Fatal Strike: Paladins Mercenary Road

Chapter 788 Struggling to Move Forward
Mountain Eagle did not answer Lee Sung-hee's question because he didn't know the answer either...

Many people at the University of Tokyo are busy their whole lives, and when others ask, most of them will smile and say that they are "destined to be busy"!
Many people don't even know why they're always so busy...

Some Tokyo University alumni who have studied abroad describe their compatriots in a compassionate tone, saying that Tokyo University students spend their entire lives worrying, busy, and working hard for the last few years of their lives...

They say that people from the University of Tokyo don't know how to live and don't know how to enjoy the present!

However, what they didn't know was that Tokyo University's per capita natural resource availability ranked near the bottom among 192 countries worldwide...

People from the University of Tokyo should feel anxious, and the habit of saving is the most important weapon against uncertainty.

Our per capita water resources are only over 2200 cubic meters, ranking 121st in the world...

To some extent, our per capita available water resources are not even enough to support one person's lifetime consumption.

Of course, rainfall and water recycling can alleviate this problem, but it is precisely this situation that keeps the water costs for Dongda University students high.

Moreover, our water resources are unevenly distributed. The southern region has only 32% of the country's arable land area, but more than 80% of its water resources. The northern region has 68% of the country's arable land area, but less than 20% of its water resources.

Due to the complex terrain, our 'effective water resource utilization coefficient' and 'water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial added value' are only one-third of those of developed countries.

To compensate for this deficiency, just to solve the water problem, Tokyo University must build and maintain a large amount of water infrastructure.

If water resources can be replenished through technology and investment, and are barely sufficient, then arable land resources are a cause for despair...

The per capita arable land area at Southeast University is 0.09 hectares, ranking 126th in the world!
Many people mention that the University of Tokyo has a talent for farming, feeding 20% ​​of the world's population with only 7% of the world's arable land. However, while many are proud, they fail to see the enormous costs involved.

The average grade of farmland at the University of Tokyo is only 4.76 (out of 10), with more than 55% of the land being of medium or low yield. In this respect alone, the University of Tokyo is far behind the United States.

Knowing how to farm is useless; someone can just scatter a handful of seeds and still get a higher yield than you can from meticulous cultivation.

To some extent, the students at Dongda University were forced to farm, because you can only barely safeguard food security by investing huge amounts of manpower, energy and time.

The University of Tokyo has only 0.16 hectares of forest resources per capita, ranking 130th in the world. Moreover, these forests include 38% of the world's artificial afforestation.

Artificial forests, dominated by fast-growing trees such as poplar and fir, have less than a quarter of the biodiversity of ordinary forests, and their water storage and carbon storage per hectare do not reach the level of primary forests.

In this way, it took an enormous amount of manpower and resources to maintain Tokyo University...

If water, soil, and forests are in such a state, then mineral resources are even worse...

The World Bank once estimated that the per capita value of natural resources (water, land, energy, and minerals) in Tokyo is less than $4,000, ranking only around 120th, while the per capita value of natural resources in neighboring Russia is $31,000.

Dongda is a typical resource-rich country, and the phrase "vast land and abundant resources" is appropriate. However, once the denominator is 14 billion people, it becomes a completely different story.

People at Tokyo University and even throughout East Asia are trapped here, and anxiety has become the norm.

The University of Tokyo was able to complete its infrastructure development and weather the storm, despite having water resource costs three times higher than other countries and planting costs five to eight times higher. Moreover, the cost of living and prices were kept under control, and poverty was also addressed at the same time.

This is an unprecedented and magnificent achievement!
But the people of Tokyo University remain anxious...

As a crucial link in the global industrial chain, Dongda University has not only become the world's factory, providing the world's most complete industrial support and supply chain, but also the world's highest quality workforce.

However, the University of Tokyo is also highly dependent on world trade. If it wants to make money through processing imported materials, the trading of energy, minerals, and other raw materials is an unavoidable link.

At the same time, geopolitics is an unavoidable factor in order to sell goods to as many countries as possible.

Sometimes, being too principled can lead to losses, even significant ones!

Only those who have lived abroad understand that people in Europe and America, including those in their colonies, regardless of what they say, actually believe in power at their core.

They simply don't believe that Dongda University can truly uphold the principle of peaceful development, because in their value system, it would be abnormal for a country to develop to this level and not interfere in other countries to pursue its own interests!
However, if you have limited resources and your industry has developed to a certain stage, and you cannot effectively intervene in the prices of raw materials and commodities, or persuade other countries to open their markets, then the prices of your country's industrial assets will plummet.

Moreover, with the deepening of industrialization and intelligentization, the demand for industrial elites will continue to decrease, and a large portion of the millions of "engineers" each year will be unable to find jobs in their field.

The primary industry of Dongda University can no longer absorb the surplus urban population through the "Down to the Countryside Movement" as it did in the past.

The tertiary industry still has potential, but is it enough? Or will the students who have studied hard for more than ten years be satisfied?
To date, Tokyo University boasts the world's best infrastructure, the most powerful industrial system, a relatively inexpensive healthcare system, a top-ranking social order, exceptional social organization capabilities, and financial control capabilities that would make Western financial scholars turn in their graves. However, people often focus on its prosperity, overlooking the fact that its best infrastructure comprises the cheap labor of hundreds of millions of migrant workers, its most powerful industrial system relies on a large pool of high-quality, low-cost workers and engineers, and its inexpensive healthcare system involves countless doctors performing arduous tasks…

However, even with most people making compromises and sacrifices, many problems still remain unresolved...

This is certainly not because the authorities don't want the people to have relatively good welfare, but because the current situation has reached its limit.

Mountain Eagle didn't know what others thought, but in his mind, only expansion could alleviate the anxiety that was ingrained in the hearts of Dongda people!
It's not necessary to expand territory through war. As long as you continuously increase your influence and possess strong intervention capabilities, you can assist your country's businesses and individuals in expanding their industries, immigration, and investments.

Mountain Eagle represents a generation influenced by pirate culture, except that some in this generation subscribe to the Westernized version after the Cold War, while he subscribes to the most primitive version…

His shadow fleet plan stemmed from what he believed in!
In his mind, if Dongda University wanted to resolve that anxiety, some of its students needed to go out, explore, buy, and acquire...

However, when Mountain Eagle saw the look of surprise mixed with fear on Li Chengji's face, he suddenly realized that this might be what foreign elites feared most!

In the zero-sum game mindset, this is an irreconcilable contradiction!
Therefore, the University of Tokyo has never been able to get too close to Europe because many industries between the two countries are in competition.

So even though Russia can only survive by selling energy, its cooperation with the United States has been progressing slowly because they are worried that they will become a vassal state after the two sides unite.

In contrast, islanders don't have this problem...

For example, the land they have purchased in Brazil exceeds the area of ​​the island nation itself.

For example, the scale of investment in Southeast Asia by island nation companies has reached an unprecedented level.

The most typical characteristic of Abenomics, which has become popular in recent years, is negotiating with Southeast Asian countries: I buy your government bonds, and you lend the money I use to buy your government bonds to island companies at low interest rates, so that they can use these funds to invest, develop businesses, and increase employment...

In this situation, does it still matter whether they are citizens of an island nation?
Mountain Eagle was well aware of the difficulties involved...

That is, when the US dollar is the world's main trading currency, the strict monetary policy of Tokyo University is a hurdle that ordinary people and small businesses can hardly overcome.

However, opening this gate will expose the University of Tokyo to the problem of capital flight under the wave of financialization, as well as the dollar's tidal harvest every few years. The University of Tokyo's low-profit model of low-end industries cannot withstand such an impact.

Some people keep talking about the internationalization of the RMB, as if that's the key to solving all problems. But the truth is, when the RMB can buy all kinds of goods, it should naturally have internationalization capabilities. However, Dongda University has always been very cautious in its approach...

This involves more than just the issue of American obstruction...

In fact, compared to pushing for the internationalization of the RMB, Southeast University is more enthusiastic about various free trade zones, and this is not just about avoiding the exploitation of the US dollar...

More importantly, before offshore currency management technology matures, excessive outflow of currency, if not properly controlled, could lead to exchange rate fluctuations, which would inevitably affect exports and even cause a large number of industries to leave the country.

Once a country reaches this size, it becomes incredibly difficult to continue developing!
The University of Tokyo, with its 14 billion people, cannot follow the American path; exploring a completely new path is undoubtedly more difficult than opening a passage through the Himalayas…

The mountain eagle couldn't reach such a high level, and he knew that his understanding and ideas derived from pirate thinking might not be correct...

But he's willing to pay the price for his ideas!
The future of Dongda University is beyond Shanying's control and he has no say in it, but he knows what he can do...

trading!

Nowadays, it's not fashionable to knock on doors with cannons. Mountain Eagle can knock on doors with gray transactions and smuggling, and it's knocking on the doors of middle- and developed countries!

This is what he excels at!
Mountain Eagle didn't answer Lee Sung-hee's question. He shook his head to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts, looked at Lee Sung-hee on the other side of the screen, and said with a smile, "We're just chatting casually. Don't make it sound like Lord Dong is so warlike."

Sister, let's get back to our previous topic. A Kenyan technical team would also be fine...

A 4-ton cargo ship is very large and can stay afloat on the high seas for a long time, making it convenient to do many things.

General Sid has a research and development team behind him, and I'd like to move the core laboratory onto the ship as well...

The most crucial thing now is to capture the ship as soon as possible!

After saying that, Mountain Eagle smacked his lips and tentatively said, "Big sister, how about we look into cargo ship trading and then invest in a cargo ship together?"
We can team up with Anna to acquire or register a shipping company in Panama or Liberia. Amelia from AXA Group can help us coordinate the chartering of cargo ships in the initial stages...

I'm not leaving Alaska anytime soon, so I have some free time to keep an eye on things. We could organize a trade to try and see what happens.

(End of this chapter)