Chapter 264: Strength of the Entire Nation

Just as Chen Jiajun was deep in thought, Lao Yu suddenly said to Chen Jiajun, "By the way, Boss, Dumu in Brunei told me that the construction companies over in Brunei are not enough; their military camps are still nowhere near finished."

Hearing this, Chen Jiajun felt a bit of a headache coming on.

When it came down to it, Brunei was just a small country with a population of only fifty thousand.

Even if they wanted to undertake a slightly larger project, they would have to use the "strength of the entire nation" to do it.

You have to know, sometimes the population issue is a fatal flaw.

Now is a critical period for Chen Jiajun to develop Brunei, and there is definitely not enough manpower.

Chen Jiajun pondered for a moment and said, "Like this, I will have Wei Li recruit workers later to see if there is anyone willing to go to Brunei to work. If it really doesn't work out, I'll just get a batch of young demon slaves over there to fill the gap."

"That... is also a way." Lao Yu nodded.

After all, Brunei is their base from now on, so sending some manual laborers over isn't considered a waste of resources.

Three days later, Hilton Hotel Restaurant.

Chen Jiajun brought A Jie along to meet Guan Shanhai.

Having settled Zunni Wang, his own business had a place to be entrusted.

Guan Shanhai felt completely relaxed.

After both sides sat down and chatted for a while, A Jie decided to take Guan Shanhai as his Godfather.

Nothing else, just Guan Shanhai's character alone was quite to A Jie's taste.

Guan Shanhai had many godchildren, so one more like A Jie didn't count as many. Besides, he was introduced by Chen Jiajun, so at the very least, he trusted Chen Jiajun's judgment.

Guan Shanhai had many businesses on his hands, so it was obviously impossible to settle them all at once.

So for the next period of time, A Jie stayed by Guan Shanhai's side.

After observing for a while, Guan Shanhai was also quite satisfied with A Jie, especially after hearing about the things he had done before.

So he made a phone call to confirm A Jie's status as his successor.

The most important thing for an arms dealer is connections.

As long as there are enough connections, even if you don't have a penny on you, you can still get the business running.

Anyway, according to what A Jie said, Guan Shanhai's connections were very broad.

From Asia to South America, he had his customers and suppliers.

Chen Jiajun did not intend to participate in these businesses; anyway, he had swindled a batch of arms from the CIA, which was enough for his subordinates to use, and he did not intend to get involved in this aspect of the business.

However, there was one important matter that required Chen Jiajun to step in once.

It was about the situation in Brunei.

Ever since the regime change in Brunei, many forces had been watching from the sidelines.

Brunei originally had nothing worth coveting by others; the population was small, the industrial structure was simple, and generally, as long as it was a slightly larger force, they would treat this place like a discarded shoe.

But with the recent development of finance in Asia, this situation was different.

Brunei is close to Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other places, and it also has a port, so many people want to use this place as a springboard to extend their influence into Asia.

Especially some international criminal organizations, those selling Laundry Powder, those selling arms, and those running gambling operations all wanted to cooperate with Brunei.

Some even wanted to build Brunei into a gambling city like Macau.

This kind of thing had already made Li Yaohua extremely annoyed.

Plus, Li Yaohua hadn't even sorted out his own domestic affairs, so he simply pushed this difficult problem to Chen Jiajun.

"You guy, you push things you can't handle yourself onto me, right?"

In the Presidential Office of Brunei, Chen Jiajun looked at Li Yaohua speechlessly.

Li Yaohua smiled bitterly and said, "I haven't even finished setting up my own team; there are really too few people in Brunei who can be used. Using outsiders, let alone you, even I don't feel at ease, fearing that I might recruit a spy."

Hearing Li Yaohua's concerns, Chen Jiajun also felt a bit of a headache.

The difficulty of governing a country is far harder than managing a company.

Li Yaohua is only in his twenties and already has premature gray hair, which shows that this position is indeed not something an ordinary person can sit in.

For him to continue being a hands-off boss like this is indeed a bit unreasonable.

So he sighed and said to Li Yaohua, "Fine, what do you need me to help you do?"

"Other things are easy to talk about; I've refused what I could refuse. It's just that some people from Las Vegas gave conditions that I really have no way to refuse," Li Yaohua said distressingly.

A few days ago, representatives from Las Vegas found Li Yaohua.

They intended to open casinos in several cities in Brunei.

And they promised to be able to introduce some large companies from the United States to come and invest.

This was not an empty promise; the other party even brought representatives from several large financial groups in the United States to help Brunei develop some projects.

Such conditions, for a Brunei that was waiting to be rebuilt, were undeniably tempting.

Let alone Li Yaohua, even Chen Jiajun felt a bit moved upon hearing these conditions.

Brunei was already in his hands, and others shouldn't think about taking it away easily.

These benefits were being delivered to him on a silver platter, as long as he allowed casinos to be opened in Brunei.

But the drawbacks were also very obvious; once Brunei allowed gambling, it would immediately be targeted by numerous forces.

Those gangs and international criminal organizations would absolutely not give up this piece of fat meat, let alone after knowing that Brunei was weak.

So after pondering for a moment, Chen Jiajun shook his head and said, "Although it is very tempting, before our wings are fully grown, if we do this, it will be easy for us to be swallowed in one bite."

Li Yaohua nodded and said, "I also have concerns in this regard, and the United States likes to keep dogs; I don't want to be a dog wagging its tail for pity under someone else's feet."

"That's ambition." Chen Jiajun gave a thumbs up.

Refusing these generous conditions truly required strong willpower.

That Li Yaohua could think of so much also proved Chen Jiajun's foresight.

"However, this matter still needs someone to resolve it. Even if we don't agree, we can't make the relationship too stiff for now, right?" Chen Jiajun said to Li Yaohua.

Li Yaohua smiled bitterly and said, "This is also the reason why I invited you over; I... do not have any suitable people on hand."

The matter had returned to his own shoulders, which gave Chen Jiajun a bit of a headache.

Just as Li Yaohua had said, he could not feel at ease asking anyone else to handle this kind of matter.

It was the same for Chen Jiajun.

However, for a matter like negotiations, he couldn't very well go himself, could he?

One had to know that Chen Jiajun was currently on the CIA's blacklist; if he were to make contact, it would cause some unknown reactions.

These reactions could be good or bad.

On the good side, it was naturally that Chen Jiajun was cooperating with several major financial groups; with the backing of these groups, the CIA would not dare to do anything to him, no matter how powerful they were.

The bad side would be troublesome, as the CIA would then swarm into Brunei.

Even spies from other countries would not give up such a good opportunity.

Moreover, there was one point that even Chen Jiajun was embarrassed to say: his subordinates did not seem to have this kind of talent either.

Either they had not grown into the role yet, or they were not very familiar with this aspect.

Just as Chen Jiajun was hesitating, he suddenly heard Li Yaohua say, "No one can guess the intentions of these guys; if only there were someone who could see through their thoughts. Sigh."

Hearing Li Yaohua's words, Chen Jiajun felt as if he had been enlightened.

As for seeing through people's thoughts, no one was more suitable than Lao E.

It was truly a waste of his talents to keep him at the casino; the place where he should be exerting his abilities was at a time like this.

Thus, Chen Jiajun said to Li Yaohua, "I have thought of a perfect candidate."

Li Yaohua was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Is this person reliable?"

Chen Jiajun waved his hand and said, "You don't need to worry about that; this guy is absolutely reliable and can even help you solve the problem that is giving you such a headache."

Lao E's power was simply as if he were cheating.

Let alone negotiations, even catching spies was something he was top-tier at.

As for the casino side, Chen Jiajun already had a target in mind; if it were him, he should be able to handle it.

And so, Chen Jiajun immediately notified Lao E to make a trip to Brunei.

A few days later, Lao E arrived in Brunei, and Li Yaohua personally led people to welcome him.

But after seeing Lao E's sturdy muscles, he was completely dumbfounded.

Was this burly guy before his eyes, whose arms might be thicker than his own thighs, really the mastermind his Boss had found?

Just as Li Yaohua was muttering in his heart, Lao E suddenly spoke up: "You guys who only judge by appearances are truly shallow; just because my muscles are big, does that mean I can't be a mastermind?"

Hearing Lao E's words, Li Yaohua's eyes widened instantly.

Lao E smiled and said, "Are you curious why I could guess what you were thinking?"

Li Yaohua nodded; he indeed wanted to know.

After all, Li Yaohua had already become the President of Brunei, so he was still capable of not letting his emotions show on his face.

If a country's President could have his emotions easily seen through by others, he would have been dead long ago.

But Lao E suddenly grinned and said, "I don't want to tell you."

Li Yaohua almost cursed out loud; he had not expected that Lao E would actually play him like that.

However, since Lao E refused to say, Li Yaohua could not say much else.

After all, Lao E was Chen Jiajun's subordinate, not his.

After arriving at the Presidential Residence, Lao E walked straight up to Chen Jiajun, hugged him, and grinned, saying, "Boss, you were finally willing to transfer me out of that boring place."

Lao E was so excited that if Chen Jiajun hadn't rolled his eyes, he probably would have been strangled by him.

"Isn't it just letting you watch the casino for a while? Is it really that big of a deal?" Chen Jiajun pushed Lao E away in annoyance and said, "There is an important matter for you to do now."

As they spoke, the few of them sat down, and Chen Jiajun began to talk about the intentions of those guys from Las Vegas.

As someone who had spent a long time in casinos, Lao E naturally knew what these guys wanted to do.

Before Chen Jiajun could finish speaking, Lao E already understood: "In other words, those guys from Las Vegas offered very generous terms, intending to open a casino in Brunei?"

"That's right." Chen Jiajun breathed a sigh of relief: "It really saves me the trouble of explaining; our current thinking is that Brunei's wings are not yet fully grown, so we don't intend to have much contact with them, nor do we want to offend them too much."

Lao E looked at the two of them with a strange expression and said, "What does opening a casino have to do with wings not being fully grown?"

Chen Jiajun explained the pros and cons to Lao E, but who knew that Lao E would just grin and say, "Boss, you are clearly overthinking this. And you are too kind; we can completely just take the benefits without doing the work."

"Huh?" Lao E's words left both Chen Jiajun and Li Yaohua stunned.

Lao E said indifferently, "This kind of thing is still very easy to solve; first let them set up a trial operation, then we take all the benefits, and when the time comes, we just restrict certain people from entering, don't we?"

Chen Jiajun immediately slapped the table in admiration: "Damn, kid, your idea is good; this is wanting to get something for nothing."

Li Yaohua also opened his mouth wide in shock and said, "It can be played like this too?"

Lao E spread his hands and said, "It was they who delivered it to our door themselves."

Regarding Lao E's shamelessness, Li Yaohua finally had an understanding.

However, he was also glad that such a formidable guy was standing on his side.

After discussing it with Chen Jiajun, they felt that there was no problem with this plan.

At the very least, it could delay things for several years.

After a few years, when Brunei's wings were fully grown.

Even after the casino city was built, it would still be under their control.

By then, it could also be considered as developing the tourism industry.

Thinking of this, both of them praised Lao E's idea endlessly, and subsequently had Lao E go deal with those damn Americans.

Lao E, who had always excelled in intelligence, had long since grown impatient with guarding the casino.

What was the point of playing wits with those card sharps every day? He preferred the treacherous and unpredictable world of politics.

Therefore, after hearing Chen Jiajun's idea, Lao E accepted it very happily.

The next day, Lao E brought some officials from Brunei to meet with the delegation from Las Vegas.

These guys were all the sharpest of the sharp.

Upon seeing Lao E enter, they immediately felt a wave of pressure wash over them.

After all, Lao E's physique and appearance were intimidating enough.

However, smiles soon appeared on their faces, and they whispered, "The Big Bosses were right; this Brunei really has no one left, to actually send a brute to negotiate with us."

"Isn't that great? We'll be able to achieve our goal by just bluffing a little," another Gweilo said with a smile.

These guys didn't even avoid Lao E when talking, which showed their contempt for Brunei.

The officials from Brunei immediately revealed a strange smile.

They looked at these Gweilos with pity.

It wasn't as if Brunei officials hadn't questioned Lao E's ability before, only to be completely broken by Lao E in two sentences.

In the end, they couldn't even keep their own positions, which showed Lao E's capability.

If these Gweilos treated Lao E with this attitude, they would definitely be swindled so badly later that they wouldn't even recognize their own mothers.

After some pleasantries, both sides sat down.

The Las Vegas representative spoke directly: "Gentlemen, I wonder if the President has considered our proposal clearly?"

The few officials didn't speak, but instead looked at Lao E, who was resting with his eyes closed.

Lao E spoke softly: "Regarding your proposal, our President feels it is very sincere."

Hearing Lao E's words, the few Gweilos immediately smiled.

They couldn't help but think to themselves: A fool is a fool; they took the bait after just a couple of bluffs.

However, Lao E's next words made their smiles freeze on their faces.

"However, regarding your sincerity, our side has not seen it reflected in the contract," Lao E said indifferently.

This sentence left the Las Vegas representative stunned.

Immediately, someone feigned anger and said: "Does that mean Brunei doesn't trust us?"

"For a first-time cooperation, what is there to trust or not trust? It's better to be clear about things," Lao E looked at these Gweilos with a half-smile and said: "Or does your side have no sincerity at all?"

In just a few sentences, Lao E snatched the right to speak.

This left the group of Brunei officials in awe.

And the faces of the Las Vegas representatives also became grave, as they reined in their previous contempt.

The burly man before them was not as easy to deal with as they had imagined.

It even made the few negotiators feel as if they were facing a cunning fox from Wall Street.

After taking a deep breath, the negotiating Gweilo suddenly smiled: "Of course we came with sincerity, it's just that you know some things have variables. If we invest, what if the President goes back on his word? Or what if there is a change in regime?"

Lao E said with a strange expression: "Why do you all think that way? You came to Brunei to invest precisely because you trust the President's ability to govern; this is the premise of our cooperation."

"Uh, this..." Having failed to seize the right to speak, the few of them looked somewhat embarrassed.

Lao E pressed his advantage and said with an angry look: "Or is it that you have no confidence in our President?"

Regarding this remark from Lao E, they dared not speak casually.

One wrong word could very likely lead to the collapse of this cooperation.

Thinking of this, the way the few of them looked at Lao E changed.

The two sides sparred for a while, but they were unable to seize the initiative in the negotiation from Lao E's hands.

The few Las Vegas Gweilos were somewhat desperate and had to temporarily suspend the negotiations.

But what they didn't know was that greater torture was still to come.

When the second round of negotiations began, Lao E started picking apart the conditions they provided one by one.

Yet he grasped the rhythm well, not letting the talks collapse while still being able to thoroughly disgust these Gweilos.

So much so that in the end, the CPUs of these American Gweilos were almost smoking from Lao E's verbal bombardment.

Three consecutive days of negotiations made these Gweilos from Las Vegas realize one thing.

That is, the burly man before them was a guy even more difficult to deal with than the chief negotiators of those Wall Street financial firms.

Not only were the conditions he proposed each time exactly at their bottom line, but every contract trap they set was seen through directly by the other party.

This caused these Gweilos, who prided themselves on being elites, a great deal of embarrassment.

If it weren't for the strict orders from their group, they would have long since quit and left.

After several rounds of negotiations, the two sides reached a temporary consensus.

Las Vegas and several major financial groups would cooperate with Brunei in high-tech, finance, and tourism.

This was also what Chen Jiajun needed most right now.

However, the specific details of these matters still required Lao E to make a trip to Las Vegas for consultation.

This time was just a basic cooperation.

Li Yaohua allocated several coastal plots of land in the relatively remote East District to Las Vegas as the foundation for their casino.

And it was for rent only, not for sale, serving as a starting point for the two sides' trial operation.

However, Li Yaohua had already considered that once the economy of the East District developed, he would have them relocate the casino.

"I have fulfilled the mission," Lao E returned to the Presidential Palace and said to his Boss with a calm expression.

Chen Jiajun nodded with some gratification: "Since you don't like working at the casino, then stay in Brunei and help Li Yaohua from now on. I will find someone else to handle the matters at the casino."

Upon hearing this, Lao E's eyes lit up: "Boss, are you serious?"

Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "Since you have this ability, keeping you at the casino is a waste of talent."

"Thank you, Boss." Lao E appeared very happy.

Li Yaohua also appeared incredibly happy; his officials had long since told him about the process of Lao E chatting with those Gweilo in Las Vegas.

He also knew that Lao E was a rare talent, and if Lao E stayed in Brunei, it would greatly reduce the pressure on him.

Moreover, Chen Jiajun had quietly told him that Lao E possessed the ability to discern people's hearts, and it was uncannily accurate.

With such a human lie detector in existence, Li Yaohua could focus on establishing his own team.

However, before that, Lao E still had to make a trip to Las Vegas to turn the promises of those financial groups into reality.

After all, this was not just a business of hundreds of millions or billions; if handled well, this was a good business that could bring in large amounts of investment every year.

"As it happens, I also need to go to Las Vegas to find someone, let's go over together."

Chen Jiajun suddenly spoke up.

"Oh? There's someone you, Boss, need to go find in person?" Lao E asked with some surprise.

Chen Jiajun said helplessly: "Since you don't like the casino business, I need to find someone to hold down the fort; I can't go over there myself, can I?"

"Hehe." Lao E rubbed the back of his head and didn't dare to respond.

A few days later, Chen Jiajun followed the inspection delegation organized by Brunei and headed to the United States together.

However, on the plane, Lao E suddenly remembered that his Boss seemed to have had quite a few conflicts with the people from the CIA.

"Boss, you won't be detained as soon as you get off the plane, will you?" Lao E asked tentatively.

Chen Jiajun said with a strange look on his face: "Why would you think that?"

Lao E said with some worry: "Isn't it said that we had a very unpleasant falling out with the CIA?"

Chen Jiajun immediately laughed: "You don't understand this country, the United States. Never mind having an unpleasant falling out with the CIA, even if I killed the CIA's Asia director right now, the United States Gweilo wouldn't do anything to me."

"After all, the United States has a great many factions, and the CIA people cannot operate on United States soil. Otherwise, the FBI people would be the first to curse."

Lao E nodded as if he understood: "Is it really that complicated?"

"The internal struggles of a great nation are already complicated enough." Chen Jiajun said with a smile.

After getting off the plane, Lao E and his party were picked up by representatives from Las Vegas.

As for Chen Jiajun, he took his own people and started wandering around Las Vegas.

As a gambling city, Las Vegas was naturally incredibly magnificent.

Ever since the 1931 Tobin Act allowed Las Vegas to open for gambling, it began its vigorous development.

After reaping the demographic dividend following World War II, it developed its urban tourism industry even more vigorously.

Therefore, Las Vegas is not just a gambling city, but also a highly developed tourist city.

These are all places that Brunei can learn from.

Of course, the reason Las Vegas is what it is today has a lot to do with the behind-the-scenes push from several major financial groups.

Therefore, there are really not many people who could refuse the benefits offered by the Las Vegas representative.

(End of this chapter)