Father of France

Chapter 159 Traces of Oil
"We are open to any stance." Although Koman really hoped the Miao people would agree to his conditions, he would never show it. Wouldn't it be a betrayal of the Heavenly Gang if the colonists sought help from the forces under their rule?

In another world, although the Miao people led by Wang Bao were considered loyal allies of the US military, they did not play their most effective role.

Vietnam's infiltration into Laos is more extensive, which has made the situation of the Hmong people much more difficult. Obviously, the location of southern Laos, which is close to Cambodia, is more suitable for the Hmong people to realize their potential.

Cambodia is geographically and culturally more distant from Vietnam. Historically, it's hard to say whether Cambodia would have survived to this day if France hadn't arrived in time.

From a demographic perspective, Cambodia has a larger population than Laos and is better able to protect itself, although this ability to protect itself is not much stronger.

After seeing Wang Nengchu off, Coman stood up and left with Lefevere. Coman remained silent the whole way, mentally filling in any gaps in his knowledge.

"Sir, did the talks not go well?" Lefebvre asked with a smile, noticing that Coman seemed quite engaged during the conversation.

“Actually, I was thinking about whether to consider letting the expatriates resell their real estate in French Indochina.” Coman gave a surprising answer to Lefebvre: “It’s hard to say that real estate in French Indochina is a good investment.”

Lefève was indeed shocked. Didn't this mean that Corman had no confidence in French rule in French Indochina at all? Otherwise, why would he say such a thing?

"I'm doing this for France's own good. You need to understand the nature of the Viet Minh. Think about their big brother; he's reneges on his debts quite a few times." Of course, Koeman couldn't admit that he lacked confidence, so he could only shift the blame onto the Soviet Union.

Although in World War I, of the 5 billion gold rubles in debt owed by the Russian Empire, Britain owed nearly 3 billion, while France owed only a little over 1 billion.

However, unlike Britain, France did not have deep roots in the financial sector, and the impact of Tsarist Russia's default on its debts was extremely serious for France.

Unlike in the UK, where Russian debt is mainly held by institutions and large banks, the structure of Russian debt holders in France is very unique.

Thanks to extensive propaganda and the Franco-Russian alliance, millions of French middle and lower-middle-class people, such as teachers, civil servants, farmers, shop owners, and retirees, invested their life savings in so-called "stable Tsar Bonds."

This is seen as a patriotic and reliable investment. It is estimated that as many as two million French households hold Russian bonds.

Two million families were affected. Considering that France's total population at the time was only over 30 million, the instantaneous evaporation of such a vast amount of middle-class wealth dealt a devastating blow to French society.

It destroyed a generation's financial security, exacerbated post-war economic hardship, and plunged many families into poverty.

The Soviet Union set a precedent by allowing countries to breach the agreement after their revolution, and many other countries followed suit. Given the nature of the Viet Cong, wasn't it only a matter of time before other countries learned from the Soviet Union?

By 1954, wouldn't the French expatriates have suffered the same fate as the remnants of the Axis powers in Yugoslavia?
The French are human too. They too can suffer hardship. Once the French withdrew from French Indochina, the country villas and estates of their expatriates were confiscated, and families fled in panic, enduring countless hardships. The garden villas in the city became "ownerless houses," confiscated by the South Vietnamese government after independence.

This is not impossible. Koeman wanted to take the opportunity to package up the assets of the major Eastern power, France, to reduce losses, but unfortunately, he was insignificant at the time and could not find anyone to take over.

Anyway, the French Concession no longer exists, and there aren't many French expatriates in the great Eastern country. France certainly doesn't have as many assets in China as Britain does. So, let's just forget about it. He doesn't have the ability to save all the French people anyway.

Back in the apartment, seeing Ava Gardner's face again instantly lifted Koeman's spirits. Food is a basic human need; the ancients were right...

I felt one way when I was talking to Lefevere, and another way when I was talking to Eva Gardner, even though we were talking about the same thing.

“Darling, don’t be so insecure.” Ava Gardner, dressed in a simple long dress, sat on Koman’s lap and put her arms around his neck. “Don’t take all the problems of this country on your shoulders. You’re just a man who has just come of age. People who don’t know you might think you are the Emperor of France.”

"It's mainly because I love my country too much," Coman said, head held high. "Though I am of humble status, I dare not forget my duty to the country, even if no one knows me."

That's the downside of keyboard warriors; they're too much of a protagonist.

Although sometimes, for example, when he first learned from George Lloyd and Clemenceau and granted Wang Nengchu an autonomous state, he was indeed very pleased, but when he thought about the general trend of France retreating, he became unhappy again.

“We cannot leave East Asia.” Koeman told himself and the ladies of equal status frankly, “Aside from providing raw materials, French Indochina is not of much value. The reason we want to stay in this geographical unit is for the sake of that most populous country.”

A major reason for France's colonization of French Indochina was that Britain already controlled British India, and France wanted to secure a favorable position in another populous country. However, China and India were entirely different civilizations. The fragmented environment of South Asia allowed the British to land on the Bay of Bengal, gradually encroaching on China's territory, using a strategy of befriending distant powers while attacking nearby ones to defeat their biggest rival, and ultimately establishing British India. This was something that would have been impossible in a major Eastern power.

Where could France possibly find a strategy of befriending distant powers while attacking nearby ones? Not to mention trying to win one faction over another. Did they really think the Qing Dynasty's claim to be the pinnacle of centralized power was a joke?
Therefore, the market of a populous country fell to Vietnam. In the late 19th century, France also acquired Guangzhou Bay and, together with French Indochina, established a market that France could penetrate.

France remained in French Indochina in order to better conduct business with the major Eastern power, even in terms of raw material supply. Could French Indochina compare with the major Eastern power?

If it weren't for the large population and high energy consumption of this great Eastern country, its 9.6 million square kilometers of land wouldn't be enough to support its reputation as a major mineral-producing nation.

In fact, at one point in time, this great Eastern power was indeed one of the five major mineral-producing countries, alongside South Africa, the Soviet Union, Australia, and Canada.

The United States is not among the top five mineral-producing countries, probably for reasons similar to those of Brazil: a large population but not a comprehensive range of mineral resources.

“It seems you perceive the difficulties France is facing as greater than others realize,” Ava Gardner said, only then realizing her husband was a pessimist. “There’s always a way. If all else fails, we can try another country. There are plenty of countries around here, aren’t there?”

"Change to another country?" Koeman muttered to himself. He had to admit, going around the problem might be a viable solution. But where should they go?

French Indochina was facing the threat of war, Indonesia was not exactly stable, Sukarno had no goodwill toward Western countries, and his pro-socialist tendencies became apparent in the later years of his rule.

The Philippines is a US territory, while Myanmar is a fragmented country. It needs to be politically stable and have a certain size, but it also cannot be too far from the major Eastern power.

Only one candidate country remained: Thailand. Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, Thailand's political environment is relatively stable. As one of the three remaining independent countries, Thailand survived World War II without major incident and remains a rare monarchy.

If French Indochina deteriorates to an unmanageable level, Thailand would indeed be a very good backup option.

Another advantage is that the relationship between Thailand and Vietnam is very poor, which can be seen as an overtime before the 19th-century colonialism swept across the Indochina Peninsula.

After Burma lost its chance to dominate the Indochina Peninsula after several Sino-Burmese wars, Thailand was restored, and the Chakri Dynasty and the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam were established around the same time. All new dynasties had such an expansion process at the beginning of their establishment.

The two newly established dynasties simultaneously focused their attention on Laos and Cambodia, beginning a struggle for hegemony in the Indochina Peninsula.

Not to mention Thailand, which was on another front in the two-front war that Vietnam faced after its reunification.

Thailand, with its stable political system, strained relations with Vietnam, and relatively pro-Western stance, which allows French capital to temporarily maintain its influence in the Indochina Peninsula, is a very suitable foothold.

France could then use the pretext of helping Thailand deal with Vietnam, which had driven it out, to legitimately invest in Thailand until the major Eastern power reopens.

After spending a few days in Saigon experiencing the prosperity of the largest city in French Indochina, the Miao leader Wang Nengchu hurriedly returned to Laos. Although he held the position of county magistrate, he did not yet have absolute authority over the entire Miao community and needed time to persuade others.

In the Mekong Basin off the coast of Ho Chi Minh City, on the vast blue sea, Kerr-McGee exploration vessels are working intensively. This is the seventh exploration site in three months. They have been drifting on the sea for so long that they feel like they are living as fish.

They weren't the only ones exhausted; the French soldiers stranded on the same ship weren't much better off either. Many soldiers felt that even fighting the Viet Minh wouldn't have been this difficult.

But today, fate will take a different turn.

"Oil has come out!" A trembling shout shattered the silence, followed by thunderous cheers. A prospector scooped up his colleague and spun him around, his hard hat falling to the deck with a crisp sound.

The entire exploration vessel erupted into a frenzy. Someone opened the champagne on board, and the foam, like everyone's mood at that moment, gushed out, refracting a rainbow of colors in the sunlight.

"About 100 kilometers from Saigon, the water is nearly 50 meters deep." The situation in the waters where the oil field was discovered was immediately reported to Corman by the accompanying French soldiers.

"It looks very difficult, seemingly twenty meters deeper than Kerr-McGee's exploration depth in the Gulf of Mexico." Coleman had previously inquired about Kerr-McGee's projects in Mexico.

(End of this chapter)