Rebirth: My 80s

Chapter 1172 Come on, we are all friends

After finally healing the wound on her face, Judy felt even more heartbroken. The bad man said he wanted to tell her some news, and she thought it was good news, which made her so passionate that she refused to let him move.

Judy kicked hard with her right foot and kicked the man under the bed.

The man didn't care. He climbed up from the soft carpet with his bare buttocks, and put on his clothes one by one while saying:
"The last piece of advice is not given to you by me alone. Jack Lee has his own uniqueness, especially the fact that he grew up under the communist system. As a result, his opinions are highly valued by the Soviet side. Since he is a friend rather than an enemy in this matter, don't provoke him and cause unnecessary trouble."

"Friends, not enemies?!" Judy almost squeezed out these words from between her teeth.

The man glanced at her expressionlessly, "Judy, you are not a child. How can people in the business world have eternal enemies?"

Judy laughed out of anger.

"This is a serious matter. If you get into big trouble, I'm afraid your family won't protect you. You'd better take care of yourself." The man pulled up his trousers and turned to leave.

Her teeth bit the corner of her lip. Judy had never been bullied so badly in her life.

On the Soviet side, was she the one who started the trouble with Jack Lee first?

She was beaten up badly, but she couldn't fight back? !

She didn't fight back, but Jack Lee didn't say he would stop! !
In the following days, anyone in the circle could see that Judy was like a wounded she-wolf, and if it were up to them, they hoped that the Rockefeller family would call her back.

As a result, the Rockefeller family sent a capable person over, but Judy had no intention of leaving.

----

Li Jiankun had a legitimate reason to stay in the Soviet Union: to do oil business.

It is no longer a secret that he is fighting with Western capital in Southeast Asia over the right to operate oil and gas resources. Alternative oil resources are his important bargaining chips in this war. Otherwise, even if he has the best time and place, it will be useless. The people of Southeast Asia don't care about that. They just want gas to cook and oil to run.

At this critical juncture, the US dollar is in a cycle of interest rate hikes.

As a result, capital flowed back and the dollar was used very cautiously in the international market, causing oil prices to fall.

As we all know, the export trade of energy and weapons is an important source of income for the Soviet Union.

In addition, the Soviet economy was so bad at that time.

It's rare to have a big client. At least everyone knows that he has a lot of money in his pocket. Isn't this something to talk about?
Li Jiankun would visit several large oil companies in the Soviet Union whenever he had nothing to do. He didn't look like someone who had any ulterior motives by staying here.

During this period, Kryuchkov approached him once in an open and aboveboard manner and invited him to participate in some subsequent seminars on economic reform. Li Jiankun said nothing and sent some scarce supplies to his relatives and friends in a less open and aboveboard manner.

Nothing follows.

It's a very clear thing.

On that day, according to the notified time, Li Jiankun, accompanied by his own men and the secret protection of KGB agents, arrived at the State Bank building in the central city of Moscow.

As he stepped into the meeting room on time, Li Jiankun smiled, and his smile was particularly sincere.

A group of Western capital representatives are here.

It seems that today's so-called economic seminar has some highlights.

But Judy wasn't there.

Li Jiankun was not surprised. As long as Western capitalists were not stupid, they would not let Judy go and disgust him, their ally.

Inevitably, there was another round of warm greetings.

Then he heard footsteps and the Soviet side entered the venue. Looking at the scene, Li Jiankun clicked his tongue slightly. This was going to be a big deal.

At this time, Li Jiankun had not yet realized that he, the butterfly, was quietly flapping the history.

Although it is only a very subtle change at the moment.

He has no official position in this land, and he has no power. In the face of the torrent of history, he is certainly not worth mentioning. However, in many major events in history, certain individuals have played a leading role. If his wings flap and affect these "historical protagonists", it is hard to predict the future trend.

Mr. Ge personally made the opening speech at the meeting and explained the theme of the meeting.

Discuss in detail the steps to open up financial markets.

The word "details" is the key.

The representatives of Western capital had apparently discussed a lot with the Soviet side for a long time, and Li Jiankun was able to catch up with the critical moment.

It was still necessary to understand the previous situation, so Li Jiankun just drank his tea slowly and listened attentively, without any intention of speaking.

There was a heated discussion in the meeting room.

"The first step in opening up the financial market must be to open up the exchange rate. With all due respect, under the current planned economic system of the Soviet Union, the ruble is just a trading unit and does not have any financial attributes."

“But is it too radical to completely open up the exchange rate?”

"As the currency of a country and a super alliance, you should have some confidence. In addition, if the Soviet Union continues to control the exchange rate and does not allow the ruble to be truly free, what is the point of opening up the financial market?"

"We have an idea to liberalize the exchange rate, but considering the huge uncontrollable risks that may exist, we will not completely liberalize it and adopt a dual exchange rate system..."

The economic term "dual exchange rate system" is still a very new word these days.

Li Jiankun nodded secretly. This shows that the Soviet Union did not put any thought into its economic reform measures before its collapse, as some public accounts later wrote.

This technical job, combined with the actual situation in the Soviet Union, can be simply stated as allowing two exchange rates to exist simultaneously when the ruble is exchanged for the currency of another country, in order to cope with the possible negative impact of the frequent flow of international speculative capital on the domestic economy.

One is the commercial rate or trade rate, which applies to foreign trade and its ancillary expenses and is determined by the Soviet Union.

For example, at present, the official exchange rate of the ruble to the US dollar is 1:1.6, which was set by the Soviet Union.

This exchange rate will be used when people exchange foreign currency at banks and when the Soviet Union conducts foreign trade.

For example, if a Soviet citizen has rubles in his hand and wants to exchange them for some dollars, even if the black market price is 1 rubles per dollar, he can only exchange them at the current official exchange rate of 1.6: at a Soviet bank.

For example, Li Jiankun purchased a batch of crude oil from the Soviet Union for a total price of 1.6 million rubles. He did not have that many rubles and planned to settle the payment in US dollars, so he would need to pay the Soviet Union million US dollars.

The other is the financial exchange rate, which applies to capital flows and foreign consumption and is determined by market supply and demand.

For example, if the Western capitals present here want to conduct financial business in the Soviet Union, their funds flowing into the Soviet Union will not have to follow the official exchange rate.

For example, if Li Jiankun came to the Soviet Union, he would need money for food and drink. Of course, the US dollar is more useful than the ruble in the Soviet Union at the moment. Assuming that we do not consider this for the time being, he just wants to use rubles. Then, as a foreigner, he can go to the bank with his passport to exchange US dollars for rubles. He can ignore the 1:1.6, but look at the market price of the US dollar against the ruble in the international market and exchange it according to this exchange rate.

As for where the international market comes from?
This is not what we are discussing.

It just hasn’t been discussed yet.

In a nutshell, compared with completely liberalizing the exchange rate, the Soviet Union's proposal to adopt a dual exchange rate system was equivalent to setting up a checkpoint that blocked the internal economy.

It is completely understandable that the Soviet Union had some reservations about completely liberalizing the exchange rate, fearing that the risks would be uncontrollable.

However, Western investors are still unwilling to give up, because this card has seriously affected their subsequent plans.

"If you adopt a dual exchange rate system, aren't you afraid that the Soviet Union's export trade will suffer a heavy blow?"

"Well, as you can see, the Soviet Union doesn't have much export trade."

"What's next?"

“It’s not like the policy can’t be adjusted.”

"What about the people? Aren't you worried about public protests? Any businessman wants a harmonious business environment."

...

The two sides argued fiercely and could not resolve the dispute.

At this time, Ge, who was sitting at the head seat, suddenly looked at Li Jiankun, who had never spoken, and asked, "What do you think of this, Mr. Li?"

Sitting on a small chair behind him, someone quickly translated.

The whole audience fell silent, and everyone looked towards Li Jiankun. They were all representatives of Western capital, and wanted to laugh but it wasn't funny. Why don't you ask our friendly army about this?
Isn't he still importing crude oil from you?
The dual exchange rate system was a hindrance not only to the Soviet Union's internal economy, but also to its own citizens and businessmen who imported materials from the Soviet Union.

"Uh... I remember last time at the reception, I also said that reforms definitely have risks. In fact, I didn't say that. It's the truth. It has always been the case."

Li Jiankun sat up straight and said seriously, "The Soviet Union is hesitant about completely liberalizing the exchange rate. They are worried about encountering an uncontrollable crisis. I personally think this is understandable..."

Ok?
No matter how hard the representatives of Western capital tried to control their expressions, they all felt a pang in their hearts.

What are you doing?
Is this still our friendly brother? !
Ge smiled and asked, "So do you think it was right for the Soviet Union to implement a dual exchange rate?"

The spokespersons for Western capital were all very nervous.

The person sitting next to Li Jiankun endured and finally did not stretch his feet under the table.

“It’s hard to say.”

Li Jiankun shook his head and said, "No one can predict what has not happened yet. From an objective point of view, if the premise is to control risks, the Soviet Union's proposal to implement a dual exchange rate, taking a half step first instead of a full step, is not wrong."

Li Jiankun glanced at the audience and said, "The new round of reforms in the Soviet Union has just started, and the economy is not yet at the point of death where it just needs a good medicine to be revived. Being too aggressive at this time may not be a good thing."

The latter sentence had completely different meanings when heard by people in the Soviet Union and the West.

The representatives of Western capital thought that this made some sense. If we pushed too far, it might backfire, so it would be better to take it slow.

It should be a friendly brother, right?

The Soviet Union’s feelings can be seen from the increasingly gentle look in Ge’s eyes towards Li Jiankun and the smile on his lips.

Then Li Jiankun's goal was achieved. This move was to win the favor of this buddy in order to make bigger plans.

After all, he is Brother Tong!

Of course, there are some reasons why Li Jiankun did this.

If we refer to previous history, in this round of economic reforms, at this stage, the Soviet Union ultimately implemented a dual exchange rate system.

Li Jiankun did not think that by speaking in unison with Western capital, he would be able to force the Soviet Union to empty out the good ideas that came out of its economic brain and throw them away without even trying them.

The Soviet Union had a very contradictory mentality towards Western capital. They wanted their help, but were also on guard against it. Why should he go against the Soviets' thinking and make the Soviets think that he was just the same as Western capital?
It's really not necessary.

In Li Jiankun's chess game, whether the Soviet Union was willing to completely liberalize the exchange rate so that people could freely exchange foreign currency, and then take the opportunity to absorb ruble savings, use the Soviet people's money to buy up Soviet assets on a large scale, and then create momentum to discredit the ruble, causing it to depreciate sharply and give the Soviet people a pile of waste paper, was not an important link.

Of course, he also knew that after doing this, Western capitalists would become suspicious and begin to doubt his position.

Don’t be impatient, the meeting has just begun.

"Okay, then in the first step of opening up the financial market, everyone here has reached a consensus to open up the exchange rate first. Thank you for your valuable opinions. As for what form of opening up to take, the Soviet Union will decide. Now let's discuss the second step."

Ge made the final decision.

At this time, everyone present knew that the Soviet Union would adopt a dual exchange rate system.

However, it has no impact on capital entry.

As for the second step, which had been discussed for a long time, there was nothing to change, which was that the Soviet Union would issue financial licenses and allow foreign financial institutions to enter the Soviet Union to do business.

After someone raised this issue, Ge pondered and said, "We think it is not appropriate to issue too many financial licenses, especially in the initial stage. It is safer to proceed step by step, so there will definitely be strict restrictions on licenses at the beginning."

He paused, glanced at the foreign economic experts present, and asked, "I would like to ask everyone here, who wants it?"

This is nothing but nonsense.

Only with a financial license can one legitimately engage in financial activities in the Soviet Union. If you don't want to enter the Soviet Union, why are these financial professionals sitting here?
Are you really providing advice to the Soviet Union selflessly?
The Soviet Union itself did not expect this.

A number of Western capital representatives all frowned, as this was far from the full liberalization and complete financial freedom they wanted.

Everyone expressed their opinions, including Li Jiankun, and they all wanted it.

Ge nodded and said, "If that happens, there will be too many financial licenses, so we will select the best ones to issue. For example, which consortiums or companies can provide us with additional channels for importing materials to ensure a considerable volume of materials with relatively reasonable prices. In short, we will choose whoever is more beneficial to us. I hope everyone can understand."

I understand nothing!

The representatives of Western capital looked at each other, and many people's dissatisfaction was written directly on their faces.

Oh, you set all kinds of restrictions on the plan we proposed, and now you are negotiating conditions with us. We are here to help you!
At least in name only.

Ge took in their expressions and looked at Li Jiankun again with a warm smile, "Mr. Li?"

Because he noticed that Jack Lee was the only one whose expression did not change, and this man was indeed worth looking forward to.

Compared with the Europeans and Americans present, the resources this person can mobilize are within Asia and are closer to the Soviet Union. For example, the purchasing price of goods will be much cheaper.

And this person may not be the richest, but the cash flow he holds is unmatched by few people in the world.

Another point is that information from various sources shows that this person is particularly generous, unlike the stingy European and American capitalists.

"That's easy to say. For example, the material supply you mentioned is also a business after all. It's a question of how much profit you can make."

Without waiting for Ge to laugh, Li Jiankun continued, "But since you have proposed restrictions, I would also like to propose a condition."

The smile on Ge's face froze.

The mood of the representatives of Western capital has taken a dramatic turn.

This is still our friendly army brother!

(End of this chapter)