What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 380 Laying Mines
Batavia International Airport.

As Tang Wen stepped off the plane, he saw welcoming crowds on both sides.

On the left are representatives of Chinese businessmen, and on the right are officials from the Chuawa people.

"Hello, Chai Na Tang."

As a newly minted oil tycoon, he was welcomed by local officials, especially after they heard that high-grade oil could be found in their territory.

"Young friend Tang Wen, we have met before."

Among the Chinese business representatives, an old man in a long gown greeted them; Tang Wen remembered seeing him at the launching ceremony of the Guang Sheng ship.

This is the real bigwig from Southeast Asia, wielding immense power within the entire Chinese community, and theoretically should be a member of a mysterious organization.

However, the reason they were so friendly was because Tang Wen not only came alone, but also people from the Ministry of Petroleum.

Hearing that Geiger was going to do an overseas business deal with Shell, they also jumped on the bandwagon to look for any business opportunities.

The group first held a bunch of messy welcome ceremonies and banquets, and only the next day did they officially finalize the development plans.

The person brought out by the locals is called Plevani, who also represents a large family.

Sean had already pretty much decided on the mode before he came:
Geigin Petroleum, Shell, and the local government each contributed 30% to form Mionas Petroleum Company, with the local government contributing land as equity, and the two companies providing funding and construction.

Furthermore, the local authorities also proposed a series of restrictive measures, such as priority purchase of shares, and the requirement to hold meetings for increasing or decreasing shareholdings, etc. Tang Wenquan agreed to all of these restrictive and protective policies with a smile.

Seeing that Tang Wen was so cooperative, Prevani was also very happy. He thought to himself that when Gaijin attacked the monkeys in the Spratly Islands, he was no better than them when he came to his own territory, and was just as easy to slaughter.

Sean didn't care, because Shell's influence in the area was enough to guarantee that he would get what he wanted, as long as it looked good on paper.

The exceptionally smooth negotiations put Plevani in a great mood, so he asked directly:

"Tang, when will you be able to start development?"

Tang Wen: "That depends on whether we hire a local construction company or our construction company."

"Local, local!"

Plevani immediately replied that the construction costs were not a small amount, and he couldn't pass up such a lucrative opportunity.

“If it were a local company, it would take at least 6 months. However, we will complete the initial exploratory mining ourselves, and then hand over the rest to Wawa. It will cost about 2000 to 3000 million US dollars. Is that okay with you?”

"That's good."

Even with just a 10% rebate, it would still be at least $200 million, and Plevanni readily agreed.

He also knew that Gaikin could do the initial work himself and was more likely to achieve results.

The two looked at Sean, who then said:

What can Shell do?

Tang Wen: "It depends on our preliminary survey results. We will plan the construction scale after we have completed the survey."

Please first grant us land demarcation and surveying rights in Mionas, as well as navigation rights, then we can wait for good news and test the oil.

……

Varee Island.

After spending four days in Zhuawa, Tang Wen returned to Dawan and immediately rushed here to check on the pirate crew's situation:

After encountering obstacles in its development in the south, Wang Hu changed his strategy from sweeping away everything to taking a more cautious approach, and his power retreated back to Santa Maria City.

Although it seems like most of the wealth they just acquired was taken away, the small community became more cohesive.

"Suha still needs our help to control Santa Maria City. The pirate crew is the only force here now. We will continue to absorb Chinese people and protect their commercial status. Locals are not allowed to harass us as long as they follow the rules."

Currently, we have about three or four hundred relatively steadfast followers, and we expect to increase that to five hundred by the end of this month.

As Wang Hu spoke, he and Tang Wen walked to the highest point of Varee Island, overlooking the buildings constructed along the coastal harbor.

Thanks to the water and electricity supply from the primary port, Varei Island has developed quite rapidly, and now has about three hundred people, all of whom should be the "relatively steadfast" type. The definition of "relatively steadfast" is: able to obey orders under the command of forty or fifty elite core members, but will immediately scatter like birds and beasts in the face of adversity.

As a force of the community, this is the limit.

The local lower-class Chinese community is almost entirely cunning and selfish, but there's nothing to blame for them.

After all, who would be truly loyal to a triad? Only a hothead who's watched too many Hong Kong movies would think that way.

Although on the surface Wang Hu is the "Chairman of Wari Cultural Tourism Development Company" and his underlings are all company employees, the nature of the organization has not changed in essence.

To achieve what Tang Wen wants, another identity needs to be used.

"If you set up a Chinese Friendship and Mutual Aid Association, how many people could you recruit? The kind with low membership fees and that provides protection."

"It's similar to a hometown association or a chamber of commerce."

Wang Hu immediately understood that doing business abroad requires a certain network of connections. The Huang family had originally organized such a network in the south, but it had been abandoned.

“If we take over the Huang family’s property, including individual business owners, we can get at least seven or eight hundred yuan. Their membership fees aren’t high either.”

However, the Huang family also organizes a high-end sub-organization, whose membership fees alone amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Tang Wen: "The first one is enough, but the name needs to be changed. There are only three specific rules:"
First, collect membership fees to help vendors solve minor problems, such as being harassed by gangs;
Second, when mediating cases of personal injury or fighting, it is necessary to provide protection.

Third, standardize prices and strictly prevent unfair competition.

"The first two are easy to handle. The Huang family can achieve the third, but we don't yet have control of the key industries, so I'm afraid..."

"The first two are enough."

Tang Wen interrupted him:
"The whole of Southeast Asia will soon be in chaos, maybe within a year or two. We need to gather as many Chinese people as possible at that time, and we need to have a plan to go south to provide support to the Chinese community."

"Uh...just us?"

Wang Hu looked at the few lazy guys on the beach and said somewhat uncertainly.

Tang Wen: "You will receive support."

"What kind of support?"

“Any support you can imagine.”

……

Not long after Tang Wen left, Su Ha suddenly approached Wang Hu.

He mysteriously pulled the person aside and asked, as if he knew everything:

"Luffy, did you guys discover oil on Varee Island?"

"?"

Wang Hu didn't understand his thought process at all, so of course he denied it.

However, Suha persisted:

"A massive oil field with 500 million tons of reserves has been discovered on Mionas Island! Varie Island is not far from Mionas; could it also have oil there?"

Wang Hu: "..."

Not far? Varei Island is in a completely different direction, almost 70 or 80 nautical miles away!
Even Santa Maria City is closer!
After he explained at length, Suha nodded with slight disappointment, but still said unwillingly:
“Mianas was originally our land, but it was later ceded to Nawa by the Mimi people. Why wasn’t oil discovered there back then?”

Wang Hu thought for a moment and said:
"Then why don't you also invite Gaijin to explore? Maybe there are reserves here too."

"No, no, Tang is a terrible guy."

Suha gritted his teeth, then awkwardly shifted his position as if remembering something.

Looking at his expression, Wang Hu gradually realized that it was clear that the people above Suha had also noticed the large oil field right under their noses.

(End of this chapter)