Chapter 67: The Robber

  According to Zhao Ziyang's estimation, Ye Haya should send two more batches of people to invite him before he would take action himself. He is a president, and even if the country is small, it is still a sovereign state, and for the president to personally go ask for mercenaries would be an absolute joke if it got out.

  But the development of events was beyond Zhao Ziyang's expectation, and Gambian President Yahya Jammeh personally came to invite them to help Gambia quell internal unrest.

  Ye Haiyan's exclusive honor guard lined up in two rows on the beach, with a majestic and solemn appearance. This is something Ye Haiyan must do when he goes out, as he likes this kind of grandeur and feels that it gives him the supreme power of a president, without considering any party or public opinion.

  A white robe covered Ye Haiya's stout figure, and he walked towards Zhao Ziyang and his entourage with a smile on his face, accompanied by a naval officer. The Gambians working at the seaside bowed their heads to the ground, placing their right hands on their chests in respect for Ye.

  Ye Haiya waved his right hand, walking at a steady pace, as if he were inspecting troops, benevolently waving to his people. His personal assistant, Keira, in a black professional skirt, walked behind him, also with a satisfied smile on her face.

  "Hail to the great leader!" A voice emerged from the sparse crowd, a professional-sounding voice that was clearly planted.

  Similarly as president, similarly as dictatorship, Gaddafi is much more low-key than Yahya.

  "Your brain is full of crap!" The sharp blade ruthlessly spat out these words, expressing his contempt for Ye Haiya.

  "Hehe, if Yahya Jammeh didn't do so, he wouldn't be able to continue as President of Gambia." Zhao Ziyang smiled and continued: "What the Americans want is exactly this kind of appearance. The UN observer team during the presidential election did not hope that an excellent person would lead Gambia."

  The US, which can intervene in the sovereignty of many countries with the help of the United Nations, absolutely does not want any country to have an excellent leader. If one appears, it means that the country will gradually lose control under the leadership of the leader, thus hindering its strategic deployment. Guys like Yahya who claim that 1,000 marines can stop a war in the Taiwan Strait are what they need, convenient to control. The US is not very enthusiastic about Gambia, because Gambia lacks the strategic resources they need.

  "Attention!"

  "Whoosh! Whoosh!"

  At the command of the colour party commander, the colour party with rifles present arms will lower their rifles and complete their colour party duties.

  "Haha, welcome you guys, my friends!" Ye Haiya's face was filled with a brilliant smile, showing genuine friendliness to Zhao Ziyang.

  As he spoke, Ye Haiya quickened his pace by two strides, and with the light fluttering of his robes, added a hint of elegance to his already dignified demeanor.

  "Head, Gun Ghost has sent a message that the Senegalese soldiers who were protecting Ye Haiya have withdrawn." Swote whispered to Zhao Ziyang, passing on the latest news.

  Zhao Ziyang nodded slightly and smiled warmly as he walked towards Ye Haiya.

  "Mr. President, how can you come in person? The sea wind is strong, what if you get hurt? That would be a great shame for us." Zhao Ziyang said with a smile that grew thicker at the corners of his mouth as he greeted Ye Haya.

  The guys behind him were holding back their smiles and trying to look serious. The special forces' words were clearly sarcastic, and the sarcasm was showing through.

  Having been with Zhao Ziyang for a long time, these guys already know that Chinese is indeed profound and complex, even scolding without using dirty words. At first, when Zhao Ziyang met them, he would always ask about their mothers, which made them think that special forces were very polite. But later they found out that asking about someone's mother in China is actually a way of cursing, and they had been unknowingly cursed by the special forces for a long time.

  "Haha, this sea breeze can't do anything to me." Ye Haiya waved his hand and said carelessly: "I'm also a soldier, haha..."

  "Are you also a soldier? Are you also a warrior?" Zhao Ziyang asked Ye Haiyan with a surprised face, then put away the surprise and showed admiration for Ye Haiyan, saying: "I didn't expect that you are also a warrior. I think you must be an excellent warrior, because you are the leader of great Gambia."

  "Hahaha......" Ye Haiya burst into a hearty laugh, very pleased and satisfied that others were flattering him.

  For flattering words, Ye Haiya can never hear enough of them. He likes it when others flatter him. In Gambian politics, if you don't know how to flatter the president, you will never be reused and may even bring disaster upon yourself.

  Here, the control over news media is extremely strict. Ordinary people only know one Gambian radio station, which for 18 hours out of every 24 hours talks about how great Gambia is and how wise and powerful President Yahya Jammeh is. This is a kind of closed-loop thought control, but it's very effective. If it weren't for the many ethnic groups, it would be like North Korea: loyalty is not to the country, but to a person who will always be great no matter what.

  With a "crack", Zhao Ziyang gave Ye Haiyan a military salute.

  Suddenly seeing Zhao Ziyang salute him, Ye Haiyan slowly raised his right hand and returned a somewhat unstandard military salute to Zhao.

  At the moment of salute, Zhao Ziyang clearly saw the arrogance and disdain in Ye Haiyan's eyes, and he immediately understood.

  Yahya Jammeh was indeed a soldier. On April 24, 1970, The Gambia declared itself a republic with Dawda Jawara as president. On July 22, 1994, some junior army officers staged a coup and overthrew the nearly 30-year rule of Jawara and the People's Progressive Party.

  In the military coup, Lieutenant Yahya Khan, then Chairman of the Martial Law Administrator, seized power and overthrew Ayub's government to become the head of state. This was a typical putsch by junior officers in the middle ranks of the army. At 29 years old, Yahya became President and was at that time the most ruthless and efficient soldier.

  "I want to hire you to fight for me." Ye Haiya's voice gave people a feeling of changing faces, which was due to Zhao Ziyang's actions.

  Zhao Ziyang's deliberate flattery and fawning made Ye Haiyan think that the latent mercenary was nothing more, so his attitude changed immediately, from being equal just now to being high above.

  Zhao Ziyang saw Ye Haiya's reaction and just smiled lightly without saying a word. Just now, he was being deliberate, deliberately cautious. What kind of person Ye Haiya was, he wasn't clear about, all he had grasped were some superficial appearances.

  Anyone who can successfully stage a coup and become president at the age of 29 is extremely terrifying, they have very deep minds, if not, they will definitely become someone else's stepping stone in the coup.

  But for now, Yahya Khan has only confidence. His decade-long presidency has made him fearless, just as he said: whether you like it or not, no coup can overthrow me, no election can end my term. God has arranged for me to rule for as long as I want, and God has allowed me to freely choose a successor.

  Often overconfidence turns into arrogance, and any actual authority cannot escape this ultimate outcome.

  Zhao Ziyang's face turned cold and he pointed three fingers at Ye Haiyan.

  "Three million?" Ye Haiya had a look of being wealthy and arrogant.

  "Thirty million dollars, and you won't have any worries." Zhao Ziyang stared at Ye Haiya, his eyes suddenly bursting with a sharp, substantial light.

  Ye Haiya, caught in this gaze, subconsciously took a slight step back, but immediately felt it was inappropriate and so stepped forward with his right foot, advancing towards Zhao Ziyang.

  "Thirty million US dollars? No, no, no, you're talking nonsense." Ye Haiya shook his head disdainfully, his hands clasped in the wide sleeves: "This internal strife is easy to resolve. I'll give you at most five million US dollars. You know that for mercenaries like you, five million US dollars is already a big deal, and many will rush to take it."

  Ye Haiya, who was haggling over the price, looked like a second-hand goods to Zhao Ziyang. He was only looking for a hidden profit in a situation where he had no leverage. After finding a suitable candidate, he immediately showed a disdainful attitude and continued to haggle, just like a vendor in a vegetable market.

  "You can go find Eo to help you?" Zhao Ziyang's icy face broke into a smile, and Ye Haiya's heart relaxed a little with this smile.

  Ye Haiya laughed upon hearing this sentence, he immediately understood from Zhao Ziyang's words why the Eo Mercenary Corps no longer accepted this mission, why some surrounding mercenary corps were also unwilling to accept this mission, and why Senegal suddenly withdrew its own soldiers.

  He wasn't stupid and immediately realized that a series of things were manipulated by this lurking mercenary group, and the Oriental man in front of him was the core of the lurker.

  "No, you are the strongest mercenaries." Ye Haiya's face changed again, from his previous arrogance and disdain to being extremely sincere. He understood that this time he was in a desperate situation, and Mekar's strongest mercenary group was not so simple after all.

  "Forty million!" Zhao Ziyang stretched out four fingers.

  Ye Haiya's face changed again, and a strong, suppressed anger flashed in his eyes.

  "It was just 30 million yesterday..."

  "Five hundred million!" Zhao Ziyang stretched out one palm, seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling as he looked at Ye Haiya.

  "This is robbery! You are bandits, you are robbers!" Ye Haiya's forehead bulged with blue veins, and he let out a low roar.

  "Sixty million!" Zhao Ziyang smiled and raised the price again.

  "Deal!" Ye Haiya gritted his teeth and acknowledged without hesitation.

  "Brilliant!" Zhao Ziyang patted Ye Haiya's shoulder and said with a smile: "I like to deal with smart people, because it will save me a lot of trouble. By the way, what you just said is absolutely right, we are actually robbers, bandits."

  At this time, Ye Haiya's dark face turned a faint purple, he clearly felt his high and mighty dignity being trampled on, and a sense of shame at being played with surged up in his heart. But he couldn't do anything about it, the country was in chaos, Senegal suddenly washed its hands of the matter, and he couldn't ask the US government for help, or else he would be vetoed by the UN observer team during the general election.

  This is a crucial moment. As long as he connects with three consecutive presidents, he has the right to dissolve parliament and rule for life, and can also choose his own successor, becoming a true dictator.

  "Mr. President." Zhao Ziyang's face broke into a smile, he pinched his own chin, and in a tone of enticement said to Ye Haiyan: "Six hundred million US dollars is not a loss for you at all. If you had accepted three hundred million back then, you would definitely regret it now."

  "Huh?" Ye Haiya looked at Zhao Ziyang with suspicion.

  "Accept three million and we will help you quell this rebellion once and for all; accept six million..."

  "How about accepting sixty million?" Ye Haiya seemed to have caught a scent of something, his previously dissatisfied expression turning extremely eager.

  Zhao Ziyang took a step forward, and whispered in Ye Haiyan's ear: "The hidden can guarantee that you will be president forever until your death. No one can overthrow your regime, from now on you will no longer be restricted by Senegal, no need to look at the faces of the UN observers, you will become the unprecedented emperor of Gambia."

  Suddenly, Ye Haiya's body violently shook and he grabbed Zhao Ziyang's hand seeking reassurance.

  His words were really too tempting, if, if it could be like this...

  No, how could mercenaries do such business? The profit from going on missions one by one is far greater than this seemingly lucrative buyout. Are these mercenaries thinking of something else? Thinking so, Ye Haiya let go of Zhao Ziyang's hands.

  "Hahaha......" Zhao Ziyang patted Ye Haiya's shoulder, laughing and said to him: "Think carefully, opportunities are not to be missed. If we can keep all the mercenaries out of Gambia, we have the ability to let Gambia remain under your rule forever, hahahahaha......"

  This is a gang of robbers, Yehaiya thought so, this is the latent forcing oneself to accept what looks like a good condition.

  A group of robbers!!!!!