SEC Chapter 532: A Journey Through Europe and Africa
Chapter 532: A Journey Through Europe and Africa
Soon, the next destination was planned, and the group headed straight to Europe. Because they sent someone in advance to inform each place and set the time, the overall itinerary was quite tight. After all, everyone was there to travel, and if it were too formal and rigid, the joy of travel would be diminished.
Fortunately, Europe isn't that large. Zhang Lei led his team on friendly visits and exchanges to Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and other countries. The entire trip focused on eating first, then sightseeing, and the sightseeing was completely free. Zhang Lei had his own reasoning: "Everyone here is cultured and well-mannered. If I come to your place as a guest for a meal, how could you possibly charge me?"
Throughout the journey, Zhang Lei thoroughly implemented the principle of "getting something for free." Upon hearing that a certain country had excellent wine, he directly said, "With so many wives, I should at least send each of them a dozen or so cases, right?" When he arrived in another country and heard that their high-end cosmetics were famous, he casually remarked, "With so many wives, I should at least send each of them dozens of sets of the high-end products."
With this shameless approach, the group had a great time. European leaders, observing this, knew perfectly well that this wasn't a state meeting, but rather a trip to freeload. However, out of politeness, they couldn't say much—after all, they were all nations, and the guests had come from afar; they couldn't refuse to entertain them. And since the guests were taking so much, they felt obligated to complain. So, each country simply turned a blind eye, assuming no one could take much.
But after Zhang Lei and his group left, the countries were stunned when they did the math: the individual expenses didn't seem like much, but this kid had brought several thousand people with him!
In every country he visited, Zhang Lei would signal his entourage to subtly inquire with the local leader: "Does your country have any princesses or daughters of leaders willing to marry foreigners?" He would accept all such requests, ostensibly to promote friendly exchanges between the two countries, and since marriage was the best way to establish diplomatic relations.
Upon hearing this, the leaders of various countries considered it a stroke of good fortune. Countries with royal families sent their princesses directly; those without royal families arranged for the daughters of officials to marry into their families. Since the dowry was so generous, Zhang Lei naturally had to prepare a betrothal gift as well, and he simply used grain as the betrothal gift.
European countries, being relatively small in area, were overjoyed to hear that Australia could supply them with unlimited food at extremely low prices, and readily signed agreements with Australia. After all, even if they didn't produce food themselves, they would have more than enough reserves, freeing up their human and material resources to do more valuable things.
Zhang Lei's condition was that countries would contribute their aerospace, long-range missile, and other related technologies in exchange for food, essentially a technology exchange. His attitude was also very direct: Will you exchange or not? If not, I will cooperate with other countries. In that case, you won't get my food, but other countries will, and your country will naturally fall behind.
After a brief deliberation, the various countries readily signed technology exchange agreements with Zhang Lei, a swift and decisive move. Zhang Lei was overjoyed, but his eldest son, Zhang Chengyu, far away in Australia, was overwhelmed with work.
Looking at the numerous cooperation agreements and wedding invitations, Zhang Chengyu felt utterly overwhelmed. He wondered to himself: Wasn't his father supposed to be on an exchange visit abroad? How did things escalate to the point of involving sex? But then he realized that his father had not only brought back a large number of marriage alliances but had also secured various resources and cutting-edge technologies for the country—the benefits were countless.
Zhang Chengyu felt a warmth in his heart, realizing that his father still cared for him and worried that supporting the country alone would be too difficult for him. He explained that his father was using the guise of a global trip to accumulate wealth and seek profits for him abroad. Thinking of this, Zhang Chengyu resolved to share the burden for his family. He immediately arranged various tasks, adhering to the principle of "sharing blessings, but sharing hardships," assigning responsibilities for important national departments and international cooperation to his younger brothers, ensuring each brother was assigned to a specific country.
Meanwhile, Zhang Lei, far away in Europe, was already so engrossed in the country that he felt the locals were far too hospitable. If it weren't for the collective, vehement complaints from his wives, he probably wouldn't have stopped.
Ye Shuqin looked at Zhang Lei and couldn't help but complain, "What exactly are you trying to do? Do you intend to marry women from every country in the world?"
Zhang Lei chuckled awkwardly and casually replied, "It's not impossible."
The moment these words left his mouth, Ye Shuqin launched into a tirade, giving him a light but firm "lecture." Seeing his sullen wife before him, Zhang Lei quickly begged for forgiveness: "I was wrong, I was wrong, please don't marry me, okay?"
Ye Shuqin only gave up after hearing his promise not to remarry.
But some things, once started, are like a flood bursting its banks; once you want to stop, it's too late. After hearing about Zhang Lei's string of marriages, leaders of other countries followed suit, proactively proposing marriage alliances. The implication was clear: you've married princesses and daughters of other nations, are our women unworthy of you? If you don't marry, you're disrespecting us, and if you don't give us face, we won't entertain you.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Lei knew he had no choice but to marry her. So he turned to the group of wives and reasoned with them, appealing to their emotions and explaining the benefits of the marriage alliance: it was good for the country, for his sons, for the people of the country, and even better for global stability. In the future, everyone would be relatives, and if anyone wanted to start a conflict, he could mediate between them.
After their trip to Europe, the group traveled to Africa.
Actually, Zhang Lei didn't want to come to Africa. He's never liked people with dark skin, but his wives wouldn't have it—they'd promised a global trip, and they couldn't miss any place. Besides, they knew what Zhang Lei was thinking, so they deliberately stirred things up by insisting on going to Africa.
The leaders of various African countries had long heard of Zhang Lei's deeds and received him with exceptional warmth. After all, most of these countries were economically underdeveloped, and the local people were generally lazy, resulting in very low productivity. Seeing this, Zhang Lei could only agree to each promise, negotiating with each country and promising to supply them with unlimited amounts of food.
Africa may not have much else, but its unique natural environment is teeming with rare wild animals: lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos… These protected animals, rarely seen by ordinary people, are readily available to those at their level. Zhang Lei immediately signed rare animal exchange agreements with various countries, which essentially meant building a large zoo in Australia and transporting all these wild animals there.
Although Zhang Lei's aesthetic sense wasn't exactly in line with this, Africa has produced quite a few world-class beauties. Seeing the beauties offered by various countries, Zhang Lei could only "accept them with tears in his eyes," while saying he couldn't damage diplomatic relations.