Master Yuan, start!

By the end of the 19th century, America had been established for more than 100 years.

However, although the country gained independence, most European immigrants and their descendants did not become fully American at heart.

It can be said that, except for a small number of Americans who serve the government, a considerable number of successful American business people have not completely gotten rid of the mentality of nouveau riche.

Or in other words, these successful Americans in business are more inferior in mentality than Europeans.

To paraphrase later generations, Americans at this time were basically "European-savvy"

One thing is that if Americans fail due to carelessness and Europeans succeed, it is because Europeans have exerted their innate rigor.

If Europeans are careless and Americans are rigorous, it is because Europeans are naturally "relaxed" and Americans are too demanding of perfection.

In fact, it all comes down to a question of self-confidence.

Today, the United States has in fact become the world's largest economy and the country with the highest per capita economic output in the world.

However, in 1896, GDP, a statistical method used to measure a country's gross domestic product, did not yet exist.

Nowadays, when we look at the strength of a country, we only compare a few data such as the number of warships, steel production, and grain production.

The United States did not have an organized navy. Before the Spanish-American War, the two-ocean navies were treated completely like armed fishing boats, without a complete military plan and deployment.

Even Chinese immigrants could join the navy as sailors.

In terms of food production, the continental United States is definitely larger than the British Isles, but if the vast colonies of the British Empire are included.

The United States will lag behind a little.

After all, this is not yet the era of industrial farming with large machinery and chemical fertilizers.

The reason why the United States in the original time and space was an agricultural empire was entirely due to its high oil production.

Yes, oil.

Many people in later generations boasted about the United States' large-scale mechanized and large-scale farm agriculture, believing that their per capita grain output was very high.

But what is the prerequisite for an American to cultivate 1 or even 500 acres of land?

It is a huge amount of oil consumption.

On average, every 4 tons of grain consumes 1 ton of oil, 100kg of steel, and 500kg of fertilizer.

Sowing requires a seeder, watering requires a watering truck, weeding requires low-altitude spraying by airplanes, and harvesting requires large combine harvesters.

The amount of resources consumed to cultivate one acre of land in the United States in the 21st century is unacceptable in other countries.

The United States in 1896 clearly did not have the conditions of the 21st century, so its grain production was not very high.

Therefore, no matter how you look at it, the United States at this moment does not look like a world power.

From the perspective of outsiders, Americans are ahead of Europe in terms of armaments, and even further behind in the cultural field.

European aristocrats say they are old-fashioned, and the American upper class readily admits it, even though their wealth is far greater than that of these aristocrats.

In addition to psychological identification, the new American money is trying to get closer to old Europe in all aspects of food, clothing, housing and transportation.

For caviar, you must eat Norwegian; for smoked sausage, you must eat Saxony; for the house, it is best to have the blueprints designed by a British builder.

Traveling must follow European aristocratic etiquette, just like in the movie Titanic.

If a nouveau riche in New York could marry the daughter of a European aristocratic family, even one from a declining family, it would be considered a step into a new realm.

But old Hoover didn't think so. He felt that Americans should be proud of the United States, the American system, and the American culture.

If all the countries on the east and west coasts of the Pacific Ocean were republics, there would definitely be more and more countries in the world that followed the republican path.

At that time, those Americans on the deck, those ignorant Americans who are immersed in learning the etiquette of English aristocrats will wake up.

Realized how corrupt the British feudal system they admired was.

Of course, before that, we have to convince Chinese President Yuan.

Old Hoover touched the briefcase in his hand. In addition to various contracts from Carnegie Steel Company, there was also a letter of condolence from the US government.

The Spanish have not yet realized that the Caribbean is no longer Spain's Caribbean and that the United States cannot be ignored here.

However, although they have failed once in the Far East Philippines, they still seem to have not let go of their arrogance.

There is also France. The French have been reluctant to give up the right to develop the Panama Canal and hand it over to American companies.

They had previously cooperated with the Japanese government to recruit hundreds of thousands of Japanese workers.

I heard that he has not given up recently and has gotten involved in the war between the Chinese and the Russians.

Europeans really love to provoke wars. In the end, the world still has to be saved by Americans.

Thinking of this, Hoover turned around, looked at the distant American coastline, and muttered to himself.

"Wait, America! When I come back from the Far East, I will definitely bring you some exciting good news!"

Chapter 319: Olympics Provokes the Mediterranean

Athens, Greece.

The waves of the Aegean Sea sparkled, and the snow-capped peaks of Mount Olympia reflected the setting sun.

The second half of the late 19th century is recognized by all Greeks as a golden age.

First of all, it is because Greece broke away from Ottoman Türkiye, achieved national independence, and ushered in nearly 50 years of rapid development.

Secondly, it was because the Greeks dug the Corinth Canal.

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As shown in the picture, red is the canal

This is a canal that the ancient Roman Emperor Nero wanted to build. Its opening shortened the voyage from the Mediterranean Sea in eastern Italy to the Aegean Sea by 320 kilometers.

Its opening was considered by Europeans to be a feat no less significant than that of the Suez Canal.

Of course, the most important thing is that the King of Greece decided to hold the Olympic Games this year after a thousand years of absence.

Compared with these good news, the assassination of Prince George in the Far East five years ago has gradually been forgotten.

After all, the Kingdom of Greece still had a prince, and the Japanese eventually offered warships as compensation and begged for forgiveness from the Greek king.

Although these warships belong to the Greek government in name only and are actually operated by Russians, their home port is near Athens.

Loosely speaking, these are all "Greek Navy"

In other words, Greece has been a nation with no independence for nine years, with no economic development and no military strength.

Today, we have ushered in another major cultural event, the Olympic Games.

It can be said that the Greeks are now in a period of the greatest self-confidence. Whether in World War I, World War II or the Cold War, the Greeks have never been so confident.

Therefore, when King George I of Greece saw the telegrams from Russia and France in his hands, he felt a little unhappy.

In his opinion, the British, the world's number one country, did not interfere in Greece's internal affairs, at least not openly.

You know, in order to host this Olympic Games, as a king, he even went so far as to fall out with the prime minister and force him to resign.

It was a bit too much for the French and Russians to try to interfere with the preparations for the Olympics by sending a telegram.

However, no matter how excessive it was, George I could not ignore the telegrams sent by the two governments.

After all, he still needs the Russians in some aspects.

Thinking of this, George I put away the telegram and asked the man in a suit with a big mustache:

"Mr. Coubertin, have all the invitations to the Olympics been sent out?"

"Your Majesty, George, of course." Coubertin smiled, his beard trembling slightly.

"The British and French fleets have already arrived. The only ones left are the more distant America and the Far East."

"Have all the Far Eastern countries been invited?" George I asked subconsciously.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The IOC has sent invitations to all independent and semi-independent countries in the Far East."

Coubertin shook his head and proudly began to list: "Siam, China, Japan, and a lot of sultanates in the East Indies."

"I'm wondering if it's possible to deny certain Far Eastern countries the right to participate in the Olympics?" George I asked, squeezing the telegram in his hand.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" Coubertin put away his proud expression and looked at the Greek king in front of him.

"For example, can China's participation be refused?" George I stated the demands in the telegrams from France and Russia.

Russia and France had long learned of the news that the Chinese were counterattacking the local Russian-French coalition forces in the Far East, but the two governments were unable to provide timely military support due to difficulties in supplying goods on the road and obstruction by Britain at sea.

So, they decided to do something political.

"Reject China?" Coubertin frowned and thought slowly in his mind.

He prepared for this Olympics for five years. He traveled to various countries in Europe and the United States and contacted dozens of respected people from all walks of life, which made it possible for the grand event to be reopened after a thousand years.

The history of the Olympics can be traced back to ancient Greece more than 2000 years ago. It is famous for being held in Olympia. The original purpose of the Olympics was to worship the god Zeus.

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But in 394 AD, the ancient Olympic Games were banned by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

The reason was that the emperor established Christianity as the state religion, and naturally regarded the ancient Olympic Games that worshipped Greek gods as pagan activities, so the ancient Olympic Games came to an end.

The Olympic Games that Yuan Xiangcheng is very familiar to later generations should actually be called the "Modern Olympic Games"

It was a sports event that was jointly initiated by representatives from 12 countries including Coubertin.

1896 happened to be the year when the first modern Olympic Games was held.

Therefore, as the initiator, Coubertin did not want to see this grand event, which had been absent for a thousand years, leave regrets when it was held for the first time.

"Your Majesty, are you worried that China does not have a competent central government?"

Coubertin also heard about the war in China, where a famous imperial general overthrew the regent prince, ending the monarchy that had lasted for thousands of years in China and establishing a republic.

However, the Republic government has not yet unified its original territory, and China is still in a state of fragmentation.

"Yes, that's the reason!"

George I, considering his royal dignity, was unwilling to tell Coubertin that he was under pressure from Russia and France.

Now that there is such a reason, he just goes with the flow.