"And where do you think European civilization is headed?"

Riefenstahl asked. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Yang Chao sighed: "Maybe you should open your mind, there is an old Chinese saying, the sea is tolerant of all rivers." Europe has been stumbling all the way. You have never solved many of the fundamental problems of society, and the social crises that broke out in the industrial age have never been solved, perhaps because your own culture is still broken. Humanity is one, open your eyes and let go of the narrow idea of European superiority. Learning from all the good peoples, and being inclusive, perhaps Europe can get out of the current crisis.

All civilizations have their strengths and weaknesses. For example, the patience of the Indian civilization, which you know better in Europe, is worth learning from the Europeans, although they seem to lack the enterprising spirit because of this, but the European enterprising spirit combined with the patience of the Indians cannot but make the beacon of European civilization more bright.

For example, in Chinese civilization, although we have often fallen into turmoil, there is a phenomenon called the cycle rate of rise and fall, but if you flatten history, you will find that although we will have a great upheaval in two or three hundred years, Europe does not seem to have even two or three hundred years of peace. The Hundred Years' War between England and France, the Anglo-Dutch War, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Thirty Years' War, the last three hundred years, your periods of real peace, I am afraid that there are not ten years combined.

I've seen some of you scholars who study Chinese history refer to Chinese civilization as a super-stable civilization, and I think your scholars are already reflecting on it. But I am not saying that Chinese civilization stands at the highest peak of human history, on the contrary, we, like Europe, have problems that we cannot solve. That is solidification, and our civilization has long been solidified and lacks the dynamism of Europe, although I am not sure that the dynamism of Europe is built on a sense of urgency in the shadow of a long war, on the pressure of failure and perdition in the national competition if we do not carry out innovation. But I think that China's super-stability and Europe's dynamism are also the future direction of human civilization. ”

"You say European civilization will decline?"

Riefenstahl was not interested in learning about other civilizations, as Yang Chao said, but was panicked by the decline of European civilization.

Yang Chao nodded: "It seems to be like this at the moment. How long do you think this war will last? Twenty years have passed since the First World War, and you have started another great war, and if European civilization continues in this state of circulation, it is difficult for me to imagine how long your civilization will last. Perhaps, like China, Europe will be unified under the power of Germany, and then become a relatively stable unified empire like China. But I'm worried that you won't have the experience to rule an empire like the Asian countries, after all, the Roman Empire has passed for thousands of years, and today's European civilization, although built on the ruins of Roman civilization, retains more of the cultural background of the barbarian tribes of the past. If you are caught up in a protracted civil war because of the national question, I think your civilization will not be able to contribute to the world for a long time. ”

Riefenstahl frowned and said, "Then how long do you say this war will last?" ”

Yang Chao sighed: "This is not easy to say. If there is to be a reunification in the end, there will certainly be fierce wars between them. Europe in the era of industrial civilization is like the Spring and Autumn Warring States period in our country for more than 2,000 years. But the war lasted for more than 500 years. ”

Riefenstahl was silent, and it was hard for her to imagine what Europe would be like if Germany had now been in confrontation with Britain and France for more than 500 years.

Yang Chao comforted with ulterior motives: "But you don't have to worry, the history of mankind will continue and evolve, and the era we live in is just a small wave of human civilization." After experiencing the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China was also reborn in Nirvana, and a unified nation was born from blood and fire. Perhaps after a long period of war, Europe will become a unified nation, just as we have in the Spring and Autumn Period, there were hundreds of countries and nations, after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and finally unified into a country by Qin Shi Huang, and then after the replacement of the Han Dynasty, and finally evolved into the Han people, the main nation. Perhaps Europe will repeat this history, and many nations will die out, and then a new one will be born. ”

Although Yang Chao was comforting Riefenstahl, but the warning to the Europeans was that one nation would rule over other nations, and other nations would die out, after the Qin and Han dynasties, the main ethnic groups of China had been unified, but Europe was not only not unified now, but the national identity of each nation-state, the national identity was the strongest time, if they could not accept being unified and integrated by the Germanic peoples, then there would only be a fierce war.

This is what Yang Chao wants the Europeans to see: if you don't want to perish, then rise up and fight, fight for a hundred years, two hundred years.

"Hopefully, what you're saying won't come true. I think Europeans will find a more peaceful way to achieve the common good. Now answer my second question. Why did you invest so much money in industry at that time, when economists all over the world were not optimistic, and it seemed that you were investing a little blindly? To this day, there are also economists who comment that if it were not for the First World War, your economic system would definitely go bankrupt, and not make China a world industrial power, as it is now. Are you sure that there will be a war in Europe, and China will absorb this industrial capacity through war? ”

Riefenstahl asked a question that people all over the world want to ask, especially for those backward countries, China's rapid rise is so attractive, and the trend of studying China's rise has not subsided for so many years.

Yang Chao shook his head and sighed: "You think too highly of me, no one can predict that a world war will break out." I could not have known that a world war would have such a boost to the economies of non-belligerent countries. The reason why I invested in industry at that time was simply out of a simple pragmatist philosophy, that industry was definitely the direction of the future, and that I would work tirelessly in that direction, and it would always succeed. ”

Riefenstahl didn't believe that Yang Chao was such a simple figure, if industrialization was really that easy, Soviet Russia would not have to starve millions of people to do it.

"So you're not worried about the economy collapsing, letting your business suddenly go bankrupt and then be in ruins again?"

Riefenstahl asked.

Yang Chao was puzzled: "How is it possible?" Even if there had been no war in Europe, even if China had really suffered an economic crisis, but our industrial base existed, trained workers appeared, and the economic crisis would have passed, but the industrial base and the support of the trained workers would not have disappeared. Don't you think that industrialization is irreversible? Once an industrial base is formed, coupled with a large number of industrial workers, then the country must have embarked on the irreversible path of industrialization. ”

Riefenstahl was stunned, this is really a simple pragmatist philosophy, he seems to be such a reason, she really can't find anything wrong, but she always feels that something is wrong.

Riefenstahl asked, "What if you were in such a deep economic crisis as it is now?" ”

He was talking about the great crisis of the world economy.

Yang Chao smiled: "How is it possible? This economic crisis was rare in a century, and with China's economic status and industrial strength at that time, it was impossible to trigger an economic crisis of this scale. It will only be a short-term mini-economic crisis, and after adjustment, the economy will continue to grow rapidly, forward, because industrialization is irreversible. ”

Riefenstahl was still not satisfied with Yang Chao's explanation: "Then why did your large-scale investment behavior never appear again after World War I?" Could it be that you also know that that kind of behavior is unreasonable? ”

Yang Chao said: "That's not it, at the end of the war, China has established a complete light and heavy industrial system, and my goal has been accomplished, why do you still need to carry out that level of economic construction?" ”

Riefenstahl couldn't hear any flaws in Yang Chao's words, as if, as if, Yang Chao really thought so.

She wondered: "Then you mean that non-industrial countries all over the world can build their own industrial systems in this way, and the biggest risk is only a short-term, small-scale economic crisis?" ”

Yang Chao nodded: "Of course, that's what Soviet Russia did." It's just that the scale of their construction is too large, and in my opinion, after they complete the first five-year plan, they can put an end to this kind of state investment and allow the market to compete, so that the economy will be more dynamic. ”

Riefenstahl's mind is a little confused, through the promotion of the state, to establish a large-scale industrial system, and then let the market regulate and compete, which can quickly create an industrial system without losing the vitality of the economy, this way seems to be really very feasible, she can't help but feel a little in a trance, is it really so easy? Then the Europeans have not wasted so many years.

Yang Chao added: "Of course, the situation of each country is different, and the initial industrial base that needs to be established is also different. If it is a country with a poor industrial base, it will require more effort, and if it is a country with a better industrial base, it may require less effort. In short, this path is the right one. In fact, China is not the only country doing this, there have been many successful examples in human history, but everyone has not observed and summarized. ”

Riefenstahl wondered, "You say there are other countries?" ”

Yang Chao nodded: "Of course." For example, Peter the Great's reforms were also through the establishment of national factories, and under the conditions of the time, a primary industrial system was established, so although the Russian economy was backward compared to the countries in the center of Europe in recent years, it was always on the road of industrialization and was always a world power. There was also France under Louis XIV, which also laid the foundation for the establishment of the National Workshop. Isn't the rise of your Germany also based on the construction of railways promoted by the German state?

In Asian countries, Japan was the first to establish this system, and the Meiji Restoration was the first to establish large and small government-run factories through the promotion of the state. I remember that they established a large number of model silk reeling factories and textile factories, and the scale of the textile industry in Japan is quite large. Shipyards and arsenals were first started by the state, and then private individuals began to follow suit. It's exactly the same thing I did in China, except that China is much bigger, so it's a little bit more influential. You Europeans never cared about Japan, so you don't know much about the Japanese way, but I imitate and refer to the Japanese way a lot. ”

Riefenstahl nodded, as if that were really the case.

But there's a difference: "Japan doesn't have as much gold as you." ”

Yang Chao smiled: "Of course, gold has allowed China to reduce the time for accumulation, but there is no doubt about this. But remember, gold is the best investment only if it becomes a strong foundation for the country, and if all of it is used to buy cars for the people and food for the people, it will be too much to spend. ”

Of course, Riefenstahl knows this, she is just joking, even if there is no gold, China through its own accumulation, it will only make the speed slower, but in the end it will definitely succeed, but the current Soviet Russia does not seem to plan to build a primary foundation like China, and then open up the market, but intends to continue like this.

After that, Riefenstahl asked about some other topics, such as the next few wars, and Yang Chao also answered them one by one, but it was no longer his main purpose.

His main purpose was to show Europe the way culturally and the backward countries economically.

I believe that if Europeans see this movie, then culturally I am afraid that their intellectual elite, there will really be a part of the reflection, and the underdeveloped countries see the latter part, I am afraid that countries like Brazil and Mexico will be more determined to take the road of industrialization, the world will become more complex and more difficult to control, the British Empire will definitely be unable to maintain order, then China has a chance, because this chaotic system was proposed by Yang Chao, it is a system promoted by the Chinese, and China naturally has the greatest right to speak.

Please enter the text (to be continued.) )