Chapter 725 Johannesburg

   South Africa.

  This country located at the southernmost tip of the African continent is known as the "Rainbow Country" because different races live peacefully in this beautiful country.

  As the second largest economy in Africa, South Africa has well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transportation industries. It also has complete hardware infrastructure and stock trading markets, which is extremely rare in African countries. In terms of natural resources, the reserves of gold, diamonds, platinum, manganese, vanadium, silicon, aluminum, etc. rank first in the world, and the production of gold, diamonds, etc. is also in the leading position in the world. world leadership.

  Johannesburg, as the largest city in the Republic of South Africa, is located in the highlands of the upper reaches of the Waal River in the northeast. It was originally a prospecting station, but with the large-scale discovery of gold mines, it gradually formed a city. So far, it has become the world's largest gold mining area and the economic center of South Africa. The industrial output value of this place and satellite cities accounts for more than half of South Africa's industrial output value.

   "The temperature here is much lower than expected!"

  The special plane landed at the Oliver Reginald Tambo International Airport. The moment the door opened, Zhong Shi felt a chill rushing over his face, and subconsciously complained.

   "That's why you are not prepared!"

Land Rover handed Zhong Shi a windbreaker, and said lightly, "This is the southernmost tip of the African continent, and the temperature is much lower than those areas near the equator. Moreover, Johannesburg's altitude is also high, so it's not surprising that the temperature is low .”

   Without waiting for Zhong Shi to answer, he snapped his fingers in the cabin again, "Brothers, we have arrived in South Africa. The environment here is very complicated. Weapons can be used at any time if necessary. I have already called the local security company."

Because of Mandela, the original Boer regime became a black-dominated government. Although the races were seamlessly accommodated, the security environment in South Africa deteriorated rapidly. Even in a capital like Cape Town, Murders and robberies during the day also frequently occurred.

And because South Africa is the center of southern Africa, several neighboring countries have been caught in civil strife, so South Africa has naturally become the mercenary center of the entire region. Many world-renowned security companies set up their African headquarters here, such as the famous Blackwater Company, South African private armed company, Israeli IZO mercenary company, etc.

  So this time when Zhong Shi came, Land Rover has been making safety preparations. Not only did Shihu's best security guards come out, but he also spent millions of dollars to hire a top-notch security force from the South African branch of the Blackwater Company to ensure the safety of Zhongshi during his stay in South Africa.

   "Yes, boss!"

  Following Land Rover's order, dozens of strong men stood up and responded loudly.

  John Paulson saw this situation, and once again unconsciously showed a look of envy on his face, and then looked back at Zhongshi who had gone down the gangway, opened his mouth, and was speechless for a long time.

  Under all kinds of persuasion, Zhong Shi finally decided to follow John Paulson and go to South Africa in person. Paulson recently decided to raise a fund with a special target of gold futures, plus the acquisition of AngloGold's shares, his capital gap is not small, so it took a lot of hard work to convince Zhong Shi Keep investing in him.

  But Paulson also solemnly promised that there will be a very big surprise waiting for Zhongshi in South Africa. It is precisely because of this that Zhong Shi worked so hard to come to South Africa all the way.

Before he got off the gangway and took a few steps, Paulson had a better understanding of Zhongshi's ostentation, and two muscular, muscular men in camouflage T-shirts, exuding a tough aura, quickly greeted him. When they came up, there was a row of troops dressed as soldiers with guns and live ammunition behind them. After bowing their heads and talking to Lu Rover, a group of people quickly surrounded Zhong Shi and walked towards the VIP passage.

  John Paulson gave a wry smile and quickly followed. The brigade followed Zhong Shi away, and if he didn't leave, there would be no one to defend him.

   A group of people walked through the VIP passage in a mighty way, and after completing various formalities, they met the greeters of AngloGold who rushed over at the exit. These people haven't figured out what's going on yet, but when they saw the logo of the Blackwater Company, they clearly showed fear on their faces.

After asking the address clearly, and including the reception staff of AngloGold, the team already had as many as thirty or forty people. These people surrounded Zhong Shi, Paulson and others, and boarded dozens of bulletproof vehicles respectively. headed towards the hotel.

   "The scenery here is pretty good, but..."

  Revealing that the glass is looking at the scenery outside, Zhong Shi sincerely said, "The environment seems to be a bit uncomfortable."

   "Industrial cities will inevitably have various problems!"

Looking at the rows of chimneys in the distance, Land Rover rarely echoed, "Aside from other things, public security is really bad. Except for the slightly better city center, the local public security police force in the suburbs is almost equivalent to none. Every family here has guns. And those mining areas far from the city are even more chaotic. Robberies happen almost every day, so that those gold and diamond mining areas are guarded by special armed forces. Almost all large companies You have your own armed forces, and every delivery vehicle is guarded by a Humvee with a machine gun, and even then, there are often robbers who get their hands on it."

   "So confused?"

  Zhong Shi suddenly became interested, looked at Lu Hu and said, "You must have been here before, right? It sounds like it's happening?"

   "Of course I've been here!"

Land Rover didn't even think about it, and immediately admitted, "At the beginning, Shihu Baoquan had developed the mercenary business, and several colleagues and I had visited South Africa. Of course, what we planned to do was security work, but just as we were investigating On the way, I witnessed a gold ore hijacking case.”

Although it has happened for a long time, when thinking about the original scene, Land Rover still has a lingering expression on his face, "In order to deal with the armed guards, those robbers even used RPG and hit a Humvee directly. Tsk tsk, if It’s not us joining, maybe those guys have already succeeded.”

   "So dangerous?"

  For the first time, Zhong Shi showed a solemn expression on his face, "It's so rampant? Doesn't the local government care?"

   "Manage it? How?"

Land Rover replied with a sneer, "The blacks here account for more than half of the total population. They were very dissatisfied with the white mining. Now that the black government has come to power, all kinds of chaos in management can be described as anarchy. Although the new The chief executive has repeatedly claimed that he wants to crack down on criminals and maintain law and order. But you also know that if you encounter a robbery situation, if you wait for the police to arrive, the criminals will not know where they have gone. In short, it is best not to count on the official here. s help."

"Returning to the topic just now, although we fought back the robbers together with the guards, they still retreated calmly. Do you know what happened later?" Lu Rover became more excited as he spoke, gesticulating with his hands and feet. "They dispatched armed helicopters, indeed armed helicopters, swept across the air, and directly shot and killed all the robbers who wanted to retreat, leaving no one alive, not even a complete body. "

   "Even so, there are still desperadoes who want to rob ore carts every year!"

After Land Rover was excited, he looked helpless, "After seeing such a scene, we completely gave up the idea of ​​developing business in South Africa. Although we originally lived a life of licking blood with the tip of a knife, no one would be afraid of death. Yes. But compared to the level of sophisticated equipment and ruthlessness, we are far from being able to compare with Blackwater and South African private armed companies."

"Moreover, we don't even think about the relationship with the government. They have been cultivating here for many years, and they have managed many times. The relationship has long been handled in every possible way. Not only the South African government, but also the surrounding countries such as Botswana. The government, they have taken care of it long ago.”

Lu Rover finally said, "As for the incident I just mentioned, not only was Blackwater not held accountable afterwards, but even the newspaper did not report a single word about this incident. This kind of public relations ability makes people shudder. .”

  Zhong Shi listened, but did not make a sound for a long time.

  Although he can use money to clear the way and help Shihu Company open up the situation in the short term, it seems obvious whether the consequences of doing so are good or bad. The fact that Land Rover didn't ask him for help is enough to explain the problem.

   While the two were talking, the convoy had already driven into the urban area.

  The city center of Johannesburg is not too prosperous, at least not comparable to Hong Kong, New York, Yanjing and other places. But there are still many modern buildings. The Boers have ruled here for many years, leaving a lot of modern imprints on the city, leaving behind many European-style buildings, so the whole city looks like a combination of classical and modern. The city is not much different from most other cities in the world.

   "Welcome, my dearest friend!"

  The moment the convoy stopped at the hotel, a group of black men in suits immediately surrounded them. The division of labor was very clear. Some were parking, some were holding umbrellas, and the rest crowded around the door of the Hummer.

  As soon as Zhong Shi got out of the car, he saw a chubby black man coming up to meet him. He stretched out his thick palm to Zhong Shi and spoke fluent London English, "Your Excellency is Mr. Zhong Shizhong?"

   "I am, hello, this gentleman is..."

  Zhong Shi quickly smiled, stretched out his hand and shook the other party "enthusiastically", and then the next sentence revealed the truth. He didn't know who the other party was at all, and he got stuck on the spot.

   "This is the chairman of AngloGold, Mr. Tito Mboweni."

  John Paulson hurriedly pushed through the crowd, approached, and introduced to Zhong Shi, "Mr. Mboweni flew here from London to welcome us."

  Because he has had contact with the other party several times before, John Paulson is familiar with the other party, and he acts as a bridge of communication between the two.

  Mboweni complimented Zhong Shi repeatedly, but he was secretly surprised. In the process of contacting Paulson, the other party always had an arrogant attitude. It's no wonder, after all, Paulson is currently the most popular fund manager in the world. But now in front of this oriental face, Paulson's attitude is very low, and he even plays a role similar to an intermediary, which is really beyond his expectations.

  Before getting in touch, Mboweni also had some background information about Zhong Shi, only knowing that this gentleman is a financial tycoon, but a financier in Hong Kong. Now it seems that the information I have collected here is quite incomplete, at least on the relationship between Paulson and Zhongshi, the investigation is very incomplete.

   Who the **** is this guy? There are still so many guards from the Blackwater Company. Obviously, the origin is not simple, and the ostentation is bigger than that of some national leaders!

   Such a question suddenly appeared in Mboweni's mind.

Lu Hu and the others have already formulated the division of labor tasks. Some of Shi Hu's security guards guard around Zhong Shi, and the other part of the team will go to check the surrounding environment with the experts of Blackwater Company, and the room where Zhong Shi and others live. security situation.

  After everything was ready, Zhong Shi, Mboweni and others walked into the room talking and laughing, and started the secret conversation that really belonged to the three people.

   Thanks to the book friends for their secret rewards! There is still no improvement at all, it won't be the end of the year, everyone is too busy to read books... Could it be that the author is going to be miserable again...

  

  

  (end of this chapter)