67: Chapter 67: Paying this amount of gold is just a small fraction of our gold reserves.

Not long after Major General Moss and the lieutenant colonel sent by the high-level military officials of Lebanon left, they immediately returned to the negotiating table.

Li Yi looked at Major General Moss's expression; it seemed that he had a procurement plan.

His expression was filled with undisguised excitement, probably because he was about to acquire another batch of weapons and equipment to arm his troops and enhance his strength.

"Major General Moss, is there a result? How many Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile do you intend to purchase?" Li Yi asked.

Major General Moss did not waste any words and directly reported Lebanon's procurement requirements.

"Our side will purchase 200 sets of Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile, with 400 accompanying missiles; 50 sets of Tianlei Type II Anti-Aircraft Missile, with 150 accompanying missiles; 30 sets of Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missile, with 80 accompanying missiles; 3 sets of Tianlei Type IV Anti-Aircraft Missile, with 6 accompanying missiles; and 1 set of Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile, with 2 accompanying missiles."

Li Yi calculated while listening to Major General Moss describe the quantities. Since none of the quantities Lebanon was purchasing reached the minimum discount price, everything was calculated at the original price, resulting in a final procurement price of 452 million US dollars.

This procurement order was not a large one, and for Li Yi, who had already seen a 2-billion-dollar order, it was a bit underwhelming.

However, out of respect for the client, Li Yi confirmed, "The quantity of this procurement does not reach the minimum discount tier for any of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile models, so the payment can only be calculated at the original price. The total payment is 452 million US dollars, correct?"

Major General Moss had already calculated this when determining the quantity, so he had no objections and said, "Correct, that is the procurement amount."

"Then what combination do you intend to use for payment?" Li Yi asked.

Major General Moss knew from Mannila that arms dealers could accept resources like oil to pay for goods.

However, Lebanon was not a country rich in natural resources. It had few mineral resources, only small amounts of iron ore, lead ore, lignite, and asphalt, and even these were not mined much.

Although there were oil and natural gas resources in Lebanon's territorial waters, and the reserves were reportedly quite large according to surveys, they had not yet been extracted. The country itself still needed to import oil to develop its industry, so there was no hope of relying on oil or natural gas for payment.

"Let us pay with US dollars and gold," Major General Moss could only say.

Although Lebanon was a small country, it possessed relatively large gold reserves, ranking among the top twenty in the world.

Using gold to pay for the arms procurement was completely fine; it would just reduce their gold reserves a little.

Li Yi considered it. Since this arms deal order was secured by Mannila, and the order amount was less than 1 billion US dollars, the commission was 5%, meaning 22.6 million US dollars needed to be paid to Mannila. For the remaining 429.4 million US dollars, Li Yi did not intend to accept US dollars and decided to convert it all into gold.

"Your side will pay 22.6 million US dollars, and the remaining 429.4 million US dollars will be paid entirely in gold. Is this payment combination acceptable?"

Major General Moss had no objections. In any case, it was all foreign exchange reserves that needed to be paid out, so the combination did not matter much. He said, "Yes, our side agrees."

"The current international gold price is 2,025 US dollars per ounce. Your side needs to pay 212,049.38 ounces, which is equivalent to 6,595.477 kilograms." Li Yi calculated the gold Lebanon needed to pay.

6.6 tons of gold was four times the amount of gold obtained from Jordan last time, which was quite a lot of gold.

However, for Lebanon, this bit of gold was just a fraction of its gold reserves.

After all, Lebanon's gold reserves were 286.8 tons, so even after paying out 6.6 tons of gold, it would still have 280 tons of gold left. The impact on Lebanon was not very significant.

Major General Moss did the math. Li Yi using the latest international gold price was a good thing for Lebanon.

The current gold price was over 2,000 US dollars per ounce, which had already risen quite a bit. Selling gold at a high point was a huge gain for Lebanon.

Major General Moss quickly said, "No problem, our side agrees to pay 6,595.477 kilograms of gold and 22.6 million US dollars for the purchase of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile."

"To show our sincerity, our side will only take 5% of the total price of the arms deal, which is 22.6 million US dollars, as a deposit this time. After your side pays the deposit, our side will deliver all the purchased Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile in one go. You must pay the remaining gold within three days after receiving the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile."

Li Yi waved his hand and readily agreed to let Lebanon pay a small deposit.

In any case, if Lebanon did not pay the remaining gold, Li Yi would directly lock all the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile purchased by Lebanon through the Multiverse Arms Trading System, making it impossible for them to use them.

Although this would affect Chaos Company's reputation, this small impact could be explained with a reason. For example, if the final payment was not made, there was no way to unlock the password to enable the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile.

Moreover, the conditions for arms sold by the USA were even more excessive. After selling fighter jets, even the buyer's use of the fighter jets required the consent of personnel stationed by the USA. If they did not agree, the buyer could not even make decisions about the fighter jets they had purchased.

Li Yi was just punishing buyers who did not pay the final balance, which would have a greater impact on the buyer's credibility. In the future, no arms dealer would cooperate with such buyers.

Major General Moss was very satisfied with this delivery method. In any case, he was not afraid of the arms dealer reneging. Once the deposit was paid, they could receive the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile. He said, "Our side can accept this delivery method and will pay the deposit and final balance in a timely manner."

Li Yi finally gave a reminder, saying, "The Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile your side purchased this time can only be used within the territory of Lebanon. It cannot be resold to other countries, nor can it be taken outside of Lebanon for use; otherwise, the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile will be in a locked state and cannot be used."

Major General Moss questioned this, saying, "Our side purchased the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile specifically to defend against air raids by Israel. If it cannot be used within Israel's territory, how can we conduct anti-aircraft operations in advance?"

"Since that's the case, then add Israel to the coverage area for the use of this batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile."

"Can you also include Syria in the coverage area?" Major General Moss argued.

Regarding Syria, Lebanon was also uneasy. Although Syria had far fewer fighter jets than Israel and their performance was not advanced, one still had to take precautions.

"Not for now. If Lebanon and Syria have a conflict, then we can unlock it and increase the coverage area for use." Li Yi flatly refused, but left a tail.