.Chapter 20 Political Alliance

Military problems are not prominent. Both Huang Zhibo and Li Pingko supported Mu Haoyang's combat plan, that is, after completing the air strike, they would first open a landing ground in central Vietnam, cut off Vietnam's north-south transportation artery, and then the army launched a ground attack.

As for whether to first south or first north, no decision has been made yet.

There is no need to make a decision. The air strike plan formulated by Yang Yu's side will last at least one and a half months, and maybe it will be extended to three months. The landing operation will take about one month, so it will take two and a half months at the earliest, and at the latest four months before a large-scale ground war will be launched.

After reporting on the situation, Mu Haoyang set out to return to Yulin Port.

The real problem is politically, that is, how to maximize the dividends of war.

Li Pingko came to Huang Zhibo in the hope of getting the support of the Chief of General Staff and allowing the "exclusive economic policy" he proposed to be approved at the high-level meeting. To be precise, Huang Zhibo, as the Chief of General Staff, explained the importance of the policy from a military perspective.

Obviously, Li Pingko knew very well how much impact this policy would have.

More importantly, if he proposed it, it would definitely be firmly opposed by Yi Yuandao. Huang Zhibo came forward, and it was based on military needs. Yi Yuandao would at least not directly object. With this opportunity, Li Pingkou can illustrate the importance of this policy.

Huang Zhibo is not a fool, he knows that Li Pingko uses him as a gun envoy.

The key is not to challenge Yi Yuanchao, but what benefits can be gained from it.

Although from a military perspective, "exclusive economic policy" has a certain effect, such as allowing Thailand to choose its position and reduce the burden of war, without this policy, Huang Zhibo was also confident that he would win this war, rather than saying that economic policies must be needed to win.

Taking this opportunity, Huang Zhibo made his own request: to cancel the Second Artillery and upgrade the Marine Corps to an independent army.

If that's the case, Li Pingko doesn't need to participate.

Huang Zhibo means that the Marine Corps must not only be upgraded to an independent military branch, but in addition to the difference in name, it must obtain the same power and status as the three military branches in other aspects, that is, the Marine Corps commander is also qualified to serve as the Chief of General Staff, rather than the commanders of the three military branches taking turns to serve as the governor.

Obviously, Huang Zhibo is trying to get an opportunity for Mu Haoyang.

In this way, in 2052, when Mu Haoyang was in his sixties, he had the opportunity to serve as Chief of Staff, and there was no need to worry about being excluded. If an agreement could be reached with the Air Force before 2042, Mu Haoyang would even have the opportunity to serve as Chief of Staff ten years ahead of schedule.

Why did Huang Zhibo do this?

When making this request, Huang Zhibo clearly mentioned that as long as the "exclusive economic policy" implemented by Li Pingko was officially implemented, the international order will be reshuffled, and regional economies led by major powers will completely replace the existing international trade and become the root of the next world war. When facing the threat of a world war, China needs an outstanding military commander, and Huang Zhibo is interested in Mu Haoyang.

Obviously, after more than ten years of tempering, Huang Zhibo is not just the Chief of Staff who only understands military affairs.

Li Pingko is not a fool either, and he is very clear about why Huang Zhibo mentioned the "world war".

In the current international situation, China and the United States are entangled and do not fight, and they are mainly fighting through spokesperson wars. The key is not that they do not have the ability to fight a world war, but that China and the United States have a close economic relationship, and it is difficult for both sides to get rid of their dependence on each other.

The United States needs cheap Chinese goods, and China also needs the U.S. market and high-end technology.

It can be said that this is also the main point where the Cold War between China and the United States and the Cold War between the United States and the United States and the Soviet Union.

Without economic exchanges, Sino-US relations will be difficult to repair and a world war will be inevitable. With technological progress, the threat of nuclear weapons will gradually decrease. As long as either side believes that it is capable of dealing with the other side's comprehensive strategic strike, the world war will break out.

Who can accurately predict when a technologically decisive breakthrough will be achieved?

In fact, Huang Zhibo and Li Pingko knew very well that a new era of technology was coming, so the world war would no longer be a distant thing.

Li Pingko proposed "exclusive economic policies" at this time, which was obviously suspected of being fueled.

From a political perspective, Li Pingkoo's actions are to serve the promotion of domestic economic development, that is, China needs an economic zone with itself as its core and an absolute leadership position, and a very large economic zone to ensure that China can safely survive the era of population aging.

As the Prime Minister, this is also the primary issue that Li Pingko has to consider.

According to official statistics, the adjusted family planning system will not be effective until 2050. China's population will reach its peak around 2035, which is about 1.7 billion, and then it will experience a period of sharp decline of about 15 years. By around 2050, the total population will stabilize at around 1.3 billion. It will decrease at a relatively slow rate in the following twenty years. It is expected to decrease to less than one billion by 2070. If family planning is abolished in 2050, it is expected to resume positive growth in 2070 and maintain a more reasonable natural growth rate, and the period of population aging will end.

Of course, this is based on productivity in 2030.

If China's production efficiency steadily increases within the next twenty years, then the period of population aging will end around 2050.

Here we need to clarify a concept, that is, what is population aging.

The standard for population aging is not the proportion of the elderly who have lost their labor force, but the ratio of the total social output value to the total consumption value. When a country's total social output value is lower than the total consumption value, it cannot complete basic accumulation and enters the aging period.

In this way, social productivity becomes a key factor.

The higher the social productivity, the higher the total output value under the same labor force, the higher the total consumption value can be provided and more elderly people who have lost their labor force. For example, Japan only enters the aging period when the elderly people over 65 reach 17%, while China enters the aging period when the elderly people over 60 reach 11%. As the most developed country in productivity, this proportion in the United States must reach 21% before entering the aging period.

For the Chinese government, the first priority is to improve social productivity.

Although the first factor to improve production efficiency is technology, in national competition, technology is only a secondary factor, and controlling resources and markets is the main factor. For example, before the Second Korean War, the production efficiency of Chinese steel companies had reached international standards, but they had no pricing power for resources and had very low profits. Most of the profits were usurped by Western companies that monopolized iron ore. After the Second Korean War, using several super mines in North Korea, Chinese companies regained the pricing power for iron ore, and the profit margin was greatly improved, which means that they could obtain more reports at the same investment, which was equivalent to increasing the total investment reporting rate.

In trade, this is equivalent to improving the productivity of society.

Obviously, it is difficult for China to gain benefits in the Western-dominated international trade.

To give a very simple example, as early as 2024, China surpassed Japan and became the world's second largest automobile exporter after Germany. However, by 2029, Chinese automobile market share in the US was still far lower than Japan, or even South Korea. The main reason is that the United States has introduced many "exclusive policies" for Chinese companies, which restricted the expansion of Chinese auto companies in the United States.

There are many similar examples, without exception, which illustrate the same problem: if China wants to gain more benefits in international trade, it must establish new trade rules and become the rulemaker, otherwise it can only be at the mercy of Western countries led by the United States.

The "exclusive economic policy" proposed by Li Pingko and the establishment of a regional economic community are precisely targeting this issue.

From the perspective of geopolitics, Southeast Asia is undoubtedly China's first choice goal.

The eleven countries in Southeast Asia have a total population of 600 million, with a land area of ​​more than 4 million square kilometers, and are rich in natural resources. It can be said that they are both resource-producing places and consumer markets. If an economic community is built with China, it will inevitably provide a broader development space for Chinese companies. In fact, Southeast Asian countries and 600 million Southeast Asians can also gain very obvious benefits from it, such as the security guarantees provided by China, and the opportunity to enter the Chinese market and gain a brighter prospect.

More importantly, China is not the only one who engages in regional trade.

The EU has long been eyeing North Africa and the Near East, Russia is committed to the former Soviet Union, the United States is stepping up the establishment of a free trade zone covering the entire Latin American region, and even Japan is conducting extensive cooperation with India, while Iran in the Middle East, South Africa and Australia are all seeking to establish similar free trade zones.

The development of the global economy towards regionalization is inevitable.

On this new runway, China can only gain development opportunities by seizing the opportunity.

It can be said that this is an unavoidable question.

During this period, it is not politicians who change history, but history shapes politicians.

However, as an excellent politician, you must have a long-term vision.

Li Pingkoo is the best politician in China since Fu Xiubo. He naturally understands the final outcome of the regional economy, so he cannot avoid the questions raised by Huang Zhibo.

More importantly, only by agreeing to Huang Zhibo’s request can Li Pingko get full support from the military.

You should know that Huang Zhibo will not retire after the national leader's term has changed, so he has enough say on the issue of the next head of state.

In this way, Li Pingko formed a political alliance with Huang Zhibo.

Maybe, this is not a bad thing.

The war with Vietnam is nothing at all. In a few years, new challenges will arise, and China needs a leader with extraordinary courage and strategy.
Chapter completed!