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Chapter 1229: Chapter 1086: Walk Your Own Path! (Please subscribe!)
Ling’s words
left Annesley dumbfounded.
Are there countries in the world that don’t want Weapons, even if the United States wants to sell them? Of course, there are, such as Canada, who simply refuse to do any defense construction. Do you want me to spend money to buy weapons?
No way.
Now,
another "oddity" has appeared.
No enemies are coming.
Do you just want to be a "salted fish"?
Of course not.
A little ambition wouldn’t hurt, would it? Ever heard of "preparing for danger in times of peace"?
But before Annesley could make a move,
Ling continued, "Mr. Annesley, you don’t have to persuade me anymore. Weapons are for war, but the Peripherals of Kan Qin are peace-loving nations. It’s impossible for there to be wars for decades."
"Since that’s the case, why should we spend money on weapons? We might as well invest this money in economic development, doing something meaningful. We are not buying your weapons."
This answer
left Annesley speechless.
What else could he say?
Before,
they still had internal worries, but now, Ling had resolved them all. There was simply no reason to buy their Weapons from the United States. The worst had happened, and Annesley was a bit anxious.
"But it’s undeniable that your weaponry is very outdated. I believe your Soldiers would want safer, more useful, new equipment," Annesley persuaded.
Ling shook his head.
"We are already engaging in research and development of low-end equipment and striving to improve Training and living conditions. As for Airplanes and Warships, we plan to retire most of them and slowly develop our own."
Annesley, puzzled, asked, "Develop on your own? When will you be able to develop them?"
Ling smiled faintly.
Nonchalantly,
"Don’t rush. If we make a little progress each year, in ten years, twenty years, fifty years, it will surely be somewhat useful. We cannot catch up with the mainstream of the world, and we do not plan to chase it. It’s too exhausting."
Lying.
Fighters speak easily, mainly to lower Annesley’s guard. Being too arrogant is not good. The replacement of low-end equipment will soon begin, and then slowly iterate upwards.
Starting with military uniforms and boots.
To simple Firearms.
Then to large equipment.
Step by step.
Giving the outside world time to accept, lest it be too shocking. Also, the direction will not follow the old path of heavy equipment but will take the smart path to achieve leapfrog development.
Going to great lengths to build a giant Aircraft Carrier.
Better to think of ways to improve the stealth capabilities of weapons.
Otherwise,
if we follow the international mainstream,
competing in terms of Aircraft Carrier tonnage would take a very long time, and the effort would be disproportionate to the gains. It’s better to focus on uniqueness and cutting-edge technology to be less suspected.
To develop an Aircraft Carrier.
Huaxia would be the first to be unable to accept it.
Why bother?
Indeed,
Ling’s "whatever" attitude irritated Annesley to no end. Without dreams, what’s the difference from a salted fish? Where did Ling’s previous momentum go?
Could it be
that Ling was doing it on purpose?
Or had other ideas,
such as buying from Huaxia?
Just as this thought flashed through his mind,
"Mr. Annesley, I can pretend that the matter between Pan Cong and Dsvid never happened. That’s your United States’ International strategy, and you were just following orders, but let there be no next time."
"This ten billion dollars, we are actually interested, but right now we are focused on developing the Economy, and we don’t want to get involved in anything else. If you are willing to lend unconditionally, we will accept it; if not, don’t mention it again."
"It’s just business; I don’t like to dawdle."
Ling laid his cards on the table with Annesley.
Annesley was stunned.
"I... I don’t have the authority to give unconditional Loans," Annesley sighed.
"Hoping next time we meet, you’ll have it," Ling said.
The unspoken words were:
If you don’t have the authority,
don’t bother me about this issue again.
Annesley took a deep breath. It was practically a threat, but what could he say when the other party was impenetrable and even brought up Pan Cong and Dsvid’s issues—those little threats were genuinely painful.
"An unconditional loan is impossible, but if it’s a secured loan, I could ask about that." Giving it wasn’t a problem, but other allies of the United States might not be happy.
They had all agreed to numerous conditions to obtain it.
"Secured loan?" Ling said.
Annesley nodded, "Yes, if there is enough collateral, it might be considered."
"Alright, that’s the attitude to do business. As for the collateral, that’s not a problem. Once you’ve decided, contact Deputy Kan Qin; he’ll be in charge of that," Ling said.
"Understood," Annesley replied with a forced smile.
On the way back,
Annesley contacted his superior.
"...This is the situation. Ling is not interested in our weapons at all and just wants to peacefully develop the economy. He wants the money but isn’t willing to agree to our conditions."
"I understand; I’ll report it up," his superior said.
"Yes."
After the call.
Annesley looked out the window.
He didn’t know what kind of result the discussions on the upper end would yield. Anyway, it wasn’t too relevant to him. He was just the executor. The real decision-makers were still those back home.
...
United States.
Washington.
Aisley’s superior was reporting to an even higher authority.
"The situation is as follows: Ling refused to buy our country’s weaponry, claiming that internal troubles had been resolved with the allegiance of Dsvid and Pan Cong, and there’s no one left inside that could threaten Ling."
"What’s your opinion?"
"Ling is not someone to take things lying down. His style has always been resolute, but this time it appeared he had no ambition, which is strange. It’s unlikely for someone’s personality to change so quickly."
"That’s sensible."
"Either Ling really does want to focus solely on economic development as he says, or he is actually planning to develop his own weapons. Lastly, and what we least want to see, he might be preparing to purchase weapons from Huaxia."
His superior shook his head.
"That’s impossible. He wouldn’t dare."
"What should we do then? Should we teach him a lesson? He’s disrespecting us, and it seems he doesn’t understand our capabilities," Aisley’s superior suggested.
"We have no reason for sanctions, and the timing is also not right. Except for pushing him towards Huaxia, there is no benefit. Don’t forget, they possess the manufacturing technology for filters, solutions, and fruit wine, which have a good reputation worldwide."
"It’s only because we suppressed it that last year’s Nobel Prize didn’t end up awarding those two technologies."
"..."
He was well aware of that.
One for chemistry.
One for peace.
One solved the world’s air pollution, the other dealt with substances that had troubled humanity for centuries—especially fruit wine which truly changed the fate of millions of households.
"Go back for now. Let’s leave this matter for now."
"Yes."
After his subordinate left,
he picked up a thick file from the table.
This was the economic data and major events from the last few years in the region; he had read it over a dozen times, and it still seemed too surreal and peculiar. Ling’s background— they had yet to determine.
Starting as a minor leader,
Gradually eroding the power of nearby territories.
Every step taken was stable.
Stable to an incredible degree, as if meticulously prepared.
Every crisis was turned into safety; motionless until provoked, and once acted, all the opponents would vanish in an instant, to this day they had no idea how Ling had managed to settle things with Wu Lei.
That was a place Lang Cai had managed for half a lifetime.
Directly changing over to Ling.
Regarding this handover.
There was surprisingly no dissenting sound from the inside.
What exactly happened inside?
