Chapter 326 - 326: Meat on the Chopping Block

「Dongba.」

「Capital City Dhaka.」

Dharma, having just gotten off the plane, sat in his private car.

He gazed out the window at the streets of Dhaka.

The various infrastructure projects funded by the Homo Sapiens Company had turned the city into what was practically a massive construction site. Judging by the skin color of the construction workers, he could tell many of them were locals.

This was the terrifying aspect of the Homo Sapiens Company—its industrial chain and its all-encompassing system.

When it came to something as simple as building a road, Tianzhu not only failed to match the Homo Sapiens Company in speed and quality, but the difference in overall cost was like night and day.

Dharma was now keenly aware of the Homo Sapiens Company's true strength.

He considered the Homo Sapiens Company his greatest enemy, so naturally, he had made sure to thoroughly understand its situation.

The Homo Sapiens Company had only been on Ceylon Island for a little over a year, yet it had already achieved comprehensive urbanization. Furthermore, its various infrastructure projects, backed by vast human and material resources, were rapidly modernized.

Dharma had no doubt about the Homo Sapiens Company's capabilities. Given a year or two, the Dongba region would certainly become much like Ceylon Island.

If not for the Homo Sapiens Company's policy of utterly crushing other companies, prominent families, farm owners, and aristocrats, Dharma would not be so hostile toward them.

But on second thought, Dharma knew he was overthinking it. The Homo Sapiens Company's astonishingly rapid development was deeply connected to its unique system.

If other companies, powerful families, and tycoons were allowed into its management, could the Homo Sapiens Company possibly maintain its current vitality, efficiency, and internal fairness?

Dharma was certain of one thing: the system used by the Homo Sapiens Company could only function with a single, absolute controlling shareholder.

This structure was what allowed for the relative equality among the company's employees.

The moment other shareholders were introduced, decision-making power within the company would fracture, and its wealth would have to be divided.

If these new shareholders were unwilling to maintain the current model, the Homo Sapiens Company's era of high employee benefits would come to an end.

Dharma had come to understand the Homo Sapiens Company's operating mechanism. The vast majority of its current lower- and middle-level employees would never allow anyone to threaten the company's core—Li Qingye.

This was because with only Li Qingye as the sole controlling shareholder, the resources consumed by one person were undoubtedly far less than what would be consumed by a large group of shareholders.

As for why others didn't want to become shareholders themselves?

Dharma had actually pondered this question. After imagining himself within the Homo Sapiens Company's system, he discovered a very interesting phenomenon.

Game theory, chains of suspicion, and path dependence would compel the vast majority of employees to forgo becoming shareholders. It would also foster an extremely strong resistance in them toward the emergence of any other shareholders.

The reason was very simple: they would worry that new shareholders might alter the management system Li Qingye had established. They would also fear that new shareholders might encroach on their resources, or even use shareholder authority against them.

This was the game theory of human nature. The employees of the Homo Sapiens Company would not easily trust any unfamiliar new shareholder.

And as the original founder, Li Qingye had already established a path of dependence in the minds of these employees.

No one dared to gamble on the character and competence of a new shareholder; they didn't believe anyone else could be more suitable than Li Qingye.

Therefore, as long as Li Qingye didn't mess things up himself or die a sudden death, the Homo Sapiens Company would be incredibly difficult to break from within.

Dharma thought of Li Qingye's age (according to public data). He was only about 31 this year. With the Homo Sapiens Company's medical capabilities, living to eighty would not be much of a problem.

Li Qingye still had 50 years. This meant the Homo Sapiens Company was unlikely to face major internal problems for the next 50 years.

Dharma stroked his white beard and sighed to himself, 'Time is on the side of the Homo Sapiens Company and Li Qingye.'

Before he realized it, the motorcade had arrived at the gates of a palace.

The Homo Sapiens Company had a peculiar habit. After establishing a fully authorized branch in a region, it would typically choose a representative local flower and construct a palace to serve as the branch's office building.

And Dongba's representative flower was the water lily.

Thus, this palace was named the Lotus Palace.

Led by an attendant, Dharma and his entourage entered the Lotus Palace discreetly.

「In the reception hall.」

When Dao Yulan saw Dharma and his party walk in, she said with a smile, "Welcome to Dongba, Your Excellency Dharma. Please, have a seat! Serve the tea!"

"General Manager Dao, it is a great pleasure to meet you." Although Dharma felt he was being slighted and treated with contempt, he understood that so-called respect was built on a foundation of strength.

He was here to ask for a favor, so he naturally had to adopt a humble posture.

「After tea was served.」

Dharma stated the purpose of his visit: "Your company holds immense influence around the world. I was wondering if you could help mediate the situation in Assam."

"Oh? If we can contribute to world peace, then our company is duty-bound to do so. However, that will depend on the sincerity of both parties," Dao Yulan replied with a gentle smile.

Hearing this, Dharma cursed her inwardly for being despicable and shameless, but he kept a smile on his face.

"We are willing to end the military confrontation and use the western mouth of the Siliguri Corridor as a temporary demarcation line."

"Is that all?"

Dharma quickly added, "We also have many ideas for cooperation with your company, in areas like grain, food processing, oil and natural gas, machinery, and electronics."

Dao Yulan tapped her fingers lightly on the desk. "Our company has some concerns about your business environment."

This wasn't Dao Yulan deliberately looking for trouble; Tianzhu's business environment was indeed terrible. The subpar supporting infrastructure was one thing, but the key issue was the sheer number of vested interests and obstructive officials within the country.

Otherwise, those foreign companies from Europe, America, and the Far East wouldn't have invested in Tianzhu only to end up crying foul and packing their bags in retreat.

Dharma was, of course, perfectly aware of the mess back home.

"We can provide your company with a special permit and establish a dedicated administrative body to liaise specifically with your company's industries in Tianzhu."

Dao Yulan instantly saw through Dharma's little scheme. She didn't call him out on it, but asked with a smile:

"It's not enough for you to open your market. Our company hopes you can respect the free market and allow us to purchase land, operate agricultural businesses, mine for minerals, develop real estate, engage in finance, and freely recruit labor."

Dharma shook his head. "General Manager Dao, you should know that there's no such thing as a truly free market in this world. We need to survive, too."

Obviously, unless Dharma had gone mad, he would never agree to these demands.

If they completely opened their market, what difference would there be between Tianzhu and Dongba?

"If that's the case, my hands are tied," Dao Yulan said, wearing an expression that made it clear she was powerless to help.

After a moment of internal struggle, Dharma grit his teeth. "Finance can be opened, but the free sale of land and farmland can only be permitted with restrictions."

On the matter of land, Dharma was firm.

The two sides negotiated for over six hours before finally reaching a reluctant agreement.

Tianzhu would conditionally open a portion of its market to the Homo Sapiens Company. In return, the Homo Sapiens Company would provide Tianzhu with 45 million tons of grain and 8 million tons of palm oil at a low price, and would also mediate the Assam peace talks.

In reality, this was Tianzhu tacitly giving up the Assam Region.

Dharma made this incredibly difficult choice.

On one hand, the prolonged military standoff had caused military expenditures to soar, and the economy could no longer bear the strain.

On the other hand, an international economic crisis had erupted, and Tianzhu's foreign trade had been all but wiped out.

Finally, their own grain shortage was massive, and grain on the international market was not only hard to buy but also prohibitively expensive.

The combination of these factors forced Dharma to compromise with reality.

Even though he knew opening the market to the Homo Sapiens Company was like letting the wolf in the door, there was no other power in the world that could supply 45 million tons of grain—at a low price, no less—all at once.

America's grain had to be prioritized for its two lapdogs in the Far East, its neighbor Aztec, and a host of European allies.

About 85% of Lucia's grain export quota had already been consumed by the Far East Region (to fill its soybean and feed gap).

The production zones in South America were suffering from a plague of locusts.

Kangaroo Country's production areas actually had a total output of 63 million tons of grain this year. After their local consumption of about 20 million tons, they had an export quota of 43 million tons.

Unfortunately, about 11 million tons of Kangaroo Country's grain was barley, which is primarily used for brewing.

Meanwhile, Kangaroo Country's high-quality wheat was in high demand in West Asia, the Far East, and Europe. This year's wheat export quota from Kangaroo Country had been almost completely bought up.

Looking around, aside from the Homo Sapiens Company, there was no power in the entire world that could satisfy Tianzhu's 45-million-ton shortfall.

Dharma could only buy the Homo Sapiens Company's grain with tears in his eyes.