Governor Li did not continue to ask further questions and turned to the business: "I have good news for you. I just received a notice that our Yaffinger Valley coal mine is stable."
"Can this kind of thing be agreed upon internally?"
Zhang Hao asked knowingly.
"It's not an unofficial decision. It's just that we sit down and take a breath in advance to avoid damaging the harmony."
Governor Li wrote lightly.
Zhang Hao suddenly smiled knowingly: "What about the Carmichael Coal Mine? Is there any chance of winning it?"
"Don't hold out hope, there's no chance unless the sun rises from the west." Mr. Wang couldn't help complaining, and then patted his head: "Forgot, there is no sun now."
"Oh? Was it really captured by the Dongneng Group?"
"That's right, they are the ones who like to use their power to overwhelm others."
Mr. Wang said angrily.
Governor Li waved his hand: "Well, you can't say that. After all, coal is the lifeblood of the federation, and the higher authorities must support a group of state-owned enterprise giants no matter what."
"Having said that, this is so unfair!"
Mr. Wang's face was full of reluctance.
"Fair? What time is it now? Saving the nation and trying to survive is the top priority at the moment. Everything else must serve this goal. No one or thing is exception.
Besides, to be fair, those Western consortiums who came from afar are the victims. As far as I know, they can only get at most 20% of the share this time."
Governor Li said meaningfully.
"So few? Could it be that today's auction is a secret auction? Didn't you hear about it in the announcement?"
Zhang Hao couldn't help but be surprised again and again.
Governor Li shook his head: "It's not a secret shot, it would be too obvious."
"How does it work?"
"It's actually very simple. There will be restrictions on specific participating companies, such as company size, registration location and deposit. There are many similar methods to ensure that no one can find any flaws."
Governor Li has a well-thought-out approach.
"Tsk, tsk, that's awesome!"
Zhang Hao secretly gave a thumbs up.
On the contrary, Mr. Zheng on the side was full of worries: "If the Federation behaves like this, it will only cause the East and the West to become more alienated and encourage division. After all, it is not appropriate."
"What Mr. Zheng said makes sense, but since the Federation insists on doing this, it must have fully considered the consequences..." Zhang Hao frowned.
"What are the consequences? Mr. Zhang might as well talk about it?"
Mr. Zheng became interested instantly.
Zhang Hao raised his head and glanced at the rostrum. Minister Yin's speech was still continuing, so he whispered: "The most serious consequence is civil war."
"Civil war? It's such a strange yet familiar word."
Mr. Zheng fell into memories for a moment.
At his age, he had experienced the civil war. Although he was very young at the time, it was still unforgettable.
Mr. Wang followed up and said worriedly: "There are rumors flying everywhere now, and I don't know which words are true and which words are false? If there is a war, I hope it will not affect our coal mine."
"Don't worry, no matter whether there is a war or not, the policy will not change. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. There is no money at the moment, so they can only rely on private capital to develop Australia's resources. No one can change this."
Governor Li quickly spoke to comfort him.
Zhang Hao frowned. He was not worried about the ownership of the coal mine, but simply rejected the war, so after more than three months, he brought up the old matter again.
"Governor Li, tell us the truth, will there be a civil war above?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?"
Governor Li said perfunctorily subconsciously.
Mr. Zheng woke up from his memories and immediately interjected: "Governor Li, war is not a trivial matter. There must be many clues. You are the top leader in Guangdong Province and you must know more than us."
Governor Li did not answer immediately, but thought about it and said vaguely:
"Don't worry too much, you guys. According to my observation, the higher-ups have not yet made up their mind to fight a civil war. What they are doing now are just some preventive measures."
"Governor Li..."
Zhang Hao was about to ask further questions when a burst of warm applause suddenly broke out at the scene. It turned out that Minister Yin's speech had ended and the auction process had begun.
Several people immediately ended the conversation and focused all their attention on the auction.
The auctioneer is a middle-aged woman wearing earth-gray work clothes. It is said that she is the chief auctioneer of Poly Auction, with outstanding business ability and rich experience.
The female auctioneer first announced the auction rules, which were all routine and not much different from ordinary auctions.
The only thing that attracts attention is the severity of the punishment for regretting the auction. Not only will the deposit be confiscated, but you will also be blacklisted by the authorities. This has a huge impact.
Then, the female auctioneer picked up the wooden hammer and officially started the auction.
The first one to be auctioned was the Carmichael coal mine.
The atmosphere at the scene reached a climax instantly.
Everyone turned their attention to the big screen behind the auctioneer, which contained information about the Carmichael Coal Mine, including not only text, but also pictures and videos.
The female auctioneer shouted loudly: "The Carmichael Coal Mine is located in the Black River Valley region of Queensland. It was built in the 1960s and is the largest coal mine in Australia. It has prospective reserves of 27 billion tons and an annual coal production capacity of more than 60 million tons.
, ranking among the top ten in the entire federation.
In addition, it is also a coal mine that uses open-pit mining. The mining difficulty is low. The only disadvantage is that there is no supporting transportation railway line. A special railway needs to be built, and the initial investment is relatively large..."
"We will start bidding from 30 billion yuan, and each increase in price shall not be less than one billion yuan."
As the auction started, many people began to bid. The price kept rising, and soon it reached 50 billion. There were only six auctioneers left on the scene.
At this time, the representative of Dongneng Group finally took action and raised the price to 60 billion.
"Guest No. 1 bids 60 billion. Is there any higher price?"
The female auctioneer said excitedly.
There was a moment of silence in the audience, and everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding not to bid any more.
Zhang Hao turned his head and glanced at Mr. Wang, who put down the number plate in his hand and shook his head with a wry smile.
Now that Dongneng Group has taken action, it means that the auction is over, and any more bids will ruin the place.
Sure enough, the female auctioneer shouted three times as required, and finally knocked the hammer, announcing that Dongneng Group had successfully bid at a price of 60 billion.
"Pa bang bang..."
In an instant, the audience burst into applause.
Zhang Hao clapped along and said enviously:
“This price is too cheap.”
If calculated based on purchasing power, this 60 billion is only equivalent to the 20 billion before the Yellowstone volcano erupted. It took only 20 billion to win the famous Carmichael Coal Mine, which was simply a free gift.
Governor Li smiled and shook his head: "You can't say that. Although the purchase price of the Carmichael Coal Mine is low, its initial investment is high. The railway alone will cost 70 to 80 billion, which is even higher than the purchase price."
"It seems that this railway... is tailor-made for Dongneng Group. Without official support, even if someone takes over the coal mine, it will not be put into operation."
Zhang Hao suddenly realized this.
Considering the current natural environment and climate conditions, railway is undoubtedly the best mode of transportation, but with the decrease in precipitation, roads are not impossible.
"Governor Li, no one is trying to rob the Yaffinger Valley coal mine from us, right?" Mr. Wang began to worry about gains and losses.
"At least state-owned enterprises will not. With our strength, should we still be afraid of other private enterprises?" Governor Li replied.
Mr. Zheng quickly reminded: "Which large Western financial groups are there? Will they deliberately cause trouble?"
"No, they don't dare to offend us. Besides, the area has been designated for them. Their main target is iron ore, not coal mine."
"That's good!"
Several people immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
In the next hour or so, the female auctioneer auctioned a total of fifteen mining areas, without any first-rate bids, and they were all well-known large mining areas, with transaction prices exceeding tens of billions each.
The highest record was the Walker Mountain Coal Mine. The transaction price was 93.5 billion yuan, which almost exceeded 100 billion yuan. It was finally acquired by a private company in Shanghai.
Then, it was finally the Yaffingal Valley Coal Mine's turn, and Zhang Hao and others instantly became nervous.
The female auctioneer introduced loudly: "Next is the No. 16 mining area, the Yaffingal Valley coal mine in Tasmania, with reserves of about one billion tons.
The mining area has convenient transportation and relatively complete transportation and infrastructure. However, due to the influence of basalt formed by Jurassic magma activity, the coal seam has high ash content and a high degree of coal metamorphism..."
"The starting price is 48 billion, and each bid increase must not be less than 1 billion."
Since the Yaffingal Valley Coal Mine is relatively remote and far away from several major mining areas, there are not many people participating in the auction, and the price rises very slowly.
After more than ten minutes, the auction price finally exceeded the 70 billion mark.
Mr. Wang immediately handed the number plate in his hand to Zhang Hao, with the obvious intention of asking the other party to hold up the number plate.
Zhang Hao did not shirk, he raised the number plate and added a full five billion in one breath: "Seventy-five billion."
Their psychological value is 80 billion, and the bottom line is 120 billion. If it exceeds this number, it is not worth it. It will take at least three to forty years to recover the capital.
"Guest No. 18, 75 billion, is there any higher bid?"
"Seventy-six billion."
"Seventy-eight billion."
"Eighty billion."
Without warning, competition suddenly became fierce.
"Alas..." Governor Li patted his head in frustration, "It's bad, our company's information must have been leaked, and everyone is here for you."
"Me?" Zhang Hao said in surprise.
"That's right, don't forget your name as the 'divine fortune teller'."
Governor Li reminded softly.
Zhang Hao frowned: "If I had known this, I shouldn't have come today."
"It's useless, it doesn't matter whether you come or not." Governor Li waved his hand, "It was a miscalculation. We should have raised the cards a few more times before, so as to confuse the audience."
"Governor Li, what should we do next?"
Mr. Wang quickly asked.
Governor Li did not answer, but looked at Zhang Hao: "Director Zhang, should we change the target?"
"It's better not to do it. Other targets are also owned by famous women, and the competition is more intense."
Zhang Hao shook his head firmly.
Mr. Wang saw something coming: "Director Zhang, are you really so optimistic about Yafingal Valley Coal Mine?"
"Well, I'm not optimistic, I just have an intuition."
Zhang Hao was deliberately vague.
"Then our plan remains unchanged. Even if we exceed the budget, we will still win the Yaffingal Valley Coal Mine."
Mr. Wang said with a ferocious face.
"Will Mr. Ma and the others..."
Mr. Wang waved his hand: "We can't control that much now. Besides, didn't they entrust us with the right to auction? Now we make the decision."
"Okay, if they are not satisfied, they can choose to withdraw their shares, and I will take as much as they have."
Zhang Hao gritted his teeth and agreed.
Just as a few people were talking, the auction price had exceeded 90 billion, and the upward trend was very rapid, and it was quickly approaching the 100 billion mark.
When Governor Li saw this, he quickly took out his mobile phone on the spot and wanted to find someone to inquire about the situation. There must have been an unknown incident.
Zhang Hao saw that the auction price exceeded 100 billion, so he raised his sign again: "111 billion."
Directly added 10 billion.
He wants to use crazy price increases to cut through the mess quickly to force out other competitors.
Unfortunately, the effect is limited.
After a short period of silence, the sound of bidding began again.
Zhang Hao felt bad all over and muttered to himself: "Crazy, fucking crazy."
After more than two minutes of this, Governor Li finally hung up the phone.
Mr. Zheng hurriedly asked: "Governor Li, what is going on? Yafingal Valley is not a famous large coal mine, so why is it so uncharacteristic?"
"I have asked clearly. The blame for this matter is that we are too old and we are interested in unknown coal mines such as the Yaffinger Valley Coal Mine. People outside think that we are holding back a big move.
I want to get involved."
"What about the exploration rights? Will it be affected?"
Zhang Hao asked impatiently.
"There is no problem with the prospecting rights. After all, the companies competing with us this time are private companies, and the government is not involved." Governor Li nodded.
Seeing that the auction price reached 125 billion, Zhang Hao immediately made up his mind: "Governor Li, Mr. Wang, and Mr. Zheng, I suggest giving up the Yaffingal Valley Coal Mine. It is meaningless to continue fighting like this."
"Isn't that..."
"Mr. Wang, listen to me." Zhang Hao interrupted directly, "Actually, what I really like is the exploration rights in Tasmania. The Yaffingale Valley Coal Mine is not necessary for us.
It cannot be taken down."
"What do you mean?" Mr. Wang said thoughtfully.
"Instead of fighting against the Yafingal Valley Coal Mine, we should change our goal. We just need to win the exploration rights and we will never be taken advantage of."
Zhang Hao replied.
Governor Li looked hesitant: "All the large coal mines were auctioned just now. I took a look and found that after excluding the unofficial ones, the remaining ones are all small and medium-sized coal mines."
"Small coal mines are just small coal mines. If we buy more, they can still make money."
Zhang Hao said without any concern.
"Director Zhang, what is the probability of success for that prospecting right?" Mr. Wang took the opportunity to test it out.
"How do I know this?" Zhang Hao shook his head, "My idea is this. Let's lay the foundation first. If there is no chance in Australia, we can go to the other side in a few years to do something big. The coal resources on the other side are richer.
.”
"The other side?" Mr. Wang expressed doubts.
Although the other side is rich in resources, it is also the most severely affected. It is said that the volcanic ash is several meters thick, and it is not a place for people to stay.
"Yes, the Federation will develop the other side sooner or later. It's just a matter of time."
Zhang Hao did not explain much.
Governor Li helped to persuade: "Director Zhang is right, you might as well be more patient. The reserves of the Yafingal Valley Coal Mine are only one billion tons, and it is not worth investing so much money."