Chapter 876: Thirty Years in the East, Thirty Years in the West
Xiao Peng straightened his sitting posture and said, "Ms. Foster, what kind of ship do you want me to find?"
Michael Higgins and Alena Foster were both stunned: "Mr. Xiao, do you know why we are looking for you?"
Xiao Peng said helplessly, "That's not hard to guess, is it? You can't possibly want me to come to Ireland or Northern Ireland to invest, right? You should know that I'm not cut out for investment. So you definitely wouldn't ask me to salvage a sunken ship for any other reason."
Michael Higgins laughed and said, "Xiao, don't be so down on yourself. You must have made a lot of money from shorting Channel 4, right?"
Xiao Peng spread out his hands. Well, he had completely forgotten about the grudge between him and the British.
"You can't blame me for this. At most, I just knew some information." Xiao Peng said modestly.
Michael Higgins smiled and said, "Intelligence is always the most valuable. If you have intelligence, it means you have the initiative. But Xiao, we are not looking for you for investment, but for the shipwreck. I want to ask you first, do you know Ireland?"
Xiao Peng said without hesitation: "I have a basic understanding. In fact, I admire you very much. You are very similar to us Chinese."
There is a reason why he said that.
Ireland and China were founded at basically the same time. They declared independence in 1948, and Britain recognized their independence in 1949, which was basically the same period as China.
And they were unwelcome in Europe for a long time.
When they were founded, they were almost identical to China, both of them were poor and blank. Furthermore, due to religious reasons, their living habits were more similar to those of Italy on the other side of Europe. Furthermore, due to the breakdown of relations with Britain and isolation from mainstream European society, their path to development was truly difficult.
This is actually understandable: poor relatives are always looked down upon by rich relatives.
Their development path is similar to that of China:
They first expanded their advantageous industries: Three-quarters of Ireland's land is grassland and pasture, earning it the nickname "European countryside" by Europeans at the time. Leveraging these natural advantages, Ireland developed a fully mechanized modern agriculture, becoming the "granary of Europe." Similar to the early days of China, Ireland's agricultural development during that period was similar to the "Agriculture Imitates Dazhai" movement.
But agriculture alone wasn't enough; they also began developing industry. Only a well-developed industrial system could truly enhance a country's strength. This is similar to, yet slightly different from, China. With limited land resources and national strength, they prioritized the development of industries like machinery and automobile manufacturing. Thanks to continuous government investment, Ireland has built industries from scratch, and now accounts for 40% of its GDP, a figure that continues to rise.
In addition, they vigorously develop tourism and cultural industries, resulting in continuous economic growth. Crucially, they also employ various "tricks" to generate revenue, such as helping others avoid taxes. Xiao Peng and his team employ the "Double Ireland" tax avoidance scheme, which is achieved by establishing companies in Ireland. Currently, nine of the top ten software companies in the world are based in Ireland; nine of the top ten pharmaceutical companies are based there; thirteen of the top fifteen medical technology companies are based there; and nine of the top ten information and communications technology companies are based there. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, EBAY, PayPal, Yahoo, Facebook, and Twitter all have their European headquarters in Ireland. The goal is to significantly save on tax and other costs.
The most amazing thing is that they regard improving people's livelihood as a factor of development. Even China Construction Bank has opened a branch here to cooperate with the Belt and Road Initiative. How can this place not develop?
Ireland's current per capita GDP far exceeds that of countries like the UK, France, the US, and Germany, making it a truly developed country.
But the funny thing is: even though they are now rich, European countries still look down on them. The way European countries see Ireland is basically the same as the way Chinese people see China, and most of their impressions are still stuck in 20 or 30 years ago.
This kind of stereotyped impression is very interesting.
Xiao Peng's old classmate Shao Feng once told Xiao Peng a story about himself.
Shao Feng has a relative from Taiwan.
When he was a child, this was a matter of great honor. When the relative came home to worship the ancestors, Shao Feng's family was like celebrating the Spring Festival. No matter how far away the relatives were, they would come to see this "rich relative".
Every time that "rich relative" returned, he'd bring back some gold jewelry, like gold rings and earrings. At the time, it was especially popular for relatives from Taiwan to bring these things back to the mainland. And those gold items were unique: they were incredibly small and delicate. Take the rings, for example, each weighed only two or three grams, making them practically worthless.
But people would say: The value of gold lies in its craftsmanship, not its weight. Look at how good our craftsmanship is here. This is the real thing...
You have money, so you can say whatever you want. It’s free anyway, right?
He went to pay homage to his ancestors once and never came back. He was probably scared by Shao Feng's poor relatives: after all, there are all kinds of birds in the forest, and Shao Feng's family is not easy to deal with. All kinds of people who are not related to him come and ask for things: some ask for cars, money, houses, and some ask him to take them abroad... Anyway, all kinds of unreasonable demands popped up.
As a result, I don’t know what was wrong with this relative, but he came back to worship his ancestors two years ago. This time he brought a lot of gold items, which were small and exquisite.
As a result, a large number of relatives came this time, but when they saw that the so-called gifts were still these small gold items, they were no longer interested. Now these relatives all have big gold chains and small gold watches. It’s more like they came to show off than to ask for gifts.
This made the relative from Taiwan very uncomfortable. In his imagination, they were just a bunch of poor relatives. How come they became like this after not seeing them for a few years?
The last time he came back, he'd given Shao Feng a Game Boy console he'd played with for who knows how many years. Shao Feng's use of it at school had made countless people jealous. Now that Shao Feng had grown up and could enjoy some luxury, he gave him a gold ring: a little over two grams. Shao Feng wasn't stingy, either, and bought him a two-ounce gold chain as a return gift. He then booked him first class on his return trip. The "rich relative" hadn't mentioned the craftsmanship of the gold, and the large gold chain was a sight to behold.
His relative then realized: the world has changed!
The situation in Europe is similar to that over there. Everyone thinks that Ireland is still the "poor relative" of the past, but in fact it has developed a long time ago!
Michael Higgins clapped his hands. "If you know Irish history, you must know the Mistletoe, right?"
Xiao Peng jumped up from his chair. "What did you say? You want me to find that ship? What are you trying to do?"
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