Chapter 197: The Tragedy of Ceylon

「May 20, 2021.」

After returning to Luzon from Malaysia, Chen Jianxiong paid a secret visit to Li Qingye’s temporary villa.

Li Qingye read Chen Jianxiong’s report via a headset storage device.

"You’ve done well, but the number of local Soldiers and New Human employees needs to be expanded further."

Currently, Homo Sapiens Company has 43,000 Soldiers and 182,000 New Human employees stationed across Malaysia.

But that’s still too few compared to the Luzon, Hongsawaddy, and Siam Branches.

The Luzon Branch has 181,000 Soldiers and 578,000 New Human employees; the Hongsawaddy Branch has 234,000 Soldiers and 635,000 New Human employees; and the Siam Branch has 61,000 Soldiers and 357,000 New Human employees.

Additionally, another 36,000 Soldiers and 127,000 New Human employees are deployed worldwide on clandestine missions.

Homo Sapiens Company had virtually emptied out the local gangs, prisons, villains, and dregs of society.

While one couldn’t say that Hongsawaddy and Luzon had become so safe that no one would pick up valuables lost on the street, the social climate had, at the very least, undergone a seismic shift.

Chen Jianxiong nodded. "I’ll speed things up."

Li Qingye removed the headset storage device and asked with keen interest, "Why the sudden interest in Ceylon?"

"Boss, according to the research and analysis from the Office of Strategic Analysis, I predict the country will collapse sooner or later—perhaps within the next year or two," Chen Jianxiong explained.

Li Qingye was already aware of some of the details. "You can’t talk sense into a man digging his own grave. The Rockefeller Foundation is a branch of the Franklin Foundation, isn’t it?"

Chen Jianxiong nodded. "Yes. They’re the ones funding those pseudo-scientific agricultural ’experts’ and environmental groups over in Ceylon."

Li Qingye laughed. "A real bunch of geniuses. Completely banning pesticides and chemical fertilizers for a full return to organic farming? Are they trying to kill me with laughter? Heh..."

Luzon’s use of organic fertilizer is already among the highest in the world, but we haven’t stopped using chemical fertilizers and pesticides; we’ve only reduced their share.

If pesticides and chemical fertilizers were that harmful, Homo Sapiens Company wouldn’t have built its own chemical and fertilizer production bases.

Falling for the nonsense spouted by those so-called ’public intellectuals’ is a fast track to ruin.

Chen Jianxiong also couldn’t comprehend the thought process of the people in charge of Ceylon. He shrugged and said,

"According to our current intelligence, Ceylon’s rice yield this September could drop by 15% to 30% compared to the same period last year. If the ban on pesticides and chemical fertilizers continues, their grain production could fall even further next year."

"What’s more serious is that Ceylon’s foreign debt has surpassed 50 billion US Dollars, yet its revenue this year is less than 10 billion US Dollars. Its pillar industries—apparel, remittances from overseas workers, gemstones, tea, and tourism—are all experiencing negative growth to varying degrees."

Li Qingye raised an eyebrow. "It seems your analysis was spot-on. The country is bound to collapse. What’s your plan?"

"Our commercial intelligence station in Ceylon currently has only 372 employees. I plan to expand it to between 5,000 and 6,000 people and, in the process, establish deep cooperation with influential figures on both sides of the law in certain regions. Then we just have to wait for them to collapse on their own before we move in to install our own proxies." In truth, Chen Jianxiong had no intention of a direct confrontation.

The main reason was that Homo Sapiens Company had acquired too much recently and needed time to digest its gains.

Besides, Ceylon wasn’t important enough for Homo Sapiens Company to waste a dedicated plot on. A bunch of amateurs driving themselves to ruin like this were in a class of their own when it came to incompetence.

"And the foreign debt, the fifty-plus billion US Dollars? How do you plan to handle that?"

A cold glint flashed in Chen Jianxiong’s eyes. "The Raj Clan has about 26.3 billion US Dollars in overseas assets. Add to that the other players, both legitimate and illegitimate, who control at least another twenty-plus billion in overseas assets. The people of Ceylon also have a tradition of wearing gold and silver, and the country produces gemstones. If we squeeze them, we should be able to get around fifty or sixty billion US Dollars out of it."

Clearly, Chen Jianxiong had no intention of using company funds for the bailout; he planned to source the funds locally.

Li Qingye smiled, satisfied. "So Ceylon isn’t broke after all!"

"However, for the next phase, we’ll probably need one of the company’s fronts to step in."

Li Qingye stroked his chin, pondering.

’Given the situation after Ceylon’s collapse, its five pillar industries probably won’t recover anytime soon.’

’That means one of our front companies will have to get fully involved.’

’After some thought, he decided that the Qingye Group in Hongsawaddy was the most suitable candidate.’

’First, the Qingye Group ostensibly controlled nearly a quarter of Hongsawaddy’s agricultural land, annually producing nearly ten million tons of rice, eight million tons of corn, almost a million tons of potatoes, two million tons of soybeans, and over four hundred thousand tons of peanuts.’

’It was one of the few food producers in the world—apart from the ABCD companies and Zhongliang—that could single-handedly feed twenty to thirty million people.’

This year, the total grain output of Hongsawaddy’s three major conglomerates had set a new record, with projected production at 32 million tons of rice, 27 million tons of corn, 5.5 million tons of soybeans, 1.8 million tons of potatoes (fresh weight), 3.4 million tons of sweet potatoes, 4.5 million tons of cassava, and 1.1 million tons of peanuts.

For Hongsawaddy’s population of 56 million, this grain output already exceeded 1.1 tons per capita.

Although most of the corn was used for animal feed, it was still indirectly consumed by people.

Rice alone accounted for over 500 kilograms per capita. About half of that, or roughly 16 million tons, was surplus.

Of this surplus, about 8 million tons were allocated to internal grain reserves, while the remaining 8 million tons could be exported or converted into animal feed.

’Ceylon’s population, on the other hand, is about 22 million. Based on a standard of 250 kilograms of basic rations per person per year, the country requires at least 5.5 million tons of grain annually.’

’Since Ceylon can just barely supply 70% to 80% of its own grain, the shortfall is around 1.1 to 1.65 million tons.’

’The Qingye Group alone could supply that amount.’

Of course, Li Qingye had no intention of acting as a philanthropist.

On the contrary, he intended to seize this opportunity to completely carve up Ceylon, devouring everything from its land, minerals, ports, and airports to its factories, power, communications, retail, water, gas, and banks.

’Ceylon is too small. There’s no need for two or three major conglomerates to exist there. The Qingye Group alone will suffice.’

’In essence, it would be as if the Qingye Group were using tens of billions of US Dollars to buy the entirety of Ceylon.’

’And the Qingye Group wouldn’t even have to put up its own money. By simply moving those other funds around, they could essentially clear the fifty-plus billion in foreign debt.’

As for the question of how Ceylon would develop in the future,

Li Qingye wasn’t too concerned.

’First, Ceylon’s strategic position in the Ceylon Ocean is crucial, and its port services have the potential for further development.’

’Second, Ceylon’s agricultural resources are decent. While exporting large quantities of agricultural products would be difficult, achieving self-sufficiency in grains, vegetables, and fruits is entirely feasible.’

’Third, the seabed surrounding Ceylon holds a significant number of undeveloped offshore oil fields and mineral deposits.’

’With these advantages, Homo Sapiens Company could just assign a few small industries there. They could even stop producing grain altogether and specialize in other agricultural products.’

With two major grain-producing regions under its control, Homo Sapiens Company could afford to be bold in its actions.

After all, Hongsawaddy could export 8 to 10 million tons of rice, and Siam could export another 6 to 7 million tons.

This was on top of Luzon’s steadily increasing rate of grain self-sufficiency.

And the continuous growth of strategic reserves in various locations.

Grain supplies within Homo Sapiens Company’s various fully autonomous operational zones were now actually greater than the demand. It would be entirely possible to have Ceylon stop producing grain altogether.

However, completely ceasing grain production would not align with Homo Sapiens Company’s security strategy.

After all, Ceylon was an island, and the possibility of a blockade by foreign enemies always existed. It would need to maintain a certain level of grain production and establish a comprehensive strategic reserve before it could truly be secure.