Chapter 177 Jiang Taigong Fishing: That's a Comprador Government
Having come this far, Wang Xiao and Ivanov were at a loss.
The concerns of American and Japanese oil companies are also a major worry for them.
Thanks to his time-traveling cheat, Wang Xiao was confident in the alcoholic president's control, but had absolutely no confidence in the government he led.
To put it bluntly, the dogs of the old Russian government in the 1990s were notorious for being untrustworthy and their words were as worthless as farts.
Moreover, they insist on treating everyone equally, ruthlessly cheating their own citizens and foreign businesses alike, leaving no one untouched.
Alright, let's put the oil and gas field project on hold for now and wait until the environment stabilizes and the American and Japanese companies regain their confidence.
As for idle funds, what's there to be afraid of? Even if a windfall of 30 billion falls from the sky, the concern should be about not being able to keep raining down money, not about not being able to spend the money.
This large sum of US dollars will naturally be invested in the real estate market. Hot money rolling around in the real estate market will definitely boost assets significantly.
The problem is, they want to wait and play the long game, but the Russian government isn't willing to let them.
From the late Soviet period to the present, the Moscow government has consistently emphasized attracting foreign investment.
Although in practice the government has done virtually nothing to genuinely support attracting foreign investment, and its policies are chaotic and confusing, its slogans have remained unchanged.
Now, with a sum reaching tens of billions of US dollars, it's finally possible to set it up as a benchmark.
They were almost there when you decided to pause?
What a joke! Are you trying to play us Russians for fools?
All your concerns are unfounded and do not constitute a reason to halt development.
We have every reason to believe that your behavior is the same as hoarding land; you never intended to develop it, but only to resell it and make a fortune.
dream!
We Russians are not to be trifled with. Your refusal to develop these resources is harming our national interests. We cannot tolerate such despicable behavior. If you don't want to develop them, return the oil and gas fields and get out of here immediately.
The three investors were stunned, especially the American and Japanese companies.
There are no such rules in the world. They invested so much in the early stages, and now they're just going to kick them out of the game like that. It's just too disgusting.
However, the Moscow government's attitude was surprisingly tough, giving no time to delay.
But it was precisely because of the government's strong stance that oil companies dared not enter the market.
Representatives from the US and Japan suspected that the Moscow government was setting a trap, deliberately forcing everyone to immediately hand over their money, and then suddenly strangling them after the oil and gas were produced, making them work for free, so that the Moscow government could control all the production from the oil and gas fields.
Ivanov opened his mouth several times, but he was too embarrassed to say, "Are you overthinking this?" He also had no confidence in the integrity of his own government.
He could only grit his teeth and say, "Things are different now. The current Moscow government probably doesn't have the guts to confront the United States and Japan."
That's bullshit! Moscow is still counting on them to issue loans.
However, the American oil company representative who looked remarkably like Harrison Ford shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, even if it did that, neither the US government nor the Japanese government would go to war with Russia over something like that."
What a joke, they know their place.
This is Russia, the country that inherited the vast majority of the Soviet Union's military legacy, not Iraq, which relies on spending money to buy weapons from abroad to put on a show.
Back then, the UN forces couldn't even hold their own against China on the Korean battlefield, let alone against the Soviet Union, the undisputed leader of socialism.
If a war really breaks out, it will be World War III, and Russia might actually be hoping for that.
After all, they lack everything except airplanes, cannons, and a whole host of weapons.
Their own government won't go to war with the Moscow government just because their two companies suffered huge losses. At most, they can only engage in verbal sparring, issue strong protests, and then impose economic sanctions.
Even if they succeed, what benefit would it bring to either of their companies?
The American representative cursed, "Really, the Soviet Union was far more credible than the current government."
They didn't inherit any of the good qualities.
Ivanov pressed on, asking, "So what do you mean?"
The American representative rubbed his face vigorously, his eyes and brows showing exhaustion: "I need to consult the company."
The results didn't even have to wait until the next day. That very evening, representatives from both the American and Japanese companies contacted Ivanov, and both sides were in agreement—their companies were abandoning the project.
The American company representative even joked, "My friend, if you're interested, I can connect you with our company's share."
The Japanese company representative also made the same joke.
Nobody took it seriously, after all, it was a huge project with an investment of tens of billions of US dollars.
Even the first phase of the project will cost $1 billion.
Let alone him, even the major conglomerates in Europe, America, and Japan wouldn't take such a big risk to acquire it all by themselves.
Because if any problems arise in the process and the returns do not meet expectations, it can directly drag down a large conglomerate.
Ivanov started pacing back and forth in front of the table, complaining as he went: "Isn't this just messing with me? Where am I supposed to find so much money?"
It was almost time for dinner, and Wang Xiao was sitting and slowly eating milk pudding.
After listening to his rambling, she looked up and asked seriously, "Do you really want to take over this oil and gas field?"
“Of course!” Ivanov roared like an angry bear. “Haven’t we been planning this for a long time?”
Wang Xiao chuckled inwardly, put down her spoon, and looked up at him seriously: "If you really want to, it's not impossible."
"No way! That's so much money." Ivanov had just waved his arms when he met Wang Xiao's meaningful gaze, and immediately swallowed subconsciously. "You mean...?"
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes at him, crossed her arms, and looked up at him: "Have you forgotten? The fundraising plan we talked about before."
Ivanov's eyes lit up immediately: "Let's find Chinese businessmen to raise funds!"
Wang Xiao nodded: "That's right."
Ivanov began to worry again: "Will this work? Will they think we're trying to scam them? What if the project goes wrong?"
Wang Xiao had already stood up, tapping his fingers lightly on the table: "When it comes to investing, who can guarantee a sure profit?"
She tilted her head, gesturing to the other person, "Let's go, there's no time to lose, let's finalize this now."
Who should we invest in? Chinese businessmen, of course.
With a population of over ten million, Moscow is a trade center for CIS countries and even some Eastern European countries, and there are tens of thousands of Chinese businessmen doing business here.
Throwing in a billion US dollars sounds like a lot, but if each of these tens of thousands of Chinese businessmen contributes tens of thousands of US dollars, it's a piece of cake.
Once in the car, Ivanov was still hesitating: "Do you think the Chinese businessmen would be interested? Those tens of thousands of dollars are money they earned through hard work, one bag at a time."
Wang Xiao stared at the vast twilight outside the window and said casually, "Whether it works or not depends on their own choice."
Political turmoil has clearly impacted Moscow's prosperity.
It wasn't too late, but there were hardly any pedestrians on the road. The few people who were there had their heads down and hurried past.
The car drove all the way to the wholesale building, and only then did everyone feel the vibrancy of this international metropolis.
In fact, due to the further deterioration of public security recently, there are not many wholesalers coming in and out to buy goods at night.
They were afraid that in the dark, thugs or mafia might take the opportunity to rob them.
However, residents near the wholesale building especially like to stroll around inside after dark.
Firstly, they've just finished get off work and have some free time.
Secondly, after a busy day, each stall owner has some leftover stock. When stall owners are in a hurry to recoup their investment or don't want to take up too much space, they often sell this leftover stock at a discount. Nearby residents can save a lot of money by buying at this time.
Wang Xiao and his group entered the wholesale building but did not go upstairs to disturb everyone. Instead, they went straight to the canteen.
The wholesale market provides four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a late-night snack.
Many people oversleep and miss breakfast, but they absolutely won't miss a late-night snack. It's a small consolation for everyone after a busy day.
Around 8:30 p.m., business owners who had finished their business started coming over for a late-night snack.
When they saw Wang Xiao and Ivanov, many people came up to greet them and asked them what kind of rare or high-quality goods they had and if they could get more of them.
"Yes, there is." Wang Xiao didn't hide anything and actively promoted, "I noticed that the kind of mosquito nets that are hung on racks that we use in China don't work well on many beds here. I found a manufacturer in China to make tent-style mosquito nets. I'll show you the samples when they're ready. If you want one, just place an order."
Everyone immediately became interested, chatting and laughing among themselves. Some even said the same old thing: "Mr. Wang, it's been a long time! Where are you busy making your fortune? You must take us brothers and sisters with you!"
Wang Xiao swallowed the grass jelly in his mouth, which was considered a specialty snack at the wholesale market canteen.
These past two days, she's been so stressed and anxious about the oil and gas field that she's developed mouth ulcers; she needs to calm down.
Holding a spoon, she looked at the person who asked the question and smiled bitterly: "There used to be a project, but it's fallen through now, so let's not talk about it anymore."
The more she said it, the more interested everyone became.
Since late-night snacks are supposed to be a relaxing time and there's not much else to do, everyone started bombarding each other with questions: "What project is it, Mr. Wang? You've got your eye on it, how could it possibly fall through?"
“An oil and gas field.” Wang Xiao sighed heavily, making no attempt to hide his regret. “We’ve been discussing this since last year. We’ve visited the site, found partners, and it was supposed to officially start this month. But then Moscow made such a fuss, and the Americans and Japanese backed out and just walked away. It’s a $10 billion project! How can I take it on? I can only run away with them.”
A series of loud gasps rang out from the surrounding area.
Goodness gracious, 10 billion US dollars! How many zeros would that take? Does the national treasury even collect 10 billion US dollars a year?
Someone gave Wang Xiao a thumbs up, their face full of admiration: "President Wang, you're something else. Only you could handle such a big project."
Wang Xiao sighed deeply: "This is a complete failure. The initial investment was 1 billion US dollars. Even if I squeezed every last drop of oil out of my body, I still wouldn't be able to raise that much money. Oh well, let's all have some late-night snacks. It's on me tonight. Consider it a shopping spree to change the mood."
The whole cafeteria erupted in laughter, with one person even emphasizing, "Then I'd better get something good to eat tonight."
Someone else brought over a bowl of vegetable and egg noodles to confirm with Wang Xiao: "An initial investment of 1 billion US dollars?"
“Yes.” Wang Xiao nodded, his face filled with mixed feelings. “It would take 1 billion yuan to start producing oil and gas. I can’t afford that. I’ll stop here and wait for the next project.”
Then this guy stirred the noodles in his bowl with his chopsticks and stopped Wang Xiao: "Hey, Mr. Wang, why don't you try with a few more people? You have ten thousand, I have eight thousand, many hands make light work, maybe we can scrape together the money. Hey everyone, what do you guys think?"
The crowd looked at each other, and very few dared to respond.
That's 1 billion US dollars, not 100,000.
If it's 100,000, they have quite a lot to offer.
If it were 1 billion, that would be a completely different world; just listen to it as something unusual.
Seeing everyone silent, the man making vegetable and egg noodles grew anxious: "Hey, don't be like this! Good opportunities are hard to come by, this is oil! Why did the US invade Iraq? Wasn't it for Iraq's oil?"
Another person countered, "You can't say that. Iraq attacked Kuwait first, so the Americans are just trying to uphold justice this time."
"Bah! I don't believe your nonsense! Do you think I don't know what kind of people the Americans are? They'll exaggerate even the smallest things to a hundred. Now they talk about how the American Flying Tigers helped us a lot. But in reality, the Americans killed just as many Chinese as the Japanese devils! The number of Japanese devils killed by the Flying Tigers doesn't even come close to the number of Chinese they killed!"
The conversation in the cafeteria immediately veered off-topic, with one person refuting it seriously: "You can't just say things like that. One thing at a time. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Americans really helped us a lot."
The man selling vegetables and egg noodles scoffed, "Wake up! If you want to talk about the War of Resistance Against Japan, then I'll talk about the War of Resistance Against Japan. We won't talk about the Americans who only started fighting when the Pacific War broke out and the Japanese devils were already at their doorstep. If they hadn't been selling supplies and equipment to the Japanese devils before, the Japanese devils wouldn't have even started fighting."
What I'm going to talk about is the atrocities the Americans committed on our land. I don't know about other places, but what my old man in the house experienced firsthand can't be faked, right?
In December 1944, the Americans bombed Wuhan twice.
The first time we said it was about bombing Japanese devils, we had no complaints. Even though after bombing the Japanese military camp, the fire burned for three days and three nights, and more than half of the houses of the people in Hankou were burned down, we still accepted it with our noses in our mouths.
But what about the second time? They didn't even bother with a pretext; they just bombed the slums. The entire city of Hankou was burned down. More than 40,000 people died!
Everyone gasped. Those who had been to Wuhan speculated that the actual death toll was far higher than that.
Wuhan is a notoriously hot city, with summers as hot as winters. It's said that winters in Wuhan are so cold they could freeze a cow to death.
In December, Hankou was burned down. Even if ordinary people managed to escape the fire, all their belongings were burned to ashes, and they had no roof over their heads. How were they going to survive the winter?
"Do you know why the Americans would do something like this? It's because they want to invent a new type of incendiary bomb to bomb Tokyo, but they don't know how effective it will be."
It just so happens that Wuhan also has a large number of wooden houses, like in Tokyo. They're using the lives of ordinary Chinese people as their experiments!
Those who had previously refuted him turned pale, their voices trembling: "This...this...this is just hearsay, isn't it? That's impossible. Back then, the Nationalist government was in power. If the Americans did this, wouldn't they be slapping the Nationalist government in the face? The Nationalist government would never agree to that."
"Pah!" The man selling vegetables and egg noodles spat again. "It's the Kuomintang. They're quicker to agree than anyone else. They've never cared about the lives of ordinary people!"
"You're talking nonsense. There should be a limit to how much you spout rubbish. You're portraying the Kuomintang as so stupid. They were at least able to control warlords and ruled for decades. You're making them sound like they don't have brains. Who would believe that?"
The man selling vegetables and egg noodles retorted irritably, "I'm talking nonsense. This is something my old man in the house personally experienced. Would I spread such a rumor?"
"Then tell me, why did the Nationalist government do such a brainless thing? Wuhan is a vital city! The stronghold of the Republic of China."
The man who made the vegetable and egg noodles was stumped by the question and said dejectedly, "How would I know what kind of crazy thing they're doing?"
Those who refuted him became smug: "So you're just repeating hearsay. No matter which government you're in, even if it were Empress Dowager Cixi, they wouldn't do something so stupid."
After finishing a bowl of grass jelly, Wang Xiao took a liking to milk pudding. While eating, he casually remarked, "You think the Nationalist government is stupid? It doesn't think it's stupid, because doing so is actually in its own interest."
The crowd, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines, became interested after Wang Xiao spoke up: "Mr. Wang, what do you mean? How could this possibly be in their interest? Wuhan is only temporarily occupied; it is still our Chinese territory and our Chinese people."
Wang Xiao held up three fingers with his free hand: "The economic base determines the superstructure, because the Nationalist government's fiscal revenue actually has little to do with the national economy."
It mainly consisted of three parts: customs duties, consolidated taxes, and salt taxes. These three accounted for more than 90% of the Nationalist government's revenue.
In other words, the entire Nationalist government was basically sustained by these three sources of income, and these were essentially the only areas they focused on. They didn't care about anything else, or rather, they weren't particularly concerned with it.
The people in the room blinked, and many of their faces showed confusion.
Finally, the former university teacher who had just resigned last year to become a reseller laughed out loud: "Oh, so that's how it is. I finally understand why the Republic of China was so awkward."
The others were even more confused. What did that mean? Could you stop being so mysterious and just say something that people could understand?
That's the downside of intellectuals; they don't speak like ordinary people.
The former university professor cleared his throat and chuckled, "This is how I understand it. Tariffs, needless to say, we all understand; tariffs are levied on imported goods. As for consolidated taxes, if I remember correctly, they were taxes paid on exported raw materials during the Republic of China era, such as tung oil and pig bristles."
You see, this import and export both involve doing business with foreigners. The more foreign goods are imported, the more raw materials are exported, and the more money the government collects.
How can this be achieved? Of course, it's by having no domestic industry, importing everything the people need, and having no way to process all the raw materials themselves, so they can only be exported.
I was wondering why industrial development was so slow during the Republic of China era. It turns out it wasn't because of a weak foundation, but because the country simply didn't want to.
Indeed, no wonder the Nationalist government burned Changsha so swiftly and decisively, even more so than the Japanese invaders. Apparently, burning it wouldn't affect their finances; they didn't care at all.
Everyone was stunned, feeling that their values had been shaken.
What?! Is this even possible? Wasn't this a forced sacrifice during the scorched earth resistance?
Wang Xiao chimed in, "The government's fiscal revenue model determines its nature. The Nationalist government was a typical comprador government, and there's no point in whitewashing that. Slogans can deceive people, but the economy cannot."
“That doesn’t make sense,” someone else said, expressing doubt. “The Nationalist government also breached the Yellow River dike, flooding so much land. It’s one thing if they didn’t care about industry, since industry wasn’t doing well back then. But it doesn’t make sense that they didn’t care about agriculture. Back then, we were a typical agricultural country, and agricultural taxes supported most of the nation.”
This time it was Wang Xiao who replied: "The Nationalist government doesn't collect agricultural taxes, really, it can't collect them."
But nobody can believe that. Everyone knows that the Kuomintang pays more taxes and the Communist Party pays more meetings.
You say it doesn't collect agricultural taxes? You're kidding me!
Wang Xiao explained with a smile: "It's true that they don't accept them; they don't have the ability. Firstly, the warlords are powerful, and local strongmen are deeply entrenched; secondly, when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke apart in 1927, in addition to massacring Communists, more than half of the Kuomintang leftists were purged."
These were the backbone of the government, capable of getting things done. Without this force, the Nationalist government also lost its control over local grassroots levels.
Collecting agricultural taxes required going to the countryside, which incurred significant costs, and involved engaging in a battle of wits with landlords and their powerful backers.
The Nationalist government, lacking sufficient power, simply relinquished this portion of tax revenue, transferring these benefits to local powers. This also served to curry favor with local tyrants and secure their support.
The semi-feudal and semi-colonial status described in our history books can be seen from the fiscal revenue of the Nationalist government.
It doesn't rely on industrial taxes or agricultural taxes to make a living, so why should it care about the lives of urban and rural residents?
Money, like power, is accountable to those who enjoy it, based on its source.
Ivanov was dumbfounded. So that's how it is! He had never heard of such a thing before.
But Miss Wang, aren't you going off-topic? We're here today to talk about oil and gas field projects.
Wang Xiao didn't feel like he was neglecting his duties.
Because when it comes to investing, often it's not about investing in projects, but in people.
The saying goes that everyone has their own expertise. True experts investing in experts is extremely rare and hard to come by. Normally, it's outsiders who invest in experts.
This is a field where expertise is often limited; a project might be touted with exaggerated claims, but outsiders can't possibly discern the truth from the facts.
If you can't understand the project, then you can only look at the people involved.
Investors often invest in a person's projects because they believe the person has investment value.
Now, she's going to rely on her personal charm to raise the $1 billion down payment.
Her rapid-fire analysis shocked Ivanov, and naturally stunned all her compatriots in the room.
The man serving the vegetable and egg noodles gave Wang Xiao a thumbs up again: "Impressive, Mr. Wang. No wonder you eat meat. With your insightful perspective, you see right through things."
"Not at all," Wang Xiao said, not daring to boast. "This is something I heard from my teacher when I was in college."
Honestly, she felt that these things should be explained thoroughly in the history textbooks at least during the nine years of compulsory education. Otherwise, just a dry description of the Nationalist reactionary government would really make it difficult for primary and secondary school students to understand what was really going on.
The man who made vegetable and egg noodles slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Oh dear, I've suffered because of my lack of education. Old Zhao, I'll ask you for lessons sometime."
The former university teacher laughed and said, "Sure, welcome. I'll have a big boss as a student now. I'll have face when I go out and brag."
Joyful laughter filled the room again.
The man who made the vegetable and egg noodles finally remembered: "Hey, hey, let's not go off-topic. We're talking about the oil and gas field. Um, Mr. Wang, if you still want to continue, I'd like to invest as well."
Wang Xiao shook his head vigorously: "I can't invest, I don't have the money. I asked a lot of friends and it took me a lot of effort to scrape together 300 million US dollars to invest. I really can't afford the remaining 700 million US dollars. Forget it, I'm not going to make this money anymore, I'll just stick to selling things."
The chatter in the cafeteria grew louder and louder.
Some people say oil and gas fields sound so far away, like a pit.
Some people say, "Damn it, the most valuable thing the Russians had was oil. They were doing well before because they made money selling oil. Later, when things got tough, the Americans controlled international oil prices, causing them huge losses. Eventually, they couldn't hold on, and that's how the Soviet Union collapsed."
The discussion inside the room grew louder and louder.
Seeing that the food was almost cooked, Wang Xiao put down his spoon, wiped his mouth clean, and said goodbye to everyone with a smile: "Everyone, please eat more. It's getting late, I have to go back to sleep."
The man selling vegetables and egg noodles hurriedly asked her, "Ms. Wang, give me a straight answer and I'll believe you. Is this oil and gas field project worthwhile? Is it profitable?"
Wang Xiao shook his head vigorously: "I can't guarantee that. Aside from swindlers, like Great Wall Company, who can boast that they're guaranteed to make a profit? In business, anyone who dares to say there's absolutely no risk is just trying to fool someone. Alright—"
She spoke with an incredibly relaxed tone, "This oil and gas field issue is over for me. Goodbye, everyone, I'm taking my leave now."
Jiang Taigong fishing – those who are willing will take the bait. Anyway, she has put down the bait, and whether or not they will take the bait is up to them.
Yes, besides a few wholesale markets, she also needs to visit the restaurants. Those are the main bases for Chinese businesses in Moscow.
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I'm sorry everyone, I'm still working on restoring my writing skills.
I just can't write anymore.
Continue taking leave. If it still doesn't recover after another three months, I'll have to unsubscribe and give up.
I will try my best, but I don't know what the outcome will be.
I've been writing for many years, and this is the first time this has happened. I'm very anxious.
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