Homo sapiens.

Fortunately, there are relatively few extreme weather in Hongshawadi, and typhoons rarely visit Hongshawadi. As long as the drought in the dry season is well dealt with, there will be basically no major problems.

Therefore, Lai Shengli is now worried about America.

There are no natural disasters in Hongshawadi, but it is not necessarily free from man-made disasters.

And the force most likely to cause trouble is none other than America.

ABCD suffered heavy losses in soybeans and rice before, and originally planned to take advantage of the soaring international food prices to take advantage of the opportunity to recover a wave of blood.

Now it's cheating.

The long-term soybean contract signed with Luzon earlier forced them to supply 600 million tons of soybeans to Luzon V at a low price every year.

After North American soybean production areas were affected by mildew, South American soybean production areas were also doomed. Both soybean production areas are controlled by ABCD. This year, the overall soybean production has decreased by more than 60-70%.

Many farms had to replant corn, peanuts, and wheat.

Soybean production has been reduced on a large scale, and prices have also gone up.

But ABCD is not happy, because of Luzon’s long-term contract, they have to supply Luzon with 425-3800 million tons of soybeans at a price of 500 US dollars per ton (equivalent to 600 gold dollars).

On the other hand, soybeans and other grains from Hongsawadi, as well as rice from Siam, have also greatly filled the capacity gap of ABCD.

The current situation is that the global grain is running at a high level, but ABCD has only obtained a small part of the benefits.

Obviously, the existence of Hongshawadi and Siam has affected the rapid blood recovery of ABCD.

Relying on Shengli's understanding of those pirates, ABCD will definitely not let it go, nor will it find problems from itself, but will try to mess up Hongsawadi and Siam, or other important grain exporting countries.

As long as there is a problem with these two important grain exporting countries, there will be another surge in global grain, and then ABCD will be able to recover blood severely.

It is precisely because of this potential crisis that COFCO has no choice but to speed up grain purchases across Southeast Asia and increase its own upper limit of reserves to deal with future emergencies.

Chapter 216 The Invisible Barrier

Walking out of the trading hall, not far away is the crowded Aoba Square.

Lai Shengli felt a heat wave rushing towards his face, and he and Ahasi went to the Yangon Grand Hotel more than 400 meters away.

There are very few private cars on the roadside, but there are a lot of buses and taxis.

At this time, it is the rush hour for get off work, and there is a lot of traffic on the street.

As the largest city in Hongshawady, Yangon currently has a population of 830 million.

While walking, Lai Shengli and Ahasi looked at the crowd passing by. Almost one-third of the passers-by were wearing the work clothes of the three major groups.

This point is very recognizable. The logo of Qingye Group is a green tea leaf pattern, while that of Development Group is a golden gear and two crossed long knives, and that of United Group is a string of emerald green beads and two ears of rice.

’ The ratio has gone up again. ' Lai Shengli muttered to himself.

He has been working in Yangon for almost a year. At the beginning, the proportion of employees of the three major groups was only about one-tenth of the total population of Yangon. Now this proportion has almost risen to nearly one-third.

This shows how terrifying the expansion of the three major groups is.

Now the entire city is basically staff and relatives of the three major groups.

Lai Shengli has an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this model, but also feels a little specious.

And Ahasi, who came from Persia, is also very unsuitable for the social operation mode of Hongshawadi. Almost everything here is closely related to the three major groups, and he can't even avoid the three major groups for a meal.

The two came to the Yangon Grand Hotel, which belongs to the United Group.

There are not a few people who come here to eat, especially the employees of multinational companies like Lai Shengli and Ahasi, who basically eat at the Yangon Hotel.

It is not mandatory to eat at Yangon Hotel, but it is the closest to the trade center, the food tastes good, and the price is more suitable.

As soon as he entered the door, Lai Shengli met Li Xingchen, the business manager of Huahai Oil Company, and greeted him. The other party seemed to be a little enthusiastic about Ahasi, so he invited him to have dinner together.

Inside the private room on the third floor.

They chatted while waiting for the food to be served.

After a while, the waiter pushed the trolley and served them food.

Considering Ahasi's special eating habits, Lai Shengli ordered mutton pilaf, tomato beef brisket stew, beef stir-fried with kale, creamy mushroom soup and freshly squeezed fruit juice.

"President Ahasi, you're welcome."

"Haha, I won't be polite to Manager Lai." Ahasi looked at the handpicked rice in front of him, and suddenly felt a little emotional: "The agricultural potential of Hongshawadi is really enviable!"

Li Xingchen smiled and shook his head: "Chairman Ahasi is envious of the agricultural potential of Hongshawadi, and maybe he is also envious of Persia's rich oil and natural gas."

After taking a bite of mutton, Ahasi knew why Li Xingchen was looking for him, he asked with a smile:

"Manager Li, I have no objection to your company's wish to import a batch of natural gas, but our company hopes to import a batch of drones..."

"In this regard, I can help with introductions." Li Xingchen knew that the other party must have other requirements.

After all, in this transaction, Persia will use Huayuan as the settlement currency, and Huayuan is a credit currency, which does not preserve its value like gold dollars, so it must be spent as soon as possible.

However, the Persian side did not dare to make excessive demands, mainly because the external environment of Persia is now worse than that of Hongshawadi.

At least because of Hongshawadi's alliance in Southeast Asia and the importance of new medicines, many forces are reluctant to offend Hongshawadi at this time.

Persia has a lot of oil and natural gas, which has been blocked by Europe and the United States for a long time, and its internal environment is very unstable.

Ahasi picked up the freshly squeezed juice: "Then have a happy cooperation."

Li Xingchen also picked up the cup.

The two clinked glasses.

"Pleasant to work with."

After eating and drinking for a while, Lai Shengli, who was sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows, suddenly saw the heads of Bunge Company and Cargill Company in Yangon, walking across the road, and they seemed to be coming to Yangon Hotel for dinner.

Ahasi followed this line of sight and also saw the figure on the street. He turned his head and asked:

"People from ABCD? Why did Manager Lai pay attention to these vampires?"

Lai Shengli squinted his eyes, and said pointedly: "These guys have become active again recently, I don't know if the people from the three major groups have noticed it."

"They are looking for death, and the three major groups are not easy to mess with, especially in Hongshawadi territory." Li Xingchen, who knew some inside information, sneered.

But Ahasi smiled and said nothing. He knew that America behind ABCD often used this method to dye other regions.

It's just that Hongsawady is completely different from other areas.

Ahasi even felt that Persia was not as closed as Hongshawadi.

It is not wrong that Ahasi believed that Hongshawadi was very closed.

The closure of Persia is an external blockade, which caused an excessive internal stress response and had to be closed passively.

The closure of Hongshawadi does not mean that there are any closed regulations and restrictions, but an invisible barrier formed by the three major groups.

This invisible barrier is the real reason for the closure of Hongshawadi.

America can easily find a large number of converts leading the way in other places, and even converts who bring their own dog food. By throwing money, they can pull up a large number of fifth columns waving flags and shouting.

But in Hongshawadi, America's way of doing things is a bit unacceptable.

It is mainly the employees of the three major groups, accounting for 32.3% of the total population of Hongshawadi. If the army and official institutions of Hongshawadi are added, this proportion will reach about 40%.

In other words, in Hongshawadi, on average, 10 out of every 4 people belong to the three major groups and officials.

Including the family members, relatives and friends of these people, 99% of the population in Nahongshawadi belong to the insiders of the three major groups.

Less than one percent of the population belongs to the small rich, wealthy self-employed, or employees of multinational companies.

So how does America spend its money?

The three major groups' control over employees is almost pervasive, and employees dare not easily betray the company.

Now there is a rumor among the people in Hongshawadi, which probably means: It is better to provoke the Buddha than to provoke the three major groups.

The reason is naturally very simple, because being targeted by the three major groups in Hongshawadi, it is useless to escape to the deep mountains and old forests.

In the daily management of the three major groups, many employees were punished and demoted. They felt that the company was too strict with them, and then resigned.

These people regret it to death now.

Because now in the entire Hongshawadi, there are no other jobs except for the three major groups that have enough jobs.

Even if you want to go back to the countryside to farm, there is actually no other way.

Although the three major groups will not directly grab land, but to farm, they always need water conservancy facilities, pesticides and fertilizers, agricultural machinery and tools, seeds and sales channels, right?

The three major groups can directly lock you up.

Under normal circumstances, the three major groups will not fire employees, but will only use demotion, fines, exile, imprisonment, or direct shooting, but there is no option to fire.

If you choose to resign and quit, unless you can immigrate, you will be unable to move a single step in Hongshawadi, and you will directly become a blacklisted refugee on the edge.

Of course, after becoming a blacklisted refugee, there is still a chance to change the status quo, and that is to apply to go to a pioneering area with a relatively high risk level and become a pioneer worker.

Usually, as long as you work honestly in the development zone for 5 years, you can lift the blacklist restrictions and be accepted by the three major groups again.

With the strict control system of the three major groups, it may be possible for America to buy dozens of people in Hongshawadi, but once the number exceeds a hundred, the probability of exposure is almost 100%.

It was precisely because Ahasi understood part of the situation that he felt that Hongshawadi was very closed and difficult to penetrate.

Chapter 217 Quasi-developed Areas

After lunch, Lai Shengli said goodbye to Ahasi and the others.

In addition to having an exclusive office in the Commodity Trade Center, COFCO also rented a 15-story office building in Yangon. The lower 7 floors are the office area, and the upper 8 floors are the dormitory area for employees.

Usually every afternoon, Lai Shengli will change guards with another deputy manager, who will go to the Commodity Trade Center to sit in charge and go back to the branch office by himself.

In order to save costs, many multinational companies do not even rent office buildings, but directly choose exclusive offices in the Commodity Trade Center as their office locations.

After working in the office all day, Lai Shengli looked at his watch and found that it was already [-]:[-] in the evening.

After instructing his assistant to do something, he went directly to the dormitory on the 15th floor. His wife Wang Lizhu and daughter Lai Xiaoni, who came from China to visit him, also took a full day off.

Lai Shengli changed into a set of short-sleeved casual clothes, and then asked his wife who was watching TV, "Do you want to take a stroll in Yangon?"

Wang Lizhu turned her head to look at her daughter: "Xiao Ni, do you want to go shopping?"

Lai Xiaoni, who just came back from studying in Australia this year, tapped on her laptop indifferently: "I don't care, you decide!"

Lai Shengli made a decision directly: "Then let's go shopping! Xiaoni, you can also observe Yangon, which will help you in your future financial work."

"I don't think there is anything to observe in Yangon." Lai Xiaoni closed her laptop and shrugged contemptuously.

As a master of finance, Lai Xiaoni actually searched the financial system and rules of Hongshawady on the Internet before coming to Yangon.

She knew the future of the place was in jeopardy after seeing Honshawady pursue a monetary policy with a limited gold standard.

The gold standard looks very good, the problem is that gold is produced in limited quantities, plus the industrial value of gold is not irreplaceable.

If Hongshawadi does not change the gold standard in the future, the upper limit of currency issuance will be at most two or three times the gold reserve.

This will cause money to become scarce, which will lead to deflation, which is not conducive to the development of the economy.

Of course, Lai Xiaoni also saw Hongshawadi's intentions. The currency is anchored to gold and superior goods. As long as the exchange can be guaranteed, the gold dollar can indeed be very strong.

It's a pity that this model, with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, has already become outdated.

Gold is finite after all.

Lai Shengli did not think too much, and directly handed thousands of gold dollars to his wife and daughter: "Everything is good here, but it is troublesome not to exchange gold dollars directly, and the company only gives me 5 gold dollars every month." Use quota."

"Dad, do you think other people are fools? If foreign currencies are allowed to be directly exchanged for gold dollars, hundreds of tons of gold in Hongshawadi will be emptied by other countries within a day." Lai Xiaoni rolled her eyes.

While closing the door, Lai Shengli shook his head with a smile: "Of course I know, it's just that the restrictions are too great, and you have to plan carefully if you want to buy something."

Go downstairs.

The sun sets in Yangon City, and the streets are mixed with the golden afterglow of the setting sun.

The office building of COFCO Group is located on this street, which is full of various large and small office buildings.

But the three of them didn't take a car, they were walking in the evening wind.

Walking and walking, unknowingly came to the intersection of another street.

There is a large supermarket at the intersection.

Lai Shengli glanced at the signboard and instantly knew that it was one of the subsidiaries of United Group.

His wife, Wang Lizhu, who likes to go shopping in the supermarket, dragged the father and daughter into the United Supermarket. As soon as they entered the supermarket, a gust of cold wind made people get goosebumps all over their bodies.