Chapter 320 - 320: When It Rains, It Pours

After reading the new message, Li Qingye connected with Chen Jianxiong.

About two minutes later, Chen Jianxiong appeared on the video screen.

"Good afternoon, Boss!"

"Jianxiong, have you handled the situation on Mad Island?"

Chen Jianxiong nodded. "With the support of the West Ceylon Ocean branch, we have cleared out the various factions on Mad Island. Currently, all the tribes and military forces on the island are very welcoming of the Company's entry."

"Not bad at all! Thank you for your hard work."

Chen Jianxiong replied humbly, "It was only through the full support and effort of all our colleagues that we were able to secure the Mad Island market."

Li Qingye waved his hand. "I've seen the report you just sent. What are the Foreign Affairs Division's thoughts on it?"

"Tianzhu's food crisis is now inevitable." Chen Jianxiong's expression was very serious.

Homo Sapiens Company had originally planned to use certain measures to reduce Tianzhu's rice and wheat production. However, before the Company could even make a move, they managed to create a mess all on their own.

Two days ago, the Foreign Affairs Division's commercial intelligence station in Delhi received a tip. After a thorough investigation, they finally confirmed the intelligence was true.

It seems some of Tianzhu's pesticide manufacturers, facing soaring international raw material prices and the depreciation of their currency, resorted to using "domestically sourced" raw materials.

If it were merely a matter of using substandard raw materials, that might have been overlooked. The crucial point is that their raw material was literally just Ganges River water mixed with coloring agents.

Then, it just so happened that a rice blast epidemic broke out. As a result, the fungicidal pesticides they sprayed had absolutely no effect.

Only after large-scale outbreaks of rice blast occurred in various regions did they discover the problem was with the pesticides. But by then, it was already too late.

According to information intercepted by the Foreign Affairs Division, combined with analysis from satellite remote sensing, it is estimated that over 43% of the 44 million hectares of rice paddies in Tianzhu have been severely affected by rice blast. This year's rice yield is projected to decrease by 20%.

How much is 20%?

Perhaps many people don't have a concrete concept of that number.

Based on last year's data, Tianzhu produced 120 million tons of rice. 20% of that is 24 million tons.

To make matters worse, due to this year's war in Kyiv and the North American soybean blight from the year before last, global food prices are still running high. This year, Tianzhu has already exported a cumulative 14.7 million tons of rice and 8.92 million tons of wheat.

In other words, Tianzhu's grain reserves are basically empty at this point.

Now, with a sudden shortfall of 24 million tons in rice production, it won't just affect exports—it will create an internal food crisis.

Adding insult to injury, Tianzhu experienced a prolonged heatwave this summer. The wheat-producing regions of the Deccan Plateau also suffered from a long-term period of high temperatures and drought, leading to another significant reduction in yield.

"According to our intelligence and analysis by professionals from the Agriculture Division, we estimate that Tianzhu's summer grain production will be reduced by about 45 million tons this year."

Li Qingye's expression also grew solemn upon hearing this number.

Having already lost the Assam Region, Tianzhu's total grain output will now drop by another 45 million tons, leaving them with only about 220 million tons.

And with Tianzhu's population, minus Assam's 55 million people, standing at roughly 1.32 billion...

1.32 billion people and 220 million tons of grain. That's only 166 kilograms per person, a sudden drop of 67 kilograms from the previous average of 233.

Furthermore, Tianzhu operates on a free-market model and is now caught in an international financial crisis.

Li Qingye saw the impending crisis in an instant.

In fact, it wasn't just Tianzhu. Xiba and Dongba, two other heavily populated regions, were also facing severe food crises.

He quickly summoned Liu Zhifan, the head of the Industry Division, to the video call.

"Zhi Fan, what's the status of our grain production this year?"

The moment Liu Zhifan heard the question, he immediately began pulling up the database while replying, "This year... grain production in our various regions has been decent. Rice production stands at 330 million tons, and we have 160 million tons of rice in our strategic reserves."

Li Qingye was also looking at the data.

Currently, Homo Sapiens Company has developed a total of 930,000 square kilometers of arable land across Southeast Asia, which is equivalent to 1.395 billion mu.

Of that, 372 million mu are dedicated to rice cultivation, typically yielding two harvests a year with an average of about 880 kilograms per mu.

There are also other major agricultural crops such as corn, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, rapeseed, sugarcane, oil palm, and bananas.

At the same time, Homo Sapiens Company is the world's largest producer of organic fertilizer and the second-largest producer of nitrogen, phosphate, and potash fertilizers.

"Our current total grain output is 970 million tons, with 340 million tons in strategic reserves."

Hearing these figures, Li Qingye relaxed slightly.

After all, even including the 28 million employees from the Africa Region branch, Homo Sapiens Company only has a total of 648 million employees.

What's more, Homo Sapiens Company had another ace up its sleeve: the supporting sunless agriculture factories in its various underground base-cities. If these production lines were to run at full capacity, grain output could be multiplied several times over.

The claim that Homo Sapiens Company could feed all of humanity was no joke—it was backed by real, tangible capabilities.

"Zhi Fan, discuss with the Office of Strategic Reserves. Activate a batch of the sunless agriculture factories and increase our strategic stockpile to a scale of 500 million tons."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhifan asked, "Boss, has something happened internationally? Has the recent financial crisis spread to the agricultural sector?"

"It's intelligence we just received. You can take a look."

Li Qingye shared the intelligence from the Foreign Affairs Division with him.

Liu Zhifan quickly skimmed through it, and his expression also grew grave. As one of Homo Sapiens Company's top executives, he was naturally aware that the company had plans to target the agriculture of various nations.

But he never expected the people of Tianzhu to self-destruct like this.

However, he then frowned. "Boss, might Tianzhu try to purchase grain from Lucia?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Where would Tianzhu get the money?" Li Qingye waved his hand dismissively. "They exported massive amounts of grain to rebuild their military, spending 35 billion US Dollars on arms procurement in total."

After a moment's thought, it dawned on Liu Zhifan.

Tianzhu had no money right now, and the aid funds from America were specifically earmarked for purchasing weapons from their military-industrial complex.

Lucia's grain prices aren't cheap at the moment. After all, due to the previous soybean blight in North America, the Far East Region was forced to drastically increase its grain purchases from other places.

Previously, the Far East Region's main grain suppliers were the Redwood Federation and the Pampas Republic in South America, as well as Hongsawaddy, Lucia, and the Kyiv Duchy.

Later, after Homo Sapiens Company suddenly appeared, the Far East Region stopped purchasing grain from Hongsawaddy (mainly because they lacked Jin-Yuan).

Coupled with the war in Kyiv, grain from the Kyiv region was also affected.

As a result, Lucia's grain has come to represent an increasingly large proportion of the Far East Region's food imports, much of it under long-term contracts.

Originally, Tianzhu and Lucia were competitors in the grain market.

Now, if Tianzhu wants to import grain from Lucia, they are bound to get ripped off.

Of course, Tianzhu could also consider purchasing from Homo Sapiens Company, but given the ambiguous relationship between the Company and Assam, it's highly unlikely they would choose that option.

Xiba and Dongba, on the other hand, are very likely to turn to Homo Sapiens Company for help.

Therefore, Li Qingye began to have the company's management prepare, so they wouldn't be caught off guard when the time came.

Meanwhile, the recent financial crisis, fueled by America's frantic reaping, was escalating.

Homo Sapiens Company, America, and other world powers were each using their own unique methods to harvest the world.

At this critical and turbulent juncture,

sudden intelligence arrived from the Baltic Sea.