"Yes, Lady Chunggu. Li Lin didn't know why Su Cheng was curious about the name, but she still said dutifully: "She is a special consultant to the French Elf oil company, and it seems that she has a special public relations agency, so she outsources the public relations project of the Elf company." ”

"Oh......" Sioux City thought hard. He was sure he had heard the name, and although it wasn't very clear, it was most likely important information.

However, after all, this kind of memory has passed too long, and Su Cheng has no answer for a while, so he said: "Find me some news about Mrs. Zhong Gu, find as much as you can." ”

The contact person of the Information Bureau was Li Shirong, and he agreed, and drew a few large and small circles on the notes in a shorthand way.

"If you pretend to be pretty, you can't write well. Liu Qiu has never looked down on the secret style of the Information Bureau, especially after his department was required to keep secrets, he was even more sarcastic when he was troublesome.

Li Shirong reluctantly closed his notes and said, "Liu Gong, it's not a bad thing to keep secrets." ”

"Tell me, who's a spy here?"

"This ...... This is Su Dong's regulation. Li Shirong is the second-in-command of the Information Bureau, and when Dong Feng is commanding outside, he comes to attend the meeting of the headquarters. However, in Dahua Industry, technology has a natural superior attribute, whether it is year-end dividends, daily arrangements, or even the purchase of desks, it is the technician who comes first. Liu Qiu is not only the top existence among the technicians, but also the old minister of Dahua Industry, not to mention Li Shirong, who is half-old and not new, even Dong Feng is also two or three heads shorter than him, Li Shirong can only speak under the aura of Su Cheng.

Liu Qiu scolded the Information Bureau if he wanted to, even if he pulled out Su Cheng, he still glared at him and said, "What's the matter?

He's in a rhythm to quarrel.

Li Shirong didn't dare to quarrel with him. looked at Su Cheng aggrievedly and whispered, "Of course it's not ......"

Liu Qiu snorted and turned around.

Su Cheng laughed twice, when he didn't see it. An extractive oil company needs to gather information, but he is always wary of the existence of the information bureau, so he encourages someone in the company to take the initiative to be the opposite of the information bureau.

At the same time, in terms of the appointment of the Information Directorate. Dong Feng and Li Shirong are also newcomers, and their levels are not high, which means that they are slightly inferior and powerful. Come to think of it, Dong Feng and Li Shirong and other members of the Information Bureau can also guess one or two. So at high-level meetings, most of them are people with their tails between their legs.

In order to maintain its current position, the Information Bureau has to work hard to perform. In order to collect information about Mrs. Zhong Gu, Li Shirong even sent a telegram to the personnel stationed in Europe to find a way to obtain information.

Despite this, it took him almost two days to get Mrs. Zhong Gu's report.

The report follows the long-standing working methods of the Information Bureau. It was only because of the attention of the upper echelons that the staff stationed in Europe asked a few French journalists who were close friends. In European countries, they often know more than they report.

Ultimately. Li Shirong still got only two pages of the report, he was not very satisfied with such a result, but he couldn't wait any longer, and still knocked on the door of the office in Sioux City.

"Su Dong. This is the information we have gathered about Mrs. Zhong Gu. Li Shirong put the piece on Su Cheng's desk, feeling worried.

Sioux City nodded. Put down the pen in your hand, knead your wrist and open it to read.

Two pages, he read for a long time.

Sioux City was looking at it while recalling.

As far as public information is concerned, Mrs. Zhong Gu seems to be an ordinary political broker. In 1991, she was appointed by Elf Petroleum Group as a special PR consultant for this large oil company. In addition, she was hired by Thomson as an intermediary for a lobby group they formed in the 90s......

At the end of the piece, Li Shirong noted the identity of Thomson's company: Fahuo Group, the manufacturer of the Lafitte-class frigates.

The last name made Su Cheng suddenly realize: the so-called Mrs. Zhong Gu is not a "prostitute of the Republic".

The republic here is, of course, the French Republic.

And this Mrs. Zhong Gu, with such a name, naturally did a lot of things that foreigners like to see. The most famous of them was to be a lobbyist for the Thomson Company, lobbying the French cabinet at the time to support the sale of six Lafitte-class frigates to Taiwan.

It's a high-profile arms deal, and it's a well-known case of public relations lobbying.

Because 91 years ago, the French government had promised the Chinese government that it would not sell weapons to Taiwan, but after two years of work by a lobby group specially established by Thomson & Co., the French government's attitude has taken a 180-degree turn.

In the end, not only did they sell the frigate to Taiwan, but the price also soared from the initial 11 billion francs to the final 15 billion francs, equivalent to $2.7 billion, which is as much as three times the unit price that Singapore bought.

Of the huge price difference, at least $500 million was handed over to French politicians, and around 2000, Mrs. Zhong Gu and a series of French politicians and businessmen were imprisoned for this.

When the name of "Republic Prostitute" was at its loudest, Sioux City was also the time of puberty, so I learned a lot about the secrets.

Now, about the part about France, Sioux City is about to lose sight, only know that the French foreign minister at this time is about the mistress of Madame Zhonggu. But on the other side, he knows that Taiwan's military and political circles are also deeply involved.

Thinking of this, Su Cheng closed the document and asked: "Is there a case of arms sales fraud in Taiwan this year?"

In China in the 90s, it was difficult to understand the beautiful scenery of Taiwan beyond Sun Moon Lake, but it was still possible to understand a lot about the dirty and ugly parts of Taiwan. The Taiwan military fraud case in '93 was also reported in Chinese mainland for a long time.

Of course, France's arms sales to Taiwan are also an old diplomatic issue that has been going on for the past two years.

Li Shirong thought for a moment and confirmed: "The Information Bureau has collected information in this regard. I have the impression that there was a Taiwanese officer who died off the coast of Suao, and the cause of death was related to the warships sold by France to Taiwan. ”

"Find me the details. ”

"Yes. Li Shirong turned around to leave.

"What to run. Su Cheng stopped him and said, "Didn't you collect information?" ”

"Yes. Li Shirong picked up the phone on the desk and dialed it back to the Information Bureau. After a while, he hung up the phone and said, "It's confirmed, it's a colonel of the Taiwan Navy Headquarters named Yin Qingfeng who was found dead off Suao, Taiwan." He went to France in September to inspect the Lafitte frigate and allegedly found 34 defects, so he opposed the purchase plan...... At present, both Taiwan and France have set up special agencies to conduct investigations, but there are no results. ”

"34 flaws?" Sioux smiled.

Li Shirong heard the strings and knew the elegance. "It was the Taiwanese media that broke the flaw, and the French company did not admit it, and in addition, the contract was not substantially affected." ”

"I see. "Sioux City has decided to take advantage of this opportunity, combined with his own memories. Soon called Li Lin and said, "You can make an appointment with Total's representatives, and I want to talk to them as well." In addition, I will invite Mrs. Zhong Gu at another time. ”

Total is France's No. 1 oil company, and its power is unusually strong, and in a few years, they will even initiate mergers and acquisitions to take control of Elf Petroleum Group, which is also a French company. It's the same with those giant oil companies. Total's shareholders, which are among the top five in the world, include BNP Paribas, French nuclear industry group AREVA, Société Générale, Belgian National Securities and other high-end companies and institutions. Put it 2 years ago. The French government also holds a stake in Total.

If you want to do anything with France, a giant oil company like Total is the best choice. As long as they are willing, they can connect every corner and every industry in the country horizontally.

The same. Sioux City didn't just stretch out its tentacles casually. Taiwan's arms sales fraud case is a new thing for other countries, but it is completely different for China.

Now that the arms sale has been completed. Unstoppable. However, if you can get the specific details of Lafitte's 34 flaws, and then hype it, there is still some value.

This kind of information is difficult to know from both sides of the transaction, but it is not too difficult to get from the middleman. Sioux City distinctly remembers that it was the Thomson Company who eventually sent Mrs. Chung to prison, and they decided that the Elf group, which had received a large amount of lobbying fees, was not playing its due role, and filed a fraud lawsuit in court......

In Sioux City's view, as long as it is done properly, it is not difficult at all to just obtain information.

China's intelligence organizations have always been poor and scumbag, and they don't have much power in France, and they can't get along with huge organizations like the Thomson Arms Group. It is not cost-effective to spend a lot of money and manpower just to obtain the defects of warships.

Sioux City is different, he is playing bidding in Azerbaijan, and obtaining this information can be said to be a matter of convenience.

"Maybe you can use your strength to make a difference. Sioux touched his chin and quickly fell into deep thought.

The next day.

Sioux City had just come into contact with Total and Elf, and negotiations between Dahua and the French company Fina had already begun.

The Finer Company, which was already in a weak position, heard the news of the meeting between Sioux City and Total, as well as Mrs. Zhong Gu, the representative of Elf Company, and lowered his posture very low. They accepted Sioux City's demands in their entirety.

This was even better than Sioux City had predicted, as Finer not only gave Dahua the freedom to choose whether to bid jointly or individually, but also voluntarily handed over the initiative of bidding to Dahua Industrial.

It is equivalent to saying that Feina Company will be mainly based on Dahua Industry and be in a subordinate position to participate in this bidding.

To some extent, this is almost the largest gap in the modern oil market.

Of course, the company does not suffer a loss. They are small and weak, the scale is two levels worse than Dahua Industrial, and they have no special relationship and status, in the bidding field where big fish eat small fish, they should be the role of accompanying the prince to study. Now that it is in alliance with Dahua Industrial, in addition to some impact on autonomy, the oil reserves obtained may be higher.

Thus, in the face of Azerbaijan's oil bid, the first corporate alliance appeared. Coupled with the news that Dahua Industrial has begun to compete for standard preparations, major oil companies have to speed up their own speed.

Large and medium-sized companies such as Petrobras, Rosneft, or Japan Inpex are a little chaotic, while oil giants such as BP, Shell, and Exxon feel urgent, but still appear to be methodical.

Ducatt sent his deputy to negotiate cooperation with Dahua Industrial to test Sioux City, and BP also raised funds to Azerbaijan as quickly as possible. Its distinctive lobby of opposition lawmakers also immediately expanded in size, and a shadow cabinet defense minister was dispatched.

However, the appearance and inwardness of oil companies are never uniform. Whether BP is really methodical or not, only Ducatt himself knows.

As a man full of control, being dragged along the rhythm is the most uncomfortable for him.

It wasn't until a week later that Ducat's bidding schedule was adjusted with amazing workability.

Just as he was complacent, his lieutenant knocked on the door.

"What's the matter?" Ducat, who was standing in front of the glass window, limped and had difficulty turning.

The deputy deliberately didn't look at his leg, and said: "Su Dong's private message, he sent some information, in addition, he asked us to fulfill the agreement, when declaring the bidding for the oilfield, we will not declare the No. 8 block, if we fulfill the ...... This 'gentleman's agreement', he will send more information to us as agreed. ”

"When did you get this step?" Ducatt wondered.

"Newly added. Announced this morning. The Ministry of Petroleum of Azerbaijan requires that oil companies participating in the bidding must first declare the blocks to be tendered. A minimum of one block and a maximum of 11 blocks can be declared at will, however, if a block is not declared, you cannot bid for that block. ”

"Isn't that what he did!" Ducatt was dismayed. According to the original gentleman's agreement, he had the initiative. On the contrary, the new policy of the Ministry of Oil of Azerbaijan suddenly shifted the initiative to Sioux City.

"And ......," the deputy said softly, "the deadline for filing is 20 o'clock this evening." ”

"Such a short period of time. Ducatt was speechless. Fortunately, he has also participated in many oilfield bidding, and he knows that this kind of thing cannot be reasonable, only strength. Sioux City can be said to be through the Azerbaijani Ministry of Oil, this is his skill, and the BP's background is not here.

However, knowing that it does not mean being willing, he quickly said: "Investigate Block 8 now to see if it is a smoke bomb." The bidding is also made in two copies, one including No. 8 and one not included. ”

"Understood. ”

"Ask about other companies. Sioux City must have sold a lot of goods. Speaking of this, Ducatt was also speechless for a while. The gentleman's agreement, which felt a lot of benefits that day, now seems to be a chicken rib, how much information Su Cheng came up with, he can't know specifically, how many companies Su Cheng sold the information to, he can't understand specifically, and he can't understand the agreement between Su Cheng and other companies.

However, he can't refuse immediately, and if other companies get the information and BP doesn't, it's easy to fall into passivity in the bidding.

"Like...... It's time to follow the footsteps of Dahua Industry again. Ducat's depression burst into flames.

……