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Chapter 1120 Hunter and Prey (rd update, please subscribe)
Who is the hunter?

Who is the prey?

In a world where the strong prey on the weak, hunters and prey are never fixed roles. Hunters may become prey, and prey may suddenly become hunters.

In fact, this is how the world works.

In order to avoid becoming a prey, in addition to being a good ironsmith and practicing internal skills, you also need to expand your circle of friends. This circle of friends is complicated. It includes our own people like Malaya, Mindanao and Surabaya, as well as "satellites" supported by Southeast Asia like Siam, and of course, old friends like South Korea, South Vietnam, Iran and Iraq.

After 1958, Chang'an was bustling with people coming and going. There were economic and trade delegations from Iraq, as well as a visit from the King of Iran. Pahlavi had naturally longed for the construction of Nanyang, and his visit to Nanyang also strengthened his determination to achieve modernization. However, he came to Nanyang to relax - he had just sent his queen to Europe.

Because the queen was infertile, in order to ensure that there was a successor to the throne, Pahlavi had to look for someone else.

When receiving Pahlavi, seeing his somewhat dejected expression, Li Yian could only sympathize with him. In fact, he was willing to help, but considering that he did not have a new queen yet, he could only do nothing to help.

However, in order to comfort Pahlavi, a good student, Li Yian deliberately showed him another side of Nanyang.

On the training ground, dozens of ZT-1 tanks were speeding, shooting and maneuvering from time to time, which made Pahlavi and a group of Iranian officers all look amazed.

"These are your ZT1 tanks, right? They were the ones that destroyed the Soviet IS heavy tanks and T54 tanks during the Canal Crisis, right?"

Pahlavi turned his head and asked.

"Yes, that's it. At last year's Chang'an Defense Exhibition, many countries including Yugoslavia purchased this tank!"

It has to be said that war is the best advertisement. A canal crisis not only made Nanyang's fighter jets and Sidewinder missiles famous all over the world, but also made Nanyang's tanks and self-propelled howitzers famous. Although not as famous as fighter jets, Nanyang's weapons are now even regarded as "German products in Southeast Asia" because of their sophistication - well, they are regarded as the development of German weapons in Asia.

Although he is powerless to complain about this evaluation, Li Yian is also helpless. Just like many German brands owned by Nanyang companies, they want to use the brand effect to expand the market.

Therefore, the Nanyang military industry naturally accepted this. If it weren't for the fact that factories like Mauser still existed, Nanyang would probably have its own Mauser.

"Shah, if you are willing to purchase, Nanyang Export-Import Bank can provide you with a loan,"

Li Yian smiled and said that at least before the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime, Iran still had a good reputation in the international credit market. Moreover, they are now accepting government development aid loans from Southeast Asia.

As a neighbor of the Soviet Union, and a neighbor that was invaded by the Soviet Union during World War II, Iran distrusts its northern neighbor from the bottom of its heart. Even in the extremely tight financial situation, Iran still invested a large amount of military expenditure to strengthen its armaments and prevent invasion from the north. Last year alone, they purchased tens of millions of dollars of weapons from Southeast Asia and the United States.

It can be said that Li Yian's suggestion hit the nail on the head. When he heard that he could use a loan to buy weapons, Pahlavi immediately said with joy:

"That's great. Let them take a test ride later. If they approve, we will..."

However, before he could finish, he was interrupted by the woman next to him.

"Father, the Prime Minister said that fiscal spending is very tight this year and that arms purchases need to be stopped if they are not necessary."

The speaker is Princess Nazi, the daughter of Pahlavi and his first wife, Princess Fawzia Fuad, the last princess of Egypt. Her mother was called "Asian Venus" for her beautiful appearance before World War II. Princess Nazi inherited her mother's blue eyes, big eyes, three-dimensional facial features and exquisite figure. When visiting Southeast Asia, as the eldest princess, she was only 18 years old, but she always stayed by Pahlavi's side.

To dissuade people at the right time now is actually... a normal operation for Pahlavi. As a king, Pahlavi often goes overboard in arms procurement. In another world, relying on the oil profits in the 1970s, Pahlavi spent a lot of money on Britain and the United States, vowing to build a modern army second only to the United States and Russia in the world.

It purchased 16 F300s alone, plus 250 F18s, 80 F14s, 188 F-4 Phantoms, 166 F-5Es, and 7 E3 early warning aircraft. It can be said that if all these orders are delivered, it will be enough to make it the third largest air force in the world. Even Tokyo University can hardly catch up with it - after all, Tokyo University only had a dozen F-7s at that time.

Back then, they placed orders worth hundreds of billions of US dollars in one go. That was the era of the US dollar!

First of all, the result of the above is imaginable, and the role of this princess is obviously to step on the brakes.

Sure enough, when she said that, Pahlavi shrugged his shoulders helplessly and smiled.

"Your Excellency, this is the reality in Iran. Our fiscal revenue is very tight."

“That’s why you need to further develop the economy.”

Glancing at Princess Naz, who looked quite similar to her mother, Li Yian smiled and said, "Only when the economy develops well can we have stronger armaments."

"Sir, Iran is different from other countries. We border the Soviet Union, and the Soviet threat is everywhere. After World War II, they even supported the Kurdish Republic in the north and wanted to split my country. The pressure we face forces us to strengthen our military strength with all our strength, and Naz..."

Turning his eyes to his daughter, Pahlavi said helplessly.

“She doesn’t understand this.”

"But the Prime Minister is very clear, Father. He says you have to choose between construction and the army."

The princess's answer made Li Yian burst into laughter, and then he changed the subject and said:

"Indeed, reality is often so helpless. By the way, last year, when Hassan came to Nanyang, he introduced some industrial equipment from Nanyang through loans. How are the construction of those factories going now?"

"Sir, it's like a miracle. Before I came to Nanyang, our fertilizer plant in Tehran had already started production. We produced fertilizer for the first time. This year, after the machinery plant goes into production, we will also produce three-wheeled vehicles and small four-wheeled tractors. You may not know that when the fertilizer plant went into production, even the most stubborn people became speechless..."

When it comes to the industrialization that Iran is promoting, Pahlavi has endless things to say. After all, these are what he has always dreamed of, and he has indeed achieved corresponding results.

In the following time, it seemed to have become a briefing for Pahlavi. He kept reporting on all the achievements Iran had made in recent years, from industrial construction to transportation construction, from urban construction to rural construction. In short, Pahlavi was like a primary school student. After talking about some achievements, he would look at Li Yian eagerly, and his eyes conveyed a signal - praise me, praise me!
Faced with such a request, Li Yian was naturally generous. Teachers are always generous in praising students, especially in words. But even so, Pahlavi was still very excited. On the way back to the city, when the two were riding in the same car, Pahlavi revealed his feelings and said in a complaining tone:
“Your Excellency, as you know, Iran needs aid and loans from the United States, and if we leave their loans and aid, we will soon be in crisis.

But Americans always dictate our affairs, they never even consider that about 80% of people in Iran depend on agriculture for their survival.

The average Iranian peasant has grown accustomed to a life of extreme poverty and has little dealings with anything outside of his village. The only imported commodity most Iranians consume is sugar.

In this situation, if we implement the so-called reforms as the Americans say, it is very likely to destroy our situation, but the Americans don’t ask about this at all, they…”

Listening to Pahlavi's complaints about the Americans, Li Yian frowned slightly. This was the most naive thing about Americans in the early and middle stages of the Cold War - they always wanted to promote their own system to the whole world.

From Iran to Vietnam to other countries, they always try to implement their own ideas, even threatening to cut off US aid, completely disregarding reality in the process.

To a certain extent, this is also the reason for their failure in South Vietnam, Iran and other places - in terms of the intensity of the attacks on the allies, the United States is even more powerful than the enemies of the allies.

In order to force them to obey, the United States will use American aid and various other means to put pressure on them and perform various "political operations" on them.

Finally?

As Diem said to the Americans:
"If you continue to misrepresent me ... you can overthrow me, you can, but if you do that, America's children will one day come here, and they will die here."

Thinking of the future outcomes of South Vietnam and Iran, Li Yi sighed with relief and said to the resentful Pahlavi.

"Shah, there is a saying in the East that if you take big steps, you will easily end up talking nonsense. You should make decisions based on your own circumstances regarding the US's demands, instead of blindly following them.

If necessary, Nanyang will support you. As for funds, we have established the Indian Ocean Bank with the United Kingdom. If Iran is willing to implement financial reforms, we are willing to provide assistance. "

Inadvertently, Li Yian threw out his bait. This kind of help is of course only the first step, and the ultimate goal is to promote the British pound in Iran.

"Of course, this is just a choice,"

Li Yian said.

"Any reform is inseparable from financial stability. At present, Iran's domestic inflation and the depreciation of the rial are hindering your economic development."

Although it was only mentioned briefly, Pahlavi agreed with it. However, he seemed a little hesitant on the issue of whether to accept the help of the Indian Ocean Bank and did not give any answer.

But... there is no rush for this matter, take your time, one day, they will join by themselves. Soon, the motorcade drove into the official residence.

(End of this chapter)