Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 120 Cooperation
Li Lili also lives near Penang Hill. Everyone knows that she is Zheng Yi's female secretary and a domestic movie star. No one knows what her relationship with Zheng Yi is, and no one dares to offend her.

However, the current head of Penang's internal affairs department is Qian Qiwen, and Zheng Yi and Li Jiazhi are indeed about to get married. He himself has not said anything explicitly, so those guys in the Ministry of the Interior do not dare to make too good arrangements for her.

In the end, no one knew where those guys found her, but they found a wooden house similar to a Chinese attic at the foot of Penang Hill. It had electricity but no water, and was suitable for her to live in alone.

The attic itself is a bit old, and I don't know who the previous owner was. It has a slightly moldy smell.
Fortunately, the living room, guest rooms, and even the study are all available. When Zheng Yi arrived, Mr. Qian was reading in the living room.

The book was found in the study. Li Lili herself couldn't understand it. It should be a pure English novel left by the previous owner, Wuthering Heights.

Seeing Zheng Yi coming, he quickly put the novel aside, took the initiative to extend his hand to shake his hand and said, "Hello, Professor Zheng."

"Hello, Mr. Qian."

After saying that, the two men sat down. For a moment, Mr. Qian felt a little awkward and clenched his fists and placed them on his thighs, as if he didn't know how to start the conversation.

Zheng Yi: "How did you find me here? And how did you contact Lily?"

"Oh, I... Actually, I have always been paying attention to Lily, and I know that she has become a movie star.
Back then, my party was betrayed by a traitor, and I was exposed. I had no choice but to move to another place, which was inconvenient for me to take my children with me.

The main reason was that my wife and I were unsure whether we could escape Shanghai alive, and we were afraid of falling into the hands of the enemy..."

Zheng Yi nodded and interrupted, "I understand. I believe that parents in the world will not abandon their children unless it is absolutely necessary."

Mr. Qian nodded and said, "Then I learned that Lily had become a movie star, and I've been following her ever since. I... and then I heard that she came to you, and I've been following you ever since."

Qian Lili is a movie star, so it would be easier to follow her news. Just read the newspaper.

Qian Lili stayed in Nanyang to work as Zheng Yi's secretary. When the news spread back to China, naturally a lot of gossip would spread. In fact, there were also quite a few of these gossips in Penang.

"There's no relationship between Lily and me as rumored. I brought her along because of your kindness. I hope you don't misunderstand me, sir."

"Mr. Zheng, how did you know that Lily is my daughter?"

Zheng Yi: “…………”

What could he say?
For a moment, he could only shake his head and said, "Mr. Qian, I also have my secrets. In short, it's all coincidence. Mr. Qian, are you here to take Lily back to Jiangxi?"

Mr. Qian, though still suspicious, did not pursue the matter further. He smiled wryly and replied, "I'm actually here to visit you, Mr. Zheng. Regarding Jiangxi, I... I... for the time being... Lily said she's doing well in Southeast Asia, so..."

Zheng Yi: "I understand. Lily will continue to stay with me as my secretary. She is a fast learner and has a very good brain.

I'm currently learning how to send telegrams and am also learning English. I'm already quite good at it. What did Mr. Qian want to talk to me about? What's going on?

Qian: "Although Jiangxi is located in a remote area, we have always paid attention to Professor Zheng. We are very proud to know that China has produced a world-class scientist like you."

"You're welcome. You flatter me."

"I heard that Professor Zheng is from Northern Fujian. Well...our team has been to Northern Fujian before, so...do you have any connection with us? You are stranded in Southeast Asia..."

"Oh, I am stranded in Southeast Asia, and it has nothing to do with you, Mr. Qian, what is the matter? There is no need to test me like this.

I think you should have understood my attitude from Lily. Although we are from different classes, I still respect you all very much."

“In that case, let me be frank. I came here for two reasons. First, I want to ask Mr. Zheng if Penang needs tungsten sand.
If there is a demand in this area, we hope to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Mr. Zheng."

Zheng Yi didn't comment, but asked, "What about the second thing?"

"The second thing... is to come here on behalf of... on behalf of Communist International, to pave the way for them. I want to ask you what you think of them and whether we can cooperate with them."

"what?"

Zheng Yi was stunned for a while before he realized that it was not yet 1935, but only the end of 1933, and China was not that independent yet.

This question was asked on behalf of the Russian bear, and it is also very likely that Mr. Qian added it on his own initiative after learning about Zheng Yi's political inclinations.

The Russian side must be planning to contact him. The Seven Sisters of Oil generally refuse to cooperate with the Russian oil and impose a technological blockade. Although Americans will buy their oil, they will not give them the corresponding technology.

After all, digging out oil is only the first step. The key is refining. In this era, oil refining is still a very high-tech thing, and the cost of refined oil products is still quite high due to the oil refining technology.

Besides, the petrochemical industry has already surpassed the initial stage of gasoline refining. Plastics, chemical fibers, paints, and dyes are all by-products of petroleum refining.
Judging from the technology of the Russians, their refining process can only produce some asphalt in addition to finished oil.

Coincidentally, in terms of oil refining, Zheng Yi said he was second, and no one in the world dared to say that they were first.

But he really didn't believe that they would contact him through people in Jiangxi. If he guessed correctly, this should be related to the competition among their internal factions.

If anyone can contact Zheng Yi and help the Russian bear solve such a big problem, there is no doubt that the faction that does this will make a great contribution and gain a huge advantage in politics.

Zheng Yi had no intention of getting involved in these things. He didn't even know which faction Mr. Qian belonged to. What if he helped the wrong person?

Moreover, this internal struggle had nothing to do with him, a Chinese from Southeast Asia. He had to be cautious, cautious, and cautious about something that could drastically change modern history. If I was right, the reason Mr. Qian took the initiative to find me was probably because he had some connection with Li Lili. After all, according to rumors, Li Lili had a special relationship with him.

Secondly, it was probably because they knew about Zheng Yi's in-depth cooperation with the Guangxi clique, so they wanted to test his inclination towards them.

He truly deserves to be called one of the Three Heroes of Longtan, an outstanding intelligence officer. After learning from Li Lili that Zheng Yi's attitude towards them was much better than he had imagined, he actually took the initiative to think of using Zheng Yi's position in the petrochemical industry to help an old man achieve a great feat.

Shaking his head, Zheng Yi said, "I have no interest in foreign affairs. To be honest, this matter is not your business.

An oil war would affect the international order, no less than a true world war. I don't really want to get involved in it either. I'm just a small fry, and getting involved would easily get me injured."

Qian: "I see. In that case, I was abrupt."

"As for tungsten sand... it's indeed a useful requirement. I work in petrochemicals. Tungsten disulfide is a catalyst for synthetic lubricating oils, but the amount used is very small.

Mr. Qian, you may not know that a small amount of tungsten can actually be extracted from tin mine tailings, and Penang is currently the world's tin metal trading center."

"Ah~, so, that's how it is."

For a moment, Mr. Qian seemed extremely disappointed. As a result, they had lost the biggest bargaining chip in their hands, and their mood suddenly became much lower.

But Zheng Yi suddenly asked: "What do you all need?"

"Ah? Ah, we...we need everything. If there's anything we can trade with you, please, we'll show our utmost sincerity."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi unconsciously tapped the table with his fingers and hesitated.

Mr. Qian's visit this time was probably more of a test than a substantive one. After he met Li Lili and confirmed his political inclinations, most of his work should have been completed.

As for exchanging information, it is already the end of 1933 and 1934 is just around the corner. In a little over half a year, we will definitely lose contact.

To be honest, domestic affairs have nothing to do with Zheng Yi. He is quite afraid of changing history, but sometimes he can't help but do something.

After thinking for a while, Zheng Yi said: "My cooperation with the Guangxi clique is... I borrowed people from them, including a group of military instructors, to help me train the army.
At the same time, they will purchase tin ore from Yunnan through Guangxi and ship it to me. Of course, there will also be some grain transactions."

"As a reward, I paid the Guangxi clique an annual consulting fee of US$400,000. I also allowed Mr. Tao to open a trading company in Penang. I also established the Guangxi Chamber of Commerce, with Mr. Tao as its president."

"The Yunnan clique has also been in contact with me. A military academy will be established in Penang within three months. The main instructors will be mid-level and junior commanders with actual combat experience sent by the Guangxi clique, as well as some teachers from the Yunnan Military Academy."

Qian: "We can also send outstanding grassroots commanders to help you train the army."

Zheng Yi: "To be honest, I really don't dare to hand over the army to you for training. I hope you can understand that I am also a big capitalist."

money:"…………"

After saying that, Zheng Yi started writing and signed a check for one million US dollars to him, which made him completely stunned.

"I don't dare to get too involved with you. I admire you very much, but you asked me to join you. I'm sorry, I don't have that awareness. This is all I can do.
If you need anything, you can try to buy it yourself, either in Penang or Hong Kong Island. You can also open a trading company here."

"That's all I can do. I'm sorry, I can't help you with whether you can take the things you bought back or how to ship them back.

Of course, if you want to exchange it for gold bars and take them back, that's up to you, and it might be easier."

"One...one million dollars? What can we do for you?"

"you……"

Zheng Yi thought for a long time, then smiled bitterly and said, "As for materials, if the tungsten sand can be transported out, then please send some to me. If it's not convenient, then don't bother. I know Chen Jitang is quite difficult to deal with."

The main reason is that there is really nothing useful there except tungsten sand.

If we get it, at least we can let him make some tungsten steel alloys and some cutting tools, and help Taiyou Machinery develop some machine tools.

To be honest, Zheng Yi had no plans to pursue the high-end machine tool industry in Penang. After all, Penang is just a very small city. It is impossible for it to have all industries. The existing industrial layout is enough for them.

They can barely make machine tools, as long as they don't get stuck at critical moments. Their machine tool needs are mainly imported from Japan and the United States.

As for military use, it is even less useful. This thing is mainly used to make armor-piercing bullets, but those are only used in wars in Europe.

The Japanese tanks with skins and big stuffing can be penetrated by steel-core armor-piercing bullets. Using tungsten steel armor-piercing bullets is a bit of a waste of resources.

Mr. Qian was even more dumbfounded. This was one million US dollars. You have to know that they had only made a total profit of more than four million silver dollars from selling tungsten sand over the years, which was only more than two million US dollars.

Zheng Yi made a whopping one million yuan, a sum that seemed a little unreal to him.

I know Zheng Yi is rich, but no matter how rich he is, it’s impossible that this money came from the wind, right?
(End of this chapter)