Vol 5 Chapter 136: Rubber crisis

"Your Majesty, the Arabian Peninsula Roundabout Railway has been completed and opened to traffic. Our major railway plan is to complete all the trunk lines, and the remaining branch lines will be completed in the next two years!" Said Transport Minister Beshir Ivanov.
"So fast?" Ferdinand asked in amazement.
"Your Majesty, how powerful this person is, and his speed is naturally faster!" Bessier explained
Ferdinand nodded, without him knowing what was going on, it is estimated that there was a rebellion in the colony, and then a lot of labor was added.
For its own benefit, the military is very active in catching labor.
For the labor they provide, the railway company also needs to pay wages, but this wage is not paid to the workers, but directly paid to the military to make up for the lack of military expenses.
Now the Bulgarian railway company is about to become the largest slave owner in the world, but it is only in a coat of law. Without the selfless dedication of these workers, Bulgaria would not be what it is today.
Not only Bulgaria, many countries have risen in this way, but they are all covered in legal clothes.
Of course, Ferdinand had to pretend that he didn't know. The people underneath were all good courtiers. He would automatically carry the black pot back, and it would definitely not stain his king.
The history books will only record their great achievements. At most, it will mention that the grass-roots law enforcement has been too fierce, and then it is gone.
The original accumulation of capital is bloody, and everyone is the same. No one is cleaner than anyone else.
"Well, your Ministry of Transportation is doing a good job this time. The focus of the next work is the Aqaba Bay Canal. How is the progress over there?" Ferdinand asked with concern.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured! The work on the Aqaba Bay Canal is progressing very fast. We have mobilized 2,000 excavators, 10,000 transport vehicles of various types, and 150,000 laborers. We will dig through the Grand Canal in the shortest time! Beshir answered confidently.
Ferdinand is not engaged in engineering. I don't know if this allocation is reasonable, not just a preliminary calculation, based on the 318 km length of the Grand Canal:
On average, there are 6.2 excavators, 31.44 cars, and 471.7 people per kilometer. This density is high enough.
On the planned route of the Grand Canal in the Gulf of Aqaba, the altitude is not very high, and there are few places where the altitude exceeds 200 meters. In most areas, the altitude is less than 30 meters, and many places are below sea level.
It should not be a problem to dig a canal in two or three years.
In the face of such a large earthmoving project, the working efficiency of an excavator is hundreds of times the manual efficiency. At that time, the French could dig the Suez Canal by hand, and the Americans could dig the Panama Canal by hand. There is no reason now that there is machinery and it cannot make it more efficient.
"Is this already the fastest?" Ferdinand asked with concern.
"No, in theory, we can go faster, but the cost will increase significantly. Right now we use the most reasonable mix.
At the same time taking into account the construction period and cost, if at any cost, we can even shorten the construction period by half! Bessier thought for a while
"Then it should be done according to the current plan. If the cost is too high, the cost performance is not worth it!" Ferdinand thought about it and said
The excavation of the Grand Canal in the Gulf of Aqaba was to get rid of the Suez Canal controlled by the British and to hold this lifeline in their own hands.
The most direct reason was that the tolls collected by the British were too high, which prompted the Bulgarian government to rush into the Grand Canal of the Aqaba Bay. If the cost is too high, it will not pay more.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Beshir answered.
...
"Your Majesty, due to the impact of the Southeast Asian War, the world's rubber output has fallen sharply. In 1927, rubber prices tripled.
At the end of 1927, the price of rubber on the international market was already 3.6 times higher than before the war.
Although the Indonesian rebellion ended, the price of rubber not only did not fall, but rose further, already 7 times the price of rubber in 1924.
High rubber prices have seriously affected our domestic industrial development. The rubber plantations opened in China have not seen harvest in a short time.
The quality of our synthetic rubber is not high enough at present, and it cannot play a large role in industrial production. Now the price of domestic rubber products has risen sharply!
This is not the most serious. For a long time to come, many of our companies may be forced to suspend production because they can't buy qualified rubber! "The Minister of Industry, Lauren, said with a headache
"What's going on? Is anyone sitting on the international market and speculating on rubber prices?" Ferdinand asked with concern.
"Your Majesty, it is not a matter of speculation about the price of rubber, but it is already out of stock. Since the outbreak of the Southeast Asian rebellion, the world ’s largest rubber producing area, the rebel control area has reduced the export of rubber.
After the Indonesian rebellion was suppressed, unwilling defeated rebels destroyed the rubber plantation. Now everyone is worried that the rebels in other regions will follow suit.
Once the rubber plantations in Southeast Asia disappear, the global rubber crisis will erupt.
Now there is a lot of public opinion, and everyone is worried that rubber will not be available. Coupled with a consortium that is driving up the price of rubber in the international market, the sky-high rubber price now appears! "The Minister of Industry, Lauren, explained
Ferdinand raised his brow. If the price of rubber continues to rise, then Bulgaria will have to replace it with inferior synthetic rubber, otherwise this sky-high rubber company cannot afford it!
Natural rubber has high elasticity at room temperature, a little plasticity, very good mechanical strength, small hysteresis loss, low heat generation during multiple deformations, so its resistance to flexion is also very good, and because it is non-polar Rubber, so good electrical insulation.
Synthetic rubber does not work, except for its low cost, most of its performance is not comparable to natural rubber.
Of course, synthetic rubber is not without good performance. Unfortunately, the performance has increased, and the cost has gone up. The cost performance is too low. It has not been widely used in industry in this era.
In the face of this realistic problem, Ferdinand is also powerless, either sacrificing quality or reducing output.
"When will the rubber plantation in our country be fully operational?" Ferdinand asked with concern.
"Your Majesty, there are already some rubber plantations that have been opened first, and some will have to wait two years later!
It is also because of this batch of harvested rubber that we have persisted until now, otherwise the rubber crisis will occur last year.
Originally, we thought that after the Indonesian rebellion ended, rubber production in Southeast Asia would resume and rubber prices on the international market would normalize. The government had previously ignored this issue.
The biggest problem now is that even if all of our domestic rubber plantations are put into production, they can only meet about 70% of our domestic industrial production needs, and the rest still need to be imported! Constantine replied
This problem has no solution at all. Rubber is different from other products. It takes at least five or six years of planting period. It is simply impossible to increase rubber production immediately.
"Then increase the output of synthetic rubber. We will give priority to the supply of rubber in special industries. If it can be replaced by synthetic rubber, we will replace it with synthetic rubber. Let's go through this barrier first.
At the same time, we also need to open some rubber plantations, so that rubber can't get our necks stuck! Ferdinand thought for a while
Of course, Bulgaria is not the worst. Anyway, some colonies have been planted in the colonies. The important domestic industries can also guarantee the supply, only by sacrificing some less important enterprises.
Let these ordinary enterprises fill up with inferior synthetic rubber to ensure industrial production, which can always be overcome.
The worst is of course the industrial countries without rubber, such as Germany, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden and other countries without colonies.
Without their own rubber industrial park, now the price of rubber in the international market has skyrocketed, and they have to grit their teeth to buy it. Unfortunately, it is not a matter of money. The bigger problem is that you ca n’t buy it if you have money!
In this era, the main suppliers in the rubber market have always been Britain, France, and the Netherlands, followed by Thailand, and then there are no more.
The main origins are in Siam (Thailand), Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia.
All were concentrated in Southeast Asia, and this colonial rebellion happened to be in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Only one Thailand can export normally.
This problem is very serious. The supply of rubber on the international market is less than four layers in normal years, but the demand for rubber in countries around the world has not decreased, but has increased.
Since there are more monks and less porridge, it can only be stronger. At this time, weak countries must not be able to the strong ones.
These countries, Britain and France, will no doubt exert political pressure on the Siamese government, relying on off-site advantages to grab the largest share, and the rest will be divided by others.
You don't need to think about it, so little output is not enough for the three major countries?
Now, despite the skyrocketing rubber prices in the international market, you can still snap up. That is based on the premise that the governments of the three countries have not yet intervened. Once the domestic capitalists cannot buy enough rubber, government intervention is an inevitable problem.
"Your Majesty, we can communicate with the Siamese government to give priority to ordering a batch of rubber, there is no need to go to the international market to grab the goods!" Foreign Minister Metiev suggested
"Yes, this question is left to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the government departments are fully cooperating!" Ferdinand thought and said
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we still need the cooperation of the military this time. Our influence in Southeast Asia is too small. The Thai government may not buy our account!" Metiev explained
"Well, no problem, I will order the military to cooperate with your actions, you can use special means when necessary!" Ferdinand said indifferently
Why are the powers called powers?
If everything follows the rules, is it still called a power?
Especially now is the era of imperialism. As a qualified imperialist country, the Bulgarian government's politeness is only under the premise of no conflict of interest.
At this time, domestic enterprises are about to suspend production due to problems with raw materials. If they continue to talk about rules, are they still big powers?
However, Ferdinand's usual style is to give first priority to soldiers. As long as the two sides negotiate, everything is good, even if the price is higher, the Bulgarian government now recognizes it.
If the Siamese government wants to take advantage of the fire, then it is necessary to explain the truth, and the warship is the biggest truth of this era.
Not only Bulgaria, but Britain and France must also take action.
If you want to take advantage of the fire, you also need to keep your eyes open. Not all objects can be blackmailed.
You know, after so many years of Bulgaria, Ferdinand has not actively invaded any country. I have to say that this is also a miracle!
Of course, this is only on the surface. In fact, all the countries that Ferdinand was following have ended up with blood mold.
It was nothing more than his cleverness and a reasonable excuse. On the surface, Bulgaria was a passive counterattack, but it was just a bit too fierce.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Metiev replied
Diplomats who don't want to do anything, then they are not good diplomats!
Evaluating the ability of a diplomat this time depends on how much you have done and how much it has brought to the country.
It is not the kind that ordinary people imagine. It has coordinated the direct relations of various countries. Hello, hello everyone, UU reading www.uukanshu.com is a qualified diplomat.
That kind of slender diplomat is only suitable for living in a small country. The foreign ministries of the major powers do not have soft persimmons. Everyone is not bad when it comes to the ability to do things.
It's just that this method is worth noting. For example, the British Empire has done most things, but they still control the situation, so their diplomatic ability is considered to be the world's number one.
Another example: the negative example of Germany, they can also do things, but unfortunately their means are too poor, they put themselves in when they are engaged, they are regarded as the worst diplomatic means among the powers.
Now the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also not a fuel-saving lamp, but they have too little space to play.
When Bulgaria emerged, the world had been divided up, and few independent nations remained.
Either it is hard bones, or the interests are too small, or the international relations are too complicated, and Ferdinand is not interested in them, and the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry naturally will not engage in things.
Everyone is just normal business cooperation. On the surface, it seems that Bulgaria is full and there is no desire to continue expanding!
Now the situation has changed again. Ferdinand is not interested in Siam, but Bulgaria's industry needs Thai rubber, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will naturally take action.
Based on the principle of peace, if you can talk, you can talk. If you can't talk, you don't know what it will develop. Anyway, don't expect any international axiom in this era. He is only in the range of the cannon.
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