Until many years later, the civil wars in African countries gradually subsided, and the continuous small-scale conflicts never stopped.
Occasional casualties of Western armies can quickly make headlines in newspapers, and even wars in the Middle East will continue to attract the attention of the international community. Only in Africa, there are continuous urban riots, frequent massacres in villages, and the displacement of tens of thousands of people at every turn. , as well as natural and man-made disasters such as plague, drought, starvation, etc., the number of abnormal deaths reaches millions every year, but it has always received little attention from the international community.
It seems that everyone is deliberately forgetting.
We really treat that continent with more than one billion people as a primitive jungle and let it fend for itself.
Is there really no one trying to end this
of course not.
Because of previous plans, Simon has recently collected a lot of information about Africa. For example, Angola, which is currently undergoing a civil war, has a UN peacekeeping force of up to 7,000 troops stationed.
However, it was only in the past few years that the international situation changed rapidly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The peacekeeping troops stationed in Angola burned hundreds of millions of dollars in military expenditures and suffered heavy casualties themselves, but they have never been able to change the situation of the country's civil war, including in Angola. The two armies that are confronting each other are very resistant to the intervention of these external forces, so the peacekeeping troops that have been working in vain for a long time have begun to withdraw one after another.
This is not the case in other African countries.
It can be said that considering various factors such as politics, economy, military and culture, the situation in Africa is indeed unimaginably complicated and cannot be changed by just anyone.
The main reason is actually the last sentence the old man just said: everyone is civilized and must follow the rules.
Even if they are well-equipped and their combat capabilities are not bad, peacekeeping troops in Africa are often subject to various constraints and cannot be as unscrupulous as local warlords. This is also the main reason for the failure of peacekeeping operations.
Otherwise, take Angola.
In Angola, which is undergoing a civil war, the total strength of the government and opposition forces is less than 200,000. As for combat strength, most of the equipment is only African troops with individual weapons eliminated by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In the face of modern Western armies, It's basically the difference between cold weapons and hot weapons.
During the Gulf War, the Iraqi army, which boasted millions of soldiers, was nothing but a bunch of chickens and dogs in front of the powerful US military. The African army, let alone the US military, even compared with Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army at this stage, can only be regarded as a bunch of chickens and dogs. This shows the gap.
Therefore, Simon initially envisioned organizing a modern elite mercenary group of 10,000 people, which could indeed easily occupy a large territory in Africa without being bound by any rules.
The problem now is that since we are in the 'civilized world', it is impossible to use these methods blatantly.
However, Simon did not intend to give up. After the old man finished speaking, he thought for a moment and quickly said: "Lei, in this case, maybe I can go to Africa to do business, a very serious business."
Before Simon continued to explain, Raymond Johnston had already understood the subtext of his words. Simon still did not give up the idea of building a violent machine belonging to the Westeros system.
If you think about it, this is indeed necessary.
The current size of the Westeros system has even exceeded the scope of the chaebols, and is almost equivalent to a national-level economy.
In this case, if you want to ensure the sustainable development of this economy, it cannot only have strong economic strength, but must also have considerable political and military influence. Otherwise, no matter how large an 'economy' is, it will be vulnerable to the tyrannical state machinery.
Even if we don't think too long term, if we buy those things from Eastern Europe in the future, if we really have to use them in the future, it will be troublesome to find someone to implement them.
It is definitely not appropriate to organize mercenaries to seize territory in Africa. If there is a legitimate excuse, many things can be promoted smoothly.
Doing business is obviously a perfectly valid excuse.
In order to ensure that business in war-torn areas can be maintained smoothly, it is natural for the Westeros system to train and cultivate some private armed forces to protect the safety of employees, factories or mines while doing business.
The larger the business in Africa, the greater the number of private armed forces required.
If the Westeros system has industries all over Africa, and each industry only supports a dozen private soldiers, if necessary, it will be a powerful military force that can easily change the situation in some regions.
More importantly, after breaking it into parts, doing so will not attract much attention and rebound.
After quickly sorting this out, Raymond Johnston felt somewhat regretful.
If only it could be the 'Johnston System'.
In this case, perhaps in the future history of mankind, his family will have a profound impact.
It seems that the identity of this kid should be spread as soon as possible in private.
After making up his mind, Raymond Johnston returned to Simon's idea and said: "This is a good idea. In the name of doing business, we can cultivate a private armed force. This is more reliable than simply recruiting mercenaries, because there are no With legitimate reasons and firm belief, mercenary groups will not have the attribute of loyalty. Without loyalty, no matter how powerful the army is, it will be difficult for us to use it in critical moments. Now we recruit private armed forces in the name of family business, from the beginning , we can instill in these soldiers who they need to be loyal to, and then let this army have a sense of belonging to the Westeros system. With supplementary benefits, in the future we will be able to obtain an army that has no concept of family and country and is completely loyal to Our own army."
Simon nodded subconsciously and couldn't help but admire him in his heart.
As expected of an old man, he had just had a rather vague idea, and he had already grasped the essence of the matter.
If Simon's original plan is to recruit mercenaries from Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and other places, with sufficient funds, this group of people can easily form a strong fighting force and want to carve out a territory in Africa to cultivate the Westeros system. The puppet regime is not difficult either.
However, due to the lack of belief and sense of belonging, and more people just doing it to make money, it is impossible for this group of mercenaries to be loyal to the Westeros system.
In this state, let alone allowing this army to carry out dangerous actions to protect the interests of the Westeros family when necessary, it is impossible to even have a slightly smoother command. Some mercenary leaders took Simon's large sum of money. After getting help, his wings become stronger, and he may even be able to work alone, allowing Simon to steal the chicken but lose the rice.
To make matters worse, it is not impossible to raise these mercenaries and turn them against the Westeros system.
Now, if you change the way, recruit in the name of maintaining the Westeros system's business in Africa, and then train them exactly according to the country's model of training soldiers, and instill in the soldiers from the beginning who they need to be loyal to, the result will be completely different .
If combined with powerful brainwashing measures, Simon can even go one step further and obtain a group of family dead men who are completely loyal to the Westeros system.
The loyalty of traditional national armies mainly comes from the sense of responsibility and belonging to the country to which they depend.
If the Westeros system was just a slightly larger company, it would not be easy to create a similar sense of loyalty in private armed forces, but the current Westeros system is already a company that can compete with the economic strength of many countries. strong economy.
When a single individual finds that the object he serves is a powerful entity that exceeds the economic size of many countries, he will naturally develop a psychology of attachment and admiration. As long as this tendency exists, a further sense of loyalty can be cultivated relatively easily.
Of course, the necessary bundle of interests is out of the question.
Simon suddenly thought of more, not only individual family private soldiers, but also the entire families of most private soldiers could be integrated into the Westeros system in the future to form a 'Westeros' that Simon had already considered before. Westerosian' group.
As long as it can be implemented smoothly, the sense of belonging of these family private soldiers will be stronger in the future, and there will even be a traditional concept that serving the Westeros system is equivalent to 'defending the family and the country'.
In addition, choosing Africa as a base to cultivate this private armed force of the Westeros system is more suitable than other regions.
Long-term war, famine and extreme poverty have left most Africans with little sense of belonging to their own countries, which gave the Westeros system ample opportunities.
On the other hand, the racial composition of the private soldiers is not a problem either.
Simon does not plan to form a black armed force. This family army will still be dominated by white people.
After hundreds of years of colonial rule, Africa is not all black, there are also a large number of descendants of white European immigrants.
Because they have taken root in Africa and lost the nationality of their home country, many white people can only live here for a long time, especially those who have gradually fallen to the bottom of society, and even suffer reverse discrimination from black people. If they want to develop in Africa, the private armed forces of the Westeros system cannot completely exclude black people, but those descendants of white immigrants who are incompatible with Africa are Simon's key recruitment targets.
Staying around the outdoor swimming pool of the pleasant Shell Villa throughout the afternoon, Simon seriously discussed with the old man the specific implementation details of establishing this private army. Then the topic turned to the various problems that the Westeros system has recently faced in North America. The old man They all gave their own ideas seriously.
Time flew by in this free conversation, and it was already evening in a blink of an eye.
Simon and Raymond Johnston moved from leaning on the railing to sitting at a set of tables and chairs by the pool, and Anthony joined the discussion.
As the sky fell, the three of them finally got up and walked towards the villa again.
Arriving at the side entrance of the villa, Raymond Johnston thought of another thing and asked: "Simon, are you planning to buy a large amount of gold?"
Simon helped open the glass door and did not hide his thoughts from the old man. He nodded and said: "Since we want to build the Westeros system into a separate 'economy', according to usual practice, we also need a certain amount of gold reserves. "
After hearing this explanation, the old man stopped asking any more questions.
The reason is very good.
Moreover, Raymond Johnston also has a general understanding of the financial situation of the Westeros system. The last time he participated in the merger and acquisition of Rio Tinto, Simon made a one-time investment of US$2.5 billion, which is not a huge amount for any corporate giant. It was a small amount, but the Westeros company could easily pay it using its own funds.
Even so, Simon still retains a large amount of cash due to the huge profits contributed by Daenerys Entertainment, Cersei Capital, Verizon Telecommunications and other companies.
Because of inevitable inflation, it is the best choice to invest large sums of cash held by companies or individuals as soon as possible. From Simon's perspective, the income from investing funds will definitely far exceed the natural appreciation of gold.
However, for the current Westeros system, there is no such restriction.
Because as long as he has a suitable goal, even if Simon has spent all his excess funds to buy gold, it is easy to raise funds for investment. With Westeros' current corporate reputation and its overall low debt ratio of less than 10%, few banks in the world would refuse to provide Simon with a loan.
The three of them entered the lobby of the villa. The old man thought for a moment and said, "It's okay to buy gold, but you don't have to keep it yourself. The cost will be very high. Even if you don't want to store it in the United States, a London vault or a Swiss bank are both good options. choose."
Of course Simon thought about it.
Just thinking about the memory of the United States refusing to ship gold back to other countries dispelled this idea. The United States can do this, but there is no guarantee that countries such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland will not do the same when necessary.
Shaking his head, Simon said: "I don't believe them. It's more reliable to hold the gold in your own hands."
Seeing Simon's insistence, Raymond Johnston had no objection: "Then store it in the basement of our headquarters in Melbourne. There are three floors underground in the Johnston Holdings Building. The bottom floor can be converted into a vault to store hundreds of dollars." A ton of gold is definitely no problem.”
Simon nodded in agreement.
The basement of the Johnston Holdings Building is a perfect fit.
It is completely my own territory, but it is not the long-term residence of my family. If the treasury was built in the Johnston family's mansion on the Yarra River, it would not only attract a lot of covetous people, but would even threaten the safety of the family. If it is built in a completely unrelated place, the safety of gold itself will not be guaranteed to the greatest extent.
During this period, Simon has been looking for a dedicated gold trading team. Once the team is established, it will immediately start acquisitions in several major gold exchanges in the world.
Things about the treasury, including the supporting security team and protective measures, cannot be completed in a day or two. Therefore, although I don’t want to put my gold elsewhere, I can only choose to store it in the early stage. When the construction of the vault in Melbourne is completed, a large amount of physical gold will be shipped to Australia.
Speaking of which, the current gold price is at its lowest point in the 1990s, around US$350 per ounce, which is far lower than the peak of US$800 per ounce during the oil crisis in the 1980s.
Moreover, in Simon's memory, the price of gold was close to US$2,000 an ounce around 2012, which is equivalent to more than five times the current price of gold. Even after global economic conditions improved and gold prices fell back after 2012, they have never been below $1,000 an ounce.
Therefore, the official media of various countries advocate one-sidedly that gold is a worthless commodity with negative investment returns, which really involves some insider information related to the currency standard.
One ounce of Western gold weight unit is approximately equivalent to 31 grams. According to the current gold price of US$350 per ounce, the total value of one ton of gold is actually only about US$11.25 million.
If it weren't for the worry that the surge in gold prices would trigger a rebound in some countries that have been suppressing gold prices due to a massive sweep of goods, and there wouldn't be so much spot gold on the market, Simon would be able to buy 100 tons at a time at a price of US$11.25 million per ton.
Of course this can only be thought about.
The official gold reserves of many countries are less than 100 tons.
Simon's long-term plan is to use the next ten to twenty years to store about 1,000 tons of gold as unnoticed as possible.