Gregor Strasser, a veteran of the Nazi Party, was also the only leader within the party capable of contending with Hitler. This slightly chubby man was exactly forty years old this year. Compared to the rather gaunt and neurotic Hitler, he looked more like a statesman.

The two heavyweights of the Nazi Party sat face to face in the Berlin party headquarters. Strasser, exhausting his last bit of patience, said to Hitler, "Führer, I believe the most important thing in the National Socialist movement is socialism. However, your current actions make it hard to believe that you truly support the socialist movement."

In contrast to Strasser's calmness, Hitler's eyes were bright, and his brows were slightly furrowed—an expression he only wore when he was very serious. "Strasser, do you think the most important thing right now is to seize political power, or to make enemies of the other half of Germany?"

Strasser did not answer immediately. As the Nazi Party became the largest party in Germany, Strasser had become someone the Weimar government wanted to court. Unwilling to become a lackey of the dignitaries, Strasser had refused. However, Strasser also believed that the Nazi Party coming to power would be of immense benefit to the National Socialist movement.

After a brief internal wavering, Strasser finally replied, "Führer, initially, the goal of the Nazi Party was to establish a proletarian party. If you compromise with those people, you will betray the direction of socialism later on."

Hitler felt a twinge of contempt for Strasser. Yes, Strasser was indeed someone who had not forgotten his original aspirations, and there were many such people in the Nazi Party. Strasser, Goebbels, SA Chief of Staff Röhm, and Rudolf Hess. Although these fellows all acknowledged Hitler's talent, they also chose to cooperate with the German Communist Party and the German Left on the proposal to "confiscate the land of large German landlords and distribute it to landless peasants." If Hitler hadn't ordered these people not to participate in this matter, the proposal to confiscate the land of the German Junkers would have passed. Hitler knew very well that if the Nazi Party did that, it would forge an unresolvable feud with the Junkers.

If he wanted Strasser to obey temporarily, Hitler could perfectly well make some false promises first, such as saying that once the Nazi Party took power, Hitler would immediately tear up the agreements he was currently struggling to reach with the German upper class. But Hitler was unwilling to do so. His experiences over the years had made Hitler very clear that lying about such strategic issues would cause harm far exceeding the petty profits of the moment.

Composing himself, Hitler spoke in the mildest tone he could muster at this time. "Strasser, in this world, there is vast *Lebensraum*. Do not always think about that little bit of land in front of you. When Germany obtains sufficient living space, we can let every German citizen possess land comparable to that of a large landlord. If at that time there are still some large landlords with too much land, then I will make them yield the excess land while allowing them to retain enough.

"We are far from that time now, Strasser, my comrade. What Germany needs now is to break free from the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles as soon as possible, not to conduct a struggle domestically that only benefits foreigners."

Although Hitler had used his gentlest tone, his expression was severe and his tone stern, sounding more like a threat. Strasser, who had long been accustomed to this reaction from Hitler, shook his head. "Führer, they will only deceive you. When you satisfy one of their demands, they will make the next demand. And these people will never truly give up their privileges."

Hitler naturally knew that the upper class was unreliable, but he also knew that the surging people's movement in Germany right now had indeed frightened those capitalists and Junker lords. Among the German Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Nazi Party, as long as Hitler stood up and guaranteed to those people that he would eliminate the Communist Party, strike at the Social Democratic Party, and ban trade union activities, the desperate capitalists and Junker lords would choose to support Hitler.

Such words could absolutely not be said to Strasser, nor could Hitler say them to most of the old Nazi Party members. Now Hitler had begun to rely on Himmler to establish the SS, which answered only to Hitler, while rallying those willing to accept the capitalists and Junkers around him. The only thing Hitler had to do now was to suppress Strasser.

Strasser did not know Hitler's plan, and Hitler could not reveal any content of his plan. Under such circumstances, the communication between the two was extremely difficult and painful. Finally, Strasser, with anger and helplessness, stated, "If the Führer insists on his own views, I will leave the Nazi Party with the comrades who are loyal to socialism."

Having delivered this ultimatum, Strasser stood up and left the conference room without looking back. Watching Strasser's retreating figure, Hitler did not speak, but his fingers splayed open and then clenched tight, as if he were gripping someone's neck that did not exist in his palm.

While Hitler faced the split of the socialist faction within the party, Roosevelt was explaining his views on America's future to the American upper class—those who had already donated to him and those who had not—at a cocktail party. "...Gentlemen, if President Hoover had experience working on Wall Street, he might understand the operating model of the banking industry better."

After this sentence, the audience let out a burst of knowing laughter. Yes, the land of Wall Street belonged to the Roosevelt family, so the Roosevelt family was very clear about the operating model of the banking industry. And Roosevelt's words didn't need to be seen as a taunt; Hoover, this poor boy, indeed did not understand the operations of the banking and financial industries.

Sitting in his wheelchair, Roosevelt continued, "I know many people think that President Hoover has already started large-scale trade with China, alleviating a lot of economic pressure. However, America's economic problems have not been solved. As soon as the contracts between China and the United States end, the American economy will be exactly the same as before.

"The crisis America is encountering this time is the result of decades of high-speed economic development. America's old economic model is no longer suitable for America. Only by formulating brand-new policies can we deal with the current situation. The President's job is to provide methods for national management. Even if it is a painful process, even if it is an unknowable future, only by enduring it can we find a solution."

After listening to Roosevelt's words, someone in the crowd at the cocktail party asked, "Mr. Roosevelt, do you think there is a problem with the capitalist system?"

Roosevelt identified the speaker; it was the kid from the Bush family. This kid was a fellow who had established relations with China relatively early. During this economic crisis, relying on the network of the Skull and Bones society, he had set up a financial company. It was said that this company not only didn't lose money but made a profit on every deal.

However, the Bush family kid had raised a very good question, because the attendees were all seriously waiting for Roosevelt to answer. Roosevelt certainly knew that he was called a "Communist." He nodded. "Capitalism is a lifestyle, just as being a capitalist is a profession. I don't think there is any problem with the American lifestyle. The problem now lies in the fact that the American government's management methods no longer meet America's current needs."

Most of the attendees were lost in thought. Although the economic crisis had lasted for three years, the boiling economy of the entire 1920s had still not been forgotten by the American upper class. These people had considered what exactly went wrong countless times over the three years. The greed of capitalists and the lack of management were indeed reasons. In these three years, the Hoover administration had proposed various solutions, but the American economy showed no improvement. Moreover, quite a few American Communists, as "muckrakers," wrote a large number of books exposing the wrongdoings of American capitalists, triggering huge repercussions among the people. Even these members of the American upper class had to suspect whether capitalism had reached a dead end.

Hearing Roosevelt's explanation now—that it wasn't the capitalist system that had a problem, but the American government management model that no longer fit the status quo of America's rapid development—although these members of the American upper class didn't quite believe it, at least it felt pretty good.

Roosevelt continued to look at the Bush family kid, waiting for him to continue questioning. But Bush simply said, "I have no other questions," and sat back in his seat. Roosevelt then looked at the other attendees, ready to answer their various questions.

Although Roosevelt still believed that Hoover couldn't win, the American people hadn't realized that the American government management model needed a comprehensive adjustment, so after the situation seemed to improve, Hoover's approval rating began to rebound. Rather than saying these people were supporting Hoover, it was better to say these American people hoped to return to the life of the 1920s. But Roosevelt was certain that the times had changed. No matter how much the American people missed the old era, the world could not go back to the past.

Sharing this view was He Rui. At this moment, He Rui was putting down his pen and gently rubbing his wrist. Although this action was a bit *chuunibyou*, He Rui still missed the days when his fingers danced on a keyboard. With just a domestic capacitive keyboard, typing out ten thousand words a day wasn't hard. But writing ten thousand words by hand—his hand was almost crippled.

Fortunately, He Rui didn't need such high-intensity work. He only wrote two thousand words a day, and he could still write a high-quality book of seven hundred thousand words in a year. Besides, a book in a professional field didn't need seven hundred thousand words; thirty-something thousand words was already considered a tome. For example, *Technological Revolution and National Development Potential*, which He Rui had just finished, was only 280,000 words. The two military monographs he had only written half of, *Spatial Deep Operations* and *Air-Ground Integration*, were also both under 300,000 words.

The current government already had a large number of STEM graduates joining it, and the labor shortage had been greatly alleviated. For these guys with bachelor's degrees, what they needed was not detailed instruction but guidance on theory and direction.

He Rui leaned back in his chair and couldn't help but consider whether to write that book, *Exploration of Human Thinking Models*. However, He Rui himself wasn't confident he could write it well, because the research in this area in He Rui's original timeline had not reached a completely transparent level either.

What was worse was that the human thinking model He Rui identified with was that kind of healthy, upward model, and this thinking model itself required people to transform themselves. And how could transforming oneself be so easy? Moreover, the act of transformation itself might not always be positive. He Rui knew his current influence. Once this book came out, it would inevitably have a huge impact. The negative effects of this impact would probably be very, very large.

He Rui looked at the calendar: October 19th. There was one last month until the US presidential election. Roosevelt should be able to win the election. Thinking that he would soon be competing on the same stage as Roosevelt, this world-famous politician, He Rui felt very happy.

Although from a pragmatic point of view, easily defeating an incompetent opponent and then going home to do whatever one wanted was the best, being able to compete with a respectable opponent was indeed something very worth looking forward to. And the United States at this time was quite different from the United States in He Rui's timeline.

In He Rui's original timeline, China had finally surpassed the United States, which was the world hegemon. Now, although the United States had strong vitality, it was still just a powerful country in North America. Whether the current United States had more vitality or the United States in the imperial age was more powerful—this could only be known after a comparison.

Stretching his back, He Rui thought of "Little Mustache" again. From the current situation, Little Mustache should be able to become Chancellor. Whether Little Mustache could still quickly seize political power and turn Germany into a racist country... He Rui also found it very interesting.

Moreover, the preparations against Little Mustache were already complete. If Little Mustache failed to seize power, He Rui would actually be disappointed.

"Let the storm rage louder!" He Rui said loudly to the empty study. Although this action was a bit *chuunibyou*, He Rui was indeed very much looking forward to the arrival of the surging new world.