afterglow

Chapter 65 Material Export Restrictions
On the eve of the European War more than 20 years ago, there was a newspaper report in Ming Dynasty:
"In recent years, the industrial circles in Thailand and the West have also continuously invented new uses of tung oil...Tung oil is mostly used for electrical appliances and electric wires. The high-quality paint in the United States used to use flaxseed oil in daily life, but now it is often formulated with rosin oil and tung oil..."

As a major manufacturing country, the United States imports tung oil as much as 70% of Daming's total exports each year, that is, more than [-] tons.However, no one likes to be stuck. They tried planting in Florida, but with little success. Until last year, there were only [-] plants. Compared with their own huge consumption, it is better than nothing.

For the United Kingdom, an old industrial country, its consumption of tung oil occupies the first place in Europe, and it imports an average of [-] to [-] tons per year.London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, one of the world's shipbuilding bases, are the largest tung oil-consuming cities in the UK.

Secondly, in addition to tung oil, the humble bristles are also very important strategic materials.

Pig bristles are mainly used to make all kinds of brushes-daily brushes, paint brushes, mechanical brushes, etc., which are inconspicuous but indispensable.

Before the breakthrough of synthetic chemical fiber technology decades later, no material can replace the function of pig bristle brushes. It has excellent toughness and elasticity, and is heat-resistant, acid-resistant, and wear-resistant.

Regardless of the routine function of painting, in the military, mechanical products such as firearms, artillery, fighter planes, automobiles, and tanks are all indispensable for cleaning and maintenance, and pig bristle brushes are the best tools.

The problem is that although all countries in the world also produce bristles, they are not competitors of Chinese bristles in terms of quality, and they are not at the same level in terms of toughness, length, output, etc.

He doesn't have the ability to know, does he?
Now the world's annual demand for high-quality bristles is about [-] tons, and Daming exports about [-] tons a year, accounting for [-]% of the total.

Finally, if tung oil and bristles are less impressive, then tungsten is the most disturbing thing.

It goes without saying that tungsten is used in military affairs. The performance of tungsten carbide armor-piercing bullets is naturally much higher than that of ordinary steel core armor-piercing bullets.

以Pak40型75㎜反坦克炮为例，其发射普通的Pzgr39穿甲弹能在500m处击穿90㎜垂直装甲，而Pzgr40钨芯穿甲弹则能在相同距离击穿120㎜垂直装甲。

For a long time, except for a country that can squander it as it pleases, the precious tungsten resources have to be used sparingly for most countries.

All in all, although the shortage of the three major materials of tung oil, bristles, and tungsten sand cannot paralyze an industrial country, it is enough to disgust people.

As for restrictions on the export of strategic materials, the Ming Dynasty played very well hundreds of years ago-such as strictly controlling the sale of large iron pots to Mongolia.

Looking at it from the front, although the two sides clashed fiercely in the eastern foothills of the Himalayas, they were surprisingly harmonious in other areas. Apart from diplomatic condemnation, the economic and trade between the two sides is still going on normally.

The decision-makers of Ming agreed that the British would not show a substantial tough attitude on this matter, and would only show disobedience through war of words.

Although the monarchs and ministers are more optimistic, it is still necessary to be fully prepared.

Therefore, on the second day, that is, July [-]th, the Admiral's Office of the Nanyang Fleet received a telegram from the Metropolitan Governor's Office to upgrade the combat readiness from Class D to Class C, and the submarine combat units that are about to go to sea in shifts must leave the base with full ammunition.

At the same time, the "Taiweiyuan" aircraft carrier, which was preparing for routine maintenance in Guangzhou, suspended the maintenance work. The entire ship's officers and soldiers and the carrier-based air wing stopped their vacations and immediately returned to the Zhanjiang base to stand by.

In the early morning of the same day, Nanjing.

A torrential rain that started in the early morning washed the ground clean, suppressing the hot and dry weather in midsummer.

In the special prison of the Foreign Police Department, two agents walked in following a medium-sized chief.

Walking to the end in the dark corridor, and then turning a corner, the four finally stopped outside a cell.

When the door was opened, the door shaft, which was deliberately not oiled, made a sharp "squeak" sound, which made people feel hairy.

In the prison cell, Liu Wanyun, who had a distracted gaze, was sitting by the bed, her jet-black hair was tied up in a bun with a wooden chopstick, her head was lowered, and she looked listless.

According to the rules, when the guards came in, the prisoner had to stand up straight. Seeing her still sitting on the bed, one of the guards sternly said, "Stand up!"

"Is it time?" Liu Wanyun, who was about to face death, raised her eyes and immediately noticed something abnormal.

If she was to be taken to execution, two random people would just come and take her away, but there was a middle-level chief in front of her, and two attendants followed him.

Is this a turnaround?
"I've told you everything I know, what else are you going to do..."

"The mind is quite fast, yes, very smart." The chief officer looked her up and down with great interest, "Do you want to live?"

Hearing this, Liu Wanyun, who was overjoyed, stared at the tall and thin young chief in front of her, and nodded without thinking, "What do you need me to do?"

"My name is Shen Yu." With a vague smile on the face of the principal, he said calmly, "We want you to go back to England."

Double agent?

Everyone in Liu Wanyun is stupid, are you kidding me?Taking MI[-] for a fool?

Now who will believe her when she goes back, all the people in the two teams are dead, and she is the only one who returned safely?
What's more, she was asked to send back false information once before, saying that there were no reinforcements from the Ming army to go to Demaji, and the result?
"State your opinion." Shen Yu spat out two words.

"Wait for me……"

As soon as Liu Wanyun said a few words, the expressionless Shen Yu waved her hand, and the two agents accompanying him rushed up, stuffed a cloth ball into her mouth, and then forcibly put the cloth into her mouth. She dragged it out.

Liu Wanyun, who was sobbing non-stop, was taken out of the prison and came to a small open space behind, where she was forced to kneel down on the ground.

Shen Yu with a leisurely look lit a cigarette for herself, took out a pistol at the same time, and walked slowly behind Liu Wanyun.

He exhaled, and loaded the pistol with a click.

I just want to ask a few questions first? !None of this is allowed? !
The terrified Liu Wanyun trembled, her sixth sense seemed to be particularly sharp at this moment, and she could feel the pistol being pressed a few inches away from the back of her head.

The strong desire to survive made her burst out with a power far beyond the ordinary, and she struggled hard while whimpering.

The two agents on the left and right who were holding her were almost freed by her, and quickly subdued her.

"Enough." Shen Yu waved his hand.

The two immediately let go of their hands, and took out the cloth ball from Liu Wanyun's mouth.

"Do you agree now?" Shen Yu asked casually, looking at the pistol.

"Agree...agree." Liu Wanyun's face was as white as paper because of the previous panic, and now she was flushed because of the violent struggle just now, and she felt her heart was beating wildly.

(End of this chapter)