kingnovel Chapter 735: The Stars and Stripes Want to Eat Meat Too
Chapter 735: The Stars and Stripes Want to Eat Meat Too
According to the schedule of the southbound fleet, it should have stopped in Luzon Island and visited the United States Naval Base. However, due to the situation in Southeast Asia, Li Shaoyi deleted this schedule and personally called Mr. Plant of the United States to apologize, saying that he would go back to ask before returning.
Mr. Plant was also very clear about the situation on Li Shaoyi's side. After all, there was an unpleasantness between the Windmill Kingdom and Li Shaoyi, and the whole world knew about it. It was also normal to go there to defend one's compatriots.
The United States has always been dissatisfied with these old colonial empires. Luzon Island was taken from another old colonial empire. After all, you are out of date and useless in this world, but you still want to maintain your past glory. Is this reasonable in the world?
During the call, Mr. Plant also hinted at something else. He said that if Li Shaoyi wanted to take action in Southeast Asia, perhaps the United States could provide me with some support. Of course, in return, if something happened to the United States in this region in the future, Li Shaoyi must give its full support.
"They're both colonial powers. Could there be any conflicts? I don't think I've heard anything about them recently. Although Southeast Asian countries are intertwined, they're clearly divided, so it wouldn't be easy for them to cause conflict."
After Li Shaoyi finished his call, Gu Xiaomeng was the first to express his doubts about this matter. Those people in the United States are as cunning as snakes, so we must be more careful to avoid being cheated by them.
"I think I have a say in this matter. For a long time, the United States gained its colonies in Southeast Asia by defeating the old colonial empire, Spain. Spain and the Windmill Kingdom didn't get along well, but they were both old colonial empires, so the Windmill Kingdom has always been wary of the United States. Moreover, when it comes to various systems in Southeast Asia, the Windmill Kingdom has always been more inclined towards the Windsor Empire and the Gallic Empire, so the contradictions between the two countries are not small."
"The second issue is trade. The United States has a strong economy, and when it enters other countries to do business, it hopes that their colonies will open up their markets and reduce tariff barriers. However, the Windmill Nation doesn't have such strong economic strength, and when it comes to managing its colonies, it still uses its traditional conservative approach. That is, Chinese merchants can only trade in these territories, and merchants from other countries should try to avoid coming here."
Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Huaiyuan happened to hear everyone's discussion, so he came over with a coffee cup. Everyone was wary of these people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After all, they were not one family with us. But after hearing the words of the government minister, everyone felt as if a light had suddenly appeared on their eyes. After all, they were people in the diplomatic field, and they studied these things more thoroughly than we did.
"Then, Minister Zheng, could you help me analyze what the Southeast Asian countries' reactions would be if a military conflict broke out between us and the Windmill Nation in Batavia?"
Li Shaoyi picked up the cigarette box on the table and gave it to Minister Zheng, but Minister Zheng did not smoke.
"Aside from the United States, it's difficult for us to gain support from other countries. What we need to worry about most is the Windsor Empire's Far East Fleet. Their Far East Fleet is stationed in Singapore and has a battleship and several cruisers. If they interfere, our strategy in Southeast Asia will be difficult to achieve."
Although Minister Zheng is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, he has studied military affairs very thoroughly. He has put a lot of thought into this trip south. He also understands that this is an opportunity for him. When Li Shaoyi harvests, we just need to pick up some from the side, which will be enough to eat.
Of course, all of this depends on whether Li Shaoyi gives it or not, so at this moment, you have to show it when it's time to show it. If you're like a wooden man and don't say a word the whole time, why would they give you the credit when it's time to share it? Is it just because you're good at playing the wooden man?
"One more thing. I heard that Commander Li has a lot of foreign trade cooperation with the Windsor Empire. If we ever come into conflict with them in Southeast Asia, trade sanctions are always their forte. Without us, they can always find other customers, but without them, Commander Li's major industrial zones in the north will suffer significant losses."
Minister Zheng's words made Li Shaoyi look at him with a higher opinion. He originally thought that except for Mr. Gu, all the other people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were just getting paid for nothing and not doing their job. It seems that there are still many capable people in such places, but they have never had the opportunity to show their talents. This is also related to the National Government's pursuit of a tortoise diplomacy strategy.
"Minister Zheng is right, but your analysis is so thorough. You shouldn't just find problems for me, right? You should also have solutions to the problems, right?"
Li Shaoyi said with a smile that facing these old foxes, it would be okay to ask for advice humbly. Even if he knew how to solve the problem, it would not hurt to listen to other people's opinions. Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. For Li Shaoyi, there was nothing to worry about now. The most important thing was to find out the shortcomings and fill them.
"The Windmill Kingdom's colonies in Southeast Asia are arguably the most fertile. Although they don't control any major transportation routes, both the plantations and resources are considered a treasure trove by other nations. When we eat meat, it's best to invite all nations to join us."
Minister Zheng hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to say these words. If he said these words somewhere else, it would be no different from chatting, and he would not take any responsibility.
But the Li Shaoyi in front of him is different. He is the first pragmatist in the party and the country. If you let him know what to do next, this guy will definitely not let the plan remain on paper. Maybe he went to Southeast Asia this time with the attitude of fighting, but he just never showed it.
"anything else?"
Li Shaoyi knew this. If this was the only requirement, then you, as the deputy minister, would be somewhat incompetent.
"When facing the Western powers, we should defeat them one by one. The Star-Spangled Empire is eating meat with us, so we should be able to sit down together. The Gallic Empire wants to make a military threat, so we need to reach an agreement with Commander Li in the southwest. As for the Windsor Empire, it is also the most difficult one to deal with. I haven't figured out how to deal with it yet."
Minister Zheng is very talented and he put the three major powers in Southeast Asia on the table in a short time.
"Military threat to the Gallic Empire? The three kingdoms of Indochina?"
Gu Xiaomeng drew a circle on the map. "Our forces are all in the north. Are we threatening them on the Xiongnu steppes? Will they recognize us?"