The rain was still falling outside the window, and the spacious and empty office seemed very quiet, except for the rustle of the platinum nib of the fountain pen against the paper. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Since Li Muchen left the office, Tang Haoran has been dealing with the official business to be done, and the document basket on the table is full of reports from various departments, and the reports of each department are different, some big and some small.

The hour hand rotated slowly, until two or three hours later, Tang Haoran pressed the electric bell on the table, and soon the secretary outside the door walked in, and after instructing him on some matters, he took out those documents, and then distributed them according to the department, they will be sent to the transmission room, and the air pressure transmission document pipeline laid in the urban area is transmitted to various departments by compressed air. It only takes two or three minutes to send a document. In the era when there was no fax and network, this "network" of pipes was perhaps the fastest and most efficient way to transmit.

After disposing of the work on the table, after the secretary took out the documents, Tang Haoran, who had nothing to do, once again picked up the cigar cigarette that he had just done, and when the cigar smoke was in his mouth and tasted the unique fragrance of Cuban cigars, Tang Haoran once again remembered the matter that he had been concerned about for a period of time.

"Hmmm......"

While thinking, the right hand holding the pen wrote two words again on the note.

Rubber, oil!

After writing these two words, Tang Haoran continued to smoke his cigar, but through the smoke, he could clearly see a trace of sadness on his face.

These two seemingly unrelated words. In fact, the problem that has plagued Tang Haoran in recent times. Whether it's rubber, it's good. Oil. They are all important pillar resources that are closely related to the future industrial development. Perhaps, for the people of this era, rubber only had "insignificant" uses such as rubber shoes, raincoats, and bicycle wheels, and as for oil, it seems that there is no other use except for refining kerosene for lighting lamps, well, at most, it is one more thing that can be lubricated.

But as a traverser. Tang Haoran clearly knows the importance of these two seemingly inconspicuous things in the future. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with the great development of the automobile industry, the demand for rubber increased sharply. At the same time, rubber has also become an emerging material for many industrial products, which is very popular. Now rickshaws and bicycles have been replaced with rubber tires, and people wear a pair of rubber shoes and leather shoes, and then wear a rubberized raincoat, and they can go out as usual in rainy days. As for all kinds of other rubber products, there are countless more. Not only that, but the shipbuilding industry is also inseparable from rubber. Warships are inseparable from rubber. And more importantly, now China's automobile industry with the success of the prototype car in the arsenal of the three eastern provinces. There is already a light at the end of the tunnel, and rubber is the basis for ensuring that China's future automobile industry will not be short-footed.

In order to solve the problem of rubber supply, Tang Haoran has instructed the expansion of the Nanfan base on Hainan Island, and recruited workers to build a rubber plantation, so as to ensure the future supply of rubber. According to the production period of rubber trees, ten years later, the plantations in Hainan will enter the rubber production period, and that is the period of great development of industries such as automobiles, such as in Hainan Island, and even Leizhou Peninsula, Yunnan, Guangdong and other places to open up plantations, although some areas are not suitable for the development of rubber plantations, but based on the strategic security of rubber considerations, the establishment of rubber industry in these areas can fully meet China's demand for rubber, and may even be exported. At least until the synthetic rubber industry is established, the local natural rubber industry is an industry that must be promoted.

The problem of rubber seems to be solved, but in fact the solution to this problem is very simple - it is nothing more than opening up plantations and turning virgin forests into rubber plantations.

But how to solve another problem?

Compared with rubber, oil is undoubtedly a more important strategic resource. Although for many people now, the most important use of oil is to extract kerosene for lighting, and other products such as gasoline and diesel are mostly disposed of as waste oil, and even now most of those waste oils are left to volatilize naturally - before the popularization of automobiles, the largest use of oil was to refine kerosene.

However, while a large amount of "waste oil" is being "wasted", since the day Daimler developed the world's first practical fuel engine, the potential of gasoline engines has begun to be recognized by more and more people, although there are still various shortcomings.

For now, however, the importance of oil and its future potential is confined to the appeals of a few people, including scientists, or to the "fantasy" of the future – a world of fuel, of course, that exists only in fiction. It was only eleven years later, after Fisher became British Admiralty, that Britain recognized the importance of this new type of combustion and began to consider and secure the oil supply of the British Navy under his supervision.

As a time-traveler, no one in this era knows the potential of oil better than Tang Haoran, in the next hundred years, oil will be the most important strategic resource overriding everything, for industrialized countries, oil is not only used to drive the war machine to protect itself, but also to lubricate the industrial machine to improve the equipment.

In the following 100 years, as the most important strategic material, oil has been closely linked with the country's security and economic prosperity, oil is an important energy source, daily economic life, industrial production, aerospace and military industry need oil as energy and raw materials. Chemical products such as gasoline and asphalt separated from petroleum are widely used in people's daily life. It can be said that whoever controls the supply and pricing power of oil can control the economic lifeblood of the world.

And what about China?

Although in another time and space, the "Daqing Oilfield" threw China's "oil-poor country" hat into the Pacific Ocean, but after the 21st century, all the slightly sober Chinese people understand that the price of throwing off the hat is to continue decades of high-load exploitation, and this price actually did not get rid of the hat, but really wore that hat. In the 21st century, China's scarce oil resources have been exploited at high loads, but in the 21st century, they have fallen into a dilemma such as high extraction costs. The surging demand for oil has made China increasingly dependent on imported oil.

A hundred years later, China is dependent on imported oil. China now. It is even more dependent on imported oil. Although there is Daqing Oilfield in the northeast. It stands to reason that there is no need to think about oil. However, the deep well technology for exploiting the Daqing oilfield was not invented until the early 30s of the 20th century.

Under this oil supply dilemma, how will China's oil security be guaranteed in the next 40 years, more precisely, the first 30 years? Where does China get ample oil?

Twenty years later, in particular, World War I, the first war to demonstrate the military importance of oil, became more and more evident as the war unfolded. Oil is not just a necessity for naval fleets, in the European and Middle East theaters. Oil is needed everywhere. Fuel trucks replaced horses and were used to transport soldiers, weapons, and supplies. Trucks are not only fast, but also efficient. Horses are a burden on the army, and horses can eat 10 times more than soldiers. This new type of fuel vehicle needs to store relatively little fuel, and the internal combustion engine makes it possible to use new types of weapons of war, such as tanks and airplanes.

The Entente ensured their own oil supply by importing oil from abroad, primarily from the American Standard Oil Company. Germany, on the other hand, did not have its own oil, and most of the oil used during the war came from Romanian oil fields. In order to solve the problem of oil supply, it declared war on Romania, but before the fall of the country. Romania set fire to and destroyed the oil fields, thus making it until the end of the war. Germany failed to restore oil production, and in the end, Germany lost the war because of the lack of guaranteed oil supplies.

As in the aftermath of the war, the Entente were brought into victory by the torrent of oil...... At the beginning of the war, oil and petroleum products began to be listed as the main items necessary for the Allied armies, relying on oil to fight wars and relying on oil to win wars. Without oil, how can the mobility of the fleet, the transportation of the army and the production of various industries be guaranteed?

Oil is the blood of victory!

It was since then that this phrase has become the most famous phrase that has shaped the course of the world. Twenty years later, in World War II, the Axis powers suffered a crushing defeat that once again proved this truth. Due to the lack of oil, the galloping tank units were reduced to scrap metal, the planes flying in the blue sky were destroyed on the ground, and the fleets sailing through the waves were forced to remain in the harbor.

Without oil, there would be no victory in the war! It can even be said that without oil, there is no future for China!

How to ensure China's oil supply in the future?

Although the British used their powerful fleet to ensure and promote "free trade" in all countries of the world, under the framework of "free trade", China could solve the oil problem through foreign trade. But what about after the outbreak of war? The lessons of Germany and Japan, which were "drowned" by the Anglo-American oil seas during the war, are clear examples.

Just like Japan likes to make a bitter joke: "I went to war for oil, but I lost the war because I didn't have oil."

There is nothing more important than establishing a secure supply of oil. It is precisely because of this that Tang Haoran will set his sights on Southeast Asia, even before the manufacture of cars, and the reason why he will focus on Southeast Asia is entirely because of the "Hawaii crisis", and it is that crisis that makes Tang Haoran realize that he does not know so much about history.

Some deployments must be carried out in advance, and the entire strategic layout must be completed before competitors make a move. Otherwise, what awaits him will inevitably be another "Hawaii crisis", and the result may even be far worse than the balance of power after the "Hawaii crisis", after all, the United States in this era is different from any other country, its domestic power restricts its overseas expansion, while in contrast, those old European powers are often more willing to solve problems through forceful means, that kind of power blackmail is completely useless, and dealing with those old European powers must be based on strength.

In this era of the law of the jungle, everything is very simple, either be the prey in the mouths of others, or turn into a jackal and tear your own prey in the last afterglow of this imperial power! There is no other way.

So, as a weak China, which is not even a "hunting dog" in this era, how will it choose its own "prey"?

"Borneo!"

Writing these three words on the paper, Tang Haoran's eyebrows raised slightly, perhaps, for China, this is the only suitable "prey", because the Netherlands, who control it, simply do not have the strength to challenge China or say, there is no strength to maintain their interests in Southeast Asia, if it were not for the British factor, perhaps, as early as a few decades ago, the Dutch East India has changed its court.

United Kingdom......

Compared with the owner of the Dutch East India, for China, Britain is the real concern, if you exclude the British factor, let alone Borneo, even the entire Dutch East India, China has a chance to take it.

But the question is, is it possible that the UK, the UK, will acquiesce in this move?

In fact, in this era of "British rule", Britain is a factor that cannot be excluded in any international matter, and the Dutch overseas colonial empire has been preserved under the "understanding" of Britain, and will not be taken advantage of by other powers because of its weak national strength.

"China is not a great power, let alone a Western power, and it is ......"

In this era when "geopolitics" has not yet become a theory, Tang Haoran can analyze the possible reaction of the British to China's involvement in Dutch East India through the basic theory of "geopolitics".

The reason why Britain maintains Dutch interests is not so much because of the "closeness" between the royal families of the two countries, but more importantly, because of the choice of practical interests, unless Britain and the Netherlands go to Southeast Asia, there are also France that controls French central and southern China, and Spain, which controls the Philippines, the latter is a weak and backward empire, and will not pose any threat to British interests in Southeast Asia at all.

France, as a major European power, has been a thorn in the eye of Britain for more than several hundred years, and it naturally cannot tolerate France's expansion in Southeast Asia, and even the reason why Siam was able to maintain its independence in the tide of colonization is precisely because of its special position -- it is located between the British Straits Settlements and French Central and South China, as a buffer between the forces of the two countries, through flexible diplomacy, and between Britain and France, so that it can maintain its independence.

In order to prevent France from further expanding its colonies in Southeast Asia, Britain was naturally willing to grant "diplomatic protection" to the Dutch East India, and its protection of the Netherlands was based on its own interests, not the so-called "natural allies", which meant that under this premise, China had the opportunity to "steal chickens".

(Thank you Bishamen Tian 99, Panzertank, the world has me, Yucang Mountain Master, Mr. Wuling, Hahu Land Pressure, k88yrd, Li Ziqiu, irritable de swallow, Tiancha Shui Chang listens to the wind and rain, the final solution and other book friends reward, yesterday was the birthday of the book friend Bishamen Tian 99 (Long Tao Marine Li Ziyuan), speechless and desperate code words, and can only be changed today two times...... Happy birthday to Bishamontian 99! PS: Ask for a monthly pass and a subscription! The Empire's Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 welcome you to join) (To be continued.) )