"Now that the German nationalist movement has shaken off the shackles of the Second Empire and embodies both centralization and the will of all German people, it will inevitably build a brand new Germany." Professor Karl finished speaking, though he felt a slight twinge of guilt. After all, to some extent, Germany was now walking the path that the Chinese government had already trodden.

Li Shiguang shook his head. "I believe that if the so-called 'New Germany' executes the geopolitical logic of the 'Old Germany,' then there is nothing new about it. It is merely retracing a dead-end road using new technology to see if it can be traversed this time."

Professor Karl wanted to ask if this was He Rui's view, but he held his tongue. Based on his understanding of the Chinese government, what Li Shiguang said basically represented the views of the upper echelons of the Chinese government. If He Rui did not agree, such a view could not be established.

Gazing at the beautiful Lake Geneva, the mountain lake was a patch of azure blue, like a mirror. Yet Professor Karl felt his thoughts were a bit chaotic. After composing himself for a moment, he asked, "Minister Li, what do you consider to be Germany's 'old logic'?"

"If the contradiction between Germany and France cannot be resolved, Germany is walking the old path. I am very amazed by Chairman He's promotion of the Asian Coal and Steel Alliance; this alliance has established security mutual trust among the participating countries."

Karl was stunned. He couldn't help but frown. "Do you think the French-German contradiction can be resolved?"

Li Shiguang originally did not believe that the deep-seated hatred accumulated between the two countries over centuries could be resolved. However, when Li Shiguang asked He Rui about this issue, He Rui proposed the idea of forming a European Coal and Steel Community. Although Li Shiguang still didn't believe that a Coal and Steel Community alone could solve the French-German contradiction, he felt that this proposal could indeed alleviate the security concerns between the two nations.

Hearing Professor Karl ask this, Li Shiguang wanted to test Professor Karl's analytical ability, so he tried his best to put himself in He Rui's perspective and answered: "Can Germany and France really conquer each other? Germany is an industrial nation; other countries can defeat Germany, but they cannot turn Germany into a colony like those in Africa. So, how should Germany express its sincerity regarding security to France? The Coal and Steel Community is a very good method. Moreover, the Coal and Steel Community doesn't have to include only France; the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy can also join. In this way, the major countries of Western Europe not only gain markets and important industrial resources but also gain security mutual trust. With such security mutual trust, Germany can naturally request France to withdraw from the Rhineland."

"No!" Professor Karl waved his hands repeatedly, a rare display, and asked in an agitated tone, "Do you believe France would agree to such a request? And even if France were willing, do you think Britain would be happy to see it? Many things can be done in East Asia, but they cannot be done in Europe. As a Chinese person, you must have heard the story of 'marking the boat to find the sword'?"

"Every country hopes for peace. If, during the Wars of German Unification, Prime Minister Bismarck sought peace after every war... If Germany proposed such a suggestion, what would be the reason for France's initial refusal to believe it? Is it because France wants to expand across all of Europe? I believe the Versailles System has already satisfied the maximization of France's international interests; France no longer has ambitions for territorial expansion in Europe. Then, is the reason for France's refusal the fear that Germany's influence in Europe will expand? Doesn't the Coal and Steel Community exactly satisfy France's need to expand its influence?"

"...The German people may not necessarily accept it," Professor Karl finally gave an explanation.

Hearing this explanation, Li Shiguang suddenly felt his thoughts clarify. Just eight years ago, Japan still wanted to continue invading China, but in the face of reality, Japan obediently chose to maximize its interests. With a sense of intellectual superiority, Li Shiguang advised, "Anyone with a bit of logical thinking ability can figure out that a Coal and Steel Community is beneficial to peace. If this proposal is made by Germany, it means that Germany is striving to promote true peace in Europe. Even if France rejects it, Germany will have shown the world that the German nationalist movement is moving towards a strategic direction focused on peace. If Germany and France cannot reconcile, once Germany recovers its strength, it will still walk the path of 1914."

"...Is this Mr. He Rui's judgment on the future of the world?" Professor Karl asked.

"That is why you Europeans cannot understand these things," Li Shiguang sighed. He felt that European civilization was truly lacking; they simply couldn't understand traditional Chinese wisdom. In Li Shiguang's view, Germany could gain benefits just by showing a peaceful attitude. The global economic crisis had developed to a stage where the Versailles System was already teetering. Now, the ones who needed peace the most were precisely Britain and France; only in this way could they maintain the maximization of their interests. As long as this key point was grasped, Germany would have immense strategic space to maneuver.

The Nazi ambition to conquer Europe was already lagging behind reality. Britain and France were still powerful at this stage, but their advantage was diminishing. Even if Germany defeated Britain and France, Europe could not maintain its status as the center of the world. If looking at the problem from a global perspective, Germany could accumulate strength and gain huge benefits in the future great changes of the world.

However, Li Shiguang did not know that the European Coal and Steel Community was originally an idea spearheaded by France and Germany (in the future timeline). If he knew, he probably wouldn't be so confident.

Professor Karl, meanwhile, felt extremely exhausted. Li Shiguang's views drained the last of Karl's mental energy and patience. He said, "Minister Li, if you have the opportunity, please convey my regards to Mr. He Rui. The strategic vision he displays truly commands my utmost admiration. Furthermore, what France can give China, Germany can also give. And Germany's sincerity in cooperating with China is more genuine than France's."

Li Shiguang simply replied, "I will certainly convey them."

***

After seeing off Karl and Rudolf Hess, Li Shiguang sat back on the sofa and continued to organize his thoughts. This Lausanne Conference seemed extremely chaotic, with every country having its own propositions. But thanks to the "wicked" but diligent management of the Weimar government, which had successfully reduced the wealth of all ordinary German people to nothing, every country knew that not a single drop of oil could be squeezed out of Germany anymore. Therefore, no country had any interest in continuing to squeeze Germany. China's position was to agree to cancel Germany's debts.

Just as Li Shiguang expected, at the Lausanne Conference, the German representatives did not make long speeches. Instead, they used simple and clear figures: Germany's domestic unemployment rate had reached 37%, hundreds of banks had gone bankrupt, and they couldn't take out a single penny. Therefore, Germany came here only to clearly inform the countries that Germany would no longer repay any debts.

The French representative spoke first, "If that is the case, France can only forcibly compel Germany to fulfill its debt obligations!"

Hearing this, the British representative immediately stood up to oppose, "No agreement supports France's statement just now."

Which participating country didn't know France's thoughts? At this moment, they were quite dissatisfied with the attitude of the French representative. The British side immediately issued a motion, "I suggest that the participating countries vote to decide whether to support debt collection by force."

The US representative did not want to create unnecessary trouble and said, "I believe the countries represented by you gentlemen are all civilized nations, and no one will support violent debt collection. The current problem lies in whether Germany has the ability to repay the debt!"

As soon as this was said, the representatives of various countries heard the US attitude. Whether the current Germany had the ability to repay the debt depended on the concept of repayment. If they really took all of Germany's factories, carved up Germany's mines, and sold all the Germans as slaves, they could probably pay off the debt.

But all countries knew that things definitely couldn't be done this way.

If looked at from the perspective of German national tax revenue, Germany indeed could not pay now. Not only now, but they also wouldn't be able to pay the reparations in the future.

The US representative did not speak useless words. Seeing that the representatives of various countries had no intention of taking up the French proposal, the US representative continued, "The US government believes that Germany's war debts and war reparations can be waived."

The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that the money owed by Germany was divided into two parts. One part was war debts, and the other part was war reparations. War debts were the national debts that Germany had to assume for the money other countries had to borrow to invest in the war. War reparations were compensation for personnel and property losses caused by Germany when it invaded other countries.

Because the war was mainly fought in France, Belgium, and Tsarist Russia—and Tsarist Russia had collapsed while the Soviet Union was excluded from the Euro-American system—war reparations were mainly paid to France and Belgium. This was also the reason why France and Belgium later sent troops to the German Ruhr area to force the Weimar government to repay the debt.

Compared to countries like France and Belgium, where war reparations exceeded war debts, the homelands of Britain and the United States were not invaded by Germany, so both countries had more war debts than war reparations. Now that the United States proposed to waive both aspects of compensation, the countries could already determine that the United States no longer wanted to persecute Germany regarding reparations.

The representatives of other countries did not chime in for the time being, but saw the Chinese representative Li Shiguang request to speak. Li Shiguang's statement was simple: China waived its rights to these two aspects of debt. After Li Shiguang finished speaking, the Japanese representative also spoke, making the same statement.

Three countries from outside the European region expressed their attitudes successively, and their attitudes were unexpectedly consistent. The remaining ones who had not expressed their attitudes were all countries within the European region. These countries were very aware of Germany's current miserable state. Except for France, which still held an unrelenting attitude, other countries really had no interest in continuing to press for debt. Moreover, since the countries outside the region had already expressed a tolerant attitude, the representatives of European countries also felt there was no reason to be excessive.

After the first day of the meeting, the French Foreign Minister came directly to the door and frankly expressed his dissatisfaction to Li Shiguang. Li Shiguang listened to a long speech from the French Foreign Minister without saying a word, and then replied, "France and Germany are neighbors who cannot move away. Does France really intend to maintain hostility with Germany for a thousand years?"

"We believe it is necessary for Germany to pay for the damage done to France starting from 1870!" The French Foreign Minister's tone was firm.

Li Shiguang did not answer, just gave a light chuckle.

Seeing Li Shiguang like this, the French Foreign Minister wanted to continue saying something, but suddenly remembered that France had once burned the Old Summer Palace. For a moment, he felt that he shouldn't say this to China. So he changed the subject, "We believe it is necessary for Germany to compensate the member countries of the Entente for their losses."

Li Shiguang did not want to continue entangling on these issues, so he replied decisively, "Our Chinese culture emphasizes that 'evil must be completely uprooted.' But we in China also have an old saying: 'Leave a thread of leeway in life, so we can meet on good terms in the future.' Therefore, the Chinese government believes it is necessary to waive those war reparations."

The French Foreign Minister could actually understand the Chinese side's attitude. China was currently expanding its influence over countries around the world, and at this stage, it was naturally best to maintain a peaceful and friendly attitude. But France now regarded China as a quasi-ally of France, so it was very dissatisfied with China's current stance. In France's view, this was clearly not what a quasi-ally should look like. He tried to persuade Li Shiguang again, but failed to make Li Shiguang waver in the slightest. Helpless, the French Foreign Minister could only leave resentfully.

***

Meanwhile in Berlin, the core meeting of the Nazi Party was underway. Hitler was in high spirits, holding a meeting with Goering, Goebbels, and other senior Nazi Party personnel. Although Hitler performed with incomparable passion during public speeches, he did not speak particularly much within the Nazi Party.

Goebbels was recounting, "My Führer, we must resolutely not accept the Young Plan. Every party branch is telling the people that if the Führer becomes Chancellor, we will never pay another Mark to the Entente Powers!"

Hitler just nodded. Given Germany's current situation, the people truly could not bring out even a single Mark. So what emerged in Hitler's mind were the national leaders of the current Weimar government. These people had left the German people impoverished and destitute over the past decade or so. These people were finally doing something they should have done before the government was completely overthrown, but it was too late. The people were completely disappointed in them and would never trust this batch of politicians again. Even if the dying struggles of those in the Weimar government could waive Germany's debts, it could not stop Hitler from taking over the government.

The most important thing for Hitler right now was that German President Hindenburg was still strongly opposed to Hitler serving as Chancellor. Even the Nazi Party had no way to bring down this old man. What Hitler had to do now was to get rid of all the other people Hindenburg could appoint as Chancellor.

While he was thinking, he heard Goebbels ask, "My Führer, I think the urgent task is to first solve your German citizenship problem."

Hitler was stunned, and the others at the meeting were also stunned. Hitler joined the German Army in 1915 to serve, and after the war, he continued to be responsible for spying on various private political parties in the intelligence agency under the Army. During one operation, he met the early Nazi Party and subsequently joined it.

But Hitler's nationality was Austrian. Although Hitler had announced that he renounced his Austrian citizenship, he was currently just a stateless person staying in Germany. According to German law, the German Chancellor must be a person with German citizenship. A person who had been in Germany for 17 years and had struggled for Germany for 17 years was actually not a German and did not possess German citizenship. This made the straightforward Goering unable to help laughing out loud.

However, Goering was really not mocking Hitler. Thinking that the comrade-in-arms who had fought heroically for Germany together with him in the European War was actually not a German, Goering, this German air hero, felt it was absurd. Even though he clearly knew Hitler was Austrian, Goering still felt that something must have been mistaken somewhere.

Hitler's first thought was, "Will anyone within the Nazi Party use this matter to attack me?" The Nazi Party was a grassroots party; in fact, no one cared whether the Nazi Party's Führer, Hitler, was Austrian or German. Moreover, in the eyes of Germans, Austria was originally a member of the German Confederation. It was kicked out of the German Confederation because of its defeat during the Wars of German Unification. Ordinary Germans felt there was absolutely no problem with an Austrian from the German-Austrian border area calling himself a German. But now that the Nazi Party was about to take power, this matter became a very troublesome issue. If the Führer of the Nazi Party could not become the German Chancellor, then no matter who in the Nazi Party became Chancellor, it would directly trigger an internal split in the Nazi Party.

The Nazi Party had already split several times internally, and each time it was finally united by Hitler's iron fist. On the eve of electoral victory, no problems could be allowed to occur no matter what.

With a confident smile, Hitler said to Goebbels, "Then you will be responsible for resolving this matter."

Goering smiled and didn't make a sound. He couldn't be bothered to get involved in this. Although Goebbels felt some unease in his heart, he tried hard to show a confident and relaxed expression. "My Führer, this is a piece of cake."

Himmler saw that both Hitler and Goebbels looked relaxed and neither showed any unhappiness, so he just smiled. He also felt that this matter was nothing. The Nazi Party had now drawn elite and reliable personnel to form the SS (Schutzstaffel). With the strength of the SS, they could completely and easily solve a small problem like citizenship. It was just that Hitler did not hand this matter to Himmler, but to Goebbels, which made Himmler feel that Hitler obviously trusted Goebbels a bit more.

Hitler and Goebbels' gazes swept over the other core members of the Nazi Party as if unintentionally. Seeing that most members, including the leader of the Stormtroopers (SA), Röhm, had an expression of not taking it seriously, the leaders within the Nazi Party who had always advocated the path of parliamentary struggle seemed to be thinking about something in their expressions. Both men committed these names to memory. But from beginning to end, both looked very relaxed.

In fact, this matter itself was not difficult. The Nazi Party had won 37.3% of the votes, and there were Nazi Party supporters everywhere. Furthermore, naturalization in Germany did not require the consent of the central government; the head of the immigration bureau of any state could accept Hitler's naturalization request. This matter proceeded very quickly. By July 19, 1932, with the help of the Minister of the Interior of the State of Brunswick, Hitler officially obtained German citizenship in the State of Brunswick in 1932.

As if a naturalization gift for Hitler, on July 20, the Lausanne Conference ended. The Lausanne Agreement stipulated: Germany could be exempted from war reparation obligations but must hand over a lump sum of 3 billion Marks as compensation for the exemption of reparation obligations. The "Lausanne Agreement" regarding the issue of German reparations finally relieved Germany of the heavy burden of war reparations.

He Rui learned the result immediately. He wanted to write something himself, but suddenly stopped and asked his secretary to call Li Runshi.