1890 King of Southeast Asia

"The 9th Division, the 1st Regiment of the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, and part of the 2nd Armored Division have all arrived at the frontline positions, and Wang Xu has not made any further moves."

"Under our indulgence, the number of Arab rebels has exceeded 100,000, and the number of civilians has exceeded one million. It is expected that after this wave is cleared, the Arabs will be completely quiet, and the industrial plan will not be affected."

On January 20, Xie Hui came to report the Arab war situation to Liu Yiming.

"Wait a little longer, we don't have time to play house with the Arabs, and we have to focus on construction next." Liu Yiming's fingers tapped the table lightly.

"Yes!" Xie Hui nodded. Although he didn't understand what Liu Yiming was thinking, it was the duty of the army to keep the place peaceful.

Xie Hui didn't know, but Liu Yiming knew.

New Year's Day in 1909 has passed. In less than three years, a huge change will happen in the north-of course, it may not happen, but we should be prepared, right?

History, when changes happen, Japan, Russia, and the United States will try every means to intervene, and Britain, France, and Germany will exert influence outside the game.

Tower Reading @\u003capp，^Free Novel Website\u003c p=""\u003e

\u003c/app，^Free Novel Website\u003c\u003e

If Nanhua had not carried out large-scale construction in the Qing Empire, Liu Yiming could have completely ignored it. After all, the Western countries would be in a mess next, and Nanhua would have plenty of opportunities.

Then in two and a half years, the world's first large-scale armed conflict will kick off, bringing an unprecedented huge market.

Everything that can be used and eaten will appreciate several times to dozens of times in four years or even longer. Nanhua missed the best time for colonization and missed the first industrial revolution. It must seize this opportunity to accumulate wealth.

Even in order to prolong the war as soon as possible and accumulate more wealth, Liu Yiming is still consciously exerting influence on certain industries in the world.

For example, Nanhua's non-ferrous metal industry has completely exceeded the demand of the domestic market. Thousands of tons of various rare metals are missing every year. Whether it is factories, warehouses, or customs, there is no record of this batch of metals.

Liu Yiming needs time, and he needs to weaken Britain and France as much as possible.

Not only money, but also population. The more people die, the smaller the potential, and the greater the disgust for war.

As one side gains and the other loses, Nanhua's strategy is half completed, and the other half is in the New World.

From this point of view, the threat from the United States is indeed the greatest, but it is too far away.

"You go down first, help me call the Prime Minister in." Liu Yiming waved his hand, yawned, and took out a blank notebook.

"Yes!" Xie Hui saluted and turned to leave.

After a while, Xu Hui came in, followed by Secretary Wang, who was holding a pile of documents and left quietly after putting them down.

"Your Majesty, this is the strategic material storage information from all over the country that you want. This information has just been updated. This is a simple summary." Xu Hui opened the top file and took out a piece of paper.

"Not enough, the strategic material reserves are far from meeting my requirements. What's the matter?" Liu Yiming glanced at it hastily and said directly.

In fact, even if the requirements are met, he will expand the conditions. It's better if they are not met now.

Xu Hui knows Liu Yiming's idea, waiting for the war in Europe to start, and then making a fortune.

But now too many materials have been stored, so much that he is a little panicked. What if it is smashed in his hands?

"The cost of building a grain warehouse is very high. The existing grain reserves can already guarantee the national population for two years. In addition, construction is underway in various places, and resource shortages have slowed down."

Raw materials such as metals, sugar, and rubber are easy to say. The storage conditions are just so-so, and they are industrial raw materials, so they can be consumed anyway.

But grain is not the same. Not only is the cost of long-term storage of grain high, but the storage conditions of grain are also relatively harsh. If you are not careful, it will go bad.

If the grain goes bad, there is no way to use it.

"According to the plan, the total rubber reserve this year should be more than 1.2 million tons. Is the gap too big? It shouldn't be difficult to build a warehouse that won't be flooded, right?" Liu Yiming began to find faults.

"Your Majesty, the total global demand for rubber last year was only this much, and one million tons is enough for us to interfere with the market."

"However, this gap is not not going according to plan. The two major plans are being carried out at the same time, which consumes a lot of materials. In order to stabilize the market, I released some materials and will fill them in later."

"This year, the rubber tapping area has increased by 36,000 hectares. In fact, if the government had not stored rubber at a scale of hundreds of thousands of tons per year, the price of rubber would have fallen a bit."

Xu Hui said half-explanatory and half-complaining.

"Don't worry about the rubber..." Liu Yiming thought for a while, and some things were better to tell Xu Hui directly, so he picked up the phone.

"Let Jiang Wang come in." Liu Yiming said to the phone.

Jiang Wang walked in even faster, holding a suitcase in his hand, and a chain connected the suitcase to Jiang Wang's waist.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister." Jiang Wang saluted, and then looked at Liu Yiming with a puzzled look.

Tower Reading @\u003capp，^Free Novel Website\u003c p=""\u003e

\u003c/app，^Free Novel Website\u003c\u003e

"Explain our competition plan to the Prime Minister." Liu Yiming lit a cigarette and smoked quietly.

Jiang Wang nodded, took out the key, unlocked the chain, and carefully entered the password to open the suitcase.

This suitcase contains some "non-existent" things. In order to ensure that these non-existent things never exist, there are two pieces of gelatinous gasoline in the interlayer of the suitcase.

Once the password is entered incorrectly three times or the internal mechanism is triggered, the two-kilometer-long gelatinous gasoline will be pressed hard on the paper inside by the spring and then ignited.

"In 1905, a fungus that will make rubber leaves wither appeared in the Panamanian plantation..." Jiang Wang explained the competition plan and the progress of the plan to Xu Hui.

Xu Hui was a little surprised, but soon began to think about the benefits and risks of this matter.

"In other words, you plan to use this fungus to destroy the plantations in South America. In this way, we will become the largest and only supplier..." Xu Hui touched his chin.

"How long will it take to see the results?" Xu Hui asked.

"According to research, after being infected with the disease, the rubber tree will wither within two to three years. Because artificially cultivated spores are not very effective, we need to collect natural spores, so the entire planning cycle is five to ten years."

"Our people have obtained the latest spores and are rushing to Peru. From here, they can reach Brazil as soon as possible, and then they will begin to spread." Jiang Wang said.

"Five to ten years, then we have to quickly expand the scope of rubber planting and complete the occupation of the market before the locals find a way to suppress it." Xu Hui looked at Liu Yiming.

"The rubber forests in the Luzon Islands are expanding, but the total population limits the rubber production. I plan to plan a batch of rubber plantations in Thailand." Liu Yiming said.

Xu Hui nodded. Central and South America have always been the main rubber exporters, unlike Nanhua, which mainly exports rubber products.

Central and South America has a ready-made market-the United States, while Nanhua is a market cultivated by itself. Europe's demand for rubber is increasing rapidly, behind which is the rise of a series of industries and the rapid maturity of the automobile industry-all of which are spawned by Nanhua.

"We must keep this a secret. Brazil is still ordering warships from us." Xu Hui warned worriedly.

In fact, he did not agree with this unhealthy way of competition, but he held back after thinking about the share of hundreds of thousands of tons per year.

The current international rubber market price is 800 pounds per ton, and the highest price in the international futures market is 1,000 pounds per ton.

Converted to 4,000 to 5,000 US dollars per ton of rubber, 100,000 tons is a huge market of 400 to 500 million US dollars, not to mention that the US demand is more than 100,000 tons.

"The Malaya region has also started tapping rubber. The area of ​​rubber forests in the Malaya region has exceeded 280,000 hectares. It will mature in the next few years. Do we want to..." Xu Hui asked immediately after a small calculation.

"No, this fungus is a double-edged sword. We really haven't found an effective way to inhibit it. We can only physically isolate it. If there is a problem in Malaya, then we will be in danger here." Liu Yiming shook his head.

"And, next we need to enhance the isolation of the rubber forest. There are so many uninhabited islands in the central and eastern parts of the country. Let's make them rubber plantations in the future. The existing rubber forests should also be better managed." Liu Yiming said.

Because the rubber forests in South China and Southeast Asia are scattered, even scattered on various islands, they are naturally isolated, so the ability to resist risks has greatly increased.

And now few people are aware of biological warfare. At least in the past ten years, no country has paid attention to this method.

The two discussed how to enhance protection. Liu Yiming reminded that this was a "non-existent top secret". After Xu Hui repeatedly assured him, he went out.

After all, Jiang Wang stood there for so long, obviously something happened.

"Something about the north." Jiang Wang opened the file.

"The Japanese Second Army attacked Shanhaiguan for seven consecutive days, but to no avail. The casualties announced were 1,400, but this is obviously unrealistic.

Our intelligence officers in Beiyang said that Japan left more than a thousand bodies on the first day. Through multiple summaries, it is conservatively estimated that the Japanese casualties should exceed 20,000, of which more than 10,000 died."

Jiang Wang stopped and looked at Liu Yiming. Liu Yiming just listened quietly, so Jiang Wang continued to report.

"Japan is contacting the Qing Regent, probably wanting to negotiate, but the Qing Empire did not accept it, probably because the conditions were not agreed upon. Japan is changing the direction of attack, and the First Army turned to enter Liaodong, apparently preparing to attack Lushun."

"In Russia, the Russian Far East Corps is gathering, and St. Petersburg sent a message that Nicholas II wants to take revenge. This news has been leaked, and the British are beginning to become active." Jiang Wang said, closing the folder.

"Alas~ So, the United States is the chosen country." Liu Yiming sighed.

Whether it is Europe or Asia, it is difficult for any country to do anything, because these places are full of powerful countries, and peaceful development is really a luxury. Often, if you accumulate a little wealth, it will be snatched away by powerful countries.

And the United States, its neighbors are all trash, the two oceans of the East and the West are natural barriers, the climate is suitable, and the land is flat. It is indeed the chosen country.

"Contact the United Kingdom to discuss the situation in East Asia."

"Adhere to a peaceful attitude."

Liu Yiming added, as for who he said it to, that's unknown.