Sioux City was so angry that he decided to go out and have a look, maybe he could find some opportunities.

The counsellor in charge of the mission strongly objected, and only reluctantly agreed after Sioux City had written a letter of guarantee. However, he still sent a staff member from the martial arts hall to Su Cheng, and introduced: "Qi Xiaokun is a soldier sent from China, specializing in protecting the safety of the embassy and the personnel in the embassy, you are not familiar with the place, it is best to listen to Qi Xiaokun on the road, if he thinks there is a dangerous place, you can't go, where to go, he has the final decision." ”

The counselor has great powers and responsibilities in the embassy, and after saying that, he is also full of official authority.

Su Cheng couldn't play tricks either, and said with a smile: "Let's walk around the embassy area" It's not easy outside, and you must pay attention to safety, especially not to make inappropriate "words" Chapter 347 Going out, let alone interfere in the work and life of Russians, as well as gatherings, especially foreign journalists. The counselor told him again and again before he allowed Sioux City to go out.

In fact, if it weren't for Sioux City's independent mission and orders directly from the top, the counselor would definitely not let him out. The attachés of the delegation from China all obediently stayed in the embassy, and there was no room for negotiation.

They spoke with great interest, and Sikong Guan, from Guangtong Bank, asked to participate with great interest. Sikong Guan is the deputy general manager of Guangtong Bank, enjoying the treatment of the department level, and is also a veteran qualification among the bank's banking experts.

He had an assistant, plus the Guhong army defending Su City, and the team immediately swelled into 5 Qi Xiaokun hurriedly pulled them out, really worried that no matter how many people there were, they couldn't control it.

asked for a car from the embassy, Qi Xiaokun consciously became the driver, and walked along the boulevard that had lost all the leaves, all the way forward. Sioux City put his hands in his pockets and looked left and right like a tourist.

There are very few people nearby, probably because of the embassy district, and cars with diplomatic license plates can be seen passing by from time to time. Occasionally, there are people riding bicycles and hurrying forward.

It's not the first time Sikong Guan has come to the Soviet Union, and he leaned against the window and said, "The Soviets here are a little less Chapter 347 going out, as if nothing has changed." ”

Su Cheng also said: "We are here to find unstable factors, Xiao Qi, change the way." ”

Qi Xiaokun waved the front of the car without saying a word, and slid into another branch road.

After walking like this for a few minutes, there were bursts of slogans in front of me, but it was a small gathering of hundreds of people, the leader holding a loudspeaker and not knowing what speech he was making, and the audience blocked the intersection, not cheering, and some of them were emotional, and they would jump up and shout some slogans.

If you only look at them, you will feel that the collapse of the Soviet Union is a very popular thing. However, the roadside stalls and the long queue of more than 100 people prove that the Soviet Union is indeed in the rhythm of economic collapse.

Most of the stalls are middle-aged and elderly, who sell small accessories, small household appliances, and the most sold, used clothes and pants. It is ironic that the queue is for people who buy bread and other foodstuffs, and Russia has begun to implement a supply system again, and it is said that some of the union republics have lower limits than in the painful period after the war.

The car was stopped at the intersection Su Cheng patted Qi Xiaokun on the shoulder, and Wen Yan asked, "Can you go down and have a look?"

Qi Xiaokun's face was embarrassed, and he said, "There are a lot of people, and besides, this is a political rally." ”

"I just want to see the stalls, and I don't understand what the person with the horn says. ”

"5 minutes, and you can't make a political statement. Qi Xiaokun often does security work, and knows that it is important to do security with a service mentality, so he does not force it.

The gray Volga glided for a few hundred meters before stopping, and the Soviets along the street looked curiously, but had no intention of leaving.

By the end of the 80s, the Volga was still a good car in China, and many leaders still rode it. In the Soviet Union, the Volga car once entered the lives of ordinary people, but with the acceleration of the disintegration, the Soviets saw fewer and fewer Volga, not fewer cars, but less gasoline ration for the supply of cars, and the high cost of living also made driving an extremely luxurious thing.

Sioux City casually walked up to a stall and browsed around.

All the clothes sold were old clothes.

The same is true of several stalls next to it, needless to say, these people took out the family's clothes and sold them.

A little earlier, there are also small electrical appliances such as radios and tape recorders, as well as old goods such as sewing machines, some of which may be more than one year old, and the signs of wear and tear on them are very serious. In addition, children's toys, jewelry accessories, leather briefcases, and even "medicine" products are sold on the stalls.

"How much is this. Su Cheng asked, pointing to a fur coat.

The stall was set up by a white-bearded old man, who seemed to think he was a foreigner, so he naturally stretched out a finger and said, "$0." ”

Su Cheng nodded slightly and said in Chinese: "This price to buy a thick leather coat is also cheap." ”

Qi Xiaokun laughed, shouted a few words in Russian, and then replied, "I'll sell it to you for $1." ”

Su Cheng was stunned for a moment, took out the 1 dollar old man happily raised the green bill, looked at it carefully several times, and after making sure that it was correct, he threw the leather coat to Su Cheng without care.

Qi Xiaokun said on the side: "If you use rubles, it will probably cost dozens of dollars, and it will be much easier to use foreign exchange." Bartering is also allowed in many places, and if you look at the front, a bottle of ordinary liquor can be exchanged for a piece of clothing. ”

"Wouldn't there be no market for the clothes?"

"Why, there are many people who sell clothes, because clothes are the best to sell. Moreover, this is a relatively wealthy area of Moscow, and after another 20 minutes by car, it is estimated that people there have already sold out their clothes in order to live. Qi Xiaokun breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "The economic stagnation of the Soviet Union is not a matter of one or two years, they used to sell secretly, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were blatantly sold." ”

"Are these second-hand dealers?" Sioux City suddenly realized.

"Of course. They exchange bread and canned food for residents' old goods, and then sell them to those in need. Now it's different, when I first arrived in the Soviet Union, I didn't dare to go out to eat with my domestic salary and embassy subsidies, and at that time one ruble was worth 27 dollars, but now 2 dollars can be exchanged for several hundred rubles. ”

"I can exchange it for a few thousand rubles in the future. Su Cheng said casually.

Sikong Guan said uneasily: "In this way, the economy of the Soviet Union has collapsed. If we lend them a loan, will we be able to repay it?"

"The economy of the USSR has long since collapsed. Su Cheng said indifferently: "If it weren't for the collapse of the economy, how could the Soviet Union have collapsed so quickly, and the CPSU was not so much dissolved, but was elected out of power with its feet." The Soviets have had a hard time for a few years. ”

"At least, before the disintegration, the ruble was still usable, not now. Qi Xiaokun provided information as much as he could: "I heard that someone took advantage of the fact that the news had not yet spread, and exchanged rubles for something in the remote countryside. However, most people's savings are in vain. ”

Some wealthy Soviets, who often had tens of thousands of rubles, or more than $100,000, saved no less than the fortune of an average middle-class American family. But they were also the first to be hurt in this wave of disintegration.

It's a cold and fun cycle. The masses who wanted the collapse of the Soviet Union for the sake of the "people" and "freedom" were mainly the high-level bureaucrats and the self-proclaimed elite middle class of the country. However, when the "self-reliance" and "people-master" came, it was the middle class of these countries that became impoverished and reduced to the lower strata of society. This is like a peasant uprising, and the peasant army that revolted in order to survive is the executioner who makes it impossible for more peasants to live.

The cycle of history always uses human life as satirical material.

Sikong Guan looked around worriedly, and then said: "When I was on the plane, I looked at the electricity consumption and power generation of the Soviet Union, and in recent years, the annual power generation and electricity consumption of the Soviet Union have decreased by more than 10%. The data for 1991 is not yet available, but looking at the first three quarters, a decrease of 15 is certain. This is much more serious than the financial crisis in the capitalist countries, and is a symptom of the state losing control. Let's lend money to the Soviets, and if they can't recover in ten or twenty years, what will we do?"

"It is indeed difficult for Russia's industrial production to recover within one year, and it may not be possible for twenty years. But the path to prosperity is not just industrial production. ”

"What else could it be for a country?"

"Exploiting resources, Russia is quite rich in oil and gas, as long as they export resources, it is easy to earn enough foreign exchange, which can then be used to return to us. If it doesn't work, let them pay off their debts with oil and gas. ”

"Even if their oil production reaches the highest volume during the Soviet era, it is estimated that it will not be enough to accumulate foreign exchange for reconstruction. Selling oil, the USSR has been doing it for a long time. "Sikong Guan's idea is to analyze the reality of the situation, the most normal idea.

Before the early 90s, the highest value of oil prices was a few hours during the Gulf War, and the rest of the time, crude oil often remained in the $7 range per barrel. Moreover, the price of Soviet crude oil was often lower than that of Middle Eastern crude oil. It can be said that although oil brought a lot of foreign exchange to the Soviet Union, it was not like a steady stream of gold as it was in later generations.

The Soviet government has long relied on the sale of oil to balance budget expenditures since the 7s. One of their biggest expenses is to buy grain from abroad, and most of the oil and foreign exchange are consumed on this.

Sikong Guan takes it for granted that the price of oil will remain below $30 for a long time, which is enough to give Russia and other countries some financial subsidies, but he will not agree to rely on oil to survive or even rebuild the country.

Su Cheng didn't argue, but said: "Countries with oil will not die of poverty after all, so you should put your heart in your stomach." Our task now is to find a way to lend money to Russia first. ”

…… (To be continued!!