The discussion between the heads of state of China and France on the Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement took less than two minutes in total, and the matter was decided. Afterwards, He Rui talked with French President Doumergue about French customs and people. Doumergue expressed with great interest, "Chairman He Rui, if possible, I would very much like to be Chairman He's guide personally. It's just that as a public servant, I still have a lot of work to do. But please rest assured, we will recommend the best guide."

He Rui answered immediately, "Thank you, President Doumergue. I know France has magnificent mountains and rivers, but in my opinion, what is most valuable in France is the French people, and the outstanding representatives among the French people. In the Enlightenment era, there were Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, etc. In modern times, there are scholars like Pasteur and Langevin. I think being able to contact the French people must be a very wonderful thing."

President Doumergue showed a French romantic smile, which was much heartier compared to the British style. Doumergue nodded repeatedly, "If you think so, I can conclude that the French people will definitely leave you with the most beautiful memories. And I look forward to the opportunity to visit China. I heard that the Chinese people are hardworking and smart. I believe that if I can visit China, the Chinese people, who are as noble as the French people, will definitely leave me with the most beautiful memories."

After such enthusiastic mutual praise, Doumergue suggested He Rui rest first, because the heads of state of China and France would sign the "Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement" tomorrow.

After He Rui left, Doumergue returned to the reception room, where several core members presiding over the negotiation were still waiting. Without the excitement shown just now, Doumergue asked Mabeuf, "Chairman Mabeuf, is the judgment of the Bank of France trustworthy?"

Although Mabeuf felt somewhat discriminated against, he could understand Doumergue's worry. Of course, it was impossible to write in the "Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement" that the French government provides China with an interest-free loan of 20 billion francs. specific content must be passed by parliament before execution. So the money actually lent to China was responsible by the Bank of France. Therefore, the President was very worried that if the cooperation failed to produce the expected results, Doumergue would bear huge pressure.

Mabeuf answered sincerely, "Mr. President, the Bank of France makes judgments with professionalism."

After speaking, to appease high-level government officials like the President and Prime Minister, Mabeuf explained again, "In my opinion, Chairman He Rui is very confident. The visit he proposed just now is undoubtedly hoping to stay in France for a longer time."

There was no need to say more; Doumergue and other high-level French government officials could understand. If the cooperation had no positive effect, He Rui would not stay in France for too long anyway, to save giving the French government a chance to change immediately.

On January 23, General Secretary Stalin received an urgent report again. When this report was handed to him, General Secretary Stalin was holding a Politburo meeting. The speaker, Trotsky, was somewhat listless. At this time, he had been marginalized, serving as the Director of the Electric Power Technology Administration and the Dean of the Institute of Industrial Science and Technology. Even if he could still speak, his speech at the meeting carried no weight. Seeing Stalin looking at the report intently, Trotsky simply stopped speaking. The Central Committee members attending the meeting all looked at Stalin at this time.

Stalin finished reading the report, thought for a moment, and asked Molotov, member of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, to read the report to the committee members. Soon, there was surprise in the expressions of the committee members. They thought of how quickly He Rui signed the "Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement" with French President Doumergue after arriving in France.

Stalin looked at the expressions of the committee members, feeling that most of them actually didn't understand the value of this cooperation agreement, and Stalin himself needed time to analyze the meaning, so he stood up and walked out of the conference room.

Although Molotov looked at Stalin's back, he still finished reading the document. This was a public agreement, no need to inquire; it could be obtained directly through the media. Because the French government published the content of the agreement in French newspapers such as *Le Figaro*.

When Molotov finished reading, Trotsky stood up excitedly and said, "Comrades, judging from this agreement, the He Rui regime has obviously chosen the idea of global economic division of labor!"

Most committee members remained silent. Molotov looked at Trotsky unhappily, hoping this guy wouldn't take the opportunity to put gold on his face (praise himself). In the spring and summer of 1926, Trotsky and Zinoviev formed a new anti-Stalin alliance, the so-called "Trotsky-Zinoviev Anti-Party Alliance". They provoked a debate on whether socialism could be built in one country. Their theories and practices such as "Theory of World Division of Labor" and "Super-Industrialization Plan" were naturally condemned and negated by the whole party when the whole party was optimistic about the future. After the activities of the Trotsky-Zinoviev Alliance were heavily hit, they converged temporarily.

On the way to Moscow with He Rui, Molotov seriously asked He Rui about China's economic thinking. Coupled with Molotov's research on Chinese policy documents, he was convinced that China's economic construction thinking and Trotsky's set were not the same thing at all.

China's economic policy thinking has the same core as Stalin's thinking. Both Stalin and He Rui undoubtedly believe that the comparison of strength between revolution and counter-revolution determines who can become the leader. To obtain leading ability, a domestic industrial system and a matching political and economic system must be built. This statement is called 'Socialism in One Country' in the Soviet Union. In China, it is more simply called 'Modernization'.

Both aim to increase strength as the core purpose, while Trotsky's thinking aims at 'revolutionary victory'. Molotov felt that the ridicule of the Social Democratic Party in the dialogue between He Rui and Stalin could actually be applied to Trotsky. 'Jumping back and forth between the two extremes of utopian socialism and utopian capitalism'.

So Molotov simply ignored Trotsky and thought about the possible impact of Sino-French cooperation. Molotov felt that Britain's reaction could be used as an important basis for judgment. Britain and France are close in distance and have the same capitalist system. Presumably, Britain's understanding of Sino-French cooperation would be more profound.

On January 24, British newspapers reported the news that the exchange rate of the French Franc rose, and the surge in Bank of France stocks drove the rise of the French stock market.

For Britain, France is so close; the closest territories of the two countries can be seen across the sea when the weather is good. After seeing 'The Chinese government prioritizes the Franc as the currency used' in the "Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement", British speculators believed the Franc had room for appreciation. Plus the current Franc was very cheap, they either operated directly themselves or contacted agents to exchange Pounds for some Francs.

On January 25, He Rui woke up early in the morning. When he went out to get the newspaper, he felt something was wrong, but couldn't say what was wrong. Wearing pajamas, walking along the carpeted soft corridor in the direction where he felt wrong, he saw the door of the conference room two rooms away was ajar, and the ministers of the Chinese government were already there.

The signing of the Sino-French Economic Cooperation Agreement was not a heroic decision and action by the French President and He Rui alone. Before He Rui set off for the Soviet Union, Chinese ministers took a plane to Paris. Regarding the cooperation agreement, ministers and experts directly related to this from both China and France had held meetings in Paris for at least three weeks.

If Chinese and French ministers and experts hadn't prepared for the content of the agreement, the French elite couldn't have truly understood China's industrial development plan, nor could they have decided to invest.

He Rui entered the conference room and saw the comrades holding the latest newspapers, looking at the Franc exchange rate and the prices of several stocks in the French Stock Exchange that were significantly related to the agreement. When He Rui, wearing pajamas, picked up the newspaper placed at the door, some comrades noticed He Rui. They stood up immediately and shouted, "Chairman, you're here."

Everyone put down their newspapers and stood up one after another. Commerce Minister Li Chenggang asked, "Chairman, it really rose. The Franc rose very powerfully. I didn't expect European speculative capital to be so powerful!"

It was the first time for the ministers to participate in finance at such close range. Initially, everyone was a little worried that the French side was just enthusiastic on the surface but would shrink in specific execution. After all, a 20 billion interest-free loan was not a small amount.

But, as Li Chenggang sighed, everyone saw with their own eyes that within just two days after the signing and announcement of the Sino-French agreement, the exchange rate of the Franc, a banknote detached from the gold standard, rose by nearly 3% against the Pound. According to understanding, the Francs circulating in society now are about 300 billion. Such a small appreciation means the international purchasing power of the Franc has increased by about 8 billion Francs.

If the value of the Franc continues to rise, it is very understandable why the Bank of France accepted He Rui's request for France to provide 20 billion interest-free loans so readily from the beginning. Before the loan was issued, France had already made a profit.

He Rui talked with the comrades for a few sentences and found that the comrades' views were roughly correct, but due to lack of experience, inevitably some intuitions were still incorrect. Thinking for a moment, He Rui said, "Comrades, I know everyone has understood the basic principles, but I will repeat it again. Just consider me nagging."

Hearing He Rui being so polite, the comrades also knew He Rui was actually somewhat dissatisfied. If they were ordinary people, He Rui would definitely not speak like this. But as ministers, the financial understanding of this cooperation cannot be wrong at all. The comrades sat down one after another, waiting for He Rui to emphasize again.

"First of all, capital is not a whole; do not anthropomorphize capital. If someone thinks that a certain force pulled up the exchange rate of the Franc, that is wrong. We can understand which foreign exchange trading institutions or which foreign exchange trading banks traded how much foreign exchange. Or they raised the exchange rate of the Franc against other currencies based on market fluctuations. We can also understand whether there is private currency exchange. But there is no unified force pulling up the Franc. Everyone must have a profound understanding of this."

Both the Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor could understand He Rui's meaning. But some ministers not closely related to foreign exchange, although they had studied, couldn't keep up with intuitive reactions because they hadn't worked in this field.

Just like Zhuang Jiaxiong, who felt he couldn't understand. He asked directly, "Then, didn't these people consider the appreciation of the Franc?"

"Now there is not only utopian socialism in the world but also utopian capitalism. Especially utopian capitalism is actually more widespread than utopian socialism. If a person simply doesn't have the money to speculate on exchange rates, no matter what he thinks, it's useless. Comrade Zhuang Jiaxiong, what are the people who actually take out money to invest in this exchange rate speculation thinking?"

Hearing He Rui's question, Zhuang Jiaxiong thought for a moment and suddenly realized. He answered, "They are thinking about making money. They believe the Franc will appreciate."

"Correct." As He Rui spoke, his fist hit the table in front, making a thud sound.

"Comrades, there is no force that wants to do this or that. Everyone can understand that it is precisely because many holders of foreign currency who believe the Franc will appreciate are buying Francs that the Franc has appreciated. But who are the owners of these foreign currencies? Are they some conspirators sitting in dark rooms as everyone thinks? I can tell you clearly, no."

After He Rui finished speaking, he hit the table again.

"These people include men and women. Old people and young people. British, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Belgian, Spanish... and Jews. These people's money is not specifically used to speculate on the Franc; most people put their money in banks or various financial institutions. The owners of this money actually don't know their money is being used to buy Francs. Even if they knew, they wouldn't care. Because they only care about one thing, which is whether their money can make money."

Hearing this, plus personally observing the rapid changes in the Franc exchange rate, even Zhuang Jiaxiong, who didn't have much understanding of finance, understood these. Even if someone is investing purposefully through the possibility of Franc appreciation now, the purpose is not to pursue Franc investment, but to pursue making money through Franc appreciation. Once they earn the expected money, those people will take profit and sell Francs to buy other currencies.

These processes were exactly what was taught at the meeting for ministers before. It's just that Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't expect that European finance just moved casually like this, and the 'floating profit' would be so large. Floating profit refers to profit on the books in financial speculation. When this 'floating profit' reaches the speculator's expectation, the speculator will sell the Franc, turning the floating profit into profit. To pocket the profit for safety.

Zhuang Jiaxiong sighed, "Chairman, I finally understand why the French side cares so much about how we use the borrowed Francs. Originally, I thought these French people enthusiastically proposed various suggestions and expressed various supports because they had their own plans. Now it seems they indeed have their own plans, but what they consider is different from what I thought."

He Rui nodded. Just the Bank of France, the bank providing the money, would hope China could borrow the money immediately now and use it quickly and effectively. This use would reduce the total number of Francs circulating in the financial field. Even if someone takes profit and sells 10 billion Francs. As long as China borrows 10 billion Francs and uses it to purchase French technology, equipment, and hire French experts. This money will enter the French manufacturing sector. With fewer Francs in the financial sector, the Franc exchange rate can be maintained.

Moreover, if Francs enter the production field, French workers earn money, and the economy will improve. This increases others' confidence in the French economy from another angle. This confidence will be transferred to the Franc again.

Therefore, He Rui was very restrained, asking only for a 20 billion franc interest-free loan. Because He Rui was worried about the vision, ability, and endurance of the French financial industry and high-level government officials. If He Rui were not so restrained, asking for a 40 billion franc interest-free loan with a repayment period of 30 years would also be completely possible.

"Comrades, I personally suggest everyone relax a bit these two days. Rest well; at least when you can rest easily, rest easily. Within three days at most, everyone will be too busy to touch the ground." After speaking, He Rui stretched, "Alright, I'm going back to my room first."

Looking at He Rui's back, a sentence popped up in someone's mind: "When there's work, the secretary does it; when there's no work, do the secretary." But they only dared to think about this sentence and dared not say it out loud no matter what.

It wasn't that He Rui would do anything. But if these words were spoken, they would be looked down upon by people of the same level. Being regarded as low-class among people of the same level would be a disaster.