Chapter 118 Is this a diving contest?: The exploitation of the people by the powerful and wealthy is often far more ruthless.

The village chief's wife felt that Wang Xiao was truly cold-hearted.

Other mothers are crying their hearts out after losing their babies, but she remains completely unmoved, as if she weren't the murderer.

Goodness, no wonder she can make money. She's so ruthless; she does things that will ruin her family line.

She and the woman in the blue jacket exchanged a furtive glance, both shaking their heads inwardly, thinking, "How despicable!"

Wang Xiao drank a bottle of glucose water prescribed by the doctor, not because she was craving it, but simply because she was bleeding and feeling dizzy.

She had originally planned to lie down and take a nap, but the wailing and howling next to her gave her a headache. After drinking the glucose water, she decided to go back to rest.

Just as she reached the door of the observation room, the door to the operating room next door suddenly opened, and a pale-faced woman rushed out and desperately lunged at Wang Xiao.

Even the tall, strong Russian nurses and police officers tried their best to stop her: "Madam, you need to rest, please lie down and rest."

The disheveled woman continued to roar at Wang Xiao: "Murderer, you murderer! You killed my child, and my child will stay with you forever, you just wait!"

Oh dear, Wang Xiao wasn't scared at all.

She said expressionlessly, "Your child is with me, and you want to set up a longevity tablet for me to thank me for giving him/her a second chance to be reincarnated? What sins did he/she commit in his/her past life that he/she dug up your family's ancestral graves or blow up the universe? How much evil must he/she have committed to be born into your womb! Born with a robber as a father and a kidnapper as a mother, he/she must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to have such a hellish start."

The Chinese villagers who rushed over upon hearing the news couldn't help but burst out laughing. But then she realized it was inappropriate, looked around, and quickly suppressed her laughter.

The woman screamed at Wang Xiao at the top of her lungs, "You killed my child! You have to pay with your life!"

Perhaps thinking that the Russians couldn't understand Chinese, she glared at Wang Xiao threateningly, "If you don't let me go, I'll sue you and put you in jail too."

Wang Xiao shook his head, ignoring her completely, and walked away with his head up.

As if realizing she had lost her last lifeline, the woman desperately shouted, "I'll sue you! I really will sue you!"

Finally, the bodyguard couldn't take it anymore and turned around to yell, "Sue my ass! What are you going to sue? Mr. Wang, this is self-defense. Ignorant and shameful!"

Wang Xiao kept walking forward without stopping or hesitating.

Do you feel sympathy? Do you feel annoyed?

Sorry, I don't have a single penny.

Even now, she is not afraid to assume the worst about the kidnapper.

Was this person the first to target her, just because she was pregnant?

Knowing that dealing with pregnant women would be a lot of trouble for the judicial authorities, they sometimes simply choose not to arrest them to avoid trouble.

Therefore, they acted without restraint.

Even if human nature wasn't so wicked, and she was simply radiating pure maternal instinct, Wang Xiao couldn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy.

What kind of parents are they, living their own chaotic lives, and having children? It's ridiculous! Are they going to raise a child in a den of thieves, teaching them how to be thieves?

He has absolutely no sense of responsibility; his brain is full of holes!

Damn it, she's the one who has to clean up this mess caused by this trash.

"The identities of all farm employees and part-time employees must be clearly defined. Those with unclear origins cannot be hired."

Wang Xiao gritted his teeth, "If tourists who come back for a visit get kidnapped, who can take responsibility for that? Also, this matter shouldn't be spread any further. Everyone should keep their mouths shut, or they'll scare away all the customers. How are we supposed to do business then?"

Don't be fooled by the low entry fee for guests from Moscow at the Tomato Festival; their entire families ate and drank quite a bit, spending a considerable amount of money.

Moreover, before they leave, they take away about a week's worth of groceries: potatoes, vegetables, eggs, and even various pickles such as eggplant sauce; all in all, the guests bring in a considerable amount of income for the collective farm every weekend.

On the surface, the agricultural products that guests buy at the collective farm are much cheaper than those sold in the city market.

But in reality, farms can earn more.

Because when people buy directly from the source, they bear the transportation costs and losses during transit themselves.

Ivanov quickly nodded in agreement, "Okay, okay," and then he told the people to get to work.

Suvinokin never expected that he would encounter something like this when he simply came out to experience the rural life on the farm.

For a moment, he felt incredibly superfluous and too ashamed to continue. He hesitated, then pointed to the book in his hand and asked, "Can I take this back with me?"

He knew he definitely wouldn't understand it just by looking at it; he was really looking forward to the instant translation software that Wang Xiao and his team were planning to develop.

However, the air force is a place where hidden talents abound, so finding someone who understands Chinese is not too difficult.

Wang Xiao was quite generous: "Of course, thank you for your kind words."

Anyway, she bought a whole bunch of these books wholesale.

It's truly remarkable that Sun Chao, a government official who receives a government salary but doesn't work within the grain system, managed to find ways to solve the problem of farmers having difficulty selling their grain.

She admired him quite a bit.

Besides, only after she had sent the outsiders away could she discuss the next steps with Ivanov.

The car drove back to Moscow. Wang Xiao and his group politely saw Suvinokin off, then turned around and gave instructions: "Spread the word that someone tried to kidnap me, but was caught by the Russian police and is now in jail. Hmm, don't go into too much detail, just be vague about the location, say they tried to kidnap me in a toilet, and don't go into anything else. Emphasize that they were all caught and won't be released for several years."

Isn't it rumored that she has high-ranking connections in the Russian police force? Let's continue with this misunderstanding.

Human nature is to bully the weak and fear the strong, especially evil people. If you really ask them to confront a tough guy, they wouldn't dare even if you gave them ten lives.

In fact, if they just took a little time to read through the whole thing, they would realize that the whole thing was a complete fabrication.

The reason Moscow police are so effective is because the Russian federal government itself is highly vigilant about gatherings of foreigners.

When they were working hard for Qiangqiang's sake, they originally wanted to propose forming a Chinese business association, but the relevant departments in Moscow stopped them immediately.

Modern Russia still bears the strong imprint of the Soviet era.

Take the KGB for example. After the August 19th incident last year, the Russian president originally intended to reform the KGB. However, as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, the official stance immediately changed, and they began to re-emphasize the importance of the KGB's existence to national security.

It is clear that in this matter, the new leader followed the standard three-step approach: questioning the old leader, understanding the old leader, and becoming the old leader.

In this tense and delicate political context, the Russian authorities will be on edge as soon as they realize that the Beijing Gang has become a large-scale foreign organization, even if it is not a criminal organization.

Moreover, it's an entity comparable to the Mafia.

The tasks were assigned one by one.

Wang Xiao glanced at his watch and then instructed Zhang Kai, the store manager who had rushed over breathlessly to visit his boss's condition: "When you go to pick up Heping's family, please apologize for me. I just got back from the hospital, and the doctor told me to rest and not run around."

Zhang Kai was quite frightened when he saw the large patch of tissue covering his boss's forehead. He nodded repeatedly and assured him, "Okay, Mr. Wang, you must get some rest."

Uh, it's probably a misunderstanding.

The gauze on her forehead was prone to falling off, and since those kinds of support nets weren't popular these days, the doctor simply wrapped a whole strip of gauze around Wang Xiao's head to secure it. Therefore, Wang Xiao's appearance at this moment was truly quite eerie.

Seeing Zhang Kai's shocked expression, Wang Xiao decided that she would continue to maintain this look in the days to come.

She was seriously injured, she was very weak, and she couldn't withstand any stimulation.

So when Jiang Heping's family members forced their way in, she could only weakly raise her head slightly, revealing a pale face.

Zhang Kai rushed in, extremely anxious: "Oh dear, I already told you, grandpa, grandma, uncle, aunt, our boss Wang is seriously injured, the doctor won't let her move."

Wang Xiao smiled weakly at them, as if she didn't even have the strength to speak: "I'm sorry, uncles, aunts, grandpas and grandmas, I was supposed to pick you up at the airport. But the doctor said I can't move."

The whole room, filled with men, women, and children, was stunned. They hadn't expected Mr. Wang to be injured so badly.

Look at that head of his, someone must have cracked his skull open.

Look at that pale face, how much blood must have been shed.

No, we can't let that distract us. This whole family has come here because they want the company to give them an explanation about Heping.

However, before they could speak, Wang Xiao weakly said, "You don't need to feel guilty. Jiang Heping is an employee of our company. As a leader, I will definitely stand up for anyone who bullies our people. Even if I am retaliated against, even if they want to kill me, I will not regret it. Don't feel pressured. Just take good care of Comrade Jiang Heping and don't worry about me."

She didn't even have the strength to say her last words. She slumped against the bed, as if she would die if she couldn't catch her breath.

Jiang Heping's mother was so startled that she blurted out, "Oh dear, Mr. Wang, why aren't you staying in the hospital? Why did you come back?"

Their family's Heping had his stitches removed today, but the hospital still wants him to stay for observation for another day.

Wang Xiao smiled weakly: "I don't want to cause trouble for the hospital. What if I hurt other patients?"

Why would it hurt other people?

Just look at the white cloth tied around Wang Xiao's head, and you'll know he's a thug, a burglar-prevention bandit who's much more ruthless than street thugs.

During a crackdown, these are all people who should have been dragged out and shot.

She wasn't staying at the hospital not because she was afraid of causing trouble for the doctors and nurses, but purely because she was afraid of being retaliated against again.

After all, hospitals are bustling with people, so who knows if things will turn out like they do in the movies.

Suddenly a person in a white coat walks in, and you might think they're a nurse, but then they pull out a gun and start firing at you.

Oh my goodness, just thinking about it makes my heart race and my hands tremble.

I feel more at ease staying in my own little corner of the world.

Jiang Heping's parents and elders exchanged glances, all thinking the same thing: why bother trying to get their child a promotion? The important thing is for him to recover and return home as soon as possible.

Otherwise, what if those people come to their senses and turn around to seek revenge through peace?

Jiang Heping's mother forced a smile: "Well... Mr. Wang, please get some rest. Don't overwork yourself, or you'll end up with a mental problem."

Wang Xiao gave a weak smile: "Then I'll trouble you to take good care of Comrade Jiang Heping."

As Xiao Gao and the others saw him off, they wondered if this was the aftereffect of what happened to President Wang. He hadn't been this weak in the hospital.

That's true, women are generally weaker physically.

She bled so much and had such a long gash on her forehead; the fact that she didn't faint on the spot shows she has a strong mentality.

While accompanying Jiang Heping's family, Zhang Kai flattered his boss, saying, "It was only because our boss, Mr. Wang, used his connections that those people from the Beijing gang were arrested. There are countless Chinese people who have been robbed and beaten, and they all had to swallow their grievances."

Jiang Heping's grandmother huffed and puffed, "Oh, Mom's a police officer, so what's wrong with her?"

Zhang Kai sneered, "What's there to care about? We're not the Russians. They'd be too busy laughing at us if they saw us fighting like dogs."

Uh, that's true.

Let alone foreigners.

Even during the era when educated youth were sent to the countryside, the villagers wouldn't let the educated youth fight amongst themselves, as long as they didn't damage the production team or the property on other people's private plots.

Zhang Kai seized the opportunity to emphasize, "Our boss, Mr. Wang, went to great lengths to pull strings and find connections."

His subtext was crystal clear: that's enough.

Since Jiang Heping's accident, the company has done its job. They didn't have to pay for his medical expenses, they gave him 10,000 yuan for nutritional support, and the company gave him a 2,000-dollar subsidy. What more do they want?

In China, if you get beaten up on your way home from get off work, your employer will pay your medical expenses, and the labor union might offer condolences once at most.

Are you suggesting we treat you like an ancestor?

Let's be friendly and get along well.

The company has done its job well, but you can't think that the company is easy to take advantage of and take advantage of us.

The footsteps faded into the distance, and Ivanov came over from the office next door.

It's truly amazing. They're both bosses, but this boss is perfectly healthy and fine; Jiang Heping's family, on the other hand, never even considered looking for him.

It seems that everyone assumes the Russians don't care about Chinese affairs.

Ivanov came to ask Wang Xiao, "Are you recuperating in Moscow or going to Romania?"

Don't get me wrong, he didn't tell people to leave.

Instead, Wang Xiao had planned to go to Bucharest, but was temporarily delayed by the car factory matter.

Now that both the car factory and the 224th Flight Team issues have been resolved, it's only natural that she'd go to Bucharest to oversee the filming of the TV series.

Wang Xiao sighed and leaned back: "No, no, I won't go there until the wound on my forehead heals."

Why?

Because Bucharest is a new tourist attraction in Dachang, Ms. Chen Yanqiu is now a permanent resident there. Every few days, she goes to the airport to pick up a group of people and then accompanies them to eat, drink, and play, mainly acting as a "three-accompaniment" person.

She's flying to Bucharest now, how will she cover the wound on her forehead?

In this sweltering heat, if you cover your wound with your hair, are you afraid it won't get infected?

So let's just forget about it, out of sight, out of mind, to avoid Ms. Chen's nagging.

Ivanov nodded in agreement, then, like an old man praising his own wares, added, "Our summers in Moscow are much better than those in Romania."

Indeed, even Romanian greenhouse workers admit that Russian summers are more pleasant.

Especially in Siberia, standing in the open and feeling the wind is incredibly comfortable.

Wang Xiao chuckled: "Then I'll just enjoy the Moscow summer to the fullest."

She officially began her recovery period.

That evening, her third sister came to visit her again.

I guess they originally had a lot to say, but when they saw her shaved head, they didn't say anything in the end, just sighed and told her to rest well and not to overwork herself.

When he left, he even left her a red envelope, saying it was a small token of appreciation from the Chinese businessmen in Beijing.

The Beijing gang is the Beijing gang, and they are themselves; they don't associate with each other, and there's no need for them to continue sticking together.

Wang Xiao accepted the red envelope with a smile.

Giving red envelopes when visiting patients is standard practice, and she gave quite a lot of money as gifts.

Thus, the news that Wang Xiao had been seriously injured and was bedridden was finally confirmed.

Then, her recovery process couldn't be left unattended, so the finance department came to report.

Boss, the central bank has issued new regulations that allow banks to sell foreign currency. Should we exchange all our rubles?

Ivanov jumped up in disbelief: "Where is this regulation from? What document?"

According to previous regulations, banks only bought foreign currency from individuals, but did not sell it to them. The official explanation was that they did not have enough foreign exchange funds.

But in fact, some banks do do this. Some banks transfer foreign exchange into their own accounts and then sell the foreign exchange through foreign exchange exchanges at a higher rate to make a profit.

The finance officer pushed the "Economy and Life" magazine in front of him: "Here is the latest telegram from the Russian Federal Bank."

Ivanov skimmed through the text and immediately decided, "Change them all."

His intuition told him that once this policy was introduced, the ruble would continue to fall in the short term.

Because everyone was busy selling rubles and buying dollars or German marks, currencies they considered more stable.

The Russian Federation simply does not have enough foreign exchange reserves to support the falling exchange rate.

At this point, his businessman instincts kicked in, and he completely forgot that Marxists should strive to stabilize the ruble.

Upon receiving the order, the finance department quickly arranged for subordinates to split up and sell as many rubles as possible.

The door closed, and Ivanov began pacing back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, "What are they trying to do? How much do they think they are? Do they really believe the people trust them? Ha, how foolish."

Yes, yes, even a fool can see that the banks are doing this to absorb as many rubles as possible, thereby reducing the amount of currency circulating in the market (foreign currency has very broad restrictions on its use and cannot circulate on a large scale). In this way, they can curb inflation and stabilize the ruble's exchange rate.

However, these conventional methods are completely useless for the current Russian economy.

It will only accelerate the collapse of Russia's economy.

Wang Xiao, being an outsider, couldn't empathize with his feelings. Instead, she stepped in and coldly observed the situation: "Let's take out a loan, as much as possible. Either convert it into foreign currency, or buy land, shops, or other things that can retain their value."

Why?

Because if the ruble plummets, taking out a loan now and repaying it later would save a lot of money.

Don't blame them for lacking any sense of honor; it's just that the Russian federal government changes its policies so frequently that it makes you want to spit on it.

Can you believe it? According to the latest legal regulations in July, Russian companies participating in joint ventures will also have to pay 28% VAT, 32% profit tax, and 15% income tax.

What's the point of the Russian companies even having a joint venture? They basically hand over all their profits, working hard all year round, and not having a penny left in their pockets.

If things continue like this, it's practically closing itself off from the world and has no intention of attracting foreign investment at all.

After all, no matter what kind of foreign capital enters the market, without the cooperation of Russian companies, foreign monks cannot actually chant scriptures well on Russian turf.

Besides, don't think that this rule only cheats Ivanov out of his money. According to their cooperation, half of the money that was cheated out of her also belonged to her.

Since you are so heartless, don't blame me for being unjust.

It's a money-grabbing scheme; let's see who can outscam whom.

It's really heartbreaking to think about. If a normal financial investor knew that the ruble was falling sharply, they would definitely short it and make a fortune.

The problem is that Wang Xiao may not be born with the talent to make money in this area.

Because her limited knowledge told her that the ruble was inexhaustible and that the government had no ability or even thought of playing with the currency.

Later, it issued new rubles, and the old rubles that could not be exchanged were simply invalidated.

Surprised? Unexpected? Someone who didn't know better might think the national regime had been overthrown again.

It is precisely because of this shady operation by the Russian government that Central Asian countries, which previously had relatively close relations with it, have turned against it.

The ruble district has officially come to an end.

But Wang Xiao really couldn't remember exactly when it happened.

After all, before she transmigrated into the book, the Russia-Ukraine war had been going on for so long that she was barely paying attention to the news. Without constant review, she naturally forgot most of the relevant background knowledge.

Ivanov thought for a moment, then solemnly counted on his fingers: "Steel and wood are both fine."

In fact, if allowed, he would even like to buy the forest.

However, Russia's privatization efforts are a mess, with even government agencies not understanding what they are doing. As for forest privatization, there is currently no hope.

Indeed, if he could buy the forest, he could sell timber while simultaneously organizing hunting tourism projects.

Right now, let's buy everything we can first.

However, when they actually started working on it, Wang Xiao and Ivanov realized that their ideas were too conservative. In fact, there were many things they could buy, or rather, people would come to them to buy.

For example, when it comes to sophisticated instruments and equipment, they don't even have time to find suitable manufacturers in China to act as a matchmaker; they simply buy them first, then advertise them in relevant professional magazines in China, waiting for suitable buyers to come to them.

However, this won't work, because they're not the only ones who think the ruble will fall.

Everyone is trying to find ways to cash out and then exchange it for foreign currency as soon as possible.

In fact, everyone's intuition was quite accurate this time.

The ruble began to plummet on July 27, when the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced that individuals could freely exchange foreign currency at designated banks.

In just one week, the exchange rate of US dollar cash at the Bank of Moscow rose by 25 to 30 rubles.

I exchanged my currency early and was secretly relieved.

Those who reacted slowly were all filled with regret and frustration.

People came running over wanting to sell things to them, or, the longer they queued, the more desperate they became, so they directly exchanged their rubles for goods, and more and more of them did so.

Fortunately, Flight 224 got up to speed quickly and flew seven flights in a row; otherwise, Wuzhou Company wouldn't have had enough planes.

Good heavens! Giant airplanes are so useful; even those huge lathes can be loaded directly onto the plane and transported away.

Besides these precision instruments, the rubles from the loan were mostly spent on agricultural machinery.

Wait, what's going on?

Didn't Ivanov buy a lot of agricultural machinery in Romania? At the time, they were quite pleased with themselves for successfully spending their rubles.

Wow, there are so many kinds of agricultural machinery.

Moreover, there are quite a few agricultural machines stockpiled in various Russian states, border regions, and republics.

How did they know about this?

Well, this all started with the management of a farm in the suburbs of Moscow.

Didn't Wang Xiao almost get kidnapped at the farm before? Although she quickly issued a gag order, it's impossible to expect the farmers to keep quiet.

Rumors still spread, and some people even came to the commercial street to ask about what happened.

Wang Xiao and Ivanov were both prepared for a significant drop in business during this period.

As a result, the farm did see a decrease of about 10% in visitor numbers during the first weekend. However, before the weekend arrived and no new picking activities were held, the farm was suddenly flooded with visitors.

What's even more amazing is that these guests included not only residents of Moscow city but also people from other cities in the Moscow region.

At first, the farm didn't take it too seriously. Everyone subconsciously thought that August in Moscow was cooler than July, so more people would be willing to go out for a stroll.

But when the weekend came, the farm even welcomed guests from all the way from St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, everyone was truly dumbfounded.

St. Petersburg is a big city, its status is somewhat like Shanghai in China, and it is considered a cosmopolitan city in Russia.

Is it really necessary for the people of this city to travel four or five hundred kilometers, all the way to a farm in the suburbs of Moscow? Aren't there farms in the suburbs of St. Petersburg?

The newly elected manager of the farm sensed something was amiss and quickly called the boss to report it.

As a peasant girl who married into a family after giving birth, she was able to become the person in charge purely because she had the best Russian.

By spending her days chatting with elderly Russian farm women using gestures and other methods, and by learning Russian from television while they played cards in the evenings, she successfully mastered Russian listening, speaking, reading, and writing in less than four months.

However, due to her special status, she was not well-regarded in the village as the person in charge of the farm.

This also forced her to be extremely careful in everything she did.

Wang Xiao asked curiously, "Did you ask them why they went so far?"

The person in charge smiled wryly: "I asked, and they said it's because our products are good; cucumbers taste like cucumbers, and tomatoes taste like tomatoes."

But who would believe that? They bought a huge sack of vegetables in one go. How many people in their family could possibly eat it all?

Wang Xiao comforted her, "Don't worry, just treat them the way you normally would. I'll try to find out more."

She then called a reporter from Pravda to inquire about what had happened in St. Petersburg and why so many people were suddenly coming to their farm to buy things.

Could there have been a serious agricultural disaster or something similar over there?

If that's the case, we'd better prepare in advance.

With the autumn harvest season fast approaching, if things fall apart at the last minute, there'll be nowhere to turn for help.

The reporter didn't realize it at first, but after asking around, he learned that it was a peasant revolt in St. Petersburg.

On August 5, National Farmers' Unity Day, farmers blocked the municipal government and major urban traffic arteries with heavy-duty wheeled tractors and trucks, demanding that the government increase subsidies for agricultural products and repay the debts owed by the state to farms and agricultural estates from 1990 to 1991.

To achieve this goal, they threatened to halt the sale of agricultural and livestock products for three days to a month.

In fact, they did just that.

It's summer now, and agricultural products spoil very easily in the summer. It's practically impossible for city dwellers to stockpile large quantities of fresh vegetables and other livestock products.

When the peasants rebel, everyone's lives immediately become very difficult.

Some quick-thinking individuals recalled a newspaper report about a collective farm in the suburbs of Moscow that consistently sold fresh vegetables at very low prices.

They acted without hesitation and rushed to Moscow to stockpile goods.

Among them, vegetables such as potatoes, winter melons, eggplants, bell peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes, which can be stored for three to five days, are the most popular.

It's understandable that they wouldn't tell the truth to the farm manager.

After all, if farmers in Moscow were to follow suit and take to the streets to protest and refuse to sell their agricultural and livestock products, what would the town's residents eat and drink?

The reporter sighed and said it was no wonder that the farmers couldn't stand it and had to take to the streets to protest.

The government has really gone too far.

For example, at the beginning of this year, the federal government decided to allocate 6.5 billion rubles in budget funds to support the agricultural economy.

Based on the calculation of 70,000 farming households nationwide at the time, a farmer could receive more than 90,000 rubles.

Even if the ruble has depreciated significantly now, and the purchasing power of 90,000 rubles is only equivalent to 60,000 at the beginning of the year, that's still acceptable.

In reality, even in the suburbs of Moscow, each farmer received only a little over seven thousand rubles in aid.

If the capital is like this, what about other regions? They will only be worse.

Even more critically, the shock therapy caused a surge in the prices of agricultural and industrial products, and the price scissors between agricultural and industrial products widened dramatically, making it difficult for farmers to maintain production.

Russian agriculture is characterized by large-scale mechanized production and relies heavily on various agricultural machinery products, such as tillers and combine harvesters.

However, from last year to now, the average purchase price of agricultural products has increased ninefold, while the price of agricultural industrial products has increased 16 to 19 times.

Even if a farm does not want to abandon its land, it has no choice but to do so if it is unable to maintain production and operation.

Coupled with overly radical modern agricultural reform policies that prioritized form over substance and severely damaged existing productivity, along with the government's breach of promise regarding subsidies that were delayed, these factors finally pushed the farmers to their breaking point, leading to an outburst.

In addition to St. Petersburg, similar protests also broke out in other major cities such as Vladimir, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, and Krasnoyarsk on August 5.

When Wang Xiao mentioned it to Tang Yicheng, the latter suddenly realized, "That explains why they suddenly ordered so much more food."

I thought it was because autumn comes early in Vladivostok and people are making pickles and kimchi in advance, so the amount I ordered suddenly increased dramatically.

So it turns out the supply couldn't keep up.

No, although we wouldn't take advantage of his weakness to kill him, the price definitely needs to be renegotiated.

There's no reason why I'd supply at the original price while you'd double the price; otherwise, I'd be the one getting ripped off.

Tang Yicheng went off to negotiate the price with great fanfare.

They control the course, they are fearless.

Wang Xiao didn't care about that; her attention was focused on the price of agricultural machinery.

To be honest, the prices of industrial products have indeed risen quite sharply in the past year.

According to the newspaper report:

A UHAS car sold for only 7,000 rubles in 1991. Now it costs 240,000 rubles, a 35-fold increase.

The price of the T-40M·AM tractor rose from 10,000 rubles to 240,000 rubles during the same period, an increase of 24 times.

The price of a field combine harvester has increased from 20,000 rubles to 320,000 rubles, a 16-fold increase.

The price of Yenisei-1200 combine has risen from 25,000 rubles to 480,000 rubles, an increase of 19 times.

The price of tillers has generally increased by 26 to 80 times.

However, the most outrageous change is in the milking equipment. The price of the YuA-8A milking equipment has increased from 5,000 rubles to 580,000 rubles, a surge of 116 times.

With farmers' production costs rising so rapidly, it's no wonder they're clashing with the government.

Given the current average income level of farmers, it is indeed impossible for them to afford such expensive agricultural machinery.

It's not surprising that newspapers say Russia has a third of its agricultural machinery and materials that it can't sell.

But this also presents an opportunity for Wang Xiao and Ivanov: a chance to obtain substantial loans from banks.

What the Russian government is now wholeheartedly trying to replicate is the American large-scale farm model.

As long as Ivanov wholeheartedly follows government policies and caters to his superiors, the authorities will actively cooperate if he can be portrayed as an exemplary figure.

Besides, Ivanov wasn't lying. The loans he received were either used for long-term leases of large tracts of wasteland or for large-scale purchases of agricultural machinery and equipment, clearly indicating that he was going all out to develop agriculture.

Fortunately, they caught a good opportunity.

To stimulate economic development, Russia is currently implementing a loose monetary policy, essentially offering loans at will. This aims to encourage businesses to expand production.

Well, of course, that's not actually the case.

Most companies' first thought after receiving a loan is to pay their employees' wages and expand production, but that's another story; the risks are too great.

If the goods can't be sold and there's a backlog of inventory, won't you be the one who suffers?

But no matter what the factory does, the government seems to be slow to react, or perhaps it has reacted but dares not do anything, fearing that not issuing loans will make the problem even worse.

Under this loose monetary policy, Ivanov mortgaged his shops one by one, and in just over a month, he successfully obtained loans of tens of billions of rubles from banks all over Russia.

As it turned out, they were really lucky, managing to catch the last wave of benefits from bank loans.

By mid-September, the belatedly aware Russian government seemed to have finally realized the situation, and overnight, credit tightened, and loan approvals became extremely stringent.

They even learned from familiar bankers that Ivanov was blunt with them, saying, "Forget it, it's impossible to lend money anymore."

The government's harsh stance is likely related to the sharp drop in the ruble's exchange rate.

By the end of August, the exchange rate of the ruble to the dollar had soared to 190 rubles to exchange for one dollar.

The government had to find ways to reduce the amount of rubles circulating in the market.

However, this move seemed to have no effect whatsoever, and the ruble actually fell even further.

Wang Xiao didn't know if this was influenced by the peasant protests that took place across Russia on September 15th.

In any case, they strictly forbade Chinese farmers from going out on the streets that day, and required everyone to stay obediently on the farm.

After all, the Russian police don't have the concept of giving preferential treatment to foreigners, and when they arrest foreigners, they might be even more ruthless.

By the end of September, the exchange rate had changed to 300 rubles to 1 US dollar.

Ivanov was initially very happy, as autumn is the harvest season.

The crops they brought from all over China, including soybeans, potatoes, and wheat, are growing very well.

What's even more remarkable is that this year's cold wave didn't arrive early, and the farm didn't suffer from hail the size of pebbles. It can be said that the weather was perfect, making it a bountiful year.

The problem is that if the ruble continues to fall and loans become difficult to obtain, Huaxia Commercial Street, which operates in the retail industry, will truly suffer in silence.

Changing the price tags for the products every day is a considerable expense.

But what could they do? The entire nation was suffering.

Can you believe it? In just one month, the price of retail goods can skyrocket more than tenfold.

They couldn't imagine how the elderly, who were old and frail, unable to find new jobs and could only rely on their meager retirement pensions, would survive.

Ivanov sighed, holding the newspaper in his hand. Some economic experts were already predicting that by the end of the year, the ruble would fall to 500 rubles to exchange for 1 US dollar.

Undoubtedly, this will create new panic, a panic of massive ruble sell-offs.

But can you say that an economics expert is malicious and heinous for saying this at this moment?

Obviously not.

Those who sold their rubles in advance because they believed his assertions were clearly able to avoid even greater losses to come.

Amid this collapse-like wave of devaluation, Ivanov was bewildered: "Has our ruble really become worthless?"

Shouldn't currency be a symbol of national wealth?

Has Russia's national assets shrunk to this extent in such a short period of time?

How is that possible? It defies all common sense.

Wang Xiao watched him pace back and forth, thought for a long time, and then made a guess: "Could it be artificial devaluation?"

The devaluation of the ruble is truly bizarre, to the point that it completely defies economic principles.

Although the ruble was indeed overvalued against the dollar before, and the price was artificially inflated.

But the exchange rate of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar was also artificially inflated. Even after the market price was liberalized, it never exceeded 10 yuan.

To be fair, Russia's economic strength was indeed much stronger than China's in 1992.

The fact that the currency performed so poorly is strange to anyone who thinks about it carefully.

But who is artificially devaluing the ruble? Theoretically, it should be Western countries, who want to reap the wealth of Russia and other CIS countries.

But Wang Xiao is a bit... well, she's always been wary of internal enemies.

After all, in many cases, it is often the powerful and wealthy within their own country who are more ruthless in exploiting their own people.

For example, Wang Xiao believes that the artificial devaluation of the ruble in Russia is related to the privatization program passed by the Russian Supreme Soviet on June 11 this summer.

According to the decision of this outline, in early December this year, every Russian citizen can register to receive a privatization voucher worth 10,000 rubles.

With their ration coupons, they can purchase Russian state property, including factories and businesses.

If the ruble depreciates sharply before December, it means that people with large amounts of US dollars can buy a lot of national assets at lower prices.

etc--

If that's the case, then it must be the Western countries, they are the ones who have a lot of foreign currency.

Hehe, if it were before, Wang Xiao would definitely have thought the same thing and gritted his teeth and cursed: Imperialism will never give up its desire to destroy us.

However, after the various questionable actions of the Russian Federation government from the late Soviet period to the present, with its constantly changing policies, there is every reason to believe that when it comes time for the domestic elites to reap the rewards, they can introduce new laws to restrict the entry of foreign capital.

Even the unfriendly policies against foreign investment that were suddenly introduced in July of this year are part of this strategy.

We men haven't had enough of sucking blood yet, so you outsiders should go cool off somewhere else.

Ivanov was stunned.

The sad thing is that he has absolutely no desire to defend his own government.

He was completely convinced that high-ranking officials in the Russian federal government were capable of doing such a thing.

He was completely bewildered, even a little lost.

Wang Xiao, an outsider, was much more decisive than him: "So we must now buy more agricultural harvesters."

Why?

Isn't that enough?

“We’ll rent out what we don’t use to other farmers,” Wang Xiao said slowly. “We don’t charge rubles; we only ask for the agricultural products as rent.”

She looked at Ivanov and said, "My dear friend, don't forget our plan. We're going to use agricultural products to exchange for natural gas from the Republic. Once we sell the natural gas to China, won't we have money?"

Forget it, the ruble is unreliable, I might as well exchange it for more stable commodities.

————————

The information about the state of Russian agriculture at that time is based on the article "The Deepening of the Russian Agricultural Crisis and my country's Economic and Trade Opportunities" published in the February 1993 issue of the journal "Eastern Europe and Central Asia Studies".

Of course, if foreign capital had invested in agriculture at that time, nine times out of ten it would have resulted in losses. The Russian Federation's policies are notoriously volatile, and the government is known for its frequent policy changes. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-01-16 07:11:19 and 2024-01-17 07:06:51!

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