I Found A Planet - Chapter 353

Chapter 353: Profit Model
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Investing huge sums of money, transforming the desert environment and taking in a large population: what was the purpose of Xing Hai Technologies? Countless people were full of doubt, especially in the business world. The elite of the business world, including successful entrepreneurs and shrewd managers, were all racking their brains in an attempt to solve the riddle.

In the end, they shook their heads.

In their view, both desert management and taking in refugee populations were total loss incurring businesses. There was no profit! It was impossible for those two avenues to be profitable.

However, Xing Hai Technologies was very obsessed with these programs. There was a sense of not being able to pull an obstinate yak back from its momentum.

On the other hand, based on the savviness of Xing Hai Technologies and how it seemed to never do any business that would result in a loss…

“There must be a devil, hidden in the details.”

But it was difficult to catch that devil with the intelligence of an ordinary person. Xing Hai Technologies took a far longer view than all the smartest people put together.

…

June 15th.

A bald middle-aged man alighted from a luxury car was parked at the front of the sci-fi-like building of Xing Hai Technologies.

Liu Guoqiang, aged 58, was the president of a large domestic real estate company. He had a net worth of more than $100 billion and was a very well-known entrepreneur.

After receiving the invitation from CEO Ling of Xing Hai Technologies, he nodded in the affirmative without much thought to the matter. He would attend this particular product launch event.

And this event was very special.

Liu Guoqiang had made discreet inquiries among his friends and received two pieces of shocking information.

Firstly, those who had been invited to participate in this event by Xing Hai Technologies were all rich people. Each of them had a net worth of more than $10 billion. Invitations had been issued to fewer than 1,000 people.

Secondly, Xing Hai Technologies would be launching a major project this time, it was a super project with funding capital of more than $100 trillion! There were countless benefits associated with it and countless opportunities for making money!

This shocked Liu Guoqiang to his very core. When the 15th arrived, he immediately set off for Shanghai

…

He entered Xing Hai Edifice.

In the large conference hall on the third floor, Liu Guoqiang saw many familiar faces and business leaders. He greeted several of them.

“President Li, you’re here too?”

“President Yang, aren’t you always saying that you are busy, yet you’re here today too?”

“Jie Kema, President Ma, you can be considered the richest one here out of all of us. Are you interested in this project too?”

Liu Guoqiang gave a heavy sigh in silence. Personally, he acknowledged that he was a bigwig. But there were many bigwigs here in the hall who were even richer than him.

He even saw several people who received low media coverage. They had very low-key lifestyles in their day-to-day lives but had also come for this particular event.

Liu Guoqiang silently observed the room. The wealthiest group of people in the country had all come here.

…

In a corner of the conference hall, He Jia was surrounded by a group of female entrepreneurs. They tried to make inquiries of her in rapid succession.

“Big Sister He, you are President Chen’s little aunt. You must have the most information regarding any inside story?”

“Big Sister He, please reveal a little information! Let us know what this project is about.”

“President He, tell us something about it.”

The female entrepreneurs asked a range of question in their delicate voices. Their faces were full of curiosity.

“I don’t know,” He Jia said, shaking her head and giving a bitter smile. “I really don’t know. I’ve called and asked my nephew but he didn’t give me too much information. He only told me to prepare more money, the more the better. He didn’t say anything else.”

The eyes of all the female entrepreneurs brightened. The more money they had prepared, the better? In fact, this information was more or less sufficient.

At this moment, a female entrepreneur called, “President Chen is here!”

Some of the group had stars in their eyes, and they whispered, “Not even 35 and he has already attained this level of success. He’s so young and handsome too. He looks so confident as if he has already mastered the whole world. He gives off the aura of a monarch surveying his realm.”

…

Chen Jin’s robot double arrived on the scene.

It scanned the fewer than 1,000 attendees and consulted with the intelligent brain system. After getting the information that everyone was present, “He” walked to the center of the venue, and after a few opening words, the product launch began.

Beams of lights on the ceiling lit up. A holographic image was presented to everyone as it hovered in the air.

In the holographic image was a model of a city. There were many high-rise buildings and transportation facilities. It was a dynamic display with heavy traffic and people going about the hustle and bustle of their daily lives.

Faced with this holographic projection, the first words from Chen Jin’s mouth shocked everyone. “Everyone, this is the product being launched by Xing Hai Technologies – the smart city management system.”

“The smart city management system can be used for all functions of municipal administration, education, transportation, health, medical care, security, fire protection, etc.”

“In the future, every city that Xing Hai Technologies has built in the Sahara Desert will be equipped with this system. The most powerful aspect of this system is its realization of the unmanned management of a city.”

“Even if it is a large city with a population of more than 5 five million, the smart city management system will also be able to cope easily. The system can sustain an upper limit of 20 million people.”

“The system’s operation is completely automatic; it can automatically adjust itself during operation without any human intervention. That also means that after the construction of the smart city management system, there is no need to elect a mayor, deputy mayor and the management of the government departments of transportation, education, courts, police, etc. All of these will be the responsibility of the city management system.”

“The smart program will manage humans. The police who fight crime; the traffic police who guide traffic; the fire police who are responsible for fire safety; all these will be handled by robots. This includes the workings of the court, which would be the responsibility of the legal program. In short, all public jobs will be handled by robots or intelligent programs. This will greatly reduce the cost of managing a city.”

After all, robots did not need to receive wages; they could not become corrupt. They do everything according to the rules.

“In addition, the taxation subsystem of the smart city management system is very simple. It does not have personal income tax, business tax, inheritance tax, etc. There are only two taxes. One is the goods and sales tax. No matter what product is purchased, a certain percentage of the sales tax will be charged. For example, if you buy something that cost $1 you will have to pay $1.10.”

“The second is the land use tax. As long as you rent public land from the city, you have to pay a certain amount of rent. There will be no other taxes except for these two.”

“There is no doubt that this city is both a paradise for the poor and a paradise for the rich. The poor can easily support themselves and their families, and the rich can accumulate wealth without any limits. The owners behind the city can benefit themselves by adjusting the two tax rates of the tax system.”

“If there are more middle-class residents, then the owners can increase the sales tax as and when appropriate to increase the income of the city; if the rich in the city occupy too much land and wealth, then increase the land use tax and limit the excessive expansion of the rich.”

“Because the entire city is managed by intelligent programs, at least 80% of administrative expenses will be saved. The owners can also earn revenues and profits by collecting taxes, adjusting water prices and electricity prices, and by collecting education system fees and medical system charges. ”

“I have simulated the operation on a supercomputer with a city of 31,400 square kilometers and a population of five million. Under the most ideal circumstances, 40% of the GDP created by the city can be converted into net profit. Even if business and luck are bad, I can easily guarantee a profit of about 5% of the city’s GDP. This is our profit model and it is also the ultimate profit model.”

“Of course, I know your worries. Can a refugee population create GDP? I got the supercomputer to simulate this aspect, and this is the conclusion: even a refugee population must do some work if they want to survive. Even if the work they do is the easiest and lowliest of labor, it will also generate value and allow them to strive to meet the needs of survival.”

“When people live, they have to consume. They have to undergo education, buy medical services. All these will produce value.”

“Enjoying life without working and fruitlessly hoping that food and welfare will drop from the skies is something that will never happen in a city of Xing Hai Technologies. The city management system will have ways to ensure that they must work. If they try to resist or destroy, the robot police will dish out the fairest treatment.”

“And for those in the population who are truly hopeless, they will doubtless be eliminated.”

“Everyone, please believe this. The order is the law, and by operating in an orderly manner according to the laws of nature, our city will never lose money.”

“So, are you interested in investing in such a city?” Chen Jin asked as he looked around at the audience below the stage.

Wow!

At this point, everyone had been struck dumb. They were overwhelmed by shock.

There were quite a few people who were red-faced. Their hearts were pounding vigorously, and their breathing had become extremely heavy!

This was not any sort of decent or proper business at all. It was the ultimate business model!