Chapter 274 Let’s Study How to Benefit the People
Xiao Peng couldn't stand Sergio's smug look. He put the documents on the table and shook his head. "Sergio, I'm not kidding you. I just found a shipwreck worth salvaging."
"Are you kidding me?" Sergio said, clearly unconvinced. "Is this an excuse for not cooperating with me?"
Xiao Peng walked directly to the desk, opened the drawer, and grabbed a handful of gold coins and placed them on the table. "Gold coins from Morocco during the Western Roman Empire. The shipwreck I found contained at least several tons of such coins—and that's a conservative estimate."
Sergio stared at the gold coins on the table with wide eyes: "This is..."
"Samples salvaged from the shipwreck." Xiao Peng said lightly.
"Then why don't you salvage it?" Sergio's eyes widened as he saw half a drawer full of gold coins.
Xiao Peng spread his hands: "I'm lazy!"
Sergio's eyes widened. "Your reason is really... I can't refute it!"
Xiao Peng waved his hand and said, "Sergio, even if you give me a lifetime, I still won't be able to salvage many ships. From now on, I will only salvage the most valuable ships. If you have a ship worth salvaging, I will naturally go there, but look at the shipwreck information you gave me. What can I say? Merchant ships from the Republic of Genoa, merchant ships from the Republic of Tunisia, envoy ships from the Byzantine Empire. What's the point of asking me to salvage all those bottles and jars?"
Sergio was dumbfounded. If he hadn't seen the gold coins in Xiao Peng's drawer, he would have thought Xiao Peng was bragging. But after seeing the gold coins in that drawer, he didn't dare to think Xiao Peng was bragging.
Xiao Peng lit a cigarette. "This silver salvage operation cost me a lot of time and energy, but I only made a little over four million. I never want to do something like this again. Sergio, do you smoke? Oh, no, you should like cigars." Xiao Peng pulled out a cigar box from the table and pushed it towards Sergio. "Have a smoke."
Sergio gasped after looking at Xiao Peng's cigar. "Isn't this a Gurkha 'Black Dragon'? One thousand euros! Are you showing off like that? Everyone knows you're rich!"
"Sergio." Xiao Peng saw that Sergio didn't want to take the cigar, so he cut the end of the cigar and handed it to Sergio. "I know you really want to cooperate with me, and I can feel your sincerity, but I have a big appetite right now. If there is a ship worth salvaging, I will do my best to salvage it, but if there is none, I won't waste my time."
Sergio thought for a moment and said to his secretary, "Andre, ask someone outside to prepare my car."
After hearing this, his secretary said goodbye to Xiao Peng and left.
Xiao Peng thought Sergio was leaving out of shame, but after his secretary left, Sergio sat down.
"Mr. Xiao, I do know some ships that are worth salvaging. But those ships are all warships," said Sergio.
"Oh?" Xiao Peng looked at Sergio after hearing this. "Sergio, you should know the rules of underwater salvage. I can't touch warships."
Sergio said, "What if I'm in charge of identifying the ship?"
"Hmm?" Xiao Peng looked at Sergio.
After hearing this, Sergio said, "Mr. Xiao, you know the 'Ansaldo', right?"
"Puff!" Xiao Peng sprayed out the champagne in his mouth.
I just emptied the Ansaldo. Do you know anything about the Ansaldo? Even the ashtray you're using right now is from the Ansaldo, okay?
Sergio was quite pleased with Xiao Peng's performance. He thought it was because Xiao Peng was shocked. He flicked the ash off his cigar and said, "That's right, Xiao. The ship carrying your country's most important cultural relics has actually sunk. We found an ancient book at the Sapienza University of Rome that records the sinking of the Ansaldo. There were 139 survivors, all of whom were sentenced to death by hanging in secret."
Xiao Peng understood instantly. Damn, they had traveled thousands of miles with their bosses to rob, finally managed to snatch some things, only to have them lost right at their doorstep! How could the leaders at the time not be furious?
"Humph!" Xiao Peng snorted coldly, "You're just picking up other people's leftover trash!"
The story of China's Old Summer Palace is truly tragic. In 1860, the British and French allied forces looted the palace, but they couldn't plunder all the treasures. After returning, the two countries made a big fuss about the incident. Forty years later, a group of bandits returned to China and plundered the palace again. This time, they not only plundered everything but also burned it down! This is an everlasting pain in the hearts of the Chinese people!
Italy did not catch up when China came to rob for the first time. At that time, Italy was still called the Kingdom of Sardinia and asked the "big brothers" of Britain and France to help it unify Italy. The places like Nice in France today were given to France by the Kingdom of Sardinia at that time in order to thank the "big brothers" of France for helping them unify Italy.
They did manage to catch up with the second robbery, but what happened? They finally managed to steal something, only to have it sink to the bottom of the sea. Italy is truly miserable.
Sergio then said, "Our department has a document documenting the sinking of the Ansaldo. It's thought to be near Sardinia, but due to its relationship with France, it's never been salvaged! I can get it for you."
Xiao Peng was at a loss whether to laugh or cry after hearing this.
Your information is not reliable.
The Ansaldo sank midway between Sardinia and Sicily. What does that have to do with France? Are you looking for shipwrecks between the west side of Sardinia and Corsica? Damn it, if I were to search for shipwrecks based on the information you gave me, it would take me a thousand years to find the Ansaldo.
Besides, don’t you know that I saved the Ansaldo?
Xiao Peng coughed dryly. "Well... Sergio, let me tell you this. First of all, I'm a legitimate businessman. All my salvage activities have strictly abided by the law. I cannot accept your suggestion of not reporting the salvaged warship. My family taught me, 'Don't eat poisonous things, don't do illegal things.' Also, I never want to see the Ansaldo again. It's a shameful piece of history. Let it sink to the bottom of the sea forever."
After hearing this, Sergio hurriedly said, "Mr. Xiao, I really am sincere in cooperating."
"Of course." Xiao Peng said, "I know you're sincere, and your sincerity has impressed me. So we can really cooperate. But the way we cooperate should be different from what you expected. But believe me, no matter what, I can make you a lot of money!"
After hearing this, Sergio said sternly: "Mr. Xiao, I cooperate with you to benefit Italy, not for myself!"
Xiao Peng laughed after hearing this. Sergio was indeed a veteran politician. How could he be a politician without being thick-skinned?
"Okay, let's study how to benefit Italy."
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