Chapter 497 Gold Payment
The grudge between the United States and Libya has a long history.
In June 1970, Libya announced the recovery of the US military base near Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It can be said that it slapped the United States hard and completely forged a grudge.
Speaking of which, Libya was once a colony of Britain, France, and Italy. They have intricate political, economic, and cultural historical origins. Later, the United States replaced Britain as the world's maritime hegemon, and established a military base near Tripoli. It can be said that Libya is the fulcrum for the United States to control the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, and it has intimidated and deterred other surrounding Arab countries.
And Libya is the world's third largest oil exporter with abundant oil.
The United States has never extinguished its plan to regain control of Libya.
It's just that under the rule of Cardinal, the relationship between the two sides has continued to decline.
In 1980, the United States declared Libya a "state supporting terrorism" and closed its embassy in Libya. In 1981, the US Navy's planes shot down two Libyan planes, and the two countries broke off diplomatic relations.
Not long ago, the US government ordered to stop economic and trade exchanges with Libya and freeze Libya's assets in the United States. The relationship between the two countries can be said to have reached a freezing point.
But Liu Tao never thought that the two sides would reach this point at this time.
After all, the old Americans are having a hard time now, and the Soviet Union is eyeing them covetously.
Moreover, the strength of the United States far exceeds that of Libya. No matter how provocative the United States is, Libya will endure it.
But the facts prove that Liu Tao thought too much.
Not every country can be as patient as China.
Tolerance is an art, and also an ability!
The reason why Colonel Ka is Colonel Ka is because of his unique personality. He dares to offend all five permanent members.
Liu Tao soon got good news, and his old friend came to him.
"Liu, my friend, we need more 'Eagle Strike' anti-ship missiles, more 'Aegis' air defense missiles, and more 'Vanguard' air defense missiles!" Hadi said anxiously.
At the critical moment of life and death, more life-saving weapons are needed.
Liu Tao took a sip of tea, listening to the birds and cicadas, and seemed in a very good mood.
"Hadi, my friend, the price of these weapons has increased a lot now. You know, the US dollar has been depreciating!" Liu Tao sat firmly on the Diaoyutai.
In the current situation, the initiative is on his side.
Moreover, the price increase of weapons is a normal phenomenon in the entire world arms market. The reason is naturally because of the depreciation of the US dollar.
As the US dollar depreciates, the price of arms, as hard currency, will naturally rise.
"Liu, tell me, I believe you are a person of integrity and will not make random offers!" Hadi said.
He was ready because these weapons were only available on Liu Tao's side.
"A set of 'Aegis-0' air defense missile system costs 60 million US dollars, equipped with 24 missiles. If you purchase missiles, each missile costs 1.5 million US dollars." Liu Tao said: "A set of 'Aegis-1' air defense missile system costs 90 million US dollars, and a battalion costs 360 million US dollars."
Liu Tao added 50% to the original price!
This price is absolutely very generous.
In a situation like Libya, it is very conscientious for arms dealers not to double the price.
Similarly, the price of the Eagle Strike anti-ship missile and the Vanguard air defense missile is also increased by 50% on the original price.
"We can accept this price. We want 10 sets of Aegis-0 air defense missile systems, plus 1,000 Aegis-0 air defense missiles; 10 sets of Aegis-1 air defense missile systems, plus 1,000 Aegis-1 air defense missiles; 500 Eagle Strike anti-ship missiles, 1,000 Vanguard air defense missiles." Hadi nodded and said, "In addition, we want to hire your technicians and mercenaries!"
Liu Tao began to calculate. For such a large purchase, the total purchase contract reached 8 billion US dollars, which is definitely a huge figure.
Liu Tao said: "Hadi, my friend, you know the rules here. Half of the deposit is required, and it will not be refunded, and we do not accept credit!"
"We don't have that much US dollars, but we can pay with gold!" Hadi said in a deep voice: "It's okay to use gold, right?"
When he heard that he would pay with gold, Liu Tao's smile became even brighter.
The price of gold was high before, but now the international gold price has fallen. Now the international gold price is 350 US dollars per ounce.
The other party pays with gold, which is much more valuable than the US dollar.
Especially for a country, 1 ton of gold is not printing the currency equivalent to 1 ton of gold, but printing more.
"Okay!" Liu Tao nodded.
"We will pay half in US dollars and half in gold!" Hadi said.
4 billion US dollars in gold, that is 355.5 tons of gold!
Liu Tao frowned and said, "You have so much gold? I remember your gold reserves are 135 tons."
"Don't worry, we have so much gold!" Hadi said, "Anyway, you get the money first, so you won't suffer any loss, right?"
Liu Tao pondered for a moment and said, "In this way, half of the deposit will be paid in gold."
Hadi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay!"
After the two sides agreed on the matter, they began to act.
Liu Tao asked the mercenaries in Tanzania to go to Libya to transport the gold.
In addition, some technical personnel were sent to Libya.
This time, Libya felt tremendous pressure and the crisis of national extinction.
Purchased a large number of life-saving weapons, and hired a large number of technical personnel and mercenaries.
As for missiles, they were delivered in two batches, the first batch was transported immediately, and the second batch was delivered a month later.
After all, Liu Tao did not have so many Aegis-0 missiles, Aegis-1 missiles and Eagle Strike anti-ship missiles.
However, the "Vanguard" air defense missiles could be delivered at one time.
Liu Tao had to hurry up, otherwise he would not be able to transport them later.
As for Liu Tao's desire to sell more guns and ammunition, it was a pity that Libya had already purchased a lot before and no longer needed them.
The dangers facing Libya now come from the sea and from the sky.
As for ground combat, Libya is confident and is not afraid of the same number of US troops.
It can only be said that the US Army's lameness has left a deep impression on the world.
Liu Tao was not disappointed. After all, this was an order of up to 8 billion US dollars. Although it was expedited and there would be some pressure, the profit was quite amazing.
Not to mention that Libya paid with 355.5 tons of gold.
To put it bluntly, this order, from a certain perspective, made a profit of up to 8 billion US dollars!
Of course, there are risks. If the Americans get angry one day, there will be some trouble.
However, Liu Tao was not too worried. Although there was such a risk, it was not big. After all, the United States and China were in a honeymoon period. As long as the Soviet Union was still prosperous, the two sides were "husband and wife". They would occasionally quarrel, but their relationship was still good and they would not reach the stage of "divorce".
Besides, he would not stop doing business because of the risk.
If that was the case, there would be no arms dealers in the world.