Tikov was troubled by the Romanian oil merchant under the pseudonym Popov all day, and he didn't come up with a clue until he got off work.

After work, Tikov returned to his home on the outskirts of Baku. His home is in the affluent Sabayi district of Baku by the sea, where most of Azerbaijan's elites live, and Tikov's home is a luxurious 950-square-meter three-story villa with marble statues carved by French artists in the courtyard and many famous oil paintings hanging in the interior. And next door to him is the villa of the mayor of Baku, Petronovich.

When Tikov arrived home, he handed his coat to the servant, and saw his wife Millebova wearing a necklace with a large diamond around her neck.

Tikov asked his wife curiously. "Miwa, why haven't I seen this diamond necklace, did you buy it?"

The wife Millebova was a little surprised by her husband's words. "Didn't your friend Bopochov ask you to bring me from France? And he also brought a gift to Lady Edrina. ”

Hearing his wife's words, Tikov asked quietly. "I forgot that it was all last year, so I mentioned it to Bobo, but I didn't expect him to actually bring it. By the way, in addition to you and the mayor's wife, he also gave it to a few people. ”

"Mrs. Clausti, Mrs. Mikage, Miss Sadmina, ........."

As his wife read more and more, Tikov discovered that the names included most of the powerful people in the Caucasus. And the gifts are not light, he initially calculated the value of nearly 500,000 US dollars, it seems that the Romanian oil merchant has a lot of plans.

His wife, Millepova, looked at Tikov with a thoughtful look and asked curiously. "What's the matter, Tikov?"

"It's nothing, it's just that I didn't expect so many people to let Bobov bring gifts, and I was a little surprised."

Tikov, after answering his wife, suddenly spoke to her. "We haven't visited our neighbors in a few days, so let's go over and visit today."

After speaking, Tikov instructed the butler. "Take out my bottle of 1876 Bordeaux Lafite wine, and I'm going to drink it with Mayor Peternović, who has been thinking about me for a long time."

"Yes sir."

They said that they were neighbors, but Tikov's house and the mayor's house were still 600 meters apart, and Tikov took his wife to visit Petronovich's house with red wine.

"Tikov, you haven't come to visit me for several days."

After the Tikovs reported in, Mayor Petronovich greeted him with a smile.

Petrovich was a little chubby in his forties, dressed in a modest black dress and white shirt. He came from the St. Petersburg Delisno family, which was not too outstanding among the many nobles of St. Petersburg. But this was in St. Petersburg, in this border region Peternovich was still of noble birth, and he himself was relatively capable of holding power in Baku. Many of the local powers were submissive to him.

Among his few hobbies, tasting red wine is considered an interest, so after seeing the red wine in Tikov's hand, Petronovich smiled even brighter. "Tikov, I think you've been drinking this bottle of Lafite for a long time, and this time it's a good idea."

In the face of Petronovich's warm welcome, Tikov also said with a smile. "Doesn't this know that you like red wine, I brought the wine here, and today we will taste the charm of this bottle of Lafite."

"Yes, it was the best year for Bordeaux grapes, and the quality of Lafite is also very famous in the world."

The Lafite they are talking about is the red wine rating created by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce in 1855 by Napoleon III, and Lafite is also the top in the evaluation, and the Lafite red wine that was recognized as the best vintage in this period is 1847, 1848, 1858, 1864, 1869, 1870, especially the 1876 Lafite in the hands of Tikov, which is considered to be the best of the best in the Lafite winery at that time. This year, Château Lafite's grapes were grown in exceptional conditions, and the quality of Lafite's grapes was able to produce a quality that could not be surpassed at the time. Therefore, in the eyes of the world's red wine lovers, the Lafite red wine of 1876 is regarded as the best red wine.

Two first-class people in Baku chatted about the 1876 Lafite, while their wives were talking privately.

"Mr. Mayor, the economic situation in Baku is not optimistic right now, and the workers of our company are now idle half of the time."

In response to Tikov's complaints, Petronovich did not answer, but talked about the current situation. "The situation of the Reich on the Polish front is not very good, but the situation is still in our favor, whether it is in terms of manpower and material, we still have an absolute advantage."

Tikov knew that the mayor was talking about the just-concluded Battle of Masurihu. In this winter battle, the German army on the Eastern Front, under the leadership of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, spent more than ten days crippling the Russian Tenth Army, with losses of more than 200,000 people. The defeat made the Russian army's hopes of invading the German region of Galicia dim. Many experienced people can see that it is now impossible for Russia to invade the interior of Germany.

The two big men in Baku chatted about the current situation in Russia over red wine, and Tikov never opened his mouth to ask the Romanian oil merchant named "Bobokov". For when he entered the door, he received a hint from his wife that the large, glittering diamond that hung from the necklace around the mayor's wife had been given by the oil merchant.

After drinking red wine with the mayor and chatting for a while, Tikov left with his wife. Mayor Petronovich, who had been smiling and chatting with his neighbor before, put away his smile after Tikov left.

Lady Edrina approached her husband and asked. "Will he agree to the deal?"

Petronovich looked at Tikov, who was walking away, and said. "He will, you know, basically everything you can get in the Caucasus has taken the money, of course he, as the head of the oil company, knows this, no problem dear."

The mayor turned to his wife and continued. "What's more, you deliberately carried this necklace sent by the Romanians, and you didn't understand such an obvious hint, then he would have been kicked out of the oil company a long time ago."

"If it weren't for the five percent commission, I wouldn't want to wear this necklace, it's too heavy."

Listening to his wife's complaints, Petrovich pretended to be surprised. "Then I'll sell this necklace."

"You dare."

Not to mention the flirting between the mayor and his wife, Tikov already had the answer when he returned home. The next day, when he returned to the company, Tikov summoned "Bobokov" and carefully discussed the terms with him. The main thing is that Tikov thinks that he, as the main person in charge, will endanger his own life if he is discovered, so he needs to take a little more.

"Bobokov" and the joints he stressed here have been opened, and he is actually very little dangerous. In the Caucasus, almost all the top brass covered for him, but in the end Tikov was given a six-percent kickback, but the oil could only be settled at prices in Russia, and the "Bobokovs" could help them exchange the money for the currency they wanted and deposit it in any bank. Of course, this condition is also for those who can reach out to all aspects of oil transportation.

In April, the first oil tanker from the Black Sea port of Batumi loaded with Baku oil from the Black Sea port of Batumi to Constanta, and the smuggling fleet that Hawke had organized before and was now helping the country smuggle.

As a matter of fact, Romania is not only smuggling oil in Russia, but also grain, minerals and other raw materials are within the scope of Romanian smuggling channels. However, now Russia has not shown a tired face, so these officials are still relatively restrained and dare not go too far, and now they are only beating the side drum to take a part. It will not be until the next two years that these officials will show their greedy side, and even the grain supplied by the army can be sold by them, and as for minerals and other raw materials, they completely ignore domestic needs, and they are all smuggled into their own pockets.

PS Steamed buns are guilty, let everyone wait for so long, and now that the update is resumed, I don't dare to ask for anything, let's be happy.