Chapter 1565 - Exclusive Trade
Chapter 1565: Exclusive Trade
Forty boxes of military arms were just two or three days of production capacity for a few of the production lines of Future Military. The arms consisted of grenades, daggers, pistols, but mostly rifle bullets. From a cost perspective, it was at most 10 million Xin New dollars. If it was exchanged to the newly introduced World Dollar, the amount was slightly larger.
Of course, the arms for those natives were not of the best quality nor the newly manufactured kind. After Sun Xiaorou returned to the apocalypse, she immediately contacted Wang Qing from the logistics department and asked her to retrieve a batch of old arms from the warehouse that was ready to be sent for destruction. Those old arms would be cleaned and repacked.
Because NAC was very careful about ammunition and weapon maintenance, these repacked military assets looked like new ones. Among the twenty boxes used as the ransom, a small amount of ammunition was replaced with hollowed-out duds, which were hidden in the bottom of the boxes.
The hollowed-out part of these duds were installed with transmitters, which were capable of sending coordinate signals at a certain frequency until the built-in air lithium battery was completely exhausted.
Without a reconnaissance satellite, it was extremely difficult to accurately locate the Morsi Tribe on the African savannah. It would require local guides and experienced scouts to go deep into the savannah. However, with these munitions equipped with transmitters, all the problems were solved.
After Xiaorou finished all the work she went to see Wang Qing, and soon the logistics department sent a dozen trucks to transport the military arms to the port.
“Thank you so much for your help.” As she watched the crane load the boxes of military arms onto the cargo ship, Xiaorou smiled at Wang Qing to express her appreciation, “How many credits should I pay you for these military arms?”
“No need, it’s all old arms ready to be destructed. Even if you don’t want them, we will bring those to the shooting range to be destroyed.” Wang Qing waved her hand and said heartily.
Although her position went from a warehouse manager to the head of the logistics department, the identity Wang Qing gave herself did not ever change. In her eyes, the entire NAC was the General’s private property, and Xiaorou was the second wife of the General, and she had no reason to be concerned with such a trivial ask.
“That won’t work, Jiang… the General said, since I’m negotiating with you in the name of Future Development, it’s better to follow the normal business procedures,” Xiaorou shook her head and said as she insisted on the payment.
Wang Qing was amused by what Xiaorou said, but she thought, if you are not the one talking with me but another company? They can forget about it!
Since the control of the military industry was gradually taken back by the military government, the military government has begun to tighten the weapons on the market to prevent people with bad intentions from hoarding arms. The military government would rather the weapons be wasted than dumped into the market.
There were certainly people that thought about the scrapped military arms. They tried to bribe Wang Qing to buy the arms at a low price and sell it to the south or other regions. However, no matter how much they offered, she refused without exception and sent those people to the NAC prosecutors.
On loyalty, no one was comparable to the first generation of people who followed the General. The survivors who just came out of the fallout shelter may not have had the experience, but as the people that followed Jiang Chen’s steps from the very beginning, the respect they had was from the bottom of their hearts.
Of course, she only thought about it in her mind.
After all, in her opinion, Future Development was likely something used to relieve the second lady from her boredom. Even she probably didn’t care about how much money she made, so Wang Qing just nonchalantly said.
“It’s up to you.”
Although Wang Qing didn’t take it too seriously, Xiaorou still thought about it for a while and offered a price of 10,000 credits for a box of military arms. Wang Qing, who had never planned to bargain, happily agreed and let her deputy handle the payment.
On the other side, when Xiaorou followed Wang Qing’s deputy for payment, Jiang Chen, who rarely returned to the apocalypse, held a temporary meeting in the General’s Mansion. The mysterious General finally showed his face again, and the NAC executives naturally all attended the meeting. Apart from the fact that the governors of the colonies were unable to be present, the executives from the Sixth Street and Liuding Town all rushed over in person.
“Don’t be so nervous, we are only discussing very ordinary issues.” Jiang Chen couldn’t help but smile as he looked at the tense subordinates before him.
Since the door that connected the two worlds opened, his mentality had undergone a subtle change.
What is the best way to describe it?
He felt that his burden was a lot lighter, and in front of these old subordinates, he was much more easy-going.
After he cleared his throat, he gestured to Han Junhua who stood next to him, and soon the documents were distributed to the hands of the participants of the conference.
“The whole Wanghai City is like a gunpowder keg, and every survivor has a gun in their hand. Many people used to be survivors who made a living on the wasteland, and many of them may have been predators. NAC will not punish them for their crimes in other places, but it is undeniable that if these people cannot find a job, they are likely to lay a hidden danger for the stability of Wanghai. Chu Nan, report the employment situation in the Sixth Street.”
“Yes, the honorable General.” Chu Nan smiled, stood up, and nodded slightly. “According to the data provided by the trade unions, including freelance jobs such as mercenaries, guards, and hunters, the unemployment rate at the Sixth Street for the last quarter is ten percent.”
Ten percent was just an estimate, and it was not realistic for it to be accurate to the decimal point, especially on the wasteland. And because combat occupations such as mercenaries and guards digested a large amount of the labor force, it was difficult to accurately count these highly mobile populations.
“Is it ten percent? For the Sixth Street…this data is still reasonable.” Jiang Chen nodded, “In order to find something to do for those who have guns and free time right now, the General’s Mansion researched and decided to implement the document that you are currently holding in the next month. I hope to hear your opinions and see what else is worth revising in this document.”
The document in everyone’s hands was called “On the Limited Opening of Slave Trade Act and the Measures for Investment Promotion in Africa.” The document stated that when taking into account the respect of local laws and cultural customs, the military government will allow slave trade in the African region. Slaves can be traded and used in Africa, and if they are brought to the NAC mainland or other colonies, their status as slaves will be automatically cancelled.
In addition, the document also stipulated that no factories can be opened in Africa, no attack on legal citizens of NAC, encouragement of private mercenaries to enter Africa, and so on.
After Cheng Weiguo read this document, he raised his hand.
Jiang Chen noticed and nodded to him.
“Why don’t we send an expeditionary force directly?” Cheng Weiguo asked, “I heard that the Morsi Tribe attacked our citizens in the Lake Victoria Development Zone. We can use this as an excuse to start the war.”
“Because they are more difficult to deal with than North America. Mombasa alone has hundreds of thousands of people, and the population there is beyond our imagination. Small tribes gather around large tribes, and large tribes surrender to larger tribes, and they have formed a feudal system. If we step onto Africa as NAC, it means going to war with the United African Tribes, and the biggest spoils we can get are just what we have gotten from them,” Jiang Chen shook his head and explained.
If all the refugees who fled from Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, and the East Coast of South America were counted, the population of the African continent was unimaginably high.
And the most critical factor was that it is not about victory, but rather, the lack of benefit in victory.
NAC already acquired the fertile Lake Victoria Development Zone with no effort. More than 10 million mu of land were ready to be developed. After half a year, only a million mu of the land was harvested. But the grain produced alone was enough to feed the entire NAC population. NAC also only had to pay with some cheap bullets or outdated power armors.
Even if the four corps made up of tens of thousands of soldiers were all sent to Africa, and the entire east coast of Africa was conquered in two or three years, NAC would still be farming in Lake Victoria at best. Cheng Weiguo only raised this issue from the standpoint of a soldier. After a little thought, he could understand the pros and cons.
“Since there is no objection, let’s vote by a show of hands.” Jiang Chen glanced around.
Jiang Chen was very surprised that Cheng Weiguo raised his hand.
The document passed unanimously.