1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

So, when the French people saw this scene, they immediately cried out in excitement: "Jeanne!"

"Jeanne!"

"Joan of Arc! She's back!"

"

Some people screamed excitedly, some clapped wildly, some waved flags in their hands, and some had tears in their eyes.

No one would feel offended by a beauty of Haruta's level cosplaying Joan of Arc. Instead, they would think that she was paying tribute to France and inspiring the French people who were in disaster.

If you think about it, the two are indeed very similar! They both try hard to help the poor;

They all care about and love the soldiers; they are all saints canonized by the Holy See; they all have good intentions and are of high status;

They all have strict discipline requirements for the army; they all have extremely high personal charm and respected status;

When Joan of Arc saw French soldiers abusing British prisoners, she spoke out to stop them and even knelt down to hold up the prisoner's head, listening to his last words and dying confession, and resolutely refused to allow the abuse to happen again.

After learning about the Barcelona massacre, Haruta changed his itinerary and went to his former enemy, where he knelt on the ground to pray for the dead and seek justice for them, and also promoted reforms in Spain.

Most importantly, both of them showed up when France was at its most desperate, holding high the banner of hope and leading everyone to fight against the damn British!!!

The French people became increasingly excited as they thought about it, and many immediately confirmed that Joan of Arc had not died in the flames, but had instead been reincarnated as Springfield!

As for why Joan of Arc was reincarnated in the United States and became the President of the United States instead of the President of France, no one cares about this little thing for the time being.

Springfield rode slowly forward on her horse, waving to the people on both sides. The cheers from the crowd became even louder, and many people even tried to break through the police cordon just to get closer to her.

The French people were very happy, but the people responsible for welcoming Springfield were not so happy.

Leaving aside the nervous French security forces, the looks of French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier, who greeted Springfield at the train station, and French President Albert Lebrun, who was waiting near the Arc de Triomphe, and other French dignitaries were extremely meaningful:

No action by a politician is taken lightly. What message did this woman want to convey by dressing up as Joan of Arc and entering Paris along the route taken during Napoleon's restoration?

Tell the French that she will be the savior of France like Joan of Arc, or will she take over the whole of France like Napoleon?

The person who came here is not a good person...

In any case, on the surface, everyone practiced the utmost courtesy, making the reception a grand and friendly carnival with all the guests enjoying themselves.

The two presidents delivered a short speech under the Arc de Triomphe entitled "Together in Times of Difficulty," recalling their past friendship and fully conveying to the outside world the signal of "the unbreakable friendship between France and the United States."

Then...

"Gentlemen, I'm here today to discuss an important matter with you. This is a list of debts owed by France to the United States during World War I. I hope we can come to a solution as soon as possible."

Looking at the documents thrown out by Springfield, Lebrun and Daladier looked at each other in confusion.

Damn it, this woman's expression changes like turning the pages of a book. One second she was reminiscing about the War of Independence, and the next second she came straight to collect a debt!

In fact, the French government was mentally prepared for Springfield to come and collect debts.

After the European war, France owed the United States nearly $40 billion in debt. The Americans have been demanding repayment, initially with only "diplomatic reminders" and later with the establishment of the "World War Foreign Debt Commission" to pursue debt collection worldwide.

The French were forced into a corner and had no choice but to bring up France's aid to the American Revolutionary War. Finally, they even raised the issue to the level of values, talking about "human rights, democracy, and freedom," and saying that talking about money hurts feelings.

However, after the economic crisis, all countries were out of money, conservatism prevailed, and the Americans were also suffering from famine, so they sent people to urge them directly many times.

But, no money means no money!

Even without considering the compound interest, this $40 billion debt would be a terrifyingly large number even if it were put aside for decades, let alone now?

The worst thing was that with the Soviet government coming to power, the tens of billions of francs of debt owed by Tsarist Russia to France became a bubble, the government deficit reached 180 billion francs, and the "gold franc" became completely worthless.

Therefore, the French, who have believed since the time of Louis XVI that "domestic debt is not a debt, foreign debt is a debt", are not unwilling to repay their debts, but they really have no money to repay;

Or to put it more clearly, if they grit their teeth and pay back the money, not only will the French government, which has only been in power for less than four months, be doomed like its predecessors, but the whole of France will be doomed as well.

To be fair, the United States has done its utmost to address the debt issue.

—At first, the pressure wasn't urgent, then an aid plan was put forward to restore the German economy, followed by a repayment plan in installments, and later even basically exempted Germany from war reparations...

Putting aside the issue of the US influence infiltrating Europe, being a creditor really does feel servile.

After all, the French are more respectable than the British. After a pause, Daladier cleared his throat and spoke cautiously in an official tone:

"Ms. Field, we understand your concern about the debt issue. In fact, we are also very concerned about this and have been working hard to raise funds, but..."

"However, the French economy is in the midst of a deep economic crisis, with unstable currency values, high unemployment, and a sharp decline in industrial production. I'm afraid it will be unable to repay such a huge debt."

Chuntian interrupted Daladier with a half-smile on his face:

"I understand France's predicament, but we must also consider the United States' own interests. In order to support France, American taxpayers have paid a huge price. Now, it is time for them to be rewarded."

The American head of state, government, religion, and military personally came to collect the debt. The French head of state and government did not dare to refuse casually and could only continue to "beg":

"Ms. Field, for the sake of Franco-American friendship, please continue to give France some time. We will formulate a repayment plan as soon as possible..."

"On December 15th of last year, France took the lead in refusing to repay its war debts. Gentlemen, do you think I have forgotten this?"

"Uh..."

When talking about this, a hint of embarrassment flashed across the faces of Lebrun and Daladier. This embarrassment was not only due to the debt itself, but also due to the anger of being cheated by the British.

Originally, facing the debt problem, the British secretly colluded with Europe to "band together and refuse to pay back the debt", agreeing that everyone would not pay back the debt together;

As a result, when the due date came last year, Britain, Italy, Finland and other countries secretly repaid the money without telling France!

Now, France, which foolishly took the lead in not repaying the debt, suddenly became a dark light in the darkness, extremely conspicuous!

No wonder Ms. Field went to France in person to collect the debt.

(In fact, part of it was repaid, but it was not returned to the US government, but to some US private banks.)

Seeing that the French side was at a loss for words, Haruta slowly stood up, walked to the window, looked out at the streets of Paris, and leisurely said:

"Of course, we know that times are tough around the world right now, and we don't want to see the friendship between the US and France shattered because of this. So, if you're willing to pay your debt in gold, we'd be happy to do so..."

"this..…."

France would never dare to accept this suggestion.

The reason is simple - unlike the United States, which just announced the decoupling of the dollar from gold and implemented a "credit standard" (actually not entirely), France is still a gold standard country. If the precious gold is used to repay debts, the franc will lose its support and will only collapse more severely.

"Well, it seems you don't agree. I have a second suggestion." Having already discussed this with the commander, Springfield knew that regardless of whether the French government would use gold to repay the debt, gold would flow from France to the United States. He remained calm and continued to propose:

"You can reduce or waive France's tariffs on the United States and use them to offset the debt owed. We don't set a time limit. We can end the debt when the tax is fully deducted. How about that?"

"Well..…"

On the surface, this was undoubtedly a good idea, but both Le Brun and Daladier knew that this was not something they could easily agree to.

During the economic crisis, countries imposed tariffs to hit other countries' industrial and agricultural products, improve the competitiveness of their own products, protect the survival and development of their own companies, and safeguard basic employment for the people;

Once tariffs on the United States are eliminated, American products will instantly gain a huge advantage and defeat all competitors!

If France had no industry or the US industry was not that strong, it would be fine to agree to it. But these two conditions are not met. If they dare to agree, French companies will be bankrupted by American companies in a matter of minutes!

These conditions, which seem fair and just but are actually traps, can only be agreed to by comprador leaders of purely agricultural countries or comprador countries who know nothing about anything.

In fact, France had previously proposed to repay its debts with products such as perfume, wine, silk, and cars, but the United States was reluctant to agree for similar reasons.

Chuntian knew that the French would not agree, so he threw out another document:

"Then, I have a third suggestion. How about the US and France sign a currency stabilization agreement, implementing a fixed exchange rate system pegged to the US dollar, to help stabilize the franc and revive the French economy?"

"That's absolutely not possible!"

Daladier blurted out without thinking.

This is even worse than paying off debts with gold or tariffs!

Because it will cause France to lose its financial sovereignty, the franc, and even France to become a vassal of the United States!

If Daladier dares to sign today, he will be used as a street lamp ornament by the angry French tomorrow!

"This is not right, that is not right, gentlemen, what exactly does the French government intend? You can't just talk about the friendship between America and France when it benefits France, right?"

Haruta's expression turned cold. He picked up the folder and knocked it on the table three times. "Out of friendship and trust, I don't want to push things to the brink of collapse. However, if France is reluctant to fulfill its debt obligations, I will have to consider taking some 'extraordinary measures' to protect our country's interests."

Threat, naked threat.

There was a dead silence in the room, and Le Brun and Daladier looked pale.

They didn't know what the "extraordinary measures" that Springfield was talking about were, but it was definitely something that neither they nor France could tolerate.

Let alone the mysterious "miracles" and economic and financial attacks that have been repeatedly studied by intelligence agencies of various countries, even military action is not possible for France, which is known as the world's best army!

Both Marshal Pétain, a World War I hero, and French public opinion made it very clear to the French military and political circles that the French were no longer willing to fight or shed blood!

As for the enemy, are the US military elite?

Judging from past experience, they are undoubtedly not elite. But that was the experience during the European War, and I can't really say for sure now.

At least the troops brought by Springfield don't seem to be easy to deal with.

Moreover, even if isolationism prevails in the United States, they now have money, supplies, and saints, and can afford to fight if they want. How many people would cry out to go to the battlefield and serve Springfield!

Even if a war breaks out between the US and France because of the debt issue, the French government will be at a moral disadvantage from the very beginning, and the French will certainly be even less willing to fight the Americans with bayonets!

How to repay the debt is your government's business, but I have to go to the front line in the war! What?

Will paying off the debt increase our tax burden?

Come on, come on, try it. Today I will let you know what the initiative of the people in the old revolutionary base areas to punish officials is.

Separate actions and start!

Although I know in my heart that this is most likely just a threat from the United States, who dares to take this responsibility now?

Seeing that the threat had fully taken effect, Haruta sat back in his seat and softened his tone:

"I'm sorry, both of you. That's a last resort. I don't want to get to that point unless it's absolutely necessary."

3

Le Brun and Daladier breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other. The former proposed a solution:

"Ms. Field, I have a suggestion. How about we use French overseas land to pay off our debts?"

This is one of the "debt repayment methods" that the French presidential palace and cabinet have discussed many times, just like when Russia sold Alaska.

Compared with using gold tariffs to repay debts or signing any financial and monetary agreements, this act of "ceding territory" is relatively more acceptable.

As long as the traditional French mainland is not ceded and it is just a colony, the domestic reaction will not be particularly big.

Moreover, some of the French government's colonies were simply money-losing or the cost of maintaining them was very high due to the independence movement, and France had long wanted to get rid of them.

It would be a good idea to sell it to the "honest" American at a high price.

Haruta showed an expression that was hard to describe:

"What does America want with French colonies?"

Because the word "colony" was too straightforward, Le Brun and Daladier were stunned for a moment before they reacted:

Fuck!

I almost forgot, isn't America's recent action the dismemberment of its colonies?

Even if this dismemberment is essentially an attempt to seize hegemony, since such a slogan has been raised, at least on the surface it can never be associated with colonization!

"However, now that you mention it, I do have a new debt repayment proposal that you might agree to."

"Please...go ahead."

"The United States certainly doesn't need France's colonies, but it does need France's abundant natural resources..."

Hmm... using resources to offset debt? That's a good idea.

However, those raw minerals cannot be sold at a high price and the payback period is too long, so they must be "supplemented" from other aspects.

"Ms. Field, what you mean is..."

"In fact, regarding the debt problem, I have already prepared a package solution for France."

Haruta gave a slightly cunning smile.

Three days later, the whole of France bid farewell to US President Springfield. President Lebrun and Prime Minister Daladier immediately convened a meeting of high-level officials to discuss the "Draft of US-France Economic, Trade and Debt Cooperation" and quickly passed most of its clauses.

Of course, this is just a preliminary draft, and there are still many details that need to be improved and supplemented later, but it is only a matter of time.

The important thing is...

"...Ms. Field wants us to inform the British and tell them the same conditions. She's using us as a mouthpiece to express her dissatisfaction..."

President Lebrun sighed deeply.