In the blink of an eye, it was November. When the rectification of the Zhili Province produced results, Wu Youping's report was published in the party journal *Weekly Talk*. Wu Youping knew very well what he would face. Because Wu Lingpu did not really cause any irrevocable results, there was no lack of approval within the party and government for the rash thinking represented by Wu Lingpu.

After all, Wu Lingpu's achievements were there, and the Zhili Ministry did not characterize Wu Lingpu as negative. Moreover, for those leading cadres who only knew how to conduct command-style management, their political achievements could only be reflected through visible content. Trying to improve oneself through learning has a probability; not all learning can achieve expected results. Many leading cadres hated the term 'economic risk', but this hatred was precisely because they understood the uncertainty of risk, so they hated risks unfavorable to themselves.

Wu Youping had long understood risk, and understood even more in revolutionary work how much humans expect others to bear the risks they face. If it were just ordinary people, the harm would be small. But if state power is in the hands of people who are happy to transfer risks, it will bring great problems, even disasters.

In the first few days after the report was published, there were no opposing opinions for the time being. Wu Youping was nervous, so he went to see He Rui. Seeing He Rui allowed him to talk about work, and more importantly, relieve the pressure in his heart. If there was anyone who absolutely never transferred risks, He Rui was the few among the few Wu Youping had seen.

As soon as he saw He Rui, He Rui placed a document in front of Wu Youping, "News from France."

Wu Youping picked it up and looked. It turned out that the French government, before Armistice Day on November 11, awarded the 'Legion of Honour' to representatives of Chinese laborers sent to France during the Great War in Europe.

The Legion of Honour is the highest order of merit awarded by the French government. Established by Napoleon, the First Consul at the time, in 1802 to replace the feudal knighthood system, it is the highest honor awarded by the French government. It is a symbol of French military and civilian honor and one of the most famous medals in the world.

The Legion of Honour is an honorary organization that includes soldiers and civilians who have made outstanding contributions to the French Republic; the Legion of Honour medal is the sign of its members' glory and reputation.

He Rui laughed, "Youping, if you visit France now, with your position during the Great War in Europe, you can at least get a Second Class medal."

"What does Second Class mean?" Wu Youping was puzzled.

He Rui signaled to the secretary, and the secretary gave a concise explanation. The French Legion of Honour is divided into six ranks: The highest is the Special Class, which can be translated as "Grand Master" (Grand Maître). The Legion of Honour is a French organization, so the Grand Master naturally only symbolizes the incumbent French head of state;

The First Class can be translated as "Grand Cross" (Grand-Croix);

The Second Class can be translated as "Grand Officer" (Grand Officier);

The Third Class can be translated as "Commander" (Commandeur);

The Fourth Class can be translated as "Officer" (Officier);

The lowest rank is translated as "Knight" (Chevalier).

"Premier Wu, what France awarded to the Chinese labor representatives this time is the Fifth Class Knight medal. You were already a core team member during the Great War in Europe, and France will also award you according to your current position."

After listening to the secretary's explanation, Wu Youping said casually, "France will definitely award Chairman He, right?"

Before the secretary could answer, several thoughts flashed through Wu Youping's mind, and he asked He Rui, "Is the Chairman preparing to visit abroad?"

Hearing this, the secretary stopped speaking immediately. He Rui nodded, "France has shown great goodwill. I think the time for a visit is ripe. Now it depends on whether Britain will follow up. After all, some Chinese laborers also went to Britain."

Wu Youping wasn't sure for a moment if any Chinese laborers had gone to Britain, so he looked at He Rui's secretary. The secretary answered at this time, "The number of Chinese laborers who went to Britain was not large, but when the British army fought on the European continent, they did receive support provided by a large number of Chinese laborers in Europe."

In diplomatic work, various reasons are 'pretexts', which can be very important or very unimportant. But He Rui's visit to Europe itself was indeed a major diplomatic breakthrough. This meant China reappearing on the world diplomatic stage as a Great Power recognized by the world. It was a very important appearance.

Wu Youping thought for a moment and asked, "Is the first stop... the Soviet Union?"

"Yes," He Rui answered frankly.

"Will Europe misunderstand?" Wu Youping was slightly worried.

He Rui emphasized immediately, "Europe may not like it, but Europe will understand us."

Seeing Wu Youping didn't quite agree, He Rui explained to Wu Youping, "If France has a neighbor with a border of ten thousand kilometers, do you think France would pay special attention to this country?"

"France's longest border is probably the Franco-German border, right?" Wu Youping laughed.

He Rui didn't laugh. "Youping, counting the colonies, Britain is the country with the longest border with France."

Hearing this, Wu Youping thought for a moment and put away his smile. And He Rui continued to explain the reason why he must visit the Soviet Union first.

Anyone with some understanding of basic diplomatic principles would know clearly that the first visit of a head of state must represent their policy or strategic direction, and the visit must be to the most important country. Geopolitically speaking, the Soviet Union has a border of more than 10,000 kilometers with China, and the Soviet Union inherited the strength of the Great Power Russia, so the first stop must be the Soviet Union.

If He Rui didn't go to the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin would definitely doubt China's attitude towards Sino-Soviet friendship. After all, at this stage, some people within the Soviet Union were already doubting the future of Sino-Soviet relations. The skeptics' reason was not outrageous; they believed that since China had broken diplomatic barriers, it would naturally contact Europe directly. And the value of the Soviet Union, which continued to suffer from the blockade of world powers, to China would decrease.

Once He Rui visited abroad, he must go to the Soviet Union first. Precisely because skeptics will always exist, He Rui must send an unequivocal signal.

Wu Youping was convinced. "Chairman, visiting Europe is too important. What coordination work does the State Council need to do?"

"This trip to Europe will inevitably be fruitful. What I am less sure about is the trip to Germany. Because I want to get two things from Germany. First, Sino-German experience in adult training. Second, I want to invite a small number of top German chief engineers to China to participate in the design of some factories. These all require the assistance of the German Weimar government."

Hearing vocational training, Wu Youping immediately thought of the domestic situation and said, "Can I digress for a moment?"

He Rui looked at Wu Youping sympathetically, his eyes soon becoming firm. "You cannot digress. Because the foundation of domestic adult education is too low. To promote industrialization, the economic model of the agricultural era must be replaced. So there is no need to discuss replacement, but discuss how to replace faster. As for the negative effects caused, we must rely on the government to ensure the bottom line. Losers can fail, but they cannot starve to death. Adult re-education is an important means of providing a bottom line."

Wu Youping thought he heard an explanation, and an explanation for the biggest problem he faced now. However, Wu Youping still had no confidence whether things would really develop in this direction. At this stage, China's common thinking in facing risks was 'avoid talking about it', as if mentioning risk itself was a crime.

Thinking of these, Wu Youping was very unhappy because his life experience was living towards death. If the He Rui he met back then hadn't saved China, Wu Youping wouldn't have given up his ideal either. If one dares not admit that saving China was originally a decision with great risks, and huge prices must be paid to achieve this goal, then as soon as one faces setbacks, the thought of escape will naturally arise.

It's the same now. If one thinks industrialization is a warm and tender process, or even an excessive process where 'when a man gets to the top, all his relations get there with him', industrialization will inevitably suffer various failures.

He Rui continued to explain, "We already have a lot of industrial accumulation and have an understanding of the industrial strength we master. Especially since we have inspected the United States, on this basis, inviting German senior experts to participate in Chinese factory design will help us a lot. So, we have to pay. And this money does have risks. Besides financial loss, we must also consider the unhappiness of the French government."

Wu Youping was in a bad mood, so his answer was somewhat casual, "Can't we cooperate with France in this regard?"

"France's industry is very strong, but the French mainland is after all a medium-sized country, and its experience is not suitable for China. Compared with France, Germany is more suitable. After all, the industrial similarity between Germany and China is higher. Germany also has relatively rich resources domestically, and Germany must rely on manufactured industrial products to establish itself. The influence of German colonies on Germany has always been weak, making Germany have to solve problems based on internal development. Moreover, Germany's population density is high enough."

Hearing He Rui say this, Wu Youping had to pull his thinking to He Rui's side. Only then did Wu Youping notice that He Rui's new secretary was a pretty girl with a round face whom Wu Youping had never seen before.

But after just one glance, Wu Youping continued to ask, "If so, our cooperation with France only leaves finance. France can provide capital. But is French capital easy to take? Although Tsarist Russia indeed developed relying on French capital, the price paid was also very high."

"French capital... Hehe." He Rui laughed out loud. At this time, he certainly couldn't predict that France would be defeated by Germany in the future. After all, this year is 1927, and the Nazi Party, that is, the "National Socialist German Workers' Party", is in its trough period. However, for Little Moustache personally, the low tide of the Nazi Party might not be a bad thing. According to the intelligence He Rui received, with the short-term improvement of the German economy, the election situation of the Nazi Party with less than 100,000 members was very poor, with a vote rate of less than 2%. The most powerful revolutionary force in Germany now is the Communist Party of Germany.

Predicting the Nazi Party coming to power in the future to Wu Youping now would be meaningless except for creating a mystical 'amazing prediction'.

If the world revolution He Rui attempted to complete succeeds, countries around the world will invest heavily in China. If China refuses investment because of its insufficient strength, it means China has absolutely no ability to undertake leading the world economy. Therefore, how to utilize investment most effectively is a hurdle China must cross and an economic capability it must possess.

He Rui changed the entry point, "Where is France's investment in Tsarist Russia?"

"Where is the Russian Tsar?" Wu Youping asked back.

Listening to the dialogue between He Rui and Wu Youping, the secretary's beautiful eyes couldn't help widening. She never expected the conversation of the upper echelons to be so direct. Moreover, everyone had their own quite complete train of thought.

"So, you decided to accept the challenge?" He Rui continued to ask.

This time Wu Youping nodded, "Yes. No matter what pressure the State Council bears, it will complete the work it should undertake!"

Hearing Wu Youping's tone of 'the wind whistles, the water of the Yi River is cold' (tragic heroism), He Rui wanted to tell Wu Youping that things were really not that bad. But He Rui said nothing in the end. Because He Rui was certain that his view of difficulty did not conform to the public standard.