Xia Yu was telling the truth. When his net worth was only a few million or tens of millions, he certainly knew how much capital he had. But now he doesn't just make money by attacking businesses.
In addition to the museum's daily revenue, the wholesale and retail of antiques and weapons, the sideline sales of modern weapons and equipment, and other tertiary industries, the system also refines scrap metal and precious metals.
Xia Yu actually possesses a complex array of funds, both those that are publicly disclosed and those that are not.
Just like last week's Christmas bonus, the money paid to the employees was all from the company account, while the cash and gold of various denominations were kept in the cargo bed of the heavy truck in Garage No. 3 of the system.
Xia Yu doesn't just leave the money in his account idle; he trades stocks and makes some long-term investments, after all, this is an era of inflation.
With Xia Yu's current earning power, ensuring a certain cash flow is enough, and he also has a large amount of gold as a safety net.
Alexei suddenly asked himself how much money he had on hand. It was definitely not enough, but it wasn't as simple as just asking him for money.
Their relationship is that of a normal client and contractor. They might ask for a loan of a few million or so, or increase the prepayment percentage. But they are definitely powerless to help with a funding gap of tens of millions.
Xia Yu was very clear-headed, and Alexei was also self-aware, so that wasn't what he wanted to talk about.
"You ordered four MiG-29s from me, right? There's a chance we can buy a few more salvaged parts at a cheaper price. Do you want to?"
Alexei directly estimated Xia Yu's approximate net worth based on the museum's booming visitor traffic.
He ran into some problems with his business in Afica, with more than $20 million in payments owed to him, leaving him with only $25 million in cash. But then he stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy more goods.
If he manages to acquire this batch of goods, Alexei can make a living from it for a whole year. However, while the profit is high, the risk is also high. Even if the payment for the goods is settled, he cannot risk all of his cash flow, especially since this business requires continuous investment in the future.
Therefore, he plans to find someone to cooperate with in order to share the risks.
After reviewing his WeChat Moments, Alexei concluded that Xia Yu was the most suitable client.
Because the other party has its own channels and can independently modify and upgrade fighter jets, they can only add a little to the purchase price in each transaction and cannot earn the premium for modernization and upgrading.
Instead of doing that, Alexei might as well forgo making that little profit and just bring the other party on board to share the burden of purchasing goods.
"The price is cheap and I can buy several, of course I want to! It's really a good deal!"
Xia Yu expressed great interest, because any vehicle is a consumable, especially under high-intensity use, it is consumed even faster.
Therefore, the MiG-29 he wants to acquire cannot be one of those 500,000-dollar model aircraft; it must have a sufficiently low number of flight hours and be in good maintenance condition to be worth modifying and putting into operation.
Correspondingly, his budget was increased to 1.2 million to 1.8 million per aircraft, and he planned to acquire some old single-seat pivot parts as cover after the third phase of the museum project was put into operation.
If you're going to go all out, this level of investment is necessary. So it's better to buy early than late; buying it all at once will save him a lot of trouble.
"You'll know once you come to Kazakhstan. Their air force is preparing to clear out a batch of old aircraft to raise funds for the continued replacement of their aircraft with Su-30SMs."
Alexei didn't beat around the bush and stated the reason directly.
"Oh, is that so?"
As a former constituent republic of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan certainly received a lot of good things back then, but compared to the flourishing flanking families after the dissolution, their old MiG and Sukhoi are indeed a bit lacking.
Purchasing new aircraft in line with the times is the right choice. Those old fighter jets can also be sold secondhand to recoup costs. For example, Russia sells four Su-30SMs for 5 billion rubles. How many old aircraft would Kazakhstan have to sell to afford just one of them?
"That's right, they plan to sell a total of 117 aircraft, including the Su-24, Su-25, Su-27, as well as the MiG-27, MiG-29, and MiG-31."
Alexei continued.
Apart from the MiG-29, the rest have all entered Xia Yu's collection. However, buying a few more and preparing them for sale is also an option.
You know Afica's spending power. They mostly buy advanced trainer jets for new fighter jets, and for second-hand goods, they prefer Soviet-made fighter-bombers and ground attack aircraft. That's why the Su-24 and Su-25 are selling well.
The Su-24 is Alexei's flagship product, and it's believed that the other side is also eyeing this lucrative target.
Harmony brings wealth, and Xia Yu certainly didn't want to get involved with the other party over this aircraft type. So, as a second choice, he believed the Su-25 would be a good option.
They don't even need modernization upgrades. With just some minor repairs and simple maintenance, they can sell for three to five million and be quite competitive, since the cheapest newly developed Su-25 costs at least ten million. This is treating our black guys like wild boars to be slaughtered.
This made Xia Yu feel obligated to drive down prices so that more Afica countries could experience the joy of licking the ground.
"So many! What's the approximate price they plan to sell them for?"
He continued to ask for more information.
"Of course, we'll sell them as a package if possible. They're planning to sell a total of 117 aircraft for 50 billion tenge. But the most valuable ones are the 15 MiG-29s and 21 MiG-31s. Of the 15 Su-24s that I want most, 10 are in dire condition and can only be dismantled and used as spare parts for the 5 better ones."
"So the price can be negotiated down a bit more. If we pay in US dollars, I believe we can get it even lower."
Alexei quoted the price, and Xia Yu then took out his phone to search for the exchange rate of the Kazakhstani tenge. After multiplying it with a calculator, he got the price—US$147 million.
Xia Yu couldn't afford half of that amount of money outright, but as Alexei said, the price was negotiable.
"You're quite familiar with the people there, how much do you think you can ultimately reduce the price by?"
He asked this most crucial question.
The old man was over there, and his experts were evaluating each fighter jet. Even though they had only assessed half of the value, he was sure he had a good grasp of the price.
"I think it can be reduced to no more than $100 million. Wholesale prices are so high that not many people have the capacity to absorb them. They know this, so they just ask for a higher price first to gain the upper hand in the negotiations."
"I've already had someone inspect those 15 MiG-29s. The six two-seat MiG-29UBs are in good condition. Of the remaining nine single-seat MiG-29Ss, six have been used so badly that they can only be salvaged for parts."
“I’ve mobilized all my connections and should be able to cover 70% of the funding. There’s still a 30% gap. I need your help, Mr. Sherlock.”
"If you're willing to seize this opportunity, I'll raise the remaining money to make up for it within a year, or if there's anything you want to buy, I'll give you the best discount to offset it."
At this point, Alexei had already explained why he had asked Xia Yu how much money he had right away.
Let's assume it's 100 million. 30% is 30 million US dollars. According to what he said, packaging those 15 MiG-29s wouldn't even cost 20 million.
There's also 10 million that Xia Yu "borrowed" from him. Of course, even without following these two methods, he could directly choose an equivalent plane.
While it's possible to earn more profit by refurbishing and selling Su-25As that are no longer in flight and have a unit purchase price of 200,000, one or two is understandable, but a large number would be unreasonable. However, Su-25Ks that still retain their flight capability are much more appealing.
Xia Yu recalled seeing online a while ago that Sanmao Bai'er Ross and Kazakhstan had signed a contract for the overhaul and upgrade of six Su-25UB aircraft.
It's not that other Su-25Ks aren't worth upgrading, but rather that they plan to streamline their attack aircraft fleet, equipping them with six modern Frogfoot Su-25Ks would be enough, and the rest would be sold off.
He could buy these Su-25Ks that had been sold off at a lower price than usual, and it would also solve his sourcing problem. Why wouldn't he do it?
There's no need to say so much over the phone. We can discuss the specifics after he arrives in Kazakhstan.
Xia Yu is planning to go to Central Asia before returning to China. If all goes well, he plans to rent a few railcars and send the six MiG-29UBs back to his hometown by train.
He planned to upgrade the two extra aircraft beyond the original plan, as backups for the four operational aircraft. The same would be done with the Spey Phantoms and Navy Phantoms. Anyway, the purchase price wasn't high, so buying a few more wouldn't tie up too much capital.
"I'll raise the money as soon as possible, and it should arrive by tomorrow night at the latest. We can discuss the details when we meet."
"I'm waiting for you."
After hanging up the phone, Xia Yu logged into several bank apps and checked the funds in his accounts.
Because the largest recent income was used to purchase a transport helicopter and a turboprop transport aircraft, the company only has 50 million in cash on hand.
He has 10 million in reserve for emergencies, and can access up to 40 million US dollars.
If Alexei can negotiate the total price down to below $100 million, $40 million should be enough.
Not to mention that not all of his money is in the bank. Xia Yu also has tens of millions of yuan in cash, plus gold worth over 100 million yuan. Just these alone are more than the cash flow of many listed companies.
We've accumulated some wealth, and the money we're planning to spend this time will be earned back tenfold or even a hundredfold in a few years, making it the most worthwhile investment.
"Leaving again."
Once inside, Liv saw that Xia Yu had just put down his luggage and was booking a plane ticket online, so she asked him about it.
“There’s a big deal that concerns the future development of the museum, and I have to go there in person.”
Xia Yu hugged his girlfriend and kissed her, saying...
"When I return to China next month, I won't leave you for a single day."
He's been quite busy lately, rushing to deliver to clients, and they're also delivering to him. He hasn't even had a chance to use his new Chinook guns much before he's already going abroad to buy more. He's just naturally destined to be a workaholic!
"It's not that bad. Love isn't everything in life. It's better for each other to have some space."
Liv has a rather rational personality, meaning she's not as love-struck, which is very important in their unique industry.
"It's great. Many of my friends in China prefer to stay in their cars rather than go home. It's as if the only time they have is when they're in their cars."
Most of Xia Yu's classmates and comrades-in-arms, who are around the same age, have gotten married and had children, but not everyone's married life is happy and fulfilling.
Upon closer examination, the problem isn't too serious; it's just that the couple lacks their own space, which has given Xia Yu, an older unmarried man, more to think about.
"At least they are already married. Even though marriage can reduce taxes in Germany, more and more people are falling in love and having children before getting married."
Liv doesn't shy away from this.
Yes, that's yet another version.
"So, would you be willing to marry me first, and then have children?"
After buying the plane tickets, Xia Yu continued the discussion on this topic.
"It's a bit sudden, but as long as you formally propose to me..."
Liv only said half of what she was saying before her eyes met Xia Yu's.
Of course she agreed. Liv had already examined her own heart and she liked her current life.
Xia Yu will propose, but not now.
After dinner, he called an internal meeting with all employees to discuss the work arrangements for the coming period.
"Baggyle, learn well from Warrant Officer Thor and master this CH-47D as soon as possible."
Xia Yu can fly it right away, so it's okay if he misses the training. But Andrei, who is getting his hands on an American helicopter for the first time, still needs to take it seriously.
"Yes, boss, I will definitely try my best."
Andrei said solemnly.
"And Shrew, master the basics of driving the Super Hornet as soon as possible, and I'll give you a raise then."
Xia Yu encouraged Lyman again.
Besides himself, the company only has Andrei as a full-time helicopter pilot, and they are slowly running out of manpower.
Recruiting is necessary, but the company needs versatile employees. Let Lyman go deep into the French helicopter company so that he can step in when it matters most.
As for Kohler, Xia Yu plans to give the young man another year of training before promoting him to train commander.
The established team will definitely have more opportunities for development, while newcomers need to be more outstanding.
Xia Yu already has some ideas about the construction of the new vehicle crew. Jihuo Defense may adjust its previous model and introduce new forces.
Another aspect is building a combat system around the two newly commissioned transport aircraft. There are many possible "playstyles," and they need to test the most suitable one in actual combat.
“Mole, I spoke with Colonel Monier at Camp Olga yesterday. He said our C-160 will arrive in a couple of days. I probably won’t be there then, so you’ll have to go there and be in charge of receiving it.”
Xia Yu then spoke to Kuhn.
"Yes, boss, but I still miss the C-160."
Germany also had the C-160, but Kuhn, due to his long service, had flown in it more times than Hans and his men.
Germany's C-160 is also gradually being retired and replaced by the A400M.
Jihuo Defense also needs to recruit pilots for its C-160. Xia Yu can only fill in occasionally; he can't fly transport planes all the time.
As for whether to recruit Chinese or Germans, it depends on the situation.
Xia Yu prefers to hire German technical employees for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, but he has no particular preference for helicopters, transport planes, or fighter jets, giving priority to those with driving experience.
However, let's forget about the Tuerqi people; the Husky Kingdom also has C-160s, and it seems there are quite a few of them.
"With transport planes, it will be much easier for us to travel to and from Kongluga. Also, even without military support, we can provide our own logistical support."
Hans said happily.
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