Chapter 93: There was a market for shares first

'Hooray! The Chinese are our best friends in Northern Russia, our saviours in our time of greatest need. I will never forget the kindness the Chinese have shown us in Northern Russia, and I will never forget it!'

'I never thought that when the Kremlin had already abandoned the ruble and its people, and when the old ruble had become worthless due to successive decrees, it was the Chinese businessmen who stepped forward and insisted that the old ruble should continue to be used. What kind of spirit of internationalism is this? All Chinese people are the best people and deserve the respect of future generations!'

'Thank you, Chinese people. I don't think there are any words to thank these kind Chinese people. They are our parents and sisters!'

In front of the Cherniv Market, all the Northern Russians who had followed Konon here let out an excited cry after actually hearing Zhou Ming say that the ruble could still be used here.

These Northern Russians all crowded in front of the market entrance, lining up and walking towards the inside. It wasn't that these Northern Russians were well-mannered, but in order to use old rubles to buy things at the Cherniv Market, they had to first become shareholders of the Cherniv Market.

'Our Cherv Market has now established a management joint-stock company, which will be more conducive to the deployment of resources throughout the market. In order to create better services for everyone, we need everyone to invest in the company first. As long as you spend new rubles at the entrance to buy shares in the company, you can use the shares to buy goods in the market with old rubles at any time. Only those who hold shares can use old rubles to buy goods in the market. The shares can only be used in the market by the person carrying their ID, and the amount of old rubles that can be used is linked to the share of the shares. The shares may not be lent to others, otherwise the market has the right to confiscate the shares. The final right to interpret the shares belongs to the company!

A publicity vehicle pulled up outside the entrance, and the loudspeakers on board kept playing announcements about the use of old roubles at the Cherniv market. There were also several market management staff waiting at the entrance to answer everyone's questions.

'A joint-stock company share? Is this the same as those listed companies in a securities company? Can we only use old roubles to buy things here if we buy shares here?' A young man from northern Russia asked.

The manager nodded and replied: 'Yes, it is the same kind of stock as those listed on the stock exchange. Since the Kremlin has made it clear that it is illegal to use old roubles in public, but our company is a legitimate company, we can only recover old roubles by protecting the interests of our internal members. To become an internal member, you must spend new roubles to buy company shares and become a shareholder, which is legal.'

'What about the share? Does it mean that the more shares you buy, the more old roubles you can use here?' someone else asked.

'Yes, this is fairer and prevents someone from buying a share and then selling it on the open market, which would be illegal. So we had to settle for a share system,' the manager replied.

'What is this share? What is it for?' Someone else asked the key question.

This was still easy to answer: 'Put simply, a share is proof that everyone owns the company's assets. With this share, everyone can say that they are part of the company and part owners of the company.'

Zhou Ming and Tong Hua were in the office of the management building, watching all this from the entrance to the market below. Suddenly, the door to the office opened, and Li Cheng and Tong Gang walked in. Tong Gang went up to Zhou Ming and praised him, 'Zhou Ming, you really are extraordinary. I'm afraid you're the only one who could come up with this way of raising funds.'

Zhou Ming was a little humble: 'I was also anxious about the market. Since everyone was worried about the old rubles, how could we not do anything about it?'

'I don't just think of ways, but you, Brother Zhou Ming, dare to think and dare to do, and you act so quickly. That is the most rare thing,' Li Cheng said.

After being praised like this by Li Cheng and Tong Gang, two tycoons in the business community of Gangcheng, even if Zhou Ming's face was thick, he was embarrassed. However, what they said was also true.

First, Tong Gang said that there were thousands of people at the Chelf market today alone. Even if each person only bought 100 yuan worth of new ruble shares on average, that would add up to hundreds of thousands of yuan. We must bear in mind that these were only the first group of people brought in by Konon. There are millions of people in the entire Krisco area, and they all have more or less old ruble in their hands, so casually coming in hundreds of thousands of people is a considerable sum.

Then there was Li Cheng, who actually only pointed out a basic truth of doing business, which was the advantage of monopolising the market. Put simply, when there was only one person selling eggs in the market, he would definitely make a profit no matter how he sold them. However, when there were other people selling eggs in the market, that was not necessarily the case.

Now that the old ruble has been abandoned throughout the North Russian Republic, but all North Russians still have old rubles and are eager to spend them. When Zhou Ming was the first to stand up and admit the value of the old ruble and become the first and only person selling eggs in the market, there was a lot of room for manoeuvre.

Li Cheng and Tong Gang both praised Zhou Ming, and Tong Gang then asked his son, 'A-hua, did you learn anything from following Mr Zhou Ming today?'

In response to his father's question, Tong Hua replied with emotion: 'Father, Mr. Zhou Ming is truly a remarkable person. Whether it's his business acumen or his way of thinking about people and employing them, I'm very impressed. I followed him today and I feel that I've gained a lot.'

Tong Hua's words surprised Li Cheng: 'It seems that little brother Zhou Ming has really taught you a lot. I know that you, A-Hua, never praise people easily.'

Tong Hua shook his head and said, 'Uncle Li Cheng is not like that. Mr. Zhou Ming didn't say anything on purpose in front of me. It's just that he is full of great wisdom in everything he does, and I can't help but be impressed.'

Li Cheng and Tong Gang both looked at Zhou Ming in surprise, but this time Zhou Ming spoke first: 'Chairman Tong, Chairman Li, don't praise me anymore, let's talk about the situation in front of us first. Although it seems that so many Northern Russians are coming to buy our stocks, our fundamental problems are gradually coming to light. If this problem is not solved, I'm afraid we will go bankrupt very soon.'

Zhou Ming's words became more and more helpless, and in the end he sighed. Li Cheng and Tong Gang also frowned after listening, and Tong Gang nodded in deep agreement: 'This is indeed a big headache.'

...

While Zhou Ming, Li Cheng, and Tong Gang all frowned in the office of the management office, outside at the entrance to the Chelf market, while everyone was crowded in line to enter the market, an American was pushing his way out.

It took the American more than 40 minutes to squeeze his way out of the market, just a few hundred metres away. After he had squeezed his way out of the queue, he walked straight to the street past the market, where a black Lincoln car was parked. The American was already sweating and panting when he arrived here: 'Mr. Davier, I have bought the shares of the Cherf Market Management Company.'

The American then handed over a share certificate to the car. The window was lowered and someone reached out to take the certificate while also handing him a handkerchief: 'Wipe your sweat well, later Mr. Maita will ask you questions.'

From these words, the identity of the person in the car was revealed. The American took the handkerchief and wiped his sweat, and after a short rest, Maita asked him in the car, 'Is this stock certificate the ticket to enter the Cherv Market?'

The American replied, 'No, the Cherv Market is still open to everyone, but there is now a special old ruble consumption area in the Cherv Market. To spend old rubles there, you must have a stock certificate.'

'I see. Then what about the shares? How does that work?' Meta asked again.

The American shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Meta, all I know is that the more shares you buy, the more old rubles you can spend in the Cherf market. But the exact share is so crowded that I can't get a specific understanding.'

'Okay, I get it," Meta said, and the American left as soon as he heard Meta say that.

After the American left, Davier rolled up the window and said, 'Mr. Maita, I never thought that that Chinese Zhou Ming was really resourceful, and he actually came up with this method of using old rubles to attract new rubles.'

'If anyone is to blame, it is the decree from the Kremlin. There are millions of people in Krisko, and they have to exchange all their old rubles within three days. This is an impossible task. There will definitely be a lot of old rubles left lying around. What I can't believe is that Zhou Ming reacted so quickly. It's only the second day, and he's already come up with this plan.'

Meta paused for a moment before continuing, 'Since the Cherv Market has already registered as a joint-stock company, Zhou Ming definitely didn't come up with this idea just yesterday. It seems he's been preparing for this ruble exchange for a long time.'

'But Mr. Meta, he's only selling shares, is this really a good deal?' Davier asked.

'If his goal is still the new ruble, then it's a very good deal. And in the foreseeable future, this stock may still have a lot of room for appreciation. Even I want to buy it,'

Maita's words left Davier a little speechless, but he didn't say anything in response, because in his opinion, Mr. Maita was just joking. However, he didn't know that Maita was serious.

'So what should we do now?' Davier asked Maita.

'What we need to do now is to have a good talk with the one in the Kremlin. I think he must be more anxious than we are,'

Mata smiled, and his smile reassured Davier. After all, in Davier's opinion, Mata was the financial genius of the West, and what was a Chinese guy like Zhou Ming?

Davier handed Mata his phone, and Mata dialed the number that Nikolic had left him. After connecting, he said, 'Hello, esteemed Mr. President, this is Mata. I think I have some news that you will be very interested in.'