Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 114 Zheng Yi: What’s wrong if I just flipped the table?
Zheng Yi didn't believe what Lapek said, that their Colonial Bureau did not support the Malays.

If the Malays were not armed like the British, it would be good enough if they could come up with some flintlock rifles. I am not looking down on them, but they are a nation with no industry at all, they don't even dig minerals, harvest rubber, or collect natural resources, they are all lazier than each other, and they only know how to chant scriptures all day long.

If they really didn't have the support of the Colonial Bureau, where would they get the weapons from?

Besides, Zheng Yi now has a very good relationship with Royal Machinery. Currently, Royal Machinery has opened a factory in Penang that specializes in the production of light weapons.
Zheng Yi was also discussing with them about merging the original gun factory in Penang with theirs to form a joint venture artillery factory.

Didn’t the Colonial Office’s equipment also come from the Royal Machinery?

Did you give the Malays weapons and equipment? How could the Royal Machinery not know? The Royal Machinery knew, how could I not know?

Of course, even if Zheng Yi knew it, he could pretend not to know. He and the Colonial Bureau now had a relationship of mutual confrontation and domestication.

For Lapek and other Colonial Bureau officials, they now have to please Zheng Yi. The multinational companies behind Zheng Yi are not comparable to those small bureaucrats like them. They can be in a cooperative relationship, and Lapek must also be sensible.

However, for the Colonial Bureau, this business department, it is now absolutely hostile to Zheng Yi, even to the point of being at loggerheads. Zheng Yi is already trying to cut off the roots of this department.

The interests of civil servants and the interests of departments are sometimes not necessarily the same.

Zheng Yi really wanted to turn the tables and take over the Colonial Bureau, and he had almost made his moves clear.

Officials from the Colonial Office are also in a difficult position. Take Lapek as an example. Zheng Yi and the multinational corporations behind him are definitely not something he can afford to offend.

It can allow him to enjoy a peaceful life as an independent director after retirement, but it can also make him unable to move after retirement and die in depression.

Even after retirement, this assumption may not hold.

But the Colonial Bureau was, after all, just a branch subordinate unit, and above it was the Governor of the Far East of Singapore and the British Colonial Office. Naturally, it was impossible to allow Zheng Yi to become more powerful and affect the entire Malaya and even the entire Southeast Asia.

At this time, the only option is to arm the Malays and use them as knives as an indirect countermeasure.

Penang’s industrial takeoff certainly cannot be stopped, but as long as Penang can still be self-sufficient in food, at least on the surface, they can still tell the Colonial Department that Penang is still in a colonized state and the food is still in our hands.

Soon, the car entered the Colonial Bureau. The nine sultans had already arrived before Zheng Yi and were sitting on one side of the table, each of them posing in a very serious manner, waiting for him.

Zheng Yi sat down opposite him, but first told a female secretary in the bureau, "Coffee, thank you, and an ashtray."

Zheng Yi puffed on his cigar, crossed his legs, and scanned the faces of the nine people in front of him one by one. Without saying a word, he turned to Lapek and said, "Tin and rubber prices have increased this year. Do you think this economic crisis will soon be over?"

Lapek: "It's hard to say. Honestly, I personally don't feel very good. I feel like this peaceful time won't last much longer."

"By the way, Penang is also planning to build a stock exchange. It will compete with Hong Kong Island for some business. Come and support them when the time comes."

Hearing this, Lapek smiled bitterly, but he could only say, "Of course, of course."

Bang.

However, one of the sultans opposite slammed the table and cursed in English:
"Zheng Yi! As soon as you came in, you started talking about this and that, without even looking at us. You look down on us."

"That's right! You Chinese are so arrogant and domineering, killing my people. You must give me an explanation for this matter, otherwise we will never give up."

Zheng Yi, still grinning, spread his hands and said, "Yes, I just look down on you. What can you do to me? Bite me."

"You bastard!!"

For a moment, all the sultans were practicing oral gymnastics in front of Zheng Yi, while Lapek quickly pretended to be a peacemaker, asking the police to help hold back those sultans, while constantly saying nonsense like peace and give me face.

"Zheng Yi! Don't think that you Chinese in Penang are not afraid of us just because you have a large number of people. I'm not afraid to tell you that we have already negotiated with the Sultans of Siam, Borneo, and other regions of the Dutch East Indies. This is Southeast Asia, and you Chinese are still a minority after all.
We, the Mumu brothers, believe in the teachings and are united in our purpose. We share a common hatred for our enemies. No one can bully us without paying the price!"

"That's right! You Chinese are all a bunch of scattered sand. If you provoke us, even if you are safe in Penang, then Malacca, Ipoh, and even outside Malacca in Borneo, Siam, the Dutch East Indies, and the French East Indies, the Chinese in these places are all in the minority. By then..."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi sneered in disdain and did not take their threats seriously.

What the hell is this about revenge and unity among brothers? If they were Shia Muslims, Zheng Yi would really be afraid of them. They are really hard to deal with, but the Muslims in Southeast Asia are all Sunnis.

Sunnis are not scary at all.

If they are really as fierce as they advertise themselves, with the attitudes of helping brothers in need and avenging brothers, then why didn't they act like this when the British came?

Even if his Penang is Israel, among all these rubbish, which one is worthy of carrying Nasrullah's shoes?

Another thing I might say that may not be quite correct is that it is good enough for Zheng Yi to ensure the autonomy and independence of the Chinese in Penang. As for the Chinese in other parts of Southeast Asia, if something really happens, he will help if he can, but if he can't, then that's it. Does it have much to do with him?
To some extent, if they are really desperate and flock to Penang in large numbers, it may actually be a good thing for him.

Of course, Zheng Yi himself was willing to live in peace with them. Although he was not worried about their threats, he still asked with a smile: "What do you want? Just tell me."

But the Sultan of Kedah said, "Zheng Yi, Penang is also part of Kedah. In theory, you are now occupying my land, and I am your Sultan."

"hehe."

Zheng Yi laughed and said nothing, still smoking his cigar, wanting to hear him finish his words.

"You Chinese are doing business in Penang, and I can leave you alone and not collect taxes from you. You are in the city, and we are in the countryside outside, relying on agriculture and living according to the traditional instructions of Allah. We each live our own lives and do not affect each other."

"But a few days ago, your soldiers killed over 210 of my troops." Nearby, Soda from Glass State said, "Over 470 of my men died. Zheng Yi, you Chinese are being too overbearing."

Zheng Yi said: "Every wrong has its perpetrators. It was you Malays who started it all, killing our civilians in Perlis. Then a series of bad things happened.
Relatively speaking, we all kill about the same amount of people. The people we kill are probably soldiers with weapons. Speaking of killing, we seem to be more particular."

"You were the ones who broke the rules first! You're growing rice! You're seizing our land! You're squeezing our living space. We're fighting back because we can't stand it any longer!"

Zheng Yi: "Fuck you! Perlis used to be Siamese territory. How did it become yours?"

He waved his hand again and said, "Alright, I didn't come here to argue with you about who's right or wrong. That's meaningless. Just tell me what you want to do. Didn't you say you want peace?"

The Sultan of Kedah said: "We ask you Chinese to immediately withdraw from Perlis, Perak, and Kedah and go to Penang.
Stop plotting against our land. If you want food, you can buy it from abroad or from us, but you are not allowed to grow it yourself."

"Also, we must compensate the Malays for the losses we suffered by RM10 million. Penang must submit to me in name only and acknowledge Kedah's administrative authority over Penang. Our royal family must be represented on the city council."

"If you do not, not only will our nine sultans unite to blockade you, but all the Mumu brothers in Southeast Asia will unite and not sell you any food or agricultural raw materials. We will also attack your tin mines, rubber plantations, palm plantations, and tobacco plantations in the wild."

"We don't have the ability to land in Penang and attack you directly, but we will attack every Chinese outside the city, cut off your roads, cut off all your industrial raw materials, and even your food! Starve you to death!"

After saying that, he actually looked at Zheng Yi provocatively.

Although the Chinese population is larger than that of the Malays, most of them are concentrated in cities. The urban population has an absolute advantage, so naturally, the population outside the city is at an absolute disadvantage.

Apart from the Hakka people in the lawless areas, there are no armed forces anywhere else.

Of course, the claim that Penang starved to death is definitely nonsense. Malaya's largest partner in rice imports is Siam, a Buddhist country. How could it be possible for them to have a close relationship with each other?
Although the anti-China movement in the entire Southeast Asia started from Siam, Zheng Yi really didn't believe that they could influence Siam to stop selling rice to them.

Those all came from the sea, where can they blockade it? Penang is an island.

Even if the Siamese government really went crazy and stopped selling rice to them, couldn't they just buy it from the country?
Of course, for Zheng Yi, this thing is really a disgusting thing. He doesn't believe that these Malays have the ability to starve him to death.
But it is still possible to raise food prices, and it would be very troublesome if they really attacked rubber plantations and tin mines.

Zheng Yi turned his head and asked Lapek, "Did you hear that? They said they were going to attack our Chinese plantations and mining areas outside the city. They can already be called terrorists, no, anti-colonial elements, right?

You police officers don't care. We Chinese mine and grow rubber, and we pay taxes to you. 35% is a high tax rate worldwide. You won't just take the money and not do the work, will you?

Lapek smiled awkwardly and said, "We still have to try to negotiate. So, Professor Zheng, no matter what, I think the amount of 10 million Malaysian ringgit is too much for you right now..."

That's nothing. As you Chinese say, it's a drop in the ocean. No, it's the very tip of a drop in the ocean."

"I think it's better to discuss the money first. If we agree to it, we can just treat it as paying a beggar. We can discuss the other conditions later. They are asking for an exorbitant price. Can you just pay me back?"

"If you have any requests, you can ask for them. Don't worry, I will definitely help you. We are old friends."

Zheng Yi heard this and smiled, "I knew you wouldn't care. I have a better idea."

"What's the idea?"

"Let me ask you first, are these nine really the so-called nine sultans?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Oh~"

But Zheng Yi suddenly took out a pistol from his waist, fired a shot, and killed the Sultan of Kedah opposite him without saying a word.

Behind him, Li Xiaowei and a group of bodyguards saw this and attacked together, pulling out their pistols and completely ignoring the more armed British policemen outside. They beat all nine people to death with a bang.

Rapek was shocked and yelled at him, "Zheng Yi! Are you fucking crazy?! This is the Colonial Police Station!"

As he was speaking, countless British policemen rushed in, pointing their guns at the heads of Zheng Yi, Li Xiaowei and other bodyguards. As long as Lapek gave the order, Zheng Yi and his men could be killed on the spot.

Zheng Yi, however, was not afraid at all. He threw the pistol onto the table and sat back in his chair. He crossed his legs under the countless gunshots and picked up his cigar to take a puff.

"I know this is the Colonial Police Station, what's wrong? I shot and killed someone, what's wrong?"

Lapek: "I invited the people here, and I organized the peace talks. Now you've killed them. Where's my credibility? Where's the face of the Colonial Bureau? Zheng Yi! You've gone too far this time! Are you going to turn against our Colonial Bureau?!"

As he spoke, Lapek slapped the table in the conference room with his bare hands, making a loud bang.

But Zheng Yi became even angrier. He suddenly stood up, grabbed the edge of the table, and lifted it up with such force that the entire conference table fell to the ground with a loud bang.

He threw down his half-smoked cigar, put his hands on his hips, took a step forward towards Lapek, and pressed his face against his, with only a few centimeters of space between their noses, and said:

"I just flipped the fucking table, so what?"

Lapek: “………………”

Seeing that all the British policemen looked nervous and obviously confused, Zheng Yi suddenly smiled again, sat back in his chair, put his legs up, and took out another cigar to light it for himself.

He took a long drag before saying, "Either you order the shooting and kill us all right here, or if you don't dare, then be sensible and tell them to put their guns away so we can talk about the aftermath. Holding a gun like this all the time is tiring."

(End of this chapter)