Traveling through the sword to engage in military industry

"Old Ding, you look like you're enjoying yourself too much to think of home! What's so good about that dark Africa? You don't come back to China for years, and you've even taken your family there to farm."

Li Yunlong looked at the dark-skinned Old Ding, feeling that even the color of his skin had been affected.

"Old Li, you wouldn't understand, haha," Ding Wei chuckled softly.

"I've realized that farming is what Old Ding really wants to do deep down.

No matter how troubled I am, once I return to the plantation farm, I can forget everything."

With Old Brother Ren around, who in the world would dare provoke our Eastern Alliance now?"

"Even now, how many people in the world can remember your name, Old Li?

But Old Ding here is someone who regularly makes headlines every year.

In terms of leaving a mark in future history, I'm much better than you, Old Li.

How about it? You've always been unconvinced by me in battles, Old Li, but are you convinced now?"

Ding Wei looked at Old Li triumphantly, unabashedly displaying his satisfaction in front of Ren Zhong.

Of course, Ding Wei would only show this side of himself when he was with his old comrades.

Anyway, Ding Wei's first half of life was no less impressive than Li Yunlong's, and in the second half of his life, his title as the King of African Farms made Li Yunlong even more envious.

Compared to the three comrades, he directly crushed the always unconvinced Li Yunlong.

"Tsk tsk," Li Yunlong clicked his tongue, finding nothing to retort with.

He was actually quite envious of Ding Wei's current life!

"Old Ding, you just happened to be at the right time, with good luck.

If Old Brother Ren had chosen me instead, I guarantee I would have done even better than you.

Forget Africa, I could even plant crops in Antarctica!"

"Come on, Old Li, with your temper, could you stay in Africa for over twenty years?" Kong Jie chimed in.

"Do you know what hundreds of millions of acres of land mean? It's one-third of the North China Plain!

Old Ding managed to cultivate this land from wasteland into high-yield farmland in Africa.

For over twenty years, Old Ding has remained steadfast despite the changing times.

To be honest, I, Old Kong, am impressed. I couldn't do that job.

I'm still more suited to being a regular soldier."

Watching the lively banter between the three comrades, after so many years, the three comrades were each in their own corner.

Li Yunlong was mainly in the south, stationed in Zangnan, deterring the region, but there wasn't much to do.

After the J9 fighter jet was developed, the Eastern Alliance's air superiority became unshakable, and the territory they had conquered was as solid as Mount Tai.

Kong Jie had even less to do, basically taking over Li Yunlong's role as a new weapons tester.

Although it was fun, there was no place to practice, so for Kong Jie, life was a bit dull.

However, seeing the Eastern Alliance becoming stronger and stronger, now even surpassing the prosperous Han and Tang dynasties, Kong Jie was extremely happy in his heart.

A true soldier should be like this, subduing the enemy without fighting.

This is the true golden age of the Eastern Alliance!

However, with the explosion of technology, whether it was the Great Black Fish, aircraft carriers, or strategic transport aircraft, these had little to do with Kong Jie and the army.

The army's presence was getting weaker and weaker, and Kong Jie and his men only had a chance to show their faces once every five or ten years.

They couldn't find any exciting opportunities.

If they hadn't gotten some armed helicopters and A-9s to play around with in the army's aviation unit, Kong Jie wouldn't know how to maintain their position among the four military branches (Army, Navy, Air Force + Strategic Rocket Force).

They didn't even have any opportunities for exercises.

The Air Force had airborne combined brigades, the Navy had Marine Corps brigades, and even the Strategic Rocket Force had its own rapid support units!

Fortunately, the higher-ups were considerate and still assigned peacekeeping duties to the army, but that was the responsibility of the rapid reaction force, which was still under Li Yunlong, so Kong Jie didn't get anything to do.

"Isn't it good that you're all idle?" Ren Zhong looked at these old buddies and said with a smile, "Do you all think it was better to be chased around like rabbits in Taihang Mountains all day?"

"Of course not! Of course, life is better now," Li Yunlong grinned and ate a large piece of apple.

"Don't even mention Taihang Mountains, even the days when I, Old Li, was in Ginza were not as good as now.

Nowadays, everyone eats meat every day. Back when I was in Ginza, the damn Japanese were so poor that they could only let us brothers eat meat once every three days!"

"Just showing off," Kong Jie glanced at Old Li's smug look.

"When you were eating and drinking well in Ginza, we were still only having plain white steamed buns back home."

Speaking of the past, the three seemed to have endless stories to tell.

However, being able to see all this in their lifetime, the three of them, as they talked, all looked with surging emotions at the smiling, taciturn old man in his seventies.

Without him, no one could imagine what the Eastern Alliance would be like now.

But everyone could be sure that the Eastern Alliance would not be as prosperous as it is now.

"Old Ding, you've been in Africa for a long time, tell me about the current situation in Africa.

How much longer can John Bull's colonial rule last?" After listening to his brothers' idle chatter for a while, Ren Zhong turned to the main topic.

The current situation in the world of Bright Sword, after rapidly developing to the 1980s, had entered a delicate era.

Bringing John Bull into Europe allowed the Eastern Alliance to directly avoid forty years of detours and take off, but John Bull also enjoyed a huge wave of dividends and took off with them, steadily rising to become the world's third-largest economy, becoming the undisputed locomotive of Europe.

Managing the European Community, this political and economic integration organization, became increasingly prosperous.

Under these circumstances, the colonies in Africa, which would have broken away in the 1960s, also enjoyed a wave of dividends, with economies far stronger than the modern main world.

At least everyone was well-fed and clothed under Ding Wei's massive plantation farm economy.

This led to the voices of clinging to the big thighs of these colonies always overwhelming the voices of wanting independence and autonomy.

“The current situation is really hard to say. These colonies have always had two voices intertwined, but in different parts of Black Africa, the strength of these two voices varies,” Ding Wei said after pondering for a long while. “In Nigeria, because the development of food cultivation is more thorough, the local natives are more enthusiastic about accepting our Dongda hybrid technology, which makes their agricultural resources fully developed. In terms of transportation, we have also helped them establish a trunk railway network throughout the colony. In addition, there have been many achievements in industry, including our assistance in establishing a steel industry and a primary mechanical industry, and other primary industrial systems. From an overall economic point of view, Nigeria has basically reached the initial state of a modern country, and it also has a certain ability to survive if it becomes independent.”

“So in this country, the voice of discussing independence is stronger. Although it now relies on John Bull's system, the market for mineral, industrial, and grain sales is wider, considering that the main buyers of minerals come from Dongda, and the sales market for grain and industrial products is local to Black Africa. What they rely on John Bull for is more in terms of capital. Their financial system is still in its infancy and is now basically attached to John Bull's financial system. If it is independent, it is hard to say whether it is good or bad for the local natives.”

“As for places like Rhodesia, the current development is far less than that of Nigeria, which has a sea outlet. The natives in the inland are more uncivilized. Now, if we remove our plantations and farms, they may not even have enough to eat. There is almost no industry in this area, because there are neither geographical advantages nor labor advantages in these places. It is very difficult to develop even primary industries, so naturally no one can set up factories in that place, except for our cement plants, fertilizer plants, and other small amount of locally sold industrial products. They basically have no industrial products for export. For example, the conditions for setting up smelting plants locally for copper mines are not very suitable, because the local energy conditions are far worse than Nigeria, which has coal mines and water resources.”

“So in these places, John Bull has to inject blood every year, taking out a portion of the mineral revenue to provide certain subsidies, so that they can survive. For the local natives, they certainly don't want to lose these benefits.”

Ren Zhong certainly didn't know as much about these situations as Ding Wei, who had been running around. After listening to Ding Wei's words, Ren Zhong pondered for a while, “If we secretly promote it, will the process of independence in Nigeria become a reality within a few years?”

Ding Wei was shocked.

He didn't know why Ren Zhong had such an idea now. According to Ding Wei's thinking, Ren Zhong's initial choice of John Bull as a partner to enter the European market was an excellent move. Why did he want to undermine John Bull's foundation today?

The latest novels are first published on Liu 9 Shu Ba!

“If we are willing to take action, of course it will speed up a lot. For the separatist forces in Nigeria, it is a huge boost. What they are most eager for now is to gain recognition from several major countries. Rogue Eagle has been encouraging them, and so has the Great Bear. Now, although the Gallic Rooster is ostensibly standing with John Bull, in fact, they have long wanted to replace them. It's just that they missed the first wave of opportunities to cooperate with us. John Bull has taken the lion's share of the dividends in aviation, agriculture, and mining. Economically, they are now less than half of John Bull's, but if we are willing to take action, they should not hesitate to follow up.”

Ren Zhong was certainly clear about this general trend, after all, Chief of Staff Ye had been reporting it.

The technological matters gradually transitioned to the independent development of the three major technological systems in the Bright Sword world. Seeing that there was no problem, Ren Zhong also shifted his focus to the strategic aspect.

Although John Bull is the one he has been promoting cooperation with, Ren Zhong has always defined the relationship between the two parties as partners for mutual benefit.

Now that John Bull's economy has improved, they have become a little arrogant, especially in the aviation field. After Rolls-Royce mastered the three-rotor technology, they began internal engine research. For Airbus' production tasks, they are starting to be somewhat dissatisfied with the 50% split model.

Ren Zhong had long expected this development, but he did not indulge the other party. Now, taking advantage of the subtle situation of the Gallic Rooster and Prussia waiting to replace them, he is putting pressure on Rolls-Royce. If Rolls-Royce doesn't want to do it, Dongda will kick them away and cooperate with the Gallic Rooster and Prussia, because the combined strength of these two in Europe is stronger than John Bull alone.

Rolls-Royce has indeed solved the three-rotor issue unscathed with the help of Dongda, and has also greatly benefited from Airbus' meat to develop, but now Dongda is the largest shareholder of Airbus, and has key technological barriers such as avionics, carbon fiber, and aero engine patents. Once Airbus changes, it is John Bull who will be kicked out, not Dongda!

Even if Rolls-Royce now has the strength to start a new BAE Aerospace company, it will not be of much use. Their market competitiveness will definitely not be able to beat the current Airbus A30X and A32X/A33X three major series of pillar models.

But this is a sign that John Bull is not honest, so Ren Zhong is preparing to give them a small surgical operation, cutting a piece from them as a small warning.

Nigeria is of course the best target.

Others are not suitable for this matter, but Ding Wei, the king of farms in Black Africa, is better than the official! Because Ding Wei now holds the rice bowls of many people in Black Africa, it can be said that if this master slightly favors one side, the grain market in a certain country in Black Africa will be shaken.

In turn, it relates to the livelihoods of millions of people.

The current Ding Wei is so awesome!

Of course, it is not to say that Ren Zhong and Ding Wei can decide this matter. The real implementation still needs to be decided by Chief of Staff Ye and others. Ren Zhong and Ding Wei are both people who propose suggestions or implement them, and the decision-making power is still above.

It's just that when Ren Zhong proposes this kind of thing, the above will consider it very carefully.

As everyone knows, Ren Zhong has never made a mistake in the big picture. This alone means that no one dares to ignore Ren Zhong's advice. (End of this chapter)