Chapter 596

Chapter 596: The Business Empire

Five thousand eight hundred and eighty years from the Xia calendar.

Lin Jiang was sitting in a tea house, listening to a broker talk eagerly, trying to persuade Lin Jiang to buy a batch of land in Tai Xi Province because the broker had already received a bribe in advance.

The broker listed many benefits, such as the land requiring little management as there were ready-made tenant farmers, who could be sent to collect rent every year. The crops could be transported to Yun River tributary and then downstream to Haigang City, where they could be processed in Lin Jiang’s canning factory and sold elsewhere, quickly recouping the investment.

Lin Jiang’s tone remained unchanged, neither agreeing nor refusing, as he finished a pot of tea and gestured for the broker to leave.

"Boss, this is the seventh wave of brokers, the land in the federation is really worthless now."

After the broker left, a smartly dressed woman approached Lin Jiang. She was one of Lin Jiang’s secretaries, known for her sharp and efficient work, highly valued by Lin Jiang.

"The low-price land in Haigang City has doubled in three months. Do you still think land is worthless?"

"Boss, how can those remote areas compare to Haigang City? Even if Haigang City is barren land, just building a warehouse there can make ten times the profit compared to farming."

"Indeed, even though it’s all land, the prices can vary greatly."

"Boss, should we buy these lands?"

"Buy them, why not? Go negotiate with them. Lower their lowest price by thirty percent, then buy all the lands joining them together for me."

Lin Jiang said. Now is the end of the bankruptcies in the Federal agriculture. First, there was an economic crisis causing many farms to go bankrupt, then came the war. Don’t think that land becomes more valuable during a war. Many lands in the Huaxia Federation are used for growing cash crops, relying on colonial exports. With the war dragging on for years, where can they sell these crops?

However, the Allied naval forces have now won the sea battles. The market for colonials will soon open up. When that happens, agricultural products will become more valuable, but only if we can endure until then.

Lin Jiang wants to buy land because their commercial empire needs to be self-sufficient in terms of food production. It’s an important step that will eventually be needed. It’s better to make the purchase now.

Also, Lin Jiang knows that land will be very valuable in the future. In the inland provinces and cities of Huaxia, the development is still lagging behind. Once they catch up, the value of the land will soar. Even growing crops in the future will bring great profits. That’s why Lin Jiang’s vision is forward-thinking.

"Alright, boss. I’ll get this done within half a month."

"Got it, off you go."

Lin Jiang nodded, then got up and left the tea room. His secretaries, assistants, and others immediately followed suit. Someone went to call for a car, and by the time Lin Jiang reached the door, five cars were already waiting outside.

Five cars, all the same in color and appearance, with small curtains on the windows that can be pulled up to hide the inside. Lin Jiang randomly got into one of the cars, and the convoy started moving.

This is a common protection measure in Haigang City, where important people always do it. They learned this from past mistakes.

The convoy arrived at the canned food factory. The bodyguards got off the cars first to check the area before allowing Lin Jiang and the others to get off. Lin Jiang didn’t really need the bodyguards, but he had to keep up appearances.

The canned food factory had been renamed to the food processing factory. Canned food was just one of the products. Lin Jiang’s focus now was on self-heating field rations. He had already received many orders even before setting up the production line.

Lin Jiang’s visit this time was to inspect the new production line and check its efficiency.

The factory manager humbly introduced everything to Lin Jiang. Lin Jiang listened quietly. He had his eye on at least fifty people in the factory. He knew everything about the situation, including how this guy was corrupt. He hadn’t dealt with him yet because the time wasn’t right. When the time came to shift the blame, he would be the best person for it.

After the inspection, Lin Jiang chose not to stay for dinner but returned to his car. His secretary immediately said. Boss, with the current production capacity, the food factory can make a net profit of two hundred thousand Huaxia coins every month. It has already surpassed the film company, only second to the electronics factory.

A net profit of two hundred thousand could outshine ninety percent of the factories in the market. Many factories are on the verge of bankruptcy. A skilled worker in the food factory only earns around thirty-something Huaxia coins per month.

"With two hundred thousand in profit, let’s mortgage it and borrow three million to buy land for the food factory."

"Boss, are you serious? If we take out another loan, our cash flow will be in danger. Even though all three companies have strong cash flows, once problems arise…"

"No problem, let’s do it."

Lin Jiang waved his hand, stopping the secretary from speaking further. He was playing with high leverage now, how could he not know? But so what? Lin Jiang was confident now, it wasn’t like three years ago.

Back at his estate, Lin Jiang met with many guests one after another. As the sky darkened, Lin Jiang finally stopped receiving guests and announced rest time, not allowing anyone, except for his secretary and the like, to disturb him unless it was urgent.

However, Lin Jiang quietly left through the secret passage in his room, changed his clothes, altered his appearance, used light skills, and quickly arrived at the outskirts of Haigang City.

When the film company became popular, it attracted the covetousness of various powerful people. For those dignitaries, Lin Jiang exchanged interests with them, so he naturally wouldn’t refuse. However, some gangs also wanted to benefit from Lin Jiang, which meant seeking death. Lin Jiang personally took action and got rid of several gang leaders.

But when the gang leaders died, it was just changing one person for another. They continued to cause trouble. So, Lin Jiang took decisive action, directly supporting some people to control the gangs. Now, more than half of Haigang City’s gangs are under Lin Jiang’s command, and they don’t even know it themselves.

"Boss, boss…"

Lin Jiang arrived at a gang’s headquarters, and the gang’s top leaders all came to greet him. These leaders were all promoted by Lin Jiang, the previous leaders had been taken care of. Therefore, currently, they were very loyal to Lin Jiang.

"How are things going?"

"Boss, the third batch of one hundred people have been sent out, and the fourth batch is being prepared."

"Good, send five batches of people."

Lin Jiang nodded. His goal was to control this country or the world, so he naturally had to get involved with the military.

Therefore, Lin Jiang arranged for each gang he controlled to send people to join the army. Five batches of one hundred people each were sent. These people all had families, and after joining the army, their families would be taken care of by the gang. As they achieved success in the military, Lin Jiang would help them climb the ranks quickly.

In addition, these were all done discreetly. On the surface, Lin Jiang had already established two orphanages. After brainwashing some soon-to-be adults for several months, they too were sent to the military. Thousands of people were sent in. Statistically speaking, some of them should excel.

"Yes, boss."

"Bring me the earnings for this month for review."

Lin Jiang then asked for the account book to be brought. After verifying that everything was correct, Lin Jiang took away eighty percent of the profits. A crucial role of the gangs controlled by Lin Jiang was to provide him with a cash flow.

This is one of the reasons why Lin Jiang is confident and able to quickly turn things around. If his regular businesses face financial problems, he can try to save them. If they cannot be saved, he can easily start something new.

Lin Jiang took money from controlling gangs and invested it in small businesses like opening a restaurant. These businesses are not for making money, but to have different options.

Lin Jiang wants to build a strong business empire, but it has to look like a normal one on the surface, not threatening to powerful people. Otherwise, it will be broken up and maybe something bad will happen to Lin Jiang.

So, Lin Jiang planned to support a few puppets, letting them start from small businesses. Over decades, even generations, they will slowly become a business empire, maybe even getting into special areas like hiring mercenaries. Publicly, they should have no connection to Lin Jiang.

This is a very detailed and long process. Right now, it’s just laying the groundwork bit by bit.