I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

Zhou Weiguo pondered for a long time, then nodded solemnly and said, "Elder Long, first of all, I must say that Silver Dragon Island must absolutely not be leased out. Once this island is leased out, there's a high chance we won't get it back for a long time, and it might even be worse than the situation in Hong Kong."

These words made Elder Long's eyes narrow, and he asked tentatively, "You mean, the forces opposite Yue will win?"

Zhou Weiguo shook his head and explained, "No. With our close support, we'll definitely win here. But as the saying goes, 'A small favor is appreciated, but a large one breeds resentment,' let alone the countries around us, each one of them is heartless. In thousands of years, how many of them have we, Xia Kingdom, truly bullied? Every time, we've given them technology and talent, wholeheartedly helping them. And what was the result?"

Take Xiao Rizi, for example. They're the biggest ingrates we've raised. When we're strong, they feign submission; but the moment we're weak, they pounce without hesitation, tearing off a chunk of our flesh, even trying to devour us whole. Before, we lacked technology and resources, but now that we have me, please believe me, I will do my utmost to make Xia Kingdom strong. Once we are truly strong, these petty clowns around us will obediently bow their heads and genuinely call us Big Brother.

Old Qin frowned and asked, "For the sake of the country, do you mean that even if Yue wins, it won't benefit us?"

Zhou Weiguo nodded firmly and said, "Not only will it bring no benefit, but it's very likely they'll turn around and bite us. Especially those islands and reefs we have in the South China Sea; once our missile boats are ready, we must find a way to take them all back. As for Da'e, Elder Long, how long do you think our relationship with Da'e can last?"

Old Master Long frowned and pondered, "I estimate it will be no more than 10 years. There won't be a long honeymoon period between countries. The main problem is that I really can't understand some of the things the current head of the Goose is doing. If he continues like this, the honeymoon period will definitely be even shorter."

Zhou Weiguo shook his head and said, "Elder Long, if you ask me, at most within 5 years, maybe even 3 years, relations between our two countries will take a sharp turn for the worse. To put it bluntly, we might even have a war with the Great Egret."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Old Qin stood up in disbelief.

Upon hearing this, Elder Long frowned.

Zhou Weiguo said helplessly, "Elder Long, as far as I know, you two should be familiar with the Goose's nuclear submarine project, right?"

Elder Long nodded.

"Natasha told me that Canada Goose's nuclear submarine will be launched this year. I'd like to ask you both, will Canada Goose's longwave radio be able to contact the submarine in the Pacific Ocean?"

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Elder Long's eyes, and he slowly nodded.

Old Qin was completely bewildered, looking at Zhou Weiguo and then at Old Long, his face full of doubt.

Old Long sighed and explained, "Fortunately, Wei Guo reminded me, otherwise I wouldn't have realized this problem. The Goose's nuclear submarines will have global navigation capabilities and extremely long endurance. But in the Pacific Ocean, they won't be able to contact the mainland. To maintain communication, we must add long-wave radio stations. But where would be a suitable place to build long-wave radio stations? Isn't our South China Sea the most suitable location?"

Old Qin's expression changed drastically: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could we allow the geese to build a radio station in our South China Sea? Is the South China Sea still our territory? This is a matter of sovereignty, absolutely non-negotiable!"

Old Long nodded and said, "That's right. But if it's a radio station we set up ourselves, do you think Da'e would feel comfortable using it?"

Old Qin sighed helplessly and said, "If it were me, I wouldn't feel at ease either."

Zhou Weiguo continued, "That's right, the issue of sovereignty is non-negotiable. I don't think the radio station is the biggest problem, but think about it, what if we have a radio station? What if they deploy some troops around it? That's fine, isn't it? And if they have troops, it's reasonable for them to station a couple more warships, isn't it? In the end, what will we do when aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines are all in the South China Sea?"

After hearing this, the two elders both nodded silently.

Old Qin asked anxiously, "Then what about the war you mentioned? How did it start?"

Before Zhou Weiguo could speak, Elder Long sighed and said helplessly, "330 million! How can such a large territorial dispute remain peaceful forever?"

Old Qin was taken aback at first, and after a long while, he also sighed: "Yes, with such deep-seated conflicts over 330 million square kilometers of disputed territory, even if we don't think about revenge, how can they not be wary of us?"

Zhou Weiguo looked at the two elders and couldn't help but admire them. With just a little prompting, the two elders were able to understand the implications.

He continued, "Yes, once the relationship breaks down, as long as there is a point of conflict, both sides will definitely want to vent their resentment, so this battle will come sooner or later, it's just a matter of scale."

Suddenly, Elder Long asked seriously, "For the sake of the country, can you really guarantee that our country can develop independently, and even better?"

Zhou Weiguo thought of those who had already left, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Elder Long, I dare not say that we will definitely be better off developing independently. But I feel that after these two years, once our relationship with Big Goose sours, for the next ten years or so, no one on the entire planet will be truly willing to help us. Therefore, we must focus on developing our own strength and then use the strategy of 'using one tiger to devour another' to have a chance to stand at the pinnacle of the planet."

After listening, Elder Long nodded solemnly and said with a serious expression, "In that case, we need to adjust our foreign policy. We should stop those unnecessary aid efforts if possible, and instead use the resources on our own people. As for the Goose, we should maintain their current assistance to us as much as possible, but Lao Qin, all our self-developed projects must be kept strictly confidential."

Old Qin nodded firmly and said, "No problem, I'll definitely arrange it!"

When Zhou Weiguo heard the words "resources" and "aid," he thought of the years of disaster, when countless people went hungry and large quantities of grain were still being sent out. Just thinking about it made his heart ache.

Thinking about the potential difficulties he might face in the next few years, he hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and saying, "Elder Long, I don't know how much you know about the 'Dingwu Wilderness'?"

Old Long was taken aback, and looked at Zhou Weiguo with a puzzled expression: "Weiguo, what do you mean by suddenly bringing this up?"

Zhou Weiguo said with a helpless expression, "Elder Long, if you trust me, please make preparations in advance. There are some things I cannot say more about."

After saying this, Zhou Weiguo waited anxiously, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he did not hear any system notification.