151 Grain Markets in Asia(1)
Since the mineral market was established in Istanbul, all of Europe’s minerals have flowed through it.
Currently, North America is the most common route for minerals such as iron and copper, followed by Africa.
Abundant mines were also located in Eastern Europe, but exports were suspended due to war and European strife.
hum hum… … !
British buyers appeared in the bustling Istanbul mineral market.
“So that I can rake in iron ore and copper as much as I can.”
“Do you pay in full?”
“It doesn’t matter what means of purchase. Once you buy the minerals, you just have to go back to your home country and that’s it.”
Now Britain was in a state of absolute scarcity due to the war with Russia.
Procurement of military supplies was a problem for the first time, and the amount of minerals required in the midst of building the infrastructure of overseas colonies was enormous.
For Britain, war was like a terrible nightmare.
Eventually, when it became difficult to procure resources from Eastern Europe, Britain was forced to turn to Istanbul.
Even in England, under the world, minerals could not be purchased at any time.
“I don’t sell minerals.”
“… … You’re not selling?”
“Although the mineral market acts as an intermediary, consignment sales and auctions are carried out, most of the transactions are made between individuals based on the finance provided by the mineral market. So, if there is no fixed purchase route, we will have to wait until auctions and consignment purchases are made.”
“Damn, doesn’t that mean that we may not be able to get all of the quantities we want within this year?”
“I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”
Eugene Howard, head of industrial resource purchasing for the UK Treasury Department, is deeply troubled.
Currently, the UK had to raise a huge amount of resources in a short period of time, but the problem was that the size of the funds did not keep up with the amount of funding.
So, instead of purchasing a large amount of minerals, they tried to cut the price a little.
But that couldn’t be possible.
The current mineral market is dominated by North America and Africa, but Africa did not have a good relationship with Britain due to friction.
North America is said to be better, but Easterfield’s sentiment was not so good, where the people were slaughtered because they sent Portuguese troops to the south of North America.
Such sentiments were entangled, and Britain had to be neglected in the mineral market.
Eugene Howard eventually decided to look for other options.
“How about making a request directly to the Kingdom of Easterfield?”
“Are you talking about going to California?”
“If you line up there, I think you can get quite a lot of resources.”
“Hmm.”
“There is no way for us right now.”
If there were many colonies that long ago made a living through traditional mining, Britain would not be in a resource crisis now.
Taken from noblemtl.com
Most of the colonies were still being explored, and even if there were people, there were very few places where modern mining works.
In contrast, the Easterfield Confederation was modernized wherever it had its influence, and science and technology advanced day by day, making it possible to transport minerals with little or no human intervention.
It was said that no matter how much Britain developed a mine as if it had caught fire, it could not be better than relying on Easterfield in the end.
But there was a problem.
It was that the deal with Easterfield was not easy.
“These days, there is a nickname for dealing with Easterfield.”
“Nickname?”
“A deal with the devil.”
“… … What, is it because the difficulty of closing a deal is high?”
“They are a country made up of merchants. It means you have to give up at least one thing that has a profound impact on the country to make a deal.”
“Damn it… … .”
“From our point of view in the UK right now, there is nothing we can do well to do business with them.”
Easterfield never gave anything away for free.
If you see needy neighbors, you give them jobs to help them grow on their own, but don’t give them free money or food.
In a nutshell, for Easterfield, free means something you could only find in a dictionary.
So, of course, buying minerals from Easterfield meant losing at least one diplomatically.
However, from the British standpoint, it was difficult for the country to return, let alone war, if it was not possible to make a deal now.
“I guess I’ll just have to be vigilant so that the devil doesn’t bleed as much as possible.”
“Are you sure you really want to connect with California?”
“Isn’t that supposed to be the case?”
The subordinates’ expressions weren’t very good, but from Eugene Howard’s point of view, this was the best.
***
Lee Hwan heading to the main castle from Easterfield’s Second Palace.
It seems that many people will be with him on his journey, but he always crosses the continent by mobilizing only a small number of people.
There were many reasons for Lee Hwan to proceed so quietly.
It was to avoid the threat of assassination as much as possible, and not to tell him what kind of steps he was taking internationally.
Aboard the ‘Black Shark’, the most powerful submarine owned by the Easterfield Navy and the flagship of the Submarine Fleet, Hwan Lee was crossing the Atlantic Ocean with a frigate.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean wasn’t that difficult, as the Black Shark, once launched, could continue to operate until supplies ran out.
A report came up to Lee Hwan, who was sitting in the office in the submarine.
“They say the UK has sent us a proposal to buy minerals.”
“What can be bought at auction in the mineral market?”
“The situation in England is not very good. So far, we have been procuring and using a large amount of ore in Eastern Europe, but this war seems to be difficult as trade is halted.”
“War really kills people.”
Yi Hwan had been waiting for the war to happen, knowing to some extent that this would happen.
However, I never expected that the UK’s resource situation would be so severe.
“What on earth have you gained from colonization?”
“It appears to have been spinning gold through domestic expansion of production and demand for luxury goods.”
“In a word, does it mean that you couldn’t see the big picture because you were trying to put out the dissatisfaction that fell before your eyes?”
“Yes that’s right.”
The country with the most developed democracy in the world is Easterfield.
Of course, democracy is also applied in England, but they are still a royal country where aristocracy is rampant.
They always move in an aristocratic style, and their way of thinking is often established centered on the royal family.
In such a UK, it is difficult to establish a proper policy.
Lee Hwan thought about what he could get from them.
“What can we get in return for selling our resources?”
“Your Majesty can get anything you want. To them now, isn’t it worth the underground resources?”
“Fufu, yes. What we call it is the price.”
There is a limit to the quantity that can be received at auction in the mineral market, and in order to procure the quantity that can be purchased to expel the crisis of a country, it is necessary to collect the goods for at least a month.
However, it was not known that the country might be paralyzed due to the death of the industrial wires while transporting them to England.
It was Lee Hwan’s idea to pierce such a huge blind spot.
“If calling is a price, there is no need to hesitate. Send a delegation immediately and deliver a letter to them.”
“What would you like me to write?”
“If you sell South India and Australia at a discount, write down that they will provide them with what they want until the end of the war.”
“Ugh!”
Ironically, Lee Hwan informed him to give up the major sources of minerals as a condition of selling the minerals.
Of course, the present-day UK would never have imagined that Australia would produce so much iron ore.
“As soon as we occupy northern India, we will lay out cables. Also, improve the railroad and make a bridgehead connecting Asia, Europe, and the Arab world.”
“Yes, my lord! If so, will you instruct me to prepare the funds for him in advance?”
“It wouldn’t be bad either.”
Britain, which once ruled Europe, was now only a hogu that Lee Hwan could peel off and eat.
He was convinced that Britain would probably not be able to afford it without negotiating.
Soon after, Lee Hwan received the second report.
This time it was news from Asia.
“In Joseon, news of the assassination of the powerful Kwon Moon leaders continues. The expedition seems to be using this to promote civil war.”
“It promotes civil strife… … .”
“However, we plan to continue providing food aid through the Grand Duke with the feeling that we are saving people’s livelihoods while encouraging civil war.”
Lee Gak has already announced to the world of Asia that he is a servant of the royal family.
If Lee Gak began to unleash his compassion on the basis of an abundance of food that the Joseon royal family could not even imagine, the Joseon royal family could have collapsed.
However, this strategy was not only implemented in Joseon.
“good night. If that is the case, then we will spread mercy to Japan as well.”
“Are you planning to take over Japan?”
“We originally planned to use Japan as a military base. If only the troops were to be summoned in that vast land, where would it be?”
“iced coffee!”
“But, if there is one problem, it must be that they are not well-polished enough that pirates are still on the rise.”
“But doesn’t that mean that we have the opportunity to increase the size of our private fleet?”
“… … Private Fleet?”
Yi Hwan devised a strategy to defeat the pirates plundering Portuguese merchant ships one by one and absorb them.
Even now, the size of the private fleet continued to grow, and they were being trained to become regular soldiers every day.
What would happen if such a private fleet could meet Japanese Japanese and educate them?
“If we can absorb and embrace the bandits of Korea, the pirates of Japan, and the bandits of the Chinese bandits, we can create an army of tens of thousands of people.”
“Does this mean that a wide-ranging private company could be born?”
“Yes, it is.”
Lee Hwan was raising pirates to protect Portugal with a private fleet and plunder hostile forces that cross the Atlantic in the future.
If Yi Hwan united the thieves in Asia, it was likely that he would be able to bring a much more powerful dominance than Jeong Byeong.
“Okay, then we send our instructors and private fleet to Asia. From now on, let us plunder our hostile forces at random to gain notoriety, and merge large and small forces to absorb them into the private fleet.”
“To say that it is an adversarial force… … .”
“Where is it, Qing Dynasty?”
“iced coffee!”
“The Qing has a history of fighting our expeditionary fleet, and they are still anxious to eat us, so what if they are not our enemies?”