Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1069: The Legacy of the British Empire (Part , Part )

"…Currently, our country's astronaut candidates are undergoing the final selection process. They need to undergo extremely rigorous testing and training every day…"

Listening to the news on the radio, Liang Sicheng looked up at the sky while waiting for the red light. There was not a single cloud in the blue sky.
"It won't be long before we Tang people can reach outer space!"

As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Liang Sicheng felt a sense of honor in his heart.

An indescribable sense of pride and confidence instantly surged in his heart. This was exactly the feeling that Nanyang brought him. Over the past few years, this land had repeatedly brought them too many surprises.

And his mentality changed from "them" to "us".

Nanyang has now become his home, a home that always brings so many surprises to people. Whether it is individuals, countries or nations, it always brings them surprises.

For Liang Sicheng, the number of construction projects he participated in and presided over since coming to Nanyang was beyond his imagination.

The Olympic Stadium, department store building, library... those large projects one after another allowed him to fully display his talents.

The same is true for other construction engineers in general, and it is through their efforts that the country has undergone tremendous changes.

"Space... Wan Hu... Kua Fu... Tang people!"

Muttering these words in his mind, Liang Sicheng drove quickly along Zhuque Street and arrived at the end of Zhuque Street. What appeared before him was a stretch of undulating mountains, and between the mountains, a towering building complex came into his sight.

Looking at this palace complex with a strong Chinese architectural style, Liang Sicheng silently pursed his lips and spoke softly.

"Daming Palace!"

When he uttered these three words, there was some expectation in his eyes.

Daming Palace - it was the royal garden of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and the most glorious memory of China. And its name also contains "Daming", which was the last Han dynasty.

Tang and Ming were thus combined together in Southeast Asia in an extremely special way.

And what is this palace complex?
It is the future official residence of Nanyang...

"It's an official residence. Actually, to a certain extent, it's a palace!"

This thought flashed silently through Liang Sicheng's mind, and even the words his wife had said to him came to his mind.

"Perhaps one day, Your Excellency will become the emperor."

Lin Weiyin said as she looked at the model of "Daming Palace".

"How is this possible? Nanyang is a republic. How can you go against the trend?"

“It is true that Nanyang is a republic, but where is the republic?”

Lin Weiyin asked back as she walked to the map and pointed at it.

"Chang'an is in the North Borneo Company. To the south is the Sarawak Kingdom. As for Taiping, Yong'an, Yongning, Zhongxing, Dongning...these places were all bought by the North Borneo Company. They all belong to the company. Where do you think the Republic is?"

Liang Sicheng was stunned by his wife's question.

Yes, where is the Republic?
Nanyang is a republic... but in fact, it is a republic without an inch of territory!
In other words, the Republic exists only on paper!
"In the future, perhaps one day, Nanyang will definitely have to face this problem. The Republic cannot be without land forever. Similarly, the Kingdom and the Company are also destined to be resolved. By then, the Empire may be the only choice."

Lin Weiyin said as she looked at the palace building.

"This 'Daming Palace' may be the imperial palace of Nanyang. Perhaps, by that time, Nanyang will no longer be Nanyang, but..."

It's the Tang Dynasty...

Liang Sicheng frowned slightly, sighed leisurely, and then walked into the construction site.

The project has lasted for 6 years, and more than 8 years if you count from the initial design stage.

Is it because the project is too huge?
of course not.

The core reason is that the priority of "Daming Palace" is not high. Although it is the future official residence, in the past few years, whether it is funds, manpower or resources, public works have been guaranteed first.

Whether it is the landmark buildings in Chang'an or public buildings such as libraries and the supporting buildings for the later Olympic Games, their priority is much higher than the official residence. Sometimes when funds are tight, the funds of Daming Palace will be directly used for other purposes.

It was not until the last year that the real full-scale construction began. Now the main body of the Daming Palace has been basically completed, and the interior decoration and external garden construction are currently underway.

However, the long-term construction also brought a benefit, that is, the trees, flowers and plants in the garden have already grown.

After entering the construction site, Liang Sicheng started working with his assistants. Now that the main structure has been completed, he only comes to the construction site every few days. After all, he is also in charge of many other construction projects.

"The underground passage of the official residence has been completed. It is connected to the No. 1 subway line of Nanyang. The other end goes deep into the mountain behind. There is a nuclear shelter inside the mountain..."

In fact, what really delayed the construction of the Daming Palace was not just the funds and manpower, the most important thing was its underground project. The underground project was not just a simple air-raid shelter, but an underground project that was interconnected with Chang'an's public transportation system - the subway and high-speed rail.

The core of this underground project is a huge and complex underground fortress. In order to prevent nuclear attacks, Li Yian asked engineers to design the Daming Palace while building an underground command center at the same time. Once a nuclear attack occurs, it can be used for refuge and counterattacks.

The bunker is located in a mountain 2.8 kilometers behind the Daming Palace. The mountain is not too high, and the part protruding from the ground is only 600-700 meters. However, its biggest feature is that the mountain is all hard granite, forming a solid natural barrier.

The bunker is covered with hundreds of meters of granite. The multi-layer bunker has a total area of ​​nearly 70000 square meters and is divided into several areas, including an office for Li Yian, a conference room, a combat command center, and food, water and oxygen storage areas. The internal passage is less than 3 meters wide and about 4 meters high, with thick steel plates and reinforced concrete walls.

The food stored in the bunker is enough to sustain 10000 people for 30 days.

With the efforts of tens of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war, this low-income shelter took five years to complete, and it was even the reason why Li Yian dared to go all-in with the Soviet Union. Of course, this underground shelter was just a backup measure.

However, the complex underground project did take up a lot of construction time. Soon Liang Sicheng and his assistants entered the underground bunker of the main hall, and after checking there, they entered the renovated main hall.

After working on the construction site for several hours, Liang Sicheng drove away from Daming Palace and headed to the other side of the city, where the main stadium for the 1960 Olympics was nearing completion. The super stadium, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people, was also designed by Liang Sicheng. Perhaps this was the reason why he loved this land more and more, because here his personal talents could be fully utilized.

For many scholars and engineers in Nanyang, the reason why they have gradually integrated into this land is almost for this reason, because the opportunities provided by this land are something they have never had in other places.

While Liang Sicheng was heading for the Olympic Stadium, he didn't know that at the same time, Li Yian was on the roadside not far from the stadium. He came here to inspect the construction of the Olympic venues. The Olympic Center, located on the east bank of Taiping Bay, is not just a stadium, but also a new urban area. Unlike the modern buildings on the west and south banks of Taiping Bay, the buildings here are mostly modern Chinese-style buildings with large sloping roofs, flying eaves, brackets and hollow painted patterns.

From the perspective of architectural aesthetics, these architectural aesthetics that blend tradition and modernity are completely different from the modern buildings in the old city. In the future, this will also be a business card of Chang'an. In fact, after those construction projects from Tangshan came to Nanyang, many buildings in Nanyang began to integrate the traditional Chinese architectural style. Before that... they were mainly built by German architects, so their construction style naturally could not be Tangshan style.

Looking at the Olympic Center, which has already taken shape, Li Yian said:

"In two years, this place will welcome athletes and tourists from all over the world. For Nanyang, this is an opportunity to show itself to the world."

Li Yian pointed at the stadium and surrounding buildings as he walked, his tone becoming somewhat expectant. By then, people will see not only a modern Nanyang, but also an oriental Nanyang. Nanyang may be Nanyang, but its civilization is oriental and Chinese. The blood of the descendants of Yan and Huang flows in the veins of the people here, and all this will never change.

“This is an opportunity for the whole world to know Nanyang. Through this Olympic Games, people can fully understand Nanyang - this will be our chance to enter the world.”

"Yes, sir. Although Nanyang is no longer a small country in their eyes, and has become a major country with a certain international influence like the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France. However, the people of all countries in the world know very little about us, and can even be described as - have never heard of us."

This is not Li Guoren exaggerating. After all, the dissemination of information in this era was very limited. When ordinary people mentioned big countries, they would never include Nanyang, which had only been established for 11 years.

This stems from a lack of understanding, and the Olympics is a stage for understanding Nanyang.

"Yes, so we must seize the opportunity to let the world know about us, and this is related to our future."

What kind of future is this?

That is to become the builder of the world order - it is impossible for Nanyang to establish this order solely on its own because Nanyang does not have such international influence.

This is why Li Yian tied himself to the UK, in order to "list through a backdoor listing" and continuously improve Nanyang's international reputation in the process of backdoor listing, and replace the UK little by little. Finally, when the UK is decently sent down, it will be the time for Nanyang to take the top spot.

This is the future development direction of Nanyang. To achieve this goal, international reputation and influence are indispensable.

The Olympics is an opportunity for ordinary foreigners to understand Nanyang, know Nanyang and enhance Nanyang’s international reputation.

However, this kind of international reputation is a form of soft power.

Where are the real opportunities?
Or is the UK about to enter a period of strategic contraction - this is determined by the UK's own strength.

The two of them walked and talked, from the Olympics to the country's reputation, to the improvement of the country's status, and of course, to diplomacy.

Li Guoren said again.

"Since the Iraqi royal family's visit, several ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries have expressed their hope to visit Nanyang at an appropriate time. Among them is Iran's Minister of Economy. I guess he is here to pave the way for the king's visit."

Nodding, Li Yian thought for a while and then said.

"Guo Ren, from now on, we can start preparing to receive the legacy of the British Empire."

The sudden words made Li Guoren stunned.

"Your Excellency is saying that... Britain is going to shrink."

Under the influence of Li Yian, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs even set up a group to study the decline of the British Empire and its overseas contraction in order to make targeted responses in advance. Therefore, Li Guoren was not unfamiliar with "strategic contraction".

"The duck knows first when the river water warms up in spring. Although those countries are small, they can definitely feel the decline and contraction of the UK, so they come to us one after another."

Li Yian looked into the distance and said.

"Last year, the GDP of the United Kingdom was only $583 billion. We have about $30 billion more than that."

For a country that has only been established for 11 years, it is extremely difficult to surpass traditional powers such as Britain and France in terms of economic output in just 11 years.

Now, Nanyang is still maintaining a very high growth rate - there is no problem with the growth rate exceeding 14% this year. This growth rate is far beyond the reach of the UK. And unlike the UK, Nanyang has no historical burden.

"Economically, our economy is far superior to that of the UK. In terms of international influence, although it is slightly inferior to that of the UK, it is developing at a speed visible to the naked eye. In contrast, the UK is affected by various domestic problems - from the domestic economy to national welfare, and then to other internal problems, which seriously constrains the UK's strength. The Middle Eastern countries can see all this. When they feel the decline of the UK, they go back to look for a new backer, which can be us or the United States."

Historically speaking, it is estimated that in the next few years, Britain will begin to withdraw its troops from Kuwait and gradually withdraw from the Middle East. At the same time, the United States will take over Britain's influence in the Middle East and eventually completely replace Britain.

Even if Nanyang comes now, as the most important member of the Commonwealth, Nanyang certainly cannot allow "outsiders" to take advantage of the Commonwealth. The reason why Nanyang has been helping Britain is to prevent Britain from sliding too quickly and to not give Nanyang time to take over Britain's overseas heritage.

Now, how can we miss such a godsend opportunity?
"Compared to the United States, the sense of responsibility we have demonstrated makes them more willing to cooperate with us. After all, compared to the United States, we are less threatening. Our national strength limits our ambitions and does not threaten their survival, at least in their eyes."

As Li Yian was speaking, he could not help but look towards the Chinese-style high-rise building in the distance. The Olympic Building was not only the main building of the future Olympic Village, but also a future hotel. After the Olympics, it would become one of the landmark buildings in the eastern city.

After thinking about it, Li Yian said.

"So, this is our opportunity - as for Iraq, well, I think we should take advantage of the opportunity of Britain's overall contraction to increase our influence in Iraq, and then use this as an opportunity to gradually spread Nanyang's influence from Iraq to the entire Middle East."

If we can control Iraq, Kuwait and Iran, then it means that Nanyang will truly control the world's oil supply and control the world's oil pipelines.

By that time…the possibilities will be endless.

When listening to the Excellency mentioning Iraq, Li Guoren did not immediately express his opinion, but was thinking about it.

After a long time, he said.

"Your Excellency, I think we should increase our influence in Iran rather than Iraq."

(End of this chapter)