Homo Sapiens

While the Homo Sapiens Company was busy "developing" the markets in Luzon and Hongsawaddy, and also preparing to deal with Du Shuping, Wu Heguang, and the others.

Chen Jianxiong, from Borneo, reported several extremely important matters to Li Qingye via submarine fiber optic cable.

「Three days ago」

October 18th.

Xing Island, in the Malacca Strait, Southeast Asia.

Li Weixing, the President of Temasek Investment, made a low-key appearance in the airport’s VIP lounge. Besides him were Xu Yingming of the Luzon Xu Family, Kens Aquino of the Aquino Clan, and Guo Zihao of the Malaysia Guo Clan.

Xu Yingming was chatting and joking with the group, acting as close as brothers, as if they were all one big family.

"Kens, I hear the Fernando Clan and the Lopez Clan are putting a lot of pressure on you?" Li Weixing asked with a chuckle.

Kens didn’t hide it—after all, he couldn’t fool the people present. He replied through gritted teeth, "Yes. They’ve been very active lately, and my family has suffered considerable losses. They even want to start some food self-sufficiency program. If they succeed, Gafei will definitely win the election. We have to destroy their plans."

The Guo Family, who were in the same boat as ABCD, would naturally not object. After all, this was damaging their family’s interests. Guo Zihao said with a faint smile:

"The people over there are furious about this. The Fernando Clan and the Lopez Clan are digging their own graves."

’Digging their own graves? It’s still uncertain who will have the last laugh,’ Xu Yingming sneered inwardly.

Everyone present had their own agenda. Some thought victory was already in their grasp, while others were calculating how to profit from the situation. But no one imagined that ABCD might actually return from Luzon in defeat.

After all, in their eyes, Luzon was not Huaguo; it was in no position to wrestle with ABCD. By standing on the winner’s side, they were certain they could get a piece of the pie.

Over an hour later.

Someone from Temasek Investment trotted in and whispered a few words in Li Weixing’s ear.

A smile spread across Li Weixing’s face. "Our friends have arrived. Everyone, let’s get ready!"

The understated Xu Yingming stood up and adjusted his collar in front of a full-length mirror, a confident and composed smile on his face.

The others also quickly straightened their attire.

Soon, a middle-aged Caucasian woman with short, blonde hair was the first to appear at the entrance of the VIP lounge.

Li Weixing immediately went up to greet her, his face beaming. "Hello, I’m Max, the President of Temasek Investment. It’s a great honor to meet you, Ms. Catherine."

The capable-looking Catherine extended her hand. "Hello, Max."

Then, a large, balding man appeared at the door.

"Hello, I’m..."

The two sides exchanged introductions.

Catherine Adams was the Vice President of the ADM Company; the large, balding man was James Benjamin, the Vice President of the Cargill Company; and the last to arrive was Webb O’Henry, the Vice President of the Bunge Company.

As for Louis Richard, the representative from the Louis Dafu Company, he had already arrived on Xing Island the previous night. The reason he didn’t come with them was because the Louis Dafu Company is headquartered in France.

Of course, America was behind all of ABCD, and that included Louis Dafu; its backers were just more discreet.

Under Li Weixing’s lead,

they went to a business hotel that had already been prepared for them, where they spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and chatting idly.

Around eight o’clock in the evening, everyone participating in this secret meeting had arrived.

Besides the representatives from ABCD, there were also representatives from the great clans of Xing Island, Malaysia, Siam, Luzon, and Tianzhu.

Among them were not only major Chinese Merchant families, but also groups like Siam’s Royal Group, major Malay People families, and wealthy merchants from An Nan and Tianzhu.

Without exception, all these people were involved in the grain and agricultural industries of Southeast Asia and South Asia. Only ABCD had the power to connect so many different factions.

Hidden among them, Xu Yingming committed all their faces to memory.

As ADM Company was the most comprehensively involved in the rice industry, Catherine took the lead for this secret meeting. Her opening words were brimming with murderous intent:

"We want all our friends to make money. But if anyone gets in the way of us making money, they are our enemy."

"Luzon, Malaysia, and Java grow cash crops, while Siam, An Nan, and Tianzhu supply rice. This is a plan where everyone can make money. But there are always those who don’t believe in the free market. In that case, we will have to show them the power of the free market."

Li Weixing chimed in to support her, "Ms. Catherine has spoken for all of us. The actions of the Fernando Clan and the Lopez Clan are a betrayal and a subversion of the rules of the free market. They are attempting to use a wicked model to destroy everyone’s interests. It’s immoral!"

The others quickly began to chime in as well, all talking at once.

To summarize their words in a single sentence: the Fernando Clan and the Lopez Clan were guilty of such monstrous crimes that everyone had the right to punish them.

’You’ve all certainly put on a vivid performance of human hypocrisy,’ Xu Yingming mocked inwardly.

Catherine was very satisfied with the performance of this group. She smiled and continued:

"There’s a saying I’m very fond of: Treat your friends as gently as spring, but treat your enemies as cruelly as winter."

"Now, let’s use the rules of the free market to cruelly teach these disobedient little children a lesson and make them regret their actions."

Catherine then unveiled her plan.

The plan was very simple. First, they would temporarily raise the purchase price of grain in Luzon to incentivize local farmers to increase grain production.

On the other hand, they would gradually increase the prices of fertilizer, pesticides, and farming machinery supplied to Luzon. At the same time, they would have the Aquino Clan’s banks provide loans to farmers so they could afford these supplies.

Then, when the next quarter’s rice harvest arrived, they would immediately dump massive quantities of rice on the market. This would crush the market price, causing the cost of local rice production in Luzon to exceed the retail price, and swiftly bankrupting the Luzon farmers.

This would also deal a blow to the rice industries of the Fernando Clan and the Lopez Clan.

Meanwhile, they would have people spread rumors online that the Fernando Clan and the Lopez Clan had recklessly guided farmers to plant rice, causing widespread bankruptcy among Luzon’s farmers.

While dumping rice at low prices, they would also have the Xu Clan, the Marcus Clan, and the Aquino Clan team up to buy grain from the Luzon farmers at rock-bottom prices.

In the following quarter, they would promote a boom in cash crop cultivation, enticing the remaining farmers to plant cash crops and drastically reduce the area dedicated to rice cultivation.

Then, by artificially creating scarcity and triggering a tense situation in the global rice supply, they could drive up grain prices in Luzon.

Through these means, they could repeatedly harvest Luzon.

ABCD had already used this plan in Luzon years ago. Everyone present knew the inside story. Although carrying it out would plunge the people of Luzon into misery, what did that have to do with them?

As long as they could make money, they would sell the very rope used to hang themselves.

As for the wealthy magnates and great clans from Siam, An Nan, and Tianzhu, they were rubbing their hands in glee.

They also didn’t want to see Luzon achieve food self-sufficiency, as that would cause their own rice export prices to fall.

In the face of profit, never mind the tens of millions of starving people in Luzon; even the ordinary people in their own countries were nothing more than consumables and livestock in their eyes.

They felt no psychological burden about following ABCD to harvest Luzon; in fact, they were quite excited about it.

Next came the specific division of labor and cooperation.

Within Luzon, the Aquino Clan, the Xu Clan, and the Marcus Clan were crucial. It was only through their cooperation from the inside that a precise harvest could be guaranteed.