I Found A Planet

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Sixty-two thousand square miles was more than one percent of the nation's total land, larger than most provinces! Could one even acquire so much land?

Logically, it was impossible. The Z nation had a high population density but only a little land. Even the land owned by crop growing organizations seldom went over two and a half square miles, not to even mention 62,000.

But the land Chen Jin wanted wasn't suitable land, like woodlands or grasslands or even just land where green plants could grow. It was a barren desert.

Statistics said that the total span of deserts in the Z nation was approximately 435 thousand square miles. Combined with the Gobi Desert, which was more than 310 thousand square kilometers, the total area would become 7.45 million square miles, which accounted for 13 percent of the country's total land.

The Z nation's dry northwest area was the area most concentrated with deserts, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the total desert area in the Z nation. The eight most famous deserts in the Z nation were the Taklimakan Desert, the Gurbantunggut Desert, the Badain Jaran Desert, the Tengger Desert, the Wulanbuer Desert, the Kubuqi Desert, the Chaidamu Basin Desert, and the Kumutag Desert.

There were so many desserts that they spanned over millions of square miles. There would be no problem if Chen Jin were to procure just ten percent of them, right? With that being said… why did he want so much land?

"Land is the foundation of all things and the source of all value.

"One half mile equals 2,300 mu, thus 62 thousand square miles will be equal to 241 million mu!

"With that much land, we can dedicate a portion to farming, growing crops and whatnot. Assuming that we have 50 million mu of farming land and the average economic value for each mu of land is 1,000 dollars, the annual revenue we will gain is 50 billion dollars.

"We can take out a third of that land to grow trees into economic forests. We'll grow walnuts, apple trees, and other fruit trees that bear economic value. The return cycle of these plants is commonly five years or above, even decades for the lengthy ones, but they'll still bear us a profit. Take lumber as an example; one mu of economic forest can generate over 100 thousand dollars' worth of value in a three-decade period, not to mention the environmental value it can create.

"The remaining third can be transformed into plains where cattle and sheep can be bred or perhaps turned into fishponds while we build some factories and houses around. Xing Hai Technologies' many research centers can be shifted over, and we can create a high-tech city amidst the Northwest Great Desert.

"On the periphery of the city, there will be Xing Hai Technologies' farm, Xing Hai Technologies' fishpond, Xing Hai Technologies' ecological pig farm, chicken farm, cow farm, and spans of jungles, orchards, pastures… We'll be able to attain self-sufficiency in our own food, clothing, and housing, minimizing all aspects of our expenditures.

"At that time, Xing Hai Technologies will be the most profitable company in the country, and at the same time, the company that is least likely to fall.

"Xing Hai Technologies will stand firm for a century, two centuries, and go on forever."

Why did Chen Jin have to say so? With all the hacks he was using and the resources he had access to, was it even possible for Xing Hai Technologies to still crumble?

It was indeed true! Even with a full row of cheat codes, there was still a chance for Xing Hai Technologies to close down… although Xing Hai Technologies was earning lots of money currently.

High-tech companies like Xing Hai Technologies could meet their demise from various causes.

First, high-tech companies paid the most taxes, which meant that a considerable piece of their profits was taken away by the state… this was understandable, as it was their obligation.

But the benefits they enjoyed weren't much. On the contrary, if someone made a good product that occupied a big portion of the market share, they would be accused of monopolizing and would face punishments and fines… One couldn't do too good, or else one would find themselves restricted and suppressed.

Besides, technology was constantly improving. Competitions were harsh. Once a high-tech company slowed down on innovation, it would be overtaken. Even if it was a century-old enterprise, they could still plummet one day… but of course, Xing Hai Technologies didn't have this concern.

Another thing was the high housing price issue. High housing prices were simply the "killer" of high-tech companies. Real estate, a low-tech industry, could actually defeat the high-tech field. There was even a law that said, "high tech leads to high housing costs."

For all the places that high-tech industries were developed, none of them had housing costs that weren't surprisingly expensive. For example, the M nation's Silicon Valley, Z nation's Shen Zhen, Shang Hai, Kings City, and so on. The housing prices in these places were unbearable.

High housing prices weren't caused by high-tech companies; it was the savvy real estate agencies and investors that wanted to trick the big customers and let high-tech companies pay the bills.

Obviously, Xing Hai Technologies was a "big customer" in the eyes of real estate agencies and investors.

Judging from the high profitability of Xing Hai Technologies and the high pay their staff was earning, they could absolutely afford housing prices of 100 thousand dollars per square yard. There was no need to worry that no one would pick up the deal.

Xing Hai Technologies's colossal amounts of honest earnings were fit to be reaped by those greedy speculators. Therefore, a huge portion of the blame that housing prices in Shanghai had doubled and rentals had hiked by fifty percent could be placed on Xing Hai Technologies.

This annoyed Chen Jin. He had once thought of imitating the Hua Yao company, who shifted a few of their research and development centers out of Shanghai, vacating the city, and let the speculators play on their own.

Xing Hai Technologies' hard-earned money was taken away completely by the speculators while all they did was raise housing prices by two percent. Who could've tolerated this?

The problem was this: where could Xing Hai Technologies go?

According to the "high technology leads to high housing costs" law, wherever Xing Hai Technologies went, the speculators would follow, and the housing prices of that area would rise, then they would need to move again. Who could withstand being tormented once every few years?

Hence, another saying was born. "High-tech companies not doing real estate are not good high-tech companies." The best solution was to take the firewood out from under the cauldron and go into real estate themselves, not giving the speculators any cracks to exploit.

It was just that Shanghai's land was too expensive, with each mu costing a few hundred million dollars. With the size of Xing Hai Technologies, they would need at least a few thousand mus to suffice… Even acquiring land required an inconceivable amount of investments.

Chen Jin couldn't afford it, nor it was worth it!

"What about the desert land in the northwest area? The price of land over there is basically free. We won't have to spend much if we moved there, right?"

"Sixty-two thousand square miles over there might even cost less than a hundred mu in Shanghai."

"The value for our money is simply much higher!"

Of course, development in the desert would certainly cost ten times or even a hundred times more than of that on regular land. Investments required during later developmental phases would be immense, notably water. The sheer cost of pumping and transporting water would be unimaginably hefty.

Fortunately, the era of infinite energy was on the rise. By that time, every kilowatt-hour of electricity might only cost ten cents. Energy resources in the northwest were also in abundance. By then, they could utilize these cheap energy sources to solve the water supply problem. The combined expenditure would still be within the acceptable range!

Acquiring large amounts of northwest desert land seemed highly feasible!

…

Three days later, Ling Jundong called, "Mr. Chen, Minister Shen has agreed to our request to purchase land. He has granted 31 thousand square miles of desert land to Xing Hai Technologies."

"Thirty-one thousand square miles?" Chen Jin was slightly stunned, then immediately became happy. "Well, that'll do!"

"But he has a few troublesome conditions for us to fulfill," said Ling Jundong.