Zhu Tian: The Fiery Years Begin with Taking Qin Huairu as a Concubine

Chapter 318: Small Business Again

Count Serra said with a smile:

"I understand! I understand! Isn't this just legal robbery?!"

"When will the pirates come and when will we have a conflict? I have to prepare! First, block those ships to prevent them from escaping!"

Zhang Kaiwu looked at him in surprise. You don't even want to let go of this merchant ship!? He said:
"Okay! How about starting in a week? Let the news of the conflict spread first! We also have to set up a pirate group, which will take time. Let them contact you then."

"And how are you doing with the Governor of Thailand? Otherwise, why don't you bomb as hard as you can there and draw a map."

Count Serra said with a smile:

"Okay! I'll get ready right away! Spread the word throughout the region that there's going to be a war, and I'm going to join the battle myself!"

"You pirates should hurry up. This is a very simple job. Just paint it and make some bed sheets to paint a few flags!"

Zhang Kaiwu smiled and said:

"I know you are experts in dealing with pirate groups. Why don't you stay here for a few days and let your men handle this matter!?"

Count Serra held a cigar in his mouth and said seriously:

"No! This job is important. I am a man who conquered the sea. This is too interesting!"

You are talking bullshit!
Zhang Kaiwu watched him leave in a hurry!

Xue Long and Wang Yongfu were called over, and after a brief discussion, they arranged for Li Guifa to form a pirate group immediately.

Establish a pirate base and develop the piracy business in the entire Southeast Asia region to facilitate the next step of charging.

One day later, Xue Long became the leader of a pirate group. He organized a pirate group of 5,000 people and more than a dozen patrol boats, and used the Skeleton Chess game to rob people.

………………

then!

The Dutch's complaint to Great Britain was fruitless, as even worse things happened later.

There is an imminent risk of war as the Strait of Malacca is blocked at both ends, and cargo ships are not allowed to pass through.

The Strait of Malacca is full of elusive pirate groups, playing hide-and-seek with Count Serra.

A week later, Princess Ninh Binh began to make international appeals for independence for the Borneo region and for the Dutch to pay war reparations for nearly three hundred years.

The Dutch, for the sake of our past friendship, should simply pay you 5 billion U.S. dollars in compensation. Anyway, you will start calculating the interest from today, and the matter will be forgotten once the compensation is paid.

They demanded that the Japanese pay war reparations for World War II, totaling 15 billion U.S. dollars, based on the resources plundered and the population loss. The interest will also be calculated from today. Otherwise, if you encounter pirates, you will bear the consequences at your own risk, unless your ships go to Eastern Europe or Antarctica in the future.

For those countries that do not support its independence, the Strait of Malacca will charge ten times the toll, and necessary military action will not be ruled out.

The two million troops in the Borneo region have more than a hundred artillery positions in the Strait of Malacca and are not afraid to fight any pirates.

The Borneo army’s mission is to combat pirates and maintain order in the Strait of Malacca!

Even Count Serra's navy was within their attack range.

Princess Ning Ping's words really mean that not only does Borneo want independence now, but it also wants an exorbitant price and demands war reparations.

...............

The world is in uproar!
Before the onlookers could react and lament Princess Ning Ping's arrogant tone, something unexpected happened again.

The Governor of Malay, Count Serra, was so crazy that he didn't care whether Princess Ningping was independent or not and began to publicly oppose Princess Ningping's charging behavior in Malacca.

Count Serra announced that Princess Ning Ping's team was overestimating their own capabilities and even dared to declare war on him. The British navy is no pushover!

He shouted loud slogans and blocked the eastern side of the Strait of Malacca and the entire Borneo region up to the sea area of ​​Thailand.

Not only do we have to attack pirates in the entire Southeast Asia and Borneo region, but we also have to attack Princess Ning Ping's naval forces in Borneo, west of Malacca.

And for the sake of everyone's safety, the British Navy was willing to escort passing ships and began to collect tolls on the east side of the other end of the Strait of Malacca.

They announced that they were also escorting everyone to fight against bandits and pirates and Princess Ningping in Borneo. But now their military expenditure is limited, and this is just to maintain a little fuel cost.

However, their strength was limited. There were too many artillery batteries on the west side of the Strait of Malacca, and Count Serra could only escort the eastern half of the route.

The navy of Count Serra and the navy of Princess Ningping of Borneo had an armed conflict in the waters in the middle of the Strait of Malacca and confronted each other with live ammunition several times.

Fortunately, everyone was very rational, and with the mediation of Earl Zhang, there was no shooting at each other, only hostility towards each other.

So the two companies retreated to two ends separately. You ignored me and went into Malacca in the west, and I ignored you and went into Malacca in the east. We each sent a patrol boat to escort everyone to fight pirates, and each started charging according to the tonnage of the ship.

Count Serra's statement of attack and the subsequent armed conflict caused a lot of criticism from the international community, and everyone was furious!
Damn it!

The relationship between your two families is sweeter than honey, and your equipment is exactly the same. Are you really going to fight?!

Both of your families have such close relations with Earl Zhang, you have teamed up with the pirate group to collect Malacca tolls by force, are you here to rob? ?
Are you treating us like fools?!
You yourselves are the pirates on the other side!
You can curse them all you want, but facing the more than one hundred artillery batteries in the Strait of Malacca, you have to pay not a penny less. Otherwise, if the bandits and pirates sink your ships, you will be the one to bear the consequences!

There is nothing the ships can do. Since the tolls are increasing, they can only increase the freight rates for ships. As for the route to Antarctica, that is all nonsense.

The gas was more expensive than the toll, and there were strong winds and rough seas, and the sea was full of icebergs, which was extremely dangerous.

The Dutch ships had been seized long ago and no longer sailed along this route.

Japanese ships were either seized by pirate groups or they paid ten times the toll and left.

Even if you paid the money and passed Malacca East, you would still be detained in Malacca West.

.....................

Count Serra has been chasing the pirate group for several days and he is bored now. What he likes most is to sit on the high building of the Governor's Palace, smoking a cigar and drinking a cup of latte, watching the tolled ships passing through the Strait of Malacca. He seems to hear the sound of gold coins jumping, clattering day and night!
All personnel were sent to carry out the inspection, fearing that a single ship might be missed.

His gross income was at least one million US dollars a day. After deducting the share given to his subordinates, he still had hundreds of thousands of dollars, almost one million US dollars. However, he was not happy for several days.

His old superior, the Duke of York, came and was ordered to investigate and study the situation in Malacca.

After chatting about the weather with Count Serra for a while while smoking a cigar, the two of them went into the office.

Count Serra knew that it was all for money, and said in frustration:

"Grand Duke of York! I am your loyal disciple, just tell me what's wrong! I can withstand the blow!"

The Duke of York asked curiously:
"Your crackdown on pirates has caused too much tension in the region. Was this planned by Earl Zhang? How much money have you received these days?"

Count Serra said frustratedly:
"Yes! These are all the genius ideas of Earl Zhang. In fact, I later realized that they were all for him to squeeze the war reparations from the Dutch and Japan. It was about one million US dollars a day, and about 20 million US dollars in ten days."

The Duke of York was surprised and said:
"In just a short period of more than ten days, you actually received four million pounds!?"

Count Serra said with emotion:

"Yes! But you know that's just gross income. Those men have to eat too, otherwise they wouldn't be motivated to fight pirates!"

The Duke of York patted him on the shoulder, took a puff of his cigar, and said in surprise:

"I know how difficult it is to lead a team! I'm just saying this little thing of yours. So many people in the parliament seem to have smelled blood. You've collected too much! Your subordinates have pawns in the parliament, and your income has been exposed."

"The Japanese are also complaining everywhere, but now no one is paying attention to them. Your pirate groups are all British warships!!!"

Damn it!

Once I find those traitors, I'm going to show them what I'm capable of!
Count Serra gritted his teeth in frustration and asked:
"Mr. Duke! Can we not charge fees from now on?!"

The Duke of York smiled and said, "Of course not! It's not that serious. No matter how you put it, it's all for the purpose of fighting pirates and escorting, not for robbery. But you know, the key to the problem is that you're taking too much money! Take out the income and redistribute it. You shouldn't be taking so much for your position!"

"If you work here for a year, think about how much you can earn!? The minimum is more than 300 million US dollars!? Almost 100 million pounds!"

Seeing Count Serra's expression as if his father had died when he heard that the money was to be distributed, he consoled him and said:

"You also know how miserable those governors are now, such as those in Hong Kong, Africa, Australia, and the Virgin Islands..."

"They are all poor and can't even guarantee their regular wages. What would you brothers think if they worked hard as a governor for ten years but could not earn as much as you do in one day!?"

"What would those respectable congressmen think if their income in ten years was less than what you earn in one day!?"

Count Serra said quickly:

"Duke of York! I have recorded your copy. According to previous practice, I will give it to you when the time comes!"

"Earl Zhang also said that after two years, this thing will probably not be able to continue, and we can only charge normal fees."

The Duke of York, smoking a cigar, smiled wryly and said:

"The problem is that it will take two years, and the money you charged is too much. I can't afford it in a month! Even the two old friends, the Duke of Argyll, and their subordinates have objections. We have to all shoulder the responsibility together!"

"Earl Zhang is a shrewd man, and he has many ways to make money. Although he has a good relationship with the parliament, he will not stand up for you in this matter. His money is not so easy to take!"

"He had already planned to get this huge sum of money. He wanted to drag the whole of Great Britain into the water to support him and ask the Dutch and Japanese for war reparations. How could this money be so easy to earn!?"

Count Serra didn't care about whether to take sides or not. Now the whole of Great Britain was selling things to Count Zhang. Who didn't know that?!

But the income from this fee is actually going to be redistributed! ?

Count Serra's heart was broken!
Although I was prepared, I still felt so heartbroken that I couldn't breathe after hearing the news!

But I can only say there:

"I know! But even if I don't have any credit, I have worked hard, and so many people under me need to eat."

The Duke of York said hastily:

"Of course! I promoted you, I will definitely fight for a fair treatment for you."

"Their eating habits can't be too ugly, otherwise I won't agree!"

The two men discussed the matter in the study for a long time, and the Duke of York kept sending telegrams to Parliament and several other dukes to discuss how to deal with this matter.

There is nothing new under the sun!
Two days later, with the help of the Duke of York, everyone finally reached an agreement.

From now on, Count Serra will receive 10% of the labor fee, which includes all the management budget.

Including the expenses of his subordinates, all are included in this 10%.

The rest of the money was kept in a bank in Borneo, pending further discussion on the right of distribution, because this bank facilitated money transfers and was also conducive to concealment.

Count Serra's ruddy face has turned pale after several days of quarreling!
The Duke of York patted him on the shoulder and said soothingly:

"Governor Serra! Don't be sad. This is the only treatment I can get because you have contributed to the development. This is the best way to deal with this matter! It's just a 10% handling fee, which is tens of millions of dollars a year."

"Otherwise, they all unanimously demanded that someone be replaced as the governor. Even if they only took a 5% handling fee, there would still be plenty of people willing to work hard for him!"

Count Serra said quickly:

"Mr. Duke! I know that it is because of your care and love that I was able to retain 10%! I will definitely not lose the share that I deserve to give you!"

After the Duke of York finished these things, he secretly went to Jakarta, Borneo to have a chat with Zhang Kaiwu.

He is really interested in Zhang Kaiwu, who is very good at making money.

Although the method is a bit ugly, it can really make money. In this world, there is no method of making money that is not ugly! ?

In addition, the parliament wanted to put some pressure on Earl Zhang, as Princess Ningping had captured more than 100,000 Dutch people. In order to prevent Earl Zhang from making things too ugly in Borneo, it would make everyone lose face.

It would be best to release the Dutch. We are all European compatriots, and the Dutch are willing to spend money to let parliament mediate.

Fifty billion dollars in compensation is impossible, so give a suitable price and let him go.

………………

Zhang Kaiwu and Wang Yongfu welcomed the Duke of York at the Jakarta airport, hugging and lighting cigars.

He asked with a smile:
"Dear old York! It's not a good thing that you came all the way here!"

"Have you received the penicillin sent by the United States? How is the business in Europe?"

Hearing this was a bit impolite, and listening to Zhang Kaiwu's aggressive tone, the Duke of York hurriedly said:

"Dear Zhang! We have received the penicillin, and it is selling very well throughout Europe!"

"I just came to see your company and to mediate with the Dutch. Your asking price is too horrible, and the Dutch don't have that much money."

Zhang Kaiwu smiled and pointed at the legendary little finger, saying:
"The Dutchman's affairs are none of our business. They are Princess Ning Ping's and her friends' business."

"Don't get upset over those trivial things! I want to take you to see a good place, and we can discuss starting a small business together!"

The Duke of York's heart skipped a beat. Could this be another small business worth more than a billion dollars?

What are the Dutch? To hell with them!
Zhang Kaiwu and Wang Yongfu drove him to visit a shipyard.

The Jakarta Port is an inland seaport with relatively stable winds and waves.

In winter, the golden sunlight shines on the blue ocean, and the scenery is very beautiful.

Looking at the shipyard that was still leveling the land and the various equipment piled up near the dock, the Duke of York said politely:

"Dear Zhang! Can you tell me about your small business idea? With all due respect, we are not interested in setting up these ship factories. When will you be able to make a profit from this business!?"

Zhang Kaiwu smiled and handed over a cigar, and the three of them lit it up.

He then calmly explained:

"Dear York! Don't worry. I can certainly make my money back, but we can just talk about this in private. Don't tell anyone. Do you know where the US dollar comes from?"

Wang Yongfu listened to this curiously. Zhang Kaiwu had never explained these things about this ship factory.

He was also confused about the business and was afraid that Kaiwu Company would go bankrupt because the current investment was too huge.

The Duke of York said with interest:

"Isn't this currency pegged to gold reserves and issued in the same way as the British pound? Are you going to speculate in foreign exchange?"

Zhang Kaiwu smiled and said:

"How is that possible! Foreign exchange speculation is a scam. Without accurate information channels, it's just a scam. There are about 30,000 tons of gold in the world now, and I have about 5,000 tons in my hands."

“And I am still making acquisitions in London, all for the purpose of stabilizing the issuance of Borneo Coin.”

"We are just a small country in Borneo, and we may not need much currency. If we issue banknotes at a ratio of one to ten, our gold reserves can support our credibility. The United States does not have that much gold, but how can we stabilize the market value of the US dollar? "

The Duke of York said hastily:

"The United States can produce many advanced things, and their U.S. dollars can flow back to offset this part of the money."

(End of this chapter)