Lunch was held in the restaurant on the third floor. Except for the three of them, there was Cassinali, and the rest of them were dining in the large restaurant on the first floor. Stanhart and Rich both praised Jonas's stewed lamb, but that's all. They were all gourmet guests who have tasted all the food around the world and have seen all kinds of food.

Most of the topics on the dining table were Ritchie and Stanhart, and Jonas and Cassinali listened to it, and occasionally interjected a sentence. However, it was a very long-term thing to listen to the two experienced old men recalling their youth.

After a while of rest after the meal, Steinhardt got up and said goodbye. He was invited to Rome to attend an international conference. He came to Ricci to see his old friends and happened to meet Jonas, which was a surprise to Jonas. Jonas sent Stanhardt to St. Moritz Airport for Ricci, and his Bombardier business plane would take him directly to Rome.

Back at Ritchie's villa, he asked, "How do you think Michael's plane is?"

"Of course it's great, it's a dream for many people."

Ritchie smiled and said, "I ordered a new Gulfstream 550 last year and it will be delivered soon. I think I can satisfy your dream."

Yonas was stunned for a moment before he understood what Ritchie said, and quickly said, "No, Mark, that's yours. If I need it, I can borrow it from you. Of course, I can also order one. Gulfstream 550 is said to be the longest-flying business jet, which can fly between most cities in the world."

Ritchie shook her head and said, "Jonas, this is my little intention. Do you understand? I hope you don't refuse."

Although there is not much money yet, Yonas didn't take a 45 million business plane seriously and decided to make a decision. Of course, he was still a little moved. He was able to have this intention and use a plane as a gift, which means he still valued himself more. Yonas asked: "Mark, do you know that the Americans ordered it?"

Ricci laughed, "No, of course not. This was ordered in the name of a friend. Of course, it will belong to you in the future. This time, the copper mine in Chile is entirely your credit. Even if you are not my godson, you should have this reward." He paused and asked, "There is a mining area around the Escodida mine that you mentioned last time, which can be used as the topic of our official conversation with Chile. Are you ready?"

Jonas asked: "What are the official people in Chile?"

"Chile's Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Foreign Investment Committee are two ministerial figures, Chile's ambassador to Switzerland, as well as the Copper Commission and some corporate representatives."

"Mr. Bachelet?"

Ritchie smiled and said, "It seems you have made some preparations, too."

"Marke, I know, Ms. Bachelet will be the first elected female president in South America," Jonas said.

Ritchie's smile froze on his face and he said in confusion: "Are you sure?"

Jonas nodded and said, "OK."

Ricci made a pause gesture, picked up the phone and dialed Cassinali's phone number and said, "Cassinali, please inform me that the senior executives in Switzerland will attend the cocktail party at the Chilean embassy tonight. Yes, all the executives. No, it's not for St. Moritz, we will meet directly in Zug."

Jonas waited for him to hang up the phone and asked, "What kind of cocktail party is this? Is the Chilean government's sorority?"

Richi shook his head and said, "No. The guests were only Genect and Strata. The development of the Bloomsse copper mine has entered the review stage of the Copper Industry Committee. After approval, it will be an investment of up to 6 billion US dollars. So the Chilean official will hold a communicative cocktail party for the three of us. I will not participate in the development of the copper mine, so I didn't want to go, but your prediction of the Chilean copper mine prevented me from rejecting this cocktail party."

Jonas asked, “So when will Garnac and Strata pay us funds?”

"Are you short of money?"

Jonas smiled and said, "Yes, I have a lot of investments I want to do."

Ritchie smiled and said: "The funds for buying mines and development have combined to reach $12 billion. Even if Gernanke and Strata have great business, they will not be able to get it out at once. They will definitely find partners to raise them, not so quickly. If you are in a hurry to invest, I can ask them to pay you some money first."

Jonas nodded and said, "It's better. When my dad comes back from Chile, we can talk about this in detail."

Ritchie asked, “How much money do you need?”

Jonas smiled and said, "The more the better, Mark, the sharp rise in copper prices is about to begin."

Ritchie laughed, "Jonas, for me, no matter how much money I make from the stock market and the futures market, it doesn't make any sense. I have never lacked money. If money is just money, it will not be attractive to me. What I value is because of the added value brought by money."

Jonas was stunned and said, "I don't understand what you mean."

Ritchie said: "A hungry man, is it useful to give him a piece of bread or a dollar? Relatively speaking, for an old man like me who is about to enter the grave, a rich man, hundreds of millions of dollars of funds, even the food you cooked for me today. The money obtained from the stock market and futures markets only has the function of money, and has no added value of power and fun. A person who works in finance has a billion dollars of funds, but his power and influence are far less than an industrialist who only has 100 million dollars but has opened many factories. An entrepreneur who solves work for 10,000 people is more supported and loved by the people than a rich financier."

Jonas asked: "What if it is $10 billion? The quantification of money will also cause qualitative changes."

Ritchie nodded and said, "Of course this is the case. I will not deny this fact. However, it will not be a simple process to achieve the level of quantitative change that causes qualitative change. Gatsby Buffett is rich, but his respect and influence are far less than Buffett. Even if he now focuses most of his energy on charity, he is still not as good as Buffett. This is something that money cannot do. But if the difference is too far, there will be no comparison."

"I know you've made a lot of money in the futures market in London, but, I hope, you only use this as a channel for you to raise funds, not as a career."

Speaking of this, Jonas understood why Ricci told him these things. He nodded and said, "Yes Godfather, entering the energy industry is my ideal." Although Ricci asked Jonas to call him Mark when there was no one, and call him Godfather when there was someone, whenever Jonas felt touched, he always called him Godfather again from the bottom of his heart.

Ricci nodded and said, "I have experienced a dark period. A few years ago, when the US government wanted me, my career was not going well, my relationship was not going well, everything became wrong. But why did the United States want me, Spain, Israel, Switzerland, and many other countries still stand up for me, speak for me, and even fight against the United States?"

Before Jonas could clear his thoughts, he said it himself, "Because when I was in the energy industry, I realized that money may be omnipotent in other industries, but not in the energy industry. To gain a foothold in the energy industry, money is not important, technology is not important, talent is not important, what is important is power and relationships. Among these two factors, relationships are more important than power and relationships. From the beginning, my cooperation with Cuba was richer than me and more powerful, but in the end I signed a cooperation agreement with the Cuban government. You may also know that I made a fortune by oil. At that time, the oil industry was monopolized by seven sister companies, from oil wells to transportation, to refining, to gas stations, all of them were monopolized by them. The reason why I was able to break through their blockade and create spot crude oil trade was entirely due to relationships to achieve my goal."

Ritchie sighed and said, "I will tell you in detail about the past when I have time. The reason why I tell you about these things now is to correct your concept of money first. Maybe in other industries, the magic of money is supreme, but in the energy industry, money is far from the most important. Yonas, although I have money, I am not as rich as a country. I even spent much more money than I earn in the past few years. However, I have never been short of money. I only need to make a few calls, and countless people will transfer huge amounts of money into my account. This will be a number you would never dream of."

Of course, Jonas knew how great Ricci's energy was. His partners were spread all over the world. He had countless disciples, and he could spend at least tens of thousands of dollars or more, and there were also many who could spend hundreds of millions of dollars. Later generations Glencore made an internal corporate debt, and a state-owned enterprise far away in China immediately took out 200 million dollars to support, and he could get it for billions of dollars. That was just a few companies with business subscribed, and many companies didn't have time to pay.

Seeing Jonas thinking thoughtfully, Ritchie said: "We actually discussed two issues, one is the role of money and the other is the role of relationships. Let's analyze the role of money first. You are in the original accumulation stage, so I don't object to you in any way to obtain money. The stock market and futures market are fast channels for money. Since your smart brain has determined the direction, I won't say much. If it's faster to rob a bank, I can even help you formulate a plan. Unfortunately, robbing a bank is far from being as good as these two aspects."

The two looked at each other and smiled, as if to explain this joke, but Jonas knew that for Ritchie, it was no joke, because he was originally a person who ignored the law.

"When money reaches a certain level, its effect will become smaller and smaller. You have 10 billion dollars, and I only have 5 billion dollars, but I can do everything you can."

Jonas nodded and said, "Yes, it's true when money is almost the same."

Ritchie shook his head and said, "No, when you have 5 billion dollars, even if the other party has 100 billion dollars, you can still do what he can do. Because in this world, 5 billion dollars can do almost anything. Even if there are still shortcomings, you can rely on other means to solve the problem. So, the role of money is to have a ceiling."

Ritchie took a sip of the coffee that was about to cool down, and Jonas immediately turned on the coffee pot to heat it. Ritchie continued: "The energy industry has a stronger limit on money, because energy is the foundation of every country's survival. Many times, money has to give power, struggle, and ideological concessions. In the world, the only similarity to the energy industry in terms of cutting-edge technology is like the blockade of cutting-edge technology in communist countries."

Of course, Jonas knew that the Batumi Agreement, which all Chinese people hated to the core. The infamous Batumi organization was established in 1949. It was originally mainly targeted at the Soviet Union, but later it became a tool for targeting communist countries. All high-tech technologies were blocked and prohibited from exporting to communist countries. Because of this agreement, China took many detours in industrial development.

"However, with technology blockade, other countries can also develop and imitate, while energy, as a non-renewable substance, is a more powerful weapon. Therefore, money has much less force. Canadian gold companies explored a large gold mine in Chile, but were eventually deprived of the right to develop, which can illustrate the restrictive power of money."

"So, let's talk about the power of relationships. My real development is from the oil industry, and I have achieved great development by selling Iranian oil. Before that, I even rely on my father to help me lend two million yuan from the bank. So, why did I get the oil contract from Iran instead of other rich people? This is the role of relationships. If we rely on normal procedures to explore copper mines in Chile, we may now obtain the approved investment from the Copper Industry Committee. As for the scope of exploration and copper mine development, I am afraid that I will still be entangled in endless meetings and struggles with large companies. This is still the role of relationships."

Jonas said: "Mark, you are a great person. Not only did you start from scratch and create a big family business, but more importantly, you have established a business network and relationship network all over the world in most countries. The city of Zug was developed because of you."

Ritchie did not deny these praises, but did not care too much, because he had heard such words many times. He smiled and continued: "Many times, the so-called forces, like nuclear bombs in many countries nowadays, are just a deterrent force. If you really can't use them, then relationships are particularly important. Jonas, you are still very young now, so although money is important, you should focus more on creating a network of your own relationships. I will also do my best to help you. You have more success than me, and I hope to see you take off a day."

The coffee was boiling, Jonas poured hot coffee for Ricci and said sincerely: "Godfather, I am standing on the shoulders of you, a giant, and I will definitely make good use of the current conditions and develop well."

"I don't know what else is that can stop you from taking off." Ritchie sorted out her cuffs and said, "Okay, I should change my clothes and prepare to set off."

Jonas asked, "Mark, I know that when the United States wanted you, many countries stood up for you, and in the end, Israel made great efforts to make the United States pardon you. So, why did those countries spare no effort to help you?"

Ritchie thought for a while and said, "The interests. Only when your interests are integrated with more people can you have a wider relationship and protection. So, in our industry, don't think about eating alone, always consider the opinions of your partners."

Although Ritchie did not explain in detail the interests of his country in the end, Jonas has received a lot of teachings today, and it really feels like listening to your words is better than reading for ten years.
Chapter completed!