Chapter 3490
In Li Zhi's mind, of course only North Korea is Haihan's most loyal ally and partner. The cooperation between the two countries has no boundaries and upper limits, and there should be no measures to hide the other side.
But this is just his personal idea. Judging from the current situation, Haihan does not seem to intend to play with North Korea in the current strategy against Japan.
Li Zhi could only comfort himself secretly. This must involve some extremely important grand plan. In order to avoid leaks, the Executive Committee did not notify North Korea in advance.
But in his heart, he still wanted to immediately ask the executive committee to inquire about the causes and consequences of the matter, and why North Korea was excluded.
But his reason kept reminding him that this kind of inquiry might be regarded as offensive by the Executive Committee. After all, how could any vassal country in the world openly question the principles of the suzerain country?
Li Bai didn't know that his father's thoughts would be so complicated. Seeing that he was silent for a long time, he finally couldn't help but said: "Father, when you go to Japan for inspection, you need to take into account the schedules of political figures from various countries. You must also investigate and understand each country. Regarding the parties’ willingness to participate, the corresponding arrangements will probably not be announced until before the forum activities begin.”
Li Xie came back from his thoughts, nodded slightly and said: "It makes sense, it must be like this!"
Li Zhi's uneasiness lasted until the next day. When he met with King Zheng Zha of Annan, he inquired about the other party's recent itinerary and found that Zheng Zha did not seem to know that Haihan had arranged for the guests to visit Japan. , and then I felt a little more at ease.
Annan and North Korea are the two vassal states with the closest relationship with Haihan. Since Annan was not notified in advance, this proves that North Korea's status and treatment did not fall behind Annan, and at least they were treated equally.
The uninformed Zheng Zha obviously did not have as many worries as Li Zhi. He talked excitedly about Haihan's expansion in various directions in the South China Sea in recent years and the many benefits it had brought to Annan.
At present, the two major regions of the South China Sea, Luzon and Singdao, are constantly expanding their territory. The resulting demands for manpower, materials, funds, etc. can no longer be met with domestic support from Haihan alone. Therefore, for the With the help of vassal states, Haihan's attitude is that the more the better.
Annan took advantage of this opportunity and followed in Haihan's footsteps, gradually expanding his presence in Southeast Asia.
Zheng's Shipping Company, controlled by the royal family, has now opened trade routes from Annan to more than a dozen countries in Southeast Asia, and the economic benefits generated from this are also considerable.
Of course, what makes Zheng Zha even more proud is that Annan's international status is also rising with the development of trade activities, and it is beginning to be regarded as an influential "big country" by countries in the region. This is exactly what happened to the two generations of monarchs of the Zheng family. one of the goals pursued over the past thirty years.
Li Zhi remembered that he had read in the newspaper yesterday the news that the Haihan special combat division was stationed on Ceylon Island, and asked Zheng Zha if he knew the details of the matter. This topic made Zheng Zha even more excited.
"Speaking of this, although our country was unable to send troops to help the war due to the long distance, it was fortunate to participate. Last year, our country dispatched more than a hundred cargo ships to the Strait of Malacca to assist in transporting supplies. We have successively sent migrant workers to build the port there. , there are three to four thousand people in total.”
"General Qian Tiandun's troops have now established a stronghold to the west of the Strait of Malacca. The trade routes that have been monopolized by Westerners for the past hundred years can now be participated in by Annan Kingdom!" Li Xie was surprised again when he heard this. Another envy, Annan's geographical location is indeed more convenient to participate in Haihan's southward and westward expansion at sea.
There are many countries in Southeast Asia, and there is no need to worry about finding a partner when engaging in cross-border trade. All they have to do is wait for Haihan to open up trade routes, and Annan, who is following behind and contributing his efforts, will naturally benefit greatly.
In the Northeast Asia region where North Korea is located, the surrounding environment is not so ideal in comparison.
To the north of the Korean Peninsula is the territory of the old enemy, the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The two countries have deep grievances that cannot be resolved at all. They have long regarded each other as an enemy country and have explicitly prohibited any trade activities with each other.
Japan in the southeast is also on the same enemy's road as North Korea. There have been many large-scale wars between the two countries in history, and North Korea was even almost destroyed.
Although some cross-border trade activities have now been resumed through the Port of Busan and Tsushima, the scale is very limited after all, and the fiscal revenue it can bring to North Korea is actually not too much.
There is also the Ryukyu Kingdom further south, but Ryukyu is just a small island country. Its size is too small, and the trade between the two countries is not very profitable.
Originally, the trade with the Ming Dynasty was doing well, but as Haihan took full control of the mainland coastline, the trade with the Ming Dynasty was completely interrupted. Countries further south are very far away from North Korea, and there are even fewer direct trade activities. Most of the goods are transited through countries such as Haihan.
After all, North Korea's main trading partners today are actually the suzerain country Haihan and his family. But since it is the suzerain country, the profits that North Korea can get from it are certainly not too much - it is good if you are not asked to pay tribute every year, but do you still expect to take advantage of the suzerain country?
In addition, there is a huge scissor gap in the trade between industrial countries and agricultural countries. The commodity transactions between North Korea and Haihan basically maintain a deficit all year round, and they can only rely on exporting manpower to reduce the trade balance.
Although Li Zhen also wanted to expand the scope of trade further south, firstly, North Korea's shipbuilding industry was not developed, and most of the large cargo ships that could truly adapt to ocean conditions had to be ordered from Haihan; secondly, North Korea was an agricultural industry As a country, its own products are relatively limited, and it is difficult to open overseas markets like Haihan with its numerous industrial products.
After Li Zhi explained the dilemma facing North Korea, Zheng Zha quickly gave him an idea: "What's so difficult about this? Our country was also an agricultural country before, but as long as it opens up the mining rights to various mineral deposits to Haihan, Let them come to our country to mine, and they will naturally build roads and ports connecting the mines one by one. ”
"After the production is put into operation, downstream industries such as smelters and metal processing plants will also take root locally. In order to ship more products out, shipyards will even be built locally. The industries that can be driven by this will be The benefits are much greater than farming.”
Li Zhen sighed: "Actually, similar operations also exist in our country. When Haihan built the Datong River base, they handed over the iron ore and coal mines along the coast to them for mining and operation. However, due to the turmoil in the domestic political situation, these industries did not develop as well. Ideal.”
What Li Zhen is inconvenient to say is that most of North Korea's valuable mineral deposits are in the northern part of the peninsula. Now, the area including the mining factories along the Taedong River is controlled by Li Hao in Pyongyang City, and not much of the profits can flow in. With the national treasury, Li Yan naturally cannot enjoy the many benefits brought by the development of industry.