On the streets of Amsterdam in 1930, one couldn't smell the stench of burning marijuana yet, but many windows with red interior decorations could be seen. As the vehicle carrying Zhao Tianlin drove through the streets, Lecturer Jansen inside the car was accustomed to such an industry. Zhao Tianlin looked calm, but thinking of the progress China had made in the women's liberation movement in recent years, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion. In China, brothels had been eliminated, and legal provisions imposed extremely severe punishments, up to the death penalty, for forcing women into prostitution or organizing the sale of bodies.

When the car stopped at the entrance of the University of Amsterdam, Lecturer Jansen thanked Zhao Tianlin, "Thank you for driving me to the school."

Anxious to get to the embassy, Zhao Tianlin smiled and said, "You're welcome. Thank you, Mr. Jansen, for your guidance over the past few days, allowing me to see the most beautiful side of the Netherlands."

Seeing that Jansen wanted to chatter more, the driver quickly interjected, "Mr. Zhao, let's hurry up. The appointment time with the embassy is approaching."

Soon, the car headed straight for the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands. Zhao Tianlin had no plans to visit the University of Amsterdam. Moreover, although the surname Jansen was a common Dutch surname, just like Zhao in China, and many residents in Amsterdam were named Jansen, Zhao Tianlin felt no need to ask these 'Jansens' for information.

Sure enough, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands Lu Zhengxiang looked relieved immediately after hearing about the repatriation matter Zhao Tianlin recounted.

"Brother Zhao, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands has exceeded 15%, and it's even higher in Belgium to the south, reaching 20%. Recently, the unemployment rate in France has been below 5%, and some French newspapers report that France has achieved full employment. So many people from countries surrounding France go there to find jobs. The Dutch people you mentioned should be illegal workers expelled by France. Compared to the illegal workers expelled from Belgium and Spain, these expelled Dutch people are hardly worth mentioning."

Zhao Tianlin hadn't read the newspapers these past few days, so he smiled and asked, "How do Dutch newspapers report this?"

"The Dutch newspaper reports might surprise Brother Zhao very much." Lu Zhengxiang couldn't help keeping Zhao Tianlin in suspense.

"Hehe, how surprising can it be?" Zhao Tianlin felt the matter must be interesting.

"Initially, Dutch newspapers discussed that France was just lucky to be chosen by Chairman He as a partner. Once it loses cooperation with China, arrogant France will immediately reveal its weak economic true form. Soon, some reports appeared claiming that the French economy will be very good and will remain number one in Europe for a long time. The bad economy in the Netherlands isn't because the Netherlands lacks the opportunity to cooperate with China, but because the stingy trait in the Dutch national character prevents the Netherlands from gaining favor with world investors. Therefore, the Netherlands needs to reflect on its national character, thereby..."

"Hahaha!" Zhao Tianlin couldn't help laughing out loud. But after laughing for a moment, Zhao Tianlin's expression turned a bit bitter. Before meeting He Rui, although Zhao Tianlin didn't agree with the so-called national character, he wasn't that confident about the Chinese national character either. Only after meeting He Rui did Zhao Tianlin completely get rid of his confusion in this regard and become extremely confident in doing anything. Seeing European countries attacking each other using national character now made him feel uncomfortable. Just 10 years ago, the Chinese national character was also an object of ridicule in Europe.

Lu Zhengxiang sighed with emotion. "Brother Zhao, I have seen so much in Europe these years and conducted many investigations. Only then did I understand that we really overestimated European culture back then. Looking back at my past actions, I am truly ashamed."

As an educator, Zhao Tianlin always disliked binary thinking, so he advised, "It's normal. Even now, Europe indeed has fields leading China."

Lu Zhengxiang sighed but brought up another matter. "The French side heard that the ship taking Brother Zhao to the US will take some days to arrive. The École Normale Supérieure in Paris commissioned the French Ambassador to the Netherlands to invite Brother Zhao to visit the ENS."

If it were a country other than France inviting Zhao Tianlin, he wouldn't be very interested. But he had to accept the French invitation. At this stage, the friendship between China and France must not waver. Even if Europe had a huge misunderstanding about Zhao Tianlin's position in the Chinese central government, Zhao Tianlin had to give Europe a stance according to European thinking. Zhao Tianlin answered decisively, "Please tell the French Ambassador to the Netherlands that I am willing to accept the invitation from the École Normale Supérieure."

Learning that Zhao Tianlin accepted the invitation, the French Ambassador to the Netherlands came to invite him personally that very day and sent Zhao Tianlin onto the train from the Netherlands to France. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted nervously, arranging how to receive Zhao Tianlin. Just as Zhao Tianlin thought, France's attention to Zhao Tianlin himself was limited, but the cooperation between China and France concerned the entire French economy. In France, whether left-wing, right-wing, Communist, or Fascist, solving French economic problems was a cross-party national consensus. Whether Zhao Tianlin visited France wasn't actually important, but since a figure with huge influence in the Chinese central government was near France, he naturally should visit France. If Zhao Tianlin didn't accept the invitation, it would be a dereliction of duty by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As soon as Zhao Tianlin got off the train, reporters swarmed him. A reporter with a London accent asked loudly, "Dr. Zhao, what do you think of the French government expelling foreign workers?"

As soon as this was said, the French government personnel present looked over with displeased eyes. Reporters from outside France showed no weakness. Although European countries had committed many evil deeds in such matters, the unemployment rate in European countries had reached over 15%, while the French economy stood out alone in Europe.

According to news newly released by the French government, the unemployment rate of French nationals had dropped to a sensational 2.83%. Workers' wages rose by 7% in the first five months of 1930, and each worker's working hours reached 54 hours. Such economic data was considered intolerable by European countries. Therefore, European reporters outside France shared a bit of hatred against a common enemy and had no intention of backing down.

If it were usual times, Zhao Tianlin wouldn't take this bait. At this moment, Zhao Tianlin understood he had to make a statement, so he said to the reporters, "The French central government ordered the expulsion of foreign workers? Is that what this reporter gentleman means?"

The British reporter stopped talking immediately. It was the councils of various French cities that enacted the latest laws to expel foreign workers. It really had nothing to do with the French government. Of course, the French government didn't object either.

Knowing this wasn't enough, Zhao Tianlin immediately followed up, "I have never heard of the French government issuing an executive order to expel foreign workers, nor has the French Parliament passed such a law."

The French government personnel looked at Zhao Tianlin with friendly emotions, especially the personnel of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reporters from major French newspapers, who gave Zhao Tianlin extremely high evaluations in their hearts. At this moment, if Zhao Tianlin's attitude were unclear, following the traditional practice of European newspapers, they would immediately write news like 'Dr. Zhao Tianlin, President of Tianjin University of China and former Vice Premier of the Chinese government, expressed criticism of the French government's act of expelling European workers.'

This had nothing to do with the truth. At a time when European capital began to flood into France for safety, as long as they could create a big news story to blow Sino-French relations and make investors in France feel through public opinion that there was a problem with Sino-French relations, these investors would lose confidence in the French economy. A decline in the French economy meant funds would flow to other countries. Moreover, if the arrogant France suffered a heavy setback, the pressure on European countries would decrease.

Although one or two news articles couldn't achieve this goal in a short time, as long as they persisted in reporting and built pressure through public opinion over a long period, it could still play a big role.

Therefore, French reporters, especially the *Le Figaro* reporter, had already thought of how to describe Zhao Tianlin: "A Chinese scholar with profound international insight."

Just as the French reporters expected, European reporters began to ask various sharp questions. "Dr. Zhao, the share of French investment in and trade with China has completely exceeded the proportion of the French population in Europe. What do you think about this?"

Zhao Tianlin smiled. "The Chinese government welcomes countries around the world to invest in China and welcomes countries to trade with China. It's not that France invests too much now, but that other countries invest too little."

Seeing this question failed to stump Zhao Tianlin, a new question was raised. "Dr. Zhao, based on the economic cooperation agreement between China and France, France possesses a huge first-mover advantage. To help the European economy, should the French government consider sharing the fruits of the French economy with European countries?"

The French government personnel present cursed in their hearts. When France actually took out 20 billion francs in interest-free loans, European countries didn't give a cent. Now that the first repayment period for this 20 billion interest-free loan hadn't even arrived, European countries were considering asking France to share economic fruits with them. On what grounds?

French reporters expected Zhao Tianlin to give a good answer. Friendship between countries never falls from the sky like a pie, and historically France had no traditional friendly relationship with China. In the past few decades, famous events were mostly wars. speaking of emotions between the nationals of the two countries, during the Unification War launched by He Rui at the end of 1923, officials and employees of various foreign concessions were captured. After public trials, most of those who committed crimes in China were executed. The reaction of the Chinese people was nationwide jubilation and applause. A large part of those executed were French.

The reason for the current Sino-French friendship was not that France universally thought China did a good job killing French people, but based on realistic interests. To build realistic interests, relying solely on upper-level understanding and interaction was completely insufficient; friendship between the peoples of the two countries had to be completed now. To build such a friendly relationship in a short time required a large amount of non-governmental interaction. At the same time, the upper levels of both sides must deeply recognize this point and maintain it very carefully.

Sure enough, Zhao Tianlin replied, "The foundation of Sino-French friendship is mutual respect, and non-interference in internal affairs is undoubtedly part of mutual respect between countries. The Chinese government will never interfere in the internal affairs of the French government."

Both French government personnel and reporters appreciated Zhao Tianlin's attitude. Although they knew foreign reporters would definitely cause trouble, only by passing such a test and holding grand press conferences could they show the world that Sino-French friendship was unbreakable. And only through such press conferences could foreign investors' confidence in France be strengthened. So even if it was uncomfortable, this press conference had to be held. If Zhao Tianlin's level was insufficient, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of China and France and the media of both countries would have to try every means to clean up Zhao Tianlin's gaffe.

Just then, another reporter asked loudly, "Dr. Zhao, I am a reporter for *The Washington Post*. French newspapers claim you were invited by the École Normale Supérieure to give a speech there. I wonder what the topic of your speech is?"

Zhao Tianlin smiled. He turned to his secretary, who quickly took out a book. Zhao Tianlin took it and held it high. "This is the latest work of our Chairman, Mr. He Rui, *Guideposts in the Economic Maze*. Previously, Chairman He gave a speech at the École Normale Supérieure, discussing his previous economic article, 'The Myth of State Management—Utopian Socialism and Utopian Capitalism.' That article is included in this book."

As soon as this was said, the reporters got excited. Since 1915, He Rui had been interviewed by the media many times every year. Besides his geopolitical books from his time in Japan, He Rui wrote many articles every year, publishing two books every three years on average. The books covered politics, thought, economics, and military affairs. Before the Sino-British War, only people in those professional fields bought and read these books. Since the Sino-British War practically ended in 1926, ordinary people in European countries also became interested in He Rui's books.

Regarding the current situation, reporters asked one after another, "Dr. Zhao, has this book been printed in China? When will the foreign language versions be available?"

" The translation of the French version of this book has been completed and is undergoing final proofreading. The French version will be available soon. As for the specific time, please ask the relevant French bookstores."

Reporters took notes one after another. The French side took the opportunity to end the press conference. The principal of the École Normale Supérieure personally led Zhao Tianlin onto a luxurious carriage. As the coachman shook the reins, two beautiful horses stepped forward together, heading for the hotel where Zhao Tianlin was staying.

Chinese and French flags were inserted outside the carriage doors. Some French people, seeing the Chinese flag they saw every day now, waved to the carriage. French reporters hurriedly took photos representing the friendship of the French people towards China, which was undoubtedly very useful for establishing friendly relations between the two countries.

Zhao Tianlin rolled down the window and waved back to the French people waving outside. The French people hadn't expected the Chinese big shot riding in the French dignitary's luxury carriage to be so amiable. Excited, some women among the French crowd couldn't help blowing kisses to Zhao Tianlin. Zhao Tianlin returned the gesture with blown kisses, eliciting cheers from the people who saw this.

When the carriage finally merged into the traffic, the principal of the École Normale Supérieure smiled and said, "President Zhao, many French universities expect you to come to France to lecture. Do you have any arrangements in this regard this year?"

"My schedule for this year is already full. However, upon returning to China, I will immediately invite French scholars to lecture in China. China welcomes French scholars very much. I believe French scholars will receive a warm welcome from the Chinese people when they come to China."

Hearing Zhao Tianlin speak with such political height, the principal of the École Normale Supérieure smiled. "My hometown is Marseille. If Dr. Zhao is willing to go to Marseille, you will definitely be welcomed by the people of Marseille."

Zhao Tianlin didn't really like lively scenes, but at this moment he had to face them, so he answered decisively, "Will Mr. Principal go together?"

"Of course! I haven't been back to my hometown for a long time." The principal of the École Normale Supérieure agreed immediately.