The next day.
The news that Sankara would raise salaries for soldiers, officials, police officers, and teachers reached every corner of the country in just one day.
Even the rats in their holes heard the news from house cats!
For a time, the entire country was abuzz.
"Have you heard? We're getting a raise!"
"Have you been living under a rock? The official documents have already been issued!"
"Soldiers, officials, police officers, and teachers are all getting raises? And such big ones! Does the government have that much money? They're not lying to us, are they?"
"It shouldn't be fake, right?"
"What if it is? What if it's fake? Wouldn't all our excitement now be for nothing?"
"Hah! Then I'll show the new president what happens when he gets our hopes up for nothing!"
"There's no point talking about it now! Won't we find out when payday comes on the fifth of next month?"
"I believe the president won't lie to us!"
With certain interested parties stirring things up, everyone began to doubt, to varying degrees, whether they would receive the salaries Sankara had promised next month.
"Raises? The treasury is already so poor it makes rats weep. I'd like to see what he'll use to pay for them! His mouth?"
"Hahaha..."
"As long as he can't pay the salaries he promised on the fifth of next month, his presidency will probably be over!"
"Perhaps we can call him the 'one-month president'!"
"Hahaha!!!"
The rats preparing to oppose Sankara with the support of the North African Strategic Intelligence Bureau hid in dark corners, spitting mockery from their sharp-toothed mouths.
Sankara couldn't hear the mockery of those rats who only dared hide in the sewers, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.
Because he had something more important to deal with now!
More than a dozen experts from the Soviet Union arrived secretly aboard a special flight at the so-called international airport east of the capital, Dugagu.
"They're here already? Is the Soviet Union that desperate for uranium ore?"
Sankara, who had been handling official business in his office, was very surprised when he heard the news.
Then he took a document out of his drawer, handed it to Meyev, and said:
"Take this document to Soviet Ambassador Yalikovich. Tell him the exact coordinates of the largest uranium deposits are all in here."
Under normal circumstances.
These coordinates should have been kept secret, or at least held back as a reserve.
After all, uranium ore was an extremely important strategic resource, but these were hardly normal circumstances.
Until it broke free of the Fourth French Republic's control.
The Republic of Burkina couldn't even be considered a normal country.
Extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures!
At least compared with other countries, the Soviet Union was a partner with very firm bottom lines!
As for the Eastern Giant Dragon?
Uh... they were indeed an even better partner than the Soviet Union.
But the problem was!
The Eastern Giant Dragon was still licking the wounds left by the Second World War and couldn't possibly provide Sankara with such an enormous loan.
Most importantly, they had no shortage of uranium ore at all!
Probably only the Soviet Union, which was buying uranium ore on the international market at a hundred times the price, would be willing to let Sankara use uranium ore as a bargaining chip!
The Soviet Union, the Kremlin.
"We just received word that nearly five hundred thousand tonnes of uranium ore lie beneath the territory controlled by the government of the Republic of Burkina!"
"Really!?"
"Yes, the news came from our own experts!"
"Then that means the kid named Sankara wasn't lying, nor was he deceived by his own officials. They really do have a million tonnes of uranium ore!"
"If there really are at least five hundred thousand tonnes of uranium ore in the territory controlled by the antigovernment forces, then they indeed weren't lying to us! But..."
"No buts! Even without the remaining five hundred thousand tonnes, these five hundred thousand tonnes are enough! Don't they want a loan? How much?"
"Ten billion rubles, I believe!"
"Give it to them! Give it to them! Have them take those ten billion rubles right away! Then tell them to get their feet off our uranium deposits!"
"Don't get so excited, comrade! They're only using the uranium deposits as collateral and giving us priority to buy the ore they extract at market prices. They never said they were selling the million tonnes of uranium ore outright to us!"
"If we get priority to buy it at market prices, doesn't that still make it our uranium ore?"
"Uh..."
A week later.
The calendar turned to Monday, November 15.
The Republic of Burkina, the presidential palace.
Inside the reception room.
"Esteemed Mr. President!"
Yalikovich's way of addressing Sankara had changed: he had added an honorific.
"Our experts have confirmed that there are indeed nearly five hundred thousand tonnes of uranium ore within the territory under your control, Mr. President."
"So we are also willing to believe."
"That the remaining six hundred thousand tonnes of uranium ore lie in the territory controlled by your country's antigovernment forces!"
"Therefore, our country is willing to provide yours with the urgently needed loan of ten billion rubles. Furthermore, as a demonstration of the friendship between our two countries, this loan will be interest-free!"
"But we do have a few conditions!"
There was no such thing as a free lunch!
Every gift of fate already carried a hidden price.
So when Yalikovich said they had a few conditions, Sankara wasn't surprised. Instead, he nodded calmly and said:
"Please go ahead, Mr. Ambassador!"
Perhaps Sankara was so calm that it gave Yalikovich the illusion of "the calm before the storm"!
So he hurriedly added:
"Rest assured, Mr. President. None of these conditions will put you in a difficult position. They are merely intended to provide a better foundation and safeguards for our cooperation!"
Seeing no reaction from Sankara, whose face remained calm, Yalikovich could only continue:
"First, regarding this interest-free loan of ten billion rubles."
"Seven billion rubles of it may only be used to purchase products made in our country. Of course, these products will be sold to your country at market prices. We won't engage in the practices of Anglo-Saxon capital!"
"Your country may freely use the remaining three billion rubles however it wishes. We absolutely won't interfere!"
"No problem!"
Sankara nodded in agreement.
Being allowed to use thirty percent freely already exceeded Sankara's expectations. He had thought it would be twenty percent at most, or even ten percent!
Had it been those capitalists from the American Union, they probably wouldn't have let you freely use even ten percent. You might even have had to... no! You would definitely have had to pay extra out of your own pocket!
Because you could only use the entire loan to buy their products at twenty or even thirty percent above market prices.
Only after Sankara agreed to the first condition did Yalikovich continue:
"Next is the use of these seven billion rubles!"
"We hope your country can set aside a portion of it to prioritize purchasing the supporting equipment needed to mine uranium ore. We will sell this equipment to you at prices below those on the international market!"
"Then begin mining the uranium deposits within your borders as soon as possible!"
"Since this is the foundation of our two countries' cooperation, I hope you will take it seriously, Mr. President!"
"That is absolutely no problem. You can rest assured, Mr. Ambassador. As soon as I receive the loan, I will purchase the relevant equipment from your country, then begin mining uranium ore and exporting it to you!"
In fact, even if Yalikovich hadn't brought it up, Sankara would have done it anyway.
Because later, he still needed to drape himself in the Soviet Union's bearskin to intimidate France, that Gallic rooster with one lame leg!
"And the final condition is..."