Shigeru Yoshida was short in stature and not very handsome, but he married Yukiko, a well-known lady. Yukiko, who was ten years younger than him, was the granddaughter of Toshimichi Okubo, one of the famous Meiji heroes and one of the "Three Heroes of the Restoration".
The eldest daughter of the emperor's favored minister Makino Nobunobu. It is said that the great matchmaker was actually a female chess player who often played Go with Makino.
The goodwill between Japan, Britain and the United States has been a national policy pursued by the Japanese government for a long time in modern times. Japan benefited from this national policy and continued to expand its power and seize huge rights and interests during the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894, the Russo-Japanese War, and the First World War.
Yoshida Shigeru's father-in-law, Makino Nobuhiro, was a representative of the pro-American faction in Japan's DPRK and China, and his political views had a decisive influence on Yoshida Shigeru.
After a difficult period after the war, Yoshida Shigeru was pleased with the current Japanese economy. Although he got the position of prime minister by chance because Hatoyama was jealous of the occupying forces. But with his goodwill with the Americans, especially MacArthur,
Thanks to his connections, he quickly secured his position as prime minister.
The outcome of the world war had made Shigeru Yoshida understand that going against the United States would not end well. Before the war, Japan should have maintained good relations with Britain and the United States, instead of self-aggrandizement and joining the war against Britain and the United States.
News of the US military's victories on the Korean peninsula made Yoshida Shigeru think that he had made the right choice. At the same time, he was also paying attention to the British meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
The defeat deprived Japan of China, its largest overseas market before the war, and economic revival was inseparable from a huge market.
If Japan wants to develop, it must need a huge market to support it. Therefore, Shigeru Yoshida is very concerned about the situation in Southeast Asia and has his own ideas about the Kuala Lumpur Conference initiated by Britain, the leader of the pre-war world.
While Yoshida Shigeru was thinking about how to create conditions for Japan to revive, his close assistant Ikeda Yuuto entered his office and greeted his life mentor with a respectful gesture.
Ikeda was born in Yoshina Village, Toyota County, Hiroshima Prefecture, into a family of brewing owners, and his family was relatively well off.
After graduating from the Law Department of Kyoto University, he worked in the Ministry of Finance. After Japan was defeated and surrendered, Ikeda began to rise to prominence. He played an important role in the process of economic recovery. Because he was deeply appreciated and reused by Yoshida Shigeru, he was recognized as an excellent assistant of Yoshida Shigeru and was deeply loved by him.
trust.
"Ikeda, come and sit down." Yoshida Shigeru looked at his proud disciple and said with a smile.
Yuto Ikeda nodded, "Prime Minister, did you ask me to come here for anything?"
"Ikeda, it's like this. The current military operations of the US military have allowed Japan to develop. We should also take advantage of the opportunity to support the United States to repair the current relations, such as in Southeast Asia." Yoshida Shigeru said seriously, "We have lost the mainland.
After the market, Southeast Asia is extremely important to Japan. At the same time, we also need the understanding of the British. After all, the British Empire now has a great influence in Southeast Asia. It can also be seen from this Kuala Lumpur meeting that the British still have huge influence.
, India and other newly independent countries, as well as Canada, Australia, etc., the traditional supporters of Britain.”
Ikeda Yuto agreed with the idea of a life mentor and said that he also meant the same thing, "However, the problems in Southeast Asia are very complicated. The Philippines is clinging to us because of the casualties suffered during the war, which is very embarrassing."
"The key lies in the United Kingdom. According to the news we know at this stage. The United Kingdom is based in British Malaya and is carrying out a lot of construction. Another thing is that the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Australia, and the Netherlands that follow the United Kingdom have a huge number of prisoners of war. If
If these countries can release prisoners of war and return home, I believe it will put pressure on the Philippines."
After independence, the Philippines' top priority was to demand war reparations from Japan. Only after getting to know the country more deeply did Alan Wilson realize that he had people who had the same idea.
As a stubborn country, Japan has already been debt-collected by the Philippines many times. This is not a secret at all.
Yuto Ikeda pondered for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Can you get support from the United States?"
"This matter will continue to be handled, but I hope you can go to Kuala Lumpur, which can be regarded as an ice-breaking trip. It is best to get the understanding of the British." Yoshida Shigeru said that I am very optimistic about you, expressing his hope for Japan's revival.
The responsibility fell on Yuuto Ikeda.
"The steel industry is extremely important to a country, and it is inappropriate to place it in Peninsular Malaysia. It is more reassuring to put it here in Sarawak."
At this moment, he didn't know that a visitor he had never expected was coming. Alan Wilson was still in Kuching and East Malaysia Commissioner Eder, inspecting the steel base that had already started construction.
Because the two parts of British Malaya are actually not balanced. Even after annexing the Kra Isthmus, the area of West Malaysia is still smaller than that of East Malaysia, while the population of East Malaysia is far smaller than that of West Malaysia. Only the Malay Peninsula
one-third of.
In order to achieve long-term peace and stability, as well as to make untenable partition and rule, industrial layout must be focused on. Due to the large population of the Malay Peninsula and more convenient sea transportation, the textile industry base must be placed there.
As for tin ore and rubber, they are developed on the current basis, and there is no distribution problem. No one can move the tin ore away, can they? The rubber industry can balance the situation.
Then the industries placed in East Malaysia are very important for the sake of reliability. I believe every country understands the significance of the steel industry to a country. After all, this is a hard indicator of whether it is a strong country.
The steel industry must be placed in Sarawak. As for its importance, just look at how enthusiastic France is about Alan Wilson’s proposal of a coal and iron community. For any country, steel lives up to its name and is the backbone of a country.
Existence is almost a confidence to speak to the outside world.
Similarly, there is the oil and gas industry in British Malaya, including mining and refining. Don’t think that oil refining has no technical content. Even in the 21st century, many Middle Eastern countries export oil and import petroleum products. Many countries even sell gasoline.
Neither can be refined.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Now the profits of the oil refining industry are very high, and one of the most important reasons is the pricing mechanism. However, the cost-plus pricing mechanism cannot be maintained for a long time. In the future
The refined oil pricing mechanism will become market pricing, which is an inevitable trend. So we must be mentally prepared.
Compared with simply selling oil, the oil refining industry is an industry that leverages the characteristics of oil. Simply selling raw materials is not enough.
Although in today's world it can even be said that the United States was already a giant in oil refining long ago when Standard Oil first appeared, but the United Kingdom is at least not lagging behind in this regard.
As for steel and oil refining, Alan Wilson had already decided in his mind that they should be placed in the reliable kingdom of Sarawak. Pamela Mountbatten also knew this.
After walking around with East Malaysia Commissioner Eder, Alan Wilson felt a little hungry, so he found a place to eat something, and then returned to the Kingdom of Sarawak to rest.
In name, this palace has nothing to do with Alan Wilson, the High Commissioner, but this does not prevent him from interrupting for a moment.
At this time, Edel came back and said, "Commissioner, Alyssa sent a telegram saying that the Japanese government sent a delegation to discuss the issue of prisoners of war."
"I'm afraid it's not just a matter of prisoners of war." It had only been a few days since the Kuala Lumpur Conference? Alan Wilson, who had attended the conference, would not forget it so easily.
But no matter what, he would not make it easy for the Japanese to achieve their goals in any aspect. Who told him to have a father-in-law who told him while he was still alive that there should be no Japanese at the funeral?
There is no need to talk about such a long time ago. In the previous surrender ceremony of Japan, Mountbatten required all senior Japanese generals to hold a formal signing ceremony in front of his subordinates; moreover, they must surrender their weapons on the spot, and they must hand over these sabers.
, guns, etc. were distributed as trophies to the Allied officers and soldiers present. In addition, all Allied officers participating in the ceremony were not allowed to shake hands with Japanese generals.
Otherwise, how could Alan Wilson's proposal in New Delhi to detain Japanese prisoners of war to make up for the war's damage to the colonies be realized so easily? You must know that he was only the regional commissioner of Hyderabad at that time, and the key was the then Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Southeast Asia, Mon
Patton worked.
"Whoever comes, it's arranged to be in Penang, where there are more Chinese people." Alan Wilson glanced at the telegram and returned to his boneless state, "I won't go back until the Japanese arrive. I won't have enough time.
What?"
If he hadn't been afraid of injuring himself, he would have wanted to set the meeting place on the island where the nuclear test was conducted, so as to show the importance he attached to the nuclear nation.
Now it is obvious that British Malaya and Japan are in a competitive relationship that needs to start at the same time. No matter what the Japanese's purpose is this time, Alan Wilson cannot agree to it.
What's more, it is unintentional. Recently, the public opinion in the hands of Pamela Mountbatten is reporting that during the war, the families of colonial troops in Southeast Asia were used as military prostitutes by Japan.
The war has been over for five years, which is not far away. The exposure of scars at this time has made the colonists still in Southeast Asia extremely angry. Maybe many prisoners of war will die of overwork in the near future.
Alan Wilson is not interested in knowing about the so-called Japanese politicians. He can just read the information temporarily to get a good idea, because knowing one is almost equivalent to knowing the Japanese politicians in the next few decades.
You must know that the Japanese political world is quite solidified, and it completely conforms to the bureaucratic class in any definition. It can even be said that the descendants of political families start as ministers.
Waiting for the other party to arrive before returning to the Malay Peninsula did not involve any diplomatic etiquette. On the contrary, Alan Wilson believed that this was the right thing to do. As a man who has always boasted of attacking third world countries, he should do this.