Chapter 484: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 494: The Urgent Problem to Be Solved

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Everyone exchanged glances; every word Lv Muzhi said struck at their hearts, yet every word was fact.

Lv Muzhi also felt strange—as if he were PUA-ing an entire country!

After a moment's thought, if he didn't back them up, this Zhongnan State would definitely be completely devoured by the Japanese.

Although he was PUA-ing Zhongnan State, in return they still had to thank him!

Prime Minister Fan Jing and the military men conferred again, and finally Commander Ruan Wen of the Northern Vietnam Military Region stepped forward and said: "Economic cooperation, we accept, but it cannot be entirely controlled by your people; we also need to send personnel for supervision."

Lv Muzhi nodded: "Supervision? That's certainly reasonable, anything else?"

Ruan Wen looked into Lv Muzhi's eyes and asked: "If the Japanese Army and the Thai Army really bring great forces to invade, can the Youth Army... truly protect Zhongnan State?"

Ruan Wen's words were precisely the helplessness of everyone in Zhongnan State from top to bottom.

Whether it was the Unity Party or the Yixin Society, relying on their armies, facing such a powerful enemy, they could not guarantee to protect this new country.

Therefore, the Youth Army, which had repeatedly defeated strong enemies in the north, became their life-saving straw.

Lv Muzhi frankly said: "I can only do my best to guarantee you won't be wiped out as a country. The Japanese Navy ranks at least third in the world; if they are determined to swallow Zhongnan State and exhaust their national strength to organize a southbound action, your coastal areas will definitely be hard to protect."

"But Zhongnan State now has Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, giving it some strategic depth. With the western mountainous areas and some cities, plus the help of the Youth Army, it can guarantee you won't be wiped out as a country."

"As for the Xia Kingdom battlefield, we can also launch an offensive to support your war of national defense."

"Overall, with my help, even if the Japanese exhaust their national strength, they cannot completely devour you. Before long, Japan will bring about its own destruction."

Lv Muzhi spoke very reasonably; he recommended that Zhongnan State learn from Xia Kingdom's path—avoid a decisive battle in the early stage, and with the Youth Army's help, maneuver and wear down the Japanese Army.

Ruan Wen nodded. To avoid being wiped out as a country by other countries, they could only rely on Lv Muzhi's resources.

"We have the following conditions: First, the Youth Army provides personnel training and equipment support to Zhongnan State's army."

"Second, when Zhongnan State's enemies threaten the Northern Vietnam region, the Youth Expeditionary Army should assist our army in defense."

"Third, the garrison scale of the Youth Expeditionary Army is increased to fifty thousand."

"If these three conditions are met, we can agree to your economic demands."

Lv Muzhi remained silent for a while, looking somewhat hesitant.

The Laos Military Region Commander asked: "General Lv, don't you have difficulties?"

Lv Muzhi sighed: "Fine, I agree to you! This is a mess you've got here, but I still decide to agree to you!"

Who made this Lv Muzhi's investment! Now that there are better development prospects, I can only continue to increase investment!

After finishing all this, Lv Muzhi bade farewell to everyone and turned to leave.

Prime Minister Fan Jing hurriedly detained him: "There is one more matter that needs General Lv to convey on our behalf."

"Oh?"

"Zhongnan State was just established, yet not a single country supports us, and even less does any country recognize us. The international situation is extremely dire!"

Lv Muzhi smiled, only then showing that his support was truly precious.

"I don't know if Xia Kingdom is willing to recognize Zhongnan State? Can this be conveyed to Xia Kingdom's Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

Seeing Fan Jing's sincere and naive expression, Lv Muzhi finally understood why these military men supported him to become Head of State.

Lv Muzhi directly shook his head: "Of course I can convey it for you, but I'll tell you directly: our old man will not recognize you as a country."

"Why?"

"Because the British do not recognize Zhongnan State. They hold the Burma Road, this lifeline. The old man won't turn against the British for a Zhongnan State that could collapse at any time."

The military men present were not in a hurry to obtain international recognition.

The country faced threats from the Japanese Army and the Thai Army and was almost gone—where was there any demand for this!

But Lv Muzhi directly threw out a huge temptation: "You need recognition from a great power? Perhaps I can help you find one!"

The military men and officials present all looked at Lv Muzhi in disbelief.

——————

In the following month, Lv Muzhi and Zhongnan State successively signed a series of treaties.

Such as the "Yunnan-Vietnam Railway Common Defense Agreement," the "Guangxi-Vietnam Railway Common Defense Agreement," the "Arms Trade Agreement," the "Economic Cooperation Memorandum," and so on......

Regarding this series of agreements, some in Zhongnan State's political circles criticized them as sellout treaties.

But others retorted: "By the time the country is gone, you won't be able to sell even if you want to!"

"When the French were here, there was still no country to sell!"

"Saving the country is propping up a collapsing building; losing the country is the true sellout!"

Overall, Zhongnan State's upper and lower levels still accepted the fact that the country was poor and weak. Plus, there were many overseas Chinese in the civilian and military-political circles, and everyone generally welcomed the Youth Army's garrison.

With the signing of these agreements, batch after batch of firearms and ammunition were delivered to Zhongnan State's army.

And Zhongnan State had just taken over a large number of plantations and mines from the French, then handed them over to Lv Muzhi and the Youth Army to manage.

Zhongnan State lacked funds, so Lv Muzhi and the Zhu Family injected funds to operate industries.

Zhongnan State lacked economic talent, so Lv Muzhi recruited a batch from the domestic students he sent to the United States every year to come to Zhongnan State for employment.

Zhongnan State needed military protection, so Lv Muzhi successively expanded the Youth Expeditionary Army into three divisions, totaling over fifty thousand men.

These fifty thousand troops could almost match Thailand's total army strength, and overall they also protected Lv Muzhi's investment security.

Speaking of which, many of the economic talents Lv Muzhi recruited to Zhongnan State were domestic talents he had paid out of pocket to send abroad for study.

Ever since Lv Muzhi became wealthy ten years ago, he has funded hundreds of Xia Kingdom youths to study abroad every year, mainly students in the United States.

In several major cities in the United States, Lv Muzhi had bought up many properties at the bottom back then, converted them into apartments, and rented them at extremely low prices to the students he funded to live in.

There were also dedicated personnel who, when international students were about to graduate, recommended jobs to them and asked whether they chose to develop on the platforms provided by Lv Muzhi and the Zhu Family.

Although quite a few international students accepted his funding but were unwilling to serve him, Lv Muzhi did not force them, after all, they had better prospects.

Provided that half, forty percent, or even twenty or thirty percent were willing to come and serve him, it was a successful investment.

As for those international students who could not be retained, Lv Muzhi simply regarded spending money on them as forming a fragrant karmic bond.

Lv Muzhi's various industries in Xia Guo were precisely built by these talents who returned to the country for construction thanks to these investments.

The talents now dispatched to Zhongnan State for construction were exactly the same as the domestic model.

Everything Lv Muzhi possessed was exactly what Zhongnan State needed!

For a time, a large number of Chinese people poured into North Vietnam, covering military personnel, merchants, highly educated talents from all industries, industrial and mining grassroots workers, and so on.

Military personnel protected Lv Muzhi's investments in Zhongnan State, while merchants, scholars, and grassroots workers operated these investments.

Lv Muzhi knew in his heart: if Zhongnan State were destroyed by other countries, or collapsed from within, his investments would all go down the drain.

Such a situation could not happen.

Foreign invasion of Zhongnan State, Lv Muzhi had long been prepared for.

To prevent Zhongnan State from collapsing from within, there was still an important task to be done.

The land issue of Zhongnan State must be resolved.