Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 272 Japan, Unbinding

"Mr. Zheng, General Wei, General Long, please, please be sure to try it. This is the pork we raised in Japan, and these Japanese seafood."

Yoshida and Zhao Chunshu came together from the Allied Headquarters and recommended a large table full of dishes to them. There were no particularly expensive dishes, only a small roast pig, a large bowl of braised pork, and many fish, scallops, shrimps, crabs and the like.

Zhao Chunwang has really improved. He was originally a small gangster in Tianjin, but now he can stand on equal footing with Yoshida.

"We raise our own pigs on our farm, and our seafood is caught at sea. The scallops we used were farmed offshore. The yield is very impressive, and by next year, we are confident that we can more than double our seafood production."

As he spoke, Zhao Chunshu's face flushed red, and he looked completely proud.

Agricultural development is the core business of the Zhuri Corps, so its methods are naturally not too clean. At present, a large number of Chinese, Koreans, and Americans are in a superior position in the United States, and many times they do not feel a great psychological burden when doing something bad.

And there is no doubt that Zhao Chunshu must have done a lot of things that are difficult to talk about.

"Export to Penang?"

"Hi!"

Yoshida on the side said quickly, "Almost all of our seafood and meat products are exported to Singapore and Penang. Our Japanese pork and seafood are very good worldwide. Please have a taste, Mr. Zheng. If you can support us financially, we can continue to expand the scale of our aquaculture and lower the price, so that everyone in the Southern Alliance can have an endless supply of pork and seafood."

On the side, General Ma reached out his hand without any hesitation, grabbed a piece of roast pork and started chewing it until his mouth was full of oil.

I have to say it is really a bit strange. After World War II, the power of the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation expanded quite quickly, but almost all of them were places with religious beliefs and could not produce pork.

Moreover, Siam, India and other places do lack the technology and conditions for raising pork.

Pork was an important export resource for Japan before World War II. Even though all Japanese people are starving now, it does not prevent Zhao Chunshu and others from raising and exporting pork on a large scale. Sometimes, the lives of ordinary Japanese civilians may not be as important as the pigs they raise.

Not to mention seafood, Japan's fishery resources are really rich. Whether it is breeding or fishing, the quantity and quality are far superior to those in the South Seas, and this is despite the lack of large fishing boats.

After all, all the slightly larger ships on the Japanese side have been taken to Singapore by Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi picked up the chopsticks and took a bite. He felt that the roast pork was indeed quite good, crispy and fragrant, and no worse than the one made by his personal chef.

But he said, "Last year, wasn't there a famine in Japan? This year, they're raising pigs on a large scale. Do the people have any objections?"

Yoshida: "Of course not. It's absolutely impossible. The Japanese people cannot express their gratitude enough to Mr. Zheng and the SAARC. If it weren't for you, Mr. Zheng, who gave us the opportunity to go to Singapore and give us a chance to work, who knows how many people would have starved to death last year."

Zheng Yi: "Oh? From last year till now, no Japanese have starved to death?"

Yoshida: "That... I can't say there aren't any, but it's not many. Most people simply don't have enough to eat, which leads to some malnutrition. But this is the price we Japanese paid for our defeat, and it's what we deserve."

As he said this, Yoshida kowtowed to him again very solemnly.

In fact, the last time Zheng Yi was in Japan, Yoshida was no longer so cautious with him. After all, they did have some friendship. After all, Yoshida was a civil servant in the diplomatic system, and he was indeed different from those militarists. Zheng Yi had no negative opinions about him personally.

However, this time Zheng Yi brought three generals, Wei, Long and Ma, with him. In fact, as soon as Yoshida entered the room, he clearly felt the murderous look in the eyes of the three men when they looked at him.

There is obviously a difference in mentality and perception between the Chinese in China and the Chinese in Southeast Asia when dealing with the Japanese. This was the first time he met these three people, so he deliberately acted so cowardly.

"Hey~"

Zheng Yi picked up another piece of fish and placed it on his plate. He said, "I'm glad no one starved to death. You know, we just drove out the French and took over the Red River Plain. Rice is grown there. If we really don't have enough food, we can consider importing it from Hanoi. As for foreign exchange, that's easy to do. If that doesn't work, we can buy on credit or even take out a loan."

Yoshida was stunned when he heard this, and he stood up suddenly. He looked at Zheng Yi in disbelief, and then looked at the three generals Wei, Long and Ma beside Zheng Yi. Although their faces looked a little unhappy, they just ate silently without saying anything.

He was so overjoyed that he couldn't help crying and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Hey~ Get up, there's no need to be like this. Do you have any wine? Let's drink some together."

"Yes, yes, I'll have someone get it right away."

After saying that, he stood up excitedly and went outside to ask the waiter to bring some wine. He couldn't hide the joy on his face and it looked like he had no politician's sophistication at all.

For a moment, Zhao Chunshu was a little confused and couldn't help asking, "Sir, why is this? Isn't this... too cheap for them?"

Zheng Yi: "It's been decided. From now on, you might as well be more restrained in your actions. Of course, as long as it's not too extreme. Also, I discussed this matter with Coach Mac yesterday. We will completely lift Japan's import and export restrictions within one to two months."

"Ah this..."

As he was speaking, Yoshida came back from outside carrying some wine. His Chinese was better than most Chinese people, so he naturally heard what Zheng Yi said. Although he had some guesses when he went to get the wine, when he heard what Zheng Yi said, and that he had even discussed it with Coach Mac, he immediately jumped up excitedly.

He hurried over, pouring drinks for everyone while saying, "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Zheng. Mr. Zheng is able to put aside past grudges. It is truly admirable. He repays grievances with kindness. He is a true gentleman. On behalf of all the people of Japan, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to you and my most sincere apologies to China and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation."

Zheng Yi held up his hand and said, "I'll accept your thanks, but I don't need an apology yet. I'm Chinese, and currently a Chinese American. I'm not qualified to accept your apology on behalf of China. Besides, whether to apologize or not is not your decision. You should ask Coach Mac."

For Japan, whether to apologize or not has never been a question that Japan, or even itself, can decide. In history, at least four Japanese prime ministers have implemented the relevant procedures for formal apology to China and other Asian countries.
Tanaka, Haneda, and Hatoyama, without exception, ended up having to step down in disgrace, leaving only Ishibashi alone. No one knows how things will develop next. The only thing that is certain is that this thing is actually a dog leash that the Americans are using to tie the Japanese, and they will not let go easily.

Unless there comes a day when offense and defense can be reversed.

In fact, Japan is like this. They are essentially a dog on a leash. There is no need to fight or kill a dog. Once you hold the leash in your own hands, you will naturally let it bite people for you. This is why Zheng Yi persuaded Marshal Mai to relax Japan's international trade restrictions. This thing was bound to be relaxed sooner or later. Rather than letting Japan become a prisoner of the United States, it is better to let Japan become America's dog.

But the United States is not a monolithic entity. It would be better to make the Democrats dogs of the Republicans before they react. The leash can actually be put in the hands of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

This is actually an option for the Republicans as well.

After all, people have to look forward. World War II is over. For the United States, a Japan that is under strict surveillance is just a burden, and a Japan that can only be controlled by the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation is a sharp knife in the hands of the Republicans.

As for the Southern Alliance, after talking with Marshal Mai yesterday, he had a brief telegram communication with Dewey and several other senior Republican leaders. After hearing that he had joined the American citizenship and the Republican Party, Dewey was also very happy, and said that he would do his best to obtain funding for Zheng Yi.

The initial goal was to secure a loan of 250 billion US dollars for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Of course, asking for an exorbitant price and then paying back the money is pure nonsense. Dewey himself admitted that his goal was to achieve 150 billion.

Dewey also expressed his hope that Zheng Yi would visit New York, where he would introduce him to the city's celebrities. Nearly all the multinational corporations in New York were extremely interested in SAARC, with some even suggesting the insane idea of ​​merging the entire New York Stock Exchange into SAARC's Penang branch. (Dewey was the governor of New York, a historically red state.)

New York will definitely speak the language of the Southern Alliance, that is, the Southern Alliance branch, but Zheng Yi will not think that Dewey and the large number of "New York old money" behind him are out of kindness.

To put it bluntly, if Penang and New York are both SAARC cities, Penang is the primary and New York is the secondary?
Even if Dewey is willing to be the deputy leader, but...

Zheng Yi is not a person with much courage by nature. If New York really joins SAARC, the benefits are self-evident. He can almost immediately become one of the most powerful people in the world. In the future, he will not have to be inferior to any leader of any country in the world when meeting them.

But the disadvantages are actually self-evident. To be honest, Zheng Yi himself did not intend to do such a big thing. His original ambition was even just to be an ordinary rich man and guard his small piece of land in Penang.

But people's ambitions and desires will expand, especially the desire for power. Zheng Yi himself found that he could not stop. Maybe this is what men are like. When the word "power" is added to them, they will uncontrollably become "slaves of power."

Even though I know there are risks, I still can't help but pursue it when the time comes. Even though I am living a good life now, if there is a chance to annex New York, I still can't help but excitedly ignore the potential risks and rush towards that endless road.

He had thought about it for many days when he was in the Middle East. With such a great opportunity in front of him, and knowing that there would be a risk of being usurped, Zheng Yi still felt that he should agree to it, or even join the Republican Party and fight side by side with Dewey, a political loser who was most likely doomed to fail.

But Zheng Yi couldn't really ignore the risk of being swallowed up. One of the specific countermeasures was to join the Republican Party and become an American. However, he also knew very well that even if he became an American now, he was still new American money and represented the emerging capital group within the Republican Party. Those real old money would regard him as a partner, but not as one of their own.

If he seeks greater political power, the old money will still suppress him.

So he needed the second thing, which was to turn his attention back to the Japanese.

The Japanese bear the original sin of World War II and are easy to bully and manipulate. Objectively speaking, most of the people, at least during this period, are very reflective. Zheng Yi has a high popularity among the Japanese people, and most Japanese people do respect him.

Of course, the most crucial thing is that the Japanese are indeed very similar to the Chinese in culture. Japanese is really not much different from dialects, so it is very easy to assimilate. And to be honest, their basic quality is much higher than that of the domestic people at this time.

Before World War II, it was almost the only country in the world with an illiteracy rate close to zero. Any Japanese, regardless of gender, could be used and was a qualified worker. You didn't have to be too nice to them. As long as you didn't bully them, they would be grateful to you for bearing the guilt of defeat in the war.

You can't find such good cattle and horses even if you search all over the world.

To put it bluntly, the Chinese in Southeast Asia have too small a base, too few people, and even the quality of the population is indeed not high enough. To a certain extent, he must digest and absorb the Japanese people, who have a population of 60 million and a relatively high, and possibly even the highest, per capita quality in the world, before he is qualified to compete with the old money in New York.

Seeing that Yoshida had already poured the drink for Zheng Yi, Zheng Yi picked up the glass and drank with everyone else. "As far as I know, Japan's coal industry and textile industry have shown signs of recovery, right?"

"Hi!"

"As for textiles, there are very few textile factories in Penang now. Most have moved to places like Singkawang. Siam is also developing its textile industry on a large scale. I've thought about it and realized that Japanese textiles are excellent in both production and quality. I'm thinking about transferring some of the textile production capacity back to Japan. Toyota could open some OEM factories in Japan and do production for us."

Most of Japan's textile production capacity was moved to Penang and Alor Setar during World War II. Zheng Yi even paid a high premium for it. Was it to accelerate Japan's collapse at that time?

As for textiles, the Chinese in Southeast Asia rarely make them now. However, since they already have their own brands, they don't mind moving some of them back to Japan.

"As for coal, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has decided to allocate a special loan to Japan for the development of the coal business. Hanoi wants to develop steel enterprises and needs high-quality coal. When you are free, please go to Hanoi in person and meet with Mayor Yan.

At the same time, we also hope to acquire shares in some Japanese companies to conduct more in-depth research in the field of coal-fired power generation, and to carry out further installations in Japan and even in India in the future."

Penang and Singapore cannot use coal to generate electricity, they both use oil. Before the oil price rose, they were too lazy to even use gas. Penang itself is an oil refining center, and there is no shortage of oil wells in Nanyang.

Japan is a typical country with more coal and less oil, and the same is true for India. Zheng Yi believes that it is necessary to develop coal-fired power generation because he knows very well that oil prices will rise in the future and natural gas transportation will not be very convenient. Coal-fired power generation will become the standard in most regions.

"Hi! Hi!"

Yoshida is so beautiful that her nose is bubbling.

"You mentioned before that you wanted Osaka to join the Southern Alliance. I agree. This is General Long. He will represent the Southern Alliance and serve as the mayor of Osaka."

"This is General Wei. He's in Japan to recruit veterans of the Second World War. I need at least one division, and I may need more in the future. In addition, I need 100,000 laborers, also from veterans who participated in the war, as atonement."

"But I want to make it clear to you that this atonement only redeems your sins in Southeast Asia, against the Nanyang people and the Nanyang Chinese. It has nothing to do with our country."

"Osaka, in addition to import and export trade, is primarily based on OEM production. Most importantly, I hope that Chinese language and culture can be made compulsory courses in primary and secondary education in Osaka. Is that possible?"

Yoshida: "Of course, of course there is no problem. In Japan, Chinese literature is required to be taught in basic education."

(End of this chapter)