Chapter 1589
Chapter 1589 - 1585 Investment
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7 min read
"Welcome, welcome."
"...We are all old acquaintances, no need for such formalities."
On the red carpet at the Airport, Lu Ping’an, clad in military attire, smiled as he shook hands with the leaders who came to pick him up.
And nearby, television and news reporters were filming... The arrival of the Military Region’s commander to inspect the shipyard was in itself a political affair.
Fortunately, Lu Ping’an had already disguised himself on the airship, preparing in advance for his appearance on camera.
Receiving flowers from a child, and watching the military band playing music, Lu Ping’an sighed... It seemed that Ancient City was anxious to let other cities know they had chosen this city.
"Is the project schedule confirmed?" He didn’t mind, since everything was already decided, he directly pushed forward with the specific process.
"We’ll sign the contract shortly, and start selecting the site tomorrow. Ancient City is willing to act as the investor, hoping to secure a larger share of the stock, and if that’s still not enough, the Saphire people also want to..."
"That won’t be necessary; I am not short of investors."
People from Wang Xier’s side mostly don’t exist in this world anymore; Lu Ping’an had no interest in getting too involved with the Saphire people.
Moreover, Lu Ping’an seeking investment from the officials of Ancient City wasn’t because he was short of money... Most of what he used was his unique technology and abilities, whose value was simply incalculable, so priceless that they were essentially "invaluable and unsellable".
In reality, he never planned to profit; he was merely "sharing benefits."
Yet giving away shares wasn’t purely a loss. On one hand, it was to give back to his hometown, and on the other, without the officials’ share of dividends, they would lack the motivation to provide land, workforce, and policy support.
At this point, Lu Ping’an truly had no greed for money... Limited to Earth’s Eastern Country’s coin and credit-coins, genuinely valuable items could hardly be purchased with money.
"Can you give us a guarantee, can the special port area really succeed?"
Lu Ping’an’s talk of directly transforming regions into Exotic Realms, removing those Secret Realms in the process to convert them into safe shipyards... If these officials didn’t know about Lu Ping’an’s uniqueness, they would think he was here to swindle investment by encircling land.
Officials always face tight cash flows, and annual budgets are never sufficient; their investment mainly revolves around land resources, Lu Ping’an would get over fifty years of rights to use that area.
"It will succeed... if it doesn’t, I’ll turn it into an arms factory, there’s still profit to be made. Rest assured."
Lu Ping’an made promises directly, even specifying them in the contract; once the terms were confirmed to have no issues, both parties immediately signed it.
After all, it is now a time nearing war, everything must be simplified, everything must be sped up.
Following this, today’s news in Ancient City would likely include "Eastern Country’s military invests tens of billions in building a shipyard in Ancient City"... and if nothing goes wrong, within a month, recruitment ads for that shipyard would plaster every street and alley, incidentally helping to resolve the increasingly challenging issue of employment for the Alien Race and population explosion.
"Make sure the living facilities are in place."
𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
"How about signing for a gourmet city and tourist street as well? We welcome your investment."
"Fine, build it around the future port area, let me also see some returns."
Having cooperated before, Lu Ping’an made Ancient City profit madly through Mercury 42.
Now, projects like Ancient City University, Ancient City Shipyard, and food and beverage have taken off, and when converted to equivalent purchasing power, have even reached several times the annual output of Ancient City.
Being well-acquainted and "one of our own", some clauses could be negotiated favorably, quickly concluding the talks.
The shipyard was a multi-party investment by Lu Ping’an, God of Redemption, Lin Nu’s Church, and the officials of Ancient City, but in reality, the main investor was Lu Ping’an himself. Thus, his request to transform the surrounding area into commercial land to construct some living facilities and recuperate investment costs was naturally valid.
In administrative terms, this was a private investment... which crosses a plethora of restrictions. If it really went down the path of military base, even with Lu Ping’an’s connections, approval might still take months.
Remarkably, this was Lu Ping’an’s first property investment back in his hometown...
"Exempt from taxes for the first three years... to be precise, earnings over a billion are tax-exempt, but the part exceeding three billion will be taxed normally, is that acceptable?"
Moreover, the officials of Ancient City were highly supportive, providing excellent policies and resources.
The officials could also reap a lot... Just having a military base appear near Ancient City, in the current environment, was a comforting and positive development.
In fact, when many people first heard about this, they thought it was just another bluffing scam... those projects in various names that turn out to be real estate speculators encircling land in advance for appreciation, officials had seen them all.
But when the partner was Vice Admiral Lu Ping’an...though not very famous on Earth, those who had deep cooperation with him knew of his capabilities and power far beyond his reputation.
"Why did he choose us, we are somewhat far from the seaport, downstream is more convenient, upstream cities are safer."
"He can handle it himself; it’s just about developing together with everyone. For instance, if we could have an extra battalion stationed here, we would feel much more secure."
Watching его growth along the way, from "nurturing him" to "accepting his investment returns", the officials of Ancient City had mixed feelings.
But in this era of great competition, missing such an excellent opportunity was impossible; just providing some barren land and policy support could secure a project expected to generate revenue over ten billion and solve employment for over a hundred thousand. Such incredibly fortunate developments were irresistible.
"Thanks for the full support from School, you even managed to secure a university entrepreneurship fund for me? I qualify for the application?"
"Yes, during your first entrepreneurship, you employed a large number of our students..."
Hearing Ancient City University’s supportive stance, Lu Ping’an was somewhat surprised.
The entrepreneurship fund wasn’t much, just three hundred thousand of interest-free loans, but it served some promotional purpose.
"Then I’ll submit your request, as a project for the inter-university student employment competition..."
Lu Ping’an fell silent; so it was for this... Letting other students’ entrepreneurial projects compete with his, wasn’t that a bit excessive?
"...For the sake of student enrollment, it’s unavoidable; you don’t know how many universities there are now in Ancient City and Changping, now every Extraordinary Force is running schools to train personnel. It’s too competitive; there’s no other way."
Lu Ping’an naturally didn’t mind such minor matters.
He was quite grateful for the support from School; his side needed a large number of human resources, and the best cost-effective solution was naturally the university interns.
Lu Ping’an wasn’t indulging in profit-making from this "margin," but he indeed needed to train a backbone and reserve cadres.
And in the preliminary work, with the technical team from Ancient City University’s support, just the various equipment and personnel alone could significantly speed up his progress.
Lu Ping’an’s "return" stirred up the recently calmed waters of Ancient City again,
"Build some more facilities along the way, a Beast Taming Garden, a hospital, oh, and set up a Colosseum while we’re at it..."
Unconsciously, Lu Ping’an’s aesthetic might have also been influenced by Big Cat.
— End of Chapter 1589 —