Nanyang Storm 1864

Time quickly came to the end of the year. King Zheng Guohui of Chu was reading a report about the oil war in the European market in the imperial study, and a hint of joy appeared on his face.

As expected, the nascent U.S. oil industry was devastated. There was widespread misery, with bankrupt crude oil producers and investors everywhere, dragging down the New York stock market, which took more than half a year to recover to its original state.

The sharp drop in crude oil production has dealt a heavy blow to the confidence of US oil producers.

The Chu royal capital took the opportunity to acquire large tracts of wilderness land in the state of Nad at low prices, and through corporate mergers and other means, obtained the development rights and all remaining assets of many bankrupt American oil producers.

Then there is no more then.

The vast Texas wilderness he acquired was left to remain barren, and the bankrupt oil producers he acquired were left to continue to struggle. Neither new funds were injected, nor production capacity was increased. Instead, drastic cuts were made to personnel and equipment.

The only rights it has left are the qualifications for oil exploration, transportation and storage, which are worthless in the eyes of other American oil producers.

Many people think that these European companies are crazy and will suffer huge losses.

Actually

The price of crude oil in the European market has rebounded, from the low of 22 silver dollars to 24.6 silver dollars, an increase of 2.5 silver dollars.

This price was only 29.6 silver dollars away from the 5 silver dollars when the oil war broke out, but it actually crushed the US oil investment boom and occupied a large part of the US oil market.

Don't underestimate this increase. If you look at it from the perspective of the monthly import volume of more than 2000 million barrels, it means an increase of 5000 million silver dollars in net profit, which is a huge profit.

As for the tens of millions of investments lost in the United States, it was just one month's extra profit.

In half a year, the State of Chu earned an additional 2 million silver dollars and stabilized the world oil market dominated by Europe, making it the real winner.

The Bandar Seri Begawan oil field has significantly expanded its production, and the cost per barrel of crude oil has further dropped to about 7.85 silver dollars per barrel. The cost of exporting to Europe after paying taxes does not exceed 15.5 silver dollars, and a net profit of nine silver dollars per barrel can be made.

In this time and space, the American oil industry was strongly sniped and besieged by the Chu State and did not develop at all.

Not to mention the market in the Western Pacific, which is completely monopolized by Chu State Oil. Even European mail ships cannot transport American oil from thousands of miles away.

There are no ocean-going oil tankers on the Pacific route, which is neither economical nor cost-effective.

Crude oil from Texas must be transported to West Coast port cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles via the U.S. Pacific Railway, which in itself incurs huge transportation costs.

In addition to the long-distance sea transportation costs, the extremely high miscellaneous fees of the islands on the Pacific routes controlled by the Chu State, the slow service, and various faults have deterred transport ships from various countries.

The European market has been hit hard again, and the only markets left for the United States are the North American domestic market and the South American market.

The North American domestic market is not bad and is large enough to support more than a dozen large and medium-sized oil companies. However, with the support of trade protection policies, it is struggling.

Although the North American market is large enough, it cannot withstand the large number of American oil companies that are begging for food. Everyone is begging for food in the same bowl, and it is common for them to sabotage each other and lower prices.

So, it is far from as glorious as it seems on the surface.

The demand in the South American market is not large. Central America controlled by the Chu State, as well as Colombia, Chile and other countries, all use Bandar Sribaga oil. The only markets left for the United States are South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru.

Chile has always had close relations with the United Kingdom. In addition, its geographical location on the east coast of the Pacific makes it very difficult to transport American oil, and the transportation costs are even higher than the value of the crude oil itself.

Naturally, it is not competitive in the Chilean import market.

These are all typical agricultural countries with small cities, low living standards of the people, general poverty, small market size, and not much profit.

If the European market is a big piece of fat meat, then the South American market is a dried-up bone with no chewiness.

The Chu State's oil tanker that specifically sailed on the Pacific route was a 1.6-ton tanker named "Fu Shun Da", which could be fully loaded with 8 barrels of export oil each time and sailed to the Pacific route.

The ship stopped at Guam, Hawaii, Managua, Panama, Cali, Valparaiso (Note: a port near the Chilean capital Santiago), and Chielo Island (Note: an important town in Patagonia) along the way, and refueled along the way.

Each voyage takes about two months to discharge 1.6 tons of fuel. Some ports require several thousand barrels, while others require tens of thousands of barrels. The total amount required is not large, but the voyage is very long.

We only make 5 to 6 voyages every year, and the profit is not much, but it's better than nothing.

Crude oil exports accounted for nearly half of the profit share in the economic landscape of the Chu State. It was a major export commodity that the Chu State attached great importance to. The overall export strategy was personally deployed by King Zheng Guohui of Chu.

From a practical point of view, it is simply a perfect case of business war.

According to the secret report submitted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Through the price war launched in the world crude oil market, Chu capital has controlled about one-third of the land in the Dezhou oil-producing area through various means, spending about 1 million silver dollars.

The average price per acre was only 1400% to 1500% of what it had been six months earlier, a significant bargain that made them the largest foreign player in the Texas oil patch. Furthermore, they spent approximately $1800 to $ million to acquire over a dozen oil producers and several US-affiliated companies engaged in transportation and warehousing, resulting in an annual production capacity of approximately million barrels.

This is about 1/5 to 1/6 of the production capacity of American oil, and there are also some docks and oil tank storage facilities, which are all necessary equipment for production.

After significantly reducing staff and expenses, these companies have maintained a low-speed production, with an annual crude oil output of around 1000 to 1200 million barrels, mainly supplying the North American domestic market.

These American oil companies are controlled behind the scenes and are dumping oil into the North American market at low prices. In the fierce competition, the oil sales price in the North American market has been greatly lowered.

The purpose of doing this is to drag those American oil companies that are still struggling into the quagmire of the North American price war and force them to respond with low prices.

As a result, its strength was greatly weakened.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu doesn't care about the losses of these oil producers controlled by North America. How much money can they lose?
At most, the loss in a year would be several million silver dollars.

This dragged on for several years, and even large and medium-sized American oil producers and oil companies that mainly focused on sales, which originally had some financial resources, were dragged down, exhausted, and weakened.

The biggest hidden intention is to create an environment for the Chu royal capital to gradually erode Texas' oil resources and merge more American oil companies.

Thought of here
A smile appeared on the corner of Chu King Zheng Guohui's mouth. Controlling Texas's oil resources means controlling the final pricing power of the world's crude oil market.

The only difficult thing is
Much of the British capital that has been invested heavily in North America is involved in the oil extraction industry, which are economic giants lurking beneath the surface and should not be underestimated.

However, the good days of the British are coming to an end.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu took out another memorial from the imperial desk, unfolded it and read it carefully, revealing a very satisfied expression.

This is the latest international political report.
On December 1885, 12, Dr. Johnson of the South African Mining Company led 28 South African company police and several machine guns on an expedition to Transvaal to overthrow the Paul Kruger regime in Transvaal.

Great, perfect.

Just as it had happened before in history, the Johnson Affair would trigger a turbulent wave at the end of the century, leading to a dramatic change in international relations and bringing the unprecedentedly prosperous and powerful Victorian era to a sudden halt.

The State of Chu did not need to do anything, just watch the show quietly.

The more he thought about it, the happier he became. King Zheng Guohui of Chu stretched out his hands to beat the rhythm and hummed a little tune. The ups and downs of the melody echoed in the palace.

Seeing His Majesty's delight, Secretary General Zhang Huaizhong stepped forward to report, "Your Majesty, the Royal Navy has begun construction on a new class of 'Zhen'-class battleships. I beg you to attend the celebration. I would like to suggest that we go and relax."

"Oh, the Zhen-class ships? These are the flagships of the Royal Navy. When is the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled?"

"In reply to your Majesty, the auspicious date chosen is January 7th for the groundbreaking ceremony at the Royal Manila Naval Dockyard."

"Well, yes."

King Zheng Guohui of Chu nodded in agreement. This was a major event in the construction of the Royal Navy's main equipment, so it would be fine to attend.

this age
The navies of various countries in the world kept their eyes on the British shipyards, and once any new warship began to be built, they would follow suit.

This resulted in the main naval battleships around the world having similar shapes, with the shadow of British battleships being visible in them, with only slight differences.

The difference between German battleships lies in the caliber of their main guns, while the difference between Chu-style battleships lies in their larger displacement. After all, they are used between the vast Pacific and Indian Oceans, and have higher requirements for range.

The Majestic-class battleships, which Britain began building in 1894, were imitated by naval powers around the world as soon as they were unveiled, and the Chu State was no exception.

The origin of this "Zhen" series of battleships began with the Majestic-class battleships.

The displacement of Britain's Majestic-class battleships was about 15,000 tons, while the displacement of Chu's "Zhen"-class battleship series generally reached 18,000 tons. The increased displacement was mainly used to extend the range and the comfort of officers and soldiers in the cabin.

The main guns are also one in front and one in the back, each with a twin 305mm main gun, firing from the breech, produced by the Royal Manila Arsenal, and are almost identical to British battleships.

The enhancement lies in the second-level secondary guns. The Chu State's "Zhen"-class battleships are equipped with 2 12mm rapid-fire guns, which is 152 more than the British battleships, and that's all.

The biggest difference is endurance. The endurance of the new "Zhen" class battleships is extended by more than 40% compared with British battleships.

达到续航力3920海里/14节，4486海里/13节，6380海里/10节。动力舱编制舰员共达138人之多。

Such amazing endurance is unique in the world.

The most distinctive feature of the Chu State's main warships is their high freeboard, which allows them to adapt to the strong winds and waves of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and can cope with level 12 storms with ease.

The long and impressive range makes it ideal for long-term combat readiness cruises across the vast Pacific and Indian Oceans. The excellent living quarters for officers and soldiers are conducive to maintaining high morale for extended periods. (End of this chapter)