Chapter 49: The Battle for the Top of Red Square (Part 2)

A single stone stirs up a thousand ripples. Secretary Irbedov's words immediately made everyone overjoyed. Everyone, without exception, stretched their necks and turned towards the door, waiting as if they could see Zhou Ming outside through the wall.

'Is Mr. Zhou Ming here? This is wonderful. With Mr. Zhou Ming's abilities, he will definitely be able to help us come up with a good solution!'

'Mr. Zhou Ming always appears at the most opportune moment. He is truly a good partner of our Northern Russian businessmen and an angel sent from heaven to help us...'

The following people kept praising Zhou Ming, their words revealing their relief and joy. They did not spare any flattery and completely forgot their previous words and thoughts that discredited Zhou Ming.

Amidst the praise, Zhou Ming walked into the meeting room with Katerina and **. When they saw Zhou Ming enter, the people who had already had high expectations of Zhou Ming stood up even more. The few people closest to the door came forward to shake Zhou Ming's hand and said, 'Thank you very much, Mr. Zhou Ming, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here to help us. You are truly the best friend of the Northern Russian businessmen!'

Zhou Ming was taken aback by the enthusiasm of these Northern Russians, but then he remembered that they already knew that the ruble had begun to depreciate wildly outside, and thus their assets were also shrinking constantly. They were in a state of extreme panic and had made themselves the last straw to be grasped, so of course they could say anything. After all, between wealth and words, even a fool can make a decision.

Not to mention just saying a few kind words now, for some people, they would even sell their children if it meant saving their wealth.

Of course these people are enthusiastic, but they are also very clear about the current situation and understand what the urgent task at hand is. Therefore, they just greeted Zhou Ming at the door for a while, and then hurriedly invited him to come in and sit down.

Upon seeing Zhou Ming enter, Sergeyevsky, who was sitting next to Irbeldov, took the initiative to give up his seat and invited Zhou Ming to sit in the best seat. The class system in Northern Russia is basically the same as in the rest of the country, so you can tell from this seating arrangement just how much importance they attach to Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming sat down without any hesitation. In fact, in such a situation, he did not need to be polite. The more arrogant he acted, the more these Northern Russians would believe in him.

This may sound like a paradox, but it was the truth.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, you've finally arrived. The work on the Dota Project has already begun, and we are all waiting for you to help us figure it out!' Irbedov said to Zhou Ming.

After Irbedov finished speaking, the others also followed suit and said to Zhou Ming, 'Yes, Mr. Zhou Ming, we really didn't expect those Western countries to act so quickly, and they struck so hard that we simply couldn't defend ourselves. Only you, Mr. Zhou Ming, can fight those Western invaders.'

Zhou Ming did not answer right away, but instead thought for a moment in silence before looking up and asking Irbedov, 'What is the situation like over there now? I heard that your securities company has also opened.'

Irbeldov nodded and replied, 'Yes, just this morning Mr. Nikolavich signed the order, but as soon as the securities company opened, people started selling the ruble like crazy. In just the past half hour, the ruble has depreciated by more than 30%.'

'Depreciated by more than 30%?'

Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow and asked. He was very surprised by this depreciation rate, because in Zhou Ming's impression, when the Soviet Union disintegrated, the ruble in northern Russia did experience a period of drastic depreciation, and it even depreciated to 1,400th at its lowest point. But now, in just half an hour, the ruble has depreciated by 30%.

It can be imagined that this must be the work of the people behind Project Dota. Otherwise, with the Soviet Union being such a superpower, how would that hedge fund dare to play like this? But even if it is Project Dota, it shouldn't have depreciated so much. After all, the ruble and the US dollar are pegged at a certain exchange rate, which is based on a certain economic foundation. I'm afraid it's just that Project Dota is afraid that they will get involved, so they are taking preemptive action.

On the other hand, it is no wonder that these people are so nervous. I am afraid it is because these people feel that this devaluation has devalued their wealth by 30%. At this rate, the wealth they have just acquired will become worthless.

Irbeldov nodded and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, the current situation is indeed very bad. I don't know what those Western countries really want, so we really need your help, Mr. Zhou Ming.'

Zhou Ming nodded slightly, not saying yes or no, but instead asking them in return, 'So you want me to help you find a way to curb this continued sharp depreciation of the ruble?'

Everyone said yes, waiting for Zhou Ming's answer, but Zhou Ming's answer was something they never expected. Zhou Ming asked in return, 'What if I said I couldn't do it?'

Zhou Ming's words left everyone stunned. Everyone looked at Zhou Ming without blinking an eye. No one could think of anything to say, and it was only after a long while that someone laughed awkwardly and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you're joking. What you just said scared me, but Mr. Zhou Ming, this is no time to joke.'

After listening to these Northern Russians, Zhou Ming just shook his head lightly and said, 'You've got it all wrong. I wasn't joking. Judging from the current depreciation trend of your ruble, it is almost impossible to stop it, unless you can come up with trillions of dollars in foreign exchange reserves, or directly use several million tons of gold to continue strengthening the ruble, otherwise it is impossible.'

Zhou Ming's words silenced everyone at the scene. As one of the first groups of people to get rich in Northern Russia, after attending the Kuren banquet, they temporarily crammed some financial knowledge. It was impossible to become proficient, but it was still very simple to understand Zhou Ming's words.

But because they understood, they were silent. In their hearts, they also agreed with Zhou Ming's words.

It was also because of this agreement that they felt despair from the bottom of their hearts.

Of course, there were those who refused to believe it. With a last glimmer of hope, he asked Zhou Ming, 'Is there really no way out?'

'No way. Your economic allocation is inherently flawed. If you suddenly open up the financial market without any preparation, you will just be at the mercy of others,' said Zhou Ming. Every word of his was concise and powerful, piercing the heart. It also destroyed the last hope of these Northern Russians in an instant, but then Zhou Ming's next sentence made them feel like dying and coming back to life.

'Rescue is impossible for me at least, but I think you all want to protect your own businesses more than you want to help the country strengthen the ruble, don't you?' asked Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming's question left everyone confused, because most people had an idea in their hearts, and that was that "no egg is safe under a collapsing nest". Could they possibly preserve their wealth when the ruble in Northern Russia had collapsed?

Everyone was very confused, and only some people thought of a very frightening direction, which was to make a profit out of the national crisis.

Facing the confused or surprised expressions of these Northern Russians, Zhou Ming continued, 'I don't know if you remember what I first said to you. I said that I am a true businessman, and I am not here to help you liberate. I just came here to make money. In essence, even the nature of my plan is exactly the same as the one from the Dota side.'

After saying this, Zhou Ming paused for a moment, and then continued, 'Of course, if there is anything different, I can only say that I am a person, and I need to do this with everyone.'

'Doing what?' Someone asked immediately.

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Everyone here is an elite businessman in Northern Russia, and all of you are the best in the country. I believe you have already thought of it. Since the devaluation of the ruble is an inevitable trend and none of us can stop it, what we can do is to use the devalued ruble to help us hold onto our wealth.'

'Hold onto our wealth? Use the devalued ruble?" Someone muttered below, looking like they wanted to believe but couldn't.

'In fact, it is very simple to continue to hold onto our wealth when the ruble depreciates,' Zhou Ming said, turning to Irbedov and saying, 'Take Mr. Irbedov as an example. In order to acquire United Bank, he personally borrowed a lot of money from the bank.'

'Although he is now the owner of United Bank, he still has to repay this money, otherwise it will be a bad debt,' Zhou Ming said. 'So it is not an easy task for him to repay such a large sum of money with interest. However, if the ruble depreciates in the future, and before that, Mr. Irbedov continuously maintains the value of his wealth, then when the ruble depreciates and that money has become hundreds or even thousands of times less, it will be much easier to repay, won't it?'

Zhou Ming continued, 'This is just an example. I still have the same thing to say: There is no problem that cannot be solved in this world, only minds that refuse to be activated. Now the devaluation of the ruble seems like a big crisis, but who says there isn't a huge opportunity for everyone in it?'

In Zhou Ming's words, these people on the scene were all stirred up by what he said, and it seemed that they all had the idea of wanting to make a fortune in this battle of the devaluation of the ruble. You could even see a huge money sign in the eyes of many people.

This was the effect that Ming Zhou wanted, so he concluded, 'So now, let's help the Dota Project fuel the depreciation of the ruble. Let's fight the Dota Project on the top of Red Square, and let's compare with them to see who can grab more wealth in this battle of the depreciation of the ruble!'

Under Ming Zhou's leadership, all the Northern Russians in the meeting room followed him in shouting, 'Yes! Let's fight the Dota Project on the top of Red Square!'