Suifenhe in summer is no different from all over the country, and it is very hot. But there is one thing that is hotter than the temperature, and that is the various legal or illegal border trade on the Sino-Soviet border. Although a war that took place thousands of kilometers away three years ago severely damaged Sino-Soviet relations, under Gorbachev's guidance, the Soviet Union has slowly shifted from confrontation with other countries in the world to adjust itself, and the Soviet Union especially does not want to fight another war with China, which defeated it once.

In fact, since the beginning of the eighties, Sino-Soviet relations have warmed up, and all kinds of barter trade on the border have gradually shown their embryonic form, and even when the border war broke out, because both sides did not know what was going on, so the people here were still doing their business. After the peace talks between the two sides, the Soviet Union did not trouble China on trade and other issues, and trade here became more and more frequent.

Liu Qiang, an agent of the Strategic Security Bureau, came to Suifenhe at this time, originally in his mind, such a small border town should be much more desolate, like a place like the Longmen Inn in the novel, but it wasn't until he saw this small city with his own eyes that he realized that he was wrong.

Although Suifenhe is indeed small, its prosperity can even be compared to that of some provincial capitals. There aren't many high-rise buildings on the streets, and they're mostly two- or three-story buildings with all kinds of shops, many of which are restaurants, small inns, and then wholesale stores of all kinds of goods. These wholesale shops are basically run by private owners, and in addition to the locals in the northeast, some self-employed people who made a fortune in the south have also gone to the border to operate border trade.

There is also a larger market on the outskirts of Suifenhe, although it is also relatively simple, like a vegetable market surrounded by a large roof, but the goods there are often more powerful merchants, and even many are sales representatives of state-owned enterprises and local enterprises. This large market was completed the year before last, and the amount of goods traded there every day is even comparable to the financial revenue of some nearby cities in a year, which is really terrifying.

As an agent of the Strategic Security Bureau, Liu Qiang naturally came to Suifenhe to carry out a mission, and he also had someone to answer. In a wholesale stationery store, Liu Qiang exchanged the code with the shopkeeper and connected his head.

"First time in Suifenhe?" The shopkeeper who was a hidden pile smiled, not an agent at all, and looked like an ordinary self-employed trader. He has a Wenzhou accent, and it seems that he came from Zhejiang to do business, and there are many people like him in Suifenhe.

Liu Qiang guessed that the shopkeeper was a cut-out (middleman, liaison), who often had their own jobs, but were absorbed by the organization, went through rigorous background checks, and did not undergo particularly complex training, like the situation of this shopkeeper, if he was not used above, he might only do this business for the rest of his life. However, a sum of money will be credited to his account on a regular basis, which means that he is still employed. As soon as there is a task that he needs to perform, then he is activated. Usually such intelligence officers do not work on particularly complex tasks, but it is often difficult to trace who they work for, so they are safer, and they are able to play an unexpected role in many cases.

"I don't think most people come to see such a border city very often." Liu Qiang said.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Although it is a little smaller, it still has a unique flavor here." People come and go, it's very lively, and it's very easy to make money, and the entertainment is also good, hehe, brother, do you want to take you around, brother, I'll take you around, Suifenhe has been prosperous in the past two years, and a lot of Mao Ziniu has crossed the border to work here, of course, there are also those who do that, and it's good to try something different occasionally. ”

Looking at the shopkeeper's lewd smile, Liu Qiang couldn't help but shake his head and asked, "Is the border so loose?" "As an intelligence officer, he instinctively frowned at such a situation, and if someone could cross the border so easily, then some more dangerous and troublesome guys would come in.

The shopkeeper said: "If you say it is loose, it will be loose, and if you say it is tight, it will be tight." It's okay for our people to get over, but it's troublesome for the Soviet Union to come over. It is said that this side of the defense is very promising, and it specially issues certificates to some old and powerful people, allowing them to cross the border to do business, and ordinary Maozi will not be able to pass. As for those big Yanmars, hehe, they belong to the type of one eye and one eye closed. Many of them just make money in Suifenhe, return the money they earn, and come back to earn it after they finish spending it. ”

Liu Qiang nodded and asked, "Is border trade all barter transactions?" ”

"It's not all, in the first few years, it was basically goods for goods, our miscellaneous clothes, non-staple food for fertilizers from the Soviet Union, and all kinds of machinery that could not be used. Later, there were more things sold in the market, such as household appliances and small commodities in Suifenhe, and a lot of Maozi accepted our RMB, and now basically you can trade in RMB here, and it is said that several Soviet cities on the border side have also passed RMB to a small extent, and the ruble can't buy anything on our side, but the RMB can, so the RMB has become a tight supply. ”

Liu Qiang also knows some basic economic principles, the credibility of a currency is not only related to the stability of its value, but also related to the goods that can be consumed. The reason why the US dollar has become the reserve currency and international currency of the world is that on the one hand, it is indeed the international status of the United States, and on the other hand, the strong industrial production capacity of the United States makes it possible for people to buy basically everything they want with the US dollar, so it is naturally more popular.

The situation is similar here, since the level of industrial production in China has increased, there are a large number of consumer goods on the market, and such as textiles, daily chemical products, food, household appliances, small commodities, etc. are quite difficult to obtain in the Far East of the Soviet Union, and these goods are basically necessities of life, everyone has to consume, rubles can not buy these, but the yuan can, so naturally people began to get used to using the yuan for consumption. Anyway, there are Arabic numerals on the banknotes, and I know how many they are.

Another problem is that the ruble has been depreciating continuously with the decline of the Soviet Union in recent years, and perhaps a lot of losses will be lost the next day when you sleep in your hands, and no businessman is willing to suffer this loss, so even if some Soviet officials in the Far East are overthrown, they will give up the ruble and store the yuan, at least to preserve its value.

At this time, the Soviet Far East on the other side of the border was very much like a different dimension of China, perhaps much more serious, with many officials using their power to engage in power rent-seeking. For example, some local officials and the directors of Soviet state enterprises have become members of a huge chain of interests.

Liu Qiang came to the Far East this time to tie up this relationship.

"We have already colluded with the commander of the Far Eastern Military District, Novorzlov, who has just been transferred, and just bribing this guy has cost us more than one million, and the commander of this military district is not a good thing, and he also took a fancy to the profits of border trade, and as soon as he took office, he began to prepare to grab this big cake with the local people in the Soviet Union, and it is said that the military and the local government have held several secret talks to monopolize the monopoly right of some Chinese goods over there."

The shopkeeper pouted and said: "This Norvorzlov is bold, the last time the Soviets came to the border to transport goods, they didn't even cover up, all the military trucks were loaded with the active equipment in their warehouses, in order to contact them, let's grit our teeth and continue, it will be regarded as a relationship, but the people from the Far Eastern Military District came directly to ask us if we want tanks and planes?" ”

Liu Qiang also felt dizzy when he heard this, and said secretly: "Has the Soviet army been eroded to such a place, and even wants to sell the main battle equipment?" ”

Although the shopkeeper was disdainful, he was still very energetic, and he said, "Why can't you sell tanks and planes?" Anyway, I can't afford to fight, you say you're afraid that someone will check? This is directly about training losses and the like, everyone is a profiteer, and it will pass as soon as it is covered up. And now those people in the Far Eastern Military District are thinking about training and other things, they are just eating and waiting for death. The last time we sold them a batch of military rations, it seems that they have matched their tastes, and they buy military rations directly from us with equipment. Those officers or something, which one didn't make a fortune, and they bought all kinds of televisions, refrigerators, and the like, and put them in their apartments and dormitories, and they lived a comfortable life. There are a few bold Soviet officers who have also bought a house on this side of the Suifen River, and if you want to talk about things to enjoy, we don't have more here! ”

Liu Qiang did not doubt the authenticity of this matter, although he had just arrived in Suifenhe, he saw that there were groups of restaurants here, some of which sold barbecue, sauce bones and other rough and bold foods in the north, and some were more traditional banquets, and more importantly, because the production capacity was sufficient, there would never be a thing where spirits could not be bought in Suifenhe. At first, Lao Maozi came to drink Baigan, and then I don't know which one of them had a mind to study how to brew vodka, so he opened a local distillery in Heilongjiang, named "Amur Vodka", although the taste is lackluster, but it is highly sought after by local Maozi.

Some restaurants also have wine girls, including those who come across the border to sell spring, and even karaoke jukeboxes that I don't know where I got them, and there are naturally no trendy songs, but because of the old revolutionary plots of China and the Soviet Union, there are still famous songs such as "Night on the outskirts of Moscow", "Three Sets of Cars", and "Katyusha". So the old hairy magnates who came to play were tireless in howling these songs.

Therefore, it is not only trade that makes Suifenhe prosperous, but also these unprofessional elites who come here to "travel and consume", and also contribute a lot of GDP to the local economy.