Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 542: Decision on the Nanyang Issue
"Your Majesty, Governor Mei, Chief Zhang, General Li, Director Wu, Director Huang and others have arrived."

"Tell them to sit in the living room. I'll be there later."

"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You must have had a hard time on the journey back. Stop standing and sit down to talk."

Li Mingyuan came to the reception room, looked at the people who stood up, and said with a smile: "The Kingdom of Korea sent an envoy to establish a cooperative relationship with the Empire. Director Wu, you are familiar with the affairs of Korea and Japan. Tell me what's going on."

"Last July, due to insufficient industrial resources, poverty of the people and insufficient consumption capacity, Japan experienced its first economic crisis. All industries were depressed, and factories produced a surplus of primary industrial products such as grey cloth, dyed cloth, flour, matches, and oil lamps that could not be sold. The Japanese government's fiscal deficit widened and internal conflicts intensified. Therefore, the Japanese stepped up their infiltration and control of North Korea. The North Koreans sensed the crisis and sought solutions everywhere in an attempt to curb Japan's expansion."

"Director Liu, how is the local business development in South America? Is there also an oversupply problem?"

Li Mingyuan looked at Liu Pu, the Director General of the Ministry of Commerce, and asked.

"Since 1882, the production of rice, wheat, corn and other grains in the local area has doubled every year, and the price of grain has gradually decreased. In March last year, the average purchase price of rice in various parts of the local area was 3 Han Yuan per ton. In March this year, it dropped to 10 Han Yuan. After the outbreak of the Paraguayan War, the price gradually rebounded to 3 Han Yuan. However, with the increase in the area of ​​cultivated land in the La Plata Plain and the newly occupied areas, the purchase price of grain in the local area will continue to decrease."

"Increased grain production is a good thing, but continued low grain prices will also affect farmers' income and dampen their enthusiasm for farming."

Li Mingyuan pondered.

“Is there room for further increase in the amount of grain exported to Europe?”

"I'm afraid it's difficult. Germany, Italy, and the Balkan countries are major grain importers. However, with the increase in the amount of Russian grain exports and the decrease in the price of exported grain, as well as Germany and Italy opening up African colonies and increasing their efforts in colonial reclamation, it is difficult for the demand for the amount of grain exported by the empire to increase significantly in the short term."

"Industrial development is a double-edged sword. The Empire has vigorously developed the chemical industry, and the chemical and pharmaceutical fields are at the world's first-class level. Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Portugal and other countries have imported a large number of anti-tropical disease drugs from their own countries. The Empire has thus obtained valuable funds needed for industrial development, but it has also reduced the costs and losses of European countries in developing African colonies and increased the strength of African colonies. I heard that Germany is preparing to purchase the Empire's improved quinine purification technology and increase investment in African colonies?"

“The Germans have this intention.”

"The technology for purifying and applying quinine is becoming more mature. The Empire has mastered the improved purification process, and the technical threshold is not high. If the Germans want it, we will give it to them. But as for the price, we will try to get as much as possible."

The world is developing dynamically. The improvement and progress of the Han State in the field of large-scale chemical industry has also had an impact on European countries. Li Mingyuan increasingly feels the urgency of accelerating the enhancement of the Han State's comprehensive strength.

"Agriculture is the foundation of the country and concerns the vital interests of tens of millions of people. The determination to develop agriculture cannot be shaken because of the decline in grain prices. The traditional grain export market is saturated, so we will open up new grain markets and innovate agricultural production technology, reduce crop planting costs, and increase crop yields. Director Zhang, the Royal Institute of Chemical Technology is developing fertilizer production technology. If there is a need for cooperation from the Ministry of Agriculture, you must actively coordinate and arrange."

"Yes, Your Majesty. If the Royal Academy of Chemical Engineering needs you, please let me know in advance and I will personally arrange for someone to take charge of the connection."

Zhang Guanghai, the Minister of Finance, expressed his support. "We agree to establish a cooperative relationship with North Korea and allow North Korean ships to purchase food and industrial products from South America."

Back to the issue of cooperation with North Korea, Li Mingyuan set the tone.

"Director Wu, North Korea has a population of over 10 million, and is a huge market waiting to be developed. The grain trade alone can effectively alleviate the problem of overcapacity in the empire's agricultural production. North Korea can directly order ocean-going ships from the empire, which can not only expand the shipping market and drive the development of the shipbuilding industry, but also accept the empire's employment and transport Chinese immigrants when departing from North Korea. Even with the influence of Japan and the Qing court, cooperation with North Korea still has more benefits than disadvantages."

“Your Majesty, there is overcapacity not only in agriculture and animal husbandry, but also in light industry, chemical industry and other fields.

The fields of steel smelting, mechanical processing, mold manufacturing, electricity, internal combustion engines, etc. are in a period of rapid development due to the influence of policies such as large-scale railway construction and expansion of infrastructure construction, and there is no problem of overcapacity. However, the technical threshold level is relatively low in light industrial fields such as printing and dyeing, textiles, papermaking, matches, cement, soda ash, and salt refining. Since South America is far away from the world's mainstream market and has high transportation costs, it has obvious disadvantages when competing with European countries.

The chemical industry is the Empire's dominant industry. In the sub-sectors of dyes, synthetic rubber, film, coal chemicals, polymer chemicals, etc., the Empire has a leading market position. However, the low-end and mid-end chemical market is still monopolized by Britain, France, and Germany. In the high-end chemical industry, although Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other countries have to import industrial auxiliary materials produced in the Empire, their total profits are still far lower than the low-end and mid-end chemical market. Moreover, under the influence of the Empire, Germany, Britain, France, the United States and other countries are also increasing their capital investment and R&D efforts in the high-end chemical industry. If the Empire fails to find new markets for its chemical industry as soon as possible and there is no feedback from a certain scale of market, the Empire's pillar chemical industry will face the risk of being overtaken by European countries. "

Liu Pu, Minister-General of the Ministry of Commerce, predicted the crisis of future industrial competition and gave a warning.

"Your Majesty, establishing economic cooperation with North Korea is beneficial to the development of agriculture and industry in the empire, but it also involves great risks and uncertainties."

The new Foreign Minister Hu Yaji said: "First, North Korea is tens of thousands of miles away from South America. It only uses large steamships to transport immigrants and food back and forth to trade. The cost is controllable and there is a certain profit margin. However, if it transports light industrial products such as grey cloth, floral cloth, textiles, rubber shoes, matches, etc., the profit is limited and it is like a chicken rib.

Second, the domestic and international situations in North Korea are complicated. There are riots among refugees, and conservatives and reformists fighting for power. There is infiltration from the Qing court, Japan, and Russia. Japan, in particular, carried out reforms at the same time as the empire, and its army and navy have greatly increased in strength. Now, an economic crisis has broken out in the country. In order to divert domestic conflicts and find new industrial markets, it will inevitably launch a military invasion of North Korea. The main forces of the empire's army and navy are all in South America, which is a long way away. If a large amount of manpower, material resources, and funds are invested in developing the North Korean market, once there is a change, the initial investment may suffer losses due to the invasion of Japan.

Third, North Korea has barren land, poor people, and insufficient purchasing power. Even in the economic field, controlling the North Korean market can only bring limited help to the local market. Comparing the benefits and risks, I believe that cooperation with North Korea should be cautious. The scale of cooperation should be controlled in the fields of food trade, immigration transportation, etc. We should not blindly invest money, let alone fully intervene in the North Korean dispute. "

"Director Tang, what you said is wrong. It is unreasonable to push away a business that is offered to you. Let alone the future situation of the Kingdom of Korea, the current situation of the Japanese people behind the scenes, instigating pro-Japanese officials to hinder the Empire from recruiting female immigrants in Korea, cannot be easily ignored."

Li Wencai, the commander of the Nanyang Army, snorted coldly, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Japanese dared to offend the interests of the empire. If they are not punished, other overseas forces will follow suit. The empire's immigration and commercial activities in the Far East and Nanyang will be affected. I request Your Majesty to send a powerful fleet to patrol Nanyang and the Far East to deter the villains!"

"The conflict between the Empire and Japan has a long history. In order to develop industry, Japan has increased its exploitation of its own people. Many poor people are willing to send their daughters to live in Japan in exchange for food and money to survive. Since the founding of the country, 13 Japanese women of marriageable age have entered the mainland through this method. At the same time, there are also some gang members with official backgrounds in Japan who instigate people to transport their daughters to Southeast Asia and make money by mailing them back to the mainland. The two sides have had many conflicts because of such issues. Therefore, I believe that with the end of the Paraguayan war and the great increase in the strength of the Empire's navy, a powerful fleet should be sent to Southeast Asia and the Far East to show the majesty of the Empire!"

Mei Dongxing, the Governor-General of Nanyang, also stood up and supported it.

(End of this chapter)