Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

"Yes, we will prepay Russia a loan of 5 trillion yen, using the oil and gas from Sakhalin 1 and 2 as collateral. If Russia can sell us its shares in ExxonMobil in the Sakhalin oil and gas field, the money will be in our account immediately."

The rhetoric here is quite clever. It implies that as long as Russia transfers its shares in American companies to Li Xinghe, it will essentially allow Li Xinghe to invest heavily in Sakhalin Island and develop its oil, gas, and coal fields.

This was also within Putin's permissible limits, and Lavrov agreed:

"Yes, but the investment is limited to... Sakhalin Island. Unless you are willing to restart automobile manufacturing plants of companies like Toyota and Isuzu in St. Petersburg, Moscow, or Eastern Europe. That would allow Japanese companies to set up operations in Vladivostok."

After years of economic setbacks, Russia has finally learned from its mistakes and managed to understand some economic measures.

They prefer Japanese investment in the core areas of Russia. Russia is unwilling to develop the resources of neglected areas like the Far East because these are not areas of core interest to them, and further development would only lead to stronger centrifugal forces.

Kamchatka and the Far East are not an option for now.

Compared to Russia, Japan really resembles a financially developed country; a mere flick of the wrist can cause a massive flow of yen.

Li Xinghe simply kicked the Ministry of Finance and several major banks and funds, and the 5 trillion yen loan to Russia was easily secured.

Li Xinghe said:

“Perfect. We can sign a Northeast Asia Economic Regional Cooperation Agreement, designating Sakhalin Oblast as an economic cooperation and development zone. Japan, South Korea, and North Korea can all join. We can cooperate in developing oil, gas, coal, and iron ore, and make Vladivostok the new economic core of Northeast Asia. Wouldn't that be wonderful?”

This is Li Xinghe playing a rhetorical game with the Russians.

Because Sakhalin Island is administratively under the jurisdiction of Sakhalin Region, which includes Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, and this sea area.

Therefore, conversely, this special economic zone still includes the part that Li Xinghe had his own agenda.

As for Vladivostok, Li Xinghe has no intention of engaging in formal economic cooperation with Russia; he prefers to maintain the existing smuggling and gray-area business practices.

After some consideration, Lavrov agreed:

"can."

This cooperation treaty would definitely not work if it were offered to the United States or China. They are too powerful.

However, as long as Japan is under Li Xinghe's control, there is room for further negotiations.

In a sense, as the least developed countries, Japan and South Korea, while exporting their culture to Russia for many years, enjoy the privileged status typical of developed nations. If China were to make a large-scale economic development in the Russian Far East, it would immediately trigger a lengthy uproar from the Tsarist faction in the Russian Duma. However, if smaller players like Japan and South Korea were to enter, compared to neighboring China, the Russians would feel less threatened and could even engage in some industrial development and watch girl groups perform suggestive dances.

Li Xinghe's secret cooperative relationship with Russia was further promoted under this opportunity.

During preparations for signing a memorandum of understanding and advancing cooperation, Lavrov asked:

"How do you convince the island's residents? You need to understand that this economic cooperation agreement will face huge challenges from certain factions within the country."

Russia's intention is to prevent the media from making a fuss and to avoid allowing the Tsarist faction to use this opportunity to stir up trouble and ruin economic cooperation.

Li Xinghe was full of confidence.

Demolition compensation is just a matter of giving money.

“I’ll give them the money. I can give them a very generous amount of yen. There are only 2820 people. How about I give each adult in each household 500 million yen? That’s enough for them to buy a studio apartment in the suburbs of Moscow’s fourth ring road. Couples can jointly purchase property in Moscow’s third ring road.”

"What if they don't want to?"

Li Xinghe clapped his hands:

“Hey you… send a batch of Honda luxury cars (second-hand stock) to the 18th Machine Gun and Artillery Division stationed on Iturup Island, Russia. Please ask the 18th Division to help us ‘persuade’ the residents of Shikotan Island.”

I believe the 18th Division will definitely be able to help the island's residents realize the rationale behind taking the money and leaving.

Li Xinghe also needs the Russian market, as well as markets in the five Central Asian countries and Belarus that are associated with Russia.

After all, the family was already struggling to make ends meet. If it weren't for Li Xinghe's approval of the loan, Nissan would have died immediately in front of the public. Subaru was also in a state of near collapse. Honda had a huge inventory of unsold cars in its warehouses. Mazda, Mitsubishi, Daihatsu and other car companies were all in a state of wits and struggles with the spider web of cars.

Perhaps only Suzuki, a car company, has managed to survive on its own thanks to its control over the Indian market.

The current situation is that yen and automobiles are stuck in Tokyo warehouses, and the booming economy is just idling in the Tokyo stock market. If this continues for another year, Li Xinghe will be preparing to return to Mount Fuji and break ties with the financial oligarchs. Therefore, he also needs to guide this hot money to Russia.

The secretaries completed the private negotiations on the details in just half a day, so both parties signed a memorandum of understanding.

"Pleasant to work with."

Lavrov specifically reminded Li Xinghe:

"Pay attention to media control. If any negative voices emerge during the lease of Shikotan Island, Russia will be forced to suspend cooperation."

Of course, this also raises another issue: if the 18th Extreme Artillery Division stationed on Iturup Island couldn't control the two thousand fishermen on Shikotan Island, then it means that the situation has long since changed to the point where a small island can have such an impact.

After Lao La left, Natasha stared at Li Xinghe's face suspiciously:

"Looks like you're not getting the short end of the stick?"

Li Xinghe pinched her butt:

"Once the Taiwan Strait crisis is over, the Russian government will come to me again, asking me to expand my investment in the Far East. I know the Russian government's problems all too well."

Don't overestimate the Russian government's ability to govern.

They lack any real strategy, always taking one step at a time as they're dealt a blow. Once the Taiwan Strait crisis ends, the Russian government will undoubtedly reflexively bring in Japanese and South Korean investment, seeking a strategic balance between its investments in the Far East and China. Switching between these three sources of funding, Russia won't even realize that it's now all under one control.

Li Xinghe pondered:

"Friends from Taiwan, would you like to immigrate to Russia? Friends from Myanmar and Thailand, how about working in Russia?"

……

Natasha hadn't left yet when Valeria arrived, carrying the child.

This beautiful woman also helped find an official figure.

The Ukrainian ambassador also came.

The other party pleaded:

"Why not invest in Ukraine?"

investment?

Throw a fart.

Ukraine's economic interests have been completely devoured by the West. Now, the whole of Ukraine is a typical pre-World War I colonial state, with foreign shareholders in every industry, making it a veritable parasite.

Now, when they come to Li Xinghe claiming to be investing, it's more like begging.

Russia is broke, and so is Ukraine.

They were a pair of begging brothers.

What else can you buy?

"How about the Odessa Port cooperation project? The Ukrainian government could open a dedicated port for Japan in the Odessa region."

What?

They engaged in smuggling.

Although Japan and South Korea are located in the northeastern corner of East Asia, they each hold the top spot in global sales for Toyota cars and Samsung mobile phones, two high-tech categories. Meanwhile, Europe's continuous increases in tariffs in recent years are quite troublesome.

Li Xinghe rubbed his hands together and said, "I can lend Ukraine 3000 billion yen first. After the port cooperation is finalized, I will send a Ukrainian working group to Odessa. How about that?"

"can."

Lee Seong-hae will just consider this 3000 billion yen a reward for feeding his dogs.

We should first establish an economic cooperation project in Ukraine, and then explore expanding it after the Taiwan Strait crisis.

After signing the cooperation agreement, Li Xinghe instructed them:

"Don't announce this economic cooperation for now. Wait until Russia makes its announcement before you spread it around on a small scale."

After the Ukrainian ambassador left, Musashi Yama and Tsukishima Minami came in and reminded Li Xinghe:

"We detected some unusual signals in the vicinity, which are suspected to be from U.S. personnel monitoring the Cabinet Residence."

Li Xinghe waved:

“Kill him.”

Since Li Xinghe and Vance parted ways, US intelligence agencies other than the CIA have lost sight of Japan. (The last part, "美呢林在有美空你林在在没呢," is a nonsensical string of characters and doesn't translate directly.)

Reality is reality, and intelligence work cannot be rebuilt from scratch in one or two attempts. The various departments in the United States that want to gather intelligence on Li Xinghe now can only rely on the Maleki Squad or contact some professors in Japanese academia to write articles that are essentially fraudulent.

That evening, Lavrov, carrying the borrowed money, went to Beijing to discuss business. The Japanese side, represented by Shika Mikake and Ei-mi, announced the details of Japan-Russia economic cooperation.

"This Northeast Asia Economic Regional Cooperation Agreement will certainly promote further regional peace among Japan, China, South Korea, North Korea and Russia, and achieve coordinated regional economic development between the Sea of ​​Japan and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, as well as a dynamic balance in regional resource supply."

The territorial issue was not mentioned in formal settings, but it was hinted at privately.

Japanese domestic media outlets have started to secretly get excited:

"The Chimai Islands and Shikotan Island are back!"

"With the large-scale economic development, the oil and gas fields in the north will solve our problem of being held back by the Taiwan Strait!"

"Send the aircraft carrier Tamamo-no-Mae to the Arctic Ocean!"

Of course, all of this was done under the official guidance of the Cabinet Press Club and was only aimed at Japanese studies within Japan. Because the matter was very serious, the issue of territorial reunification was only briefly mentioned in serious sections, allowing some clowns to sensationalize it in daytime news.

In evening news or serious programs, various channels try to avoid mentioning territorial issues and quietly make their fortunes, instead focusing on large-scale development projects for northern resource industries.

Given Li Xinghe's consistent efforts to lower electricity and water prices, people speculated that he was definitely planning to build oil and gas pipelines, stretching from Sakhalin Island all the way to the Kanto Plain, bringing cheap natural gas to households. Consequently, much Tokyo capital began investing in the economic sector.

Many political commentators have to praise Li Xinghe:

"Taking advantage of the Taiwan Strait crisis, he still managed to secure economic cooperation with Russia. He's a true diplomatic genius; he's won big."

Little did they know, Li Xinghe actually wanted to wait until after the Taiwan Strait crisis to take advantage of the situation.

As for the relationship between the Tsarist faction in Russia and Putin's lifespan, that's hard to predict.

In the foreseeable future, the outcome is unlikely to be pleasant.

In the long run, the sovereignty issue in the Far East may not be impossible to resolve through a peaceful version of the Ryukyu model.

Li Xinghe, who had been engaging in borderline fraud regarding Russia, finally remembered that he had important business to attend to.

He posed as a notorious fraudster, making phone calls to Taiwan, a country with a thriving telecom fraud industry. His message to the Taipei government was personally delivered by Mayo Kao.

“Friends, consider the Shikotan and Hakumai Islands that Russia returned to Japan. We can lease them to you for free as temporary government bases. Li Xinghe won’t interfere.”

Chapter 798: Taiko Will Never Win, Countdown to Surrender to the Communists (5400 words)

"Tokyo Fever!"

Hot money surged in, and Tokyo's financial market operated wildly, as if it had been injected with ten doses of trenbolone.

Shareholders, presidents, and representatives of major automobile companies flocked to the Cabinet Official Residence with a sense of pilgrimage. Representatives from various foreign trade associations, diplomatic missions, and industries in Japan and South Korea lined up outside the residence to await an audience.

Those once arrogant tycoon bosses, whether from Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Toyota, or Honda, all bowed their heads and held their breath cautiously.

Many CEOs of Chinese branch offices in the electronics and home appliance sectors have arrived, while business owners in the food and beverage, daily chemical, and apparel industries are lining up eagerly, hoping to return to the highly profitable Russian market. Whether it's Muji, Uniqlo, or presidents of various small and medium-sized enterprises, their application forms for resuming operations in the Russian market are already dripping with sweat.

Everyone wants to return to Russia, such a large and high-quality market.

Li Xinghe sat in his chair, confidently beating around the Japanese business community:

"Japan and Russia will fully restore relations. The erroneous decisions made by those foolish politicians who followed the West have resulted in enormous economic and market losses. I spent a full 5 trillion yen to reopen Russia's doors! This was practically a free gift, because the Russian government is currently short of money."

Only after pointing out the core principle of buying peace with his own money did Li Xinghe begin to discuss the other details.

Business people tacitly took out their phones to pay.

"The time has come to donate money to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister spent 5 trillion yen to open the door to Russia, so we will give the Prime Minister 10 trillion yen in return."

How should I give it to them?

Everyone can chip in and deposit the money into the US-Japan United Bank.

Once the money is deposited and the deposit certificate is destroyed, it's a perfectly legitimate way to bribe Li Xinghe.

The cooperation of these three key industries—automobile exports, bulk import and export trade with Russia by the five major trading companies, and oil and gas energy imports—means a massive economy worth tens of trillions of yen, the revitalization of Hokkaido, and the consolidation of Tokyo's status as a world financial center.

No matter how much you give, it's never enough.

Li Xinghe also said:

"At the same time, I must warn you. No matter how many preferential treatments the Russian government offers you, no matter what they say, it is not credible. The Tsarist Russians may launch a second war in Ukraine at any time, and your old factories and production lines will be confiscated. Therefore, investment is allowed, but only in labor-intensive factories; investment in technology is not allowed, at most you can be allowed to import parts for assembly."

In a few years, if Putin were to pass away and the Tsarist elements were to begin their doomsday celebrations, the future of Russia would be uncertain.

"Yes!"

Businesses and industries have expressed their agreement.

After the long meeting ended, reporters crowded at the door asking questions: