Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 63

광산 찍고 건설 재벌-63화(63/230)

63. Raising a Glass with New Colleagues (1)

While Kim Hwan was flustered by the unexpected call, Tae-soo spoke calmly.

-I’m calling to see if you have any openings in your schedule.

“Oh, you should have contacted me sooner! The Chairman’s schedule is so packed that he doesn’t have a single free week. He’s scheduled to leave in a car in 30 minutes.”

-30 minutes is enough. May I come to see the Chairman briefly?

“Excuse me? Where are you right now…?”

-I’m here at Geumsan Group.

Kim Hwan jumped up from his seat, unable to contain himself.

“Just, just a moment, please don’t hang up! I’ll ask the Chairman and let you know right away.”

Kim Hwan, unlike his usual self, sprinted to the Chairman’s office and knocked.

Jang Jun-yong, the Chairman of Geumsan Group, who had been leisurely reviewing payment documents, frowned.

“What on earth is the matter that you’re so out of breath? This is unlike you.”

“Huff… huff… Kang Tae-soo of Taeyang Mining wants to meet with you.”

“Kang Tae-soo? Are you talking about that Kang Tae-soo who went to the Middle East?”

“Yes, he’s here right now. He says he absolutely must see you.”

Geumsan’s Jang Jun-yong stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“What’s my schedule like?”

“You have to leave for the next location in 30 minutes.”

“That means I have time for a cup of tea.”

Jang Jun-yong nodded.

“Tell Kang Tae-soo to come in.”

He had something he wanted to say to Kang Tae-soo anyway.

‘Kang Tae-soo, I wonder what he thinks about the joint bidding for the Jubail Industrial Port construction.’

The Jubail Industrial Port construction project, requested from the Saudi royal family after sending a tanker full of water.

It was a massive project worth 930 million dollars.

* * *

Knock knock.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Chairman Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan greeted Tae-soo with open arms.

Tae-soo politely bowed and sat in the chair Jang Jun-yong offered.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been well, as you can see. You look much more tanned than before.”

“The Middle Eastern sun is quite strong.”

Tae-soo lowered his head.

He planned to resolve three matters by meeting Jang Jun-yong.

This was the first matter.

Tae-soo didn’t forget the favor.

“First of all, thank you for your kindness. I heard you moved the Minister of Foreign Affairs for me.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. I told my Saudi ambassador not to breathe a word about it. That friend of mine has a loose mouth, you know?”

“It wasn’t the ambassador who told me.”

“Then who did you hear it from?”

He heard it from Song Chang-jun, the Second Secretary at the Saudi embassy.

The ambassador was eager to promote his achievements through his confidant.

He must have wanted to get out of Saudi Arabia and move to a better post.

But the ambassador didn’t directly say anything.

Tae-soo simply smiled.

“I’m using the trailers, forklifts, and cranes you sent very well. I appreciate that as well.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re using them well. That’s why I sent them.”

“For that reason, I would also like to order some heavy equipment from Geumsan Heavy Industries.”

Jang Jun-yong leisurely draped his arm over the sofa.

“Is the heavy equipment you squeezed out of Cheongil not enough?”

“You know how it is. That’s the maximum Cheongil could give, so I only asked for that much. I need more heavy equipment to speed up the construction.”

There was no difficulty in it.

It’s not like he was asking for it for free, he was asking to buy it.

No, with this amount, they should be thanking him.

“Alright, Geumsan will sell you the heavy equipment.”

“Please take good care of delivering it to Saudi Arabia as well.”

“Hahaha, we’ve sent barges before, so you don’t have to worry about not finding the port.”

Tae-soo picked up a pen and began writing down the amount of equipment to order from Geumsan Heavy Industries.

Jang Jun-yong nodded.

“With that much heavy equipment, you should be able to complete the road construction within the deadline.”

“I have to.”

“Good, I’ll send it to you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.”

The first matter for visiting Geumsan was settled.

Ordering the necessary heavy equipment.

It was a reward for supporting other lacking heavy equipment.

‘Now it’s time for the second matter. The golden business card.’

Tae-soo spoke politely.

“And thank you for granting my request. Not only did you dock the tanker at the port, but you’re also lending it to me indefinitely until I finish the construction.”

“I heard Saudi Arabia is suffering from a severe drought. You can’t collapse from a lack of water until the construction is finished.”

The Saudi rainy season was still far away.

The water from the tanker was not enough.

“I’ll lend you the tanker, so use it well and return it. You can fill it with water from other countries a few times.”

“Isn’t that the new tanker you brought in because you said you were going to buy oil in Bahrain, Elder [an honorific, showing respect]? Are you sure it’s okay? It seems like too much to ask with a golden business card.”

“You may or may not know this, but I received a call from the Saudi royal family.”

Jang Jun-yong took a sip of his tea.

“The Saudi royal family has expressed their intention to buy the tanker.”

“So did you sell it?”

“No, of course not. A good opportunity came into my hands, so there’s no way I could sell it off so cheaply.”

Even if they paid a hefty price for the tanker, the profit would be meager.

Geumsan’s Jang Jun-yong was not interested in such petty business.

“I asked for something else.”

“What did you want?”

“The Jubail Industrial Port construction in Saudi Arabia.”

The Jubail Industrial Port construction.

This project, which started in 1976 after a bidding process in 1975, was the work of Chairman Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan.

The contract amount at the time was a whopping 930 million dollars.

This was an enormous amount equivalent to half of the total budget of the South Korean government at the time.

‘Originally, this was a project Jang Jun-yong was in charge of. But Jang Jun-yong wants this project using the tanker as an excuse. Is this fate, or is it a meticulously calculated result?’

Tae-soo nodded.

“The Jubail Industrial Port construction is a large project that everyone would covet. But I don’t believe the construction plan has been announced yet.”

“That’s right. But I heard a word from the person who is conceiving the plan.”

Jang Jun-yong was saying that he knew the construction plan from the planning stage.

The person in charge of developing the western city of Saudi Arabia, which faces the Red Sea, is Rahman.

But Jubail is a city in eastern Saudi Arabia, facing the Persian Gulf.

‘Who is developing the eastern city?’

Tae-soo had not yet confirmed that far.

“The person who is conceiving the eastern city development plan… That’s interesting.”

“I don’t know the person in charge of city development.”

“Then how did you know about the Jubail Industrial Port plan?”

“I traveled abroad quite a bit for a long time to borrow funds for the shipbuilding business. I met someone then.”

Jang Jun-yong smiled.

“Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The 12th son of the first king.”

Wow, he knew such a big shot.

‘If it’s Abdullah, isn’t he the one who will become the 6th King of Saudi Arabia in the future? Geumsan’s connections are strong too.’

Tae-soo was holding onto a connection named Rahman.

His father is the 5th son of the first king, Khalid, who will become the 4th king in March 1975.

The connection that Geumsan’s Jang Jun-yong is holding onto is Abdullah.

He is the 12th son of the first king, who started acting as regent in November 1995 and was inaugurated as the 6th king in 2005.

‘He’s even the commander of the National Guard under the Ministry of Defense. As the right-hand man of Khalid, the Minister of Defense, when his brother Khalid ascends to the throne as king, he will appoint his younger brother Abdullah as Deputy Prime Minister.’

In fact, they were both holding onto almost the same connection.

They are all connections attached to the big shot named Khalid.

“You’re holding onto a strong connection.”

“So,” Jang Jun-yong asked subtly.

“Wouldn’t you like to show me the connection you’re holding onto?”

“Unlike you, Elder, what kind of connection would I have?”

“Hahaha, how modest.”

Jang Jun-yong didn’t believe it.

Instead of empty modesty, he believed in Tae-soo’s skills.

The skills he used to win over Park Jung-hwan in front of Jang Jun-yong.

Jang Jun-yong took another sip of tea and said,

“Why don’t we do a joint bid?”

“A joint bid? Are you saying we should work together on the Jubail Industrial Port construction?”

“Yes.”

It was an unexpected proposal.

“I need a little of your skill and connections. To increase the probability of a successful bid.”

It was a strange thing.

To propose a joint bid to Tae-soo to win the Jubail Industrial Port construction, which Jang Jun-yong was originally going to take on and develop.

‘Even if I wasn’t here, Jang Jun-yong, you would have won this project…’ Originally, people can’t see an inch ahead.

Who would have known that Geumsan’s Jang Jun-yong would actually win the Jubail Industrial Port construction on his own in two years?

“A joint bid… I’d like to hear more details.”

“I’ll explain it to you as much as you want.”

Jang Jun-yong called his secretary, Kim Hwan.

“Cancel all the schedules behind this one.”

“Chairman, then starting with the National Assembly member…”

“Cancel them all. There’s no conversation more important than this right now.”

It was a discussion about a project worth 930 million dollars.

It was a great undertaking, accounting for half of the South Korean government’s budget.

He couldn’t give up meeting Tae-soo to meet with some National Assembly member.

“Tea is not enough, how about alcohol? I know a good bar.”

“Sounds good.”

It wasn’t even afternoon yet, but he was recommending going to a bar to drink.

That meant the conversation would be long.

* * *

As expected, President Park Jung-hwan’s face was plastered all over the front page of the newspaper every day.

Whether it was the morning paper or the evening paper.

-Fly to the desert to save even one citizen! The President’s determination!

-President Park’s decision saves 12 lives!

-The rescue operation of the kidnapped Koreans, a complete success! The President was behind it!

-The joint operation between the Saudi government and the Korean government worked! Even achieving diplomatic success!

Folding the newspaper, Park Jung-hwan laughed heartily.

“Kang Tae-soo, was it? That friend has great skills.”

Cha Ki-beom replied.

“He said he had secured the identities of all 12 executives, including the seven kidnapped executives of Samwon Construction, as well as the president and executives of Samwon Construction who had fled and were hiding.”

“He even caught the guy who had been hiding for months after running away? He’s very talented.”

Park Jung-hwan stroked his chin.

“Kang Tae-soo, I heard that not a single protest telegram has been sent since that guy arrived in Saudi Arabia?”

“That’s right.”

“As soon as he arrived in Saudi Arabia, the Bedouins stopped fighting and started participating in the road construction as workers from the next day?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How did he win over the Bedouins? Besides, is it true that he even created his own production facility because it was cumbersome to import cement?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Park Jung-hwan clapped his knee.

“I knew he wasn’t ordinary! I knew that guy would pull something off!”

The face of Kang Tae-soo he saw in the president’s office of Pohang Steel flashed through his mind.

The guy who fearlessly rattled off his demands in front of him.

“He stripped the old fox Han Cheong-ho of Cheongil bare, and then showed off his tricks in front of me, talking about image renewal, but he’s definitely earning his keep.”

“We also caught the rats who had sneaked in among the special agents.”

“What? Weren’t you going to catch them? And after this Red Cross meeting is over.”

“A good opportunity came along. The guy under me caught them, but Kang Tae-soo’s help played a big role.”

Park Jung-hwan stroked his chin once more.

“Force wouldn’t have been helpful… Then how did he shake up the special agents?”

“It’s simple. He willingly handed over the Samwon Construction executives and bought them return plane tickets instead.”

Cha Ki-beom told Park Jung-hwan the inside story.

Tae-soo told Captain that he could take all the credit, but Captain couldn’t bring himself to take all the credit.

So he subtly reported Tae-soo’s cooperation.

“What? Hahaha! What big help with just that kind of cooperation!”

“That’s true, but it’s true that it greatly reduced the special agents’ trouble of searching the desert for the president.”

Park Jung-hwan nodded.

“Yes, all I need are the guys for image renewal, so it’s enough if I have the kidnapped guys. But Kang Tae-soo went out of his way to catch even the president and presented him to me.”

That intention is truly clever.

Park Jung-hwan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Kang Tae-soo has wonderfully accomplished my purpose. It seems like he will soon complete the road construction as well.”

Park Jung-hwan turned to Cha Ki-beom and said,

“In that sense, I have to accept the intention of catching even the president and presenting him to me. I want to give Kang Tae-soo a gift this time.”

He would probably be overjoyed to receive this.