"The battle of the Crescent Valley, His Royal Highness has made clear our country's diplomatic position with actions, recalling the conflict with the Medes border guards, I still feel afraid, if we lose that war, don't say that the Canaanites took the initiative to throw an olive branch to sue for peace, I am afraid that even the 400,000 miles of land in southern Xinjiang can not be saved, diplomacy is the continuation of the war, what is lost on the battlefield is not to be taken back at the negotiating table, thanks to those officers and soldiers who defend the frontier at the cost of bloodshed, we diplomatic workers have the opportunity to face strong neighbors with a position of neither humility nor arrogance." Kun Tiliang said with deep feelings.

"Soldiers have the duties of soldiers, diplomats have the mission of diplomats, these are two different battlefields, the soldiers of the Far East have lived up to the trust of the people and His Majesty, and I hope that our diplomatic journey will also live up to its mission." Roland drank the coffee in his cup. The light outside the window gradually brightens, the vast Gobi Desert stretches as far as the eye can see, and the Crescent River runs through the border between the two countries like a meandering ribbon, reflecting the morning glow.

"Your Highness, our team has studied the draft cooperation outlined in the letter from Prince Glofa, and has no objection to the cooperation between the two countries in the construction of railways, the maintenance of border security, and the opening of treaty ports, but there is no consensus on the abolition of tariffs, and I myself have doubts." Kun Tiliang's face was solemn.

Roland guessed that he had this knot, otherwise he would not have left a lot of work to run to see the scenery with him, and smiled and threw him an encouraging look.

"Your Highness, the industrialization process of Canaan started earlier than our country, the domestic industry and commerce are more developed, if the tariff threshold is flattened, Canaan-made goods will inevitably pour into the Far East market in large quantities, and compete with similar local products, considering that China's industry and commerce are still in the growth stage, the loss of tariff protection means that the competitiveness is weakened, and in the long run, the domestic market will be occupied by Canaanite goods, the growth space of the national industry will be compressed, and a large number of factories will be forced to close down, how to talk about development and growth!"

Roland knew that these words had been pressed on Kunti's conscience for a long time, and it was not only his opinion, but also the voice of all mercantilists in the government and the opposition.

How do you answer Kun Tiliang's question? Roland fell into deep thought. First of all, it must be recognized that the other party's concerns are not unfounded, and that trade between countries cannot be equated with buying and selling between individuals. Even if you use the supply and demand curve to analyze the maximum total welfare and efficiency of free trade, even if the theory of comparative advantage does seem convincing on paper, you have to face the dilemma: the powerful industrial countries always take advantage of this seemingly fair free trade, and the weaker agricultural countries often become economic colonies of trading rivals.

Varess was still in the early stages of colonial warfare, and the rulers of the powerful countries were keen to expand their territories, providing their citizens with more land to cultivate, and incidentally plundering the colonies' natural resources, such as magic crystal ore. In contrast, Colossa's idea of free trade was undoubtedly ahead of its time, theoretically more advanced than that of the mainstream mercantilists, and his idea of trade cooperation with the Far East was in fact an attempt to put into practice his own political economy concept of going beyond colonial wars for territory and pursuing a strategy of economic expansion under the banner of peace and win-win.

Roland cherishes his friendship with Colossa, but when the two represent the interests of their respective countries, they can only put their friendship aside and be more calculating. If the strategy of the Far East is realized, the industrialization process of the Far East will come to a standstill, and people will be more willing to invest capital in agricultural production out of the instinct of pursuing profits, after all, the only commodities in which the Far East has the greatest comparative advantage are agricultural products, and in the long run, the Far East will fall behind in international competition and transform into a typical "banana kingdom". As a traveler from the earth, Roland has a broader vision and a clearer vision than Corofa, seeing both crisis and opportunity.

"Monsieur Quintilian, Glofer and I are like two gamblers sitting at a table with money, and Grofa has drawn a good deck of cards and tried to tempt me to make bigger bets by all means that seem fair, until I have emptied my pockets; It's true that my hand isn't as good as his, but I have the advantage of seeing through his hand and knowing his calculations, and I don't mind playing with him, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to play exactly by his rules. Roland smiled lightly, a hint of sharpness in his eyes.

"Your Highness, how are you going to play the next card?" Kun Tiliang looked curious.

"It will not work to completely eliminate tariffs, and as an alternative, I would propose that both sides of the trade exempt imported raw materials from the tax exemption."

Kun Tiliang thought for a moment and suddenly said, "This is indeed a good idea!" Canaan is rich in coffee, cocoa, spices, olives, grapes, precious stones and rare metals, these are scarce resources in our country, duty-free import of raw materials will not have an impact on the domestic industry, at the same time, China's agricultural products exported to Canaan will also receive duty-free treatment, considering that most of the land in Canaan is on the edge of the desert, the land is barren, the grain production is not high, coupled with the domestic population of more than 20 million, have to import grain from overseas, shipping costs are very high, in contrast, the grain exported by our country is cheaper, Canaan is more competitive in the market, and the more grains Canaan imports from our country, the more dependent it is on our country for its food security, which is a good thing for our country in the long run. "It's good for the Far East, but not necessarily for Canaan, and Kuntiliang has to worry about a question, "Will the Canaanites accept this proposal?" ”

Roland shook his head lightly: "Of course we won't accept it easily, so we have to make some concessions, such as reducing tariffs on industrial products and setting duty-free quotas for certain sensitive goods...... If both sides do not back down and only want to take advantage of the advantage and refuse to suffer, cooperation will not be achieved, and the result will only be a lose-lose situation. ”

Kun Tiliang furrowed his brows and remained silent, looking preoccupied.

Roland smiled lightly: "Mr. Kun Tiliang, you are a native of Baiou Port, you grew up by the sea, you should be no stranger to fishing, right?" ”

Kun Tiliang didn't understand why he suddenly diverted the topic, and nodded blankly, "It's really not a stranger." ”

"The North Bay is rich in herring, and the fishermen put the caught herring into wooden barrels and transport them to the market, only fresh live fish can be sold at a good price, but a large number of herring are crowded in narrow barrels, and it is easy to suffocate to death after a long period of inactivity, in order to keep the herring alive and sold as much as possible, a clever fisherman came up with a good idea to put a few fierce and lively moray eels in the barrel of herring, and the eels swam around in the barrel, and the herring was frightened and nervous, and involuntarily swam around. Most herring is alive until it reaches the market and can be sold for a good price. ”