Chapter 179: Blood on the Bank Steps

“International trade...”

Adelaide considered it very seriously, then shook his head. He knew a little more than the other people in this room.

At present, the Federation still lacked the basic conditions for international trade. Various countries were already extremely dissatisfied with the Baler Federation’s neutrality during the war, and behind that lay deeper reasons.

During the World War, as a neutral country, it had naturally become a haven for large amounts of capital fleeing the conflict. That had inevitably accelerated the Baler Federation’s economic development.

On one hand, other countries had been torn apart by war, their populations withering, with no sign of human habitation for miles. On the other hand, the Baler Federation’s neutrality had instead made it wealthier and stronger.

That gave many belligerent countries a difficult-to-describe displeasure. Even the Victorious Powers felt that the Baler Federation and other neutral countries had stolen the fruits of victory that should originally have belonged to them. Naturally, they had no good face to show the Baler Federation.

Relying on the fact that they had defeated the other half of the world in the World War, these Victorious Powers did not take a neutral country seriously at all. They refused to make good on their obligations precisely to make things difficult for the Baler Federation.

As for the Defeated Powers, they used every method possible to muddle through making good, achieving the purpose of technically making good while making that payment meaningless.

In this diplomatic predicament, the idea of expanding international trade could only remain an idea.

Perhaps it truly was a good way to solve the Baler Federation’s current problems, but the time had not yet come, or rather, the conditions were not yet ripe.

Adelaide looked at William a few more times. This young man was indeed different from the others. He had seen through the present situation at a glance. Within the Federal Progressive Party, there had in fact been similar discussions, and their conclusions were largely not far from William’s statement.

Reviving the economy was actually simple. All they had to do was ensure that the goods produced in those plants had stable buyers.

The domestic market was already satisfied, so they had to look toward the international money market. With 2.4 billion people in the world, what could not be absorbed?

But not now. The International Community’s dissatisfaction with the Baler Federation’s position had left the Baler Federation struggling at every step within that community. If no major change occurred in the short term, this might continue for a long time.

He casually wrote a few symbols in his notebook that only he understood, using them to remind himself of certain matters.

When Adelaide was young, he had worked as a stenographer. In this world, where technology was changing by the day but was still far behind another world, meeting records were usually copied down by secretaries by hand.