“Military spending is down.”
After Li Tian Lin finished presenting this year's fiscal expenditure, Xiao Yun Hai spoke up.
All eyes in the meeting room turned towards him.
Xiao Yun Hai spoke calmly, "As everyone knows, the profits brought by oil are enormous. In recent years, the Philippines has been constantly in conflict with us, claiming the Balabac Islands and our territory as their own. There have already been multiple conflicts over this. Now, with the discovery of oil in the Jeddah Bay, this conflict will only intensify. War might break out any day.
Therefore, in the next few years, we need to strengthen the modernization of our military.
10.5 billion Han Yuan for military spending is not enough.
Given the current situation, it is necessary to increase it to 15 billion Han Yuan.
Besides daily military expenditures, strengthening the navy and army is the top priority."
Strengthening the navy is primarily to counter the Philippines.
Although the Philippines' military might is not strong, they are a populous nation with almost 100 million people.
And they have the long-term support of the United States.
Strengthening the army is mainly to address conflicts on our own territory.
The territory of New Han is located in Kalimantan (Sabah and North East Kalimantan, Indonesia), bordering three countries: Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Brunei is a small country with a population of only 400,000. Despite being wealthy and rich in oil, their population and territory make their threat to New Han almost negligible. Furthermore, the two countries have a marriage alliance.
When New Han declared independence in Sabah, Malaysia obstructed it. The relationship between our countries has been neither good nor bad for years, and the likelihood of war is relatively low.
Moreover, Malaysia is less powerful than Indonesia. The core of its development is in West Malaysia, and its aggression is not as strong as Indonesia's.
The conflict with Indonesia is simple. When New Han gained independence, Indonesia, wielding its military superiority, even launched an invasion.
Fortunately, at the time, New Han had the support of the British Commonwealth countries, led by the United Kingdom, which allowed us to repel the Indonesian invasion and subsequently seize the northern river valley alluvial plains of Tarakan, Malinau, and Selimbau in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Since then, the two sides have had a grudge.
There have been multiple conflicts between the two sides.
Essentially, 70% of New Han's army is deployed in the region bordering Indonesia.
Now, with the discovery of oil reserves worth hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars, the likelihood of Indonesia launching an invasion has increased significantly.
Everyone in the room was not a fool. They immediately understood the anxiety in Xiao Yun Hai's words.
And it was very likely to come true.
Even Iraq, a nation once considered the fourth strongest in the world, was invaded because of oil.
New Han's national power and military strength were far inferior to Iraq's back then.
“The Crown Prince is right. The military budget should be increased to 15 billion, no, to 20 billion Han Yuan. The Royal Family will contribute 5 billion Han Yuan to support the military build-up."
Xiao Hong Jing said solemnly.
When everyone heard the military budget being raised to 20 billion Han Yuan, they were taken aback. However, after hearing the Royal Family would contribute 5 billion Han Yuan to support military construction, their expressions eased.
It was not uncommon for the Royal Family to contribute funds to support military construction.
There had been multiple instances before where the Royal Family had provided funds for military development.
The reason Xiao Hong Jing proposed contributing 5 billion Han Yuan to support military construction was also due to Xiao Yun Hai's words. If a war truly broke out, it would be fine if they won. But if they lost, the Xiao family's rule might be overthrown, and New Han might become a republic.
Out of these concerns, he felt it was necessary to contribute to the military.
As long as the military was strong, the likelihood of the Xiao family being overthrown would be very low.
After all, the Royal Family and the military were in cahoots.
20 billion Han Yuan for military expenditure, at the current exchange rate, would be roughly equivalent to over 6 billion US dollars.
For some countries, this military budget was not considered much.
But for a small nation like New Han, this was already a significant military expenditure.
Regarding the 20 billion Han Yuan military budget, Xiao Yun Hai proposed acquiring warships from the Dragon Nation.
Among the three branches of the military, the navy was the weakest.
Their main warships were three 1,000-ton frigates purchased in the 1980s, older than Xiao Yun Hai himself.
New Han had over a thousand islands.
With the imminent conflict with the Philippines, they needed to strengthen their navy.
At the very least, they needed to acquire three to five missile frigates or destroyers.
And he had already decided where to purchase them.
The Dragon Nation.
It had to be the Dragon Nation.
Those foreign Aegis destroyers, even if they were willing to sell them, would cost at least 10 billion US dollars.
Only by turning to the Dragon Nation could they acquire cost-effective and high-quality weapons with the least amount of money.
After the meeting.
Xiao Yun Hai found his father.
“Dad, I want to handle the military procurement issue.”
“You?” Xiao Hong Jing was surprised. He chuckled, “Do you know anything about this?”
Xiao Yun Hai said, “I studied in the Dragon Nation for a few years. If we are to acquire weapons from the Dragon Nation, there is no one in New Han who understands better than me."
Xiao Yun Hai was confident.
After all, he was a person who had been reborn.
He knew about many of the Dragon Nation's weapons that had yet to be revealed to the public.
Xiao Hong Jing pondered for a moment. Considering his son's achievements in business, he nodded in agreement, "Since you are willing to take on this task, then I'll entrust it to you. I will issue a document in a few days appointing you as the Director of the Military Equipment Bureau, responsible for the import of military equipment."
Appointing Xiao Yun Hai as Director of the Military Equipment Bureau also had another meaning: it was to allow Xiao Yun Hai, the designated successor, to start getting involved in military affairs.
Over time, as he gained experience with the military, it would make for a smoother transition when Xiao Yun Hai eventually took over.
Xiao Yun Hai didn't think that far ahead. He simply didn't want the military budget to be wasted.
As for the control of the military, with the system in place, he would eventually have to purge it and replace it with his own people.
He trusted the loyalty of his loyal followers more than those who swore allegiance.
Three days later.
The official website of the Ministry of Defense released a piece of news.
The content was about Xiao Yun Hai taking on the role of Director of the Military Equipment Bureau and being awarded the rank of Junior General.
The news did not cause much discussion.
Even if he had been appointed Minister of Defense, people would have considered it normal.
He was the Crown Prince, the future King. What was there to be surprised about?
Moreover, the people were quite fond of this Crown Prince, especially after he had distributed 10 billion Han Yuan to the poor upon his arrival.
How could the lower classes not like a Crown Prince who cared for the people?
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