SEC Chapter 316 Zhang Chi: If you want it, beg me
Chapter 316 Zhang Chi: If you want it, beg me
In a spacious and slightly dim office in Red Square, the air is filled with the smell of tobacco.
The loving father sat behind a large desk, his eyes cold and deep.
"Dear Comrade Mikoyan, could you please explain to me a question: why, in just a few months, have we already owed Pegu $6000 million worth of goods?"
His voice was low and powerful, and every word seemed to hit Mikoyan's heart heavily.
"As far as I know, it's just a small Southeast Asian country that was recently liberated and ruled by the Chinese. Do we really import so many necessities? Or are all the Trotskyists still lurking in the trade system, deliberately causing economic losses to the great alliance?"
The kind father, smoking a pipe, stared at Mikoyan, who immediately began to sweat on his forehead.
He didn't know how things turned out like this.
In fact, the matter is very simple. Due to the large-scale import of penicillin, radios, rubber, and various agricultural products including canned fruit, the Russian Bear soon owed hundreds of millions of dollars in payment for goods.
However, Mikoyan was unwilling to pay gold easily. Apart from a small amount of gold, he mostly used finished steel, artillery, tractors and other industrial products to pay off the debt.
For a time, trade between the two sides by land and sea was extremely prosperous.
However, the industrial products used by the Russians to pay off their debts were still too few, so after deducting the industrial products imported from Pegu and the gold paid by the Russians, the debt quickly accumulated to 6000 million US dollars.
When Zhang Chi saw that the outstanding debt was about to reach hundreds of millions, he hurriedly stopped the export.
After all, he was running a crazy trade surplus, and he was not prepared to take the Russian ruble, so he filed a lawsuit directly against Uncle Steel.
When the loving father received the diplomatic letter, he was shocked. How could this be tolerated?
How many canned pineapples have you imported? Aren’t you afraid of eating too much and dying?
So Mikoyan was called in.
Mikoyan stood in front of his desk, his eyes flickering slightly, as if trying to find a suitable answer.
He cleared his throat and said cautiously:
"In fact, we spent at least $6000 million on importing penicillin injections alone. Another $2000 million was spent on rubber, which was reserved for war.
Add to that some agricultural products we can’t produce ourselves, electronic equipment, and so on, and the total import value adds up to more than $1 million.”
The loving father tapped his pipe, frowning slightly, as if puzzled by the number:
"I've read the report. The penicillin Zhang sold us was priced at $1 per vial of 100,000 units. Isn't that too high?"
What the kind father meant was that the person sent to negotiate the price might have taken a kickback.
Mikoyan took out a handkerchief and quickly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. All the people sent to Pegu were his people, and all the contracts signed were signed with his signature.
If he admitted this, wouldn't he be purged?
Therefore, Mikoyan’s first reaction was that someone inside was trying to get rid of him again.
But he was no ordinary person. Instead, he straightened his tie and continued to talk:
"Because the White Eagles were wary of us, valuable medicines like penicillin were not even on the aid list. Before signing a contract with Pegu, we could only smuggle it internationally, with prices fluctuating between $2 and $10."
"Now that the contract has been signed, we not only have sufficient supplies of penicillin, but the price has also been reduced to $1. I don't think there's anything fishy about this contract."
The loving father nodded slightly, seemingly satisfied with the explanation, but he continued to ask:
"What about the industrial products used to pay off the debt?"
The father raised his voice a little: "We have mountains of steel in our warehouses, captured Hans munitions, and thousands of discarded tanks."
"Bago is a small agricultural country, so why are we running a trade deficit with them? We owe them $6000 million? Are our supplies being sold at a low price?"
"No, Pegu..."
"what?"
"The Pegu side doesn't want these," Mikoyan argued vigorously. "They don't want any of our traditional export products—oil and steel."
"As for the captured Hans weapons, apart from the MG42 and MG34 machine guns, and some vehicles, Zhang disdained all of them."
"As for our obsolete tanks..." Mikoyan swallowed, "I can only say that Zhang has quite a good understanding of armored warfare."
The loving father choked and felt a little embarrassed.
仓库里那近万辆BT-5、BT-7、T-37、T-80（45mm炮轻坦，不是现代主战坦克那个），都是些什么货色他自己也清楚。
It is just a form of aid to fool their younger brothers. No real industrial country would look down on such obsolete goods.
"So in the end, we only exported some steel and industrial equipment, as well as chemical raw materials. And... the price..."
Mikoyan's voice became smaller and smaller, and he seemed a little afraid to continue speaking.
"Damn imperialism, if it weren't for their blockade..." The kind father angrily knocked on the table, shaking the water glass and making it bounce up.
In fact, he was very clear about what Mikoyan meant, that now is the seller's market.
The price of Mao Xiong's products is not decided by Mao Xiong, but by his own decision.
Electronic products, rubber, penicillin, these are things that the White Eagle and even the entire West will not aid or sell to the Russian Bear.
want to?
If you want it, you can only find Zhang Chi, and even have to beg him to sell it to you.
"As for advanced aircraft, tanks, and artillery, whether they can be exported still requires your approval. As far as I know, Zhang is interested in importing a batch of 122mm and 152mm artillery (pictured).
M101 52mm gun
He was also quite interested in our 'Katyusha' (pictured) and 'Andryusha' (pictured).
Andryusha
Katyusha
After saying this, Mikoyan spread his hands and passed the ball back to his loving father.
The loving father smoked his pipe again. He said nothing, but just looked at the map.
The first thing he thought of was to use force, but there were several countries between Russia and Pegu.
You have to cross the Republic of China to get close to Pegu.
Or they would have to start from Persia and cross the Sindhu subcontinent. (At this time, John Bull and the Russian Bear had joined forces to overthrow the former Persian king, which was equivalent to a military occupation of the area.)
As for sending the navy, that's hilarious. Even the current Red Navy has crossed half the world, and it's not certain whether it will come back.
Finally, the loving father could only say helplessly:
"If they don't want the inventory, we'll lower the price until they want it."
At this time, all of Russia's male manpower was invested in the war, and even women were being conscripted. There was no extra population for agricultural production, nor was there manpower to melt down the captured or stored weapons.
(Mao Xiong is so short of manpower that he can’t do many things. This is Xier’s greatest harm to Mao Xiong)
"As for the artillery pieces currently in service, just sell some to Zhang at market price, but not too much."
"So what's next?" Mikoyan asked.
The loving father was speechless with regret. Yes, penicillin, electronic equipment, rubber, and agricultural products, as long as they cannot be produced by ourselves, they have to be imported every month.
"Then pay more gold..."