Chapter 3 The Early Snow

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  1929 was a year in which many things were destined to happen; In January, Kuhn observed the resonance fluorescence of atomic nuclei in an experiment. Mossbauer, who would later win the Nobel Prize in Physics, was also born in Munich, Germany this year. Churchill, who had been Prime Minister of Britain, was defeated by the British Labour Party in May and gave up his position as Prime Minister to Chamberlain.

  Xu Yang believes that 1929 was a year of special significance. Assuming, if there had been no economic crisis spreading from the United States to the world in 1929, Germany would have found it difficult to take advantage of the self-absorption of various countries to rise again.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second, and Xu Yang was still lazily lying on the balcony, silently watching the fluffy snowflakes floating in the air. He thought: Ha'er must be busy to death at this time.

  In the eyes of many people, Haru von Stark is a weak Junker aristocrat, but Xuyang doesn't think so. Can a weak person bear the burden of managing the business of a large family?

  Harl had spent a great deal of time investigating before dumping his stocks, and from various small signs he had come to the conclusion that his son's advice was correct, which made him feel extremely incredulous. However, he didn't have the chance to ask in detail, as there were too many things for him to do at this time.

  Xu Yang's mind was racing with thoughts of how to persuade Harl to transform the family factory.

  "Hmm... now that our family has a factory producing light firearms, and the tractor factory can also be converted to produce tanks, but how do we actually make tanks? Ah! Krupp must have reserve personnel for tank production, let's try to secretly poach a few. Hehe... seems like I'm being too hasty."

  Xu Yang thought for a moment and couldn't help but let out a silly laugh. He suddenly jumped up: "Get the car ready, I'm going out!"

  "Master, where are you going? The old master has ordered that you cannot go too far."

  Xu Yang's messy black hair was a bit embarrassing, he asked: "Do you have any fun places to recommend?"

  Straley knew from his over a decade of serving Xuyang that this young master had an extremely enthusiastic love for China, always paying attention to any news from the distant eastern country. In order not to give Xuyang the idea of traveling far, Straley thought and asked: "How about the Crystal Palace in Shibei (later known as 'Ningfenbao')? The museum there collects art pieces from ancient Eastern countries."

  As Straley had thought, Xu Yang's eyes lit up as soon as he heard the words "Oriental Ancient Country", and he hastily urged the preparation of the vehicle.

  The vehicle was soon ready, and under the servant's dress-up at home, Xu Yang wore a simple Prussian winter outfit and sat quietly in the car, looking out at the street. The first snow of November came a bit early, and the pointed roofs of the Gothic buildings were covered with white snow. There were piles of uncleared snow on both sides of the street, and there were few people walking on the street, who preferred to gather around the iron buckets burning firewood for warmth. Under the arrangement of the old steward, they mobilized five double-seat convertible cars produced by their family's car company this year. Xu Yang sat in the passenger seat, curiously looking out and asking the driver questions from time to time.

  Originally, Xu Yang had left home with an excited mood, but when he saw the streets lined with homeless people lying everywhere, wrapped in tattered clothes that didn't even resemble clothing, their frail bodies trembling with hunger and cold, his excitement dissipated.

  Munich is the capital of Bavaria, with Gothic architecture as its main style. The overall style characteristics of Gothic architecture are: empty, slender, towering and sharp. They directly reflect the new structural technology and strong religious consciousness of the Middle Ages. Since ancient times, Munich has been a representative center of Bavarian culture. Nowadays, under these buildings full of representative significance, are those who represent the people at the bottom of this era.

  Xu Yang instructed the driver to slow down, he was dressed in luxurious clothes and looked out of the window at those people who were staring at him with numb eyes. That's right, compared to the people outside the window, Xu Yang's clothes could be called luxurious, because those people didn't even have a single complete piece of clothing that could keep them warm.

  "How could it be like this?" Xu Yang didn't dare look out again. No! It wasn't that he didn't dare, but rather he couldn't bear to look out again.

  Xu Yang certainly knew about the poverty in Germany in 1929, but what he had previously learned from books was completely different from the visual shock brought by seeing it with his own eyes.

  Xu Yang raised his head, seemingly muttering to himself: "No wonder Germany would go to war under the incitement of that madman. People couldn't live on, and that madman gave them hope for survival, so people naturally followed."

  According to historical records, after a brief period of stability, the Weimar Republic in Germany, which could not exclude foreign humiliation and internal troubles, suffered a severe blow in the 1929 global financial crisis. This fragile republic faced serious economic problems, on the verge of bankruptcy, and the German people lived extremely hard lives, providing an opportunity for certain forces in Germany to rise.

  Look at the stormtroopers with armbands bearing the swastika symbol on their arms, they are among the suffering people, constantly blowing hot air from their mouths to agitate and distribute flyers, using exaggerated body language to describe who should be supported for a better life.

  It must be said that Goebbels was a qualified propaganda minister of the Nazi Party, he could always quickly perceive what people needed and give them hope from the perspective of propaganda, giving them a guiding belief.

  Xu Yang found that wherever there were heating stations, they were all decorated with swastika flags and propaganda posters. People lined up in long queues waiting to receive potato soup. Nowadays, people don't care what you want to do as long as you can fill their stomachs; they won't mind who they should support.

  The car continued to move forward, Xu didn't worry about those who would suddenly rush up and block the vehicle. Despite the hardships, most Germans still maintained a commendable discipline. The glances thrown over were not without greed, but when the stormtroopers learned that there was a Apostle-like figure named Kahn-Stark inside the car, they felt isolated from the crowd, and those with greedy eyes could only envy but not act.

  "The car stopped here." Xuyang opened the door and walked out, looking up at the snowflakes falling from the sky.

  The sky is gray, just like the mood of most Germans. People's eyes lack passion, and only when they receive potato soup do you see a glimmer of hope to live on in their eyes.

  Long lines of people stood in front of the National Socialist Party's food distribution point, but the small amount of grain was not enough to go around. Often a small box of potato soup became the total daily ration for an entire family. The economic downturn had caused even the strongest men to lose their jobs, and they could only rely on handouts from others to get through each day.

  Due to treaty restrictions, Germany was only allowed to have an army of 100,000 men and could not possess heavy equipment. However, the men who wanted to rely on joining the army for a living still tried their best to get in, which created a very interesting situation; the physical condition of German soldiers was amazingly good.

  The SA of the Nazi Party was not part of the German government, it was not bound by treaty restrictions. Men who had lost their chance to participate in the army turned to the SA for a way out. With the support of Junker aristocrats and a small number of capitalists, the Nazi Party's funds became abundant. Although the SA did not have a salary, at least they were fed, with this tempting condition, the SA expanded rapidly from its initial 800,000 to 1.8 million, which is 18 times that of the German national defense army!

  "Your Excellency!"

  A loud and clear salute drew Xu Yang's gaze down from the sky, and he turned to see a middle-aged man wearing a combat team uniform. He stood upright with his right arm raised at a 45-degree angle, his fingers closed together pointing forward, performing an extremely standard hand salute. From the badge on his uniform, this was a leader of a combat team.

  Xu Yang was taken aback, he knew that the raised-hand salute was an internal gesture of respect for the leader within the National Socialist Party. He thought to himself, should he respond with a noble gesture or return the salute? "When did I become so respected by the National Socialist Party members?" This was the reason for Xu Yang's momentary stunned expression.

  Like this, Xu Yang raised his head and quietly looked at the leader of this vanguard team.

  "Please, remember my name; Leon Foster." He said solemnly, "If it weren't for your family's help, we really wouldn't know what to do. It was your family that saved them!" He pointed at the people waiting in line for food.

  "Oh..." Xu Yang slowly began to understand, he remembered that in September this year, he seemed to have signed a document related to donating food to the Stormtroopers. "So, Foster, are you willing to take me around for a look?"

  Foster saluted again, his voice somewhat excited: "Will do! Your Excellency von Staack, I certainly will!"

  In this era of hardship, myths are born easily. And in Munich, hardly anyone doesn't know about the legendary figure of the Strack family - Kahn-von-Strack! The genius who has had unimaginable wisdom since childhood, 14-year-old Kahn-von-Strack has taken over a large number of family businesses from his father Hal, and it is he who, in the name of the Strack family, repeatedly donates materials to help people during difficult times.

  Long before the Nazi Party had deliberately sought to establish close relations with the Krupp family, it had been energetically publicizing the close relationship between Xu Yang and Hitler. If Hitler was the hope in the eyes of the Nazi Party members, then Xu Yang had already been propagandized as an indispensable stroke on top of that "hope".

  Xu Yang walked aimlessly on the snowy streets under Foster's lead, and the atmosphere was somewhat depressing due to the things he saw along the way. Xu Yang learned from Foster that 17 people had already died in despair due to lack of food and warm clothing, and this number would continue to rise. Ironically, at this time, only the notorious Stormtroopers were doing their best to rescue.

  "Thanks to the support of your family, we are able to do this, so thank you to the von Staack family." Foster's voice was low and menacing: "Those damned speculators, they only want to fleece every penny from the German people." Then his voice rose to a crescendo: "Only we, the noble Junker aristocracy of Germany, and our great party, selflessly and generously step forward to help the people. We are all Germans, we absolutely cannot watch as our compatriots die in desperation!"

  To Xu Yang, this sounded like an oath.

  Perhaps intentionally or unintentionally, Hitler took the words from his conversation with Xu Yang to his speech. It was on a night two months ago when Xu Yang shouted in front of Hitler: 'We Germans cannot watch our compatriots die in despair!'

  The word "compatriot" is now so thought-provoking...

  And what an inflammatory sentence it is!

  The next day, Hitler enthusiastically used it in speeches, newspapers, leaflets and other things, and received a wide response. This made Hitler praise Xu Yang as a language genius, and since then Hitler also had a small habit of bringing a secretary to record every word Xu Yang said during their conversations.

  Xu Yang looked at those queuing for potato soup and asked, "Is there only potato soup? Why not distribute some bread? Is the food insufficient?"

  To Foster, Xu Yang's words were music to his ears. Any fool could see what was coming next. His sentences came out in a rush: "Not enough. Sir, surely this little food is not enough? Is your family willing to be more generous and help us further?"

  Xu Yang smiled slightly, his words were decisive: "I'm willing! I will also persuade the entire Junker aristocracy to donate food and enough winter clothes as a member of the Stark family heir."

  Foster was so excited that he couldn't speak, standing stiffly on the spot, his face flushed with excitement, his nose blowing two white vapors rapidly, like a cow panting. They were stormtroopers, but they were also members of the German people, without whom there would be no them.

  However, at this time, a discordant voice appeared, "Young master, I'm afraid you can't do this. This will cause your family to lose a lot of benefits and even fall into deficit, the consequences are very serious!" The speaker was Stray who had been following Xu Yang all along.

  Streeter's words dragged Fothergill and his group from heaven to hell, their low moans attracting attention.

  Xu Yang kicked the snow under his feet and said in a very affirmative tone: "If our nation is gone, then the existence of our Stardak family will also lose its meaning. My family is willing to go through this difficult time with all the Dierman compatriots!" His facial expression was so solemn.

  The crowd on the street was stirred, they all heard Xu Yang's declaration, they asked with curiosity to those who knew about it, when they learned about what had happened, originally in their eyes, this legendary Stark heir, at this moment in their minds, his status has risen to be a messenger sent by God to help people!

  It was unclear who shouted "Long live!" first, but people responded and they shouted until their faces turned red and their necks thickened, falling into a state of frenzy.

  Amid cheers, Xu Yang got into the carriage and it slowly drove away from the crowd.

  In the car, Xu Yang wiped the hot sweat from his forehead, as if complaining: "It's so hard to win people over, it's so hard to do it once, and I'm not tired of doing it all the time! At first, I was a bit impressed by that person..."

  "What did you say?" The driver didn't understand Chinese.

  Xu Yang saw the driver's eyes filled with admiration, and he felt a little proud, but as soon as he thought of the consequences, his whole body went soft on the seat cushion. "I'm done for! My father will beat my butt to a pulp."

  This time it was German, the driver finally understood what his idol (whom he had just recognized) was saying. He suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing Xu Yang to tumble forward and land on the windshield. Just as Xu Yang was about to get angry, he saw the driver sitting in the driver's seat with a resolute expression, using an oath-like tone: "Sir! Whoever wants to harm you will have to step over my dead body first!"

  Xu Yang thought: This time it's gone too far...