Chapter 1531: Private Banquet

The Simons were in Washington the first weekend in September.

It was the evening of September 4th.

After various entertainments during the day, the Clintons held a private banquet specially for Simon in the evening.

Simon didn't come here out of boredom, of course he had serious business to do. In a small restaurant in the White House, after the waiters had dinner, they complimented each other politely as usual, and the topic quickly got on track.

"For Russia, Bill, my thoughts have always been clear. Economic penetration is far better than military intervention. Therefore, my soldiers in Ukraine will definitely not be dispatched in the upcoming Chechnya conflict. If you insist on interfering, you can only cooperate with other private military organizations."

The topic was about Russia's upcoming second Chechen war.

In the past, the second Chechen war broke out at the end of August. This time, under the fan of Simon, a big butterfly, things inevitably went wrong.

The main reason is the Kosovo war that has ended. Compared with the past, Russia, after someone started to gain more and more power, will inevitably get involved in Yugoslavia more deeply. Coupled with the confrontation with Western countries, the time will be prolonged. some.

So it was not until September that there were clear signs of another use of force against Chechnya in the past few days.

When Washington noticed this, of course, the first reaction was to interfere, but this time it was not easy to intervene, so it once again hoped that Simon's private army in Ukraine would enter Chechnya.

Simon will not agree this time.

If it's limited to this, it's just a hello. However, Simon also felt that it was time to take the opportunity to chat with some people in Washington. After all, just like controlling his own business empire, if Washington wants to maintain a sufficient sense of presence, Simon also needs to come here often , So there is this weekend's itinerary.

It is already the seventh year of his term of office, and he is about to hand over the baton to his ambitious wife. Clinton behaved quite calmly. As a result, Mr. President was smiling and brewing something, and the wife of the President had already said: "Simon, don't you Do you feel that Russia has once again shown its unwarranted ambitions in Yugoslavia, and we must work hard to suppress it?"

Simon also smiled and looked at the President's wife: "Hillary, of course I am sure that Russia should be suppressed, and, as I have just said, this kind of suppression is undoubtedly the most effective from the economic level. After all, the United States and the Soviet Union are fighting for hegemony. The results have confirmed this point. According to the Chinese military theory, we should use what we are good at to attack what the enemy is not good at. In addition, I have to say that in Ukraine, many of my private troops are actually Soviet veterans , have some feelings for the former Soviet Union. If they are sent to the Chechnya region, it is difficult for me to be sure whether they will not be able to shoot because they are worried that the opponent is a former comrade in arms.”

Simon's tone was gentle, and Hilary immediately realized that she seemed too strong just now. After all, she was going to run for the New York State Senator next year. Laughing: "The thing is, Simon, we all know that Russia is a bunch of savages, and savages are more used to solving problems in a savage way. So, I have to remind you that for them, economic means may not necessarily work, maybe one day , I mean, it’s not just you, Simon, maybe many federal companies’ investments in Russia were all confiscated and reset to zero just because of a brutal Russian act.”

After hearing what Hilary said, Simon had to admit that this woman had seen things through.

Let's just say that last year, if it weren't for Simon's interference, Russia would have made a big mistake. However, because the financial market was turbulent due to the financial market turmoil caused by the aid plan that could be discussed at any time, it was still a disaster for many Western financial giants such as Long-Term Capital Management.

Therefore, it is obvious that barbarism does have a large enough 'advantage' over civilization.

Thinking of this, Simon said: "Hillary, the problem is that Russia is a group of barbarians, but if necessary, I mean, we can't be civilized people all the time. But, in the current state, I think it is still It's more effective in a civilized way. Of course, I would not object to Washington's response to Russia's expected actions in Chechnya, it's just that I will not participate in it."

After Simon finished speaking, Mr. President finally inserted his first sentence, picked up the goblet next to him, and said in a rounded tone: "Okay, dear, and Simon, we are all for the Federation, Isn't it?"

Simon picked up the red wine cooperatively, and Hillary on the opposite side also followed suit.

After clinking glasses, Mr. President finally did not lose the initiative to speak this time, and quickly said: "Simon, I already understand what you mean, and I will definitely not force you to deploy some of Washington's plans against Chechnya, and Of course, our pleasant cooperation will never change. This matter is skipped. Simon, let’s talk about China. On the 11th, I will have a meeting with China at the APEC leaders’ meeting in New Zealand, you know , The main thing is to discuss the WTO, you are a China hand, and you are also helping to lobby for China to join recently, so can you give me some advice this time?"

As expected of an old-fashioned politician, he said he was asking for advice, but when he mentioned that Simon was recently helping to lobby for China's accession to the WTO, he immediately turned into asking for favor.

If Simon hopes that Clinton will help promote China's accession to the WTO, it is obvious that he will give him a favor. In fact, Simon doesn't mind owing such favors. The so-called favors are actually coming and going. If you only let others owe you, it is inevitable that you will be favored and hated. If you only owe others, it will definitely not last long.

Thinking of this, Simon didn't answer directly, but said: "Bill, what do you think, beautiful

What was the biggest diplomatic mistake made by the Soviet Union during its struggle for hegemony? "

Clinton didn't expect someone to bring the issue back, and, as a smart person, a personal experience of the US-Soviet hegemony, and a top politician, he certainly knew. After a little hesitation, Clinton did not pretend to be stupid, and said, "Probably, break off diplomatic relations with China."

Simon nodded: "For China, the Soviet Union, which was powerful back then, was more inclined to directly develop the other party into its sphere of influence like the Eastern European countries. Even if it is not a member country, it can only be a subsidiary country. However, China requires independence. Willing to lose independence, the two sides broke up. The result is not just that the Soviet Union lost a strategic ally in Asia, but what it lost was a production base and a consumer market with a population of 1 billion. Heh, as a businessman, Obviously, this is something I have considered from a commercial perspective, but I believe it is a crucial factor. The Soviet Union's weakness in agriculture and light industry has been very obvious from the beginning to the end, and China can just make up for the Soviet Union This great weakness of the Soviet Union can also provide a very large potential market for the heavy industrial products of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union voluntarily gave up all of this, and to a large extent directly lost its qualification to confront the Federation. Therefore, Bill, this Once, shall we give up too?"

Clinton nodded slightly.

It's not a pity that I didn't get favors, after all, Simon Westero's favors are not so easy to get.

But Hillary next to her spoke again: "Simon, I think you are a bit absolute. As far as the current federation is concerned, we don't lack other options besides China."

"Others," Simon looked at the president's wife: "Hilary, do you mean Africa, which is in a mess, or Latin America, whose economic structure is basically solidified and difficult to revitalize?"

Hillary did not show weakness: "What about Eastern Europe?"

Simon shrugged with a smile: "In Eastern Europe, Hillary, I think you should be able to understand."

The president's wife is also very strong for a while, and she roughly reacted to what Simon said.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe resulted in an extra virgin economic land that embraced hundreds of millions of people waiting to be developed.

However, it has to be said that even if the federation puts more effort into it, Eastern Europe will undoubtedly remain more of a reserve in Western Europe because of its proximity to water.

Let’s just talk about the cheap labor of hundreds of millions of people. To put it bluntly, this is undoubtedly the most valuable “asset” in Eastern Europe. Western European countries want to maintain their own high welfare and the comfortable working system of their own citizens for less than eight hours, but society It still has to work, and some things still have to be done. Therefore, the hundreds of millions of cheap workers in Eastern Europe can just fill in all these. Moreover, these people flock to Western Europe, because they do not need to be given an identity immediately, so they do not need to consume the social welfare of the local residents. At the same time, because they have no identity, they can do the most work, take the least money, and create the fruits of labor. It is enough for the residents of Western Europe to maintain a leisurely life comfortably.

Compared with Western Europe, which can be reached within a few steps, the difficulty of crossing the ocean to the United States immediately increases geometrically.

In short, it is not impossible for Simon to build a stronghold in Ukraine, and then gradually eat away at the entire Ukraine, but it is simply not feasible to expand his influence to the entire Eastern Europe. After all, when there is a ready-made "good life" that can be easily pursued, not many people are willing to fight step by step. Even if some people dream of a better life, they just go to economically developed Western European countries to wash dishes and work as cleaners. Relatively speaking, they can indeed get more than staying in their own country.

this is the truth.

What's more, for the United States itself, with the issuance of the euro, there is still the most critical problem to be solved at present, which is to maintain the hegemony of the dollar.

With a population of 1.2 billion, China, whose current economic volume has also entered the top ten in the world, is definitely an object that cannot be ignored. Just in order to maintain the hegemony of the US dollar, the Federation must take the initiative to pull China into the WTO system, instead of letting the other party take refuge in the embrace of the euro zone.

After chatting for a few words, they inevitably talked about Latin America, Africa, and finally about Hillary Clinton's election for the New York State Senate next year. Dinner began at seven o'clock and lasted until ten o'clock, and the two parties were generally very pleasant.

The next day is Sunday.

Simon continued to stay here and attended a reception organized by the Washington-based Carlyle Group at noon, and another private banquet in the evening, from the vice president and his wife.

In fact, such a private banquet could have been combined last night.

But, as Al Gore also announced his plan to participate in next year's presidential election some time ago, Mr. Vice President began to draw a clear line from the already notorious Mr. President, saying that when he announced his participation in next year's general election, the other party Clinton was not pulled to help out.

From the perspective of a mature politician, this seems to be a very sensible choice.

However, Gore probably overlooked that most ordinary people are not politicians. Moreover, ordinary people are also the group of people who are most likely to be influenced and lose their judgment, and their positions may not have any accurate positions at all.

This means that in the past few years, Mr. Vice President and Mr. President have always created a posture of a close partner. Now, in order to run for the presidency, in order not to let the incumbent president's bad reputation affect him, he decisively cut off his robe with the other party, what would the public think of such a person?

Can a person who is so ruthless to his close partners still have enough loyalty to voters?

What a focus of public opinion operation.

anyway

Now that the vice president and his wife have drawn a clear line with themselves, and the White House invited Simon to a private banquet, of course the Clintons will not call on the Gores again.

Come and go.

Of course, Simon would not openly draw a line with the vice president and his wife, but went to the banquet happily. After all, this is actually equivalent to maintaining a good relationship with the entire Democratic Party.

Probably also feel that compared to the White House, their own weight is not enough. The Gores also invited some Washington Democrats to help out, so the private banquet on Sunday was even more lively than Saturday night. The crowd was too enthusiastic, and Simon left At that time, because of drinking a lot of wine, it was inevitable that I was a little drunk.

In the new week, Simon just woke up in a private residence in the western suburbs of Washington when he received the news.

In the early hours of Sunday local time, the assembled Russian troops launched an attack on the Chechnya region.

The Second Chechen War broke out.

This time, someone is very well prepared. Not only have there been a number of attacks from Chechnya in Russia some time ago, the authorities have won the support of public opinion, and the name of the war has also been labeled as "anti-terrorism" , seems justifiable.

Moreover, compared to the mess of the Russian army in all aspects of the first Chechen war, the troops that marched into Chechnya this time basically belonged to the last batch of elite families that Russia could get their hands on.

In any case, if there are no surprises in next year's general election, the Kremlin really has to break the boat this time.