Chapter five hundred and fifty seventh dollar open the way

The country is already spending money in spring, the city is full of greenery, and Moscow is still shrouded in snow.

Although it was not snowing in the sky, the snow on the side of the road and the mud on the road told Li Weidong that it was still a cold winter here.

Sitting in the car, Li Weidong could still feel the bumps from under his butt even though he was driving on the main road.

The cars produced in Russia are generally more spacious, but the comfort is really unsatisfactory.

The most important thing is that there are pits on the road!

Due to economic reasons, most of the roads in Moscow are in disrepair. Even a few main roads are always full of potholes. Probably only the road in front of the Red Square is slightly smoother.

Although the gradually melting snow has filled up some potholes on the road, the driver who couldn't bear to drive was a Russian driver. The driving style of this driver shows the boldness of the fighting nation.

As soon as he stepped on the accelerator, the car flew up, and when he passed the road with potholes, Li Weidong was turned upside down, and then his head hit the roof of the car.

The car drove into the urban area of ​​Moscow, and there were gradually more pedestrians on the roadside.

There were long queues at the entrance of many stores. Li Weidong took a closer look and saw that the customers who came out were all holding square big Lieba.

Li Weidong had eaten this before, and it was not delicious at all.

Russian Daliba is actually whole-wheat bread. It has no sugar and no oil. The skin is crispy and hard. Fortunately, the inside will be slightly softer.

The bread that Europeans eat on a daily basis is often relatively solid, and it is very difficult to eat. In the entire European continent, only the bread made by Jews is soft, and the bread baked by other ethnic groups is hard.

For example, the bread baked by the Germans can be used as a brick to smash people. Maybe if the 1v1 knocks, the bricks may not beat the German bread.

Therefore, every bakery in Germany is equipped with a bread slicer, and various cross-cutting and chopping functions are readily available. Because German bread is so hard that it is impossible to cut it when you buy it at home and cut it yourself.

Looking at the crowd buying bread, Li Weidong couldn't help but think of the scene when he came to Russia a few years ago.

At that time, Li Weidong had just bought the loader factory, so he used dozens of cartons of canned fruit in exchange for the loader production technology from the Isette River Engineering Machinery Factory.

At that time, the Soviet Union had just disintegrated. All industries were in recession and people's livelihood was withering. At that time, there was a long queue in front of the bakery as it is today, and citizens lined up to buy bread.

Is Moscow very short of food? Li Weidong asked.

Zhao Jinlong looked out the car window and said, I haven't heard much about this. It seems that every time the ruble is demoted, the bakery will queue up. But the old Maozi I know are not ordinary people, even if they are short of food, I can't starve them.

Zhao Jinlong turned his head and said with a smile, Don't worry, you won't be hungry. I promise you will eat a lot of meat, and you will arrive at the hotel in a while. There is enough steak, as many as you want!

Have you ever been to Russia? Li Weidong also laughed: In Russia, meat products are not expensive, but fruits and vegetables are valuable. I will eat fruit salad in a while!

The two are naturally joking. With Zhao Jinshan's financial resources, even if Li Weidong eats a few tons of vegetables and fruits, he can't eat enough of Zhao Jinshan.

Russia is located in a high latitude region and the climate is relatively cold, which is unfriendly to the growth of most crops, so Russian agriculture has never been able to achieve high yields.

But Russia's land area is large enough that quantity can be used to make up for quality. Even if the yield of crops per mu is not high, as long as the area is large enough, the grain output will naturally increase.

In the future, Russia's annual grain output will basically remain around 130 million tons.

Although this is less than one-fifth of China's grain output, considering that Russia has a population of just over 100 million, on average, one person can produce one ton of grain a year.

Ordinary people certainly cannot eat a ton of grain a year, so Russia still exports more than 10 million tons of wheat every year.

In the late 1990s, Russia's grain production was not so high.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and years of shock therapy, Russia's grain output has not risen but fallen, and it has not been as good as the former Soviet era.

At this time, Russia's annual grain output was only about 60 million tons, less than half of that of later generations.

But even with an annual output of 60 million tons of grain, on average, each Russian can eat less than half a ton of grain a year, and it will definitely not go hungry, nor will it go to the point of panic buying.

The reason why there are queues to buy large buses is due to the devaluation of the ruble.

Russia's light industrial base is weak, and a large number of daily necessities are imported. Therefore, whenever the ruble depreciates, the price of daily necessities will rise, thus causing inflation.

Inflation will drive up food prices, resulting in a situation where people are queuing up to buy large buses even though there is enough food to eat.

Therefore, whenever there is a devaluation of the ruble in the future, people will queue up to buy bread.

Later, Russia also wanted to understand that the international trade system is mainly settled in US dollars, and the reason why the US dollar can occupy the hegemonic position of international trade is mainly because the bulk commodities are priced in US dollars, the core of which are oil and grain.

But oil and grain, Russia has no shortage, not only can it be independent, but the excess may also be sold to other countries, so why should you look at the face of your dollar?

As a result, Russia in later generations has become more and more rigid in the face of Western sanctions, and Western sanctions have become more and more ineffective.

...

The car came to a luxury hotel in Moscow. Zhao Jinshan and Li Weidong got out of the car. The two walked into the hotel lobby. They saw a Chinese man about 50 years old waiting there. After he saw Zhao Jinshan, he left immediately. come over.

Mr. Zhao, the room has been arranged, and I have also seen it. The man went on to say, I wanted to pick you up at the airport, but you won't let me.

Lao Xing, you've worked hard! Zhao Jinshan said and pointed at the man, and said, Wei Dong, let me introduce you to someone. This is Lao Xing. I used to rely on Lao Xing for help when I came to Moscow to talk business.

I'm just helping to drink a few glasses of wine. Lao Xing looked at Li Weidong and said, This is Chairman Li! My name is Xing Sihai, you can call me Lao Xing.

Li Weidong greeted Lao Xing, and Zhao Jinshan continued to introduce; Lao Xing's drinking capacity is very good, it is almost impossible to get drunk after a thousand cups, not only can drink white wine, but also vodka and whisky.

This Lao Maozi especially likes to drink vodka. No matter what happens, he has to drink half a bottle. You are talking about business with Lao Maozi, and you can't drink.

Not only do you need to know how to drink, but you also have to drink a lot. It is best to drink a toast with Lao Maozi, and make them happy. At this time, the business will be negotiated.

My own alcohol consumption is okay, but I can't compare with Lao Maozi, especially the vodka, which is pungent and choking, similar to alcohol. How can we drink wine made from grain! I'm not used to drinking.

So every time I talk business with Lao Maozi, I call Lao Xing over and ask Lao Xing to drink with those Lao Maozi. Every time I can drink Lao Maozi down, the business can be negotiated!

Li Weidong couldn't help but look at Lao Xing, thinking to himself, if this person can really drink down a table of Russians, he is really a talented person! Taking him to negotiate business in Russia will definitely be beneficial.

Lao Xing opened his mouth and said, I used to be a bad guy. Later, a batch of goods was detained. It was supposed to be confiscated, and I had to pay a fine. Will owe a lot of debt.

In the end, thanks to Mr. Chen's help, I released the batch of goods, so that I, Lao Xing, would not starve to death on the street! Chen is always my savior, as long as it is what President Chen ordered, I, Lao Xing, will go through fire and water, and I will do whatever it takes!

...

Two days later, Zhao Jinshan successfully made an appointment for a dinner.

At the dinner, Lao Xing really showed his great power. He just started drinking from a cup, but he soon turned into a bottle of vodka and blew it to his mouth. He was about to say Old iron, give you a spin!

Although there was no Old Tie Xuan, the shouts of Hala whistle soon came one after another.

Hala whistle or not?

Hala whistle!

Zhao Jinshan next to him smiled, and at this time he had arrived at the information he wanted.

The old man said just now that there is a man named Agafonov. In the warehouse under his control, there are medium and large industrial machinery. Some of them have not even been used. They have been sealed up since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Zhao Jinshan paused, then said, If we want to repay the debt with things, we can contact that Agafonov, as long as he does the same, he can get things out of the warehouse.

After another three days, Zhao Jinshan contacted Agafonov, and then it was another dinner.

Just as the pear blossoms are blooming all over the world, and the gentle veil is floating on the river, Katyusha is standing on the steep bank, and the singing is like a bright spring...

At the dinner, Lao Xing sang the famous song Katyusha from the former Soviet Union, and it was not bad, at least he didn't run away.

Under the influence of alcohol, other Russians at the dinner table also began to sing in Russian.

Zhao Jinshan took the opportunity to take out a wooden red wine box, handed it to Agafonov, and quietly opened the corner of the box.

Agafonov looked at the red wine box and found that Franklin in the box was staring at him.

Franklin in green is really cute!

Based on the thickness of the box, Agafonov estimated how many Franklins could be in the box, and took the red wine box with a smile.

...

Two days later, Li Weidong and Zhao Jinshan took a jeep and drove on the dilapidated roads on the outskirts of Moscow.

The warehouse should be right in front. Zhao Jinshan took the map and compared the road signs next to it from time to time, and he didn't know if he could understand it.

That sign seems to be a military restricted area, is it forbidden to drive in? Li Weidong said, pointing to a dilapidated road sign on the side of the road.

Although Li Weidong could not read Russian, he could still understand the sign.

Zhao Jinshan replied: What we are going to this time is a military base, or it used to be a military base. In the former Soviet Union, tanks and armored vehicles were stored there.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, tanks and armored vehicles were sold, and the warehouses were empty, and then used to store various industrial equipment that was eliminated. Now it is not a military base, but a large warehouse.

So it is. Li Weidong nodded.

However, when he got there, Li Weidong found that the guards at the gate were still soldiers with guns and live ammunition.

Didn't you say, isn't this a military base? Why are there still soldiers? Li Weidong said nervously.

Although it's not a military base, there is still a lot of equipment stored in it! It still needs someone to guard it. Zhao Jinshan said, took out a piece of paper, and then said: Don't worry, I have Agafonov here. passport.

Zhao Jinshan said, took out 20 five-dollar dollars and put them in the pass.

I think Abraham Lincoln is the real pass! Li Weidong thought secretly.

The car drove to the door, and the guard came over immediately. Zhao Jinshan directly handed over the pass. The guard opened the pass, and when he saw a large dollar, his eyes suddenly flashed.

He put away the dollars, then returned the pass to Zhao Jinshan, put the jeep in, and did not forget to salute Zhao Jinshan.

Then the guard went back to divide the dollars.

There must be more than one guard at the door, so Zhao Jinshan only stuffed 20 Lincolns instead of a Franklin.

20 pieces of Lincoln, on the one hand, it looks thick, and on the other hand, it is also convenient for the guards to divide the spoils.

The car drove into the former military base. Zhao Jinshan and Li Weidong also met the person in charge of the military base.

General Agafonov asked us to come. This is a letter of introduction issued by General Agafonov. Zhao Jinshan said, and handed the envelope to the person in charge of the base.

The person in charge of the base took the envelope and felt that the envelope was a bit thick. He opened it and found that it was green inside, and he immediately smiled.

Another $10,000 went out.

The person in charge of the base put the envelope close to him, and then said, General Agafonov has already called me, and I will send someone to take you to the warehouse right away. You can choose whatever you want.

After a while, the warehouse manager appeared and took Zhao Jinshan and Li Weidong to the warehouse.

Mr. Vlasievich, do you smoke? Zhao Jinshan said, took out a box of cigars, and continued, I have a box of cigars here, please accept it with a smile.

The warehouse manager Vlasievic was originally a little impatient, but when he saw Zhao Jinshan giving gifts, his attitude suddenly eased a lot.

He took the cigar box and held it in his hand, but his brows were slightly wrinkled.

Cigars should be a little heavy, right? How come this box of cigars is lighter than a box of cigarettes! Is there not a few cigars in it at all?

Vlasievich opened it and found that there was indeed no cigar inside, but a small stack of dollars.

There were no outsiders around, and Vlasievich directly took out the dollar and counted it, which was exactly one thousand dollars.

Vlasievic became enthusiastic in an instant: Mr. Zhao, you can look at these warehouses as long as you want! If so, I have vodka there, and my mother's pickled pickled cucumbers...