Chapter 1459: From Suppression to Winning Over
The French had originally decided to deal with Xiao Peng. They needed a point to divert domestic conflicts, and Xiao Peng just happened to come up with his big head: Look at Xiao Peng - he is well-known and a Da Xia native. It is really appropriate to deal with him to divert conflicts.
Besides, it's not unfair for Xiao Peng to be asked to divert the conflict! Aren't all the troubles in Paris now caused by him?
However, when Hubert told the French politicians about the speculation in Daxia that Xiao Peng might change his nationality, the way of dealing with Xiao Peng changed directly, from suppressing him to winning him over!
It's understandable if you think about it. Although Xiao Peng has always been a Daxia citizen, he has been working and living in Europe and currently lives in Orange Garden, the Netherlands. It's very likely that he will acquire citizenship of another country.
The question is which country he will take citizenship of.
Now it seems that the Netherlands has a lot of advantages, after all, Xiao Peng usually lives in Orange Garden; and Germany also has certain advantages, because Xiao Peng has industries in Germany, and has good relations with many German high-ranking officials and nobles.
But France is not without its advantages. After all, this is where Xiao Peng made his fortune, and he has feelings for this place!
Look, Xiao Peng has two European charities, both in Paris. What does that mean? What? Only one? Does Felix's charitable foundation need any explanation for his relationship with him? This is a privilege neither the Netherlands nor Germany has ever seen!
After all, Paris Saint-Germain is more attractive, right?
Why do they want to win over Xiao Peng?
Is there any need to ask?
Xiao Peng doesn't own a marine vessel now, but he's still an advisor to the Three States Salvage Alliance. Even if he doesn't salvage sunken ships anymore, no one doubts his reputation as the "Salvage King" and his salvaging prowess! What's his intention in returning the marine vessel to Daxia? Isn't that to sever ties with Daxia? It seems he genuinely wants to acquire citizenship in another country.
More importantly: Xiao Peng is an absolute super billionaire!
Although his exact wealth remains a mystery as he is not listed on a public company and has never been on any Forbes list, Forbes once speculated that Xiao Peng is a strong contender for the world's richest man - just look at the exhibits in his own museum: how many people are waiting with cash for him to sell his collection?
According to reliable sources, the collections on display in the "Xiao Pavilion" are less than one percent of Xiao Peng's own collections!
What a boon for France would it be if such a super-rich person were to acquire French citizenship? They would have both influence and wealth, and they could also boost the development of the marine salvage industry, further enhancing France's standing in the EU...
What's more, Xiao Peng's collections will definitely be with him. If the "Xiao Museum" moves to France, my God! I can laugh out loud just thinking about it!
So they quickly changed their strategy. They had originally planned to suppress Xiao Peng to divert the conflict, but now they decided to try to persuade Xiao Peng to obtain French citizenship.
After learning the whole story from Yu Beier, Xiao Peng felt helpless - should he thank those public intellectuals who talked nonsense?
Sometimes we have to admit that even the public intellectuals in Daxia played a historic role: that is, fooling Westerners.
For years, those public intellectuals had been sincerely and heartfeltly criticizing Daxia, claiming it was flawed in every way. In reality, not only did people in China believe them, but even Western countries believed them! This, in turn, created an opportunity for Daxia to maintain a low profile and develop steadily. By the time Western countries realized their mistake and prepared to suppress Daxia, they were surprised to find it was too late: Daxia had already become a behemoth.
This time, the public intellectuals have fooled Westerners again.
Xiao Peng never said he wanted to change his nationality! You're just being sentimental!
But anyway, the problem is solved.
Tsk tsk, we really have to thank those public intellectuals.
Of course, this also caused him a lot of trouble: before, he could just stand up and say that he had no intention of changing his nationality, but now, he really couldn't explain it: wouldn't it be better to keep a little ambiguity? Now everything is convenient, how much trouble does he have now?
After Xiao Peng told Hua Chong what Yu Beier had told him, Hua Chong also laughed: "Boss, it turns out these public intellectuals can do something useful!"
"What the hell is this like being a human being?" Xiao Peng said angrily. "There are so many people in China talking nonsense and I can't explain anything. This makes me really unhappy."
Hua Chong laughed and said, "Why do you care about them? It will be fine once the heat dies down."
Xiao Peng nodded: "Yeah, that's what I thought. They can't interfere with my work. Look, aren't we having a lot of fun?"
Hua Chong asked in confusion, "Boss, we've been walking around here for a long time. Where are you going?"
Xiao Peng said: "Actually, I was just wandering around, and suddenly I thought, why don't we go to the flea market?"
Hua Chong laughed and said, "Flea market? That's great!"
Felix's girlfriend Camille Thomas despised Xiao Peng when she heard that he liked to go to flea markets: in her eyes, it was a helpless act of the poor.
In Europe, people go to flea markets to buy second-hand clothes because they want to get a bargain. But most people in Daxia like to go to places like flea markets to find bargains.
Of course, the success rate of finding bargains in the country is still very low. After all, the buyer is not as smart as the seller.
But in Europe, you can often find bargains - they don't understand the value of Daxia's things.
Just like collector Master Ma, many of his "national treasures" were bought from European flea markets: for example, the "Blue and White Fruit Tree Pattern Double-Tube Vase" from the Qianlong period, the "Blue and White Plum Vase" from the Kangxi period, and the "Helmet with a Five-clawed Golden Dragon with Lanza-style Sanskrit" of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, etc.
Especially the helmet, which was a semi-free gift when he bought a porcelain vase.
Of course, Xiao Peng didn't go to the flea market to find bargains—he was just like any other person; even if a treasure were placed before him, he lacked the knowledge and discernment to distinguish its authenticity. Although he had salvaged countless treasures, they were mostly Western artifacts. His understanding of Eastern artifacts was limited to the level of "sea-salvaged porcelain."
He goes to the flea market more to find some interesting things, such as the antique lighter he is using now. Such small things interest him more.
In Paris, his hobby is more easily satisfied: the Saint-Ouen Market, known as the world's first flea market, is located in Paris. It is also known as the birthplace of the flea market model. It is also a must-see for tourists visiting Paris.
Tsk, tsk, what kind of birthplace is this? Weren't the markets in Daxia thousands of years ago like this? Foreigners just love to flatter themselves!
Of course, no matter how much you complain, you still have to go and see it - otherwise there will be nowhere to play, right?
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