Living like a salted fish in the end times

On June 6, the delegation successfully arrived in the Philippines, which is also the last stop of this round-the-world tour.

After running for more than two years, it is finally coming to an end.

Manila, official guest house.

After listening to Assistant Wei's work arrangement, Zhang Hao suddenly decided to add an extra itinerary, planning to visit Mindoro Island.

Mindoro Island is located directly south of Manila. The distance between the two places is only more than 100 kilometers. It is a desolate island with an area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers, about half the size of Qiongdao.

The reason why he wanted to visit was simple, because Mindoro had just changed his surname to "Zhang".

In fact, just a few days ago, Zhang Guoji, who had a huge amount of money in his hand, directly bought the island. After including taxes and fees, he spent a total of more than 800 billion yuan.

In fact, at the beginning, Zhang Guoji originally planned to buy property in Australia, but after listening to the advice of professionals, he finally set his sights on the Philippine Islands.

As for the reason, it's not complicated.

Because the climate of the Australian mainland is mainly hot and dry. To explain it in vernacular, once the atmosphere returns to normal in the future, the land here will lose its value.

In contrast, the Philippine Islands, which are closer to the equator, are undoubtedly more suitable. Whether it is now or in the future, it has very high development value.

More importantly, the Philippine Islands are very close to the capital, Zhucheng, and management is more convenient.

Wei Fuxiang took note of the itinerary, and then asked: "Consul, how long do you plan to stay?"

"One day is enough."

Zhang Hao thought for a while and replied.

Although Mindoro Island has tens of thousands of square kilometers, it has been severely damaged. There are only two or three settlements on the entire island, and one day is enough to go around.

"Do you need to notify Governor Wu and them?"

Governor Wu, whose full name is Wu Fei, is the governor of the Philippine state.

Zhang Hao waved his hand: "No, this is my private itinerary, so I don't need other people to follow. Let's go and come back quickly. It's best not to disrupt the original plan."

"Okay, I'll notify Director Bai later."

Wei Fuxiang nodded solemnly.

When a consul travels, even if it is a private trip, it is not easy to just leave. Various preparations need to be made in advance, especially security issues, which are the top priority.

"Tell Director Bai that this trip should be as low-key as possible, and don't make it known to everyone."

Zhang Hao exhorted.

"Yes." Wei Fuxiang agreed.

……

Time flies and three days pass quickly.

Zhang Hao finally finished his entire trip in Manila, and then took a boat to Mindoro overnight.

At Galera Pier, Xie Shuwen has been waiting for a long time. He is the general manager of Gome Investment Company. This company was established specifically for the development of Mindoro Island, and Zhang Guoji personally holds 100% of the shares.

"Consul, welcome to Mindoro."

Zhang Hao reached out and shook hands with the other party: "Mr. Xie, thank you for your hard work. I have to trouble you to come pick me up so late."

"It's not hard, it's my greatest honor to meet you, Consul." Xie Shuwen was a little excited.

After some courtesy, everyone got into the car and prepared to go to the nearest settlement.

On the way, Xie Shuwen took the opportunity to introduce the specific situation on the island.

"Consul, there are a total of 150 residents in three households on the island, plus the company's employees, the total population just exceeds 1000."

"There are not many people. How do you plan to arrange these people? Are they going to move? Or are they all staying?"

Zhang Hao asked casually.

"According to the island purchase contract, all residents will stay, and the company will hire them according to the average local salary in the Philippines." Xie Shuwen replied.

"What do you hire them for? Is there any industry on the island?" Zhang Hao couldn't help being curious.

"Yes." Xie Shuwen nodded again and again, and then introduced: "The name of Mindoro comes from the Spanish mina de oro, which means gold mine. There are three gold mines and one copper mine on the island. According to Mr. Zhang Meaning, we plan to resume mining."

"Really? Is the gold mine large?"

Zhang Hao became interested instantly.

"They are all small gold mines. In addition to the long history of mining, the output is estimated to be very limited. The company does not intend to make a profit from this. The primary purpose is to solve the employment problem of the residents on the island."

"Besides these small mines, do you have other development plans?"

Xie Shuwen shook his head: "Not yet. The central government is currently promoting the development of Southeast Asia in an all-round way. Of course, the Philippines is also among them. The company needs to invest according to the state's plan, and cannot blindly start the project."

"How much money is your boss Zhang going to invest?"

"Mr. Zhang is very cautious. He only prepared one billion yuan of funds in the early stage, and he will make a decision later on depending on the specific investment results."

"One billion? That's a lot."

Zhang Hao said angrily.

Xie Shuwen quickly echoed, "One billion is indeed a lot, but compared to the huge island of Mindoro, it is almost a drop in the bucket."

"That's right, what is your positioning of Mindoro? A tourist resort? Or an industrial area?"

"In the industrial zone, Mindoro's infrastructure is too backward. It is too risky to develop tourism from scratch. After all, it is difficult for ordinary people to survive these days, and they don't have much spare money to travel."

Zhang Hao nodded with satisfaction: "The idea of ​​developing industry is correct. If conditions permit, a power plant and seawater desalination plant can be built on the island first. These two are indispensable no matter what."

"Consul, we have submitted the project report to the state, and now it's up to us to see if it can be approved." Xie Shuwen carefully hinted.

"For my sake, it shouldn't be difficult."

Zhang Hao said without hesitation.

Xie Shuwen was overjoyed immediately: "Consul, with your words, we can rest assured."

Seriously speaking, the consul is the biggest obstacle to the project. He himself may deliberately block the project from being approved in order to avoid suspicion.

Zhang Hao smiled and waved his hands: "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who seeks fame and reputation. As long as the project procedures are legal and compliant, I will not interfere artificially."

"You are wise, Consul!" Xie Shuwen complimented.

The two chatted and chatted, and soon arrived at the settlement.

Xie Shuwen did a good job of keeping the secrets secret. The village was very quiet. The villagers had no idea that the consul was coming, otherwise they would definitely come out to watch the excitement.

After getting off the car, Xie Shuwen pointed to the large ruins in front of him and introduced: "Consul, this is Calapan Village, which is also the largest village on the island. Our company's headquarters is also temporarily located in the village."

"Why is this place so dilapidated?"

Zhang Hao frowned.

"We have only arrived not long ago, and we haven't had time to repair the village, so we can only make do with it."

Xie Shuwen said helplessly.

Zhang Hao sighed, and then asked with concern: "Before you came, what did the villagers here generally do for a living?"

"Scavenging, that is, picking up rags."

Xie Shuwen answered truthfully.

Before the eruption of the Yellowstone volcano, Mindoro had a population of nearly 200 million people, and it would take decades to pick up trash.

"It's no wonder that it can't develop. Picking up junk can only be used as an emergency. If you want to really develop, you have to rely on the development of industry."

Zhang Hao said with deep emotion.

Along the way, he has been to hundreds of cities of different sizes. Generally, the well-developed cities have a certain industrial foundation.

Among them, Europa City is the most representative.

Xie Shuwen suddenly looked forward to: "Consul, as long as we persevere, I believe that Mindoro Island in the future will definitely become the most dazzling pearl in the Philippines."

"Haha, I hope so!"

Zhang Hao also has confidence in this.

If all goes well, the tens of billions left in the hands of the boss will be enough to build an industrial park and lay a solid foundation for future development.

Xie Shuwen glanced at his watch, it was already past two o'clock in the morning, so he hurriedly persuaded:

"Consul, it's getting late, shall I take you to rest? Shall we visit the village tomorrow morning?"

Zhang Hao nodded and did not refuse.

Soon, everyone came to a row of prefabricated houses. It could be seen that the house should have been built urgently in the last two days, and there was no trace of use.

Gome probably doesn't have the ability to do this. If there is no accident, it should be the secretariat's handwriting.

……

Early the next morning, I had breakfast.

Zhang Hao put on a mask, and then followed Xie Shuwen and wandered around the village.

The villagers thought it was the big boss of the company who came, so they ran over one after another, saying hello in broken Daxia dialect.

Zhang Hao never refused to come, shook hands with every villager, and chatted with everyone about the daily life with great interest, and asked about some basic conditions on the island.

Generally speaking, the situation on the island is not optimistic, which can be described as poor and white.

In the afternoon, everyone came to the southernmost tip of the island.

There is also a small settlement here, with a population of less than one hundred, and it also makes a living by picking up junk.

Zhang Hao and the others only stayed for an hour, then turned north and came to the west coast of the island.

There are two major settlements on the west coast.

One is St. Jones and the other is Mambrough.

These two settlements are also small, with only 300 people in each, and they expressed the warmest welcome to the arrival of the "company executives".

In recent years, the income from picking up junk has become less and less, and it is very unstable. If there is a stable job, no one can refuse.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Zhang Hao and others left Mindoro Island and began to return to Manila.

On the boat, he called his eldest son.

As soon as the call was connected, Zhang Guoji couldn't wait to ask: "Dad, how is the situation on the island?"

"You are so brave, you dare to spend a lot of money without coming to inspect it yourself, and you are not afraid of being cheated?" Zhang Hao said angrily.

"Dad, am I that stupid? With you as the consul, who would dare to lie to our family? Don't want to live anymore?"

Zhang Guoji joked.

"Opportunistic." Zhang Hao snorted coldly, and then changed the subject: "How did you talk with Governor Wu? Did you take advantage of my relationship?"

Regarding his son's business, he did not want to interfere too much due to his status, so he deliberately avoided it.

Therefore, the transaction process is not very clear.

Zhang Guoji pretended to be wronged: "No, not only did I not take advantage, but I also suffered a lot."

"what happened?"

"Uncle Wu's original price was only 300 billion. When I heard it, I knew the price was too low, so I found another appraisal company to re-evaluate. In the end, he took the initiative to increase the price to 812 billion, which was much higher than the market price."

Zhang Hao tried to warn: "If you buy a large island of tens of thousands of square kilometers for 800 billion, you will definitely not suffer."

"I know, if it wasn't for fear of being too conspicuous, what I wanted to buy at first was Mindanao. Uncle Wu directly offered 1000 billion yuan, which was just enough for me."

"Mindanao? Do you really dare to think about it?"

Zhang Hao couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Mindanao is not an unknown island like Mindoro. Its area is almost ten times that of the former, and it is also a household name in the mainland.

"Hey, why don't you dare to think about it? The most indispensable thing in Southeast Asia is various islands. In order to gather development funds, the island of New Guinea has been put on the shelf."

Zhang Hao took advantage of the situation and asked, "How much is the price of New Guinea Island?"

"Although the development of New Guinea is relatively low, because it is on the equator, the unit price is slightly higher than that of Mindoro, and the whole package will cost a trillion dollars."

"One trillion? Who can afford it?"

Zhang Hao was speechless.

The point is that buying a piece of wasteland is useless, and the next construction investment will need at least ten times more.

Zhang Guoji said mysteriously: "Dad, I heard a rumor. Several consortiums in the United States have asked about the price. They want to lower the price to 5000 billion. They are currently negotiating with the Ministry of Land and Resources."

"Really? Where did you find out?"

Zhang Hao immediately paid attention to it.

It is not impossible for the central government to lack money.

"Uncle Wu told me secretly. According to Uncle Wu's guess, the consortiums in the United States are unwilling to sink. They want to give it a go and make New Guinea a new base camp."

Zhang Hao rubbed his chin and lowered his head in thought.

As the largest district in the Federation, there is no doubt about the foundation and capabilities of the major consortiums in the United States.

If they are allowed to take Guinea Island, maybe it is really possible to make a comeback.

However, this is not harmful to the central government. On the contrary, it has many advantages. On the one hand, it can obtain a large amount of funds, and on the other hand, it can also weaken the strength of the Europa people.

Thinking about it, Fan Zhenxiang will most likely agree.

Seeing that his father didn't speak, Zhang Guoji thought something unexpected happened, so he hurriedly asked:
"Dad, what's wrong with you?"

Zhang Hao came back to his senses, and casually said: "It's okay, I was thinking about something just now. Let's talk about returning to Mindoro Island. Since you bought this island, you should use more snacks and don't take it seriously."

"Dad, you don't need to tell me, I will be careful, after all, I spent so much money."

Zhang Hao nodded: "Don't you want to go into politics? Well, after you graduate from university, I will arrange for you to be an intern mayor on the island.

As long as Mindoro is built, it will definitely be upgraded to a county and city. You can just take a ride here and be promoted along with it. If you have outstanding political achievements, the governor will not have no chance. "

"Dad, can you still do this?"

Zhang Guoji couldn't believe it.

"Since there is a shortcut, why don't you leave? I'm sure you are right about this, but your investment company can no longer hold shares. There is no other way, so avoid suspicion.

In my opinion, you can simply set up a charitable fund. Many rich people do this. Otherwise, the inheritance tax alone will kill you. "

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