Chapter Fifty-Four: The Circle

  Liu Zhaoguo hesitated for a moment before calling Zhao Guotang, but he always felt that there was something different about Zhao Guotang that made him want to introduce him to his comrades and see if they could discover anything unusual about this little guy.

  Eighty percent of the new Kia is quite comfortable, and the Japanese product that swept the Chinese market in the 1990s indeed has its praiseworthy aspects. The car stopped silently in a not very eye-catching courtyard on Qingwa River in the city, but it wasn't until Zhao Guotang followed Liu Zhaoguo into the restaurant that he felt something was unusual here.

  Elegant and moderate Chinese classical environment, lush green potted screens, elegant cheongsam ladies, maybe not a big deal in the 21st century, but in the early 1990s it was considered an oddity. Zhao Guodong thought that this boss must have put some effort into it, from these Ming-style furniture you can glimpse a bit of his taste.

  When Liu Zhaoguo and Zhao Guotang arrived, there were already several people in the room. The packs of Zhonghua cigarettes on the table proved that they were not ordinary people.

  In the era when Yunnan tobacco still dominated the cigarette market in Anhui Province, Zhonghua cigarettes were more like a luxury item than a consumer product. In Zhao Guotang's impression, it would take at least two or three years for Zhonghua cigarettes to slowly penetrate the mainstream market of Anhui Province, suppressing the Yuexi and Chuan tobacco from Yunnan, and competing with the Kunming Cigarette Factory's Ji Pin Yunyan, ultimately knocking Ji Pin Yunyan off its pedestal.

  "Zhao Guo, come quickly!"

  The man in the middle, who was about the same age as Liu Zhaoguo, looked even younger. He wore a loose-fitting white shirt that made him look very casual. Sitting next to him was a thin man who also seemed familiar with Liu Zhaoguo and kept waving at him to come over and sit beside him. There was an empty seat next to the man in the white shirt, but there was a pack of cigarettes on it, suggesting that someone had gotten up to use the restroom.

  The two men were somewhat surprised by Zhao Guotang who followed Liu Zhaoguo to take his seat, if it was a driver Liu Zhaoguo should not have brought him into this kind of occasion.

  "Zhao Guo, who is this young man? Not even introducing him?"

  "Haha, Old Liu, this is a young brother I've known for not long, didn't I mention him to you? Last time I went back to Pingchuan and visited the Tianhou Temple at Daguan Kou, I almost lost my notebook with all my comrades' phone numbers, but luckily he helped me find it." Liu Zhaoguo introduced, "Zhao Guozhong, you can call him Little Zhao or Guozhong, we get along very well, so when I came to eat, I invited him too."

  The two men exchanged a look of surprise, and it takes some skill to get into Liu Zhuo's eyes. A young civil policeman from a police station like this doesn't need to be brought to such an occasion even if Liu Zhuo values him.

  "Don't look at me like that, come on, Little Zhao, this is Old Liu, just call him Brother Liu, he works in the provincial party committee's organization department. This is Cai Ge, he works in Huayang County Committee. Hmm, where's Old Bear?" Liu Zhaoguo asked, scanning the room with his eyes.

  "He's gone to the restroom, he'll be right back." The man called Cai Ge replied, "Sit down, Little Zhao, no need to be so formal. We and Zhao Guo are old comrades-in-arms, it's just that we came back earlier, while he stayed in the army for a few more years."

  Zhao Guoding's heart slightly stirred, it seems that Liu Zhaoguo and these several comrades are not simple, just from the momentum they show, it can be seen that these people are not ordinary, especially the white-shirted man in the middle, calm and steady, with a gentle gaze yet unyielding, looking more like a scholar. And on Cai Ge's body, there is a faintly revealed aura of dominance, not the kind of dominance from social habits, but a kind of implicit self-majesty.

  Zhao Guodong also followed the ancient way and learned some techniques for recognizing aura and observing physiognomy. Although it's not necessarily absolutely accurate, he can still get a general idea of seven or eight out of ten. The two people didn't talk much, but their mannerisms were in no way inferior to Liu Zhaoguo's.

  Zhao Guoding also appeared very calm and polite, which made both Liu and Cai nod in secret. At this time, a short and stout man also came out of the bathroom, and Liu Zhongguo introduced him to Zhao Guoding again, saying "Xiong Ge, from the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission."

  This meal was not as sumptuous and luxurious as Zhao Guozhu had imagined, it could even be said to be somewhat simple, but the atmosphere was very lively. Liu Zhaoguo's comrades were all congratulating him on being able to stand firm in Andu City, and the topic quickly spread from the current politics of Andu City to the economic changes in the country at present, and under Liu Zhaoguo's deliberate guidance, it gradually fell on the self-organized stock black market of Niuking Temple in Andu City.

  "Dào Yuán, the stock market at Niú Wáng Miào is really booming now. Several stocks from our province are going to be listed?" Liu Zhāo Guó had been thinking about this matter all along, and Zhao Guó Dòng's analysis indeed made him somewhat moved. Although the Organization Department was not in charge of economy, as the Standing Vice Minister of Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department, Liǔ Dào Yuán would definitely not be inferior in terms of information.

  "It's hard to say now, everyone is striving for listing, but the country's policy is not yet clear. Although it has been confirmed that the shareholding system trial will be gradually promoted, who will go first and when the conditions are more mature, it's hard to determine in terms of time." Liu Daoyuan asked with some confusion, as an old comrade-in-arms of Liu Zhaoguo, he was very familiar with Liu Zhaoguo's character and knew that he wouldn't be interested without a reason.

  "I see the Niu Wang Temple market becoming increasingly prosperous, with these speculators and traders all having a lot of money to spare. If someone really does get jealous and takes risks, causing one or two cases to occur, that would be a big deal." Liu Zhaoguo replied calmly, Zhao Guodong secretly admiring him for being able to come up with such a reasonable argument in just the blink of an eye.

  "In Shenzhen, the stock market has run into trouble, and even the mayor of Shenzhen is implicated. I think the country may take action to rectify the stock market. Nowadays, people have become somewhat bewitched, worshiping money to the extreme, and for the sake of money, they can be reckless. Old Bear, does your disciplinary committee have any special requirements regarding this point?" Cai Ge asked.

  "There are no regulations in this regard for the time being, and currently only Guangdong is developing rapidly in terms of securities and stocks. Our An Yuan side should be said to be relatively lagging behind. The stock market at Niu Wang Temple can be accurately described as a black market. The internal equity certificates that people are reselling are those of some enterprises, which have not truly obtained market circulation qualifications. As I was saying to Lao Liu just now, who will go public and when they will go public are all still undecided. In my personal opinion, speculating on buying and selling these internal equity certificates carries considerable risk."

  "Little Zhao, what's your view?" Liu Zhaoguo suddenly threw the topic to Zhao Guozhu, intentionally wanting to show Zhao Guozhu's point of view to his several battle-hardened comrades, to see how they would react to Zhao Guozhu's opinion.

  Zhao Guotong suddenly understood Liu Zhaoguo's intention, to win the recognition and favor of these people, he had to bring out something real, fortunately, he had already made up his mind about the black market problem of Niuwang Temple stocks, and even in his past life memories, he had a very clear trajectory of the rise and fall of this stock black market.

  "There are several big brothers here, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn, but since Liu Ge pointed me out, I'll just say my opinion. Just like what Xiong Ge said earlier, the Niuwang Temple stock market is actually a black market for stocks, and real listed stocks won't be speculated on here, but these internal equity certificates have even greater risk value."

  "Oh? Tell me about it." Cai Ge's eyes moved slightly.

  "My view is that the pace of state-owned and collective enterprises going public will only get faster, not slower, let alone stagnate. After Deng Xiaoping's southern tour, the speed of national economic reform is accelerating, and the development of shareholding system reform and stock market is an inevitable path, which is not only for state-owned and collective enterprises, but also private enterprises will follow suit in raising funds through the stock market."

  Zhao Guotong tried hard to make his words more logical, after all, he wasn't studying economics and finance, so he could only muster up the courage to express his meaning according to his memory.

  "Xiao Zhao, what you said makes some sense, but have you seen that in the second half of this year, there are already some abnormal phenomena in the domestic economy? To be precise, it's overheating, with prices rising too quickly. This puts huge pressure on ordinary people's lives. And opening up the stock market will undoubtedly worsen this phenomenon. Is the country just going to let it happen?" Cai Ge said with bright eyes and a calm tone, yet full of confidence.

  "This is a fact, after the National Price Bureau delegated most of the important material pricing rights, the price increase speed was very fast, and the economy also showed signs of overheating and chaos. This has a great relationship with some illegal fundraising and blind lending in various places, but it has no necessary connection with the development of the stock market. However, as the national economic situation becomes more severe, the policies adopted above are also inevitable. In my personal opinion, there is still some time in between, and the black market for stocks at Niubi Temple will continue to be hot for a while, and these internal stock prices will also continue to rise."

  Zhao Guoding's affirmative tone made several people present fall into deep thought. Liu Zhaoguo dared to bring this person, which means that this person has something to offer, and this remark is enough to prove that he is not just a small police officer, an ordinary police officer would never make such an evaluation of the current national economic situation.

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