Chapter 3491
Chapter 3491
Chapter 3491
Every family has its own problems, so Li Li naturally did not want to tell Zheng Za, an outsider, about the internal political struggle. But Zheng Za was also the king of a country, and he could tell from Li Li's description that he had some unspeakable secrets, so he did not ask any more questions.
The two countries are thousands of miles apart and their territories do not border each other at all, so there is no direct conflict of interest. In addition, they belong to the same Hai Han camp and have many common interests, so the two kings can sit together and share their views.
Even if countries like North Korea and Annan face many difficulties on their way forward, as long as they have the support of Hai Han, at least they no longer have to worry about external security issues and can focus on their own development and growth.
Developing an industrial system based on mining to achieve primary industrialization in line with Hai Han is indeed the lowest cost and most easily implemented option for an agricultural country in this era.
Although North Korea’s current domestic situation is not very suitable for this plan, it does not mean that there are no other available plans. It just requires Li Yi to make more attempts in other areas, and he obviously has not yet reached such a determination.
The King of Annan, Zheng Zao, obviously had a much clearer view on the country's development prospects than Li Li.
Annan has a long coastline and many natural harbors, which are naturally advantageous for navigation. In addition, it has a large number of minerals such as coal, iron, aluminum, and copper, which are exactly the raw materials needed for Haihan's industrial development. After Annan became close to Haihan, its development over the past 30 years can be described as smooth sailing.
Of course, in order to get Hai Han’s strong support, Annan must pay a corresponding price.
First, several major ports such as Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Cam Ranh, and Vung Tau were handed over to Hai Han for operation in the form of long-term lease. Annan only retained nominal ownership, while the actual control had already belonged to Hai Han. The nature of these ports was no different from Hai Han’s overseas territories, and there was basically no possibility of them being taken back to Annan.
Hai Han not only has the exclusive mining rights to the mines operated under the name of joint development between the two countries, but also takes the lion's share of the operating profits. Annan, which provides manpower and land, can only get a small portion of the profits.
Even the ownership of some mines does not belong to Annan, such as the Black Soil Port in northern Annan. Because Annan was in the midst of a civil war when the mine was first mined and did not participate in the development and construction of the mine, the area has always been regarded as part of Hai Han's territory.
In addition, the Annanites who work in mines, factories and other institutions run by Hai Han will often decisively apply to change their nationality once they meet Hai Han's naturalization requirements, and the number of young and middle-aged people who leave in this way reaches tens of thousands every year.
If we say that during the time when Zheng Zhen was in power, there were still reservations about the depth of cooperation between the two countries, then after Zheng Zao began to take over government affairs, his attitude towards this became much more radical than his father's.
Zheng Zao believes that the price paid in the process of cooperation with Hai Han can be regarded as a small loss for a great gain, and is quite worthwhile from the perspective of the country's development prospects.
Therefore, after he ascended the throne, instead of stopping the loss of young and strong people, he increased the intensity of sending workers overseas. He simply gradually transferred the labor recruitment mechanism that was previously dominated by Hai Han to the jurisdiction of the Annan government, and the local government organized the workers and signed formal employment contracts with Hai Han.
The Annan workers sent to Hai Han's rule in this way are more reliable and easier to manage because they have official endorsement. Many of them are even skilled workers with matching professions. Hai Han is naturally happy to see this happen.
In response to Annan’s request, Hai Han will have to raise the threshold for workers to apply for Hai Han citizenship.
If Hai Han's early pursuit was to expand its population at all costs, then at this stage, it has gradually shifted towards the goal of controlling labor costs. Han people are still the first choice for absorbing immigrants, and as for applications for naturalization from East Asian ethnic groups such as Annan and Korea, it has changed from accepting all to selecting the best, or even selecting the best of the best.
Most of the workers organized by the Annan government were engaged in low-level jobs such as miners, laborers, and sailors. For Hai Han, controlling the cost of employment was far more important than naturalizing these people. After all, once they changed their nationality and became Hai Han citizens, their corresponding salary and benefits would be much higher than those of Annan workers.
Therefore, Hai Han is very happy to cooperate with Annan’s request to raise the naturalization threshold for migrant workers, which will also enable Annan to provide more labor output.
Even in Phuket Island, far away in the Indian Ocean, there are now teams of workers sent by Annan to participate in various infrastructure projects led by Hai Han.
After completing their work tasks for Hai Han, so many workers can bring back to Annan not only their labor income, but also the professional skills they have learned from various positions. The actual value of the latter is even far greater than the former.
While North Korea was still worried that labor export would lead to a large-scale population loss, Annan had already gained many benefits through this method, and even had a considerable number of industrial workers before achieving primary industrialization.
This situation is currently unique among Hai Han's many neighboring countries. Given time, primary industries run by Annan will spring up like mushrooms after rain.
When he was young, Zheng Zao had visited Hai Han several times to study and further his education. He firmly believed that as long as his country made corresponding preparations, when Hai Han's industrial technology continued to evolve to the next stage, many low-end production links would be transferred to neighboring countries. These relatively old production technologies would be enough to make Annan look down on its neighbors in Indochina.
The meeting with Zheng Zao provided Li Li with a lot of inspiration.
Although Zheng Zao did not describe in detail how Annan operated, it is enough to know that this direction has good development prospects, and North Korea can certainly try to emulate it.
As for the details, Li Li believed that they would not be a problem that bothered him. North Korea also had diplomatic institutions and personnel stationed in Annan, and it was only a matter of time before they could obtain relevant intelligence information from there.
After Li Yi returned to his residence, he summoned Li Bai, described the content of his conversation with Zheng Zao, and asked Li Bai what he thought.
After listening to this, Li Bai responded, “Annan’s approach is indeed worth emulating. Otherwise, even if our country reclaims more farmland and grows more food, it will never become as powerful as Hai Han.”
Li Yi said: "I just hope that this move will not lead to a large population loss, otherwise I will become a sinner of the Li Dynasty."
Li Bai said, "Father, don't worry too much. I know a thing or two about Annan's tactics. All the workers sent abroad have direct relatives staying in the country, and they need to be rotated back to the country regularly. This greatly reduces the number of people leaving their citizenship."
Li Yi nodded slightly and said, "This is a solution to the problem."