Expedition to Europe

The collapse of the colonial system dominated by Britain and France, or the great tide of national independence, occurred in the 1950s and 1960s.

In other words, it will take another 30 or 40 years for national consciousness to be generally awakened and the colonial system to collapse.

Before that, Britain, France, or all the countries with colonies in the world, implemented a single economic model in the colonies. All the rights to distribute materials were in the hands of the mother country. The colonies did not have the ability to be self-sufficient, and thus became more dependent on the mother country.

For example, in Borneo, the Dutch implemented the plantation model. Because Borneo did not produce food, food had to be imported from the Dutch, which made Borneo more dependent on the Dutch. Without the Dutch, the local aborigines could not even get enough food.

The British did the same to Australia. Australia's current economic pillars are wheat and wool. Although the mining industry has developed initially, it is far from the level of "a country sitting on a mine cart". Australia has no industrial production capacity, and daily necessities need to be supplied by the British. Even Australians do not have merchant ships. Their wheat and wool can only be transported to Europe with the help of the British.

The strict control of the British over Australia can be seen from this.

In fact, the main reason why national independence emerged on a large scale is that Britain and France did not fully realize the value of colonies. For example, Kuwait, a tiny country with an area of ​​only more than 10,000 square kilometers, concentrates one-tenth of the world's oil reserves. If the British realized this, would they let Kuwait become independent?

No, they would launch a "westward movement" to turn Kuwait into a no-man's land.

Don't think that the British can't do such a thing. When the Americans carried out the "westward movement", the United States did not exist yet, and it was originally a British colony.

But this single economic model does not work for the Chinese. The Chinese are accustomed to the self-sufficient small peasant economy model. They grow their own food, sew their own clothes, build their own houses, and make their own furniture. There is no need for any external intervention, and the Chinese can live well.

That's why the British launched the Opium War and used strong ships and powerful guns to break the isolation of the Qing Dynasty. To put it bluntly, it is to break the small peasant economy model.

For Qin Zhiyuan, he wanted to establish a super-large-scale "small peasant economy model" in the Grand Duchy of Lanfang, striving to be self-sufficient in everything, and at the same time export the surplus production capacity to the outside world in exchange for greater surplus value.

Then we must be careful with the iron ore in Australia, otherwise once the British realize the value of Australia, they will definitely break the contract and firmly control Australia.

To deal with the British, in fact, we still have to rely on the French. As long as we follow the normal rules, Qin Zhiyuan is sure to make the British suffer a big loss, because if it rises to the national level, even if Britain seems to be stronger than the French, the French will not give up their deserved interests.

Who will win when Britain and France talk nonsense?

I wonder if they will take action?

Qin Zhiyuan is looking forward to it.

So one day in mid-February, Qin Zhiyuan found old Renault to discuss investment in Australia.

"Buy land? Why buy those places where no one lives?" Old Renault disagreed.

It was because they believed the rumors spread by Clemenceau some time ago that those who rushed to buy Moroccan land suffered heavy losses. After buying Moroccan land, those people went to Morocco with great enthusiasm to look for the legendary oil fields.

The reality is so cruel. Those people worked in Morocco for nearly three months, dug a lot of wells, but did not find a single oil field. Many oil companies that emerged overnight have broken their capital chain and can only sell the land purchased by the company in the hope of recovering part of the cost.

But it is easy to buy, but difficult to sell.

Morocco is now synonymous with "pit goods". No one dares to take those so-called "oil fields" at this time, and throw their own money into those bottomless pits.

Many people have lost their fortunes and lost all their money.

But who can be blamed for this?

Qin Zhiyuan's reminder in front of the Prime Minister's Office that "entering the market is risky, and investment should be cautious" is still ringing in my ears. Now you can't blame Qin Zhiyuan for digging a pit for you to jump into, because he did remind you.

But in that kind of passionate situation, who can tell which is a trap and which is heaven?

Blame it on my greed.

"You said the same thing the last time I wanted to buy the New Baku area." Qin Zhiyuan was merciless.

"Ahaha, the weather is good today!" Old Renault remained calm. When it comes to being thick-skinned, Old Renault is no less than anyone.

"How about it? Do you want to buy it? We can't take the lead, find a British to buy it. Anyway, those places are all mountainous and have no value now. I guess the governor doesn't even know where Pilbara is. It won't cost much, but the potential benefits are huge." Qin Zhiyuan didn't hide anything from Old Renault and directly told him the destination.

"Pilbara... Is there oil there?" Old Renault's eyes lit up when he talked about oil.

More than half of the oil pipeline from Djerba Island to the New Baku oil field has been laid. In order to find the oil field in Tunisia as soon as possible, Prince Basel mobilized more than 200,000 workers to lay the pipeline.

Although Prince Basel always talks about the interests of the indigenous people, once it involves his own interests, Basel treats the indigenous people much more harshly than the French. You should know that old Renault paid the salaries of these 200,000 people, but these workers did not get a penny, and all of them were pocketed by Basel.

"There is no oil, but there is iron ore, an unparalleled large-scale iron ore! From now on, it can be used until the next century, and maybe it can be used until the next century." Qin Zhiyuan's bait is enough.

"Really...really?" It is obvious that old Renault swallowed his Adam's apple.

Louis Renault has his own steel plant, of course, it is now in a semi-shutdown state, because the Germans now occupy the mines in France, and the steel plant has no raw materials and can only stop production.

But it is precisely for this reason that old Renault can buy the steel plant.

It is said that the guy who sold the steel plant to old Renault used the money that old Renault paid him to invest in Moroccan oil, but all the money went to waste. Now the unlucky guy is probably considering whether to jump off the building.

Old Renault is now gradually transforming into a "mining tycoon" and has a deep understanding of the role of steel.

Louis Renault's car factory is a big consumer of steel. Old Renault's demand for iron ore is even stronger than Qin Zhiyuan's.

"Yes, iron ore, inexhaustible." Qin Zhiyuan affirmed.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

Old Renault's face showed a struggle, and after a while he gritted his teeth and said, "It's not easy. That's the British territory. If there are so many iron ore, the British will not let us control it."

At this moment, old Renault really envied the British resources. They have the largest colonies in the world and the largest living space.

"So we can't take the lead. We need to find a British person to take the lead and let him take the lead to buy the Pilbara, and then organize a company to develop it. The employees in the company can be French and Chinese. The British government can't control this." Qin Zhiyuan planned carefully.

This plan is also harbouring evil intentions. Asking the British to take the lead will not cause the British government to be disgusted, nor will it cause opposition from the Australian colonial government. At least the Pilbara region can be smoothly obtained.

After obtaining it, the direction of things will not be controlled by the British government or the Australian government. Aren't these countries known to respect public opinion? Qin Zhiyuan, who is used to hiding in the dark, is the best at manipulating public opinion.

"It's not easy to find a suitable British person. It's not easy to control those with power and influence, and those without power and influence can't conceal the source of funds. We can't just create a rich man directly." Old Renault was not without worries.

"Who said it can't be? With the resources we have now, is it troublesome to create a rich man?" Qin Zhiyuan laughed strangely.

"Create it? How to create it?" Old Renault was confused.

"Go to Libya, find a local farmer, and buy his farm." Qin Zhiyuan said directly.

"In the name of what? You can't just find someone and give him a large sum of money. If you do that, everyone will know there is something fishy going on." Old Renault didn't know what was going on.

"Go in the name of United Petroleum Company, go to the border between Libya and Tunisia, I will provide a few coordinates, just buy one at random." Qin Zhiyuan didn't want to reveal his true purpose too early.

Speaking of which, Libya's oil reserves are much larger than Algeria, but Libya's oil fields are more scattered, not as concentrated as the New Baku area, and Libya is now under the control of the British, so it is not easy for Qin Zhiyuan to operate.

Fortunately, Qin Zhiyuan's ambition is not so big now. As long as he can find a suitable target to give him a large sum of money so that he can afford to buy the Pilbara region of Australia, as for Libya's oil, if there is a chance, he will take some, if there is no chance, forget it. Anyway, the oil in the New Baku area will not be exhausted in decades, so Qin Zhiyuan is not in a hurry.

"Where are the oil fields?" Old Renault is still quite perceptive.

"Yes!" Qin Zhiyuan affirmed.

"Then we don't need to let United Petroleum take the lead, and form another oil company to develop the oil in Libya." Old Renault is ambitious.

"It's not impossible to form another company, but there is a problem you have to consider. Libya is in the British-controlled area. What if the oil reserves there are enough, so much that the British can be shameless for it?" Qin Zhiyuan was worried.

"Shameless! Who is afraid of whom? As long as we buy it openly, what can the British say? If the British dare to take our oil fields by force, Raymond and George will not sit idly by." Old Renault is confident.

"That's good..." Qin Zhiyuan is satisfied.

What we want is the French government to come forward, so that we can fight on equal terms!