Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 266: The Chinese have actually lost control of the Southern Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Do you French want to join?

In the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Malay Legion is actually more elite than the Chinese armed forces, especially the light infantry.

After all, the military system follows the Song Dynasty model, and all the soldiers are professional. The individual capabilities are much stronger than those of the Chinese areas that follow the early Tang Dynasty model.

Airborne paratroopers are naturally the elite among the elite. There are not many countries in the world that have the ability to use paratroopers, but they are indeed a magic weapon to deal with the third world, at least the colonial comprador governments of the third world during this period.

Things went more smoothly than Zheng Yi had imagined, and were even extremely simple. The colonial government in North Africa was really a makeshift team. When they saw the paratroopers landing, they actually thought they were French troops. There was no resistance at all, and the so-called parliament was quickly occupied.

Their police just watched the whole process and did not participate at all.

The two heroes personally led the team, along with some of their own confidants and SAARC soldiers, to quickly seize the national radio station. It was not until this moment that the elite people in Tunis and Damascus realized that the people who came were not French.

There have been no French troops stationed in Syria since 1946. After the revolution, people spontaneously took to the streets to rob the compradors' property and vent their anger crazily.

After all, this is a city that was massacred by the French two years ago. Moreover, as for the Arabs, except for a small number of elites, you cannot expect most of the lower-class people to be well-educated. From a Western perspective, these people are naturally barbaric. In less than three days, extremely serious humanitarian conflicts, ethnic conflicts and other violent contradictions broke out here.

There was nothing they could do about it. At least they still had a hero like Alawish, and Alawish himself wore a suit and had a relatively normal attitude towards religion, at least not fanatical, and not an abstract figure like Marshal Zhu in later generations.

Moreover, Syria and Lebanon had only been separated for a few years at that time. To be precise, the two countries had just officially gained independence from the French last year. There was no concept of nation. Although most people resented the Alawites, they at least understood that the Maronites in Lebanon were their real enemies.

Zheng Yi was also surprised by the YSL sect's ability to mobilize the grassroots people. It is no exaggeration to say that this may be the fastest mobilization method Zheng Yi has ever seen except in modern industrial cities.

The orders were passed down layer by layer, and a large number of young people were mobilized to join the army at an extremely fast speed. The Jews were responsible for helping with transportation, and an armed force of 100,000 people was armed as easily as blowing up a balloon.

Of course, most of the weapons were captured by Japan during World War II, and the quantity was far from enough. There were many cases where two people shared one gun, or even three people shared one gun.

The military training was even more horrific. The so-called 100,000 armed forces were completely a mob. At least half of them wanted to take advantage, rob some money, or even rob women.

But the problem is that Lebanon also became independent last year.

We are all weaklings fighting each other. The Arabs are a mob, but are the Maronites not?
Under the deliberate division of the French, the Lebanese region controlled the distribution trade of almost all resources in the Levant through port trade, and the Maronites were much richer than these Arabs.

The poor always have a natural incentive to rob the rich.

And whether in fact or doctrine, this money was indeed accumulated by the Maronites through exploitation and plundering of them.

The local Arabs in Lebanon, especially those in southern Lebanon, naturally mobilized soon after. This place originally borders Haifa. Historically, it was this area that fired rockets at each other every day before Zheng Yi traveled through time.

A large number of southern Lebanese elites began to openly gather in Haifa to hold meetings, organize, arm themselves, contact the Alawish, and quickly establish political entities.

No one called the Jews pagans anymore. Everyone agreed that this was coming to save them. Some jurists even argued from various angles about the origins, connections, and friendship between the two sects.

So what if Jerusalem is a holy place for both sides? Doesn't this still depend on human interpretation? The scriptures are dead, and the people are alive. Both the ancient leader and the Syrian leader have almost clearly issued death orders to their respective teachers:

You must come up with a narrative that shows that Arabs and Jews have been as close as brothers since ancient times, and you must make Jerusalem a witness to the thousand-year friendship between the two peoples!
Palestine? What Palestine? There is no Palestine. Everyone chose to ignore it for the time being.

Let's talk about it later. We can always find a suitable excuse. Since ancient times, ideology has served practical political purposes. We are all first-class politicians and we cannot be stupid enough to let ideology determine political reality.

Even the Alawish have not only targeted the Levant region for mobilization, but are also mobilizing in Jordan and even Palestine.

In this era without television and even radio, the YSL sect's ability to spread terror once again amazed people, so much so that even Zheng Yi had to admit that this sect was indeed the most efficient and scientific way of ruling before entering a modern and industrialized society.

At least they are much more efficient than the Christian Maronites in Lebanon.

Those people from the Malong faction were completely confused by the anti-French wave that was like a tsunami. Apart from asking their French father for help, they had almost no ability to protect themselves.

The so-called bigwigs in daily life did not think of recruiting troops to arm the people at the first time, but quickly packed up their belongings and fled with their families to the arms of their French father.

This is called rushing towards civilization.

This is actually a cultural difference. Christianity is indeed not as good as YSL in mobilization.

Although they all have the tradition of worship, orthodox Islamic worship is inherently political. These Sunnis are still far behind. Shiites are completely political. In his previous life, Zheng Yi even listened to priests in temples in the Middle East explain to the public the historical significance of the Belt and Road Initiative to the Middle East.

Many believers who have little education can often explain the international situation in a very clear and logical way, and they may understand it better than most Chinese, Americans and Europeans, because they really have regular classes every week.

Of course, the right to interpret the scriptures is very important. In an era when there is no television or the Internet and even radio is a luxury in the Middle East, basically what these people believe depends entirely on what the clergy tell them.

But as a result of this incident, at least the entire royal family of Jordan was in a panic.

He had originally planned to fight the Jews and was already sharpening his knife.

But now he is afraid that if he distributes weapons to the people, the people will overthrow him first. After all, the Middle East is not just a place with French puppets. He, the king, is a real British puppet.

In the entire Middle East, France's troops are mainly stationed in Tunisia, but these Tunisian troops are certainly not to be relied upon. The situation in Tunisia is ten or even a hundred times more dangerous for France than in Syria.

After all, the French withdrew their troops from the Levant last year and agreed to the independence of this area. In fact, this part of the Middle East is really worthless if there are no oil fields.

But Tunisia is different. It is the eye of the Mediterranean, and there are a large number of serious French people living in the city alone.

The problem in Tunisia is no longer a question of so-called colonial economic interests, but a serious issue of the safety of life and property of the French in the colony.

In the city, the Arabs who had obtained weapons happily rushed into the French living area and engaged in passionate biubiu games with the French there.

Those French shops, French communities, cafes, cinemas, and stores that only allow French people in and out were all robbed without exception. Women were dragged out by their hair and raped on the street.

When a mass popular uprising occurs, it is impossible to demand civilization. As the saying goes, the colonized people of this era are not very cultured, well-educated, or well-educated people.

You cannot allow the French to not only collect head taxes from the Tunisians, but also force local farmers to grow grapes instead of wheat to produce wine for you in years of disaster. If they do something uncivilized when they rebel, they will become barbarians.

Zheng Yi also knew that this kind of thing could not be controlled, and the only advice he could give was to keep as many people alive as possible.

If they were raped, it was raped. Some people usually bullied the natives, so it was no big deal to chop off their hands or feet. As long as the person was still alive, he could use them to trade with the French or even do them a favor.

At worst, we can exchange aid with them.

This is not the most important thing. What is more important is that Tunisia’s next-door neighbors are Algeria and Morocco, both of which are French colonies.

Algeria is even a French territory recognized by France. Among its seven million population, more than one million of its people are pure French Gauls!
Then there are Chad, Western Sahara, and Burkina Faso. If this line of thought continues, there will be no end to it.

Africa, especially North Africa, is far more important to the French than Vietnam.

Moreover, now that the war has begun, it is bound to spread. The Syrians themselves do not have the possibility to face the French alone. Most Arabs in North Africa have no national consciousness. The straight borders on the map have no meaning to them in this era.

There are less than 20,000 troops stationed in the whole of Tunisia. Because SAARC and France are at war, the flying brigade took off directly from the airport in Tel Aviv to drop bombs on their heads. They could bomb them however they wanted, and the only air force they had was gone before they could even take off.

After all, the French troops stationed in North Africa never thought that they would face air bombing one day! Their imaginary enemy has always been the black uncles from Africa!

The key to this matter lies on the Israeli side. Of course, the first thing the French will do is to conduct diplomatic negotiations with these Jews. After all, we are all part of the civilized world. How can you help barbarians bomb civilized people?

Mrs May's response was: "If you still want Marshall loan aid, get out of Tunisia right now. If you want to be so arrogant, send troops to fight me."

The Marshall Loan was originally a conditional loan. The countries that needed the loan had to go to the United States one by one to negotiate with the Americans. All of the conditions were met and it was a sugar-coated bullet. Although the loan has not yet started, the negotiation process has already begun.

The collapse of the pre-war British and French colonial system was what the Americans wanted to see, and they were actually happy to see what Zheng Yi was doing in Africa.

The French already had a dark history of anti-Semitism before World War II. If this really offends the Jews...

Of course, it's just over 10 billion US dollars. We can survive without it. Although there is a famine this year and many people will definitely starve to death, for the sake of the imperialist cause and victory, it is not impossible to grit our teeth and hold on.

But the Marshall Plan was for all European countries. What if France refused to contribute, or contributed too little? Would France still have a place in Europe? Would the public understand?
Again, although the influence of Jews on the United States during this period was far less than that of several decades later, at least they were not the fathers of the American people, but they definitely had the ability to make acetic acid without filling the soup.

The banking system is full of their people, and even if they deliberately try to disgust you when allocating funds, you won't be able to stand it.

If President Dai was still in power on the French side, with his tough personality and truly superb international diplomatic skills, perhaps this situation could still be saved, and there might even be a way out. But what about France right now...

More than a hundred political parties quarrel every day, and the president still has no real power.

He solved the problem.

In less than a month, he began to give in to Zheng Yi and even found someone to negotiate with Zheng Yi in a proper manner.

"Hello, Mr. Zheng. I'm Robert Schuman. I'm here on behalf of France to sincerely discuss peace with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). We, the French army, are willing to completely withdraw from Asia and hand over all of Indochina in exchange for SAARC's complete withdrawal from the Middle East and North Africa, and to cease providing weapons to the indigenous people there."

"Mr. Schumann?"

Zheng Yiren never left and stayed in Tel Aviv as a guest. He mainly discussed the construction of Haifa with these Jews and tried to design the Haifa refinery himself.

It was not surprising that the French came to him at this time. What was rare was that he was quite honest.

"Please take a seat, Mr. Schumann. It's rare for you to come here in person to negotiate with me. You French people seem to be so efficient so rarely."

Schumann's face was naturally very ugly. After all, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and had served as the President before. Of course, the French Presidents during this period changed like a revolving lantern and were not worth much.

However, no matter what, he is still a senior civil servant in the cabinet. Generally speaking, when it comes to negotiations, who would send an official of this level?
Obviously, this is not actually a ceasefire negotiation, but a complete surrender. The reason why the officials sent are of such high rank is naturally because they hope that the speed can be faster.

Zheng Yi and Schumann talked directly, and there was no need to report any conditions through layers of communication; they could make a decision on the spot.

Of course, no matter how the talks go on, if any agreement is really signed, Schumann’s future political future may be more bumpy.

In a democratically elected country, anyone who signs a humiliating treaty is a great hero. After all, it is much better to just sit there with your arms folded and do nothing but curse others. Even if you lose the battle, the ones who die are the soldiers on the front line. The worst that can happen is that you can resign before things get worse.

Anyway, as long as you can shift the blame nicely, you won’t even have to worry about not having the opportunity to make a comeback.

Popular elections, to put it bluntly, mean politicians are only accountable to the people. It sounds good, but who actually represents the people? In the pre-internet era, politicians were often only accountable to the media, and the media often relied on whoever had the loudest voice to rule.

In the current situation, the faster the humiliating treaty can be signed, the sooner Asian forces can be deployed to fill the holes in Africa, the more responsible it will be to the country, because compared with North Africa, things in Asia are not its core interests.

Schuman is a very good person. At least he dares to take the initiative to stand up and take responsibility. Zheng Yi also admires him very much. He is worthy of being the "Father of the European Union" in history.

After inviting everyone to sit down, Zheng Yi even arranged for someone to make tea as a treat. He said, "No one will record what we say today, and there will be no audio or video recording. If we can reach an agreement, you can publicize it as a political achievement."

"If there's anything in the terms that requires you to take the blame, you can send someone to fix the process afterwards and just pretend it wasn't your decision. If you need to say anything to the media, I can also cooperate as much as possible."

"I'm different from you. At the moment, in the South Asian Alliance, or at least in Southeast Asia, I'm not influenced by public opinion. I can take a little loss without sacrificing face, as long as I have substance."

"Do you smoke?"

Zheng Yi took out a cigar.

"I only started smoking Zimbabwean cigars after coming here for the past two months. To be honest, the taste is indeed much better than our Southeast Asian cigars, and is not worse than Cuban ones. It's a pity that this brand has not been developed."

Schumann couldn't help but feel suspicious when he saw this, but he also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, at least Zheng Yi was quite polite to him, and his attitude was even quite flattering, which was much better than he had expected before he came.

After all, the French also knew that there was no need for Zheng Yi to agree to this condition.

Can Vietnam’s withdrawal be a condition?
If you have the ability, don't retreat. Let's just keep holding on. The rainy season will be here in one or two months at most. If you have the ability, don't leave for a year.

Fighting a war on two fronts? How can France still have the national strength to do that?

Unless they mobilize soldiers like they did in World War II, to be fair, France has the strength to do so, and the French are not without the power to mobilize all their citizens into military service. If they really mobilize civilians and overdraw their war potential, then the Southern Alliance will definitely not be able to beat them.

But Zheng Yi really didn't believe that France would have the courage to do so without President Dai.

Schumann didn't know what Zheng Yi was up to, but he was an old diplomat after all. Seeing that Zheng Yi really wanted to talk, he simply sat down and said politely, "Thank you."

Even the most arrogant racist would not be disrespectful to Zheng Yi just because he is Asian at this time.

He picked up the cigar and smoked it, only to see Zheng Yi smiling and asking him, "How is it? What do you think of the taste of this cigar?"

Schumann: "Indeed...it is top quality."

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "Actually, judging by its natural conditions and soil, Zimbabwe is probably one of the most suitable regions in the world for growing tobacco. The tobacco here is really good."

"However, so far, the tobacco planting area in Zimbabwe is not very large, and it can even be said to be very small. The planting history is only about ten years. Although there are good natural conditions, the technology for making cigarettes is not very mature."

"If compared with Cuba, the climate, soil and other natural conditions of the two can only be said to have their own merits. However, in reality, the quality of Zimbabwean cigars is slightly inferior to that of Cuban cigars, and the gap in reputation is even greater."

"Cuban tobacco is the best and most famous brand in the world, while Zimbabwean tobacco rarely gets rolled into cigars. If I hadn't mentioned it to you today, you probably wouldn't have even heard of Zimbabwean tobacco."

Schumann: "Mr. Zheng, do you want to explain? Honestly, because of you, the lives of hundreds of thousands of French people are facing unprecedented threats. Every minute of delay could result in the death of another innocent French citizen. I don't have time to slowly savor a cigar with you."

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "Mr. Schumann, there's no need to be so impatient. At least the French in Tunisia are not in serious danger right now. The port of Tunis remains open, and any French nationals willing to return home will not be stopped." "Most of the French expatriates are not in danger either. I asked them to keep as many alive as possible and exchanged them for ransom with the local Arabs. Currently, over 20,000 French nationals have been resettled according to my instructions, and even the women and children are in Tel Aviv."

Schumann: "Is that so? Thank you very much. I wonder what Mr. Zheng wants to exchange these people for?"

Zheng Yi: "Mr. Schumann, are you the bandit king who took me hostage and demanded a ransom? If you think so, don't you think too much of me, Zheng Yi?"

"Anyone who survives and falls into my hands will at least be provided with basic survival guarantees. The French can use warships or merchant ships to pick up your compatriots at any time. I will never stop them."

Schumann was stunned for a long time before nodding and saying, "Thank you."

After all, Zheng Yi will have to continue dealing with the French in the future. No matter what, this is also one of the major mainstream countries in the future world, one of the five countries. Everyone is fighting for colonies and territory, which is essentially a struggle for interests. There is no need to make enemies.

This is also the image Zheng Yi has always cultivated for himself internationally: understanding the rules and being moral.

Even when dealing with the Japanese, he could rationally distinguish between civilians and right-wingers, and used French civilians as bargaining chips. This was very damaging to Zheng Yi's international image and his character.

Of course, if the local Arabs don't even want the ransom and insist on killing or harming people, he won't care and won't even feel sympathy for them.

After all, he didn't know what those Arabs had experienced in the past, and without caring about the cause and effect, he advised them to be civilized and magnanimous. Some saintly people might even call them barbarians.

Are you going to die?

"Thank you."

Schumann breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that with these hostages, his trip was not in vain. When he returned home, he would have an explanation to give to the parliament and the people.

Zheng Yi: "Let's talk about this cigarette. Zimbabwe has been in the hands of South African companies for quite some time. Why is it that the reputation of this product is so much worse than that of Cuban cigars, even though the natural conditions are not much different?"

Schumann: "This... Cuban cigars, after all, were planted earlier and have a long history, so they have a preconceived notion."

Zheng Yi: "The Philippines has only been growing tobacco for a few years. Even though I'm from Southeast Asia, I have to say that in terms of quality, Philippine tobacco is not as good as Zimbabwean tobacco. But in terms of reputation and sales, Zimbabwean tobacco is not as good as the Philippines. Why do you think that is?"

Schumann: "I'd like to hear more about it."

Zheng Yi: "In the past, Spain and Portugal ushered in the Age of Exploration and became the first modern great powers in history. Unfortunately, their colonization focused only on gold, silver and money, without developing sufficient industry. The gold and silver fell on the roof, but it all washed away like raindrops."

"Later, during the era of Britain and France, humanity also entered the era of large-scale industry. However, your industrial empires were built on the plunder of vast colonies. You plundered raw materials, brought them home, and produced various industrial products."

"But honestly, this is too inefficient. Besides, the locals won't become richer if their colonies are plundered by you, so they can't absorb much of your food."

"More importantly, because your country is too small and your market is also small, it is very easy for them to be squeezed out. German and US stocks are actually squeezed out."

"The Americans' approach to colonization is much smarter than yours. They don't have colonies, they only have markets. They even set up businesses in the markets themselves, pursuing pure capital gains. After all, as long as a business makes money, what difference does it make whether I make it domestically or abroad?"

"Objectively speaking, even the notorious United Fruit Company at least left a system in the local area. At least they managed things there, provided jobs, and opened factories."

"Take cigars, for example. Cuba may be independent, but everyone knows it's American territory. The Philippines is even more so. Perhaps because of the vast land and abundant resources of the United States, Americans don't have the same strong possessiveness as you, the British and the French, once you control a place."

"When Americans discovered the quality of tobacco leaves in this area, they would stay and set up tobacco companies there, looking for the best ways to grow local tobacco and teaching the local indigenous people how to grow and roll tobacco."

"Although most of these tobacco companies are American, the people of Cuba and the Philippines have learned how to grow and roll tobacco. After ten or twenty years of iteration, tobacco production has become better and better, and cigar sales have also increased.

There's even a pro-American national bourgeoisie emerging locally, with tobacco plantations and even cigarette factories run by Chinese people. Local people can at least earn an income through work, which is a step forward compared to before when they didn't even know how to farm.

"The local people have become wealthy, and a pro-American comprador class has been cultivated, which in turn has further expanded the market. After all, if the colonies are all poor as hell, how can they dump their industry and how can they expand their industrial scale? If the scale is increased, costs will be reduced, and how can your industrial capacity compete with the Americans?"

"You, Britain and France, haven't discovered such a good tobacco-growing area for over a hundred years. Although you've started growing tobacco in the past decade, you've only shipped the grown tobacco back to Europe to be used as raw material in European tobacco factories."

"This is actually a process of colonization, or globalization, that is, a process of iterative generations, where new production systems inevitably replace old ones."

Schumann couldn't help but interrupt, "I admit that France and Britain are no longer viable. The United States is now the world's hegemon. What on earth is Mr. Zheng trying to say?"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "The colonization by Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands was the first generation of colonization, directly plundering gold and silver."

"Britain and you, France, are second-generation colonizers, directly plundering raw materials."

"In my opinion, American colonization is the third generation of colonization, which is just a competition for the market."

"However, I believe there should be a fourth generation of colonialism behind this, one based on win-win cooperation. It would be completely free from nationality or geographical restrictions, with all capital and means of production freely circulating around the world, serving only globalization. It would be a stateless, non-state actor."

Schumann: "Southern Alliance?"

Zheng Yi: "Extreme globalization is like this. Currently, multinational corporations do need the support of a home country. However, sometimes, the stance of the home country can actually become an obstacle for multinational corporations."

"In fact, many times, the interests of multinational corporations are completely different from, or even completely opposite to, the interests of their home country. Many times, multinational corporations that are completely free from the constraints of their home country are actually better able to adapt to international competition, aren't they?"

"Take Shell Oil, for example. Its industries span the globe. Its factory in the Netherlands is far smaller than our factory in Penang. It employs over 200,000 people, with operations in the UK, the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, the US, Australia, and even Africa and the Middle East. So why would such a large multinational corporation insist on being tied to a sinking ship like the Netherlands?"

"In fact, Shell's nationality is now quite unclear. You could say it's Dutch, or British, or perhaps... you could also say it's SAARC. Within the next year, Shell plans to establish a second headquarters in Penang, and Henry's successor general manager will most likely be an American."

"Of course, Shell is not without a homeland. It still has to pay taxes to the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The UK and the Netherlands are still important parts of Shell, and it seems that the largest number of employees in the company are from the UK and the Netherlands."

"To put it bluntly, in the future, globalization will inherently deconstruct the nation-state. Large multinational corporations will transcend nation-states and must also adopt a Martian mindset. Of course, without the protection of a nation, they will inevitably be bullied abroad."

"But in capitalism, should the state protect multinational corporations, or should multinational corporations control the state? Do multinational corporations serve the state, or should the state serve multinational corporations? What if there is a multinational corporation alliance?"

"I can bet you that patriotism and nationalism will gradually disintegrate in the next hundred years. As far as I know, some people in the European academic community have already begun to reflect on this, right?"

"In the future, perhaps only the poor will love a single country. For the true elite, loyalty to a company, loyalty to technology, and loyalty to a global order may become a more superior quality."

Zheng Yi was not talking nonsense. In fact, before Zheng Yi traveled through time, this trend had become increasingly obvious all over the world.

In other parts of the world except the Southeast, loyalty to sects, tribes, communities, and companies has surpassed the concept of loyalty to the country. Especially in Europe, nationalist is almost becoming a swear word.

Zheng Yi himself does not even think that there is anything wrong with the neoliberalism and globalism introduced by the United States in later generations. In fact, this is indeed a very reasonable new social rule.

It's just that this system has not been implemented for many years and the American rednecks are fed up with it. In order to please voters, the US government has to go back on its word and start cheating in this international order that it designed itself.

If he doesn't cheat, this approach is actually quite good. It may only take more than a hundred years for all countries and nations in the world to be leveled to almost the same level and achieve world peace.

There will only be a small group of interest groups composed of global elites who ostensibly hold American citizenship, live in someplace called Wall Street or somewhere else, and these international elitists disguised as Americans continue to exploit and reap everyone in the world.

In fact, this is the best international order for the whole world.

This is actually Zheng Yi’s ultimate ideal vision for the Southern Alliance.

Zheng Yi took a long drag on his cigarette and continued, "SAARC is stateless and apolitical. Can you withdraw your troops from Vietnam and bring seven multinational corporations—Renault, Citroën, Dassault, Schneider, Alstom, and ArcelorMittal—into SAARC?"

"As long as your French government has no objections, I am almost 100% confident that I can convince them."

"Unity is strength. Currently, most British and American multinational corporations have already gathered in our SAARC. If your French multinational corporations don't join us, they will only be trapped in future international competition."

"If you agree, I can guarantee that even though you are going to Vietnam as a colony, I can still guarantee that your French multinational companies will enjoy most-favored-nation treatment and can still dump products in the SAARC-controlled market. The investments and legitimate rights and interests of French multinational companies in Asia will be protected by us, the SAARC."

"Similarly, if you French go to war with the Arabs, we in SAARC will not send troops. But their loans to buy weapons are a commercial activity. If you lose your colonies, multinational corporations joining SAARC can at least continue to protect French interests in a few specific cities as much as possible."

Schumann finally understood, but couldn't help but laugh. "Mr. Zheng, you have quite a big appetite. Currently, in France, there seem to be only these seven companies that can be considered world-class and internationally recognized."

"Do you want all of our European and American multinational corporations to work for you, Mr. Zheng, and for you Chinese people?"

Zheng Yi sneered upon hearing this and said, "Who's working for whom? The Chinese have actually already lost control of the Southern Alliance."

"The American, Japanese, British, and Indian investors also share some of their profits with the indigenous people of Southeast Asia. The proportion of Southeast Asian Chinese in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has long been less than 30%, and now it's only 26%. My share is less than 10%."

"This time, I discussed with President Gu and Mrs. May that Tunis and Haifa will be directly managed by SAARC. However, the Jews will invest capital, and the Arabs will invest cities and oil. If nothing unexpected happens, our share will be further diluted. If you French also join in, my personal share in the future SAARC will not exceed 5%, and all the Chinese in Southeast Asia combined will not exceed 15%."

"I will still be the largest individual shareholder within the Southern Alliance, but... never mind controlling the company. In fact, I'm just an employee now."

There is no way around it. The SAARC has expanded to the Middle East, and it is impossible for it to still be dominated by the Chinese.

In essence, the expansion of the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) follows the logic of capital mergers and acquisitions. The greater the power, the more everyone's equity will be diluted. In the end, just like the East India Company, there will be no large individual shareholders.

This is correct. Zheng Yi is not that awesome that he can really make multinational companies from Britain, America, Israel, France, and Arabia come to work for him.

He is not God.

In fact, if Zheng Yi really wants to have the final say in the future, it will probably be in cities dominated by Chinese such as Penang and Singapore. In other cities, he will also have to discuss with the powerful locals.

After thinking for a moment, Schumann asked, “After these companies join SAARC, will they be loyal to SAARC or to France?”

Zheng Yi: "Who they are loyal to? Is it up to you or me to decide? Maybe... I am loyal to them, and France is also loyal to them?"

Schumann: "They... transnational capital. Mr. Zheng, do you believe that the future world will be dominated by transnational capital?"

Zheng Yi thought about it but didn't say anything. No one knew what he was thinking.

Schumann suddenly gave a sardonic, yet self-deprecating laugh, shook his head, and stood up. "Thank you for saving the French civilians. The French troops in Vietnam will be completely withdrawn within a month. As for your terms, I will discuss them with Congress."

"Also, Mr. Zheng, do you really think that those barbarians in the Middle East, armed with just a few of the crappy guns you gave them, can defeat us, France?"

Zheng Yi: "We'll see if it works. Anyway, my terms are always valid."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

…………

After a while, Li Jianqiao came out from the secretary's office next door and replaced Zheng Yi's cup of coffee.

But he couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, what you just said... is it true?"

Zheng Yi: "It's half true, half false. Half is a lie, and half is true. What's wrong with that?"

Li Jianqiao: "Then, which half is true? You said that we Chinese in Southeast Asia have long lost our dominance over the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Is that also true?"

Zheng Yi: "It's half true and half false. It's true that the Chinese do not hold many shares anymore. But apart from the Chinese, other people don't hold many shares either. Those natives in Southeast Asia and Arabia can't possibly help Westerners. Those Japanese should be assimilated into Chinese within 30 years.

The Americans may eventually take a larger stake, especially since it's hard to say whether they'll merge with the Jewish people in Israel. But why do you think I'm bringing in French capital? The French aren't always so obedient to the Americans."

"So far, my prestige is still there. As long as I am alive, the Southern Alliance will still belong to us Chinese. Absolute control is definitely out of the question, but relative control is not a big problem at all."

Li Jianqiao: "Well, what if you die? Without you in the Southern Alliance, can we Chinese still take the lead?"

Zheng Yi thought for a moment and said, "If something unexpected happens or someone dies suddenly, it'll probably be difficult. The dominant force in the Southern Alliance is actually the United States. I'm considered a founder, so I'm a bit special. After me, no matter who takes my position, they'll essentially be employees of the Americans. It's likely that an American will take over."

Li Jianqiao: "Ah~, so that's it."

Although Li Jianqiao himself knew that this was normal, from the moment the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation decided to leave Southeast Asia, the Chinese in Southeast Asia would inevitably face the risk of losing their dominance.

They are not Americans.

Generally speaking, the expansion of SAARC is always a good thing for them.

Zheng Yi: "But if I die of old age, it's hard to say. Perhaps one day, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will return to absolute control by us Chinese."

Li Jianqiao: "Ah? How do you say this?"

Zheng Yi: "Think about it, where did the Chinese come from?"

Li Jianqiao: "You mean the motherland? But the motherland doesn't have any multinational corporations."

Zheng Yi: "That's why I said I want to die of old age. I'm only in my thirties this year. If I can live another fifty, um... sixty, and persevere, and if I can die in the 21st century, perhaps by that time, there will be more multinational corporations in China than in all of Europe combined."

"Perhaps one day, our motherland will become one of the most powerful countries in the world, with as many multinational corporations as those of the United States? If I am lucky enough to survive and die before that time... perhaps the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will become a boost to our country. Perhaps this global alliance will truly be passed down through the hands of us Chinese for generations, and become the master of the world? If only I can live a little longer..."

Li Jianqiao: "Tsk~, how is it possible? Uncle, you have such daydreams every day, and you think you are the best. You are really bold."

Zheng Yi: “…………”

(End of this chapter)