Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 115 Walk away
Seeing Zheng Yi suddenly jump up, kill people, overturn the table, and complete a series of actions in one go, and then sit down calmly to smoke a cigar, both Lapek and other officials of the Colonial Bureau had their heads buzzing.

This bureau was set up by them, and the negotiation took place at the Kuala Lumpur Police Station. There were 20,000 British police officers standing by, and a large number of police officers outside were Malays!
Before the incident, they didn't make any contingency plan at all. According to common sense, this is the police station!
Malaya is still a British colony, right?

How dare he kill people at the Colonial Office headquarters, at the police station, in front of him, the chief inspector, completely ignoring more than 20,000 police officers!
I never expected that!
You should know that since traveling through time, Zheng Yi has actually spent most of his time in Kuala Lumpur, so the Kuala Lumpur Colonial Office is not unfamiliar with him. Lapek himself and Li Xiaoshi were classmates in college, and he had met Zheng Yi several times and had known him for a long time.

The other senior officials of the Colonial Bureau were similar to Lapek. They either knew Zheng Yi and might even have had dinner together, or they had at least heard of this person.

Isn't this a fucking scientist!
Isn’t he an intellectual?

When did he become a desperate criminal and a ruthless person?
He was shot dead in the police station in front of 20,000 policemen from the Colonial Office. The nine sultans, the Malay leaders, were specially invited by the Colonial Office to mediate.

At this moment, Lapec felt like the sky was falling, and he had no idea what to do.

How the hell could Professor Zheng do such a thing?
In fact, thanks to Zheng Yi's previous personality, Lapek and other colonial officials did not search him in order to show their respect for Zheng Yi.

Even the bodyguards brought by Li Xiaowei were not searched. They were just symbolically asked to leave their Thompson submachine guns outside before the meeting.

But who knew that it would lead to such a disaster.

"Mr. Zheng, by doing this, are you going to create an everlasting feud with these Malays? Are you crazy?

I know you are not afraid of them. You Chinese have mastered basic industrial capabilities and you also have the ability to arm yourself.

But if the war continues and Penang no longer has a peaceful environment, can it really develop smoothly?
Will this really not delay the business of those multinational corporations behind you? Or do you really intend to kill the Malays until they are scared, killed until they submit, or even kill them all?"

Zheng Yi said seriously, "I have never thought of killing all the Malays. When I was in Penang, I kept telling them that the Chinese and Malays are both major ethnic groups on the Malay Peninsula, so we must coexist harmoniously."

The veins on Lapek's temples bulged when he heard that. He angrily spitted at Zheng Yi, "You fucking killed nine sultans in one breath, and you tell me you want to get along with them in peace?!!"

Zheng Yi, however, spread his hands and said, "Why do the Malays have to have a Sultan? Why does the Sultan have to have real power?

Why do you think that just because I killed the Malay Sultan, I will definitely fight against the Malays forever?

"I have always wanted to get along well with the Malays, but it is precisely because of these old feudal aristocrats that we have been unable to do so, or at least it has been difficult to properly connect with the Malay workers who are truly at the bottom of society."

“In my opinion, it is actually the Malay ruling class that is responsible for the Malays’ poverty and inability to pursue personal happiness.

Economically, they seized most of the land, and spiritually, through religion, they made the lower classes dependent on them personally.”

"Chanting, praying, and scolding the Chinese are their ways of diverting conflicts. If we don't get rid of them, how can we Chinese live in harmony with the Malays?
I'm willing to give benefits to the Malays, but the land is all in the hands of these nobles. What good is that? These nobles take 90% and give the remaining 10% to the lower classes. They will also say it's their share, and in the end there will still be disharmony."

"Instead of doing this, why not just kill them all and distribute their land to ordinary Malay people?

Then I can consider how to cooperate with the Malays, even if I suffer a little loss and give them some benefits. This is how the money can be spent wisely, don’t you think? "

Lapek listened, but the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He said, "Professor Zheng, you're not trying to emulate Russia and... turn Malaya into a communist country, are you?"

Zheng Yi: "Of course not. I'm a boss worth tens of millions of dollars, right? I still like money."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi patted the stool beside him, motioning Lapek to sit down and talk.

Lapek was also so angry that he lost his temper. He sighed, waved his hand, and signaled his men to put down their guns first.

In today's game, he neglected to judge Zheng Yi's character, or Zheng Yi's transformation was too fast and he had not yet adapted to it.

Until Zheng Yi suddenly attacked and killed someone, he had always thought that he was the strong one. Now Zheng Yi killed someone in front of him, and Lapek felt his scalp tingling. He found that their Colonial Bureau was actually very weak and difficult to deal with.

Shoot Zheng Yi to death? Or arrest him?
Let’s not talk about anything else in Penang now, just the three petrochemical plants that have already started construction have a budget investment of more than 100 million US dollars. Behind them are all world giants, including those from the UK and the United States.

If something really happened to Zheng Yi in his police station, delaying the operation worth at least more than 100 million US dollars, ten lives of Lapek would not be enough to compensate for it.

Besides, he was hoping to get along well with Zheng Yi and go to work for Shell Oil when he got old.

But, let him go?

Their Colonial Bureau invited the nine sultans and all the Malay leaders in Malaya to mediate and hold a meeting in their own name. As a result, all nine sultans died, and Zheng Yi returned intact. How could he explain this to the Malays?

The whole of Malaya will certainly be thrown into chaos because of this, and if things go wrong, it may even lead to anti-colonialism.

Zheng Yi's move was too damn mean. Originally, the backers of those Malays were actually their Colonial Bureau. Now Zheng Yi was killing people in their Colonial Bureau. If their Colonial Bureau could not punish Zheng Yi, or even the Chinese in Penang, then the relationship between you Malays and their Colonial Bureau...

Even if they actively support the Malays, will the Malays still trust them?

It would be fine if the Malays simply blamed the Chinese for this, but if they hated the British as well and really started to oppose colonialism, what would their Colonial Affairs Bureau do?
Normally speaking, if there were any politicians who were even marginally competent, it would be impossible for them to turn against the British when their relationship with the Chinese was destined to fall out completely.

But there are no damn Malay politicians who are qualified.

A bunch of religious lunatics!
The Malay ruling class relies on religious doctrines to maintain the legitimacy of its rule. Unless the new Sultan takes a tough and vengeful attitude, he will not be able to hold on to his position.

Their teachings are about brotherhood, revenge, helping each other, etc. It gives me a headache just thinking about it.

But can the British really stand on the side of the Chinese?

How can they stir up trouble then? In Southeast Asia, at least in Malaya, they will absolutely not be able to suppress the Chinese anymore.

Lapek realized that because of his momentary negligence, Zheng Yi's sudden killing move almost forced him to death, and he had no way out.

Of course, the Malays’ anti-colonialism is not a big deal, and it is not impossible to suppress it, but suppressing the uprising also has costs, and there will definitely be losses at least.

So what's better for these civil servants?

The best outcome is dismissal or removal from office.

What if Zheng Yi is arrested?
Henry will definitely call his office within a day and ask him to release the person. Will he release him or not?

Lapec was so angry that he kicked the table, but he was in a dilemma. He didn't know whether to let go, catch or kill. He was in a dilemma and was controlled by Zheng Yi.

"Professor Zheng, you're really making it difficult for me to do this. You have to let me give an explanation to the higher-ups."

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lapek. You're Brother Li's classmate. We're all family. How could I possibly betray you? I will certainly give you an explanation, and one that you'll definitely be able to give to your superiors."

"How to say?"

"You know, North Borneo is rich in oil resources, just like Brunei. Logically, North Borneo and the Malay Peninsula are geographically part of the same plate. There's no reason why North Borneo should have such abundant oil resources while the Malay Peninsula has none at all. Does that make sense?"

Lapek was stunned. Then, with a frantic look on his face, he grabbed Zheng Yi's hand and said, "Are you saying there's a high probability of oil on the Malay Peninsula?"

Zheng Yi: "It's not very likely, but definitely there. It's not even an approximate area. I know exactly where it is. The oil reserves of the entire Malay Peninsula are less than those of Indonesia, but in fact, they are not much less."

"With your status and position, you should be able to find out how I brought the Persian Oil and Standard Oil refineries to Penang. You should know what I did in the Middle East and my abilities, right?"

Lapek immediately became anxious, his cheeks and neck all turned red due to excitement and congestion. He is a white man, and his complexion is particularly obvious when congested.

"Where it is, where it is! Where is the oil in the Malay Peninsula?"

Zheng Yi: "If you were me, would you say it now?"

Lapek: “…………”

His already red face now turned a little purple as he stared at Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi: "Of course you would tell me, because we are friends. Brother Li often mentioned you to me. He said that you two were very good friends and brothers when you were in Cambridge."

Lapek: "Yes, yes, Li and I have a very good relationship. We are good brothers, good brothers."

Zheng Yi: "My relationship with Brother Li is that his good brother is naturally my good brother. We can contact Shell Oil in Southeast Asia, mainly through their family.
Henry can consider whether to bring other families with him and do some rough preliminary preparations for oil exploration.

The oil belt of the Malay Peninsula is right along the coastline, facing Borneo and the edge of Singapore. You can't go wrong with it."

Lapek: "Such a long... coastline? Do you have a specific location?"

Zheng Yi: "Specifically, specifically... Let's test it first. After all, developing oil fields is a big business. It's an investment of tens of millions of dollars. There must be a safe and peaceful business environment first, don't you think?
If there's not even basic peace, how can we start oil exploration? I'll deal with the Malays first."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi patted Lapek's hand, stood up, and walked towards the door of the meeting room.

The British police naturally stood in front of Zheng Yi and blocked the door.

Zheng Yi turned around and looked at Lapek.

Lapek took a deep breath, exhaled deeply, and said, "I believe Professor Zheng would not lie to us about this kind of thing.
If oil could really be found on the Malay Peninsula, even if all the Malays were killed, it wouldn't be unacceptable; let them go."

"Yes, Sheriff."

Zheng Yi also turned around and nodded to Lapek, saying, "Thank you very much, brother."

"Professor Zheng, wait a moment."

As he walked out the door, Lapek suddenly called him again.

"Any instructions?"

Lapek: "I don't care what method you use. You are the one who caused this. I hope you can resolve it quickly. Don't let the conflict escalate and affect the peace and development of the Malay Peninsula."

Zheng Yi: "It will be done in one month at the earliest and three months at the latest."

"Okay, I believe you. I promise you that within three months, the Malays will not receive any support from the international community. However, after three months, it will be difficult for me to guarantee this. I don't know if I will still be able to hold this position by then."

"Okay, don't worry, brother. I never cheat my brothers."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi took out a cigar from his inner pocket, gave one to Lapek at the door, and lit it for him, saying:
"We Chinese people value righteousness the most. Brothers should share happiness and hardships together, ok? Brothers."

As he said that, Zheng Yi patted Lapek on the shoulder and walked away.

(End of this chapter)