"Why don't you just go rob someone?" Quan Zhenggui almost blurted out., Wasn't it just a loss of 800 million US Dollars? How did it suddenly become a thousandfold increase? If this isn't robbery, what is it?
Their Qingqiu Country had strived for many years and had only managed to accumulate a foreign exchange reserve of just over 400 billion US Dollars; even if they were to sell everything they had, it would merely cover half the amount.
"Mr. Zhang, we can't come up with that much money," Quan Zhenggui said with a bitter smile.
"Can't come up with 800 billion US Dollars? Paupers!" Zhang Menglong disdainfully remarked.
Paupers? Just go and ask, which country can easily take out 800 billion US Dollars? Qingqiu Country's foreign exchange reserve of 400 billion US Dollars already placed them ninth in the world, Zhang Menglong was clearly being unreasonable.
"Or do you think that I, Zhang Menglong, don't deserve compensation for the 800 billion US Dollar loss?" Zhang Menglong's tone became increasingly dangerous, "It doesn't have to be in US Dollars; Qingqiu Currency, Huaxia Currency, it's all fine by me. I'm not picky when it comes to money."
Now Quan Zhenggui suddenly understood an old Huaxia saying: they were like fish on the chopping board!
Let alone the fact that they were in the wrong on this matter to begin with, even if they were in the right, facing someone as aggressive as Zhang Menglong, what could they do? Of course, they could choose to resist to the end, but with a single command from Zhang Menglong, 40% of the nation's electricity and energy supply could be cut off, which would be an absolute disaster for the country.
Without needing much time, just a few days, the entire Qingqiu Country would fall into chaos. Just the rioting masses would be enough of a headache, not to mention the direct economic losses, which could hardly be estimated but perhaps wouldn't be much less than the 800 billion US Dollars.
"Don't look so resigned to your fate!" Zhang Menglong continued, "I know it's hard to come up with that much money all at once. There's a down payment when you buy cars and houses, right? I have a suggestion for you. I know you've got 400 billion US Dollars in foreign exchange reserves, you could use that as a down payment!"
"Let me think about the interest rate," Zhang Menglong mused to himself, "based on an annual interest rate of 30%..."
"Damn it!" The people from Qingqiu Country cursed one after another, completely collapsing upon hearing this annual interest rate of 30%. Is this a loan? This is bloody usury! With such an interest rate, the interest they'd have to pay Zhang Menglong in the first year would be 120 billion US Dollars. Their last GDP was only about 1.6 trillion US Dollars—were the people of their country not going to eat, drink, or spend anything?
"Or I could give you another option!" Zhang Menglong pondered for a moment before saying, "No money? You could use something else to settle the debt. I find your Qiuyuan City quite nice. I already own one-tenth of the land, and I wouldn't mind having three times that amount."
You might not mind, but we do!
Quan Zhenggui felt as if he were negotiating with a devil. Qiuyuan was their capital! When one-tenth of it was sold, it was because of history; they had no choice. But even just this one-tenth of the land had already caused a significant impact.
Every year, they had to allocate a large portion of their tax revenue to Zhang Menglong, and for any construction they did, they had to pay him land rent! The direct losses every year exceeded 10 billion US Dollars!
And 800 billion US Dollars could almost buy another two such pieces of land!
If they lost 30% of the land in Qiuyuan, they would never be able to hold their heads up again! A Huaxia man had become their landlord—could there be anything more ironic? Could Qiuyuan still be called the capital of Qingqiu Country?
"Give us some time to discuss it," Quan Zhenggui implored, knowing that if they did not bleed a little this time, they would not be able to appease Zhang Menglong's anger.
Zhang Menglong's demand was quite subtle: painful enough to leave a deep lesson, yet not so crushing as to push them to the brink of despair.
"Fine, discuss all you want. I haven't had dinner yet. Let me know when you've made a decision!"
Zhang Menglong, not considering himself an outsider, directly took a seat somewhere with Lee Ji-eun.
"Ji-eun, you shouldn't bother with the entertainment circle anymore. Come work for me!" Zhang Menglong chatted leisurely with Lee Ji-eun.
"Sure!" said Lee Ji-eun, "Oppa, are you planning to open a company in Qingqiu?"
"What's the point of that?" Zhang Menglong said disdainfully, "Your Qingqiu Country is already filled with foreign enterprises that hold my shares. My companies have long been flourishing all over Qingqiu Country!"
"Then what do you need me for?"
"Heh heh!" Zhang Menglong glanced at Quan Zhenggui and others, "I plan to grab a big piece of land here, then fill it with houses! And then rent them out. You can help me collect the rent from each household every day, carrying the keys around!"
"Pfft!" Lee Ji-eun couldn't help laughing out loud. Zhang Menglong was clearly speaking 'Underworld' lingo here, with the aim of grossing out Quan Zhenggui and his group. To occupy their Qingqiu Country lands, collect their land rent, and now even thinking about collecting house rent—it was like treating the lands of Qiuyuan City in Qingqiu Country as a family property to be passed down for generations!
Those lands, Zhang Menglong acquired almost for free, paying only for some construction and material costs. With permanent ownership, he would be able to recover all the costs in just a few years.
If Zhang Menglong really got one-fifth of the land from here, that would be over one hundred square kilometers! Using such a vast tract of land for building skyscrapers was shooting for the stars!
"Oppa, I might not even be able to collect all the rent!" said Lee Ji-eun.
"No worries, if you can't do it alone, we can hire people! It'll also help Qingqiu Country's employment rate, creating more job opportunities!"
Quan Zhenggui heard their entire conversation clearly, feeling as though he was about to suffer a heart attack. Using their country's land to boost employment and then all the earnings end up in Zhang Menglong's pocket? Was that called employment stimulation? Wasn't the GDP created by this negative?
After a long time, Quan Zhenggui and the others finally finished discussing. He seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
"Have you finished discussing?" Zhang Menglong asked.
"Mr. Zhang, we've decided to pay this amount using a mixed approach, 200 billion US Dollars in cash, plus 120 square kilometers of land in Jinshan City," Quan Zhenggui had someone bring a map, pointing the area out to Zhang Menglong.
"Do you think I'm an idiot? Is this worthless place worth 600 billion US Dollars?" Zhang Menglong said. This area was all mountains and wasteland, without much commercial or tourist value.
"Mr. Zhang, this is the best we can offer," Quan Zhenggui was almost about to kneel before Zhang Menglong. They already had construction plans completed for land in the urban areas, while these suburbs were scraped together begrudgingly.
"Am I supposed to fancy your crappy place?" Zhang Menglong said disdainfully, "Out here in the middle of nowhere, I'd freeze my ass off even taking a shit!"
"By the way, Ji-eun, is there anyplace with nice scenery in Qingqiu?"
"Well... We have Jiling Island, the scenery there is quite beautiful. I visited a few times, it's practically the Hawaii of Qingqiu!"
"Deal!" Zhang Menglong turned to Quan Zhenggui and said, "I want 150 square kilometers of Jiling Island land, the type that's next to the coast with beaches!"
Seeing Quan Zhenggui's distressed expression of being caught between a rock and a hard place, Zhang Menglong added emphasis, "This is my bottom line!"
Quan Zhenggui and the people beside him looked at one another, finally gritting their teeth and nodding in agreement.
"200 billion US Dollars will be transferred to your account within three days, and the transfer of the island land, due to some complex issues involved, may take a month's time."
"I'll arrange for people to handle it!" Zhang Menglong stretched lazily and rose to his feet, "Ji-eun, let's go!"
"Mr. Zhang, wait, the Arab oil..."
"Hong Yi, tell them to resume the oil supply, and the price will increase by 30% over the next three years!"
"What? A price increase?" Quan Zhenggui was taken aback.
"Consider this a warning!" Zhang Menglong said, "If there's a next time, it won't be this simple!"
Zhang Menglong revealed a wicked smile, "But I'd welcome you guys to hire someone to try killing me again!"