Qu Yang was transferred from the Foreign Trade Department to the Municipal Party Committee, but Wan Feng was confused as to what position he held.
He has never worked in the system and cannot tell the difference between high and low official positions in a city government.
But from what Qu Yang said, it seems that he is in a very important position and is expected to be promoted.
No matter how high the official's rank, a new official has to cook something, whether it's water or fire.
Qu Yang also wanted to be an arsonist and burn something to attract the attention of his superiors.
So his purpose of coming to Wan Feng was very simple, which was to ask Wan Feng to solve the problems with the locomotive and carriages.
The Heihe Municipal Committee was under great financial pressure to build this local railway. Qu Yang saw that the senior city officials were frowning.
He patted his chest in front of the city leaders and promised to help the city solve the problems with the locomotive and carriages.
If he solves this problem well, it will probably leave a good impression on the leader.
Wan Feng was at a loss for words: "Teacher, I can't seem to handle this kind of thing. I don't know how to build it."
"I know you can't build one, and you don't have to pay for it. Don't the Russians have trains?"
It's not like you can pick it up from the Russians for free. You have to exchange it for something. Isn't that money?
"The Russian trains have a different gauge than ours. You can change the wheels on the carriages, but that's useless for the locomotives."
The Russian trains are all wide-gauge, while the Chinese use standard-gauge trains, which is a difference of more than ten centimeters.
Qu Yang didn't understand this problem and was also dumbfounded.
"I'll ask the other side if there's a train factory in Blagoveshchensk. If there is, they can build us some standard-gauge locomotives. If not, we'll have to get them from China."
The carriage is not a problem and can be changed back.
This concerns Qu Yang's official career, so Wan Feng will of course help. Even if he has to pay compensation, he will solve this problem.
Wan Feng also understood what Qu Yang meant. It's not that Heihe City doesn't want to pay, but it can't give much. He is sure to lose money in this deal.
But it’s not much, just around 18,000 yuan.
After seeing Qu Yang off, Wan Feng called Zhu Guoxiong, reported what he had traded to the military, and then started working on Qu Yang's task.
There is no train-building factory in Blagoveshchensk, but there is a locomotive factory in Khabarovsk. However, Shamilov is not sure whether the Khabarovsk Locomotive Factory will be able to produce standard-gauge locomotives.
"Contact me and see if you can build it. Cash or barter is fine. If you accept the job, I'll pay you 500,000 rubles to build me four 3,000-horsepower steam locomotives. Also, get me 200 carriages, preferably new. If new isn't available, used ones will do, but they have to be able to run. I'll pay the normal trade price."
"What are you doing with this? Are you going to start a railway transportation company?" Shamilov asked in confusion.
"Haha, I have nothing to do so I started a train company. Heihe will soon have a train, and I built it for Heihe City."
"There are plenty of carriages. I'll deliver them in about ten days. You'll have to contact the locomotive."
That’s where the conversation about the train ended, and Wan Feng changed the subject to talk about another thing.
"I've received accurate information. The port will be closed on January 1st of next year. We'll have to stop shipping goods two weeks in advance. Be prepared and don't get stuck with some steel when the time comes."
"Wan! What would I do if the port is closed?"
"The money you've earned in the past two years is enough to last you the rest of your life... Oops! I forgot one thing, Shamilov! You should hurry up and exchange your rubles. Ideally, for Mexican dollars. If you can't get Mexican dollars, German marks or pounds will do."
"Exchange it now?"
"When your work stops, start exchanging your rubles. It's best to exchange them all within a year, otherwise it might be too late. If you can't find a way to exchange them, buy gold. You can't keep rubles anyway. I've told you this, and whether you listen or not is up to you."
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ruble will soon become worthless. If the money Shamilov earned in the past two years becomes worthless, it will be too late to cry. It is best to exchange it all without leaving any.
"Okay! If I can exchange it now, I'll go back and exchange it."
"One more thing. If the Soviet Union issues stocks in the future, wait until these stocks are at their lowest value and buy them up at your expense."
"Issue shares?" Shamilov was confused.
"I'm just guessing, what if it's released?"
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in order to privatize the company, Russian screw manufacturers quantified the company into stocks and distributed them to Russian screw manufacturers. For 25 rubles, one could get stocks with a face value of 10,000 rubles.
But under the shock therapy that was promoted by the West, companies went bankrupt one after another and these stocks became worthless.
At this time, government officials with Western support bought these stocks at extremely low prices. When the Russian screw economy recovered, these stocks began to appreciate, and those who bought the stocks became oligarchs.
Wan Feng didn't intend to make Shamilov an oligarch, he just wanted him to make some money.
The oligarchs will eventually be dealt with by the emperor.
"Okay, I'll remember that." Shamilov believed Wan Feng's words without a doubt.
He will never forget how he went from being a person being hunted everywhere to being the one whose word is law in Bu City, and who brought all this to him.
So, even if Wan Feng said that shit smells good, he would nod in agreement.
After Shamilov returned to Blagoveshchensk, he immediately sent people to purchase the carriages and sent people to the Khabarovsk Locomotive Plant to inquire about the construction of the locomotive.
All industries in the Soviet Union are in recession now, and the Khabarovsk Locomotive Plant is no exception. They haven't received salaries for two months.
Factory workers are planning to take to the streets to demand that the government solve their food problem.
Just as they were preparing to take to the streets for the parade, an order arrived at the factory.
One locomotive costs 100,000 rubles. There are four locomotives, each with a horsepower of 3,000 and standard gauge. Half of the money is paid first, and the other half is paid after the locomotives are built.
This is all the information about this batch of work.
In fact, at that time, a new locomotive in the Soviet Union did not cost 100,000 rubles, and the factory price was only 75,000 rubles.
The 500,000 rubles that Wan Feng offered to build four locomotives was far beyond the market price.
Shamilov embezzled 100,000 rubles and offered a price that was 25,000 rubles higher than the market price.
It's not that Shamilov doesn't know how to calculate, what he means is that he wants you to give him more and make it faster.
He set a very strict deadline, building four standard-gauge steam locomotives in two months.
Now that the factory had money to pay the workers, they stopped striking and went back to work.
If the Soviet Union knew about this, it would have to thank Wan Feng, otherwise there would have been another reason for the strike.
After arranging the locomotive, Shamilov started to work on the carriages. This was quick, and he got 200 carriages, including new and old ones, in just a few days.
When he had enough carriages, Shamilov used his own barge to transport them to the other side of Heihe.
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