Chapter 349: He-he-he. Will Everything Really Go According to Your Plan?

— Chief Cha, why haven’t we heard anything from Vice Chairman Tang?

Earlier, I had received information from Chief Secretary Williams that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China had poured an enormous amount of money into buying gold futures.

We concluded that Chairman Xi Jinping had misappropriated the bank’s funds to invest in the market.

I had asked Vice Chairman Tang Guochang to verify that information, but more than three hours had passed without a word from him. Chairman Yoon Jongu was already beginning to show clear signs of impatience.

— It seems he hasn’t managed to obtain any concrete information yet.

— What if the Industrial and Commercial Bank decided to buy gold futures on its own initiative?

— Unless the bank’s entire leadership consists of complete idiots, they can clearly see how sharply prices have risen. The fact that they still poured such an enormous amount of money into the market can only mean one thing: someone from above put tremendous pressure on them.

— You’re saying Chairman Xi himself pressured them?

— That’s what I believe.

— Could the bank president have refused Xi’s order?

— At least in China, the head of state’s word is law. He couldn’t have refused.

Brrrr—

At that moment, the phone lying on the table began vibrating.

I immediately glanced at the screen and saw the caller’s name.

It was Vice Chairman Tang Guochang.

After telling Chairman Park Yeongil and the others who was calling, I answered.

— I’m listening, Vice Chairman Tang.

— Chief Cha, my apologies for the delay. Zhang Hui, Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat, showed up without warning.

— I see. And what was the purpose of his visit?

— I’ll explain why he came a little later.

Since he clearly had no intention of going into detail right now, pressing him further would have been extremely tactless.

— Understood. What about the matter I asked you to investigate?

— Minister He Lifen is firmly convinced that Chairman Xi is the one buying up the futures. However, he has not yet been able to confirm that funds were actually embezzled from the Industrial and Commercial Bank.

— His personal secret accounts are completely empty. Without outside assistance, there’s no way he could possibly make purchases on this scale.

— So you believe the bank helped him finance the transactions?

— I’m certain of it. Is there anything else I should know?

— He asked Chief Zhang how high he thought gold futures would rise. Zhang told him one million three hundred and sixty thousand dollars. The moment Chairman Xi heard that figure, he burst out laughing.

Tang Guochang’s words gave me an invaluable clue.

Chairman Xi Jinping intended to dump his futures once the price climbed past one million three hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

‘Heh-heh. But will everything really go according to your plan?’

— I understand. Anything else?

— Chief Zhang passed along Chairman Xi’s order. He wants regular reports on every move made by Bongard Investment Group.

— I’ll personally provide you with timely information regarding Bongard.

— I’d be extremely grateful. But still... shouldn’t we stop Chairman Xi before he does something foolish?

However, my plan was completely different from what Vice Chairman Tang had in mind.

— On the contrary. I intend to take advantage of this opportunity and screw Chairman Xi over properly.

— But if your plan succeeds, the Industrial and Commercial Bank will suffer enormous losses!

— Don’t worry. I’ll make sure the bank doesn’t lose a single cent.

— For the life of me, I can’t understand how that’s possible.

— We’ll simply reimburse the bank’s losses out of Chairman Xi’s own pocket.

— But he doesn’t have a penny to his name!

— What do you mean? He has those thirty tons of gold you gave him.

— Ah-ha-ha-ha!

Once he understood what I was planning, Tang Guochang burst into booming laughter.

I waited for his laughter to die down before continuing.

— You and Minister He have a crucial role to play.

— What do you need us to do?

— At the decisive moment, we intend to crash the price of gold futures.

I explained in detail what roles Tang Guochang and Minister He Lifen would have to play.

— ...Minister He must put overwhelming pressure on Chairman Xi so that he has no choice but to sell the gold immediately.

— You can leave that to us. We’ll handle it perfectly.

— Excellent. Now tell me why Chief Zhang came to see you in the first place.

— Chairman Xi decided to reward me for my supposedly great achievements. Zhang came to ask what kind of reward I wanted.

— And what did you ask for?

— I was thinking... perhaps I should demand the vacant seat on the Politburo Standing Committee?

Tang Guochang was still clinging to the idea of that Standing Committee seat, and his train of thought needed to be corrected immediately.

— If Xi Jinping truly intended to give you that seat, Chief Zhang would have brought it up himself.

— Hmm...

Tang Guochang hesitated vaguely, clearly lost in thought.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long.

— Chief Cha, does that mean Xi is simply testing me?

— That’s what I think as well.

— I understand now. Then what reward should I ask him for?

— I think asking for money would be the simplest and safest option.

After exchanging a few more words with the Vice Chairman, I ended the call.

Chairman Yoon Jongu, who seemed to have been waiting for that exact moment, immediately pounced on me impatiently.

— Chief Cha, hurry up and tell us what you and Tang were talking about!

— Wouldn’t it be better if you listened to my conversation with Chairman Bongard instead?

— That works too. Call him already.

Without wasting a second, I dialed Chairman Bongard.

It almost seemed as though he had been sitting beside the phone waiting for my call. The first ring had barely begun when his voice came through the speaker.

— Chief Cha, how did it go?

— In order to confirm whether Xi Jinping has gotten himself trapped in the gold futures market...

I told Bongard everything about my conversation with Tang Guochang without leaving anything out.

— ...So there can be no doubt. He used funds from the Industrial and Commercial Bank.

— As expected. So how are we going to tear him apart now?

— First, we need to artificially drive futures prices higher so that greed completely overwhelms whatever judgment he has left.

— Our company can handle that easily.

‘And greed is certainly something he has no shortage of.’

I smirked inwardly.

— I’m afraid Chairman Park Yeongil and Chairman Yoon Jongu might disagree with you.

— Then what do you suggest?

— I’ll ask for their opinions and call you back.

— All right. What comes next?

— We need to give Xi Jinping enough time to pour even more money into the market.

— And when do you think he’ll do that?

— Let me put it this way: right now, he’s practically burning with impatience.

— Hmm... You’re probably right. By the way, at what price are we going to dump our futures?

This was a rather delicate point.

Our final return depended directly on my answer.

— Chairman Xi is aiming for a price above one million three hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

— Then we should sell just below that figure?

— That’s what I’m thinking as well, but we’ll have to adjust depending on the situation.

— I understand the general idea. I’ll wait for your call.

Click.

As soon as I hung up, Chairman Park Yeongil spoke to me.

— Chief Cha, how high are you planning to push the price?

— If we want to make Xi really nervous, we need to break through one million three hundred thousand dollars.

Park Yeongil gave Vice President Cho Myeongsu a meaningful look.

Immediately understanding the Chairman’s silent order, he quickly punched some numbers into the calculator on his phone and reported:

— Chairman, to reach one million three hundred thousand, the price needs to rise another 8.3 percent.

— If we pour one hundred billion dollars into the futures market, that should push us right up to one million three hundred thousand, correct?

— That’s correct, Mr. Chairman.

— Then we’ll do this. I’ll put in thirty billion, and Yoon—

— And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!

As expected, Yoon Jongu exploded, cutting Park Yeongil off mid-sentence.

— What’s wrong? Is twenty billion too much for you?

— Ohoho... I’ll restrain myself.

After shooting Park Yeongil a displeased look, Yoon Jongu turned toward me.

— Chief Cha, how about I put in thirty billion dollars too?

— Whatever you prefer, Chairman Yoon.

— Ha-ha, excellent! Hurry up and call Bongard!

Bzzzz—

However, before I could dial Bongard, Chairman Zhen Weiliang’s name appeared on the screen.

I had business with him anyway, so the timing was perfect.

After telling Yoon and Park who was calling, I answered.

— I’m listening, Chairman Zhen.

— Chief Cha, when should I transfer the one hundred and twenty million dollars?

Previously, Politburo member Liu Peiqi had prepared fourteen tons of gold as an offering to Xi Jinping.

However, because Tang Guochang had eliminated him, Liu Peiqi never got the chance to curry favor with the leader.

Vice Chairman Wei Chen had successfully seized that gold from a safe house.

Chairman Zhen Weiliang then purchased the fourteen tons for twelve billion dollars.

It had been decided that the twelve-billion-dollar proceeds would be divided as follows: thirty-three percent each for our country, the United States, and Vice Chairman Wei Chen, while the remaining one percent would go to our company.

Zhen Weiliang was calling precisely to settle the details of the transfer.

— There’s no rush. Transfer it as slowly as possible.

— I hate owing anyone money.

— I know. However, we may soon need an enormous amount of cash.

— What enormous amount of money are you talking about?

— There’s a very high chance that Xi Jinping will urgently need cash and put the thirty tons of gold that once belonged to Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan up for sale.

— But what guarantee is there that he’ll offer it to me?

— I’ll make sure he has no other buyer besides you.

— If Chief Cha says so, then I suppose that’s what will happen. But keep this in mind: I have absolutely no intention of buying gold at an inflated price.

To give Zhen Weiliang some idea of what was happening, I decided to offer him a small hint.

— I can’t reveal the details, but gold prices are going to collapse very soon.

— Are you saying another grand scheme is being carried out behind my back?

— Exactly.

— And all I have to do is follow your instructions?

— Precisely. Tell Director Om Giyeon, Director Griffin, and Vice Chairman Wei that you’ll be delaying payment for the gold.

— I’ll do that. I’m in a hurry, so I’m hanging up.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The impatient Zhen Weiliang ended the call first.

Without wasting any time, I dialed Bongard again.

— Chief Cha, have you decided how much we’re going to invest in the futures?

***

At the same time, Chairman Xi Jinping was having a leisurely conversation with Zhang Hui, Chief of the Central Committee Secretariat.

— So? What did Tang Guochang say? Speak.

— He asked to be rewarded with money.

Xi Jinping had been utterly convinced that Tang Guochang would demand a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee.

Yet contrary to all expectations, he had asked for something as ordinary as money.

— Something about this feels strange... Just what is that Tang thinking?

— It appears he decided that serving on the Standing Committee would be beyond his abilities.

— Fine. Either way, I understand. Stop testing him.

Zhang Hui let out a sigh of relief. He had been about to suggest ending the tests himself.

— Now let’s get down to business. What about the task I gave you?

Xi Jinping had previously ordered twenty billion dollars to be extracted from state-owned banks to purchase gold futures.

— I’m gathering all the bank presidents this afternoon.

— Tell them this: anyone who dares oppose my order will be removed from office immediately.

— That was exactly what I intended to do.

— By the way, what’s happening with futures prices right now?

Xi Jinping’s question was clearly an order to check the quotations immediately.

Zhang Hui promptly took out his phone and opened the financial market report.

The very next instant, cold sweat broke out across his body.

And for good reason.

Just fifteen minutes earlier, immediately before entering the Chairman’s office, the price had been holding at one million two hundred and ten thousand dollars.

Now it had suddenly broken through one million two hundred and seventy thousand!

— Chairman, gold futures prices are skyrocketing!

— What?!

— It looks like Bongard Investment Group has injected additional capital into the market!

Panic seized Chairman Xi Jinping.

If this continued, he would be forced to buy futures at an absurdly inflated price.

— Summon every bank president immediately! Right now!