Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 72

72. Discussing War in Front of the Minister of National Defense (4)

Tae-soo said,

“I would like to be in charge of the Jubail Industrial Port construction.”

Khalid was taken aback.

“The Jubail Industrial Port construction? That’s still in the planning stages, and there isn’t even a concrete plan yet.”

“I know. But I also know that it’s a project that will definitely happen in a few years.”

In his past life, the public tender was announced in ’75, and construction began in ’76.

The one who won the Jubail Industrial Port construction was Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan.

And the one who reviewed the Jubail Industrial Port construction was Khalid, the then King of Saudi Arabia.

It was the man in front of him now.

“I am the Minister of National Defense. It’s not under my jurisdiction. I can’t give you a definite answer on that.”

The Minister of Economy and Finance approves the budget, and the Minister of Construction plans and approves the construction.

But both of these ministers are Khalid’s political rivals.

No matter how much power Khalid uses, the two ministers will try to stop him in unison.

That’s why Khalid’s expression was dark.

On the other hand, Tae-soo smiled as if nothing was wrong.

“The future is unpredictable. If the time comes and you can lend me your strength, I’ll ask you then.”

Khalid nodded heavily.

“I will help with all my heart as far as my power reaches. Even if it’s something I can’t guarantee, I won’t turn a blind eye.”

“That’s enough.”

He finished the task Jang Jun-yong had asked for.

He won over the Saudi King and received an answer regarding the construction.

Of course, he couldn’t publicly guarantee it, saying it was something he couldn’t confirm right now, but he received a promise to help with all his heart as far as his power reached.

‘It would be too much for Taeyang Construction to handle alone…’

“You don’t have to worry about that either. Geumsan Construction will be with us.”

“Geumsan? Is that the guy who floated an oil tanker filled with water in the harbor?”

Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan was not well known in Saudi Arabia.

But this time, he filled an oil tanker with water and made his name known.

Some members of the Saudi royal family also learned the name of the company, Geumsan.

Khalid was one of them.

“That’s right. They are building a shipyard in Korea, running a refinery industry, selling heavy equipment, and doing construction work.”

“Hmm.”

“You will have a chance to meet Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan in person someday.”

“Good.”

Khalid nodded.

Then Tae-soo carefully brought up the topic.

“This is a personal request…”

“What is it? Tell me anything.”

Khalid waved his hand, urging him to speak.

“I know that most of Saudi oil is being extracted by foreign oil companies, making it difficult for you to exert influence. But if you win this war and nationalize the oil…”

Tae-soo’s eyes gleamed.

“At that time, I would like you to completely cut off the oil supply to Cheongil Oil.”

Khalid’s eyes also flashed sharply.

“Cheongil Oil, you mean Han Cheong-ho?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I will do that even if you don’t ask. Isn’t he a traitor who stabbed Rahman in the back?”

Khalid had said to Tae-soo before.

-I always repay more than I receive.

-Rahman is my son. What my son receives is the same as what I receive.

Khalid openly gritted his teeth.

“The price for betraying my son must be paid dearly. I will return it with several times the vengeance.”

Khalid looked at Tae-soo and declared.

“I will not sell a single liter of Saudi oil to Cheongil Oil. I can promise you that, if nothing else.”

“Thank you.”

“If I meet with other oil-producing countries this time, I will tell them as well. Never sell oil to Cheongil Oil.”

Nothing could be better than that.

‘How many oil-producing countries can ignore the influence of Saudi Arabia, which has regained its oil in the Middle East war?’

Probably few.

Cheongil Oil will have to start a lonely fight to find oil.

At that moment.

A servant approached and whispered in Khalid’s ear.

Khalid’s expression hardened.

“It seems a henchman of the traitor has fallen into my hands.”

Khalid turned to Tae-soo and said.

“I heard that the secretary of the traitor Han Cheong-ho was caught delivering bundles of money to the Minister of Economy and Finance’s house and returning.”

“He came to Saudi Arabia? He’s acting faster than I thought.”

Tae-soo guessed.

It seems that Jang Jun-yong of Geumsan provoked him properly.

Han Cheong-ho, who was impatient, started throwing money around and moved his secretary.

“My subordinate caught him coming out of the Minister of Economy and Finance’s house. He said he thought he was a spy because a foreigner was doing something very suspicious, wouldn’t you know it?”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s tied up in my basement right now.”

“What are you going to do with him, Khalid?”

“He’s a henchman of the traitor Han Cheong-ho. I clearly saw him shaking hands with the Minister of Economy and Finance and going in and out of his house. Do you think I would let such a person go unharmed?”

Khalid smiled bitterly.

“The Saudi desert is a scary place. If someone who doesn’t know the way enters carelessly, it’s hard to even recover the body.”

Han Cheong-ho’s secretary will not escape death this time.

‘But if it’s the secretary Han Cheong-ho sent now, is it Secretary Song or Secretary Park?’

If it’s Secretary Park, I don’t even want to talk to him.

But if it’s Secretary Song, it’s different.

Tae-soo quietly bowed and asked.

“May I meet him once first?”

Khalid stared at Tae-soo.

He doesn’t know Tae-soo’s intentions.

But Khalid trusted Tae-soo.

“Good. I’ll take you to him.”

“If necessary, may I buy his life instead?”

Khalid stroked his beard.

“Hmm, let’s decide that after meeting him.”

Tae-soo followed Khalid to the basement of the mansion.

* * *

Splash.

One of Khalid’s men splashed water.

Secretary Song, who was tied to a chair in the basement and had fainted, was hit by a shower of water.

He opened his eyes, which he couldn’t open fully, and looked ahead.

“Are you awake, Secretary Song?”

“Ah, no. You are…!”

Secretary Song was startled to see Tae-soo.

Secretary Song tried to get up, but realized that he was tied to a chair.

He recognized Khalid sitting next to Tae-soo and widened his eyes.

“That person is the Saudi Minister of National Defense…”

“It’s Khalid. You knew that.”

“Why is this guy…”

“You went to the Saudi Minister of Economy and Finance’s house, didn’t you?”

Secretary Song flinched.

“H, how did you know that?”

“Have you forgotten how you were caught?”

He went to the Saudi Minister of Economy and Finance’s house, delivered the money, took a taxi, and returned to the hotel.

Then someone grabbed him from behind.

He smelled a foul odor from the handkerchief covering his mouth, and when he came to his senses, he saw Saudi Minister of National Defense Khalid and Tae-soo in front of him.

“Now that I see it, the Saudi Minister of National Defense was spying on my brother’s house.”

A foreigner was loitering in front of the Minister of Economy and Finance’s house and went in and out, so he thought he was a spy.

But when he caught him, he was Han Cheong-ho’s secretary.

“Secretary Song, you know how the Minister of Economy and Finance and the Minister of National Defense get along, right?”

Of course.

But Secretary Song didn’t answer.

“Besides, you know how the Minister of National Defense and Rahman, and Chairman Han Cheong-ho of Cheongil get along, right?”

How could he not know?

They are enemies entangled in betrayal.

That’s why Secretary Song was sweating behind his back.

“W, what are you going to do to me?”

“Khalid says he’s going to take you to the desert. He says he’s going to repay Rahman for what the chairman of Cheongil did.”

That means he’s going to die.

“No! Why should I suffer like that!”

Every year, a huge number of people go missing in the desert.

Most of them can’t even recover their bodies.

Secretary Song turned pale.

“I, I didn’t do anything.”

“You should have been prepared for this when you carried the money bag for Chairman Han Cheong-ho of Cheongil.”

Secretary Song closed his eyes tightly.

‘Is it a lizard’s tail cut? Is he trying to cut me off cleanly by borrowing Kang Tae-soo’s hand?’

Borrowing a knife to kill [using someone else to do your dirty work] is a technique that Han Cheong-ho enjoys using.

Secretary Song quickly shouted.

“Please save me!”

He didn’t want to die like that.

He didn’t want to die a violent death like a driver.

“I was just doing what I was told! I didn’t want to come here!”

Secretary Song was desperate.

The only one to hold on to is Tae-soo.

Khalid, Rahman, and their subordinates will all kill him mercilessly.

The only thing he can do is beg and hold on to Tae-soo.

“Han Cheong-ho, I knew this day would come from the moment that human told me to carry the money bag, but I don’t want to go like this. Please save me just once!”

He thought of his wife and children in Korea.

Han Il-kwon, who once warned him that he would throw him into the Han River, and Han Cheong-ho, who drove him to his death like a demon, also came to mind.

“Secretary Song, do you want to live?”

“I want to live! Like this, I’ll beg like this!”

“Life is not something you beg for. You have to pay for your own life.”

“Life value?”

Secretary Song raised his head sharply.

A glimmer of hope appears.

“Secretary Song, you know how to pay for your life. Prove your worth.”

Secretary Song’s head is spinning.

The urgency to find a way to live before dying increased the speed of his brain.

‘Secretary Song, long time no see. I never thought I’d meet you here like this.’

Tae-soo knew.

How Secretary Song died in his past life.

‘He knew too many secrets of Han Cheong-ho. So Han Cheong-ho abandoned him.’

He had been by Han Cheong-ho’s side for a long time as his right-hand man.

But even when Tae-soo joined the company, he was still alive.

‘Secretary Song, you were the teacher in charge of my secretarial training.’

He was the one who taught Tae-soo when he caught Han Cheong-ho’s eye and received training.

That’s why Tae-soo knew what kind of person Secretary Song was.

‘Secretary Song was always afraid of Han Cheong-ho. So he volunteered to be my training teacher.’

When Tae-soo had almost finished his training, he was abandoned because he had used up his usefulness.

‘The cause of death was a drug overdose. It was a sudden death.’

But people whispered that Secretary Song had been suffering from depression since he was demoted.

He had already been spreading such rumors secretly for a long time.

It was Han Il-kwon’s skill.

‘As far as I know, Secretary Song didn’t have depression. Rather, he was grateful for being demoted.’

Secretary Song volunteered to be in charge of Tae-soo’s training and stepped down from his position.

As a result, Secretary Park was promoted and became the chief secretary next to Han Cheong-ho.

Secretary Park was always dissatisfied with Tae-soo, but Secretary Song was always proud of Tae-soo.

‘Secretary Song was also the one who told me about the existence of Han Cheong-ho’s secret ledger.’

Secretary Song was also the one who recommended Tae-soo to access the information room of Cheongil Group.

Secretary Song was also the one who constantly emphasized that he needed to know information.

And…

‘Secretary Song was also the one who told me that I was being raised to be Han Il-kwon’s leash.’

Secretary Song always emphasized to Tae-soo.

-Don’t show Han Il-kwon your bottom line.

-Hide your true feelings. Don’t ever reveal secrets while wearing the guise of friendship.

-The more Han Il-kwon fears you, the longer you will survive.

-Prove your worth. Life is not something you beg for. You have to pay for your life.

Secretary Song cared a lot about Tae-soo.

He wanted Tae-soo to escape from the clutches of Han Il-kwon and Han Cheong-ho.

So he raised Tae-soo not as a back-end secretary, but as a chaebol [family-owned conglomerate] successor disguised as a secretary.

-A person who can make Cheongil the best company in Korea instead of Han Il-kwon.

-A person who will be Han Il-kwon’s leash.

Secretary Song always introduced Tae-soo to Han Cheong-ho like this.

It was Tae-soo’s usefulness that would extend Tae-soo’s life.

Before he died, Secretary Song had one last thing to say to Tae-soo.

-Never get involved in the secrets of the Han Cheong-ho family. Then you will not escape my fate.