The reaction of the French government to the People's Party's "suggestion" of protecting Northern Vietnam and Laos was not nearly as big as the People's Party had imagined. Compared to the fierce war taking place on French soil, a few colonies ten thousand miles away were not worth mentioning at all. France was actually very interested in the "Sino-French relationship" proposed by the People's Party. The broad commercial cooperation interests reached between China and Britain made the French side very envious. If Zhang Yu was not joking and truly supported the establishment of a commercial cooperation relationship between China and France independent of Britain, the French would certainly welcome it warmly.

During the Sino-French negotiations, Gu Weijun increasingly realized just how grand the "boldness" of the People's Party was. China's 5% tariff was already a very low level in this era. This was originally a side effect of foreign countries forcibly opening China's doors with strong ships and sharp cannons. They coerced China into lowering tariffs, which directly led to a significant reduction in China's tax revenue.

Abolishing concessions and reclaiming sovereignty—the People's Party did not show the mania of a nouveau riche in these aspects, but negotiated realistically based on the interests of both sides. They proposed various agreements that satisfied normal commercial interests and did not shy away from the reality caused by history. This mature demeanor often made the young Gu Weijun feel his own immaturity.

Regarding tariffs, the People's Party seemed not to see these tax revenue issues at all, and had no intention of forcibly changing the current tax rates. Low tariffs had now become a sharp weapon for the People's Party in negotiations with foreign countries. The only thing Zhang Yu insisted on was developing trade between the People's Party and foreign countries on the basis of fixed-quota trade. His explanation was, "We don't have hard currency and can't implement the gold standard, so we can only use fiat currency."

Regarding this insistence, Gu Weijun found that he couldn't guess the People's Party's core policy no matter what, so he simply stopped asking about the reasoning behind it.

France, nicknamed the "Usury Empire," had a considerable standard in lending. Since low tariffs could guarantee France's interests, France proposed that in order to build a "brand new Sino-French relationship," France could consider "transferring the protectorate rights of Northern Vietnam and Laos" to China, but China should also consider providing loans to France to support France's war needs.

"As far as I know, France is not short of money," Zhang Yu replied.

The French Minister's face immediately turned ugly. Zhang Yu's words were equivalent to directly rejecting France's request. Zhang Yu's subsequent request surprised the French Minister even more, "I would like to invite Mr. Minister to visit Chinese farms and factories with me. I wonder what Mr. Minister thinks?"

The French Minister asked in confusion, "What exactly does Mr. Zhang intend? To prove that China has the production capacity for grain and industry?"

Zhang Yu laughed, "France's industrial, agricultural, and technological levels are first-class in Europe. Leaving aside the issue of joining the Entente Powers, which is a matter for later, I just hope the Minister can evaluate whether the level of these Chinese farmers and workers can reach the French level."

The French Minister was somewhat annoyed by Zhang Yu's statement. After all that talk, he just wanted to show off China's strength! The French Minister said unfriendliness, "Can Mr. Zhang send these farmers and workers to work in France?"

Zhang Yu replied, "Why not?"

Now the French Minister suddenly realized. With a polite smile, he said, "I have never been to Wuhan, and I would very much like to visit."

Zhang Yu also replied readily, "We Chinese have a saying: Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar? Let me personally be your guide."

The scope of the visit was quite extensive. Zhang Yu accompanied the French Minister for a week to visit farms, rural areas, factories, and mines in Hubei and Anhui. While traveling, everyone discussed the possibility of Sino-French cooperation in various fields. China in the late Qing Dynasty was not too far behind the world level in technology. After the People's Party seized several important industrial centers in China, it further strengthened its industrial level and strength. France also had its own unique level in heavy industry, not to mention that France was a major agricultural country in Europe. Originally, their industrial and mining enterprises did not notice the huge demand for industrial construction in China. Even if they noticed, they had no way to compete with Britain in the Far East.

After a week of visits, the French Minister was really "unsatisfied." If he hadn't been burdened with a mission, the French Minister would have even wanted to tour the entire People's Party base area. What a vast market this was! What infinite business opportunities were here! Not to mention consuming the demand of the entire Chinese market, just the demand seen was enough to make various industries in France eat until their mouths were full of oil.

As for the Chinese workers and farmers in the farms and factories, their work performance also greatly exceeded the French side's imagination. Agriculture was China's strong suit. The French even saw a large number of hot-bulb tractors driving back and forth on the farms, whether for plowing or transportation. China was not a backward country at all; this country was also making efforts towards industrialization.

As for the factories, the French were confident in their own country's level; France's industrial level was far above China's. Although he didn't know the specific situation in French factories, the French Minister believed that those Chinese workers who buried their heads in work could serve as apprentice workers in France, and presumably could meet French standards.

Men in France had all gone to the battlefield. Even if the Chinese side refused to send troops, if they could send hundreds of thousands or millions of workers and farmers to work in France's empty factories and farms, it would also give France huge support. The French Minister's negotiation angle naturally leaned in this direction.

"If workers are sent, these workers cannot be considered immigrants," the French Minister emphasized this issue first.

"Of course, we have no intention of emigrating millions of people to France," Zhang Yu agreed. "However, if we send labor to France, we also need to sign an agreement with the French side to guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese workers."

Zhang Yu then emphasized, "We are sending workers to France, not sending slaves to France. So we must ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of these Chinese citizens are guaranteed. This is the foundation of everything!"

The French Minister could certainly understand Zhang Yu's request. After conducting friendly negotiations in this regard, the French Minister returned to the consulate in Wuhan on the grounds of fatigue. Three days later, the French Minister formally proposed to Zhang Yu, hoping to negotiate with Zhang Yu on sending 50,000 Chinese laborers to work in France.

In international politics, when two very important countries conduct secret room negotiations, other countries will feel uneasy. The secret talks between China and France aroused great "interest" from Britain and the United States. Between these two countries whose relationship was once quite tense, they suddenly became intimate. Britain didn't really care. Anyway, the goal they pursued was for China to join the Entente Powers and for China to recognize British bonds.

Compared to Britain's calmness, the American representative's greatest feeling was unease. If China cast aside the United States and colluded with France, this would have a considerable impact on the United States' grand strategy. But the person in charge of negotiations was Zhang Yu, and Zhang Yu had not shown up, nor had other leaders of the People's Party. The American Minister was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Since national-level diplomatic work could not proceed smoothly, His Excellency the Minister temporarily put his own commercial interests first. Because he had once taken the lead in negotiating the coconut trade with China, the American Minister spent a lot of money to keep his position as Minister to China, one of the purposes being to continue monopolizing this coconut trade. The American Minister quickly connected with the Chinese business representative in this regard. However, the Chinese business representative who used to contact the American Minister was gone. The new representative told the American Minister with an indifferent expression, "The situation has changed now."

The new Chinese business representative tried to be polite on his face, but that smile squeezed out with effort was really fake enough; it looked even less comfortable than having no expression at all. Such an expression indicated hostility and rejection, and the American Minister immediately became alert. Perhaps his own business was going to suffer some losses? The American Minister asked, "What changes?"

"The route originally intended to be transported to Anhui via the Yangtze River has changed slightly. We have already started to build a processing plant in Fuzhou. Right here." The Chinese business representative pointed to the map and said, "In the future, part of the transportation route will be greatly shortened."

Hearing that the coconut trade was not going to be reduced or even cancelled, the American Minister's heart immediately returned to his stomach. He just didn't understand what was going on with the Chinese business representative's indifferent attitude, and where the original business representative had gone. During the entire meeting, several people from the Chinese side were present, all with gloomy faces, as if they were going to do something terrible.

But the whole negotiation was very constructive. The People's Party planned to build two new coconut processing zones in Fujian and Guangdong. These two places were closer to the Philippines and could save costs significantly. The American Minister expressed the hope that the Chinese side would expand the labor export quota for picking coconuts. The labor ability of the locals in the Philippines, especially their enthusiasm for such large-scale repetitive labor, was limited. Chinese laborers were more efficient in the Philippines.

Such a request was not immediately agreed to like last time. The Chinese business representative's expression became even uglier. He coldly stated that this matter could continue to be discussed. He could not give the American Minister any answer now.

What exactly happened? This was the American Minister's biggest doubt after the meeting ended. The previous Chinese business representative was a guy with a very flexible attitude, especially after receiving certain benefits during the negotiation, his posture became even more flexible. He did his best to satisfy the American Minister's requests. The new production plan seemed well-designed to the American Minister, whether it was the transportation route or the local arrangements. Including the arrangements for a series of receiving and handling procedures, the Chinese side had obviously put in effort. The problem was that the negotiation opponent this time was very stiff, even raw. If the American Minister didn't care more about money, he would probably have turned a cold face in return due to personal willingness.

After this happened, the American Minister wondered if these things he encountered were a kind of attitude of the People's Party.

Regarding the People's Party acquiring political power in China, the United States was already fully mentally prepared. The United States even welcomed the People's Party's completion of control over China. What the United States was really worried about was the foreign attitude of this emerging political force. It was only 16 years ago that China was last pinned down and beaten by foreign countries. In the more than half a century before 1916, China had been beaten by foreign countries time and again, so the People's Party, which had finally started to regain China's status, was extremely likely to erupt with strong hostility towards the outside world.

However, the American Minister soon understood what had actually happened. American consulates everywhere paid great attention to collecting intelligence. According to the situation they learned, the Chinese business representative who originally negotiated with the American Minister had been dismissed and investigated for accepting bribes. Not just that one person; the People's Party carried out a major rectification of various business negotiation personnel, and many people fell. Some were even shot for accepting huge amounts of bribes.

The new batch of people who came up now could also complete business negotiations according to the orders of the People's Party, but with the warning not far behind, they now followed a strict avoidance negotiation mode, for fear of following in the footsteps of those previous guys. In business negotiations in various countries, especially in the mode of the People's Party which was akin to government procurement, officials basically had to take a bite; this was a global convention. The Chinese business representative who discussed business with the American Minister actually didn't take much. Judging by the price in the worldwide scope, this official was already quite honest.

However, the People's Party even used the death penalty to deal with this behavior. The American Minister didn't know whether to express appreciation for the People's Party's practice or to express horror at this practice of the People's Party. If the United States also did things like the People's Party, first of all, the diplomatic circles would be executed entirely. In the United States, except for a few important diplomats, the positions of other diplomats were bought with money, which was legal behavior in the United States. As for various commercial behaviors where government officials colluded with capitalists, there were also corresponding judicial procedures in the United States to legalize them. Those guys who were sentenced were all brought down in political struggles because they acted recklessly without regard for the rules. If following the People's Party's standards and methods, domestic officials in the United States would basically all have to be executed, and the American Minister himself could not be spared.

But fortunately, the People's Party did not oppose normal commercial behavior, and the American Minister did not need to worry about how the People's Party handled its own affairs. But feeling like the fox mourning the death of the hare, the American Minister felt that after returning to his country, he needed to promote several laws to protect the legality of his actions. What moral and behavioral standards the People's Party used to define their own country was China's internal affair, but the United States was a country ruled by law. As a member of the American ruling class, he must use the law to protect the interests of the ruling class. Things that were illegal in China had to be legal in the United States.

However, these operations could only begin after returning to the country. The American Minister arranged his work. Finally, he waited until Zhang Yu and the French Minister finished their negotiations. After seeing Zhang Yu, the American Minister immediately presented the attitude of the US government to Zhang Yu, "The Federal Government of the United States is willing to recognize the People's Party government as the legal government of China, and hopes that diplomatic relations can be established between the two countries as soon as possible."

"Oh?" Zhang Yu was not surprised by this. He laughed, "Mr. Minister, we welcome the attitude of the US government. I will introduce you to one of our personnel who studied in the United States. The specific operation of this matter can be handed over to him. I hope to talk to you about the diplomatic philosophy of our People's Party. You may remember, that is the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence."