After being separated for nearly a month, Zhao Xiaohai and the other two met again and seemed a little excited. This separation was different from the previous ones. It was almost a farewell of life and death. Thinking about the shock they had suffered in the past month, Jin Lulu, who had never suffered much, even shed tears in front of Zhao Xiaohai on the spot.
After three simple greetings, Li Qiang first turned the topic to company affairs.
At the headquarters of the "Zhao's Import and Export Trading Company" in Blagoveshchensk, the situation is now completely bleak. However, the company's balance sheet is plagued by numerous issues, and it is currently operating with negative assets. From its founding until now, in less than a month, the company has secured loans of over 300,000 rubles from the local branch of the Soviet Central Bank and 350,000 rubles from the Société Générale de France, using tens of thousands of tons of steel and a military property on Lenin Street as collateral. This has left the company with a debt of over 600,000 rubles. To put it bluntly, the "Zhao's Import and Export Trading Company" is now even more of a shell company than a shell company.
Different from Zhao Xiaohai's adventurous and radical personality, Li Qiang is relatively timid. To be honest, he is quite worried about the current situation of the company. Obviously, given the company's current situation, if the bank or some competent authorities come to audit the accounts, everyone will probably be in trouble.
After briefly briefing his eldest brother on the company's situation, Li Qiang then addressed the issue of the Soviet-North Korean-Chinese trade transit line. Thanks to the strong assistance of Zyuganov and others, this matter went smoothly. Just four days ago, a young man named Park Jin-eun arrived from Chongchon, North Korea. He wasn't very old, only a major in the military, but he spoke with a big voice and offered a high price. He said it was $500,000 a year. As long as he could guarantee this annual payment, he would guarantee the company's trade with North Korea would run smoothly.
Li Qiang considered $500,000 a significant sum, so he couldn't make the final decision and could only wait for Zhao Xiaohai to return. The young man was still staying at the Friendship Hotel, accompanied by a Lieutenant Colonel staff officer from the garrison. He wasn't a good person either, and he was probably aiming for a piece of the action, as the Soviet-North Korean corridor passed right through their garrison area.
Judging from the current situation, these two guys are people Zhao Xiaohai must meet. Not only these two people, according to Li Qiang, there are many people Zhao Xiaohai needs to meet when he comes back this time, such as the director of Industrial Bank in the Far East, the director of the central bank's city headquarters, the main officials of the foreign trade company, etc.
"Haha, yes, I've met all these people," Zhao Xiaohai laughed after hearing his brother's introduction. He held a cigarette between his lips without frowning. "They just want money. Go ahead, if they dare to ask, I'll give it to them. It's settled. Tomorrow morning, come with me to see our new warehouse. In the afternoon, we'll go meet that Korean bastard Park Eun. What we're doing is not a legal business. Flies like this will inevitably come to us when they smell the scent. But no matter how much they bite, once they get stained with black, they'll have to work honestly for me. If they take the money and don't do the job well, hmph... I'll make them realize that my money is hot to the touch."
The political turmoil directly led to the emergence of various social problems. Various contradictions broke out at once, causing greater chaos in public security. The Soviet Union, which was once known as the country with the best public security in the world, became a paradise for criminals in less than a year. Not only that, those increasingly rampant criminals even began to form gangs, and a number of large and small criminal gangs with underworld characteristics emerged like mushrooms after a rain.
In light of the turbulent domestic situation in the Soviet Union, particularly the rise of extreme xenophobia, the Soviet government was unable to provide the necessary security guarantees for foreign merchants and travelers. In mid-April, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, and Tourism Administration jointly issued a notice advising Chinese citizens to abandon their plans for trade and travel to the Soviet Union until the situation stabilized. This notice was unnecessary, as the traders operating at the Sino-Soviet border trade ports had already begun withdrawing since early April. Import and export trade at the three major Sino-Soviet border trade ports entered a period of decline.
In stark contrast to this trade downturn, Zhao Xiaohai's "Zhao's Import and Export Trading Company" truly entered a golden period of trade with the Soviet Union during this period. To secure a sufficient supply of goods, Brother Leopard practically ceased all business activities throughout April and May, devoting himself entirely to the management of the trading company. From Jiangbei to Jiangnan, from the coast to the inland, he traveled non-stop to secure supply orders.
Since mid-April, container trucks printed with the words "Zhao's Import and Export Trading Company" have been constantly traveling back and forth along the three trade routes: from Heihe via Heilongjiang to Blagoveshchensk, from Yanji via Tumen River to Nanyang, North Korea, and from Longjing via Tumen River to Chungseong, North Korea.
"Others are worried about the security situation over there and that their goods or money might be stolen. We don't need to worry about that. What we need to worry about is the poor supply of goods and the constraints of import quotas." Facing the situation in the Soviet Union, Zhao Xiaohai said this to the newly recruited employees in the company.
Indeed, as long as it is a convoy from Zhao’s Trading Company, there is no need to worry about any problems arising in the Soviet Far East.
The company's convoy entering Blagoveshchensk from Heihe will be met by troops after passing the Soviet border checkpoint. Fully armed Soviet soldiers organized into companies and battalions will be responsible for escorting the convoy to the military supply depot, where they will complete the final process of storage and sealing.
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