584 Flicker(4)

International negotiations are actually about buying and selling, and both buyers and sellers have a kind of psychology -- fear of losing money. The seller of the pen, the fun and the pavilion www.biquge.info is afraid that the buyer will suffer a loss if it is cheap, and the buyer is afraid that it will be expensive and suffer a loss. As far as the previous situation is concerned, although Luxembourg and Li Poker Nesi have basically reached an agreement with Li Xiaofeng, they must still feel that this price is a bit high in their hearts. Two billion dollars in reparations! It's really not a small number, it has to be decades, and to be honest, it hurts to think about Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nesi.

Obviously, at this time, if Li Xiaofeng said directly: "If the two old-timers think it is expensive, if they can't take out so much money for the time being, in fact, I have a good way, how about Poracenia and Silesia to settle the bill?" In this way, you don't have to pay back the war reparations of the Soviet Union, which is billions! ”

Imagine what would happen if an immortal really said that? I'm afraid that Luxemburg and Lee Poker will not only not agree, but may immediately realize that you Russians have been waiting for us here after a long turn of the day, right? You have taken a fancy to Silesia and Poracenia, and you are ready to take them by force in another way, right?

No one in this world is a fool, especially those like Luxembourg and Lee Pokernessy, who are revolutionaries and philosophically very powerful. With a slight turn in his mind, he knew what an immortal had in mind. Naturally, the suggestion of a certain immortal would be completely rejected, and even the relationship between the CPSU and the KPD would be destroyed.

So you can't do that. What is the highest level of trading? That's selling people and asking him to help count the money. And now Li Xiaofeng is such a calculation.

There may be comrades who are strange, judging from the previous bargaining experience, I don't see where Li Xiaofeng has set up? To tell the truth, Li Xiaofeng really didn't get off the hook. Because of the political wisdom of Luxembourg and Lee Poker, ordinary traps cannot fool them. In fact, what Li Xiaofeng did before him had only one purpose -- to give the Germans a preliminary impression.

What kind of impression? From the point of view of Luxembourg and Lee Pokernessy, they are now probably dissatisfied with the $20 billion war reparations, and feel that the Soviet Union is taking it by force. This impression is objectively fair, and Li Xiaofeng is indeed a bit excessive.

But as the old saying goes, everything is afraid of comparison, you are one meter five long, he is two meters five, you can see the huge contrast at a glance. And the same is true of the issue of reparations, Luxembourg and Lee Pokernesi think it is expensive, it is because Britain and the United States are mixing in it, so they feel that the Soviet Union is a bit excessive. But if they were given a harsher reference, for example, someone made a request that was several times more excessive than that of the Soviet Union, would the Germans still think that the Soviet Union was excessive?

So is there such a reference now? Don't say it, there really is. Which countries hated Germany the most in World War II? Needless to say, the Soviet Union naturally said, in addition to Lao Maozi, I am afraid that Poland and Czechoslovakia are eager to eat its flesh raw. In the past 100 years, Poland has hated Germany the most, except for Lao Maozi, who let these two families be his bitter masters? Especially in World War II, Germany once again almost destroyed Poland's independence, making the Poles slaves again. So Poland hated Germany to the core. Needless to say, the tragedy of the Sudetenland is still vivid!

These two countries are arguably the most hateful of Germany's existence, and they are also the most vocal advocates of severe punishment for its existence. Poland and Czechoslovakia were the first to express their support when Li Xiaofeng proposed a total of $20 billion in compensation within the allies, even saying that the amount was not enough to compensate for the crimes of the Nazis, and that according to their demands, the total amount should be more, and neither country should receive less than $1 billion in compensation.

It's even just a matter of money. Both Poland and Czechoslovakia advocated further weakening of Germany, which not only wanted to return the Sudetenland, but also ceded further territory to Czechoslovakia. Poland was no exception, and certain claims were made to Silesia. According to the opinion of these two countries, it is better to cut Germany into eight pieces. It can be seen how deep this hatred is.

Previously, Li Xiaofeng deliberately suppressed Poland and Czechoslovakia, preventing them from directly putting pressure on the German Communist Party. Why? It was to make Luxemburg and Lee think that all countries were like Britain and the United States, and that they would have deep sympathy for the German people. And this will also make them know about Li Xiaofeng's offer, and they will attack from all sides to try to persuade the surrounding neighbors to say good things to them.

Well, if you think about it, when Luxembourg and Lee Pokernesi had a real and in-depth exchange of views with their hateful neighbors such as Poland and Czechoslovakia, when they found that these neighbors had prepared knives, forks, chainsaws, and were ready to eat German meat and drink German blood, did the contrast come out?

Only then will they know how much work the Soviet Union has done for Germany, and only then will they know that the Soviet Union has no strong malice towards Germany, but still has full good intentions. At this time, will they still think that Li Xiaofeng is ripping off the bamboo?

In all likelihood, their ill will be much less hostile to Li Xiaofeng and the Soviet Union, since the Soviets are simply well-intentioned compared to Poland and Czechoslovakia. And Li Xiaofeng only needs to wait for these two to come to the door again when they have broken their heads and bleeds, and then persuade each other with good words.

The wait was short, and just a week later, Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nesi came to the door again. It was a truly exhausting week for Luxembourg and Lee Pokernessy. The Poles and Czechoslovakians strongly condemned Germany's crimes in World War II and demanded that Germany make real reparations for its previous blood debts. The two countries opened their mouths to pay billion-two billion dollars in war reparations, demanded that Germany cede a large amount of territory, and demanded that the Germans in both countries get out of the country immediately.

What particularly anguished Luxembourg and Lee was that Czechoslovakia and Poland were not joking, and although they could not receive the war reparations for the time being, they had announced the confiscation of all German property and property in their two countries, including the private property of German citizens.

Czechoslovakia, for example, had given German nationals an ultimatum to leave Czechoslovakia by 1 January 1946. Otherwise, these German expatriates should look good. On the border between the two countries, a large number of German expatriates with their families were driven in the direction of Germany by the Czechoslovak troops, most of whom were only clothed, and the rest of their property had been confiscated.

The Poles are following suit, and Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania and Yugoslavia will follow suit. According to relevant statistics, in May 1945 alone, about 200,000 German expatriates were driven back to Germany, and many more were still on the way to be expelled. These people are basically alone, without a dime, without housing, without food rations, and the loss is that it is still summer, so they did not starve to death and freeze to death, otherwise the situation is really unimaginable.

Luxembourg and Lee Pokernesi immediately felt the pressure, and their neighbours were simply full of malice, not to mention the fact that the Poles were still fighting among themselves, but they were now openly demanding Silesia and Pomerania from Germany, on the grounds that they had been Polish territory since ancient times.

So does this and since ancient times hold water? Don't say it, it's really well-founded, Pomerania really belonged to Poland around the 10th century. And Silesia also belonged to Poland at one time. But as we said earlier, Poland went downhill from the 16th and 17th centuries onwards. The first was that the Kingdom of Bohemia, which controlled Silesia, went to the Habsburgs, while Pomerania was occupied by Gustav II of Sweden during the Thirty Years' War. After Peter the Great rose to victory in the Great Northern War, Pomerania was divided equally between Sweden and Prussia.

Anyway, after that, neither Silesia nor Pomerania had anything to do with the Poles. For example, Silesia was later snatched by Frederick the Great by taking advantage of the Austrian Succession War (officially because of this behavior, Frederick the Great was hated to death by Empress Theresia, which led to the story of Frederick the Great being beaten by an alliance of three women and almost dying).

Putting aside these digressions for the time being, although Silesia and Pomerania really have nothing to do with Poland in the past few hundred years, they can still stand up since ancient times, especially when the Soviet Union did not support Germany and indulged Poland and Czechoslovakia to make trouble with Germany, the Germans were overwhelmed.

If you don't say that you don't hit the south wall and don't look back, sometimes good words and persuasion have little effect, only when some people hit the wall, and they hit their heads and bleed, they know how powerful they are, and they know how to turn back.

Anyway, at this time, Luxembourg and Lee Poker were exhausted, and the poor economic situation at home and the heavy pressure from abroad made them both almost out of breath. This gave them an idea of how reasonable the reparations package proposed by the Soviet Union had been.

It's just that now the situation has changed, and Li Xiaofeng regretfully told them: "Poland." Czechoslovakia has made territorial claims against your country, demanding the immediate return of sovereignty over Silesia and Pomerania. The Soviet government could not help it. There is only a reparations programme, which can be implemented immediately if your Government agrees. ”

It would be a hell of a matter if they could agree, Luxembourg and Lee Pokernesi still wanted to keep Silesia and Pomerania, and of course, if they couldn't, they could only hope to make concessions on this issue in exchange for more lenient compensation terms.

It's a much more pragmatic idea, at least not as whimsical as it used to be. In other words, with this realization of Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nesi actually entered the formal state of negotiation before? It was just a dream.

This is another step forward for Li Xiaofeng, but it is still necessary to be careful, because the territorial issue, especially involving the Soviet Union, will be a sensitive one. Let's put it this way, this issue involves not only Germany and the Soviet Union, but all the countries around this area will be involved, Poland and Czechoslovakia will certainly not be able to escape, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west of Germany will also be extremely concerned, and even Britain on the other side of the strait and the United States on the other side of the ocean are also extremely concerned. After all, once the Soviet Union acquired Silesia and Poracenia, it meant getting closer to Western Europe, which was simply catastrophic for them.

Li Xiaofeng naturally knew the weight of this matter, so he talked to Luxembourg and Li Poker little by little: "What kind of conditions do you think are reasonable?" ”

Luxembourg replied: "To guarantee that the current territorial sovereignty of Germany will not be violated, and the cumulative reparations will be 20 billion US dollars, to be repaid in 100 years." ”

Li Xiaofeng asked expressionlessly: "In other words, you only want to pay back 200 million US dollars a year?" ”

Translated into this way, Luxembourg also found it very difficult, he explained: "200 million dollars a year is a huge amount of money, with the current economic strength of Germany, it is not easy to make such a commitment!" ”

Li Xiaofeng replied indifferently: "Of course, 200 million US dollars a year is a huge amount of money, but considering inflation, prices and other factors in a hundred years, is this repayment method really stressful?" ”

Li Xiaofeng's words are true, are the dollars in 1945 and the dollars in 2016 the same thing? The dollar in 1945 was still proper gold, and the dollar in 2016 was really paper, and how much has it depreciated in only 71 years? If this repayment method was agreed, it would be equivalent to reducing the war reparations of the Germans.

Therefore, Li Xiaofeng directly denied this repayment method, he said: "If you are really sincere, you should not propose such a compensation method, how much is 200 million US dollars a year to be distributed to a dozen victim countries, how can this little money be used to offset their personnel and property losses in the war?" Even taking into account inflation, your reparations may shrink in the future. If you really want to repay in this way, it's okay, we don't accept banknotes, please repay in gold. You pay 200 million dollars worth of gold every year in 1945, and you pay it in 100 years. ”

Note that there is a very important point in the repayment method proposed by Li Xiaofeng, which is the equivalent of 200 million US dollars in gold in 1945. Let's put it this way, in 1945 a dollar was worth about 0.9 grams of gold, and 200 million dollars of gold was about 180 tons. And how much gold is a dollar worth in 2016? It is about 21 milligrams, that is, 0.021 grams, which has depreciated more than forty times. $200 million in 2016 is equivalent to more than four tons of gold. According to the repayment method proposed by Li Xiaofeng, Germany will have to repay 180 tons of gold every year instead of 200 million US dollars. The difference here is like a sea of seas.

And Li Xiaofeng is sure of one thing, that is, it is 100% impossible for the Germans to repay 180 tons of gold a year, and it is obvious that this kind of compensation is impossible to accept. If the Germans really accepted it, it belonged to the fact that the head was broken by the door clip.

Lee was quick to say: "We can't accept this kind of payout, it's far beyond Germany's ability. ”

Li Xiaofeng did not wait for Luxembourg to echo the complaint, and directly interrupted: "Then the so-called method of repaying 200 million US dollars a year proposed by you cannot be accepted by us, which greatly harms the interests of the people of the victim country." ”

Things seem to be frozen again? In fact, the reason why Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nessy once again mentioned this unlikely repayment method is actually to test it one last time, to see if the Russians can relax. And now it seems that this is a luxury, and the natural Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nesi can only face reality.

They soon came up with a second option: "Germany will pay $5 billion worth of supplies, gold and cash, and then $150 million a year for the next 100 years." ”

On paper, this repayment method is very close to the plan proposed by Li Xiaofeng before, but it is not enough, and he immediately retorted: "Germany will pay $5 billion in gold and various materials first, and the remaining $15 billion in reparations will be paid in full before 1970." ”

It seems that the focus of the disagreement between Li Xiaofeng and Luxembourg and Li Poker Nesi is the question of when the remaining $15 billion will be paid. The Germans wanted to pay the reparations in 100 years, but Li Xiaofeng demanded that the reparations be completed within 25 years. That's a four-fold difference.

"$15 billion in 25 years," Luxembourg screamed, a condition that she considered simply unacceptable, "$600 million a year is simply ......"

It's just that it's definitely not a good thing to say, 600 million US dollars was equivalent to 540 tons of gold that year, and it was really scary to ask the Germans to pay 540 tons of gold a year. So why is Li Xiaofeng so excessive? The reason is very simple: since 1971, the Americans could not afford the system of direct dollar-gold pegging, and from this year Nixon closed the gold exchange window, and the dollar began to depreciate on a large scale. That is to say, in the period from 1945 to 1970, the dollar was generally preserved, and there was no loss in receiving dollars, but once 1971 passed, it was really a loss, how could Li Xiaofeng make a loss-making transaction? In addition, from the beginning, Li Xiaofeng's purpose was not to ask for money, but to ask for territory, how could he agree to Luxembourg's conditions?

Sure enough, both Luxembourg and Li Poker Netsi refused, so Li Xiaofeng spread his hands: "Then there is nothing to talk about, we can only follow the previous agreement of the allies, with German industrial facilities and other materials to offset 10 billion US dollars first, and the remaining 10 billion US dollars will be paid in 50 years." That's all it can do! ”

This condition is actually worse than the above, 10 billion US dollars of industrial facilities can simply tear down Germany, and after 200 million US dollars (the first 25 years are equivalent to 180 tons of gold per year), this can kill Germany! Anyway, Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nesi both have the heart to hang themselves.

"Can't the Soviet government help find a way?"

In the face of Luxembourg's plea, Li Xiaofeng was very embarrassed, and after a long time, he suggested: "The bulk of Germany's reparations are mainly the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, of which the Soviet Union paid about 10 billion reparations, Britain and the United States about 8 billion, and other countries 2 billion. We are willing to waive part of your country's payments like Britain and the United States, and in principle, the Soviet government can consider reducing the compensation claim by half, as long as your country repays the compensation of $5 billion, but our country also has a demand. ”

Luxembourg and Lee Poker Nessy immediately asked, "What requirements?" As long as Germany can do it, there is no problem! ”

It can be seen how embarrassed Luxembourg and Li Poker were forced by the reparations at this time, and Li Xiaofeng replied seriously: "Return Silesia and Pomerania to the governments of Czechoslovakia and Poland." ”

This request came a little inexplicably, and Luxembourg and Lee Pokernesi could not imagine how the Soviet Union could help Poland and Czechoslovakia so much, and to be honest, it made Luxembourg and Lee Pokernesi very unhappy, and they asked: "Also belong to the Communists. Why did the Soviet Union favor one over the other, tightening its blackmail against Germany, but being so generous to Poland and Czechoslovakia? ”

Li Xiaofeng explained with a "wry smile": "I can only say sorry, but I also ask the German comrades to understand that in this world war, Poland and Czechoslovakia suffered a lot of damage, and their grievances against Germany are very heavy, and the contradictions between you in history are very acute, so it is very normal to make such a request at this time." For the sake of balance. The contradictions within the proletarian camp needed to be taken into account, and the Soviet government wanted the German Communists. The comrades of the industrial party proceed from the overall situation and obey the overall situation. Moreover, the Soviet government has done its best to reduce your burden, and it should be said that this plan is quite reasonable. ”

Li Xiaofeng was very sincere, and Luxembourg and Li Pokernessy were fully convinced, because Poland and Czechoslovakia had been in a violent quarrel before, expelling German nationals, confiscating their property, and also clamoring for the recapture of Pomerania and Silesia, and they could have put diplomatic pressure on the Soviet Union. And the USSR from the preservation of the Communists. The demand for harmony within the bourgeolist camp could only be at the expense of Germany.

After Luxemburg and Lee Pokerness straightened out these clues, they "naturally" came to the conclusion that Poland and Czechoslovakia could not get along with them, and as for the Soviet Union, it was forced by the situation and helplessness, did they not see that the Soviet Union also promised to reduce the war reparations by half? Five billion dollars, this is really not a small number, with the greed of polar bears, is there no way to give up this fat meat to the mouth?

Well, Li Xiaofeng once again achieved his goal of making Poland and Czechoslovakia carry the black cauldron, and it was he who instigated Poland and Czechoslovakia to make trouble for Germany before, and then turned around and threw the black cauldron to those two families. I have to say that a certain immortal is really shameless, but why did Li Xiaofeng do this? At least judging from what happened just now, Pomerania and Silesia still have nothing to do with the Soviet Union, do they? In the end, it was also picked up by Poland and Czechoslovakia, and it looks like the Soviet Union is a bit like a big wrong!

Hehe, that's a mistake to think so, because the wonderful trick is still to come! (To be continued.) )