It's Monday morning, January 18th.
Waking up early in the morning at another manor in East Hampton, with Chen Qing, a certain girl bluntly said that she didn’t want to be with a group of vases
Still about the kids.
Lin Su's belly had grown bigger again, and Chen Qing's desire to have a little one inevitably became more urgent.
This breakfast was very special.
The chef team comes from a Chinese restaurant called 'Jiangnan Time' that just opened on the Upper West Side of Manhattan a few years ago.
Yes, it is named after "Jiangnan Time", one of the self-media teams established in China by Simon Xing last year, but behind the scenes it is still dominated by Westeros system capital, and is led by Xie Qingmai, Yu Xiaomin and Jing Xiao Three of the country's most successful self-media bloggers in the field of pastoral landscapes are endorsements. The three women even came to the United States when it opened.
Therefore, it is conceivable that this restaurant specializes in various Chinese delicacies from the three self-media bloggers' shows.
There are mainly two types.
Various dine-in dishes that need to be freshly prepared, as well as Chinese dim sum that can be taken away.
China attaches great importance to the series of YouTube Chinese self-media studios that can support cultural output attributes, and has also given sufficient support to this restaurant. In addition to providing official convenience in the process of establishing a chef team, it also quietly provided a A special support fund.
When this place opened, there were many reports in the country.
Coupled with the casual operation of the Westeros system here in the United States, for example, on the day of its opening, Madonna rushed to try it out as soon as possible, and there were also other New York celebrities. Under various incentives, this special Chinese restaurant quickly became popular. The Upper West Side has become famous, and has recently been featured in some television and print media.
Under the cultural export, of course, there is also a complete game of chess.
It's all business.
This 'Gangnam Time' restaurant is just a sign. Using this sign, the catering chains and food companies behind the scenes are quietly spreading the word, or to be precise, they have already spread the word. Of course, considering the actual situation, the current business is mainly for China, focusing on chain restaurants, bars and ready-made food types such as cooked food, ready-to-eat, and snacks.
A brand that foreigners like, this kind of gimmick is very popular in China.
In the restaurant early in the morning.
Simon was very satisfied with the small wontons in front of him and didn't talk much about this matter. After all, he had given a good start and sufficient resources. If the people below didn't do well, they would have to do whatever they wanted.
The topic mainly revolves around recent affairs in Asia.
"On the 5th of the month, an anti-smuggling police department was officially established in China to combat smuggling." In front of Chen Qing was a piece of glutinous rice dumplings, a special kind of salty meat stuffing. Her boss didn't like sweets, so a certain girl couldn't follow him. He started to like it and ate it with the same satisfaction, while saying: "Boss, you don't know that smuggling in China has been very serious in recent years. In the past two years, there was even an oversupply of refined oil. If we investigate further, it turns out that it is because of rampant oil smuggling." , even oil can be transported to the country ship by ship, and you can imagine that other industries will go to heaven if they don’t crack down.”
When Simon heard Chen Qing mention it, he immediately thought of a major smuggling case that probably happened this year in the original time and space. It was obviously a typical case of being caught and killing monkeys to scare chickens.
Thinking this, Simon asked directly: "What about you, are you involved?"
Chen Qing immediately shook her head: "I won't do such shameless things. I can't even make enough legitimate money..." As she spoke, facing the gaze of her boss, a certain girl still shrank her neck and smiled. He stepped down and said: "Over there in South Korea, the Black Star Society, boss, remember, I reminded them before coming here to stop the smuggling of semiconductors to China."
Simon nodded slightly, but didn't say anything.
Even though China's anti-smuggling police force was established in 1999, the huge parallel import market in coastal areas has never been cut off. As a result, many genuine products have been affected and are much cheaper in coastal areas.
Chen Qing also knew that his boss would not care about this. After all, the original Black Star Club was established by him, and he continued: "However, the Black Star Club's business in Europe is still continuing, mainly through shipping from Russia and Ukraine. Channels enter, and then turn to other European countries. As you know, boss, the PC industry has exploded in recent years. Even in Eastern Europe, there is a very large market demand for PC chip products such as CPUs and memories. The problem is that all countries have great concerns about this. High tariff barriers.”
Of course Simon knows this.
For example, in Ukraine, the Korkoshko family controls a huge smuggling network, and Ukraine is only a transit base, covering the entire Europe. Because the entire upper class of Ukraine can eat meat and drink soup, it can be said that it is quite prosperous. Even if there are a few people who understand the harm of smuggling to the national economy, the authorities cannot control it at all.
Fortunately for China, the authorities still have enough enforcement power to suppress this matter. Even if it cannot be eradicated, it can avoid damaging the root cause.
Chen Qing did not wait for her boss to answer, so she continued: "This is actually a good thing for Excellence. We focus on cost-effectiveness, but even if we can get discounts from suppliers, the tax card is still difficult to deal with those low-priced parallel imports. Some are incomparable. If we can steal the limelight this time, Excellence's market share can be increased a little. Well, Lenovo will basically retain its Excellence product line after the merger."
Simon nodded and said, "Tell me about those two refining projects."
"The preliminary work has been completed, and these bosses should have read the relevant information," Chen Qing said: "The next step is construction. The construction period of both projects is expected to be about one and a half years, and no more than two years at most. By the way, During this period, supporting thermal power plant projects are still being discussed. There is still a serious power shortage problem in the country. Our projects are all large power consumers, so building supporting power plants by ourselves is the best choice. In addition, a little further away, it is put into operation Regarding the subsequent raw material issue, we have been promised a crude oil import quota of 10 million tons, but the specific procedures cannot be completed until the production is put into operation. After all, this quota license is time-limited, which is a small trouble, but not a big problem."
"What about future product sales?"
"This boss doesn't need to worry anymore," Chen Qing said: "Although there is a surplus of refined oil products in the country, there has always been a shortage of deep-processed crude oil products. This situation is unlikely to change in a short period of time. Moreover, we are still in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Investing in the textile industry, these are the big demanders for olefin raw materials. Even if outsiders don’t want it after it is put into production in the future, we can completely digest it within our own industrial chain. Ha, this is also the boss’s layout, isn’t it?”
Simon knew that a certain girl was talking about the oil exploration project he had launched in Angola, which would be able to supply China in a year or two.
Just a question about sales.
China is currently in a shortage of deep-processed crude oil products. After joining the WTO and opening up the world market to stimulate an explosion of productivity, the related shortages will only become more serious for a long time.
After breakfast, Chen Qing stayed to deal with some trivial matters in East Hampton, while Simon rushed to Manhattan by helicopter.
Westeros Corporate Headquarters in Midtown.
The morning was spent discussing potential collaborations with James Raybould on some stock swap plans.
"On the Russian side, all replacement applications from oligarchs such as Berezovsky have been rejected. This country will have too many variables in the next few years, and it is not an operable target like Ukraine, which we are relatively sure of. If they definitely want to change, either Cash, or gold, nothing else."
A conference room at the Westeros corporate headquarters.
When discussing some replacement applications from Russia, Simon directly rejected them all, which puzzled James: "Simon, through cooperation during the crisis last year, I think we have established very good relations with all aspects of Russia, and these The exchange application is also in line with your requirements, and the Russian side has also given more concessions, allowing us to have considerable say?"
Simon did not talk about some of his plans rashly to James. He just shook his head and said: "I heard in Australia during Christmas that the Russian opposition once again tried to force Yeltsin into the palace, so he had to withdraw. You should have seen some information about your own chief of staff, Valentin Yumashev. Yumashev is actually the lover of Yeltsin’s second daughter. In addition, Primakov, who took office last year, recently threatened to Launching an investigation into the Yeltsin family, Jim, through this, you should be able to feel how unstable the political situation in Russia is."
"But the Russian economy..." James continued: "I mean, the oligarchs who have basically controlled the Russian economy, I believe it should be very stable, and it will only be more stable in the future."
"Oh, based on common sense, maybe that's right," Simon nodded and shook his head: "The problem is that Russia cannot be inferred based on common sense."
James became more and more puzzled.
What Simon said was a bit mysterious.
Simon also knew that it was difficult to convince others with these words. After thinking about it for a while, he still revealed to James: "To be honest, Jim, I have reached some tacit understanding with Yeltsin, but I am not sure whether things will succeed. Next year, I mean, at least Wait another year, and then we will decide whether to make further arrangements for Russia."
James hit the nail on the head: "The next president?"
Simon nodded: "Yes."
James went one step further accurately: "Simon, or, if I guess correctly, the next Russian president, will conflict with the existing oligarchs?"
Simon was a little surprised this time, but he did not deny it and nodded slightly again.
"This does not seem to be in our interests," James said: "Russia under the control of capital is more suitable for our layout, rather than the emergence of another strong leader
Simon shook his head and said: "When I lobbied Washington and the IMF to save Russia last year, I happened to discuss with them that if Russia completely collapses, it will not be good for the federation or us."
"I know this," James nodded: "But I think what we need is a formal opponent, rather than a truly tough opponent?"
"Jim, if it was just a straw man, do you think it would be useful to the smart birds? Just like recently, with the launch of the euro, in order to avoid threatening the status of the dollar, there needs to be some turbulence on the European side, and a weak straw man , let alone stir up any trouble," Simon spread his hands slightly and continued: "And, since I have made a plan, at least our economic interests in Russia will definitely be protected."
James thought for a while and finally nodded: "Okay, you are the boss."
After speaking, he hesitated slightly. Seeing that Simon had no intention of revealing it, James did not ask further questions.
But then he remembered something: "Simon, there is one more thing."
He found a piece of information and handed it over, then continued: "This was sent along with the Russian replacement plan last Friday. It is about the investment plan to build an oil pipeline from Siberia, Russia to Northeast China. Discussions started in 1996, but have been put on hold due to various reasons, mainly funding issues. Yukos Petroleum Company, which is currently leading this project, hopes that we can participate in the investment together, with a budget of US$2 billion. Over the weekend, I asked our team to conduct some evaluations , it may actually require US$2.5 billion to US$3 billion to be completed, but the expected benefits are very considerable. You know, it's like building a toll highway, and the income is more generous and stable than a highway."
Simon took the folder and didn't wait to open it. Just listening to James's general description, he understood that this should be the 'Anti-Dalian Line' that took more than ten years of ups and downs to finally be completed. Silently, he opened the information and browsed it quickly. After a few minutes, Simon closed the folder, pondered a little, and said, "Let's put it off until next year."
If someone successfully takes office next year, he will have some impressive political achievements.
This item makes just the right gift.
Of course, Simon doesn’t give it away for free.
The Westeros system gives political achievements and gets back benefits.
As for whether the oil pipeline is profitable, you can imagine the turmoil surrounding Beixi 2 by a group of big countries. The principle of natural gas pipelines is the same as that of oil pipelines. Simon is not worried that if this pipeline is built, it will be because China does not have it. There is enough demand to make losses. China's demand for energy will only continue to increase for at least the next two decades.
However, even if things really work out, Simon will definitely not cooperate with Yukos.
In the original time and space, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the man behind Yukos, was the most unlucky among Russia's seven oligarchs. Facing suppression, the other oligarchs were either lucky enough to survive or fled overseas. Only Huo was the one. He was arrested and worked as a tailor in a Siberian prison for many years.
In short, Simon is more inclined to cooperate with Russian officials than Yukos.
It's not that the official is necessarily reliable, Simon is just on the side of the winner, especially if the winner is inextricably linked to his family, it is definitely more secure than an unlucky second-hand tailor.
Let’s talk about China.
If the project succeeds, it will be a great favor.