships." At the dinner table, the members of the German parliament sighed.

Li Xin took a sip of the ice white wine produced in China and North America, the taste of the oak barrel and the rich acidity of the ice and snow grapes are really refreshing, and it is a perfect match for the prawns in the milk sauce. After enjoying a few bites of food, Li Xincai said with a smile: "If your country can import Chinese cruise ships, I assure you that you can use cruise ships with a tonnage of more than 35,000 tons." A European voyage is nothing at all, even a transatlantic voyage. ”

"Without a cruise ship of more than 30,000 tons, I don't think there is any problem with this ship." Reinhardt, a member of parliament in South Germany, said, "It would be enough for Germany to buy such a ship." ”

Reinhardt MP, who was also shared by other MPs, said that Britain had a port capable of docking tens of thousands of tons of ships, while Germany was building it, but it did not. When sailing at sea, the greater the tonnage, the better. However, it is not wise to consider ships and not ports.

After Li Xin listened to the speeches of the councilors, he smiled and said, "If you think this ship is good, if the price is right, you can buy this ship." Of course, if Germany allows a joint venture, we in China can also use this ship as a shareholder to cooperate with the German shipping industry. ”

"Really?" Councillor Reinhardt said with a little drunkenness after taking a long sip of wine.

"Of course it's true." Li Xin used to be from the Ministry of Commerce, if he had not been transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a minister, he would now be the Minister of Commerce. Therefore, after receiving Wei Ze's order to promote Chinese products in Europe, Li Xinzai was very serious about implementing it. In this regard, Li Xin very much agrees with Wei Ze's point of view, good things are to be sold all over the world, and they must be sold in a big way.

Congressman Reinhardt was not overjoyed by this, and Li Xin knew that the parliamentarian's family had a considerable stake in a shipping company in Germany, which was a very strange performance.

"The current German policy is high tariff barriers, North Germany was previously organized through the Customs Union, and South Germany in the Rhine originally supported France's free trade policy. Now that Germany is united, according to the current policy, the tariffs on the import of such ships are frighteningly high. Buying a boat is unaffordable. Perhaps it was because of the wine, or perhaps because there had been an effort to do so for a long time, Councillor Reinhardt spoke in a very disgruntled tone.

The German ruling class is more correct about Germany's current trade policy, perhaps because the wine is drunk and the truth is drunk, but the parliamentarian Maynay has a different view. "Now that the prices of agricultural products in Eastern Europe are so low, how can domestic agriculture withstand it if high tariffs are not introduced."

The full name of this Maynade Councillor is Lawrence 61 von 61 Maynede, and this name is at first glance Junker aristocrat. The Junker aristocracy ran the farms, and the last thing they could accept was the onslaught of cheap foreign agricultural products.

"Recently, the prime minister refused to allow Russian securities to be pledged in German banks, not because the Russians have never kept commercial credit, and borrowing money is not the norm. Moreover, Russia's own laws are extremely poor in terms of liquidation. German investors want to go to Russia for liquidation on the basis of these securities, and there are a few who are not crying fathers and mothers who have been cheated by the Russians. Parliamentarian Mayney continued to speak in support of Prime Minister Bismarck's policies.

Congressman Reinhardt listened to it for a while, and finally couldn't help but ridicule his own parliamentarians in front of the Chinese foreign minister, "The targeted policy is good, but the whole policy is one-size-fits-all." Tariff barriers, export-oriented, the profits of the entire German product were taken away by those foreign companies. And we want to import better products, but we are blocked by high tariffs. The same is true for the formation of joint-stock companies, in order to crack down on so-called tax evaders and avoid tax evasion through joint-stock companies, the policy of the Imperial Treasury is to kill mistakes rather than let them go. I don't think this policy is correct. ”

"If we don't protect German industry and don't use Germany's existing resources to develop German industry, will we have the same economic crisis as the British?" Congressman Menaid is clearly a protectionist and is very opposed to Reinhardt's free-trade.

"There will be no economic crisis in trade protection? If there is no economic crisis in trade protectionism, then how did the economic crisis in the United States come about? Congressman Reinhardt seems to have a global perspective, and he rightly cites the United States, which also practices trade protectionism and tariff barriers.

Li Xin listened with relish to the debate of the German upper echelons, saying that in the current world, there are not many countries that hold free trade, Britain is the standard-bearer, and the French are also engaged in trade protection. The other major industrial countries have basically engaged in trade barriers in the name of protecting their own industries.

It is difficult to say which of China's policies compares to those of these countries. At present, China's industry is developing rapidly, and it is in the stage of conquering cities and territories in the world. In recent years, China's state-owned enterprises have been withdrawing from many industries, for example, the needlework industry used to be a very profitable industry among state-owned enterprises, but under Wei Ze's strong order, state-owned enterprises completely abandoned the needlework industry, and now the provinces have taken over the position abandoned by these state-owned enterprises and began to develop local industries.

For now, the situation in each province is very different, and the problem is very large. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance are engaged in a fierce lawsuit, and the Ministry of Commerce insists on completely eliminating domestic trade barriers in accordance with the policy set by Governor Wei Zedu. The Ministry of Finance, on the other hand, believes that domestic problems are too complex and need to be dealt with in accordance with local circumstances.

To put it bluntly, the Ministry of Commerce believes that there are too many duplicate constructions in various provinces, and a batch, or even a large batch, needs to be eliminated in the competition. The Ministry of Finance believes that state-owned assets can only enter but not leave, and if this rule is broken, there will be endless troubles in the future. A large part of Governor Weze's energy in the past few years has been plagued by these things.

In Li Xin's own view, the path China will take is probably the one of free trade. If it weren't for the free trade, Li Xin would not have accepted the burden of starting to establish an offshore RMB center in Europe and starting to establish a RMB exchange system in European countries. In terms of capital operation, to put it bluntly, it is still a question of capital and capital flow.

However, the German parliamentarians did not argue for long, presumably because they also felt that it was worthless to make such a pointless argument in front of the Chinese foreign minister. Congressman Reinhardt asked Li Xin, "Your Excellency, I don't know if the Chinese side can expand trade with Germany. ”

Li Xin smiled: "What can Germany export to China?" ”

When Li Xin said this, he was quite proud that the prices of China's industrial products have been falling continuously over the years. Although the size of factories and the wages of workers have increased, industrial efficiency has increased by leaps and bounds. Governor Wei Zedu introduced the production cost accounting system early, and if a product is not technically transformed, the approximate cost has been calculated before production. Comparison with similar foreign products has always been an issue that China attaches great importance to.

German parliamentarians have no way to come up with specific content for a while, but in recent years, Europe has been trading more and more with China, and their understanding of China has become deeper and deeper. For China, a huge market of more than 800 million people, European industrial countries are extremely coveted. However, China has industrial capacity that is no less than that of Europe, and China has far more raw material sources than Europe.

Recently, there was a heated discussion in the German parliament about the import of Chinese soap, and although Germany has adopted a policy of high tariff barriers, the sales of Chinese products in Germany have not been hit too hard. For example, China's transparent soap, after the German customs charge 50% of the tariff, is not more expensive than German soap. Vegetable oil production in Germany is very low, and animal oil soap cannot avoid the smell of impurities. Compared with China's soap, the German soap industry can only be said to be barely supporting.

Britain has adopted a free trade policy, which is a great advantage in this regard. The UK does not import Chinese soap, but imports large quantities of palm oil produced in China. Palm oil is not a good type according to the melting point, 58 degrees, 52 degrees, 44 degrees, 33 degrees, 24 degrees. The 58% color is best for soap, but it can also produce products such as glycerin. The British imported a large amount of this 58-proof palm oil and made it into soap in the UK. Not only for domestic use in the United Kingdom, but also in Europe to compete with Chinese soap.

There are also such voices in the German parliament, hoping that when importing Chinese raw materials, taxes can be reduced or even free of charge. However, soda ash is needed to make soap, and Chinese soap is cheap because China has the world's largest soda ash mine, but the export of soda ash ore in China is strictly restricted.

Britain has many colonies and has adopted a policy of free trade, so the supply of soda ash in Britain is much better than that in Germany. Simply reducing tariffs on China's palm oil will not help Germany's soap industry immediately, and if it does not solve the supply of soda ash and cannot obtain a large amount of cheap soda ash, the German soap industry will have no future at all.

If the parliament is a place where science can speak, for example, by inviting experts from the German Ministry of Commerce and the chemical industry to give special explanations, parliamentarians can get a clear understanding of the laws of the matter. However, having a clear understanding does not mean that there is a perfect solution.

After a "rational" discussion, the German parliament privately came up with three solutions.

The first is to force China to change its soda ash export policy, so that China can sell soda ash at a price lower than the existing international market. This method is obviously unrealistic, China is not short of profits from exporting soda ash, and what is the benefit of low prices for exporting soda ash overseas to China?

The second is to seek suppliers with lower prices from the market. Britain is now the world hegemon, controlling the supply and pricing power of many products. If you want to get cheaper raw materials, you have to ask the warships of the Royal Navy of the British Empire if they agree.

Third, Germany controlled the soda ash production area through colonization. Historically, colonizers have frantically plundered the world's high-quality and cheap resources, including the trade of black slaves, and the trade of the Great Triangle has been maintained for hundreds of years. The real reunification of Germany was only a matter of more than a decade, and it was in the center of Europe. Too close to England, too far from God.

In the end, there was no final decision, and the spokesmen of soap and household chemicals in parliament had to accept a "status quo" conclusion.

The expedition to China is completely beyond the ability and imagination of Germany today. If Germany really wants to set the order according to its own economic interests, it must first overthrow the economic order that the British have spent hundreds of years building. The British were not just chains around the necks of the Germans, but chains around the necks of the countries of the entire continent.

Li Xin saw that the German parliamentarians were reluctant to discuss the export of China's fist products, and he changed the topic, "We don't have much trade between China and Russia, so we don't know Russia's style." However, according to the parliamentarians, the Russians seem to have problems with their creditworthiness. ”

As soon as he said this, several members of parliament shouted almost at the same time.

"Russians have never had business credit!"

"Russians are robbers!"

"The Slavs are barbarians!"

Li Xin held back an inexplicable smile, under the care of Wei Zedu, China's European-style compilation was carried out very thoroughly. For example, in the history of Rome, the textbooks make it clear that the "Romans" had almost completely disappeared.

The Germanic people said that the Slavs were barbarians, and there was an inexplicable sense of joy. If in the eyes of the Romans, who are considered to be the ancestors of Europe, both were genuine barbarians. At the time of the Roman Republic and the Empire, if the hair was not black and the eyes were colorful, they were barbarians.

Expelling this sense of joy, Li Xin pointed to the core of the problem, "Is the business credit of the Russians to such a point?" I think the French and the Russians are doing a lot of business. ”

"The French borrowed from Russia at a very high rate, much higher than they lent to other countries. Do you know why? Councillor Fleming asked Li Xin.

Li Xin shook his head, "Why?" ”

Seeing that he knew more than the Chinese foreign minister, Congressman Fleming then explained: "Because in order to be wiped out half of the account, it can also ensure that the French have money." At present, France is almost the only one in Europe that is willing to issue bonds on behalf of Russia to raise funds. France will need to vouch for and endorse Russia. These were large financial flows, and the Russians did not dare to offend France. There is not a single European country that is not afraid of Russian bonds for those small and medium-sized loans. ”

"Is it that scary?" Li Xin asked.

"It's that scary!" Congressman Fleming emphasized.