Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1123 Saigon Paradise (rd update, please subscribe)

This is a paradise for corrupt officials!
Sitting in the western restaurant of the Brinks Hotel, looking at the Capitol Building across the window, this thought flashed through Xiang Chenglin's mind.

As a diplomat stationed in Saigon, Xiang Chenglin knew this country very well. There were few clean people in this country, from the president to ordinary officials. Many industries in the country were monopolized by the Wu family. The Wu family also accumulated wealth through lottery fraud, circulation manipulation, and defrauding money from Saigon businessmen. They even appropriated the US government aid funds for themselves and then deposited the accumulated wealth in foreign banks - most of which were in banks in Southeast Asia.

From the Borneo Bank to the Industrial Bank, those officials had deposits in Nanyang amounting to hundreds of millions of South African dollars... Of course, this was secret information provided by the financial regulatory agency and would never be told to outsiders.

When entertaining guests, Xiang Chengsen usually chooses the Western restaurant of the Brinks Hotel. In the East, people still like to talk about things at the dining table.

The guest he was going to entertain today was Chen Lichun. Although she was Wu Tingru's wife, since Wu Tingyan remained unmarried throughout his life, Chen Lichun actually played the role of the first lady.

When Chen Lichun came over, Xiang Chenglin thought in his heart as he looked at her carefully. As a woman, Chen Lichun was indeed very beautiful. The ao dai she wore showed off her graceful figure to the fullest. Her beautiful face revealed a compelling look, which could not be concealed by her fierceness.

This is exactly the characteristic of this woman - her ostentatious style and the act of allowing her family members to serve as high-ranking government officials have earned her a very bad reputation among the people.

Facing the scrutinizing gaze of the man, Chen Lichun did not feel the slightest bit of disgust in her heart. Instead, she was very happy. Women always like to be appreciated, especially beautiful women.

"Counselor Xiang, sorry to have kept you waiting."

Her English accent has an American twang.

"Just been here for a while, ma'am."

Xiang Chenglin stood up and pulled out a chair for her. Chen Lichun sat down naturally. After Xiang Chenglin sat down, she looked at him and said.

"Just came back from Chang'an?"

"Yes, I just arrived yesterday. What did you eat?"

Then the two ordered Wagyu steak. In Saigon, as long as you have money, you can enjoy everything.

"Madam, when I was in Chang'an, I heard that Nanyang's educational aid was terminated, right?"

As a diplomat, whenever something happens, he has to continue to display his diplomatic skills so that he can play a greater role for Nanyang in this increasingly turbulent world.

“The education assistance program is part of the Nanyang countries’ development assistance program, which aims to promote the economic development of neighboring countries by helping them develop education. This is beneficial to you. Now your president is determined to promote comprehensive construction, but it is inevitable that a stronger management team is needed to implement all of this.

According to your statistics, there are only about 2700 civil servants with high school education in the government, and only a few of them are willing to work at the grassroots level. The vast majority of grassroots administrative affairs are managed by illiterate or semi-literate people, which is bound to affect your country's construction.

Through the education aid plan, we will help you build 500 primary schools and 150 secondary schools, which will allow hundreds of thousands of students to receive education."

When Xiang Chenglin said these data, Chen Lichun just smiled.

“It’s the hundreds of thousands of students who are receiving Chinese language education.”

Facing Chen Lichun's rebuttal, Xiang Chenglin thought for a moment and said:
"It's just that there are Chinese language courses, which will help your country's economic development. And now, in your country, everyone is learning Chinese from Mr. Yu, and I should say throughout Southeast Asia."

Learn Mandarin from Mr. Yu - This is a radio program in Nanyang. In order to promote Mandarin, there will be a "Mandarin Pronunciation Demonstration" at 7 o'clock every morning on the Nanyang Radio Station, teaching Nanyang people to speak Mandarin word by word.

With the economic rise of Nanyang, the enthusiasm for learning Mandarin is very high in Southeast Asian countries. Even the host Yu Liangshan is extremely popular, and his popularity is comparable to that of many big stars.

“How many of them have the opportunity to study abroad in Southeast Asia?”

Chen Lichun still communicates with Xiang Chenglin in English.

"Look, there are more and more Chinese words and characters in Saigon now. Even the menus we see have Chinese characters written on them. Counselor Xiang, we are a country, not a vassal state in Southeast Asia."

Faced with such accusations, Xiang Chenglin directly refuted.

"We have never thought about this. Even when Nanyang provided you with loans, it never raised any political demands. Mr. President is very clear about this."

"Your eyes are so stern."

Blinking her eyes, Chen Lichun smiled.

"Yes, you didn't ask for it, but it is well known that Emperor Bao Dai is in Southeast Asia, and so are his children!"

When talking about children, Chen Lichun's smile disappeared and she looked straight at the other person.

The birth of two twin princes last year caused quite a stir in Vietnam, because for hundreds of years, there has been a prophecy in Vietnamese folklore that "the birth of twins will bring prosperity to the southern sky", and this event happened to come true.

Although this "prophecy" was absurd in the eyes of Catholics like Ngo Dinh Diem, the people believed it and some even claimed that Bao Dai should be welcomed back. In short, this matter has now become a headache for Saigon.

"They just live in Nanyang,"

Xiang Chenglin said,
"You know that Nanyang welcomes everyone. Since they have chosen to go into exile, they naturally have the right to live anywhere."

"But Nanfang lives in the old official residence."

"You should know that the Queen and Madame Lautre are good friends, and she lives in Madame's house."

These are not secrets, but the reason why Chen Lichun mentioned this issue was mainly to get a guarantee.

"You mean you won't support their restoration? Like you did in Siam?"

"We have no plans in this regard. The reason why we provide assistance to Siam is essentially because they threaten the security of Malaya and even our security. Our attitude towards Saigon is to support you in resisting the threat from the north. If your situation is unstable, it will inevitably affect the security of the entire Southeast Asia and even threaten the interests of Nanyang. Therefore, our support for you will not change! As for restoration... who would bother themselves?"

In fact, Nanyang’s intelligence department had already analyzed the situation in Saigon. If anyone could control South Vietnam, it must be someone like Ngo Dinh Diem, so Nanyang supports him, at least for now.

This time, Chen Lichun smiled with the greatest comfort and joy, and said:

"I believe the President will be very happy when he hears the news."

She was very satisfied with the other party's answer. When she looked at Xiang Chenglin, there was a strange look in her eyes. Then the two of them enjoyed the steak while chatting about various matters, including the educational assistance provided by Nanyang. Unlike her previous tough attitude, Chen Lichun not only changed her attitude, but also started speaking Chinese.

Sometimes, people are like this, always changing their positions according to changes in the situation. Moreover, for Saigon, they need assistance from Southeast Asia.

"Although I will persuade the president to support education, you should understand that many people in the government are not satisfied with the way you are interfering in our education. Compared to you directly supervising school construction, teacher employment and teaching, they would rather let us take charge of it. After all, you know, education involves the foundation of a country. An independent country should not be interfered with by foreigners."

Is this what you care about?
Xiang Chenglin was too lazy to even complain. What those people cared about was that because of the direct supervision of Nanyang, those officials had no chance to profit from it. In the past few years, the United States has provided a lot of aid to South Vietnam. If calculated by the amount of US aid per capita, South Vietnam received US$13.7 per capita last year, which is the highest per capita US aid in the world!

But even with all that assistance, what did they do?
I don’t know what happened, but the deposits from Saigon in those banks in Southeast Asia increased by more than 40 million US dollars!

"This is obviously impossible. The use of Nanyang's government development assistance loans is subject to relevant laws and regulations. We must ensure that every penny is used where it should be used."

Xiang Chenglin's answer made Chen Lichun feel a little uncomfortable and said:

"So you suspect we'll misappropriate it?"

"It's not doubt, but principle. This is our principle. If you don't accept it, we will withdraw the loan. After all, the money in Southeast Asia is limited, and there are many friends who need our help. Korea, Japan, Siam and many other places need our help."

Faced with such an answer, Chen Lichun suddenly became speechless. This is exactly the difference between Nanyang and the United States. The United States will use aid threats and inducements to induce them to obey American orders.

And what about Nanyang?

They are asking that the aid be used where it should be used.

"Ok."

Nodding, Chen Lichun said:

"If you insist, I can't do anything about it, but you have to understand that this will cause dissatisfaction among many people!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Xiang Chenglin said;

"This is their business. Nanyang has its own principles. They will understand this."

Then he changed the subject and said:

"Madam, the Asian Games will begin in a few days. If you want to expand your diplomacy, you might as well lead a team to Southeast Asia in person to win support from all parties."

Facing Xiang Chenglin's suggestion, Chen Lichun glanced at him and said:

"You know, I don't know much about Chang'an, and I don't have any old friends..."

When talking, those eyes looked straight at each other...

(End of this chapter)