The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 588 Taken advantage of

Americans recently discovered that China has a cutter suction dredger dredging a port in the near sea. This is not unusual, as it is part of the basic port maintenance work.

However, by chance, the Americans discovered that the berths in the port had become deeper after dredging, which was quite unusual.

It's important to know that the location of a port is crucial; you can't just dock any seaside. There has to be a certain depth for the berth.

We have deepened the harbor using cutter suction dredgers, which has extraordinary significance. Some coastal areas are geographically important, but they lack sufficient depth to serve as naval ports. Now this problem has been solved.

There were also some waterways where warships had to detour due to the presence of hidden reefs underneath, but that problem has now been solved. This ship is of great strategic significance.

The Americans started racking their brains to find this ship, and finally they approached Jiangnan Shipyard, wanting to order an identical cutter suction dredger.

Jiangnan Shipyard honestly agreed to build him a cutter suction dredger, and both parties signed the contract and paid the deposit.

When the American representative saw the blueprints, he panicked. It was just an ordinary cutter suction dredger, no different from Western cutter suction dredgers. It didn't have the function of breaking the seabed; it could only dredge mud.

"We don't want this kind of cutter suction dredger; we want a cutter suction dredger that can break up the seabed."

The business representative from Jiangnan Shipyard said innocently, "But you didn't say that when you signed the contract that those cutter suction dredgers can't be exported. You just said you wanted to order one cutter suction dredger, and we'll build it for you. There were no special provisions in the contract."

"But you asked for a 30% deposit from us, a whole 100 million US dollars. Are ordinary cutter suction dredgers really that expensive?"

"The cost of ships fluctuates. When you came to sign the contract, was the ship worth this much?" the business representative said innocently. "It seems you're not very satisfied with our design. Are you going to break the contract now? We won't refund your deposit."

The Americans are now in a dilemma: if they continue to fulfill the contract, they will have to pay $200 million; if they don't, they will lose $100 million.

The company that placed the order is a shell company of the US Navy. Although the US Navy is very rich, they still feel the pinch of throwing away 100 million dollars.

Fortunately, no one dares to investigate the accounts within their military. The Pentagon hasn't conducted an audit in decades. Who would dare to even consider it? Someone will teach them a lesson, especially in their next life.

After weighing the options for three minutes, the shell company decisively disappeared.

The business representative from Jiangnan Shipyard muttered as he sorted through the contracts, "It's so easy to make money these days. We haven't even finalized our production plan yet, and we've already made a net profit of 100 million. If only there were a few more suckers like this."

The Americans suffered this loss, and if they didn't retaliate, they wouldn't be Americans. But they don't dare to retaliate openly right now because they are mired in the Middle East and need China's economy to support them.

So they began to instigate Japan to retaliate against China. Japan had always wanted to reclaim land from the sea and build islands to expand their tiny territory. This time, the United States was encouraging them from behind the scenes, so Japan submitted a proposal to the United Nations, requesting that the UN allow the land reclamation and that the new islands retain their exclusive economic zone for 200 nautical miles.

Our country's relevant departments are overjoyed. We have always wanted to make this proposal, but we know that once we make it, the United States will definitely veto it. So we can only take a roundabout approach and have the United States propose it.

The Americans haven't mentioned it, but their lackeys have, which is exactly the same thing, playing right into our hands.

At the United Nations General Assembly, our representative raised the question: "Wouldn't this proposal be a disguised form of encroachment on the territorial waters of neighboring countries?"

The American representative dismissively and arrogantly said, "Most of the world's surface is ocean. If you're so capable, why don't you fill it in too?"

As expected, our country abstained from voting, and the proposal was passed as expected.

So Xiao Dongyang started messing around in the sea, laying foundation stones and coral polyps on their so-called Okinotorishima Reef, waiting for it to sprout and grow one day.

We'll wait and see how things develop, and wait until the coral polyps grow bigger before making any moves. After all, our country isn't in a rush to reclaim land and build islands right now; we need a more opportune moment.

The Japanese have already proposed solutions to our legal issues. Now we need someone to step forward so we can give them a good whack on the head before we start reclaiming land and building islands. That way, it will be perfectly legitimate.

"Xiaodongyang spent tens of millions of US dollars to release coral polyps at Okinotorishima, hoping to accumulate more coral reefs in preparation for the next step of land reclamation and island building."

Liu Hua shook his head: "What's the use? You guys should focus on your own research and not care what the Japanese do. No matter how much money they spend, it's useless. We only need one move to destroy all their coral reefs."

The students in the secret base asked curiously, "Teacher, what's the trick?"

"Our ancestors proposed the theory of mutual generation and mutual restraint long ago. Everything in the world is included in it. If you learn more about marine life, you will know that there is a kind of echinoid starfish in the South China Sea. This thing likes to eat coral polyps."

Liu Hua laughed and said, "Think about it, when a cargo ship returning from the Strait of Malacca passes through the South China Sea, a few echinoderms cling to the bottom of its ship. Then, it accidentally ends up near Insect Bird Reef. Doesn't that make perfect sense?"

“If that’s the case, then it’s not just reasonable, it’s perfectly logical.” The student said with a smile, “Everyone in the world is driven by self-interest. Since the Little East Ocean has released so many coral polyps here, it’s only natural that our echinoid starfish in the South China Sea would migrate to Okinotorishima for food.”

"That's a far-fetched analogy." Liu Hua smiled. "Come on, let's continue the lesson."

The atmosphere was very harmonious. Although there were many difficulties on the research path, the optimistic group did not take them to heart and made great strides.

(End of this chapter)