Chapter 85: Not an obstacle, but a help

Amidst the wailing of sirens, ten armoured cars escorted by a police convoy drove through Gele Street and straight towards the securities company. 

People on the street stared at the scene. Although it was the first day of the mandatory replacement of the old ruble with the new one, and there had been many armoured cars on the road back and forth in the morning, as the day went on, the designated banks for exchange had already prepared sufficient new rubles. Even if there was a shortage, it would only be a very small part. Where would there be so many armoured cars speeding down the road? Therefore, this convoy naturally attracted attention.

This armoured truck convoy belongs to the United Bank. It was deployed by Irbedov to transport the old rubles for Zhou Ming. After hearing Zhou Ming say that Northern Russian President Nikolayevich might pose obstacles to their plan, the newly-minted richest man in Northern Russia could no longer sit still. He immediately loaded the old rubles prepared by Zhou Ming and the others in the Cherv Market onto the truck as quickly as possible, and then set off towards the securities company.

Li Cheng and Tong Gang sat in a Volga sedan in the middle of the convoy. Tong Gang took out a pocket watch and glanced at it. He was born in the old society, and this was a habit he brought over from decades ago that he has never changed.

'It's been less than half an hour, and this was a really quick move. You still have a sharp eye, Li Cheng, and Zhou Ming has an unusual acumen for seeing things,' Tong Gang said to Li Cheng, his eyes always looking ahead as the car with Zhou Ming and Irbedov in it was right in front of them.

Li Cheng also nodded and said, 'The key is that he can make decisions in a very short period of time and dares to trust his own judgment. If not, these would not be the miracles he has created.'

Li Cheng's tone was quite emotional, because when he said this, he remembered Zhou Ming's analysis and judgment of this matter before.

Forcing the replacement of the new ruble and setting a limit on the exchange of the new ruble seems to be a desperate move against us, but in fact it is the best opportunity for us!

These were the exact words that Zhou Ming said after they left the Kremlin, which stunned Li Cheng and Tong Gang. They completely didn't understand how Zhou Ming could make such a judgment, but then Zhou Ming explained to them that this was because Krisko was a very large city and the Northern Russian Republic was a very large country, and it was simply impossible to replace all the rubles within a few days.

Li Cheng and Tong Gang are both outstanding businessmen in Hong Kong and even the world. After being reminded by Zhou Ming, they immediately responded.

Indeed, this kind of replacement of old and new currencies is often also a time to maximize speculative profits, because not everyone has the opportunity to go to an officially designated location to exchange at the official exchange rate, nor does everyone understand what an exchange rate is. Some people don't even know where to exchange it, and simply think that the money in their hands is going to be invalidated. This has been proven countless times around the world.

'If the government of Northern Russia does not set obstacles and does not limit the time for exchange, then we will not be in a hurry. After all, the old rubles can still be used, and if they set these restrictions, we will still have many opportunities.'

Zhou Ming said this at the time. Later, Li Cheng thought that Zhou Ming would go through the black market in Northern Russia, but Zhou Ming thought that was too inefficient. He wanted to go directly through the foreign exchange market, and from the securities company, find a way to sell the old rubles, exchange them for currencies from other countries, and then buy new rubles from the capital market. In this way, he could bypass all the obstacles set by the government of Northern Russia.

The only way to achieve this method's goal is to get the cooperation of the securities company. It so happened that one of the heads of the securities company was Irbedov, a major shareholder of the United Bank.

Even ordinary people who don't understand capital understand that money must be moved in order to become more and more. Now Zhou Ming and the others have such a large currency trade, how could Irbedov, as a banker, not be tempted? So as long as he is tempted, he will definitely do everything he can to help them.

Subsequently, things developed just as Zhou Ming had predicted. After listening to Zhou Ming's ideas, Il'yichov immediately agreed and said that he would definitely support them to the end. Not only him, but also the entire Union of Northern Russian Merchants in Krestovskiy, would support him. Then, on the first day of the new ruble replacement, Il'yichov hurriedly arrived at the Cherv Market with his armoured truck.

When Li Cheng and Tong Gang came to their senses, the convoy had already arrived at the securities company's door. However, they did not look relieved, but rather frowned, because the securities company's door was already surrounded by police cars.

What was going on?

Li Cheng and Tong Gang looked at each other, and in front of them, Zhou Ming and Irbedov had already got out of the car, so they had no choice but to get out of the car together.

'I am the head of the securities company, can someone tell me what is going on here? Why are you surrounding my securities company for no reason?'

Ilbedov went up to the police officers surrounding the place to argue, but the police chief did not answer him. This was not because the police chief was arrogant, but because there was a higher-ranking official here. A middle-aged man in his fifties walked out and said, 'Hello, Mr. Ilbedov and Mr. Zhou Ming. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting here, but please don't say anything for now and go inside the securities company together.'

Zhou Ming recognised the identity of this person at a glance: 'Hello, Director Kasyan. Is the President inside?'

This middle-aged man was none other than the director of the President's Office of the Northern Russian Republic, Karsia. He nodded to Zhou Ming and said, 'Yes, Mr. Zhou Ming, please go in with the other gentlemen. The President has something very important to tell you.'

Irbedov asked in a daze, "Director Karsia, do you mean that the President is waiting for us here on purpose?'

Karsia just smiled without saying anything, while Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Okay, we'll go in with you.'

Karsia asked the police to make a path, and Zhou Ming led Li Chengtong and Irbeidov to follow him in.

The President of Northern Russia, Nikolayevich, was not hiding in a very hidden place, but was standing in the trading hall of the securities company. Although the trading hall was already empty at the moment, the large screen above his head had not been turned off, and the president was standing there looking up at the last message to stay on it.

Kasia walked over to report to him, and Nikolavich only then looked away. He turned back and walked over to Zhou Ming, patted Irbedov on the shoulder and said to him, 'Our capital market was established very recently, but you have already achieved so much, which is truly extraordinary.'

In the face of Nikolaevich's encouragement, Irbedov hurriedly said, 'Mr. President, you are too kind. This is what I should do. I have not let you down.'

Nikolaevich then looked at Zhou Ming, and his eyes suddenly became complicated. After a long while, he sighed and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you are still so thoughtful. If I am not wrong, you came to the securities company this time to exchange all the old rubles in your hands for foreign currency through the capital market, and then exchange them back into new rubles through the capital market?'

Nikolaevich's words left Li Cheng and Tong Gang, who had followed him, stunned. They had not expected Nikolaevich to know about this, so the purpose of his visit now became clear.

Li Cheng and Tong Gang both felt a little annoyed at this idea. Although coming to a securities company was not their only way to get rid of old rubles and get new ones, it was the quickest and most efficient way. It would be really annoying to be blocked like this by Nikolaevich.

Zhou Ming, however, shrugged his shoulders and said, 'With you, Mr President, here, the best ideas are useless. Why are you here this time to legislate against me trading foreign exchange?'

Zhou Ming's words made Li Cheng and Tong Gang silently praise him in their hearts, because Zhou Ming's words sounded fine, but in fact they were hidden knives. Because if Nikolic nodded, then his approach of targeting a specific businessman would be a huge scandal for the entire Republic of Northern Russia if it became public, and would become a laughing stock in other countries.

Therefore, Nikolajevich must not say anything, but if he shakes his head, if he does not want to restrict Zhou Ming's transactions, then what is the President of Northern Russia doing here?

Nikolajevich is not an idiot, and he is prepared for this. He replied to Zhou Ming, 'Of course not. What we in the Northern Russian Republic advocate is free trade. It's just that our capital market is not yet perfect and needs to be shut down for a period of time for rectification. I know that Mr. Zhou Ming is a very capable international financier, so could you please be patient for a while?'

'Of course, like you, Mr President, I would also prefer to see a well-established system in the North Russian Republic,' Zhou Ming said.

Faced with Zhou Ming's relaxed response, Nikolajevich suddenly felt a trace of unease, but he couldn't imagine where it came from, so he finally said, 'Since Mr. Zhou Ming is so reasonable, that would be great. As for me, I personally admire international businessmen like you very much. As compensation for shutting down the securities company, I can give your Cherv Market more policy support. What do you think?'

'That's great. On behalf of all the Chinese merchants in the Cherv Market, I'd like to thank you, Mr President,' said Zhou Ming.

'This is my responsibility as President of Northern Russia,'

Nikolaevich left with these words. After Nikolaevich left, Irbedov came over and said to Zhou Ming in a dejected tone, 'As expected, Mr Zhou Ming, your judgment was accurate. The President really came. Today's matter can only be forgotten. However, I can help you contact the black market and improve the efficiency of the intermediary links as much as possible.'

'My opinion is completely different from yours, Mr. Irbedov,'

Zhou Ming said something surprising: 'I think that our president coming here today to shut down the place is the greatest help to me.'