My girlfriend is from 1949

Victor's visit to China included not only observing the scale of the Coca-Cola factory and learning about the lives of Shanghai residents in order to formulate corresponding trade plans.

There was also a hidden mission: to verify things firsthand and conduct an inspection.

In the Soviet Union's plan, this neighbor could not become a military threat.

However, in the current world order, everyone is forming alliances and factions.

If you tell a newly established country directly not to develop its military, it will inevitably lead to a complete breakdown in relations.

Even if they need international support, such a blatant display clearly indicates ill intentions.

Since they all have ill intentions, others will naturally no longer regard him as their elder brother.

In such a deceptive situation, it's possible to regard someone as an enemy.

The situation in China is now clear: the army is preparing to liberate Guangdong.

Everyone knows that the Kuomintang reactionaries had no determination to hold their ground.

From the principal down to the bigwigs of the four major families and various factions, everyone has already left.

Even when then-President Li Zongren summoned all the military and political leaders of Guangdong and Guangxi to express his determination to hold out, the situation remained unchanged.

But those bigwigs had already prepared their escape routes.

If Guangdong can be defended, then everyone will be happy.

But if they can't hold on, their family and property have already been moved to Taiwan, enough for them to enjoy the rest of their lives in dignity.

Everyone's just putting on an act, why go to such lengths?

Everyone knows that the overall situation in China is now settled!

Seeing that the Kuomintang had lost its value and was no longer of any use, the United States was naturally willing to win over this newly established nation.

It would be ideal to have an ally cause trouble right on the opponent's doorstep.

Therefore, in order to maintain stability and gain an ally, the Soviet Union spared no effort in courting and currying favor with the Soviets, and providing them with aid.

If you really ruin the relationship and turn friends into enemies, then it's not worth it.

Even if you want to weaken this little brother and turn him into a vassal, you have to be careful about the methods and approaches.

Through subtle influence, China is guided to proactively develop in the desired direction.

For example, if China tastes the benefits in commerce and agriculture, it will naturally invest heavily.

Especially now that we are extremely poor, solving the problem of food and clothing for the people is of paramount importance.

As long as you exert influence at this time, you can follow the path you've planned.

This tactic is very similar to how Duke Huan of Qi destroyed the State of Lu.

At that time, the people of Lu State had always made a living by weaving silk.

Duke Huan of Qi took the lead in wearing clothes made of silk, and ordered his close ministers to do the same. Naturally, the common people followed suit.

In addition, an order was issued prohibiting the weaving of silk within the State of Qi, which would inevitably force Qi to rely on the State of Lu for its large demand for silk.

In pursuit of high profits, the entire state of Lu would blindly weave silk, thus abandoning agricultural production. Before long, Lu would face a food shortage.

As the saying goes, what the superiors do, the inferiors follow. When the people of Qi saw that the kings and nobles were wearing silk robes, they all followed suit.

For a time, the price of Qi State silk products soared.

Guan Zhong then told the merchants of Lu that whoever brought in a thousand bolts of silk would be rewarded with three hundred catties of gold.

If you bring in 10,000 horses, you will receive 3,000 catties of gold.

In this way, even if the State of Lu did not levy taxes on its people, its national finances would be sufficiently abundant.

As a result, the fashion of weaving brocade became popular, and the people of Lu rushed to make brocade garments.

In the short term, Shandong and China have seen substantial foreign exchange earnings and a surge in their trade surplus.

Almost all the people of Lu mobilized to plant mulberry trees, weave silk, and transport silk, believing that they could make a lot of money from it.

With grain prices so low that there was little profit to be made, it became unimportant, and no one wanted to grow crops anymore.

Subsequently, Duke Huan of Qi ordered a halt to the purchase of woven silk, causing the economy of the State of Lu to collapse instantly.

The common people all went to weave silk, and the fields had long been abandoned.

The ruler of Lu then realized the importance of grain production and hurriedly ordered the people to return to farming.

But it was too late; food could not be produced in just three months.

As a result, the State of Lu fell into a severe food crisis. Grain prices soared, the people complained bitterly, and the social economy declined.

With the national treasury empty, people fled in droves, and the country existed in name only, eventually perishing a few years later.

What the Soviet Union wants to do now is to let the new China taste the benefits of grain production and light industry before it will abandon heavy industry.

Gradually, without military force, they could only become vassals.

This method is much milder than the strategy employed by Duke Huan of Qi back then.

After all, what the big brother wants is an obedient little brother, a populous country that helps grow food and produce light industrial products.

Moreover, there is an old Chinese saying: "With grain in hand, one has nothing to fear."

China suffered a century of war and turmoil, and its people were destitute and starving, desperately needing a full meal.

Therefore, given the national circumstances, people are happy to expand their planting scale.

It's a case of one person willing to give and the other willing to receive.

Foreigners also read Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Just like foreigners today, they are also reading "On Protracted War"!

Victor came to Shanghai on the transport plane not only to inspect the Coca-Cola factory, but also to see the development of Shanghai's light industry and the surrounding agriculture.

His time was very tight; he would stay for one day tonight and then take a transport plane to Beiping tomorrow.

I want to see for myself the situation in Northeast China, including its agriculture and the heavy industries it has developed.

To prepare for future plans.

Seeing is believing, and it's good to get a feel for things beforehand.

Therefore, at this time, in order to deceive its ally, the Soviet Union would inevitably provide substantial support in terms of manpower and financial resources.

Only a fool would refuse a bribe offered to him.

The central government decided to go with the flow.

Since our big brother is going to give and support our development of industry and agriculture, let's take this opportunity to benefit.

So Du Hengtai's task was to show them what they wanted to see.

After all, Victor's trip to Shanghai this time did not represent the official authorities.

My stay in Shanghai was ostensibly just a short get-together with this old classmate.

His old classmate invited him to come to Shanghai for a day.

Tomorrow morning, I will take a transport plane to Beiping to formally and officially discuss trade cooperation.

Du Hengtai, on the other hand, was "completely unaware" of the spying mission.

Taking advantage of his position, he led his old classmates on a tour of the factory and the farmland that had been reclaimed.

Given Victor's status, taking him on a tour wouldn't be considered against the rules.

This trip to Longhua Town was to observe the agricultural situation.

According to intelligence, Shanghai's daily vegetable needs are met by supplies from surrounding areas.

The last statistical data was collected in 1945.

We know perfectly well how many acres of fertile land existed during that period.

Moreover, the data all comes from official sources.

If you wanted to get intelligence from Kuomintang officials, it was just a matter of spending some money.

Besides, it wasn't military intelligence; it was just a survey of farmland around Shanghai, nothing serious.

For a fee, there are plenty of people willing to help resell this data.

If the price is high enough, we're even willing to provide the original!

The practice of reselling data has existed since ancient times.

Even seventy years later, personal data is still being sold.

I went to the hospital for a cold, and that same day I received a scam call.

It can even accurately pronounce the surname!

In the future world, there will be no such thing as privacy; everyone will be transparent.

Even scrolling through short videos is meticulously planned by big data.

I had just searched for how to "be invincible" when a kidney tonic was pushed to me the next moment.

For Soviet intelligence agencies, obtaining such materials was as easy as playing a game.

By comparing the data, we can see the differences between the current agricultural situation around Shanghai and that of four years ago.

If there is no change or significant increase, it means they are lying.

If there is a significant increase, it would indicate that China is indeed making great efforts to develop agriculture.

Victor only needs to compare the data from Shanghai and Beijing to know whether it's true or false.

Essentially, it was a random sampling.

So this time when I went to see the fields, I brought a camera to document the process.

The car drove along the bumpy, muddy road, experiencing a very bumpy ride.

The road from the city center to Longhua Town is relatively easy to travel out of the city.

On the main roads, the road conditions are relatively good, mostly alternating between gravel roads and asphalt roads.

But once you leave the main road and enter the side road, it becomes a dirt road.

Fortunately, it's summer now, so the temperature is quite high, and it hasn't rained recently.

So the dirt road was a bit bumpy, but at least it wasn't muddy.

In modern times, vehicles can speed along wide roads.

It's only 12 kilometers from the city center to Longhua Town, a 20-minute drive.

However, due to the limitations of road conditions in this era, it cannot compare with later generations.

It took about an hour to reach the experimental field in Longhua Town.

The car chose a relatively high hillside and stopped.

After Du Hengtai got out of the car, he handed him a cigarette.

However, Victor did not reach out to take it; he simply waved his hand, his face pale.

He was still lying at the back of the car, dry heaving a few times.

The bumpy ride left me feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded.

I don't usually get carsick, but after focusing intently on observing the journey and constantly taking out the map to compare, I started to feel a bit dizzy.

It's common for people who don't usually get motion sickness to suddenly develop it for various reasons.

"Brother, you're getting old," Du Hengtai joked with a smile.

Actually, Victor is not very old, only in his early forties. The two were classmates, so they are about the same age.

However, Victor had a large beard, and for people of the same age, no one would doubt that Victor was over fifty.

In contrast, although Du Hengtai wasn't exactly fair-skinned and beardless, his face was kept very clean due to discipline.

In addition, having lived among the upper class before liberation, she was well-maintained and looked younger than she actually was.

The saying goes, "Without comparison, there is no harm."

When the two stand side by side and are compared, people would believe they are from two different generations.

Perhaps due to genetics, Chinese people are relatively more resistant to aging.

In contrast, the flowering season in the Soviet Union was very short.

It's common to see young, fashionable beauties whose skin becomes rough and pores enlarge after a few years, making them look completely different from their youthful appearance a few years ago.

Therefore, Du Hengtai's teasing only enlivened the atmosphere and did not offend anyone.

After all, the two are about the same age, so it's normal for them to make this kind of joke.

Du Hengtai took a few steps forward and said with a smile, "Comrade Victor, welcome to visit the Longhua Town Experimental Field Base."

His voice was filled with a deep sense of pride.

Victor wiped his mouth and quickened his pace as he walked over.

When he looked down at the vast expanse of fertile land that had been reclaimed, a look of shock appeared on his face.

Although it's not as endless as some others, it's still quite large.

The key point is that there is wasteland next to the fertile fields.

On the wasteland, there were hundreds of people moving about like ants.

It's obvious that this is land reclamation.

The Military Control Commission wanted this foreign spy to see clearly that Shanghai was indeed vigorously developing agriculture.

Not only did they arrange for land reclamation overnight to reach a certain scale, but they also continued reclamation during the day.

Moreover, one can see countless people digging irrigation canals.

Reclaiming wasteland and building corresponding irrigation facilities is a sign of serious development.

Judging from the scale of this project, it is sufficient to prove that the new China had a plan to vigorously develop agriculture.

This was also in the best interest of the Soviet Union.

Victor's face lit up with joy, and he immediately picked up the camera hanging around his neck.

Click~ Click~

He took several photos before a satisfied smile finally appeared on his face.

These photos prove that the area surrounding Shanghai is indeed vigorously developing agriculture.

Then I'll go and wander around Beiping and take some photos.

If both of these randomly selected locations are engaged in large-scale planting, it proves that China is vigorously developing agriculture.

Of course, in other places, other people are conducting investigations.

This plan concerned the Soviet Union's peripheral security, so it was not easy to make a judgment on it.

However, the information gathered so far is sufficient to grant greater trade authority and provide various conveniences, allowing the new China to enjoy the benefits brought by agriculture and light industry.

Only when people truly feel the benefits will they devote more energy to development and expansion.

By then, there will naturally be no energy left to develop the military and heavy industry.

Studying how to double land productivity was more in the Soviet Union's interest than studying more powerful weapons.

Victor put down his camera, squinted at the distant wasteland being reclaimed, and looked somewhat puzzled.

He muttered to himself, "That's not an ox, is it...?"

Because it's too far away, you can't see it clearly at all.

However, there are solutions even for long distances.

Victor rubbed his eyes and then pulled a monocular telescope out of his pocket.

Hold it in front of your eyes and observe it while staring into the distance.

Du Hengtai stood to the side, his expression quite strange.

Taking photos and using binoculars theoretically constitutes spying.

But since this guy just openly revealed himself like that, it's hard to say anything more.

Victor adjusted his binoculars, and when he realized that what a person was pushing was not an ox, he opened his mouth in surprise.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at them again to make sure.

"My brother... if I'm not mistaken, are they pushing a tractor?"

The surprised voice carried a hint of strangeness.

In his mind, tractors were used to haul things, and this was the first time he had ever heard of them being used for plowing.

Du Hengtai smiled and nodded, proceeding with the introduction as instructed by his superiors.

"That's right, that's the front of the tractor."

Because of the lack of oxen, we had to dismantle the tractors and install blades on the wheels to plow the fields.

However, the lack of tractors delayed the transportation.

My brother, why don't you write a report to your superiors and ask them to send us some more oxen for plowing?