The streets of Berlin were not much better than the streets of Austria, at least that was what Wang Mingshan thought. Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was also a European city, but because the implementation of state ownership of land could be integrated into the implementation of "demolition," the city planned wide roads. Germany, which had private land ownership, did not have this foundation.
Wang Mingshan looked down on the urban construction of Berlin. Grace, the Italian Marchioness from Hapsburg, followed the tradition of the European aristocracy and looked down on the Juncker aristocracy. Even if it was unreasonable for urban people to discriminate against rural people, it was a cultural tradition. Without talking about the title of nobility, did the banker and capitalist Grace need a reason to look down on landlords?
A former big shot of the Min dynasty traveled to Germany, which aroused William II's curiosity. He invited Wang Mingshan to the palace as a guest. The two talked for a while, and the topic naturally turned to war.
"Your Majesty, how many troops do you think it will take to launch an all-out war in Europe?" Wang Mingshan asked, following the term William II mentioned.
William II replied with some hesitation, "Five million?"
This sentence made Wang Mingshan feel that there would probably not be a real all-out war in Europe. The Min dynasty implemented an iron and blood policy for decades before launching the North American War. During the war, they adopted the world's most advanced war concepts, developed the world's most advanced combat technology, created the world's most advanced war equipment, and mobilized a huge army of more than 20 million.
Even without the Min dynasty, the war of unification of Germany had not been too long ago. At that time, Germany also had the advantages of ideas, technology, equipment, and military strength to defeat the enemy and establish a small Germany. These ideas, technology, equipment, and military strength did not suddenly appear in Prussia in a day, but were accumulated by Prussia for decades. From the words of William II, the successor of Germany, Wang Mingshan felt that he did not seem to understand the hardships of his predecessors, nor did he realize the huge inheritance he had inherited.
It was not Wang Mingshan's job to educate foreign emperors, so he gave up on these core points and talked with William II about the strength of Germany and other European countries. The German Emperor was very interested in this topic. He talked endlessly about Germany's advantages over France, Russia, and Italy. This made Wang Mingshan even more certain that Germany had not considered an all-out war. Even if the future war were to be waged on the ground, in the air, on the water, and underwater, with Europe's current attitude, it would not be a total war. The North American War was a total war because the Min dynasty did not expect the enemy to admit defeat. Before the war broke out in North America, the goal of destruction was determined. After the war, there was no longer the name of the United States in North America. William II, on the other hand, was indulging in his old dreams of being a European conqueror. This made Wang Mingshan sigh in his heart, "Comparisons are odious, and comparisons are odious."
After leaving Berlin, Wang Mingshan headed straight for the British Empire's Great Britain Province. Beginning with Dublin, he visited the famous cities one by one. He found that the roads had been widened, the slums had been demolished, the city had been planned, and the factories had lost their limelight. The four-storey apartment buildings were the main residences in the city, forming a small district. The city had a unified gas supply and central heating, and the residential area had a property management committee. Gas went into the kitchen, and electricity became the source of light.
Seeing the trams jingling on the streets of the city, Wang Mingshan had to admit that the United Kingdom was indeed powerful. Such a change would be earth-shattering in other countries, but in the United Kingdom, it was completed quietly. When it was time to make a move, this was the spirit of a great country. From the industrial level alone, this technological innovation had advanced the Great Britain by 20 years.
Grace looked down on the country bumpkins, but she would not look down on the British. After the tour, she asked Wang Mingshan in confusion, "Didn't most of the British go to North America? Why are the factories here working at full capacity? "
Wang Mingshan answered his wife's question with a smile, "The cost of shipping goods produced in North America to India is relatively high. Now that the factories on the Great Britain island have undergone technological upgrades, they naturally have to work overtime to produce goods sold to India. Also, have you noticed the nursing homes in the United Kingdom? "
Grace frowned slightly as she recalled, and then her brows relaxed, "Many of the nurses there are Indians!"
Wang Mingshan also remembered this detail, but he was concerned about the United Kingdom's large scale nursing homes. Those Indian nurses were in awe of the United Kingdom from the bottom of their hearts, and the work of taking care of the elderly in the United Kingdom was filled with a sense of holiness. China, a country that placed great importance on filial piety, had the evaluation of taking care of the elderly as' there are no filial children in front of the bed for a hundred days'. Based on this point alone, the Min dynasty could not compare to India in any way. Even if the Min dynasty was so powerful, it would probably be impossible for them to create a nursing home system like the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom never had any intention of becoming a continental European country, and Wang Mingshan was not worried that the United Kingdom was preparing for an all-out war.
After leaving the United Kingdom, they arrived in France across the English Channel. This restless country made Wang Mingshan feel as if he was looking at a schizophrenic. The newspapers were shouting for Germany to be eliminated to wash away the shame. In reality, the pleasure venues headed by the Moulin Rouge were overcrowded, and the absinthe from Cyprus was in short supply. Paris was intoxicated, and with the belligerent clamoring in the newspapers, it was full of the appearance of 'the merchant girls don't know the hatred of the subjugation of the country, and they sing the flowers across the river'.
Paris was so decadent that Grace, who always liked to go to Paris to look at fashion and shopping, urged Wang Mingshan to leave quickly. She didn't want her two children to be poisoned. When Wang Mingshan left, he believed that France did not have a plan for an all-out war. If an all-out war was just clamoring in the newspapers, then it could only be judged by the fact that a biting dog didn't bark.
Grace took the children back to her hometown of Italy to visit her parents, and Wang Mingshan went to the headquarters of the Bank of Europe in Cyprus. This time, it was the Bank of Europe that asked him to help. After listening to Wang Mingshan's concluding remarks, the current president and party secretary of the Bank of Europe frowned.
"Secretary Wang, do you mean that the situation in Europe will become more and more peaceful in the next few years?" The president really couldn't understand.
"The hostility may not be reduced, but the willingness to fight will be lower and lower." Wang Mingshan replied.
"Is there a possibility of an accident?" The secretary asked. People in the banking industry were extremely sensitive to risks, and unpredictable risks had made them suffer too much.
Wang Mingshan deliberated over his words and said slowly, "What you have to worry about is not the problem of an accident. For Europe, under the existing system, even an accident will not be a particularly big problem. You have to note that there is actually a buffer negotiation mechanism between European countries. In other words, there are still rules among the European powers. If something happens, it will not be caused by an accident, but a chain reaction caused by someone breaking the rules. "
The comrades of the Bank of Europe were dumbfounded. They looked at each other for a while before they continued to ask, "Secretary Wang, are you talking about a problem caused by an accident?"
"The type of accident is different. I can be sure that an Italian warship firing at a German warship will probably not be able to trigger a European war. But if Germany does something and breaks the rules, it will trigger a war. Won't this improve the judgment? "Wang Mingshan explained.
After three days of explanation, the comrades of the Bank of Europe finally understood Wang Mingshan's point of view. Although everyone was still very uneasy, they were not as uneasy as before. At least Wang Mingshan guaranteed that the European war would not develop to the extent of the North American war. Many European investors lost their fortune in the North American war because the Min dynasty destroyed the United States of North America. Those people's investments in North America would definitely not be returned to the Americans. Asking the Min dynasty for it would also not end well. Because of this example, the Bank of Europe was very worried that the European war would also have such a terrible result. Knowing that this was unlikely, the investment risk was much lower.
After the matter was done, Wang Mingshan, who felt mentally and physically exhausted, met up with his wife and children at the port of the New Suez Canal and boarded the ship to return home. Along the way, they saw giant ore ships and oil tankers of 50,000 or even 100,000 tons sailing in the New Suez Canal. Wang Mingshan knew that he saw the logo of his son's company on a 100,000-ton oil tanker.
Along the way, he saw many European newspapers shouting about the war, as if the war would break out tomorrow. Wang Mingshan was more convinced that his idea was right. If the war was really going to break out, these business operations would naturally be reduced because of the danger. Of course, the premise of all this was that the people who started the war needed to be rational. At least so far, except for Russia, which did not have a field trip, Wang Mingshan had not seen an irrational leader in Europe.
When he returned to Nanjing, before he could rest for a day, Wang Mingshan received an invitation from Vézé. With excitement, Wang Mingshan took his wife and children to see Vézé. The Italian Marchioness Grace knew the rules of the Min dynasty. She wore a very simple daytime dress and took her children to follow her husband. Since the Min dynasty launched the North American war, Europe's general view of His Majesty Vézé was a 'cruel and powerful conqueror' for more than a decade. The small-scale naval battle that broke out between China and Italy over Crete last year made the Italian Marchioness understand that Emperor Vézé was not polite to European countries.
Wang Mingshan's two mixed-race children were very beautiful. Vézé liked them very much after seeing them. After seeing Grace, Vézé shook hands with her. After looking her up and down, he smiled at Wang Mingshan and said, "I've long heard that your wife is a beauty. Now that I've seen her with my own eyes, I think you have a good eye for beauty."
Wang Mingshan blushed. He always felt that Military Governor Vaize's words implied that he was lecherous. Grace just felt that Vézé was a bit male chauvinist, which did not match the image of a revolutionary who shouted that 'women can hold up half the sky' and strongly promoted women's employment and women's liberation. But on second thought, Grace also understood that this time Vézé did not invite Grace but Wang Mingshan. Naturally, the two men would not consider the position of women when they spoke. After confirming that her husband was indeed a close comrade of the emperor of China, Grace felt very proud. She felt that if the Min dynasty was not a republic but an empire, Wang Mingshan should be a Marquis no matter what.
The meeting ended, and the work talk was not very long. Vézé listened carefully to Wang Mingshan's report and inadvertently nodded slightly. Wang Mingshan's description of Europe was very true. This first-hand information made Vézé's historical knowledge correspond. In addition to the history of World War I, Vézé also remembered a video before World War II. In the video, the Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels on the stage raised his arms and shouted, 'Do you want an all-out war? Do you want this war to be more comprehensive and thorough than we can imagine today? '
The Nazis below the stage raised their arms excitedly and responded, 'Follow the Fuhrer! Long live Hitler! '
Vézé used to think that this was the result of the small mustache man's incitement, but looking back now, it was actually the Nazi Germany's summary of the lessons of World War I. They believed that the defeat of World War I was the result of internal disunity and traitors working together. So, from the very beginning, Nazi Germany was determined to launch an all-out war. And with the Germans' unique stubbornness, they really put it into practice.
When Wang Mingshan saw Vézé's thoughtful smile, he quickly stopped talking and asked cautiously, "Commander-in-chief, what do you think?"
"I think your investigation is very good," Vézé replied calmly. He then took a document and handed it to Wang Mingshan. Wang Mingshan took it and looked at it. It was information on Russia.
Between 1905 and 1909, 5,735 people were sentenced to death for "the crime of subverting the country and creating unrest", which accounted for 1/6 of the cases of political prisoners at that time. Of these, 3,741 were actually executed, an average of 748 per year. Before Stolypin came to power, only 625 political prisoners were sentenced to death between 1825 and 1905, and only 191 were actually executed, which was a little more than two per year. Another piece of information stated that in 1905-1909, during the reign of Stolypin, a total of 37735 people were tried for political reasons. Of these, 8,640 were sentenced to death, of which 735 were executed, 4,244 were sent to forced labor camps, 1,292 were sent to correctional camps, and 1,858 were sent to the wasteland for forced labor. All of them were deprived of their personal freedom. According to official statistics, there were as many as 140,000 prisoners in the prisons of Topolsk, Orel, and Moscow. By July 1909, there were as many as 1.5 million people in Russia.
Wang Mingshan was shocked just by looking at the brutality of Stolypin's reforms in Russia. Western Europe looked down on Russia and felt that Russia was a very barbaric country. The Min dynasty looked down on Western Europe, so they also looked down on Russia. Because of this, Wang Mingshan was too lazy to go to Russia. He felt that Russia would not be able to cause any big waves. Therefore, Wang Mingshan made the judgment that Europe would be fine as long as they did not break the rules. Now that he saw the current situation in Russia, it was purely a posture to cause a storm.
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