In Professor Karl's view, He Rui, like himself, Hitler, Rudolf Hess, and others, possessed an unshakable conviction. To realize his beliefs, He Rui was willing to sacrifice everything.

Before this trip, Hitler had requested Professor Karl to ascertain China's bottom line. China was a market of over 700 million people. If this market could be opened to Germany, the German economy could fully recover within a few years.

Professor Karl had done his best, and He Rui had been very frank. Through the exchange just now, Professor Karl felt he understood that the greatest divergence between China and Germany lay in ideology. This divergence had actually been stated by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Shiguang at the Lausanne Conference in Switzerland last year.

He Rui had just cited the case of Japan, which confirmed to Professor Karl once again that He Rui was not joking. He Rui was a ruthless pragmatist. After the success of the Japanese revolution, China had indeed built good relations with Japan. But before the Japanese revolution, He Rui had combined military strikes with economic measures to make Japan's life a living hell.

Even so, Professor Karl asked, "Chairman, to what extent do you think trade between China and Germany can reach at this stage?"

He Rui was very frank, "At this stage, regarding the scope of Sino-German trade, China must consider France's feelings."

Sino-French cooperation was one of the pillars of China's current international geopolitics. He Rui was operating China's foreign trade with a purely pragmatic attitude. In He Rui's eyes, Germany's importance to China was far lower than that of France, so Sino-German trade must be subordinate to the needs of Sino-French relations.

Professor Karl could fully understand, yet he stubbornly asked, "To what extent can it be opened?"

Watching the professor tenaciously fighting for Germany's interests, He Rui couldn't help but think of Zhao Tianlin and others. When China was in decline, those outstanding figures had all tried to save China. Although most of their efforts failed, and some even counterproductively pushed the country into a worse situation, history proved that their feelings were fervent and sincere. Therefore, the tragedies that befell them were particularly lamentable.

Even though he was moved, He Rui still replied calmly, "Specific Sino-German trade issues should be addressed to the Minister of Commerce. I only manage strategic issues."

Professor Karl was very disappointed with this answer and could only turn the topic back to strategic considerations. "In the Chairman's view, can China and Germany really not become strategic collaborators?"

He Rui shook his head. "Given the current situation in Europe and America, Britain and the United States will never allow France to completely destroy Germany. If France attempts to dismember Germany through military means, Britain and the United States will definitely oppose it with all their might. China also does not support France in dismembering Germany. As long as China does not echo France, France will have absolutely no ability to dismember Germany. This is already the greatest consensus between China and Germany at the strategic level at this stage.

"I emphasize again, China has proposed a solution to the current world problems. This solution is to liberate all colonies, and for all countries in the world to develop productive forces together, raising the people's standard of living and education levels. Moreover, a fair trade relationship must be established between countries.

"To achieve the development of all countries, first-mover nations should provide services such as infrastructure construction to latecomer nations through fiscal transfers. This money can be interest-free loans or other forms. The core is that predatory development can no longer be practiced.

"Professor Karl, do you think Germany can cooperate with China on this strategic level? I think it would be a blessing if Germany simply didn't oppose China."

"Chairman, since your goal is to overthrow the Versailles System, there is inherently room for cooperation between China and Germany in this regard."

"Germany is bound to choose a strategy of invading other countries. This strategy is what China opposes. Professor, why confuse the issue? Speaking like this is not academic."

Seeing his efforts yielding no results, Professor Karl could only give up. He asked, "Then will China also launch wars?"

"No!" He Rui shook his head decisively. "Colonialists and oppressors will actively launch wars against people seeking justice and liberation. We do not need to actively launch wars; war will fall into our laps like a ripe apple."

Professor Karl looked at He Rui's confident expression and shook his head helplessly. "Chairman, you look like an idealist now. I really want to know where your confidence comes from."

Facing this question, He Rui answered confidently, "China has been the world's manufacturing center for 20 centuries. This is not accidental. From a geopolitical perspective, this is an inevitability. What I have done is merely end China's chaos, reshape China's political system, and sweep away the obstacles to China's continued development. As long as there are no various impediments, China will naturally restart mass production, large-scale technological accumulation, and the scientific breakthroughs that follow. This is not confidence, just inevitability."

At this point, Professor Karl stood up to take his leave. He felt that the possibility of cooperation between China and Germany at the strategic level had basically been determined. If there were to be another conversation, it would inevitably be because a major event sufficient to change the strategy of both China and Germany had occurred.

Watching Professor Karl's back disappear out the door, Cheng Ruofan sighed, "Sigh!"

Everyone in the conference room looked over. Seeing everyone looking at him, Cheng Ruofan smiled bitterly, "Looking at Professor Karl, I always feel that the professor's current mood is similar to mine a dozen years ago. It feels quite uncomfortable inside. Being at a dead end in national strategy is just this helpless."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone including He Rui resonated with them. China's changes since 1915 had been too drastic, so much so that many changes that would be considered earth-shattering in other eras seemed unremarkable in these 15 years. However, seeing Professor Karl trying his best to gain strategic opportunities for Germany with their own eyes—such an outstanding geopolitical scholar almost couldn't hold back from asking He Rui for help—those who had experienced China's lowest period naturally felt empathy.

Li Runshi had basically become a member of the government after '24, so his mindset was much better. He asked, "Chairman, does Germany have no other way besides war? After all, you also told Professor Karl that Germany could avoid provoking war first in the future. If Hitler is really a leader worth Professor Karl's following, I think Hitler has the ability to drag it out."

He Rui shook his head. "The logic is indeed so. But Germany's advantage lies in the army. Britain will allow Germany to restore its army, but will not allow Germany to fully develop its navy. Then, will Germany accept the leadership of Britain and France, treat the German army as mercenaries, and send them to fight overseas? If Germany refuses to accept the leadership of Britain and France, the stronger Germany becomes, the greater the threat to Europe. From Germany's perspective, rather than waiting for Britain and France to concede benefits, it is better to take the initiative, defeat the enemy directly with military superiority, and seize the benefits first. Only in this way can they seize the initiative."

Li Runshi nodded. He considered He Rui to be a leader who placed great emphasis on initiative. "Waiting, relying, and begging" had never been the direction of He Rui's considerations. Seizing the initiative and then using it to exchange interests with opponents was He Rui's style. Not only did Li Runshi see it this way, but the analysis articles of European and American experts on He Rui also held the same view. So Li Runshi asked again, "Does the Chairman think Hitler is a leader with great initiative and aggressiveness?"

He Rui felt that Li Runshi had grasped the key point, so he explained to the other comrades, "Hitler is a very proactive person; he refuses to let himself be in a passive state. It is precisely this character that has won the approval of a considerable number of German people. In the eyes of those German people, Germany's old model has completely collapsed, and a leader like Hitler who is unswerving and takes the initiative to attack is needed to lead Germany to victory."

Wu Youping felt that He Rui's description completely matched his own feelings, because Wu Youping himself had pinned all his worth on He Rui. He Rui's decisiveness and ruthlessness might seem terrifying to ordinary people, but in Wu Youping's view, these were all advantages. Facts proved that what Wu Youping expected, He Rui had achieved. What Wu Youping dared not expect, He Rui had also achieved. In such a chaotic era, possessing a political strongman with powerful strength was undoubtedly the guarantee of national peace and security.

In Wu Youping's view, Germany's level of civilization was inferior to Chinese civilization, but the cultural level of the German public might be a bit higher than that of the Chinese public. So it was not only not strange for the German public to choose Hitler, but rather a logical matter.

At this time, Cheng Ruofan was heard asking, "Chairman, the Nazi Party's influence was very limited before '29, but skyrocketed after '29. Looking at it this way, is everything an economic problem?"

He Rui nodded. "The main activities of human society are related to economic activities. Hitler was able to come to power because he dared to face Germany's economic problems and proposed solutions to economic problems targeting Germany's current environment. Professor Karl came this time, and although he himself knew it was impossible, he still put forward a probe expecting China to fully open its market to Germany. Ruofan, I sympathize with Professor Karl very much."

Hearing this, Cheng Ruofan sighed again. Professor Karl's high-level strategic discussion just now made Cheng Ruofan determine that he still did not possess Professor Karl's academic level. But this high-level discussion allowed Cheng Ruofan to understand why he was impetuous back then, feeling something was wrong no matter what he did.

Even if Cheng Ruofan's strategic literacy back then was not enough to analyze the strategic problems China faced, even if Cheng Ruofan deduced based on fragmented and scattered knowledge, he always felt that China could not find a way out in any aspect. That despair and helplessness constantly consumed Cheng Ruofan's mental energy, and the appearance of anxiety like a hundred claws scratching at the heart was actually a normal reaction.

Now Cheng Ruofan would not be so anxious. Although his daily work was very busy, in order to complete KPIs, he asked about various progress like Huang Shiren and Mu Renzhi in the play "The White Haired Girl", and scolded cadres from time to time. No matter what it looked like on the surface, China's strategic situation was very favorable to China, so Cheng Ruofan was not anxious. Specific work was sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but generally within the expected progress. This kind of thing was annoying, but not very troubling.

With a feeling of sympathy, a thought suddenly popped up, and Cheng Ruofan asked, "Chairman, assuming the influence of France does not exist, do we have room for comprehensive economic cooperation with Germany? After all, Germany is a pioneer in the internal combustion engine era, and its technological direction has much to recommend it."

He Rui answered immediately without thinking, "There is a certain possibility of technical cooperation, but no possibility of comprehensive economic cooperation. I think what you just said refers to Germany's technological advantage. Economy and technology are not the same thing. Compared with Germany, the Soviet Union's technology is relatively backward, but the Soviet Union can carry out comprehensive economic cooperation with us. The Soviet Union can provide the raw materials we need. The Soviet Union can also provide the consumer market we need. The problem between us and the Soviet Union is the issue of unequal import and export quotas based on economic cooperation. This problem is easy to solve. We expand imports from the Soviet Union and allow the Soviet Union to have pricing power to a considerable extent. If this is not enough, we transfer some technology to the Soviet Union, and then import heavy industrial products from the Soviet Union. For example, in order to quickly increase power generation capacity, we are now importing a large number of generator sets from the Soviet Union. One Soviet generator set can buy dozens of trainloads of light industrial products from our country, and trade is balanced. Ruofan, do you think Germany has the ability to conduct comprehensive economic cooperation with us?"

"...So that's it!" Cheng Ruofan nodded slowly.

Premier Wu Youping, seeing such a question being discussed, simply asked, "Chairman, are we going to enact any restrictions against the German economy?"

"For German merchants investing in China, there is no need to set restrictions. For Sino-German trade, there is actually no need to set special restrictions. What Germany can conduct now is basically barter trade, which does not go through banks. At this stage, our demand for large-scale equipment will have a new development, and France can no longer swallow it. Since France's production capacity cannot satisfy us, we can also accept imports from Germany."

Wu Youping's thoughts were similar to He Rui's. He asked only to hear He Rui's opinion. Since there was no special divergence, Wu Youping naturally had a way to handle it.

At this time, they had been chatting for quite a while, and for everyone present, this was enough. Seeing the comrades were about to go back, Li Shiguang asked, "Chairman, do we need to cold-shoulder diplomatic aspects next?"

He Rui nodded, then suddenly remembered another matter and instructed Wu Youping, "Germany is starting to engage in racism, and there will be persecution of German scientists and experts. Based on the analysis of the data we have collected, send invitation letters to those experts who will be persecuted through our academic institutions, inviting them to come to China to lecture or join our various research centers and laboratories."

Hearing this arrangement, everyone's spirits lifted. Wu Youping even revealed a smile; there could never be too many experts. Especially for current China, the large gap in demand for experts would exist for a long time. As long as they had real skills, China not only welcomed German experts but also welcomed experts from all over the world.

"Please rest assured, Chairman, I will definitely get this done well." Wu Youping replied decisively.