The Essence of Capital

Lin Qi once asked another person, a child, the same question.

The child answered him—"I dream about it."

He was curious to see how He Bosi, the Prince of the kingdom, would respond.

He didn't have to wait long. After a brief moment of astonishment, He Bosi recovered, nodded, and suppressed any unnecessary expressions on his face. He knew when to adopt what attitude and emotion.

"Of course, I like money and I want more money. So, Mr. Lin Qi, do you have any good business opportunities you can share with me?"

Lin Qi liked the undisguised greed on people's faces, which he found far better than those who were hypocritical, but these people were also much harder to deal with.

Those who are always carefully hiding their deepest desires are not doing so because they want to prevent others from discovering their desires, but because they are unable to resist the suspicion and even attacks that others will have after their desires are discovered.

They dare not expose themselves, fearing they will be hurt, but those who never hide their desires are not so easy to deal with.

They don't hide it because even if you know their greed and desires, there's nothing you can do about them, so they don't need to hide their true nature.

He Bosi was that kind of person. His status, position, and the money he had were enough for him to show his true self without worrying about being spied on by others.

This is why some wealthy people are so "frank"—because they don't need to care about the opinions of ordinary people, and in their eyes, ordinary people aren't even human.

Would you care about what you do because of a dog's gaze? Lin Qi took a banknote out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

He Bosi looked at Lin Qi's serious and calm face for a while before turning his gaze to the banknotes in front of him, which he picked up with his clean fingers.

"A banknote!" He glanced at Lin Qi, Lin Qi nodded slowly, while Mr. He Bosi ' attention returned to the banknote.

He turned it over and over several times, even shaking it. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the local currency, the Galil. To be honest, it's not worth much..."

He Bosi shook his head and put the banknote back. "I don't see any business opportunity here, but I'm very interested in your Nagaril Joint Development Company. If you're willing, I can buy some of your shares at a premium."

Nagaril also has many local specialties, such as spices, furs, and animals, which sell well internationally, especially spices. These don't require much cost and can generate income quickly.

In the past, if people wanted to buy things from here, they would first contact the Preton Merchant House, Preton Merchant House would give them a price list. Of course, they could also bypass the Preton Merchant House and contact the local natives directly.

But from now on, things have changed. The Nagaril Joint Development Company has taken over the work of Preton Merchant House and is doing it even more rigorously.

Given the Federal Navy's activity in the East Ocean, even though the Nagaril Joint Development Company has not yet asserted its rights, it is known that this is an area that cannot be bypassed.

For high-level monopolistic interest groups like these that have already been absorbed internally, outsiders simply cannot join in, let alone interfere. The only way is to try to obtain a portion of the shares from certain shareholders and join the Board of Directors in a subordinate relationship.

If Lin Qi is willing to sell a portion, He Bosi is willing to pay a high price to buy it, the various quotas allocated to him each year could probably earn back the money he put out in just one year.

Lin Qi shook his head. "The situation within the United Company is much more complicated than you imagine. As for this..." He casually picked up the small piece of paper. "It's about to appreciate in value."

"Appreciation?" He Bosi paused for a moment after hearing this, then chuckled and said, "Impossible. We all know the value and purpose of the Nagaril Joint Development Company. Under these circumstances, I would rather believe that the Federal Sol will see a significant increase in the near future than believe that the Galil will appreciate."

"Because it was plundered by you, its money became valuable?" He Bosi said, shrugging his shoulders. "Sorry, I'm used to telling the truth."

Anyone with eyes can see that Nagaril is now a place for the Federal to exploit. Under such circumstances, Lin Qi's claim that Galil would appreciate in value is simply a joke, which gave He Bosi a very special feeling.

He couldn't tell whether Lin Qi looked down on his professional skills in this area, or whether Lin Qi himself was just an idiot. Lin Qi could roughly sense a strange smile in He Bosi' eyes. He turned his head to look out the window, and just as he was about to pick up his coffee cup for a sip, he put his hand back down.

A layer of dust floated on the surface of the coffee, which may be related to the large number of people gathered outside and the dust flying around.

"See that? Countless people," Lin Qi said. He Bosi followed his gaze into the distance but didn't reply. He was waiting for Lin Qi to finish his sentence.

Lin Qi took out his cigarette case and lit one for himself. "We can't send everyone in the Federal here to work. It'll probably only be a portion. And you know, the Federal unions and all sorts of laws have the Working Class on a pedestal!"

The Bayer Federation has the most comprehensive laws related to workers, which leads many people who are unaware of the situation to have a misconception that the Working Class has stood up and can stand up against the capitalists.

So when Lin Qi brought this up, He Bosi nodded naturally. In any case, Federal workers have world-class benefits and are protected by laws and Labor Union.

"We not only have to actively prepare various supplies and bear the heavy transportation costs of some machinery, but we also have to set aside a large sum of money to pay the wages of these people..."

Lin Qi took out a few more banknotes and placed them on the table. "Is there any way to get them to give us a little less money?" He then took one of them.

At this point, He Bosi had caught up with Lin Qi's train of thought and almost blurted out, "Let the Galil appreciate and be directly exchanged for our own currency according to the foreign exchange rate."

His eyes widened in surprise, because at that moment he finally understood why Galil had "appreciated in value".

"The person who came up with this idea, I must say, is a shameless scoundrel!" He Bosi pulled out his pipe and tapped it on the stand.

Lin Qi, however, smiled and nodded in acknowledgment without any hesitation, "Thank you for the compliment, Mr. He Bosi..."

This is a shameless trick that no one has ever used before, but the essence of finance and capital has always remained the same and has never changed, regardless of its outward appearance.

Therefore, Mr. He Bosi immediately guessed the truth.

If each Nagaril People needs 100 Galil as his daily wage, then 10,000 Nagallimans would require paying them 1 million Galil a day. This would be unprofitable for capitalists.

But Lin Qi offered a possibility: he didn't pay people directly in Galil, or rather, he would pay people in Galil as a wage settlement currency, but not in the form of one hundred Galil per day.

These people are paid one Federal Sol per day. Assuming the exchange rate is one Federal Sol to one hundred Galil, one Federal Sol automatically becomes one hundred Galil during the payment process.

However, if the Exchange Rate of Galil is pushed up at this time, for example, to the level of one Federal Sol to eighty Galil, the merchants of the Federal will still have to pay these people a daily wage of "one Federal Sol". But for the convenience of statistics and calculation, since the Federal Sol is not the legal tender of the country, the settlement will naturally be based on the legal tender in the first column.

They only need to pay local workers 80 Galil at the current real-time Exchange Rate! Without harming their own interests, they can save 20% on labor costs at once. Isn't that simple? By simply pushing up the Galil Exchange Rate, the financial pressure on Federal developers can be greatly reduced. The more the Galil appreciates, the more Federal businessmen will benefit.

This is indeed shameless and despicable, but that's finance, that's capital.

He Bosi couldn't resist picking up the worthless little thing again; as an International Banker, he had realized the wealth within it.

Once the Galil appreciates, the most direct impact on wealth will be in the Exchange Rate market, followed by a chain reaction in countries that have trade relations with the Nagaril.

The appreciation of the Galil means they will gain more benefits in terms of imports, which is exactly what the Nagaril needs right now. This is no longer a simple financial capital game; it combines geopolitics, international politics, international finance, and global capital operations.

With his pipe in his mouth, He Bosi felt as if the small piece of paper in his hand weighed more than a thousand pounds.

After a long while, he pursed his lips, put the money down, and said, "This is something that can't be done by just the two of us."

Lin Qi shook his head slightly. "Many people will join in. The Nagaril Joint Development Company, the Nagaril United Kingdom, and even the Federal Government will push for this."

He Bosi looked at Lin Qi and suddenly felt that the young man was somewhat frightening, but this fear came and went quickly. It was just a fleeting illusion that made him unsure whether he had ever been afraid of the young man.

"You've told me all this, and I can now get rid of you and work on my own. So what do you want from me?" He Bosi put his pipe on the table and took out a handkerchief to wipe his lips. "I'm a man of high moral character. You've given me information, so I'm going to help you."

"Is there anything I can do for you, or is there any business we could do together?"

Lin Qi nodded. "I want to borrow a lot of Galil."

"A lot?" He Bosi didn't ask Lin Qi what he wanted these worthless banknotes for, nor did he want to know. What he wanted to know was how much Lin Qi intended to take.

Lin Qi nodded. "Yes, a lot. Of course, as collateral, I have hundreds of millions of Gefra bonds here, and I believe they will be happy to honor them."

He Bosi gasped. At the current exchange rate, that was roughly tens of billions of Galil. Even as International Banker, he couldn't raise that Galil in a short time.

This chapter merely illustrates a simple principle; all content is fictional and should not be taken literally.