"Have you seen the drain? The color is different every day. Sometimes it's red like blood, sometimes it's green like pus, and sometimes it's yellow like bile … It's actually the river of hell, glowing with a scary neon light.
The noise of the factories mixed with the echoes of the underground, drifting over the city.
The stench in the air smells like a giant beast vomiting …
I realized that maybe I'm not living on earth, but in hell.
Am I crazy? "
…
There was a satirical article about London by a British writer. Apart from the association with hell, the rest of the content was basically in line with reality. Li Xin had been to all the industrial countries on earth and visited their capitals and main industrial centers. After seeing the vast world, Li Xin's admiration for Vézé grew stronger.
China's industrial cities also had these problems. The once famous "Yangtze River Poisoning Incident" was a major leak in Shanghai's riverside industrial zone. Hundreds of tons of highly toxic sewage rolled into the river along with a rainstorm and the power line failure and explosion caused by the rainstorm. Not only did it cause a large number of dead fish, but it also caused a large number of illnesses and nearly a hundred deaths. This caused the people of Shanghai, one of the centers of China, to be in a state of panic and unrest for a long time. In the end, the direct and indirect economic losses caused by the incident reached hundreds of millions.
Since then, many of the pollution problems that had appeared in the country were finally put on the table. His Majesty Vézé also took the opportunity to introduce environmental protection laws and industrial waste treatment draft. China could not give up industry because of pollution. At least it began to face the problem of industrial pollution.
Of course, the pollution still had to be polluted, and the destruction did not stop. However, whether or not they could directly point out the problem and specifically address the most prominent problem, this was a fundamental problem of attitude. Attitude determined everything. At least, China introduced these considerations in the "Toxic Industry Management Measures". As for London, which was also heavily polluted, it could only be said that the people of London had a strong resistance to toxicity. Perhaps the London government, based on the outstanding ability of the British people, did not think it was a problem at all.
Compared to Germany, which was in the urban and rural fringe, London was probably an "old city" in China. Buildings in China were generally six-story buildings, but in London, it was cut in half, with three-story buildings being the majority. The width of the streets in London was generally less than half or even a third of that in China. But in a city with millions of people, London had to face the dilemma of public transport, and it had to improve a little.
Fog City was shrouded in fog again. Li Xin enjoyed the fresh sea breeze on the sea. When he got into the car, he could not help but cover his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. The rear exhaust pipe of the China -made car emitted thick smoke. When it started, the smoke quickly blended into the thick fog of London and disappeared.
After meeting the British foreign minister this time, Li Xin said with a fake smile, "Sir, it seems that you completely regard the meeting between Britain and other countries as an open international conference."
The British foreign minister knew that Li Xin was settling old scores. "We do believe that the position of China and Britain on the Bulgarian issue can be discussed with other countries. If I'm not mistaken, Your Excellency will hold the same position in future international meetings."
Li Xin was very unhappy that he was being controlled by the British. However, he had a lazy thought that it was not a bad thing to let the British help China publicize China's position. If the international conference that the British hoped for could really be held, China would not have to waste any more time talking, and it would not become the focus of other countries. After all, on the Bulgarian issue, China was just a simple party.
This matter was not the core of Li Xin's visit to the United Kingdom. He immediately made a request. "I asked Your Excellency to help us gather the British financial figures. I don't know if the Foreign Minister has his own ideas."
The British government would not turn a blind eye to making money. The British foreign minister said straightforwardly, "Our financiers have been waiting for Your Excellency to come to London. If you don't come, I will be annoyed to death by them."
This was indeed the case. At 11 o 'clock the next morning, the group of financiers, or at least the plenipotentiary representatives, arrived at the Port of London. The agreed time for the conference was a week. The group of financiers brought their families and servants. Some of the British drove cars, while others took private carriages. When they arrived at the dock, they saw a beautiful pure white cruise ship docked at the port without needing to point it out. The British knew a lot about ships. When they saw the elegant and large ship, the British financiers felt refreshed. Their families pointed at the beautiful ship and talked about it.
When they registered in front of the wide gangway, the financiers and the elderly ladies were still reserved enough. The young and young passengers were a little impatient. This group of people were big shots or very famous rising stars. There were not many of them. When the red rope hanging across the gangway was removed, the gangway was opened to the ship. Suddenly, the sound of a band was heard on the ship. This kind of extravagance was not common in the Port of London. It had been a long time since the Port of London played music as a form of farewell or welcome. However, to specially invite a band on a ship, this was something that could only be done by the rich and powerful.
Li Xin specially invited a band from Austria to perform music on the ship. Unlike those musicians who worked alone or in groups of two or three, Li Xin's band showed their long-trained professionalism as soon as they started. As they boarded the ship amidst the melodious music, even the most old-fashioned old guy's expression softened.
The rising stars were more flexible. When they learned that the ship would set sail at six o 'clock in the afternoon, they immediately requested to increase the number of people they brought. Since the China foreign minister had taken out such a large sum of money, in this era of lack of entertainment, it was indeed a very good experience to take a week on the sea.
At 6: 30, the last wave of people was picked up. China's 15,000-ton cruise ship sounded its whistle and set sail under the envious gazes of many people at the port. It left the port and sailed to the warm south.
At the banquet that night, the hall that covered an area of more than 500 square meters was packed with people. Li Xin not only invited a band, but he also invited famous Italian opera artists and famous Austrian pianists. First, there was a small concert, followed by a buffet-style dance party.
The dignitaries were all dressed formally, and their female family members were wearing their most beautiful evening gowns. They were either sipping wine and chatting in the sand-lined salon, or dancing to the accompaniment of the band. Although there were many people, with the excellent ventilation system, the air in the room did not appear dirty. On the contrary, the tempting scent of perfume and powder mixed with the fresh air made the hall exude the unique atmosphere of the European upper class.
The atmosphere of the banquet became more and more intense. Just after the first pause of the dance party, the convener of the meeting, Li Xin, finally appeared. He was thin and wore a well-fitting dark suit, which made him look elegant and dignified. He first greeted everyone in sloppy English, and Li Xin expressed his gratitude to everyone for attending the meeting. The appearance of the foreign minister of China made the atmosphere of the meeting even more lively.
After shaking hands, greeting, and clinking glasses with the main participants, Li Xin invited them to another conference room for the meeting. When leaving the venue, Li Xin said to the other people who followed him with a smile, "Ladies and gentlemen. I hope that people like us who are used to leaving with a straight face can make everyone have fun. "
In a burst of laughter, the band began to play again. Even before these family heads walked out of the hall, the young people were already impatient to dance with their companions.
The seats in the conference room were arranged in three rings with the long table in the center as the center. The financiers sat down according to the name tags in the conference room. Naturally, Li Xin was seated at the head of the table, while the most powerful financiers were seated at the table. The others had sand to sit on. Everyone had a document with their name written on it. The document contained the topic of the meeting and the general schedule.
Without waiting for Li Xin to speak, the financiers had already begun to read it. The director of the London Stock Exchange was naturally one of the people at the table. After reading it quickly, he frowned slightly and said, "Sir, do you want to discuss exactly according to this set of procedures?"
Li Xin tapped the document in front of him with his finger. "The first arrangement is to discuss the process of this meeting. Do you have any objections? "
The director of the London Stock Exchange did not flinch because of Li Xin's status. He asked, "Sir, you can represent the opinion of China's Zheng Government, but can you represent the opinion of China's financial community? I'm more curious about this. "
The eyes of the British financiers fell on the two people talking, and some financiers couldn't help but nod slightly. The greatest power of the British government now was probably to declare war. If the war was not decisive but a small local conflict, then the British colonies had the right to fight some wars. As for the financial community, it was not something that the government could manipulate. Even if the British financial community was not completely above the government, it was at least a powerful force that could greatly influence the government's opinion.
In a financial negotiation, China actually sent its foreign minister as a representative. In Europe, probably only Russia could do this. On this occasion, the equivalent representative of China's financial industry had to be at least a representative of the Ministry of Commerce or the Central Bank.
Li Xin also basically knew what the British financiers were thinking. He smiled and said, "You should be very clear that there are countries involved in international affairs in any case. Even if you can summon wind and rain in Europe and the United States, in the end, you still can't avoid dealing with the governments of other countries. I am now representing China's Zheng Government. I will be discussing some basic issues with you, and I will also represent the bottom line of China's laws and regulations. When these contents are summarized and determined as the bottom line of financial exchanges in the future, don't you think it will save a lot of trouble? "
This was true, but the British financiers did not rejoice because of this. They looked at Li Xin with some uneasiness and vigilance in their eyes. The British adopted "free trade," which meant that the government had no ability to interfere with the flow of money and capital. Now, China's foreign minister was talking about China's strong involvement in the financial industry. For these British financiers, their opponent was a powerful state power. This was a situation that they did not want to see.
After some more questioning and answers, the British financiers were sure that their idea was correct. The negotiation between China's Zheng Government and the British financiers was a state action. The state had the power to take the lead in determining where the two countries could cooperate in the financial industry and where cooperation was prohibited. The British financiers did not like this kind of strong government intervention in the economy.
Whether they liked it or not, they had to do business. China was a large market with a population of 800 million, and European countries had been hoping to open up this market in the past century. When the weak and incompetent Manchu Qing existed, many businessmen in China did business in the United Kingdom, but this market was actually closed to the United Kingdom. Now that China's Emperor Vézé was in power, the market had opened up a lot to Europe. When the financial market finally showed signs of loosening, even if the British financiers did not like to deal with a strong government, they had no reason to object.
The arrangements of the meeting were discussed and passed one by one. The meeting between the two sides only discussed basic issues, not technical issues. There were only two options for each issue: agree or disagree.
Would the companies of the two countries be allowed to set up businesses in the other's country and sell stocks in the other's market?
Would the banks of the two countries be allowed to operate in the other's currency and issue bonds in the other's currency?
Each item needed to be discussed. The China side was endorsed by the state, and the British system determined that the British government was not qualified to directly let the country bear the risk. The financial transactions were carried out by British banks and financial companies.
This kind of negotiation did not have much content, but it involved a lot of issues. The British had been expanding around the world for hundreds of years and established a financial industry to serve the British system. China was a novice in this area. There were very few bonds in China, let alone a capital operation system with financial transactions as the core.
There were six people attending the meeting with Li Xin. Of course, it was impossible for Li Xin to sing a one-man show. The six people represented the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Supervisory Authority. This difficult negotiation began with a difficult meeting to determine the content. It was not finalized the night before, so they rested in the luxurious cabin and continued the discussion the next day.
"Countries around the world are selling stocks in the British stock market to raise funds. China's RMB is not a gold standard system, so it is not equivalent in this aspect of the stock market. Of course, your country can guarantee that the RMB will not depreciate or something like that. But we can't just believe such words. " The director of the London stock market, as the representative of the British financial industry, made a very harsh criticism of China's currency system.
"The RMB relies on the national credit of China. For China, the fluctuation of the RMB is unacceptable. Our currency policy has been like this for years. Of course, you can doubt China's currency policy, but for us, there is no possibility of this policy being doubted. This is the national credit of China! "Li Xin also responded tit-for-tat.
The director of the London stock market said with a serious expression, "Besides being a piece of paper, what is the value of your RMB? Is it equivalent to gold or silver? If it is only equivalent to national credit, then please forgive me for saying something that you may not like to hear at all. In our opinion, this value is very limited! Very, very limited! "
During this meeting, there was a bearded man sitting in the corner without saying a word. From the looks of the people around him, it could be seen that this bearded man was not someone from the financial circle. At least, he was not someone from the British financial circle who knew or had heard of each other.
Uncle Engels was very satisfied with this kind of treatment. He took a notebook and wrote down the words that he was interested in. Although the meeting was well prepared, several scribes were recording the meeting at a very fast speed. Every day, there would be meeting records sorted out and archived for these participants. Therefore, Uncle Engels was not worried that his record was not comprehensive enough.
Uncle Ma was too famous, so he was not invited, and Uncle Engels attended the meeting under a different name. Afterwards, his evaluation of the meeting was, "The British financial industry probably knew the position of China. Regarding China's economic policy, I don't know whether these financial industry saw God walking on the sea, or saw a living Satan walking leisurely on the lake of fire. When the currency was completely stripped of its own value and appeared in front of the top European financiers as a general equivalent, this subversive position made them feel the unique attitude of the Eastern Empire. There are rumors in European countries that China is using Marx's theory as the basic guiding economic theory. But I believe they will have a deeper understanding after this meeting. In my personal opinion, while the British regard currency as an absolute symbol of wealth, the Chinese have a more different view of currency because of their history. And I personally think that China's currency was directly integrated with the state's public power early and deeply, which historians have never spread to Europe. "
Uncle Engels said this in Uncle Ma's large flat roof mansion in London. Uncle Ma learned that the biggest result of this meeting was probably the creation of a discussion between the financial circles of China and the United Kingdom, and also the creation of a grand Eastern Empire. Although Uncle Engels was very low-key at this meeting, his big beard and the temperament of a famous German entrepreneur made some middle-aged, young, and even young women quite interested in him.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
