Chapter 51: Winter in Krisco (Part 2)

Chaos reigned on the entire Glade Street. The North Russians who had come out onto the street to sell their belongings were selling and bartering with each other, but they were also casting their eyes on the cars coming and going on the street. Because even though the Soviet Union was a superpower, in those days, having a car was still a sign of power, not to mention that it was still the case at the present time when the ruble was devalued and prices were soaring. People who could still afford to drive a car were regarded by ordinary people as simply part of the local tyrant class.

'Sir, please take a look at my things. This is a Pushkin poetry collection. It contains not only all of Pushkin's published poems, but also many that you won't find in other books. I swear to God, if it weren't for this damned situation, I would never sell it!'

'This is a pure gold necklace that I bought as a wedding gift for my wife. It has great sentimental value to me, but now I have to sell it. If you can give me some US dollars, I don't want that worthless shit of Russian rubles!'

'Sir, I haven't eaten all day. If you can help me go to the market and buy some black bread or some pizza black bread, I'll take whatever you fancy!'

...

Countless Northern Russians crowded onto Gele Street, surrounding every car that passed, slapping their hands against the windows and desperately shouting and begging, but none of the cars stopped. They were all desperately trying to escape, to escape from these people who had gone mad.

Zhou Ming's car was also in the midst of this traffic. Although Zhou Ming's car was just an ordinary Volga, there were still many North Russians selling things by beating on the car windows. Zhou Ming and Kalelina sat in the car, listening to the noise outside. Kalelina clenched her fists as she bit her lips, her beautiful face full of pain.

'Why has it become like this?'

Karina muttered, her beautiful eyes staring out of the window with an expression of unspeakable sadness.

'This is the inevitable price of war,' Ming said, reaching out to hold her hand.

Karina looked at him blankly, as if she didn't understand what he was saying. Ming said to her, 'Do you remember what I said at the Red Square building? I said that I would fight the Dota Project to the death at the top of this Red Square. Then this is a war, a war without smoke.

Faced with the answer given by Zhou Ming, Katerina was silent. How could she not understand Zhou Ming's words? In fact, as Zhou Ming's translator, she was completely inseparable from Zhou Ming, and she also knew very well what Zhou Ming had done in the past month and a half from April to May.

Since the establishment of the North Russian Securities Company and the start of the Dota Project, and since the company began selling rubles, Zhou Ming and the North Russian Business Alliance have followed suit, except that they have not hedged any funds. They have simply told them to simply sell rubles, exacerbating the depreciation of the ruble, causing the ruble to depreciate to a few hundredths of its original value in just one week.

Later, these competitions developed to other aspects. In response to the very uneven industrial distribution in the Soviet Union, the Northern Russian Business Alliance and the Dota Project expanded the battlefield to include all daily necessities. For example, the most basic flour, vegetables, salt, and the clothes people wear.

These are not to be underestimated as the most ordinary things, but it is precisely because of their ordinariness that people do not pay attention to them. However, once these things are in short supply, it will cause the greatest panic, for example, the countless salt rushes in later generations.

This time, the Northern Russian Business Alliance launched the offensive first. Because Zhou Ming pointed out to Il'yadov the huge hidden dangers within the Soviet Union, the astute Jew immediately realised the business opportunities involved and immediately set to work, allowing the Northern Russian Business Alliance to pre-empt Project Talisman and loot all the necessities of life in the country.

In fact, no matter how poor the industrial configuration of the Soviet Union was, it was still better than nothing, and it could have supported itself. But now, with the help of the Northern Russian Business Alliance and the Dagger Tower Project, all the economic weaknesses of the Soviet Union have been exposed.

And due to the shortage of various necessities, prices have soared further, which has also led to a more direct depreciation of the ruble, resulting in the situation they are now seeing.

Just imagine the situation if the price of a house went from 2,000 to 5,000. That's still a house, but just imagine if the price of rice, which you eat every day, went from 2 to 200 overnight. What would you feel? For most people who only earn a few thousand a month, it's simply unimaginable, not to mention the rich.

Now for the people of Krisco, this is the situation they are facing: their savings and wages have not increased, but the prices have reached a level that they can no longer afford. Otherwise, they would not have taken to the streets to sell their possessions to get by. Judging from the way these people dress, they must all still be middle class people with a certain economic status. Now that even they are in such a situation, one can imagine how bad the economic situation here is.

'But as long as it can bring my country back to life, some suffering is necessary, just like the war of national defence back then!'

Kaleina said, but from the trembling in her hands, Zhou Ming could feel that she must be very painful and unwilling in her heart. After all, she is a person with a very strong sense of national honour, and seeing her country in its current state, she must be very sad.

However, Zhou Ming could not comfort her. Although this economic catastrophe was inevitable, if he himself had not fuelled it, it would not have developed to such a serious extent so quickly.

At this time, Zhou Ming's phone rang. He answered it and it was Li Cheng from Gangcheng calling. He said, 'The ruble has now depreciated to a few hundredths of its original value, and the economic situation in Krsko is also very bleak. I've heard that many people in Northern Russia have already begun to take to the streets to sell their possessions.'

The first words out of Li Cheng's mouth made Zhou Ming admire him. It wasn't that Li Cheng's words were shocking, but his slightly heavy tone.

It was obvious that Li Cheng knew that the Northern Russian guide Katerina was definitely sitting next to him. If he showed a very excited attitude at this time, it would definitely cause Katerina's displeasure. Although Karina alone could not have a decisive effect on the situation, if she really got angry and went on strike, it would not be a good thing for Zhou Ming in Northern Russia.

Whether it was good or bad was a matter of words, and Li Cheng, who was the best at exploiting human relationships, was of course able to make a rational choice.

As Li Cheng himself said in the book, success is never accidental. If Li Cheng is not able to notice such human details, he would not have been able to reach the position of the richest Chinese.

Since this time he is going to compete with the Dota Project for money, Zhou Ming of course cannot do without the help of the Kongcheng Zaifa. Otherwise, if he relies solely on himself and the Northern Russian Business Alliance, not only will he be eaten up to the bone, but he will also definitely suffer a lot of losses once they turn their backs on him. On the other hand, this is also to maximise the profits he makes.

Having figured out Li Cheng's intentions, Zhou Ming cooperated and continued in his tone, 'Chairman Li's information is still as well-informed as ever. I am currently on Grosse Straße, and around my car are Northern Russians selling off their possessions. Can you imagine a situation like this?'

'Of course, in fact, during the stock market crash two years ago, I also witnessed the appearance of those who went bankrupt, but I know that the situation in Northern Russia is now much more serious.'

Li Cheng added a few words before getting to the topic at hand and asked Zhou Ming, 'Now that the ruble has depreciated so severely, do we need to take any measures here? Do we need to continue to follow it?'

'We definitely need to follow it. This is only the beginning,' said Zhou Ming.

Li Cheng, who had received the answer on the other end of the phone, took a sharp intake of breath, because he knew Zhou Ming was serious, but he couldn't accept it. After all, the Soviet Union was a superpower on par with the United States, and in the past, the ruble's exchange rate was even higher than the US dollar. Even if his economy was facing an unprecedented crisis, it shouldn't be this bad.

Zhou Ming guessed what Li Cheng was thinking and then said to him, 'Li Dong, if it were just the collapse of the Soviet economy, then of course it wouldn't be so bad, but the key is that not only are we, the Northern Russian Business Alliance and the Dota Project, but the Northern Russian Central Government is also implementing shock therapy, which will exacerbate the severity of the economic situation. Therefore, in the future, the ruble will depreciate even more drastically.'

'So how much will it depreciate to?' Li Cheng asked.

'Thirteen to fourteen hundred times,'

Li Cheng was silent for a long time after hearing Zhou Ming's reply, before finally saying, 'Little brother Zhou Ming is truly ambitious. We would never have dared to think of something like this.'

'There's no choice. I believe you, Chairman Li, have also heard the saying that only a bold person can be productive. And I'm like a young bull not afraid of the tiger,' Zhou Ming said.

Li Cheng finally said, 'Very well, I will convince the people on the board of directors to continue investing in Northern Russia and wait for the bottom to fall.'

'Thank you very much,'

Zhou Ming said to Li Cheng, Zhou Ming really wanted to thank Li Cheng, because Zhou Ming could imagine that in a country like Northern Russia, which was originally under totalitarian control, investing so much money all at once, those people in Gangcheng must be very worried and want to see the good times come to an end. It can be imagined how much pressure Li Cheng was under.

Of course, there is also Lin Muqing, the chairman of the board, but Lin Muqing's side has a shallow foundation after all, and the funds he controls and can mobilize are far less than Li Cheng's. This is also the reason why Zhou Ming must bring Li Cheng along.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, is this the way you Chinese do things? Thank you very much for caring about me so much.'

As soon as Zhou Ming hung up the phone, Kalelina next to him immediately said to Zhou Ming, which made Zhou Ming first stunned, and then he also reacted to the move Li Cheng just made, and it did not escape her notice.

Zhou Ming smiled at this, but before he could say anything more, he was interrupted by a scream from outside...