Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1146: Springboard into Africa (Second update, please subscribe)
"Maybe, this is the future..."

Standing on the farm, Kariyevich looked at the plantation with a complicated look - this land nominally belonged to Marshal Tito. It was given to Marshal Tito by Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia when he visited Yugoslavia a few years ago in gratitude for the large amount of assistance provided by Tito. Although it was nominally given to the marshal, it was actually run by Yugoslavia.

Since then, these 15000 hectares of land have become Yugoslavia's overseas farm. Agricultural experts and farm workers from Yugoslavia have planned and reclaimed this land in the past few years.

A few years ago, this place was still a desolate grassland, but what about now?

It has developed into a plantation producing tropical crops such as sisal and coffee, although tropical crops such as coffee and cocoa have not yet been produced here.

However, modern irrigation facilities and mechanized operations are all indicative of a future - if this country can follow their suggestions, build water conservancy projects, divert water for irrigation, or extract groundwater for irrigation, then this country will become a country with extremely developed agriculture.

This is a well-known fact. After all, the land here is so fertile that with only proper inputs and modern agricultural technology, this land will definitely become a highly productive farmland.

But...sometimes imagination is so beautiful.

"You only need to implement half of it..."

Kariyevich pointed at the farm and said to the brigadier general beside him:
“The whole of Ethiopia will be transformed, and your people will never go hungry again.

Not only can we harvest more food, but we can also export large quantities of agricultural products such as food and coffee.

You will also be able to obtain sufficient funds for industrial construction, building railways, roads and ports. By that time, Ethiopia will become the most dazzling existence in the whole of Africa!"

Listening to the words of the Yugoslav agricultural expert beside him, Brigadier General Mengistu Newey, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Guard, murmured softly:
“The most dazzling existence…Ethiopia?”

With a slight smile on his lips and a hint of sarcasm that was hard to conceal, Brigadier General Mengistu Newe looked into the distance, then pointed to the desolate, weed-covered land outside the farm and said.

"Ethiopia is like that. That land belongs to the Duke of Ilum. It's hundreds of thousands of hectares. This is just one of his lands."

Brigadier General Mengistu Newe pointed his finger into the distance again and continued.

"The nobility and the church own the vast majority of Ethiopia's land. They have no interest in modernizing agriculture. For them, all this may even affect their rule!"

Unlike those nobles, Brigadier General Mengistu Newe was a typical "small town test-taker". He was born into an ordinary citizen family. After graduating from high school, like other outstanding high school graduates, he entered the Harar Military Academy.

Then he participated in the Peninsular War as a company commander with Ethiopia's Kagnew Unit. During the Peninsular War, he was promoted for his outstanding performance. When he evacuated the peninsula, he had become the battalion commander of the Kagnew Unit, which was the most elite and most combat-effective unit in Ethiopia.

It is precisely because he has been out in the world that, unlike other nobles and old officers who reject progress, Brigadier General Mengistu Newe is eager to change this land. He hopes that this country can move towards modernization like the countries he has seen along the way.

This is not only his wish, but also the wish of others. The entire Royal Guard, including other young officers, all have such a wish.

But this is just a wish, there is no possibility of it coming true.

Because the conservative nobles controlled everything, and in the army, patriots who had participated in the "War against Italy" held high positions. Although these young officers noticed the changes in the world, what could they do?

Nothing can be done!
Nothing can be done!
Brigadier General Mengistu Newey stared into the distance for a long time before saying:
"But we can't do anything. We can only watch this country being left far behind by the ever-changing world..."

Mengistu walked up to a coffee tree and said.

“We have the best coffee in the world, but there are few modern coffee plantations here.

Although Ethiopia now only has agriculture left, its agricultural scale ranks last among African countries both in terms of absolute output and per capita output.

Sudan’s population is half that of Ethiopia, but its foreign trade volume is twice as much; Ethiopia’s annual cement production is only 1% of Egypt’s. In addition, the national illiteracy rate is as high as 2% to 1%. This is Ethiopia under their rule…”

Mengistu pursed his lips, frowned, and said.

"A country that sees no hope of modernization!"

Kariyevich looked at Mengistu. Although Mengistu's face was full of helplessness, his eyes were full of dissatisfaction - that was dissatisfaction with the emperor's rule.

"At least under the emperor's rule, there is no hope!"

Kariyevich's words fell into Mengistu's ears. He looked at him, was silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Yes, there will be no hope for Ethiopia under the emperor's rule!"

Listening to Mengistu's words, Kariyevich did not speak. In fact, the wind of change in Africa had already blown to the Ethiopian Plateau. Some officers here had long noticed the experience of Egyptian officers abolishing King Farouk, and remembered it deeply in their hearts. This was the opportunity they had been waiting for.

Mengistu was the core figure among them, along with his brother Gmame Newi and many officers who had participated in the Peninsular War.

They had formed a secret group long ago, and the engineer found them a few months ago.

After a moment, Kariyevich said:
"In that case, defeat it!"

Mengistu did not answer immediately after hearing what the agricultural engineer said. He just smoked his cigarette silently. After a while, he said:
"It's difficult, the king is supported in many ways and the church has a very deep influence on the country."

"General, I told you that you can trust us!"

Kariyevich said, looking at Mengistu.

"In this country, it's not just the general who wants to change everything. There are many other people, but they haven't had the chance to make their voices heard. General, now they need to make their voices heard!" "Will you really support us?"

Mengistu looked at the other party and asked.

“Just like you support Egypt!”

In response to Mengistu's question, Kariyevich said:
"General, when the time comes, you will understand that the support the Soviet Union will give you will far exceed your imagination!"

Who could have imagined that Kariyevich, a technical adviser to Yugoslavia in aid of Egypt, had another identity - a KGB spy. In the past year, he has been working hard to complete the tasks assigned by Moscow.

……

“We have been in contact with all parties in Ethiopia. Now, in addition to Brigadier General Mengistu Newey, we have also established a large number of underground organizations and song groups in the local area.

They distributed leaflets slandering the royal family and the emperor himself through various channels. Although many people could not understand those leaflets, the activities of these people made the Ethiopian Empire increasingly reactionary and aroused more and more dissatisfaction.

Many people have gone against the monarchy and the church and have begun to seriously study our thoughts and ideas.

In an effort to curb the growing trend of dangerous ideas, even Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" and "Hamlet" were banned locally because they contained bacterial plots.

Even the Encyclopedia Britannica was banned because it contained words like "republic" which were considered harmful to the country.

The Yugoslav-trained secret police monitored all domestic and international telephone calls, and many people were arrested for expressing dissatisfaction over the phone..."

As Brezhnev was reporting all this, Khrushchev was flipping through the report in front of him.

After he finished his report, Khrushchev slowly pushed away the file of documents from his eyes, slowly stood up from the desk, and paced around the office.

Occasionally he would look at Brezhnev, who was doing a great job.

After Brezhnev was put in charge of this matter last year, he and the KGB jointly selected a target - Ethiopia, which is one of the few independent countries in Africa.

Brezhnev chose Ethiopia because it was an independent country. At least he would not have to face direct intervention by the British army after doing such things in other British colonies.

This makes it easier and more effective.

"Now the time is ripe, many people in the area are inclined to overthrow the emperor's rule!"

There was a smug tone in Brezhnev's voice. How could he not be smug?
Just when everyone thought he was going to compete with the British in their colonies, he did the opposite and chose Ethiopia.

Compared to a colony…the biggest advantage of an independent country is that it is independent.

There is no need to consider the possibility of British and American intervention. Even if they want to intervene, they have to ask whether the Soviet Union is willing.

"Now all we need is to wait for an opportunity. Once Mengistu and his people launch a military coup and seize power, we can support and help him by providing them with aid, and then enter Ethiopia and use Ethiopia as a base to expand our power to other African countries."

Taking a deep breath, Brezhnev said in a serious tone:

"Ethiopia today is our springboard for entering Africa in the future."

Listening to Brezhnev's words, Khrushchev, who had been thinking about the problem, was silent for a while, and then said:

"Very good, you have done a great job. Comrade Brezhnev, I hope to hear good news from you soon."

Then Khrushchev walked to his desk again, pulled the report in front of him, glanced through it again, and said:

"Your idea is very good. We will use Ethiopia as a base to liberate the whole of Africa!"

With a smile, Khrushchev said:

“Then the whole world will see how Africa is achieving real change with our help.”

After a brief pause, Khrushchev looked back at Brezhnev and said:

"But we must speed up our work. We must ensure that the Soviet people can eat food from Africa by this year or next year at the latest."

Then Khrushchev added:
"I really envy those people in Southeast Asia. They have been eating African food for so many years. Cheap and endless supply of African food."

When he said this, Khrushchev's eyes were full of envy. This envy came from the heart. Even when he visited Southeast Asia last time, he specifically asked about the source of the feed, which was from Africa.

Why can the people of Southeast Asia eat so much meat and drink so much milk? In the final analysis, it is because they own large farms in Africa.

Those guys enslaved Africans, exploited African resources, and fed their own people. They can say that, and the Soviet Union can certainly do that.

It’s just that the Soviet Union went there to help and liberate, which was completely different from the purpose of those capitalists.

Well, it will soon be the Soviet Union’s turn, and it will be the Soviet people’s turn to eat Africa’s food.

(End of this chapter)