"Your Excellency Foch, thank you for accepting this radio interview."

"It is a fresh experience for me to express my views to my French compatriots via radio."

"Marshal, do you believe the military landscape of Europe will change due to Franco-Chinese friendship?"

"China is a very strong country. Strategically speaking, China is bound to exert an influence on the world commensurate with its power. The military landscape of Europe will indeed change due to the cooperation between France and China."

"In which direction does Your Excellency Foch believe this change will occur?"

"France is a peace-loving nation; naturally, this change will make Europe more peaceful."

"Marshal, France mediated the Anglo-Chinese War. You are a Marshal of France, Britain, and Poland, and the highest-caliber strategist in Europe. Chairman He Rui, China's military commander, is a master of geopolitics. How do you evaluate this scholar-commander?"

"According to intelligence collected by France, in the first half-year of the war, China's logistical capabilities could only sustain three divisions in Burma for a one-week offensive. Yet, the results achieved by the Chinese army were completely disproportionate to such logistical capabilities."

"Your Excellency Foch, in the early stages of the Anglo-Chinese War, China was already facing a British force of 100,000. Do you believe the Chinese army was fighting one against three?"

"In the early stages, that was indeed the case. Even in the middle and late stages of the war, the ratio of Chinese to British troops remained 1:3, with Britain holding a massive numerical advantage. During this phase, China's logistics improved significantly, barely able to sustain a one-week offensive by 200,000 men. Therefore, both of China's major victories involved thoroughly defeating the British within a short period."

"If 100,000 British troops were helpless against 30,000 Chinese troops, then Chairman He Rui's military ability seems quite high. If Chairman He Rui had come to Europe in 1915, what kind of strength do you think he could have exerted?"

"One person's power is limited; one cannot expect a single person to change the tide of war. However, given Chairman He Rui's command ability, I believe his value exceeds at least five divisions of the British Army."

...

Marshal Foch's radio interview allowed Britain to feel France's attitude. As soon as British Prime Minister Baldwin reached the entrance of the House of Commons, he heard the clamor inside.

Words and phrases like 'war,' 'threat,' and 'counterattack the French' drifted into Baldwin's ears, making him feel as if he were about to enter a circus ring to wrestle with a group of clowns.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the House of Commons, MPs began questioning Baldwin on how he intended to respond to France's hardline stance. Baldwin replied calmly, "According to communications between the Foreign Office and the Chinese government, Chairman He Rui's visit to Europe will conclude in Britain. Britain is a very important country to China. During this visit, the government will conduct frank negotiations with Mr. He Rui, Chairman of the Republic of China, and hold in-depth discussions on Anglo-Chinese cooperation."

Hearing this, the MP responsible for foreign affairs in the opposition's 'Shadow Cabinet' shouted loudly, "First of all, Your Excellency, what conditions are you prepared to promise China in exchange for China's grace?"

Faced with such an attack, a ruling Conservative Party MP immediately retorted loudly, "MP Caron, do you now view China as a colony? Is this your opposition party's understanding of Anglo-Chinese relations?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the opposition MPs realized they had been caught out. Although China's resurgence made everyone in Britain uncomfortable, the British government still had to face this fact. Facing facts is a basic quality for a politician. Of course, the British politicians of this time absolutely could not have imagined that in another timeline, eighty or ninety years later, facing reality would no longer be a basic quality for British politicians.

Having been caught out by the Conservatives, the politicians had to quickly extricate themselves, so the opposition immediately shifted direction. "Why did we not know beforehand that such a thing would happen? How exactly is the Cabinet's intelligence work being done? Prime Minister Baldwin, please explain this!"

Baldwin sighed inwardly but remained outwardly calm. What had to come would come; when MPs accused the government of not doing its job to the best of its ability, the Prime Minister had to endure it and explain his work.

Over an hour later, Prime Minister Baldwin, having finally finished the grueling session, returned to his office exhausted, with the Foreign Secretary following immediately behind. Collapsing into his chair, Baldwin asked wearily, "Are the Foreign Office's analysis results regarding the conflict out yet?"

"The Foreign Office believes France will maintain a very hardline attitude," the Foreign Secretary gave the final judgment concisely. "Therefore, the Foreign Office suggests engaging in friendlier cooperation with the He Rui government. The first stage is to finalize Most Favored Nation status as soon as possible."

Most Favored Nation (MFN) status is a legal treaty clause for trade between countries. The article stipulating this treatment is called the "Most Favored Nation Clause." It is a system wherein specific privileges, immunities, and favors in import-export trade, taxation, navigation, etc., granted by one contracting party to a third party are also granted to the other contracting party. It is also known as "non-discriminatory treatment."

Once China and Britain sign for Most Favored Nation status, as contracting parties, both sides will grant each other privileges, immunities, or favors in commerce, navigation, tariffs, and the legal status of citizens that are no lower than those currently or effectively granted to any third country.

Given France's hardline stance and Britain's understanding of He Rui, Baldwin no longer expected to obtain a loan agreement identical to France's. At least for three years, Britain would not need to rely solely on sharing the dividends of China's development to strengthen the Pound Sterling's position in the world. However, such investment carried risks, and Britain was not so desperate that it had to sign such an agreement with China to stabilize the Pound. But Most Favored Nation status had to be signed; only by signing it could they hedge against France to the greatest extent.

"Have the adjustments for He Rui's reception arrangements been completed?" Baldwin asked.

"We are already preparing a top-tier reception," the Foreign Secretary replied. Having said that, he did not mention specific details but asked, "Regarding the proposal for naval cooperation with China, should we proceed?"

Baldwin did not answer immediately. The Cabinet had already discussed this twice and reached a conclusion. Maintaining Britain's power in the Pacific required China's cooperation. To strengthen British interests within this cooperation, the best method was to help China build a navy and naval industry that completely adopted British technology and equipment.

In a sense, this was the same line of thinking as the current cooperation between China and France. The difference was that the navy belonged to the realm of national investment, so Britain could, through various military cooperations with China, actually possess significant control over the use of China's naval power. Industrial cooperation belonged to the realm of production; once China truly mastered French technology, China would become a downstream sector for French industry, needing to purchase France's latest technology and many components for a long time.

Neither Britain nor France was particularly worried about what would happen after China acquired a fleet or industry. Since China was a follower, Britain and France understood China's strength very well and could effectively formulate subsequent response plans targeting China.

After some consideration, Baldwin said, "Continue attempting to communicate."

Having finished with this topic, Baldwin asked, "Where is He Rui visiting now?"

"According to the news we've received, He Rui is presenting flowers at the Wall of the Communards in Père Lachaise Cemetery."

Baldwin's eyes were cold as he quipped, "Communists are all like that."

The Wall of the Communards is a section of grey brick wall in the northeast corner of Père Lachaise Cemetery. Bullet holes are deeply wedged into the wall, sealing away a night of blood and storms from over a hundred years ago.

Standing before this wall, He Rui truly felt some emotion. Some people had indeed raised the question of whether coming here to present flowers would trigger something, but they couldn't clearly say what it would trigger. He Rui knew that these comrades were considering interests more, so they appeared timid. Since the Chinese Constitution claimed that China was a socialist country, what was there to be afraid of? Would foreign countries consider China not a socialist country if He Rui didn't go to present flowers at the Wall of the Communards?

Frankly coming to present flowers was the action a communist should take. Only through such actions could supporters and opponents recognize what kind of country China was.

But He Rui did not criticize capitalism at this time; instead, he praised the Paris Commune's revolutionary attempt. With the current ideology, if He Rui didn't criticize capitalism, no one would think He Rui supported capitalism.

After the flower presentation, He Rui accepted an invitation to speak at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris. As its name suggests, the ENS is a normal school (teacher's college), whose initial mission was to "train citizens already educated in practical knowledge in the art of teaching, under the guidance of the most capable professors in all fields." For over a hundred years, the ENS has trained countless outstanding teachers for France, produced hundreds of members of the Académie française, and is a major world center for mathematical, scientific, and philosophical research.

The ENS admits only about 200 students annually. It does not have the qualification to issue diplomas, nor the right to confer national academic degrees. Students must register at partner universities of the ENS to obtain degrees awarded by those universities.

In He Rui's view, this school represented a 'circle.' Young students already deemed to have great prospects entered this circle, accumulating the connections needed for future development during their studies. Therefore, the content of He Rui's speech at the ENS was a recent article of his: "Utopian Socialism and Utopian Capitalism — On the Construction of a Knowledge System for Economic Theory and Practice."

"Fellow students, capitalism emerged from the feudal system. In the territories of European feudal lords, a group of people specializing in management appeared. With the decline of the European feudal system, these managers gradually gained power and began to become the driving force for the development of productive forces in European countries.

"Precisely because of this, the initial capitalist forces were fighting for political and economic power against feudal forces. Therefore, the political concepts of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity appeared in France, targeted against the feudal system.

"The emergence of Marxism, however, defined capitalism. So in my personal opinion, all capitalists should set up a memorial tablet for Mr. Marx in their homes and companies. Without the research of Mr. Marx and Mr. Engels, the concept of capitalism would not have appeared.

"Since the concept appeared, utopias would appear. In the past, Europe frequently mentioned Utopian Socialism, yet no one raised the concept of Utopian Capitalism. This is an academic misconception. The reason lies in the fact that many people believe capitalism exists naturally. Facts prove that natural capitalism does not exist in the world."

The faculty and students of the ENS were indeed the French elite circle; respecting facts is a basic quality of the elite circle, so He Rui's speech was very well received among them. He Rui analyzed socialism and capitalism from the perspective of demand, and also analyzed the problems of 'Utopian Socialism' and 'Utopian Capitalism' from the perspective of fairness and efficiency.

When social fairness is lacking, everyone has a strong demand for socialism. When social development requires efficiency, capitalism is considered an important means at that time. Human society seeks a balance between fairness and efficiency under different levels of productive forces. Since both are concepts, 'utopias' easily emerge. To operate society well, one must eliminate utopias. Effective policies must be adopted for specific problems.

After the speech topic was concluded, the faculty and students of the ENS applauded enthusiastically. However, during the Q&A, a teacher raised a very sharp question, "Mr. Chairman, according to your statement about effectively using policies of fairness or efficiency, does the superiority of socialist countries actually not exist?"

"A socialist state is a higher existence than a capitalist state. Because only a socialist state can truly and effectively switch between systems of fairness and efficiency. To give a simple example, my country has a Ministry of Energy, which includes a Coal Department. In contrast, the United States has very powerful coal enterprises. Both China and the United States believe that petroleum is the future direction of energy. The development of American oil enterprises occurred because coal enterprises did not have strong power in oil-producing regions. However, the development of China's oil industry comes from the government taking a portion of the profits from coal enterprises and using them to develop the oil industry.

"Socialist countries can use policy tools more effectively for economic management, whereas capitalist countries can only implement policies to promote new industries when a social consensus has been formed, utilizing certain events. Before a consensus is reached, the state can hardly use policy tools effectively. The parliament of a capitalist country is not a decoration.

"Because the foundation of a socialist country is developing productive forces, the socialist system possesses superiority."

France has the strongest tradition of centralization in Europe, so He Rui's evaluation met with the approval of the faculty and students. Moreover, in another timeline, France's proportion of state-owned enterprises remained high, with the power system being even 100% state-owned in the 21st century. After all, France is an 'old revolutionary base area' and could completely understand what He Rui was saying.

Similarly, the faculty and students of the ENS raised a new question based on He Rui's viewpoint, "Mr. Chairman, do you believe a mixed system of capitalism and socialism exists?"

"I do not believe such a mixed system exists. The capitalist system and the socialist system cannot be mixed; their foundational political concepts are completely different. The result of forced mixing is destined not to be good. However, policy means are another matter. Just as there can be state-run enterprises in capitalist countries, socialist countries can also execute capital operation methods in certain fields. This is a policy-level issue, not an issue of system and ideology."

"Can policies be divided into capitalist and socialist?"

"Policies are methods introduced to solve practical problems. Their purpose is to promote fairness or efficiency, and has nothing to do with capitalism or socialism. Utopian Socialism and Utopian Capitalism are views within the scope of social systems. They are not policies."

Conversing with the faculty and students of the ENS, He Rui was also evaluating this school of France's highest circle. Overall, the level of this circle was indeed quite good. However, France was a capitalist country after all, and currently a colonial imperialist country; its upper limit was just that. Historically, British and French colonial imperialism being dismantled by the joint efforts of the US and the Soviet Union was a completely normal result. Even if the faculty and students of the ENS were quite capable, their upper limit determined that France was destined to be unable to go further; becoming a powerful medium-sized power was France's destined fate.

For the next few days, British and French media engaged in a war of words across the English Channel. He Rui continued his visit in France, establishing his image as a man of the people. Even so, when He Rui saw that *Le Figaro* had given him the nickname "Honest He," he laughed heartily on the sofa for quite a while.

After laughing, He Rui felt that this nickname, "Honest He," was actually fine. Historically famous politicians were all very honest when elucidating their concepts. Qin Shi Huang established the Chinese political system that lasted for over 2,000 years, and he concealed not a single word when elucidating his concepts. Looking at historical records 2,000 years later, Qin Shi Huang did exactly what he said he would.

Telling lies is harmful. Famous Chinese and foreign politicians, including Musk and Engels, were very honest. Even the negative representative Hitler wrote down exactly what he wanted to do in his book. He sold the book desperately. Being ruthless in specific strategies and being honest in political concepts are not in conflict.

Since He Rui took politics as his profession, "Honest He" could be considered a very good evaluation. Moreover, for ordinary people, concepts and policies are too distant. Therefore, being honest became an image of someone who could take a loss and didn't fuss. He Rui felt that if Europe had such an image of him, that was truly a good thing.

Of course, He Rui knew very well that the purpose of the French media's propaganda was not that they believed He Rui was such a person. Sculpting He Rui into "Honest He" was to create an atmosphere for the Sino-French cooperation policies that France would pursue later. The French would feel that since He Rui was an honest man, France wouldn't suffer by engaging in more cooperation with the China led by He Rui.

Just as He Rui was thinking about this, the door to the meeting room opened, and Commerce Minister Li Chenggang walked in. Sitting down in front of He Rui, Li Chenggang sighed, "Chairman, the Germans are really quite pragmatic."

He Rui didn't answer, simply shifting to a more comfortable sitting position, waiting for Li Chenggang to continue.