Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 308 The Powerful KGB
"Uncle, how did you convince Shell to join forces with us? This blow is really a big one. This week, Shell's own stock price has fallen by more than 40%."

In Haifa, four hundred Venetian glass lamps are suspended under the malachite dome. In a hot spring center with a strong Arabian palace style, Zheng Yi and Li Jianqiao are bathing in the hot spring pool, and beauties dressed in sexy Arabian and Persian styles are coming and going around them.

This place is like Haifa today, an organic combination of youth and temptation, indescribably strange, yet full of vitality.

Zheng Yi: "He sold the oil business to me, so at least the price only dropped 40%. If he hadn't sold it, it would have been much more than a 40% drop. It might have been only 4%. Remember, in this world, companies have nationalities, but capitalists often don't, and capital is completely nonexistent."

As he was speaking, a secretary came over and whispered, "Sir, the British parliament has reportedly overwhelmingly voted to issue a strong response to us. Many politicians are telling the media they want to return to the Asia-Pacific and are advocating for six aircraft carrier battle groups to be sent to Penang. Miss Qian has also sent a telegram asking if we need to make certain preparations for war."

Zheng Yi waved his hand upon hearing this and said, "Just do what you need to do. Don't pay any attention to them. Let them say whatever they want. We'll talk about it when the warships really reach Southeast Asia. We can just play along with them for a little while."

"Yes."

Li Jianqiao: "In my uncle's eyes, are the British completely paper tigers?"

Zheng Yi said with amusement, "Why, do you think they're still powerful? Strictly speaking, we're both lackeys of the Americans, the only difference being that we're lackeys of the Republican Party, and they're lackeys of the Democratic Party. Regardless of who's in power in the US right now, the differences between the two parties aren't that serious yet. How could they possibly get into a fight?"

Li Jianqiao smiled bitterly upon hearing this: "Uncle, what you said is really... quite harsh. How could anyone call themselves a running dog?"

Zheng Yi himself is quite open-minded: "We are just running dogs, so why shouldn't we admit it? Objectively speaking, this is also the weakness of capital. I admit that I am not as strong-willed as those in China."

"I don't want this kind of lackey behavior to be glorified or rationalized. I can assure you that in the coming decades, the entire world, especially Europe, will use various methods to glorify this lackey relationship, using religion, culture, shared values, ideology, and so on. People have an instinct to rationalize their behavior, and countries are no different."

"This world has always been governed by the law of the jungle, until one day, the king of beasts appeared in the jungle. Then civilization emerged in the jungle, but this civilization was built on the strength, health, and lack of challengers of this king of beasts."

"As the lackey of the king of beasts, of course you can eat a little more than other animals. As an auxiliary, we help it maintain this so-called jungle civilization. But please, please, never forget your status as a lackey. You must never forget to sharpen your claws. Only with your claws, the law of the jungle will always be the underlying color of the jungle."

"Besides, only by remembering that we are still lackeys can we have a chance to stop being lackeys in the future. Only by clearly realizing that we are lackeys can we truly have a chance to turn things around. If we really forget even this, we will truly be dogs forever. Even if we are killed and eaten one day, we will not understand why our master killed us, thinking that we are their friend."

Hearing this, Li Jianqiao scratched his head and said with a wry smile, "Uncle, you are talking about such profound things again. I don't understand."

Zheng Yi: "It doesn't matter. I'm here in Nanyang. I won't forget that I'm a running dog. But Europe, haha, I knew they would be corrupt, but I didn't expect them to be corrupt so quickly. It's only been a few years since the end of World War II."

"To put it bluntly, why would Shell cooperate with us? Because most of Shell's shareholders are smart people. They know they are just running dogs."

"You know, Shell has a close relationship with the SAARC. You could even say it's one of its founding members. The company is like a child with two parents: half is Dutch and half is British. The Dutch are in charge of the digging, and the British are in charge of the transportation."

"However, after the end of World War II, with the gradual liberation of the peoples of the Third World and the collapse of the colonial system, Shell Oil's foundations were already shaky, and it could even be said that it was facing an unprecedented crisis."

"Indonesia is nationalizing its oil, East Africa is nationalizing its oil, and Persia is still nationalizing its oil. The British are completely unstable in their oil production. The little pricing power they still have comes mainly from transporting oil. However, the Dutch own 60% of Shell, while the British only own 40%."

"Under this situation, it's only a matter of time before the British and the Dutch go their separate ways. The Dutch oil wells have actually been relying on British protection since World War I, and it's clear that the British are now completely unable to protect the Dutch. If you were the Dutch, what would you do?"

"After all, it was the Dutch who sold these transport ships, but these ships belong to the British. What the Dutch need most now is a country that can protect their oil. Who do you think they should rely on?"

"Betraying the interests of the British, joining the SAARC, and from then on having the protection of SAARC and the United States behind it, I am responsible for the rise in oil prices, and the Netherlands owns the largest oil fields in Europe. Give me a reason why the Dutch should not betray the British and cooperate with me?"

Shell's shareholding structure is very interesting. It has one son and two mother companies, but they are mainly Dutch. Of course, in fact, most of those Dutch shareholders have long been British. British capitalists control Dutch companies and then reversely control Britain's own Shell. In essence, this is a means for British capitalists to escape the control of the British government.

In fact, Shell has always been controlled by the British since the merger, or in other words, it is the British whose money is nominally in the Netherlands.

But so what? Again, capitalists don’t necessarily need to have nationalities. One thing is certain about these British and Dutch capitalists who can’t quite tell the difference: they are all extremely interested in joining SAARC.

Moreover, most of them have now obtained American citizenship like Zheng Yi and can become Americans at any time.

Li Jianqiao thought for a moment, frowned, and said, "I roughly understand what you mean. However, the person selling the ships should be a shareholder of the Dutch Shell Company, and the ships he sold should belong to the British Shell Company. Is this legally appropriate? Can we do this?"

Zheng Yi: "Strictly speaking, this transaction is of course problematic, but the companies that purchased these ships are Penang Petroleum Company and Standard Oil Company of the United States, and the law, after all, is set by the Americans.
When John Jr.'s men took over these oil and gas vessels, they sent a fleet of fighter jets. Of course, it was the Rockefeller family's private fighter fleet, not the US military. But so what? If the British aren't satisfied, they can sue Rockefeller and me. Ultimately, international law is now made by the Americans, not the British.

"The British are now the typical example of being unaware of their lackey status. The world hegemony has changed hands, but Fatty Qiu refuses to acknowledge the facts and is still obsessed with his so-called past glory. Does he really believe that he and the United States are allies?"

Historically, what really caused Britain to collapse was the Second Middle East War. The Democrats' years in power gave them such a huge illusion that the United States and the Soviet Union both agreed that they should give the British a slap in the face, and thus forced Britain to recognize that the Suez Canal belonged to Egypt.

At the same time, the United States sold off pounds, causing them to depreciate and withdraw from the ranks of international currencies.

Historically, it was after the Second Middle East War that the British basically recognized the reality and completely withdrew from all colonies. Major Commonwealth countries such as Malaysia also gained independence during this period.

It was a free benefit for Egypt.

In this time and space, because of Zheng Yi, such a thing will naturally not happen. There is no need to wait for the so-called Second Middle East War. In other words, it is him who provokes the Second Middle East War.

Because of the bickering between the two parties in the US government, and the fact that Americans in this era really want to be whores but also want to be virtuous, the government does have certain morals when dealing with international affairs, so it is inevitable that it is restrained in doing things.

Historically, American multinational corporations weren't as powerful as they were in the 70s. Strictly speaking, the true multinational giants didn't grow to such prominence until the s, during the reign of Emperor Meilingzong. "As the saying goes, if you're a lackey, you have to be aware of your role. The British didn't realize their lackey status, which led to their current predicament. If it weren't for Fatty Qiu's comeback and his renewed efforts in the Middle East and other regions, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to establish this oil alliance."

As they were talking, a gorgeous Persian woman came over and whispered to Zheng Yi, "Mr. Zheng, the Soviet envoy has arrived. I'd like to ask if you have time to meet with me. Don't worry, we've done a good job of keeping it confidential. Of course, if you want to make it public, we have no objection."

"Ok?"

Zheng Yi was stunned and turned to look at the waiter who came to deliver such explosive news.

He was taking a bath naked at this moment.

Is this the right time to say this?

"I heard that the KGB set up a special organization that trained some beautiful young ladies to work in intelligence. They're called Swallows. I guess you're one of them?"

This place is not a serious place in Haifa itself. All the maids are for sale. Although this woman wears a headscarf and a robe, the robe is hollow, and the special scenery inside can be clearly seen.

Zheng Yi even looked at it carefully for a while.

The woman didn't feel shy when Zheng Yi looked at her. She even took the initiative to sit beside him and said with a smile, "It's my honor to be favored by Mr. Zheng."

"Ha, I actually let you sneak into this place. Should I thank you for not killing me? If you wanted to kill me, you should have succeeded by now."

"Mr. Zheng, you're joking. We've held many meetings regarding you, and everyone in the Soviet Union has unanimously agreed that while you may have opposing interests and are indeed a capitalist, you're different from other capitalists in the world. My father also said that you're an old friend of ours, and a good friend."

"You guys...came here pretty quickly."

Having said that, Zheng Yi couldn't help but take another look at the woman's body.

"Are you a professional agent or someone who was later turned against you? Is it worth such a huge sacrifice?"

"It's all for the ideal, all the sacrifices are worth it."

"You really have great powers! Should I thank you for not killing me?"

He was really impressed. You know, Haifa is actually the territory of the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation.

Although Zheng Yi himself rarely inquired about the affairs of Haifa personally, and tacitly accepted that the affairs here were managed by Jews and Arabs, it could actually be said that he was at home, and the influence of Americans here was even greater.

On occasions like today, every waiter in this hot spring has undergone the most stringent scrutiny and certification. Although these women are all wearing Persian or Arabic-style clothing, Zheng Yi actually knows that they are all Jewish.

Most of them should even be illegitimate daughters of wealthy Jewish families, or at least college students from prestigious universities. Otherwise, they would not have the opportunity to serve Zheng Yi up close.

Everyone knows that as a Chinese from Southeast Asia, Zheng Yi can marry many wives, and there is a tradition of harem politics in Southeast Asia. In such occasions, it is very easy to have a real negative relationship with Zheng Yi. He makes sure that every woman must be carefully selected.

It is impossible for an ordinary woman, even a prostitute, to turn into a phoenix just because Zheng Yi takes a fancy to her. This is because there are no ordinary people around him now. The rich and powerful people and politicians all over the world will rack their brains to get close to Zheng Yi.

In this situation, the KGB was able to let Swallow fly to its side. Just as Zheng Yi himself said just now, this woman really had the opportunity to take his life.

Apart from admiration, Zheng Yi didn't know what else to say.

The KGB during the Soviet era was truly awesome. Its power was far beyond the reach of any secret intelligence organization in the world in later generations.

"Should I be glad that I'm your friend? Oh, okay, I'll meet you."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi stood up.

Then he sat down again: "Well, please find me a bathrobe."

Although I have seen both, there is always a difference between being seen by a prostitute and being seen by a swallow.

"You haven't recorded or videotaped me in the past few days, so you plan to threaten me with my photos, right?"

"Um... Mr. Zheng... you think we are a little... too shameless, don't you? Besides, you are our friend, and we would never do anything to threaten our friends."

"Oh."

It seems that during this period, the Swallows of the 1950s were relatively ethical.

[Ah~, I still have to be careful about this in the future. The KGB, these people are really powerful.]

(End of this chapter)