Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 219 Food Crisis (Third update, please subscribe)

The industry in Borneo... can definitely be described as poor. Except for fruit canning, rubber rough processing, wood processing and tobacco, there is no industry left, if the rice mill is not an industry.

The currently planned industrial zone is still undergoing infrastructure construction of three connections and one leveling. At least until the industrial zone is put into operation, the economy here is still dominated by various tropical plantations.

Fortunately, the war led to a surge in demand for natural rubber in various countries. Even as soon as North Borneo and Balikpapan were recovered, relevant US departments came to the door, waving US dollars and demanding cash to purchase all natural rubber.

But besides natural rubber, what else?
  It’s tobacco. As early as before the war, tobacco was Borneo’s most important export product. However, at that time, raw materials were mainly exported. Although there were cigarette factories locally, the market was limited, so the production scale was limited.

However, for Li Yi'an, who was interested in exploring the European market, he naturally turned his attention to tobacco, and even compared it to the most popular Camel cigarette in Europe from the very beginning.

Not only does it have to match camels in terms of taste, but it also imitates camels in terms of packaging.

"Can't call it Victory Smoke!"

Looking at the newly printed sample, Li Yian directly rejected the naming of this cigarette.

“Boss, isn’t Victory Smoke good?”

He Liting said puzzledly.

"Victory, victory, that sounds so festive!"

"Festival is a festival, but the market, what we want is the market!"

Li Yian said directly.

"The main purpose of our cigarettes is to imitate American Camel cigarettes, so we try our best to imitate the taste..."

Although he had quit smoking, Li Yian still lit one. The smell of cigarettes was almost the same as that of camels, at least [-]% similar.

"But the taste alone is not enough. Do you have Camel cigarettes with you?"

Li Yian asked.

The answer is yes, after all, camels and Lucky Strikes are standard equipment of the US military.

"Camels, we also want to produce camels."

"What? Boss, do you mean counterfeit cigarettes?"

He Liting said in surprise.

"Who said they were fake cigarettes!"

Li Yian took the cigarette case and explained.

"You see, the camel cigarettes in the United States use a dromedary camel as the pattern, but there are also bactrian camels among the camels. We can use the bactrian camel! And the pyramid on the background can be changed to a different angle, but it really doesn't work. Just add a sphinx. As for English, the main body uses "Camel" like the camel in the United States, but Bactrian can be printed on it in light-colored small letters similar to the background color. In this way, we have "Bactrian Camel" , which means Bactrian camel..."

For Li Yi'an, who once bought knockoff products such as Kangshuaifu mineral water, Kangshuaibo instant noodles, Big Walnut Dew, Blue Sun and Moon laundry detergent, he almost immediately created a copycat brand.

In this regard, the main one is definitely far ahead!

That's right, it focuses on copycats. Li Kui and Li Gui are not important. The important thing is to use the east wind of camel to open up the European market.

As for the protests in the United States...this one is a Bactrian camel. Different.

Just like Jordan, there is also a Chinese Jordan.

"Is this okay?"

"Is this illegal?"

Apparently... not illegal.

At least from He Liting's point of view, he really couldn't think of anything illegal in doing this. It seemed that it was really possible to do this!

So do it!

It only took a few days of work to produce the first batch of "Bactrian Camel" cigarettes. They looked almost exactly the same as American camels. Of course, there were some differences, but what is certain is that this cigarette was The profits are definitely very high.

With the production of "Bactrian Camel" cigarettes, Borneo finally had an industrial product. Although it was just a simple cigarette, it did not hinder Li Yi'an from regarding it as the start of Borneo's industry.

Just when Li Yi'an was overjoyed that the first batch of "Bactrian Camel" cigarettes were sold to Europe, the transport ship from North America once again reminded him that at least for a long time to come, the plantation economy would be The roots of Borneo.

Although the ship departed from New York and was loaded with steel and cement for construction, when it docked in Havana, it was loaded with a large number of oil palm saplings - oil palm saplings cultivated in Cuba were finally put to use.

Even the land has been prepared. With the help of large tractors, foreigners have reclaimed tens of thousands of acres of rainforest, which naturally became the first oil palm plantation in Borneo. The only problem is that output takes time.

Starting from September, with the defeat of the 56th independent mixed brigade of the Japanese army occupying North Borneo, North Borneo began to enter a climax of industrial and agricultural construction, especially the arrival of the second batch of nearly [-] immigrants, making North Borneo The Asian population jumped to over [-], while the Chinese population reached [-].

But new problems also came.

"food!"

Cheng Jide, director of the Labor Department of the Governor's Office, reported in the Governor's Office.

"Mr. Li, although the food problem is not serious now, rice cultivation in North Borneo can only meet self-consumption. Now with the influx of immigrants from the country, if the food problem is not solved, there will definitely be trouble. After all, people are going to For those who eat, we can use the wood obtained from reclaiming the rainforest to build houses, and we can open up large plantations for immigrants to work, but we cannot grow food immediately, but people need to eat."

Cheng Jide told the truth. There is no shortage of land here in Borneo, and the lush trees in the rainforest are the best building materials. But life requires more than just land and houses. Food is the most important thing.

"Where's your suggestion?"

Li Yian asked directly.

"import,"

Cheng Jide said.

"My suggestion is to import from abroad, such as Siam and Myanmar. Before the war, they were the most important rice export centers in Southeast Asia. Due to the Allied blockade, Siamese rice, like Burmese rice and Saigon rice, was unsaleable in large quantities, and the current price is very low. , we should take the opportunity to purchase in large quantities. According to the information obtained from the overseas Chinese community, there is a backlog of more than several million tons of rice in Yangon, most of which was collected during the Japanese occupation, but due to the Allied blockade, it has been stranded at the port..."

Before the war, Myanmar was an important grain exporter, exporting more than six million tons of rice every year. During the war, Japan plundered tens of millions of tons of grain in Myanmar. However, it was difficult to safely transport it back to Japan due to Allied submarine attacks. The port was There is a huge backlog of rice.

Before Cheng Jide could finish speaking, Li Yian said.

"Buy it!"

Then, he asked specifically.

“Let Myanmar collect pounds!”

There are still nearly [-] million genuine German-printed pound notes in the vault that have not been used up.

The answer is yes. Not only Burma, a British colony, accepts pounds, but Siam also accepts pounds.

"Buy it? Buy it all? Buy all the rice in Siam?"

Cheng Jide said in surprise.

"Including those in Myanmar, taking advantage of the current low prices, we can first try to purchase as much grain as possible to establish food reserves. After all, in the future, our population will only increase, and the demand for food will also increase."

Grain reserves must be established. After all, as a region that has received a large influx of immigrants in a short period of time, how can we feed so many immigrants without sufficient food reserves? If we don’t buy cheap rice now, when will we buy it?

"But, Commander Li, the shipping route between us and Myanmar has not been restored yet, and the Strait of Malacca is still in the hands of the Japanese."

"Who said it was going to be shipped in!"

Li Yian smiled.

"We can't go through the Strait of Malacca. We can go through the Suez River and buy it in Europe. The food gap in Europe is huge. If we sell this batch of rice to Europe, the profit should be very considerable!"

Not only is it considerable, the profit is even a bit unimaginable.

As one of the most important rice-producing areas in Southeast Asia, Myanmar has suffered a serious rice surplus due to war and transportation problems, causing rice prices to plummet, not to mention less than one-tenth of their pre-war prices.

Even the new Burmese rich who have just come to power are a bunch of prodigal sons. Anyway, the rice piled up in the warehouse was purchased by the Japanese. It will also grow mold and insects in the warehouse. When someone is willing to buy it, they just package it and sell it. Four hundred and twenty One hundred thousand tons of rice is directly priced at four million pounds, and one ton of rice is even less than one pound. It is simply a waste of money.

But for the new rich who have just gained power, they are just enjoying the beauty that power brings, and millions of pounds are quickly divided up by them under various excuses.

Of course, the rice will not be left to mold in the port of Myanmar, but will be shipped directly to Europe - the company has ready-made merchant ships to transport some of the rice to Europe - European countries are still in post-war food shortages, and although the war is over, But food prices have remained high. Therefore, it is only right to transport grain to Europe and sell it at a high price.

In fact, this is the biggest feature of comprehensive multinational companies - the superposition of multiple business advantages and information advantages can bring extremely huge profits.

What is different in European countries is that Southeast Asia has a surplus of food. However, due to the impact of the war and the lack of merchant shipping, rice was stranded and food prices plummeted.

But for Li Yian, who owns nearly one million tons of merchant ships, transportation is not a big deal at all. Sometimes supplies are not the problem, the problem is transportation - when the relevant departments of the allied countries still have unified control over the merchant fleet, there is a serious shortage of commercial transportation capacity around the world. Borneo Shipping Company, which has nearly one million tons of merchant ships, has opened up merchant shipping routes from Southeast Asia and South America to France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries, and has received extremely generous returns.

Not only that, but with the advantage of the seller's market in the post-war years, the originally unknown Jiahe Trading Company even became one of the four largest grain merchants in the world...

(End of this chapter)