"Professor Karl, I seem to have heard that the Nazi Party went to the United States to study their segregation policies."

Karl Haushofer hadn't expected Li Shiguang to ask such a question, causing the scholar's eyes to widen in surprise. He turned to look at Rudolf Hess beside him. Seeing the surprised look on Hess's face, Professor Karl made his judgment. What Li Shiguang said was very likely true.

Meanwhile, Li Shiguang also observed the change in Hess's expression. Although there were differences between the facial expressions of foreigners and Chinese people, it hadn't reached the point of mutual incomprehensibility. In Li Shiguang's view, Rudolf Hess was an honest man, not a sinister or cunning one.

Since Hess's expression had already explained too much, Li Shiguang said to Hess, "Mr. Hess, I have read *Mein Kampf*. In that masterpiece typed by your hand, Mr. Hitler explicitly stated that in dealing with inferior races, the United States is a model worth learning from. The sentence went something like this: it has achieved great success in creating a healthy racist society."

Hess was stunned, feeling a mix of surprise and joy. Throughout Europe, *Mein Kampf* had not been embraced by the upper class; in a sense, the powerful European elite hadn't read the book at all. Conversely, He Rui's works were highly sought after by the European upper class. So, the fact that the Chinese Foreign Minister had carefully read *Mein Kampf* and was very familiar with its content was completely unexpected to Hess. A sense of pride welled up in Hess's heart.

Li Shiguang's expression was similar to those big shots Hess had met. Hess instinctively felt that Li Shiguang, like those hypocritical German elites, did not agree with the Nazi Party's basic philosophy. Hess had come with Professor Karl this time because Hitler hoped to reach cooperation with China. Even if a single meeting wasn't enough to make China agree to cooperate with Germany, Hess hoped to advance the foundation for bilateral cooperation. However, Li Shiguang's reaction made Hess intuitively feel that Chinese Foreign Minister Li Shiguang would likely not be willing to cooperate with Germany.

Just as the situation looked like the talks might collapse, Professor Karl forcibly interjected, "Minister Li, do you believe that in the coming years, all nations of the world will focus all their attention on the economy?"

Li Shiguang didn't immediately tear into Hess either. He turned to Professor Karl. "Mr. Professor, in my view, Germany's current situation is very favorable. The greatest economic pressure has disappeared. Although the Weimar Government's policies caused immense suffering to the German people, they cleared out many of Germany's internal problems. Germany is now in a stage of travelling light. As long as the new German government can adopt policies suitable for economic development, I believe the German economy will develop rapidly."

Professor Karl held a similar judgment. Viewing Germany from a geopolitical perspective, at this stage, the only strong country surrounding Germany was France. Although France posed a huge threat to Germany, neither Britain nor the United States wanted to see Europe dominated by France, so France's efforts to dismember Germany had failed.

To use a Chinese saying, although the German Weimar Government had done many wicked things that would leave them without descendants, the Weimar Government wasn't entirely devoid of merit. In the era of the German Second Empire, there were still many states within a state in Germany, such as the Kingdom of Bavaria. In an era where the Kingdom of Bavaria could establish its own consulates in various countries, Germany's unification could hardly be called complete. Now, the various kingdoms within Germany were finished, and the various regions of Germany existed in the form of "Länder" (states); Germany had become a truly unified country.

Professor Karl liked the Chinese language very much. He believed that Germany at this moment was in a stage where "everything is ready, all that is lacking is the east wind." The Nazi Party led by Hitler represented the east wind of the German national movement. When this east wind blew across all of Germany, it would surely set a new course for Germany.

"Minister Li, I greatly admire Mr. He Rui's strategic ability. The East Asian Alliance and the surrounding mutual security trust system he constructed have enabled China to avoid the possibility of war with neighboring countries, allowing China to fully develop its economy. I believe that China now has the choice of freedom of action; China can choose its own partners in the direction that maximizes China's interests."

After speaking, Professor Karl stared at Li Shiguang, expecting to hear Li Shiguang's views.

Li Shiguang nodded. "If Germany can reach mutual security trust with France, China will certainly launch comprehensive economic cooperation with Germany."

Hearing this, Rudolf Hess felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his heart immediately became agitated. The Nazi Party was a movement of the German nation. Unless France was completely defeated and withdrew entirely from competition with the German nation, mutual security trust between France and Germany was impossible.

Seeing Li Shiguang's calm expression, Hess felt even more angry. He couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, why did the Chinese government refuse to accept the Boxer Protocol?"

Professor Karl wanted to stop Hess's outburst, but he didn't say anything. Rudolf Hess was a German patriot, but not a true scholar, so many deep geopolitical issues couldn't be discussed with him. Not because Hess wasn't smart enough, but because Hess absolutely could not accept many perspectives.

Hess's anger made Li Shiguang feel a sense of nostalgia, because many comrades in the Civilization Party had raised similar views. In the early days, even up to 1926, many Civilization Party comrades maintained intense anger towards foreign countries. This anger triggered fierce xenophobic sentiments. Even worse, this emotion led many comrades to firmly believe that foreign governments were evil.

He Rui had spent a vast amount of time educating the comrades, liberating them from the prejudices triggered by such intense emotions. Foreign governments themselves were merely tools executing the will of the rulers; what was evil were the people formulating the policies, not the tool that was the government.

Moreover, foreign policy makers were also the elites of their respective nations. They might be evil, but they were by no means stupid. Elites of all countries could understand that China had undergone tremendous changes and would formulate new policies based on China's capabilities.

Since the Chinese Foreign Ministry's records noted that Hess was responsible for the Nazi Party's strategy and ideological construction, Li Shiguang replied, "The terms in the Boxer Protocol threatened China's national security. For China to develop, the Boxer Protocol had to be destroyed. Germany, at this stage, has basically broken free from its security crisis. Through the events of this economic crisis, Europe has realized that the Treaty of Versailles caused huge damage to Germany's national and economic security, and this damage collaterally harmed the European economy. Germany's shackles have been unlocked. China, on the other hand, only ended the situation of being blockaded and rejected by the world after the conclusion of the Sino-British War. The Germany of today has already obtained the peaceful situation that the China of 1926 had to win through war."

Listening to Li Shiguang's words, Rudolf Hess was so angry he didn't know how to organize powerful language to counterattack.

Li Shiguang also wanted to see the reaction of Hess, who was responsible for strategy within the Nazi Party, towards strategy. Without waiting for Hess to organize his words, he asked, "Mr. Hess, Germany at this stage wants to rebuild its military and recover the Rhineland region. Personally speaking, I don't consider these demands unreasonable."

Hess was just preparing to denounce Anglo-French oppression of Germany starting from the French occupation of the Rhineland. Li Shiguang's words left Hess with nowhere to continue, so for a moment he could only keep listening to Li Shiguang.

"So, what are Germany's subsequent demands? Is it to completely restore the territory of the Second Empire, or to establish a larger state for the German people? In *Mein Kampf*, the future direction Mr. Hitler proposed was to establish a state for the Germanic people. Regarding these points, Mr. Hess, what explanation would you like to offer me?"

Hess was originally full of pent-up anger, determined to speak his mind. After hearing Li Shiguang's serious inquiry, he opened his mouth wanting to say something, but found he couldn't get it out. But Hess was Hess after all; he switched from defense to offense, asking back, "Does the Chinese government consider the demands imposed on Germany by the Allied Powers to be reasonable?"

Li Shiguang asked calmly, "Which Germany is Mr. Hess referring to? The German Second Empire, or the current Weimar Republic? Or perhaps a brand new Germany?"

Hearing this, Professor Karl finally spoke up to interrupt the conversation between Hess and Li Shiguang. Ignoring Hess's lack of understanding, Professor Karl said, "Minister Li, shall we go outside for a smoke?"

Li Shiguang casually picked up a pack of cigarettes and walked towards the balcony beside the living room. Lausanne was the capital of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. In the mountainous country of Switzerland, Lausanne was located on the southern slopes of the Bernese Oberland. Standing on the hotel balcony, one could overlook the distant blue Lake Geneva. Facing such scenery, Professor Karl lit a cigarette filled with emotion, momentarily unsure of what to say.

Hess's feelings were the feelings of the majority of Germans in the German movement. This feeling, born of intuition, naturally had a fierce conflict with Li Shiguang's scholarly attitude. For Hess, Germany was a feeling like a mother; it was Hess's belonging. To a child, a mother is that special person, incomparable, and the thought of comparison never even arises.

True scholars who had undergone cognitive training would not view the problem this way. Just like the question Li Shiguang had just posed to Hess: exactly which Germany had been damaged by the Treaty of Versailles?

If Li Shiguang were asking Hitler, Karl believed Hitler would immediately answer: "It is the German people who have been damaged! The great German people want to build a brand new German state that is not damaged!"

Although the Nazi Party's main means of gaining popular support was not through pure theoretical propaganda, but by forming various social organizations to provide free food and free housing services to the wailing German commoners under the economic crisis, and providing some employment as much as possible. However, Hitler's firm will to build a new Germany had indeed gained the support of the German petty bourgeoisie.

Although Hess had once been Professor Karl's student and assistant, Professor Karl had to admit that Hess had no achievements in academics, yet possessed the blind impulsiveness of the petty bourgeoisie. So when Hess met Hitler, a man with strong will and subjective initiative, a weak petty-bourgeois element like Hess quickly became Hitler's staunch follower.

Professor Karl did not enjoy seeing Hess's current situation, but Professor Karl was also powerless. Becoming a scholar-bureaucrat like Li Shiguang was no easy task.

Seeing that the cigarette was about to finish, Professor Karl ended his internal reflection and emotion, asking, "Minister Li, my intuition tells me that China does not wish to cooperate with Germany."

Facing Professor Karl's view, which was close to the correct answer, Li Shiguang replied, "China never opposes cooperation with Germany."

Professor Karl sighed, "A movement is rising in Germany right now, and no German can stay out of it."

Li Shiguang could understand Professor Karl's emotion, because within China, similar tides of thought were also surging. As the He Rui government rapidly pushed China into the industrial nation phase, these tides of thought would only become more intense in the future. Leaders elected by the ballot system had absolutely no ability to harness these tides; only a strong leader like He Rui could guide the future direction of these tides.

"Professor Karl, do you believe this movement is a continuation of Germany in 1914?" Li Shiguang asked.