After entering October, the weather in Russia is getting colder and colder, including the sudden drop in temperature in most parts of Ukraine, which has brought inconvenience to the Allied offensive, but the Allied forces do not have to worry about the supply of weapons, ammunition and war materials now.

The cold weather and the rain and snow slowed down the pace of the Allied offensive, and the Soviet and Russian sides were able to breathe. However, after most of the main forces of Soviet Russia were transferred to the Western Front, the pressure on Kolchak's Russian Provisional Government also plummeted.

With the end of World War I, reconstruction began in various European countries, especially France, Britain, Belgium, countries after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy began to rebuild cities and homes.

Of these European countries, only the Netherlands and Germany proper, which were not damaged by the war, the Netherlands was a neutral country, and its geographical location did not block Germany's offensive route, so Germany did not go to its trouble to survive, Belgium was also originally a neutral country, but Germany needed to carry out its offensive plan and had to attack northwestern France through Belgium, so Belgium suffered.

Germany surrendered before the Allied forces could enter the German mainland, which saved the German mainland from the destruction of the war, and all German industrial facilities, rail and road transportation, and some large defense industries were preserved.

The real trauma is France, the whole country of France has been destroyed, even the international city like Paris has been bombed into ruins by artillery fire and warplanes, the French authorities must need a lot of money to carry out the reconstruction work, and the current French government is so poor that it can't even pay the army's salary, where is the money to rebuild?

The world war was fought to the point of exhaustion and economic exhaustion of all countries, and even Britain and Germany were almost economically collapsed. And the United States is now mired in civil strife, taking care of itself, and has no extra money, but although China has been sending troops, it has indeed made a lot of money in the war, and it is also the only country that can lend money to other countries. Therefore, European countries have come to the door with plans.

"Great President, the envoy of the King of the Kingdom of Hungary begs to see you!" Secretary Xiao Gao reported to Xiao Zhenlei.

Xiao Zhenlei raised his head and said, "Did he say anything?" ”

Xiao Gao shook his head and said: "No, but I guess I should also talk to you about the loan, this is the twelfth country to come to you for a loan, and there are also small countries in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula that have sent envoys over, I estimate that there are twenty countries if not thirty."

Xiao Zhenlei put down his pen, took out a cigarette and lit it, and smoked a third slowly. He said to Xiao Gao: "Let him go back and wait first, and then inform the political and economic staff to meet at the small meeting!" ”

"Yes, President!" Xiao Gao said yes and walked out.

An hour later, all the political and economic staff came to the small conference room to sit down, Xiao Zhenlei walked in with a lot of heart, and the staff members stood up to show respect when they saw him come in.

Xiao Zhenlei walked to the seat and sat down to press his hands on the staff, the staff sat down one after another when they saw this, the secretary Xiao Gao put a box of cigarettes, a metal lighter and an ashtray next to him, Xiao Zhenlei took out a cigarette and lit it with a lighter and smoked a few puffs. "Since last week and up to today, 12 countries have sent envoys to meet me. The aim was to borrow money from our country for post-war reconstruction. I don't know what you think about this, do we want to lend these stock prices? ”

Yang Du stood up first and said: "President, in the past, the European and American powers demanded political and economic benefits in return for loans to the Manchu Qing Dynasty and Yuan Shikai, and they would not do anything without interests no matter what. If there is a conflict of interest, it is the enemy, and I think that since they want to lend money to us, we should also demand political and economic benefits from them, so that it is in line with the current international relations! ”

Yin Changheng stood up but objected: "Mr. Huizi's words are different, my country is a big country. How can we demand returns for our interests in dealing with Western countries? This is detrimental to the image of our country, the Western countries have been hit by an unprecedented heavy blow, our country should be a big country to help countries rebuild their homeland, as the so-called 'Confucius said to be benevolent, Meng said to take righteousness', I think that our country not only can not demand political and economic benefits from European countries, but also should provide them with a lot of assistance, so as to reflect the mind of our Celestial Empire! ”

Yin Changheng's remarks won the support of several conservative aides, among which Kang Youwei is supported by this kind of remarks, to say that Kang Youwei was once a minister of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he was also the main supporter of the Wuxu Reform, and he also experienced the days of being bullied by foreign powers in the late Qing Dynasty, Xiao Zhenlei could not have imagined that Kang Youwei and these people still have this kind of old stubborn thinking, but as a president, it is inconvenient for him to clearly express his disagreement with the opinions of Kang Youwei and others on this occasion.

However, Xiao Zhenlei still asked: "What does Mr. Yin mean that we want to help European countries free of charge, and we want to give them money?" And not to lend them money? ”

Yin Changheng nodded and said: "Yes, President, I think that only in this way can the countries of the world regain the status of the Supreme Kingdom of the Celestial Empire!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei was speechless for a while, and several staff members scoffed at Yin Changheng's remarks.

Yang Shiqi suddenly said loudly: "Mr. Yin, my house was patronized by thieves some time ago, and the money and valuable things in the house were stolen by thieves, if you don't ask Mr. Yin to give me 100,000 yuan to help my family tide over the difficulties, I Yang will be grateful!" ”

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh when they heard Yang Shiqi's words, and Yin Changheng's old face turned into a pig's liver color, and fools know that Yang Shiqi's words just now were a sarcasm for Yin Changheng's remarks just now, which means that the money is not yours for daring to love, and you don't feel distressed at all if you want to give money from your own family, see if you give it?

Everyone has a lot of faults and shortcomings, but there are also advantages, Yin Changheng is such a person, he also has advantages, when the Manchu Qing Dynasty was overthrown, Yin Changheng was elected as the governor of the Sichuan Military Government, coinciding with the British making trouble on the western border, Yin Changheng personally led the army to Tibet for reinforcements, it can be seen that Yin Changheng is a person with a strong national integrity, Xiao Zhenlei likes such a person, although Yin Changheng has such and such shortcomings, but it is undeniable that Yin Changheng is absolutely unambiguous in the big festival.

Xiao Zhenlei took a few puffs of cigarette and said with a smile: "Looking at Mr. Yin's appearance, he must be unwilling, if it were me, I would not either, why?" Because no one's money is blown by the wind, our country's money is the tax collected by the government from the people, and this money is stained with the blood and sweat of our people, and if we take such money to pretend to be generous and charge a lot of money in front of foreigners, I can't pass the hurdle in my heart, will foreigners be grateful to us? No, why not, because even if we give them the money for nothing, the foreigners can't get the money, the money is used by the foreigner government, and the Western government changes it one by one, and in a few years, who will remember that we once gave them money? If we did, do you know what Westerners would say about us? Idiot! That's right, it's a fool, only a fool would do such a stupid thing, you think it's a big-minded move of the Celestial Empire, but in the eyes of others, it's a fool's behavior!

Many of us do not distinguish between personal affection, moral cultivation and the relationship between countries, you personally send some money to friends to spend because of personal relationships, this is normal, friends must sew people and say that you have affection, but the things between countries are not human relations, nor are they friends can be said clearly, what is the relationship between countries? If it is beneficial to both parties, that is a friend, and if there is a conflict of interest, it is an enemy! I would like to tell you here that in international relations, please do not bring out the way of Confucius and Mencius, because it is not suitable!

Okay, let's get back to the point, as I said, there are already more than a dozen countries that want to lend money to our country for post-war reconstruction, what do you think about that? Should we lend them or not? ”

Yang Du was the first to speak again: "President, whether to lend to them depends on whether we are profitable and whether we can recover the loan and interest!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded and said: "Yes, Mr. Yang's words are to the point, this is like us taking the people's money in our hands to invest in other countries, if we can make money in the case of recovering the capital, this is a good thing, of course we have to do it, but if we invest out, not only can we not make money, but also lose money, this thing can't be done, things are so simple, in fact, many times things are very simple, we think things are too complicated!" So which countries do we want to lend to, and which countries can't? What do you think? ”

Liang Qichao stood up at this time and said: "President, during this period of time, I have conducted some detailed understanding and research on European countries, and I found that up to now, the political situation in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other countries and Arab countries is relatively stable. I don't think it's a wise move to lend them money! ”

Yang Shiqi clapped his hands and said happily: "Mr. Liang's words are very kind, I agree!" ”

Now the Chinese army has been withdrawn from the Arabian Peninsula one after another, and the political situation in several countries there is relatively stable, and it is there that China has left a small number of troops to garrison military bases, and the large troops have been evacuated back to China, while although some small countries have been established in the Middle East, due to too many local nationalities and beliefs, it is better for the Chinese army to be stationed there, and the social order is relatively stable, but if the Chinese army withdraws, there will inevitably be riots. (To be continued......)