Master Yuan, start!

The night wind blew by, and the two were silent for a moment, then stepped forward.

In this foreign land, they shoulder the mission of reviving an ancient nation, while Yuan Shikai intends to transcend time and space and release the giant beast of the European left in advance.

Chapter 522 Crossing the Border

Yuan Xiangcheng was delayed for some time because he had served as an international tutor at the Brussels Grand Theatre and had debated 4 scriptures in front of all the members of the Second International.

As a latecomer, he had no right to teach Bernstein, Jaurès and other predecessors who had already become famous in the study of Marxist and socialist theory.

But who made him the president of a country?

There were many people within the Second International who held positions in governments or parliaments of various countries.

For example, Keir Hardie is a member of the British Parliament;

Bernstein and Kautsky were members of the Reichstag;

Jaurès was the leader of the left wing in the French parliament, and Millerand directly joined the French government cabinet as a cabinet minister.

All of these people are well-known figures. After all, in this era, white people are always more noble, and authentic Europeans are even more superior. They are far more important than the North American nouveau riche, South American mixed-race people, East Asian yellow-skinned people and African black-skinned people.

However, no matter which one of these people, or even if they were all put together, in secular terms, they could not compare to the title of "President" hanging over Yuan Shikai's head.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai's remarks indeed caused an uproar within the Second International.

So much so that they had to decide to seriously discuss the importance of the so-called "Uniting the Farmers" issue at the upcoming Sixth Congress, and to list it after the issue of "Denounce the Boer War" and before the issue of "Millerand joining the cabinet."

The next day, Rosa Luxemburg made a special visit to Yuan Shikai to ask him for specific advice on some specific measures to unite farmers in East Asia.

Facing this Jewish revolutionary who was born in Poland but has been committed to promoting socialism in Germany, Yuan Xiangcheng is full of admiration for her, both in his past life and in this life.

So Yuan Xiangcheng specially talked with her for a whole day, and the two of them got along better and better as they talked.

Before leaving, he also left a donation of 5 pounds to the Leipzig Volkszeitung, sponsored by Rosa Luxemburg.

The name is, of course, "Supporting the Liberation of Poland" transit U: Yitc Art Umbrella

Because of these things, Yuan Xiangcheng delayed his journey to Berlin.

However, it was only delayed for two or three days.

There are many ways to travel from Belgium to Germany. You can take a direct train, or you can take a detour to the coast, take a boat through Denmark to the Baltic Sea and then go south to Berlin.

In the end, Yuan Xiangcheng chose the most convenient railway journey which did not require round-trip transfers and was less bumpy.

As the train he was riding seamlessly traveled from Belgium to Germany, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and look at the scenery outside the window, revealing a look of surprise.

"I didn't expect that the railways of the two countries are seamlessly connected." Yuan Xiangcheng muttered to himself, with a hint of doubt in his tone.

"Chief Instructor, what did you say?" Ma Jianzhong, who was accompanying the visit, saw Yuan Xiangcheng talking to himself and asked.

"Nothing." Yuan Xiangcheng waved his hand and started thinking.

How bold must Belgium be to replace the railway tracks heading towards Germany with the standard gauge of 1435 mm?

Germany under Prussia's leadership was a warlike nation. Aren't they afraid that the Germans could transport a large army by rail to invade Belgium at any time?

But soon, Yuan Xiangcheng smiled again and scratched his head, as if he had figured something out.

"The gap in national power between Belgium and Germany is so huge. Even if they don't use railways, what can Belgium do if the German army approaches?"

He returned to the box and continued to talk to himself: "Indeed, if I were the leader of Belgium, instead of worrying about the German invasion, I would change the track gauge for this reason.

Rather, we should worry that the gauge change will hinder the flow of goods and people between the two countries, thus affecting economic development."

The reason why Yuan Xiangcheng thought of this was because he knew that there was a country that bordered Germany but did not have a railway connecting it.

Russia

At this time, Poland did not exist on the map and was divided between Germany and Russia.

When the Russians built the railway in 1520, they deliberately left a long distance from the railway near Germany, and used a mm wide gauge.

At the beginning, regarding the issue of railway track width, each country actually had its own choice. Although the United Kingdom was the first to lay railways, they were an island country after all, and their impact on the European continent was not very large, so European countries did not unify the railway track standards.

However, after decades of development, the 1435 mm standard gauge represented by the United Kingdom has gradually been accepted by various countries because of its more balanced construction difficulty, carrying capacity, terrain requirements, etc.

Therefore, after 1840, except for Spain and Portugal in the Iberian Mountains, which adopted the extra-wide 1668 mm track gauge for train stability, other developing European countries such as France, Germany, Austria, Italy, etc. mostly chose the standard track gauge.

But Russia is an exception.

As a late-developing country, located in the vast plains of Eastern Europe, it chose the unusual wide-gauge track of 1520 mm.

As a result, a strange phenomenon of "one country, two track gauges" was formed in Poland.

It is obvious that the Russians deliberately chose not to unify the track gauge with Germany in order to prevent Germany from quickly invading their Eastern European heartland.

Especially after the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, Russia was still an agricultural country and had not carried out large-scale railway construction.

After seeing the Germans transporting troops by rail and quickly concentrating their forces for battle, they became a little scared.

As a result, when it comes to railways in Europe, Russia often gives priority to building north-south longitudinal railways rather than east-west transverse railways.

This move reassured the Tsar and the military, but it put great pressure on Russia's industrial and agricultural products.

Due to the track gauge, goods that could have arrived in one transport had to be transported twice, which added costs out of thin air.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng couldn't help shaking his head and laughing [. D: Eight children four q"

I can only say that the Russians really have no brains when it comes to developing the economy.

The train continued its journey across the plains of Western Europe. As it crossed the Rhine River, ships loaded with timber, machinery and grain slowly passed under the railway bridge, leaving a trail of black oil in the river.

When passing through the Ruhr area, thick smoke frequently rose above the cities on both sides, and the air was filled with a pungent smell.

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at the scene outside the window, his eyes gradually became deep, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

This is the symbol of the industrial age. Although it is strong, pungent, and makes breathing difficult, it is with these things that the country has confidence.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and everything he had just seen emerged in his mind. The power of industrialization came upon him, and that was the truest pulse of this era.

Germany, here I come!

Chapter 523: The Story of the Central Hall

The German Emperor showed great enthusiasm for Yuan Shikai's visit.

There is no other reason, it is just that Yuan Shikai is the only foreign leader in recent years, except for the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph, who has personally arrived in Berlin in the name of a state visit.

Yes, the only one.

Other countries such as Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands mostly visited Berlin in the name of informal visits, using their status as relatives.

The rest dates back to 1888, when the previous German emperor died at his funeral.

Everyone in Europe knew that William II was irritable, had a bad temper, was stubborn and self-willed, and was extremely difficult to get along with.

But it is also well known that William II is very concerned about his reputation.

As for the Yellow Peril, what Yellow Peril?

Is there anything more satisfying than giving France a hard time?

William II also understood that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

This biggest advocate and propagator of the Yellow Peril Theory in history highly praised the Battle of Natuna, in which China and Germany jointly defeated the French expeditionary fleet, when Yuan Shikai arrived.

Although he did not publicly praise Yuan Shikai's victory over the Tsar's army in the Far East due to his cousin relationship with the Russian Tsar, he was also very happy to see that Russia could suffer a setback.

After all, the conflict between Germany and France is intense, and the conflict between Germany and Russia is also not small.

In fact, when the reinsurance treaty expired, Germany was destined to be an enemy of Russia from the moment it decided to ally with Austria.

...

Amid the rumbling sound of the train's wheels, Yuan Shikai finally arrived in Berlin in the evening.

As the sky gradually darkened, the station was brightly lit and the welcoming scene was unexpectedly grand.

Yuan Xiangcheng took a step out of the carriage, narrowed his eyes slightly, and glanced at the crowd waiting in line on the platform.

He was a little surprised. In addition to the Chinese Minister to Germany Lu Haihuan, there was also an old acquaintance from his former Korean official days, the German Mu Linde, who was in charge of the Korean Customs. He was standing in the crowd with a familiar smile on his face.

In order to take over the Korean customs, Yuan Shikai had fought with Mu Linde many times, and later succeeded. He heard that Mu Linde was recalled to the country, and he didn't expect to see him again today.

After glancing at Mu Linde, Yuan Xiangcheng turned his attention to the person in front of him.

He was well-dressed and had an extraordinary demeanor, and was obviously a high-ranking German official.

The German guards were lined up in an orderly manner on the platform, their postures as straight as pine trees, and hundreds of National Revolutionary Army security personnel who came with Yuan Shikai also got off the train one after another.

For a moment, the entire platform was packed with people. Under the light, people were crisscrossing and the scene was extremely lively. The scene was even more exciting than expected.

"Mr. President, welcome to Berlin." The man in front of Mulinde stepped forward and extended his right hand towards Yuan Xiangcheng: "I am Oswald von Richthofen, the Foreign Minister of the German Empire."

Germany obviously attached great importance to Yuan Shikai's visit and strived for excellence and perfection in the reception work.

In the original time and space, even when Li Hongzhang, who had been dismissed from office and was at home, visited Germany, it sparked heated discussions in the Berlin public opinion field and was personally received by German Emperor Wilhelm II.

But now, Yuan Shikai in this time and space has an even more special identity and a more prominent status, so the courtesy from Germany is naturally far greater than that of Li Hongzhang back then, and the person who came to pick him up was the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

To ensure that everything went smoothly, the Berlin city government even suspended train operations for half a day in the evening specifically to welcome Yuan Shikai.

Surrounded by the crowd, Yuan Xiangcheng slowly walked out of the train station and looked up at the modern city in front of him.

The brightly lit city of Berlin was shrouded in a hazy smog, and the air was filled with a mixture of coal smoke and industrial exhaust.

He took a deep breath, a complex smile appearing on the corner of his mouth: "The air here...what a vibrant city!"

Yuan Xiangcheng's words were not a praise for the air itself, but an expression of his admiration for the industrial atmosphere emanating from the city, which is a symbol of modernization and a sign of national strength.

He really wants to make the air in the country "polluted"

However, German Foreign Minister Oswald, who was standing next to Yuan Xiangcheng, did not understand his "hidden meaning"

After hearing the translator's straightforward translation, the Foreign Minister couldn't help but look a little surprised.

Am I right?

Is there anyone who thinks the air in Berlin is good?

Any German who comes to Berlin will find the air bad, right?

Oswald lowered his head in thought for a moment, as if he couldn't understand why anyone would appreciate the quality of Berlin's air.

After all, any German who first arrives in Berlin will complain about the bad air.

However, as a cautious technical bureaucrat, Oswald did not express his doubts aloud. He knew that his role was more about executing orders than raising questions.