Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 539: Winning Over (Part 2)

Lu Shaohua didn't want to care about the open and secret struggles of the royal family. He cared about his own interests. The current Saudi Arabian royal king was willing to cooperate with Lu Shaohua and could bring benefits to Lu Shaohua. Lu Shaohua didn't need to worry about it, but what about the future? Whoever became the Saudi Arabian royal king in the future could still bring benefits to Lu Shaohua, that was another matter for him to say.

Therefore, from a long-term perspective, who will ascend the throne will have a certain impact on Lu Shaohua. Since there is an impact, Lu Shaohua has to consider and plan for his long-term interests. However, Lu Shaohua is not optimistic about the eldest prince in front of him. In a way, Lu Shaohua hates this eldest prince.

Lu Shaohua likes people who are straightforward, people who seek truth from facts, and even more so people who are smart. However, the performance of the eldest prince in front of him made Lu Shaohua see nothing outstanding about him. Although he was not stupid, he was too self-righteous and treated him, Lu Shaohua, as a fool.

Does Lu Shaohua need him to speak well of his father? Does Lu Shaohua need him to promote this cooperation?

The answer is obvious, no two are needed. Lu Shaohua does not need anyone to mediate because this cooperation is a foregone conclusion and cannot be changed. If the king in front of him said something good about continuing the next cooperation in addition to this one, Lu Shaohua would still be interested, but Lu Shaohua does not care about this cooperation.

After having a preliminary understanding of the eldest prince, Lu Shaohua had already made a decision in his heart, which was not to support the eldest prince. On the contrary, Lu Shaohua approved of the way the second prince handled things.

Of course, Lu Shaohua did not position himself so highly. He did not think that the party he supported would be able to succeed the king of the Saudi Arabian royal family. There are variables in everything. The selection of the successor to the king of the Saudi Arabian royal family is their internal matter and has nothing to do with him, Lu Shaohua.

But it would be too absolute to say that there is no relationship. With Lu Shaohua's current status and position, he is capable of influencing the selection of the successor. Not to mention his identity as the chairman of the Phoenix Group, the mere fact that he is the person in power behind the Tiger Roar Base is enough to influence it. This is not counting his status as a lieutenant general. If his status as a lieutenant general is taken into account, the result will be very different.

Although Saudi Arabia does not occupy a large position in the international arena, they are an oil-rich country after all. Which country would not want to make friends with them and seek benefits from them? Lu Shaohua believes that China is no exception. If they knew about the relationship between Lu Shaohua and the Saudi Arabian royal family, they might send Lu Shaohua as China's representative to enhance friendship and discuss cooperation with the Saudi Arabian royal family.

On the contrary, if the Saudi Arabian royal family knew that Lu Shaohua also had the rank of lieutenant general, they might use the friendship between them to befriend China. With an extra backer, their position would be further consolidated.

Now no one knows that Lu Shaohua is a lieutenant general. They only know that he is the behind-the-scenes ruler of the Tiger Roar Base and the owner of the Phoenix Group. Since this is the case, they come to curry favor with him, just like the eldest prince, seeking credit and winning him over. It's a pity that he can't get Lu Shaohua's recognition.

However, Lu Shaohua was still relatively cautious in this matter. It was a good practice not to express his position easily. Since he was not optimistic about the eldest prince, Lu Shaohua did not express his own opinion, but waited for what the eldest prince would say next.

On the other hand, the eldest prince seemed a little impatient. He thought he had won Lu Shaohua's favor, so he started to get to the point. "My father is old and not in good health. We princes have grown up and have the conditions to be independent. The matter of establishing a king has been put on the agenda."

The eldest prince told the story first, then paused and looked at Lu Shaohua's face. Seeing that the latter still had the same expression as before, with a faint smile on his face and nodding from time to time, the eldest prince couldn't help but feel happy and continued. "And I, the eldest son of my father, am older than my brothers, and I am more stable in my ability to handle things. It is understandable that I will inherit the throne."

Lu Shaohua still did not speak, but just smiled. In his heart, he secretly despised the eldest prince and cursed him for being a brainless person. He said that there was no need to be so straightforward in recommending himself. He could have explained it through language skills.

Is Lu Shaohua so easy to fool? From the performance of the eldest prince, it can be clearly seen that the eldest prince in front of him is not very capable. He has some cleverness, but as for great wisdom, he does not have it. How can he inherit the throne?

Lu Shaohua was already disgusted with the eldest prince, and he recommended himself, which made him even more disgusted. However, Lu Shaohua did not express it. His expression remained the same as before, with a faint smile on his face. Lu Shaohua also knew that the eldest prince had not finished speaking, and Lu Shaohua was waiting for his next words.

Lu Shaohua's guess was not wrong. The eldest prince had not finished speaking. Seeing that Lu Shaohua had no intention of interrupting him, the eldest prince could not help but continue. "You may not know that the competition for the throne is very fierce. Even if I have all the advantages, there are too many variables. Therefore, I need a strong backer, an ally, and a long-term partner."

Praising, commending, and making promises are all beneficial to Lu Shaohua, and are also necessary gestures to win over Lu Shaohua.

There is no free lunch in the world. In this regard, the eldest prince did a better job and knew how to make promises. His meaning was very clear. As long as Lu Shaohua supported him and allowed him to ascend the throne, he would cooperate with Lu Shaohua for a long time.

It is true that Lu Shaohua focuses on interests, but there is a prerequisite. If he supports this disgusting person in front of him to ascend the throne, Lu Shaohua would rather not cooperate with the Saudi Arabian royal family and look for other partners.

Maybe it was intuition, or maybe it was his heart playing tricks on him, but Lu Shaohua not only hated the eldest prince, but also despised his behavior. He thought that the eldest prince in front of him was just good at talking, but when it came to serious matters, he might kick him aside at any time.

Will Lu Shaohua support an unstable partner?

Lu Shaohua is not stupid, his eyes are bright. In a nutshell, Lu Shaohua will never support the eldest prince to inherit the throne. Not only will he not support it, he will also block it and prevent the eldest prince from ascending the throne.

If Lu Shaohua was just disgusted with the eldest prince when he first met him, now, Lu Shaohua has no good feelings towards him at all, and even regards him as an enemy. If he wants to think about the future, Lu Shaohua must stop the eldest prince from succeeding to the throne.

Lu Shaohua confirmed this idea at this moment. He originally planned not to participate in the open and secret struggles of their royal family, but at this moment, Lu Shaohua had to make plans for his future. But who should he support to defeat the eldest prince?

Lu Shaohua still doesn't have an answer in his mind. The current king of the Saudi Arabian royal family has five children in total. Two of them are still minors, and it is impossible for them to inherit the throne. The remaining three, besides the eldest prince in front of him, are the second prince and the third prince. Lu Shaohua has to choose between the second and third princes.

The second prince left a good impression on Lu Shaohua, but Lu Shaohua only had a superficial understanding of him, which was not comprehensive enough for him to dare to make a decision.

With a plan in mind, Lu Shaohua did not intend to drag it out any longer. However, Lu Shaohua did not intend to directly reject the eldest prince, but to adopt the identity of an outsider to deal with it. "The eldest prince is flattering me. I am just an ordinary businessman. I have no role in your succession to the throne. Besides, I am an outsider and am not suitable to participate in their succession to the throne."

Refusal is equal to offense, Lu Shaohua knows this very well. If Lu Shaohua directly rejects the eldest prince now, Lu Shaohua will completely offend the eldest prince. At this sensitive time, it would be inappropriate for Lu Shaohua to do so.

Even if Lu Shaohua wanted to support another prince to ascend the throne, he would do it slowly and secretly without letting people know. As for surface efforts, he would still act as an outsider, just like he did when he rejected the eldest prince.

Hearing this, the eldest prince was slightly stunned, and suddenly realized that what Lu Shaohua said made a lot of sense. He was indeed an outsider, but the eldest prince also understood deep in his heart that the power of Lu Shaohua, an outsider, was too useful to him. He moved his lips and wanted to continue speaking...

"Haha." Lu Shaohua laughed, interrupting the eldest prince and saying, "Prince, I came here to discuss cooperation with your father. As for other matters, I don't want to interfere, and I won't stay in your country for too long. After the cooperation is agreed, I will rush back to Hong Kong immediately. Well, I solemnly invite you. If you have time, you can come to Hong Kong to play. I will be the host. Let me do my best to be a good host."

Lu Shaohua was trying to change the subject and at the same time was ordering him to leave. Yes, Lu Shaohua was ordering him to leave. He had already mentioned inviting him to visit Hong Kong, so what else could he be but intending to end the conversation?

It was true that the eldest prince did not have great wisdom, but he was still clever. Naturally, he could understand what Lu Shaohua meant. Although he was a little angry, he was facing Lu Shaohua, the man behind the Tiger Roar Base and the chairman of the Phoenix Group, which ranked 37th in the world. He could not afford to offend him, nor could he get angry. He had to greet him with a smile and said, "Then I won't disturb your rest. I'll talk to you another day."

"Well, I'll be waiting for you in Hong Kong." Lu Shaohua nodded and replied, then turned his head and looked at Li Zhijie, who had been silent and completely a bystander, and said, "Brother Zhijie, please help me send the eldest prince off."

Li Zhijie saw the whole confrontation between Lu Shaohua and the eldest prince. With his understanding of Lu Shaohua, he knew that Lu Shaohua did not like the eldest prince in front of him. He nodded gently to Lu Shaohua to show that he understood. Then he stood up and made a gesture of invitation to the eldest prince, and said, "Eldest prince, please."

"Goodbye." The eldest prince had a little anger on his face, but he did not show it and still said with a smile.

The eldest prince left, and Lu Shaohua smiled faintly at his back, mocking the eldest prince, and then shook his head in disappointment, muttering softly, "This man will never ascend to the throne."