When Zhao Zejun thought of the hotel, he was inspired by the 'guest house' of the Iraqi presidential palace and the movie "Rwanda Hotel".

The overall hospitality environment in Iraq is too bad, if there is such a situation in Iraq, even if there is a war outside and a hotel across the wall, it can be protected by the international community, have a relatively safe place, and be a paradise for dignitaries from various countries to exchange information and conduct trade, then the ultimate purpose of this trip to Iraq: to build an international reputation, can definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

However, this will require a period of accumulation in Iraq, and it will certainly not be possible in a hurry, because after all, it is not something that can be done with the support of the Iraqi ruling government alone. Now I mention that it is just a 'trailer' to give Abadi more hope for the future.

Abadi was very interested, because aside from the hotel itself, Zhao Zejun also lightly mentioned that if it is completed, a part of the shares can be taken out of it and given to the current ruling party as a dividend: whichever party is in power, it will be given to whomever it is.

Whoever pulls in this 'sponsorship' for his own political party will naturally have a more prominent position in the political party.

On the way to the destination, the convoy passed through the city of Basra, and it could be seen that the city was still operating, but the streets were full of broken walls and ruins, and the flow of people and vehicles was very limited.

Abadi proudly introduced that the iron works in Basra have basically resumed production, and this is the first batch of enterprises to resume production: there is no way, national construction, steel and cement are indispensable.

The city of Basra is not small, but due to the opening of the road by government military vehicles, there are few vehicles on the road, and although the road is broken, the speed is very fast, and it does not take long for it to reach the suburbs.

The suburbs here are completely different from the suburbs on the mainland, with no green farmland at first glance, and all that is pale and yellow, with all kinds of weeds and low plants growing on the wasteland, but almost no trees and ponds.

Zhao Zejun noticed that not long after leaving the city, guardrails were pulled up with barbed wire on both sides of the road, and trenches were dug, and government army sentry posts could be seen every short distance: soldiers patrolling large and small cities in Iraq could be seen everywhere, but there seemed to be more sentry posts on this suburban road.

There are not only sentry posts, but also many construction teams, and a large number of pipes are piled up everywhere on the roadside.

"Now that we have entered the largest oil field area in Iraq, the oil field was shut down during the war, part of the pipeline was damaged, and reconstruction work is now underway. Abadi explained.

Zhao Zejun sniffled, and sure enough, there was a faint smell of sulfur in the air, and if you looked carefully into the distance, there would occasionally be a few tall 'torches' in the desert: this is the natural gas associated with oil.

"By the way, Mr. Zhao, maybe you can still see your compatriots today. Abadi said with a smile: "The Chinese oil company is involved in the construction and exploration of power stations here, and your factory is not far from them. ”

Zhao Zejun smiled slightly, this was expected. In Iraq's post-war development and reconstruction exploration projects, Chinese companies won the most bids, and PetroChina alone won the development contracts for the three major oil fields.

There used to be a popular saying in the oil circles: The United States attacked Iraq for oil, but it was PetroChina that benefited the most.

This is also the reason why Zhao Zejun has never been in the Iraqi oil business, and no matter how arrogant he is, he will not go to grab this life-threatening meal to eat.

"Haha, Mr. President, your government is really shrewd in its calculations. "Zhao Zejun suddenly realized that the Iraqi government took a small advantage of himself.

As for the issue of garrisoning troops, this is the largest oil field, and there is a brigade of PetroChina, and whether or not it sponsors the construction of military camps, Iraq will send troops to protect it.

"But the Iraqi servicemen, in their hearts, will understand in their hearts that whoever built a modern barracks for them, when it comes to the task of protecting personnel, of course, will be more inclined to your company. Abadi said very directly, and then said seriously: "But I must emphasize that the Chinese people are our best friends in Iraq, and any Chinese company will be strictly protected and treated fairly." ”

It is true that after the war, China's annual trade volume with Iraq has reached 18 billion yuan per year, second only to the United States' $21 billion, and it is Iraq's largest overseas trading country. And the Yankees' business, many of which are arms, and there are those that purely take advantage of Iraq, although there is a lot of trade, Iraq does not appreciate it, including arms, it is also gritting its teeth and helpless: the old American things are too expensive, and they are purely wronged, and if they have a choice, Iraq is more willing to buy Chinese goods.

Chinese arms, cheap, durable, practical, big drop of gourdes!

After passing through one of the largest checkpoints, Mr. Zhao arrived at a temporary station: a small town 30 kilometers from Basra, which is also the headquarters of an Iraqi motorized mobile brigade.

Sun Hua has been waiting here for a long time with people.

Sure enough, I saw compatriots, several Chinese wearing Sinopec uniforms and body armor, steel plate helmets.

"Mr. Zhao, I've worked hard all the way, come on, let me introduce you. Sun Hua introduced a middle-aged man and said: "This is the person in charge of the Iraqi branch of PetroChina, Mr. Zhang Ming, Mr. Zhang, between the temporary headquarters of PetroChina and our site, there are only less than two kilometers, and they can see each other when they stand on a high place, and they are out-and-out neighbors." Mr. Zhang, this is Mr. Zhao Zejun of Zelianke. ”

"Mr. Zhao, I have heard of the name for a long time, and the two of us will have to help each other in the future. Zhang Ming shook hands with Zhao Zejun very warmly, and then looked at Abadi with some surprise and said, "Mr. Abadi, you are also here." ”

"Haha, I am good friends with Mr. Zhao, and this time I came with him as a guide. Abadi said.

Zhang Ming was slightly stunned, looked at Zhao Zejun's eyes, a little more enthusiastic than just now, and said with a smile: "That's right, let's be a guide for Mr. Zhao today." ”

In a foreign country, in a war-torn place, there are not so many polite and time-wasting processes, everything lies in efficiency, after getting out of the car, Zhao Zejun changed into bulletproof clothing and steel helmets, and the group re-boarded the military armored vehicle to go to the field.

After a circle, Zhao Zejun is still quite satisfied with the site, echoing PetroChina, close to the main road, protected by the army, and the soil layer also meets the needs of large-scale civil engineering projects, as long as he is willing to spend money, it will not be long before this town will become a small city built by Chinese.

"Mr. Zhao, if you are interested, this piece of land can be given to you for free. "Abadi drew a small area on the map, which is about one square kilometer, more than a thousand acres, according to the scale.

The land is very large, and if this piece can be developed into an industrial and trade zone in the future, this land will definitely be a golden treasure.

The question is, where is there such a good thing as pie in the sky? Zhao Zejun noticed that after Zhang Ming of PetroChina heard this, he obviously shook his head and laughed.

The land on this map, just as far as the eye can see, is just across an asphalt road.

There is a checkpoint every short distance on the side of the road, but there are sandbags on the side of the road that you haven't seen before.

The sandbag is peculiar: half painted green, half colorless, like a dividing line. On the green side, most of them point to where they are.

"Well, this area is a minefield. On the green side, there is a safe area that has been demined, and on the other side is a dangerous area. ”

Abadi did not mean to trap Zhao Zejun, and said very clearly: "Since the beginning of the Gulf War, in order to protect the safety of the oil field, or to occupy the oil field, all the warring parties have kept laying mines around the oil field. So, if you want this land, the premise is to deal with these mines yourself. ”

Zhao Zejun suddenly said, I'll go, no wonder I'm so generous, and I hope that our gang will not only invest, but also help them clear mines. After a few decades, the land was used and the neighborhood developed again, giving Iraq a clean and golden treasure land, turning the minefield into a busy city and a wasteland into a city.

These people in the Middle East have very good brains.

"Mr. Abadi, we are businessmen, how is it possible to carry out such a large-scale professional demining project. Unless China sends troops ......," Zhang Ming joked, and it could be heard that Zhang Ming or PetroChina also wanted this land, but could not solve the mine problem.

The free land is naturally good, even if it is now wasteland, but there are oil fields around it, and it is close to Basra, which will definitely increase in value in the future. Besides, anyway, I don't need money, it's good to use it as a warehouse and build a dormitory.

Chinese, especially Chinese businessmen, are probably the most sensitive to 'land' in the world.

"Mr. Abadi, can you call the shots in this matter?" Zhao Zejun suddenly asked.

The people around were stunned, Sun Hua, Zhang Ming and Ouyang Jing all looked at Zhao Zejun strangely.

Why, I really want to, big brother, this is a minefield!

Ouyang Jing and Sun Hua thought more: In the future, there will be a regiment of Iraqi regular army to 'protect' the factory area, does Zhao Zejun want to use the sappers of this regiment to clear mines?

However, in such a large minefield, not to mention the sappers of a regiment, even an army may not be enough. Moreover, the mines here are accumulated over decades, and the models, burial methods, safety levels, and quality are different, which means that there is no universal equipment or method, and even the most skilled veterans will feel a headache, and the difficulty and danger of mine clearance are very high.

It can be said that in order to clear the mines, it is inevitable that a number of sappers will be killed or injured in this land. This is one of the reasons why the Iraqi government is reluctant to touch it.

After all, Zezi is a private enterprise, and if the Iraqi government army suffers non-combat casualties in order to acquire land, the impact will be too bad in Iraq, China, and even the world, and the gains will outweigh the losses. Besides, whether the officer leading the team is willing to help or not is still a matter of two words.

"Mr. Zhao, do you really mean to?" Abadi didn't expect that he was purely casually saying, it belonged to 'habitual sales', and wanted to solve this old and difficult problem, after all, around the second largest city and the first largest oil field, such a large minefield could not always be placed.