Chapter 1362: Extra: East Asia Cooperation Chapter 1362: Extra: East Asia Cooperation (The story takes place after Chapter 548, and all mentioned country and personal names are fictional; please do not associate them with reality.)
January 12, 1921, in Sydney, Australasia.

A group of faces from Asia were sitting in a tavern, tasting red wine that came from the royal family’s winery, which was priced low for the general populace.

One of them took a strong sip, frowned, and swallowed before turning to his companion and remarking, “I really can’t get used to these foreigners’ wines, not nearly as good as our own sorghum liquor.”

The leading Asian-faced individual smiled and, unconcerned by the abrupt comment, said, “If it weren’t for gathering information, I wouldn’t bother drinking this foreign wine. Besides, the cost of one bottle equals our meal expenses for two days; it’s indeed crippling.”

“Speaking of which, have you guys noticed the attitudes of the Australasian people towards the Islanders?” another quiet Asian-faced individual suddenly spoke up, somewhat excitedly to the others.

“Aren’t they just imposing heavy sentences on those two Islanders? These foreigners have always looked down on us Asians, so isn’t a heavy sentence to be expected?” someone inquired.

“That’s definitely different,” the individual explained. “If the Australasians merely despised us Asians, they could have easily implicated those of us onlookers.

And compared to the Island Nation, which is so-called powerful, isn’t our country easier to bully?

Yet, they didn’t. They only severely sentenced those two Islanders. Doesn’t that prove that the Australasians also have their guard up and hostility against the Island Nation?

As for those foreigners looking down on us, isn’t it all because those Tartars plagued our great nation for hundreds of years? If we had valued the foreigners’ novelties earlier, we wouldn’t have to traverse mountains and seas to this foreign country to learn.”

“Arthur’s right,” the leader nodded in agreement and remarked, “It’s normal for the foreigners to look down on our weak country. When our country becomes strong, it will be our turn to look down on the foreigners.”

“The Tartars and the Australasians had some collaboration, proving these foreigners are still willing to offer some technology to aid us. Regardless of their intentions, we can’t choose independently until we truly become strong.

So, my fellow countrymen, we must learn all these novel things from the foreigners to make the country we cherish stronger. At least we won’t be looked down upon by these foreigners or oppressed by those damned Islanders.”

“Castiel, do you think we can establish contact with the upper echelons of the schools and become a bridge for communication between the two countries? If we could garner support from the Australasians for our domestic development, at least we’d have a foundation to not worry about those damned Islanders,” someone proposed.

“Chances are slim, but it’s still a viable idea,” the one named Castiel nodded and expressed, “We didn’t realize until we came here how enormous the gap is between us and these foreigners.

Even compared to those Islanders, we face an colossal gap. But we possess a heart full of patriotism and the courage to die for our country, and I refuse to believe that our great nation of 400 million people could be inferior to this tiny Island Nation.

Only by strengthening ourselves can we avoid any foreign invaders. Only by strengthening ourselves can we cleanse the world and rebuild our glorious nation.”

The good news is that through the schools, we can indeed make contact with the Australasian Government, though it’s only with one of its smaller departments.

This is also due to the importance Australasia places on the East Asian Region. After all, with a population of 400 million, it’s a super-large market where Australasian industrial and agricultural products can generate huge incomes, which is fundamentally why Arthur and Australasia are interested.

Because there had been previous cooperation with the Qing Empire, it was relatively simple to establish a similar collaboration.

Australasia, still significantly lacking such a vast market, didn’t mind exchanging some outdated technology and skills for substantial resources and benefits.

More importantly, in the future development layout of Australasia, this could potentially become the first line of defense to balance the Island Nation.

After all, at this time, the Island Nation was Australasia’s only competitor on the Pacific Coast, and it was impossible for Arthur not to make preparations.

Although the Island Nation had various flaws, it was undeniable that the Island Nation Army still possessed strong combat capabilities and a rather tenacious will.

The population of Australasia was not too large yet, and Arthur had no intention of letting the precious population be depleted in competition, or even war, with the Island Nation.

The best scenario would be for Australasia to develop a powerful weapon similar to the atomic bomb and then end the war with the Island Nation in the simplest way possible, turning it into a colony of its own.

Although the development of the atomic bomb had not yet begun, Arthur believed that as long as Australasia was willing to make a huge investment and bear a long time cost, becoming the first country in the world to develop and use the atomic bomb would not be a problem.

As for the country on which the atomic bomb would be deployed, of course, the Island Nation was a very suitable target.

Who else but the Island Nation, Australasia’s biggest competitor in the Western Pacific? Coupled with the Island Nation’s dreadful historical reputation, even if it was just to prevent the Island Nation from using various biological weapons against Australasia, Arthur had to develop the atomic bomb in advance and use it on the heads of the Islanders.

Without going into details, reaching cooperation with East Asia was significantly beneficial for Australasia.

A huge market could infinitely increase the upper limit of Australasia’s industrial development without worrying about the economic crisis caused by output far exceeding demand.

The economic crisis in the United States historically arose because output far exceeded demand, plus there were no huge colonies to absorb the surplus products, eventually leading to the collapse of the economic system.

Although Australasia was still far from overproduction at present, having a huge market was not a bad thing, even if it could only occupy a certain proportion in the vast market.

The most substantial cooperation with East Asia would likely be in agriculture and animal husbandry and military technology.

For various reasons, East Asia was very short of grain in the first 50 years of the 20th century, with frequent natural disasters and man-made wars.

Grain exports from Australasia could not only alleviate East Asia’s crisis but also earn sufficient income for Australasia, which was a win-win situation.

The same logic applied to arms trade.

Australasia needed a sufficiently large arms market to allow its military industry to continue expanding and advancing.

The demand for weapons in Australasia was very low, especially since the Australasian Army had been reduced to pre-World War I levels after the war ended.

Europe and the Americas had too many powerful nations dividing the market, making it difficult for Australasia to seize a sufficient arms market to maintain the vigorous growth of its military industry.

Therefore, the arms trade with East Asia was also a win-win situation. Through arms exports, Australasia could gain enough profit to maintain the expansion of its military industry and the development of more advanced military technology.

And East Asia could obtain the urgently needed armaments to change their historical shortage of weapons and ammunition.