The words "food shortage" immediately emboldened Jacques. He picked up the phone and, as expected, it was still President Antoine. "Jacques, it's absolutely impossible, Army Commander." "Then there's nothing to talk about." Antoine said coldly: "Goodbye, Mr. President." "No, Jacques, listen to me. It's impossible for you to be the commander of the army, but I can appoint you as the commander of the air force!" Antoine said it all in one breath, and then listened quietly. Jacques: "Haha, Air Force Commander, just those old, poorly trained planes, and only about 2000 people in total. And I'm in the Army, you don't want me to give up my combined arms brigade, do you?" Antoine took a deep breath and said, "Listen, Jacques, I'm not crazy and I don't want your troops. I just want your food! Now that you have money and the title of Air Force Commander, you can go and form your own air force!" Jacques said solemnly: "I think the position of Navy Commander is more suitable for me." Antoine was silent for a while. "Do you think you can control the troops in various naval bases with just a title?"

Jacques: "That's my business, Mr. President." "Yes, you have money." Antoine groaned and said, "Okay, I can appoint you as the commander of the navy. The four bases of Kinshasa, Matadi, Goma and Kalemie are nominally under your jurisdiction." Jacques laughed and said, "Okay, Mr. President, how much food do you need?" Antoine: "One million tons!" "Do you take me for a fool, Antoine?" Jacques was furious: "The navy only has patrol boats under 10 tons, and each costs less than $30. One million tons of grain is now worth at least $100 million!" Antoine: "We also have more than 7000 elite naval soldiers." Jacques sneered: "Haha, go and sleep with your elite soldiers." After saying that, Jacques hung up the phone again. He couldn't provide 100 million tons of grain, and even if he had it, he wouldn't give it to him. The Congolese navy is terrible. He just needed the title of naval commander so that he could send troops to various places with justification. Congo's military is not a monolithic entity but is made up of multiple armed groups with different loyalties. Among them, the army is the strongest, with about 10 troops. Jacques has more than 8000 troops on the surface, but the actual number is about . The navy and air force are very weak, with poor equipment and lack of training. The military expenditure will be very high if they want to develop well, which is not something that ordinary people can handle. As a result, Antoine, a naval commander, asked for 100 million tons of grain. It was simply unrealistic. This was not the way to sell an official position. Moreover, even if he becomes the commander of the navy, there is still a possibility that he will be fired by the president again. The phone rang again. But this time Jacques didn't accept the call. He led his team to the Congo River. In addition to the tall oil palm plantations, rice bases have also been built on both sides of the river, and the rice ears are already golden.

There are also more signs of fish farming in lakes and rivers. The roads outside the city became more and more convenient, and more and more black workers entered the Chinese companies to work. The Registrar stood beside him and said, “Chief, Mbandaka is developing very fast, and there are significant changes every once in a while.” Jacques looked at him: "But you don't look too happy, Negan." "Yes." Nigan said, "Do the Chinese have other purposes for doing this?" Jacques: “I had suspected the Chinese’s intentions before, but when I saw Jiahe’s financial statements, everything became clear: money. These Chinese people are also after money. Oil palm fruits, food, timber, fishery products, etc. can all be exchanged for wealth, and it is astonishing wealth. Some of this is ours. Although the Chinese earn more, they are investing in building roads, houses, water and electricity, and providing us with military training and arms. " Negan took over: "Yeah, they did too much, and I have a bad feeling." "You worry too much, my brother." Jacques patted him on the shoulder: "The Chinese just want to make more money, after all, this is a long-term business. Moreover, they did not send any military forces, all the protection was provided by us. As long as they make any unusual moves, I can kill them at any time." Negan thought for a moment: "Then should we..." He made a gesture of wiping his neck. "No, at least not now. First, it's the Chinese government. Second, Mbandaka is just starting out. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not a monolithic entity. Without the Chinese, we can't make the Democratic Republic of the Congo better." After a pause, Jacques' eyes were deep and full of ambition: "When we are strong enough, we will plan the next step." Negan understood that Jacques had a longer-term plan. The Chinese were using him, and he was also using the Chinese. "What about the food the Presidential Palace wants?" "One naval commander is not enough." Negan: "They won't give up. Our cargo transportation through Matadi will also be affected." "If he dares to make trouble, I don't mind causing more trouble to the Presidential Palace." Jacques pondered and said, "Let's go to Jiahe and talk to Guo." Half an hour later, Jacques returned empty-handed from the plantation office. He was not there. It was said that he took the train to Mombonno, 400 kilometers from Mbandaka. "This Boss Guo is really diligent." "The Chinese are very diligent. Not only did they build a train to Mombono, but they also built several branch lines on this main line." The Ruki River and the Lulonga River are both tributaries of the Congo River. The Mbandaka-Kisangani railway line is located between the two rivers. The three rivers are roughly like three parallel lines passing through the heart of the Congo Basin. The entire area is densely covered with rivers and the land roads are very poor, but Chinese-funded enterprises have built bridges over the rivers and, in addition to horizontal main lines, have also gradually opened up vertical branch lines. Even roads are being built rapidly and the pace of infrastructure construction is very fast. Two days later, Guo Yang returned to Mbandaka again, and Jacques visited him immediately. At this time, Guo Yang had been tanned by the equatorial sun.

Jacques confessed to Guo Yang about President Antoine's request for food, without hiding anything. Guo Yang: "One million tons of grain is indeed too much, and we only have rice and starch. If we export normally, we may earn more than $100 billion instead of $10 million." "so tall?!" Jacques felt extremely unbelievable, and Negan, who followed in, was also shocked by the data. Guo Yang hummed: "The international price of rice and starch has already exceeded 1000 US dollars per ton. The price of palm oil has reached US$1800 per ton. It’s just that transportation is not smooth now, otherwise with our food and oil palm production, we would have become rich long ago.” One thousand dollars! Eighteen hundred dollars! Jacques and Negan feel suffocated! I have been staying in the Equator Province for many years. There are dense rainforests and river networks here. Food is not in short supply. We rarely import grain, so I don't have a deep understanding of grain prices. But he's not stupid. The oil palm fruit yield of Jiahe is 40 tons per hectare. Even if the oil yield is 50%, it is 20 tons, or US dollars. There are hundreds of thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations in Equatoria Province. This is at least... Oh, how much is it? Jacques was a little excited and couldn't calculate it for a while. But Negan at the side seemed to know what he was thinking, and his teeth were gritting: "A single oil palm plantation is a business worth tens of billions of dollars!" Guo Yang: "There is also food. Jiahe now has 60 mu of cassava and 50 mu of rice in Equatoria Province, which can produce about 150 million tons of starch and 15 tons of rice each year. This is a business worth more than 15 billion US dollars. Moreover, this high food price trend is unlikely to ease in the short term. Unfortunately, transportation is too difficult, which makes us afraid to open new plantations on a large scale now.” Jacques: "Why are food prices so high all of a sudden?" Guo Yang blinked: "Don't you guys pay attention to international news?" Jacques was stunned and a little embarrassed. They really didn't pay much attention to the international situation. They were lucky enough to be able to manage their own little piece of land. Guo Yang: "A large-scale foot-and-mouth disease broke out in Europe, and a large number of livestock were forced to be slaughtered; a new virus appeared in Asia, and many countries strengthened control, and China's grain exports were affected. Furthermore, agricultural production in other major grain-producing countries has not yet recovered. That’s what’s pushing up food prices.” Jacques: "No wonder Antoine is in a hurry for food. The riots that have broken out in various places may be more serious than we thought." Negan asked in confusion: "But I remember that Jiahe also invested in grain plantations in Matadi and Kinshasa..." Jacques also looked over. “In fact, Matadi and Kinshasa are the main grain bases for Jiahe Investment, but you should know what kind of people Joseph Kabila and Antoine are.” Guo Yang spread his hands and said, "They are too greedy, which has seriously affected agricultural production, so Jiahe has also transferred grain production to Mbandaka. Now the grain and fruit bases in Matadi and Kinshasa are poorly managed and the yield is very low. Even so, the food produced was required by the Presidential Palace to be exported in large quantities, and now he has set his sights on the food in Mbandaka. "

Negan: "It's really too greedy. Of the 100 million tons of food that Antoine wants, less than 50% can actually be used for the poor." Jacques: "No, you overestimate them. 30% is considered merciful." Jacques never had any hope for the presidential palace, as corruption was the main theme of the country's political regime. The previous president, Kabila Jr., also had great ambitions, but in his last term, knowing that he had no hope of re-election, he began to make money on a large scale. Jiahe’s bases in Matadi and Kinshasa probably declined at that time. Guo Yang: "A naval commander is worth at most 10 tons of food. 10 tons. I can prepare it for you at any time, Jacques." Jacques was a little moved: "10 tons is equivalent to million US dollars, which is also too much, Guo, a naval commander is not worth it." Guo Yang: "With the title of Navy Commander, your troops can move eastward to Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika to escort the construction of railways, which can make us more money." Jacques thought for a while and said, "Thank you for your generosity, Guo. I will send troops." Guo Yang laughed and said, "Jacques, you also have a share in these 10 tons." It would be fine if I didn't mention it, but it's a bit uncomfortable to mention Jacques. This is million US dollars! The Presidential Office gained so much income out of thin air just by selling an official position that had little effect, which made him full of resentment towards the Presidential Office. With this resentment, Jacques and Negan returned to his military camp, where the instructors from China were providing various training to his soldiers. The explosions that sounded from time to time proved how luxurious this kind of training was. An army with this kind of training intensity could definitely fight! You know, the equipment and training levels of all the army in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are worrying. "Negan, I'm going to beat up those bastards in the East!" Negan looked at the drone operated by the black soldier in the distance and said, "Chief, we have a strong army. It won't be a problem for us to protect the laying of the railway." Just laying railroads? Jacques also saw the drone, and his ambitions grew when he thought about the potential currently shown by the plantations in Equator Province. ... the other side, Guo Yang was looking at the map again, a city map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was covered with densely packed symbols. Each symbol represents a local riot caused by food shortage. Military conflicts even broke out in some places. Guo Yang sighed: "At this time, Antoine is still thinking about making money. The corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo is well-deserved." Luo Xiu, Xia Bo and Chang Feng were all in the office. Xia Bo: "The global grain prices are too high right now. There are not many countries and regions that have the capacity to export grain. If you have grain, you can definitely make money!" Guo Yang, Luo Xiu and Chang Feng all looked calm. Xia Bo said excitedly: "Jiahe may very well be the world's largest grain trader now." The three of them listened silently. Xia Bo said depressedly: "Aren't you excited at all?" Luo Xiu and Chang Feng said nothing. As bodyguards, they were both exposed to many secrets. The mastermind behind the global food prices might be right before their eyes.

So, everyone's eyes returned to Guo Yang. "Because we have a bigger goal." Guo Yang said calmly: "Arrange it so that Equator Province stops exporting food and palm oil. In addition, send the latest report to Jacques in a timely manner. If he asks why the grain shipments were stopped, just say it was Antoine and the French who did it, got it?" "Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Luo Xiu went out. Xia Bo was still a little unresponsive, so Guo Yang said to him, "I don't like money. I'm not interested in money." Xia Bo wanted to hold back his laughter, but he couldn't. He could sense that his boss might really not be interested in money. The Equator Province has a lot of food, especially palm oil, which has become one of the world's major producers. The sudden supply cut immediately caused many chain reactions. Global grain and oil prices have been pushed up further. Back east, Vinci Group manager Smith came under fire from railroad operations. "Shit! You are shit!" "Golden Harvest brought us a lot of freight income, but now it's all ruined by you, a piece of black shit!" "The Chinese will soon finish laying the new railway, and you won't be able to make a penny by then!" Smith retorted: "Look at you, you coward. You're just like a dog raised by Jiahe. You wag your tail just because you give it a bone without meat." "Just keep your eyes open, the Chinese will never be able to build a railway!" Kinshasa, Amid the ongoing food crises and protests in various places, President Antoine finally agreed to Jacques' new offer. 10 tons of food in exchange for a naval commander. Both of them felt that they had lost out. (End of this chapter)