Chapter 236
Chapter 236
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Grain Shock
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On the surface, Khrushchev's power had grown incomparably larger than before the purges.
The military, which had once intimidated the Party and government, had fallen silent, and the conservatives maintained their quiet.
Building on this success, Khrushchev announced an expansion of the "Virgin Lands Development Policy," redirecting a significant portion of military spending into reclaiming undeveloped land.
The virgin lands reclamation campaign had been a policy he had relentlessly pushed since the early days of his rule, but this time, the difference was that he planned to pour in real budget to double its scale.
'Rebuilding the economy through agriculture?'
In truth, agriculture was the only area where Khrushchev could produce immediate results.
Light industry had been outpaced by Korean companies, and heavy industry had steady but limited demand, with little room for explosive growth.
Exporting manufactured goods beyond the Second World would change that, but trade profits were hard to come by due to Western interference.
Given these factors, the idea of investing national strength in virgin lands reclamation wasn't entirely misguided.
The problem lay in the natural environment of Central Asia and southern Siberia, the regions Khrushchev wanted to develop.
The rivers flowing through these areas mostly drained into inland lakes like the Aral Sea or the Caspian Sea.
Diverting those river waters for farming could boost harvests right away.
But the inland lakes dependent on those rivers would take a direct hit.
It wouldn't happen immediately, but in thirty years, the irrigation projects in Central Asia and Siberia would bring truly catastrophic side effects.
'Well, that's not Khrushchev's concern.'
In a situation where even a few years ahead was uncertain, why worry about thirty years from now?
The real issue was drought.
Even after completing the irrigation projects, a drought would ruin everything.
In the original timeline, it was severe drought that delivered the final blow to Khrushchev's agricultural promotion policies.
Come to think of it, a drought was definitely coming soon.
I decided to take this opportunity to increase grain reserves.
When drought struck the Soviet Union and caused crop failures, grain prices would skyrocket.
Just selling food at reasonable prices then would secure major goodwill.
With the idea fresh in my mind, I called a cabinet meeting to handle it.
"You mean to increase grain reserves?"
"That's what I said."
Under proper storage conditions, grains could be preserved far longer than one might imagine.
For example, wheat, white rice, corn, dried beans, and oats could last over thirty years.
Thirty years might sound short, but it spanned an entire generation.
Korea already had 36 grain silos capable of long-term storage like this.
We had never fully utilized that capacity until now.
"Expand the silos too and increase storage capacity. Anyway, isn't ramping up grain imports the easiest way to appease the US and Europe?"
"In the long term, excess reserves will become a disposal problem."
I know.
Grain storage costs money too.
But knowing a drought was coming, it would be foolish not to stockpile.
"The world grain market has been stable so far, but there's no guarantee it will stay that way."
From now on, grain prices would steadily rise.
Even without drought, the explosively growing population would ensure it.
"How much do you want to increase reserves by?"
"If possible, I'd like to stockpile about 10 billion bushels."
I said that, but I knew Korea's reserve limit was 7.2 billion bushels.
"Your Excellency, even 7 billion bushels in silos would incur astronomical storage fees."
"We can recover those costs, so don't worry. Do you think I'd propose this without calculating that much?"
If we couldn't recover in cash, we'd get it back through political leverage.
Korea had the ability to extract profits even without monetary repayment.
"We'll carry it out."
My order led to large-scale grain purchases.
Our aggressive buying spree triggered a rise in international grain prices at the Chicago Grain Exchange.
But prices didn't surge dramatically.
The overall harvest that year was good, and with Khrushchev declaring an increase of over five million tons in next year's production, grains didn't climb sharply.
Market grain experts also forecasted stable prices.
'Everyone's too optimistic.'
I scoffed at their optimism.
Living in the 21st century, where weather threw tantrums constantly, made such naive thinking impossible.
"We'll secure 6 billion bushels by year's end and 7 billion by early next year."
"That's not bad either."
Less than I wanted, but still no small amount.
7 billion bushels was enough to supply all the grain the Soviets would need in an emergency and then some.
As we went all-in on food stockpiling, a telegram arrived from Moscow.
"Your Excellency Prime Minister. If you plan to stockpile grain next year too, how about purchasing from the Federation?"
"That wouldn't be bad."
If they sold grain from Moscow, we had plenty of interest.
Soviet grain had the advantage of lower shipping costs than from America.
"Then we'll supply 500 million bushels at the start of the year."
"You're fine supplying that much grain?"
"It's fine."
Really?
The Soviet population was over 240 million now, far larger than in the original timeline.
Could they feed that massive populace and still export?
Even if possible, it seemed like a one-time thing.
But I had no intention of worrying about the reds.
One country—Korea—was enough for me to worry about.
I decided to accept the Soviet grain deal.
*
"I wish we knew why Korea's buying up grain like that. It's frustrating not knowing."
Cargill's head, Erwin Kelm, expressed regret over the lack of information to judge the situation.
Of course, the world's top grain giant Cargill hadn't just sat idly by after noticing Korea's purchases.
Cargill sent agents to the world's top three croplands: Argentina's Pampas Plains, America's Great Plains, and the Soviet Union's black soil belt to check conditions.
No anomalies turned up during the inspections.
Harvests were about the same as usual.
But a superpower like Korea, eyeing the number two spot, wouldn't stockpile grain for no reason.
Erwin Kelm thought Cargill shouldn't release its reserves to the market until the mystery was solved.
"For now, check everything—Soviet virgin lands projects and all grain-related ventures."
"We'll do our best."
Cargill wasn't alone in this.
Competitors like Monsanto and Bunge thought similarly.
'Korea isn't stupid; there must be a reason.'
Far from foolish, Korea was a victorious nation that had never slipped up.
If such a country decided to buy grain, they must have seen something grain firms missed.
'Maybe war?'
It was possible.
After watching Korea closely, the grain companies decided to cut supplies.
"What? Cut grain supplies?"
"It's temporary. We're not withdrawing from the market entirely."
The impact was enormous.
When America's big three grain majors and Europe's Louis Dreyfus all reduced supplies, grain prices began soaring at unimaginable speeds.
Grain-importing countries fixated on the Chicago Grain Exchange soon started screaming.
"This is telling us to die."
Africa, hit hardest by the grain shock, saw governments topple like dominoes.
"You parasites who can't even put bread in people's mouths, step down. Now's the era of true Korean-style democracy—"
"True Korean-style democracy my ass. You don't even know the New Community Movement?"
In the chaos, countless Korean-style democrats launched coups, flipping countries upside down.
South Asia and the Middle East weren't spared the shockwaves either.
"At this rate, we can't hold out."
Oil-producing nations strongly demanded price hikes from the Seven Sisters and other oil firms.
"Not too much—just double it. Oil at a dollar something a barrel is way too cheap."
"10%."
"What?"
"10% hike. Take it or leave it."
The oil companies refused to yield any of their vested interests.
"These bastards pumping our oil, why are their necks so stiff?"
The producers harbored massive resentment.
Seeing this, Iran and the Soviets fanned the flames.
"Hey, hey. Why let Westerners plunder your resources and set prices? Just nationalize them—fire that beam."
"B-But what if we get couped?"
"You'll get couped over bread prices anyway."
Not wrong.
Already driven mad by the grain shock, the oil nations began exploring nationalization despite superpower threats.
In this way, the Korea-triggered grain shock that shook the world gave one certainty to the Red Empire's leader, Khrushchev.
"If our Federation gains the same power as these grain majors, who in the world could threaten us?"
Master food, and inferiority in light and heavy industry could be overcome.
So, agriculture it was.
The Federation would make a Great Leap Forward in agriculture.
Khrushchev resolved to pour every last drop of the Federation's strength into the new farmlands being reclaimed in Kazakhstan and southern Siberia.