1890 King of Southeast Asia

"The Japanese haven't made trouble recently? That's really strange. I thought they would be more arrogant." Liu Yiming peeled a peanut and asked with a frown.

"After all, propaganda is propaganda, but the Japanese know the reality. Recently, there are only some small warships that come out from time to time to show their presence." Zhao Jiaxing was drinking a little wine on the side.

It has been more than two weeks since the last naval battle with the Japanese. During this period, the "victorious" Japanese have been quiet.

"According to our insider in Japan, Japan is speeding up the production of war materials, mainly some army military materials, and the navy seems to have been abandoned." Jiang Wang took a sip of wine.

After Japan transported a batch of materials back to China, it immediately entered a state of large-scale armament production. Rifles, bullets, explosives, and a large number of individual equipment were manufactured.

At the same time, the Japanese army rapidly expanded its scale and conducted training before the "attack from Nanhua came". At present, the Japanese army has expanded to a scale of 1.3 million people, and a large number of reservists are undergoing training.

Compared with the flourishing army, the navy is much more miserable.

First of all, more than half of the main battleships of the Japanese Navy have moderate or above injuries, and there are not enough large docks for repair at the same time, so they can only take it slowly.

On the slipway, the construction of new warships with a construction progress of 20% has also stopped, because even if Japan gathers resources, the ordered 356mm guns cannot be delivered due to the blockade.

Moreover, the Japanese ordered the 356mm main guns from the UK. Once the war starts, can Japan really get the goods?

Referring to the battleship I-Hsin, it should not be available.

"Ha! Delay, the longer the better, how is the government?" Liu Yiming chuckled.

"The heavy industry and military production system have basically been transferred to the wartime production system, and financial control was officially implemented yesterday."

"Agriculture has smoothly transferred to the wartime economy. Everyone has experienced the construction of the Corps period, so it is not unfamiliar."

"In terms of light industry, due to the war, the import of raw materials has been blocked and the cost has risen. It is more troublesome to coordinate. It is in progress and is expected to be completed by the end of this month."

Xu Hui said easily.

As the New Year approaches, Liu Yiming gathers the top government and military officials together for a meal and exchange of views on the current situation.

Unlike the summary conferences of previous years, the theme of this year's conference is war and economy.

With the start of the war, the economic situation in South China is not good, but great. Especially after the French defended Paris, the insiders in South China were happier than the French themselves.

Especially Xu Hui, from January 18th to February 2nd, when the German army replaced the Chief of Staff, Xu Hui ignored Japan, which actually went to war with South China, and sat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs every day waiting for news from France.

The victory of the French is not only for the French, but also for the world.

This sentence is most clearly reflected in the capital markets of various countries.

In the New York Stock Exchange, the stocks of steel companies, which had been sluggish for several years, rose by 60% in more than a month. When the news of France defending Paris came, they doubled in a short period of time.

The stocks of other war-related material production companies such as explosives, medicines, sugars, etc., after more than a month of ups and downs, started to run.

Perhaps because the British are allies of France, the London Stock Exchange, as the core of finance, is even more irrational. The United States is still mainly focused on stocks, while London is soaring in the futures market.

Nanhua also took advantage of this storm and changed hands crazily, raising rubber futures. Until February 2, when the rubber harvest period in Southeast Asia ended, rubber futures had risen to a high of 1,377 pounds.

1,377 pounds, the high price before the stock market crash, but this is only the beginning of the war. Next, it will enter a war of attrition, and this price will only gradually rise until the end of the war.

Liu Yiming doesn't know what the original rubber price should be, but it seems that after a stock market crash, the rubber price has fallen to the bottom, and even if the war breaks out, it will not be so high.

After all, Nanhua, as a monopoly producer and the largest dealer of rubber futures, has been deliberately raising the price of rubber.

Even after the stock market crash, the rubber price is set by the government at a high minimum price, and the Nanhua government purchases the unsold rubber at the lowest price.

1,377 pounds, equivalent to 6,885 U.S. dollars, the annual income of an American steel industry worker is about 400 U.S. dollars at most, which is equivalent to the annual income of 17 industrial workers.

How many resources are needed to produce one ton of rubber? Calculated as an adult rubber tree produces five kilograms of rubber, two hundred rubber trees are needed.

Thirty-four rubber trees can be planted on one acre of land, and two hundred rubber trees are less than six acres of land, only 88 acres are needed.

As for labor? A skilled rubber tapper can tap five hundred trees a day, and Nanhua's rubber forests are all concentrated and closed, so daily management is not troublesome and labor costs are not high.

Of course, this is only the first level of benefit. The steel industry is expensive in extension. Almost all industries will involve steel, which directly affects the comprehensive national strength and industrial strength, and the final benefits are incomparable.

However, with the development of science and technology, rubber has also begun to extend. Most industrial equipment, especially weapons used as war, requires a large amount of rubber, and the demand has greatly increased.

At present, Nanhua is still hiding it, using war as an excuse to control rubber exports, creating a situation of supply exceeding demand.

Rubber brings Nanhua hundreds of millions of yuan in direct profits every year, but that was before the war. Now that the war has broken out, Nanhua wants to get a piece of the pie. Isn't that too much?

"That's good. We don't have to rush. The ones who should be in a hurry are Britain, France and Russia."

"The French won, unless the Germans immediately dispatched their navy to fight the British before the British navy is ready, and then dispatched their army for a decisive battle."

"This will cause Germany to suffer great losses, but it will be able to seek a decent exit. The longer the war goes on, the worse the fate of the Germans will be."

"Unfortunately, William II does not have the courage, and the Prussian nobles will not allow such people to appear."

Liu Yiming smiled and drank a glass of wine. He should be happy to make money.

"By the way, Your Majesty, since the war in Europe has broken out, should we speed up the progress of the thing we have been preparing for a long time?" Xu Hui gestured to Jiang Wang frantically.

"What?" Liu Yiming was stunned for a moment, not knowing what Xu Hui was talking about.

"The Prime Minister should be talking about the Huaxia plan." Wang Yang held the wine glass and looked at Liu Yiming with a sharp gaze.

"Oh! Look at my memory. How are Sun Zaizhi and others doing now? Is the time ripe?" Liu Yiming patted his head and laughed.

It's not that Liu Yiming doesn't care about this matter, but he has too many things to concentrate on recently.

The most important thing is to grasp the scale of the war and let Europe fight as soon as possible when the war breaks out with Japan.

It can't be too far away, otherwise it will give Britain an opportunity to intervene. Nanhua is not ready to tear its face with Britain. After all, it has to make money!

It's still the British money. Liu Yiming, who is German, also wants to make money, but he can't! Smuggling from the three Nordic countries? That little money is not worth Liu Yiming's risk.

It can't break out against Japan after the outbreak of the European war. In this way, Britain and France may use the treaty to make things, and at least let Liu Yiming lower the price.

Then the French might not be able to stop them, and they also instigated the Ottomans to join the war. If the Ottomans did not join, how could Nanhua share the Turkish Straits after the war?

Liu Yiming even thought about instigating Italy to join the war in advance, but he was afraid that there were too many variables and he could not act.

Who knows whether Italy's participation in the war is a good thing or a bad thing for both sides? Let's talk about it after the war is clearer.

So, Liu Yiming really put the plan for Huaxia behind his mind.

However, the officials could not help it. Nanhua Nanhua, how come it has the word "Nan", just like the Southern Song Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty, it is not good to hear, and it does not sound orthodox.

The concept of Greater Huaxia has always been in the minds of the Huaxia people. It's fine if there is no hope, but now there is a chance, isn't there?

"How is the specific work done? Tell me." Liu Yiming looked at everyone and asked.

"In terms of the government, the structure of the Huaxia Provisional Government and below, especially the township-level government, has been completed. More than 80% of them are ours or people we have trained. There is no problem." Xu Hui said first.

Since the beginning of the plan, Nanhua has always focused on cultivating grassroots cadres and talents, and first controlled the grassroots and implemented them in conjunction with the industrial plan.

With the economic support of the industrial plan and the establishment of militia organizations, these grassroots talents have mastered local control in a short period of time.

Maybe it is not yet to the point where it can disintegrate and replace the power of local clan gentry, but it can make local clan leaders and landlords and gentry unable to say anything against it-this is enough.

"In terms of military construction, half of the middle and high-level officers in the fifty current divisions in China are our people."

"Among them, the three main border defense group armies are also our people. The most important thing is that their logistics are completely controlled by us, so there is no need to worry about accidents."

Wang Yang, as a representative of the military, stood up and said.

"Not to mention the economy and people's livelihood, China's silk, tea, porcelain and other industries have long been integrated and controlled by His Majesty."

"After the implementation of the industrial plan, in addition to agriculture, China's main economy relies on the industrial plan, and the local people do not reject us."

"I think that the time is indeed relatively ripe for China, at least we will not encounter fierce resistance."

Lin Pingzhi sat at the end and was kicked by his father Lin Anmin. He stood up and said happily.

"In this case, let's put this matter on the agenda, Anmin, take a good rest recently, I will give you a few more days off, and you will be busy later." Liu Yiming thought about it and nodded.

There is really nothing to worry about.

All the preparations started many years ago. The Chinese Provisional Government might as well be called the Chinese Governor's District Office. Most of the staff are related to Nanhua.

As for possible resistance, those who have little use value are now waiting for reincarnation in the Hades Palace. Those who have certain use value, such as talents but unconvinced, are building new homes for Chinese in Arabia and other places.

"After the New Year, we will start to replace officials and prepare for the merger!" Liu Yiming made the final decision and raised his glass to signal to everyone.

Lin Anmin's face twitched, and he drank the wine in the glass and smiled bitterly.

If the other countries knew about this, they would probably explode, right? But they would explode anyway, because those who could intervene were deeply involved in the war and could do nothing.

Nanhua was not afraid of those who were incapable.