50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 520 Treasures Belong to the Virtuous

With such treasures before him, Sun Zhiwei was not going to be polite. He immediately used his spatial abilities to collect all 32 giant diamond roughs, each weighing over 100 carats.

Then he looked at the hundreds of large diamonds, each weighing tens of carats, hesitated for a moment, and then swept them all away.

The world’s total diamond production is enormous, but the number of large, or even extra-large, diamonds remains very limited.

Over the past thousand years, more than 1900 diamonds larger than 100 carats have been discovered in the world, of which only 21 are larger than 500 carats and only two are larger than 1000 carats.

Regardless of market fluctuations in diamond prices, gem-quality diamonds retain exceptionally high value, and their prices have never decreased.

Of the 32 large diamonds he had just acquired, only two were over 500 carats: one was 875 carats and the other was 599 carats.

The 875-carat diamond is a giant, flawless diamond that has never appeared in history before, and it was buried in the lowest layer of the mine.

At the current mining rate, it is estimated that in another seventy or eighty years, we should be able to reach the depth where this diamond is located.

The 599-carat diamond is likely to be mined and named a few years later: the De Beers Centenary Diamond.

This 599-carat rough stone was cut into a 273.85-carat heart-shaped flawless diamond and then bought from De Beers by a mysterious buyer for a record-breaking $1 million. Its whereabouts have been unknown ever since.

The transaction price of the "De Beers Centennial Diamond" should be the third highest in the history of diamond trading.

Just the fact that he got this "De Beers Centennial Diamond" makes his trip worthwhile, as for De Beers' losses...

The treasures belong to the virtuous.

De Beers monopolized the market, engaged in speculation and hoarding, exploited mining sites, and damaged the environment, causing harm for centuries. This was a breach of ethics.

Now that we've lost this precious treasure again, isn't this a clear sign of divine retribution?

In short, once the goods are in Sun Zhiwei's hands, none of those capitalists can take them away anymore.

He looked at the reflection in the space, where only tiny diamonds, like grains of sand, remained in the vein, then turned and left. There was no value left here.

Next stop: Botswana.

Dear readers, now I'll test you: Is there a country in the world where everyone lives in a villa, eats steak every day, and everyone goes to university?
The answer is now revealed: yes.

That's Botswana, known as the "Switzerland of Africa" ​​and the "Diamond Kingdom." It's a place you've probably never even heard of, yet it's richer than most countries.

Here, you can buy a two-story detached villa with front and back gardens for 20 yuan, and a monthly salary of 5000 yuan can afford to live a life of luxury where you can "eat beef until you're sick of it, have parties on weekends, and take vacations every week".

Botswana has no war, no famine, only herds of cattle, diamond mines, and an annual economic growth rate that is off the charts.

Botswana has an area of ​​58 square kilometers, which is larger than the Sichuan province. It has a population of just over 200 million, but it has more than 300 million head of cattle.

When Sun Zhiwei crossed the border and arrived here, he could hardly believe his eyes. There were clean and spacious roads, tree-lined streets, whitewashed houses, and even people leisurely drinking coffee by the roadside.

No one can believe that in 66, when the country was first established, there was no industry, no water resources, and the entire country didn't even have a single road.

Two-thirds of this land is desert, and the situation was even worse than when our country was first founded. Then, things took a turn for the better when the Givannen diamond mine was discovered in the southern mountains of Botswana: the world's largest and highest-quality diamond mine.

The discovery of diamonds immediately attracted investors from all over the world, and Botswana made its first fortune.

Unlike other African countries that seem cursed by their resources, this country has had an electoral system from the beginning, and its officials are exceptionally honest.

What's even more amazing is that Botswana's leaders were not blinded by money. Instead, they invested 50% of their diamond revenue in infrastructure development, 40% in education, and 10% in supporting agriculture.

Under the mutual supervision of citizens and the government, Botswana, an extremely underdeveloped country, has miraculously avoided severe wealth inequality.

So, decades later, Botswana has become what Sun Zhiwei saw: they have escaped poverty and dependence on foreign countries.

This is the world's largest diamond exporter, and all the diamonds mined are strictly regulated by the government, with the revenue used to build infrastructure.

They provide 12 years of free education nationwide, and university tuition is also very low.

This is one of the countries with the strictest tobacco control in the world, where smoking is prohibited in public places and tobacco taxes are exorbitantly high.

Women here have a high status; they can not only go to school, but also become high-ranking government officials.

After learning everything about this place, Sun Zhiwei was very impressed with them.

Instead of resting on their laurels from the enormous profits of diamonds, they worked hard to develop the economy and industries, gradually enriching the country and its people—an achievement that would be difficult to attain in any country.

Although diamond revenue still accounts for a large proportion of their total economy, the region already has two pillar industries: aquaculture and tourism, which are gradually growing stronger.

This is a great place, but no matter how well other people live, it's not your home. Sun Zhiwei just looked at it with envy and then drove towards the southern mining area.

The Giwanen mine is located not far from the border between Botswana and South Africa, separated only by a mountain from South Africa.

There's also a legend about this mine: when Botswana and South Africa were demarcating their border, Botswana sent a renowned drinker to entertain the South African officials.

As a result, this drinking enthusiast managed to get his opponent thoroughly drunk in one go, and when it came time to demarcate the border, the opponent granted Botswana an extra hilltop.

Thus, the Givannen mine in South Africa became the Givannen mine in Botswana.

When Sun Zhiwei drove to a place more than ten kilometers away from the mining area, he could not get in. There was a checkpoint set up outside, specifically to intercept tourists who accidentally walked by.

Sun Zhiwei was prepared and said he was there to buy diamonds. The guard stopped him and told him that the diamonds here would be sold in a unified manner after being mined, and that he did not need to go to the mine to buy them.

Sun Zhiwei naturally had his reasons. As a buyer, it was perfectly normal for him to want to see the origin of the diamonds. Many buyers have this requirement, and it's not difficult at all; all you need is someone to take you in.

Although Sun Zhiwei was without anyone to lead him, he had seen this situation many times before.

So he made a phone call to a sales representative from the mining area, so that it would be in accordance with regulations for the sales representative to bring the guests into the mining area.

The Jiwanen mine is located next to the Lahari Desert, the driest region in the southern interior of Africa. There is a small town near the mine, staffed by local employees, and the overall environment is relatively good.

(End of this chapter)