Darkstone Code-Chapter 747 - 0745 Program
What would be the result if an authoritative program begins reporting on a company potentially involved in fraud?
The reason authority is considered authoritative is that people often trust it unconditionally!
It’s like professors in the eyes of students often represent authority; they will believe what’s written on the blackboard, with very few questioning it.
It’s like government announcements; once understood by the people, there is usually no doubt about them, though some might still question, but rarely.
Nothing can completely and thoroughly align everyone to one side, the same goes for trust, so having doubts is naturally not a big issue, quite normal.
The power of authority is terrifying; used properly, it is a guiding light for people; used improperly, it can become the root of disaster.
At this moment, the people sitting in front of their televisions watching this authoritative program, looking at the title written in gold on the screen, recalling the clip they just watched.
The investors and shareholders in it wore expressions of madness and distortion as if possessed by a demon, and even those not involved could feel that atmosphere, something fearful yet somewhat desirable.
The Emperor stopped dining, not because the meal was over, but because he felt that this matter seemed to be spiraling out of control.
In the morning, the Minister of Finance had told him everything was under control, but by noon, things appeared to be taking a bad turn.
Even through the screen, the Emperor could smell the stench and knew where it came from—nobility.
The discontent among the nobility had persisted for a long time; as they put it, they contributed money, effort, and resources to help Gafura win wars, but the returns from war were unsatisfactory, not even breaking even.
Now, with the shift in development focus, they have suffered additional losses and have long been discontented with him as the Emperor.
Only because the ministers unanimously supported him did they suppress the discontent among the nobility, but this didn’t mean the Noble Group had no capacity for resistance.
The nobility must be stirring up trouble, the Emperor waved his hand to have the food removed, having no appetite at all now.
Those fools had no idea that Lynch had been getting along with the nobility in recent times, planning this very thing!
But this also left the Emperor puzzled about how he managed to plan it, connect with the nobility, and complete all arrangements so quietly.
He was curious, but more than anything, he was angry; letting Lynch stay in Gafura was undoubtedly the worst decision—he should have been sent away right after the enfeoffment!
On the TV program, the host sat with two well-known financial practitioners from the Empire. His expression was not particularly serious, but compared to the usual cheerful demeanor, viewers could sense something different about this episode.
As he sorted through his notes, he asked, "Everyone just watched the short clip and seems to have some understanding of Yuanrong Gold Certificates. I want to ask the two financial experts, is it possible?"
He turned to look at the two experts, further refining his question, "Whether or not they find a gold mine, just by purchasing a Gold Certificate, is it possible to get a 96% return in a year?"
"If they really do find a gold mine, can the revenue from the gold mine meet such a high return rate of the Gold Certificates?"
The two financial experts had clearly done their homework before appearing on the program, one of whom shook his head, casually holding up a document to the camera, and the TV screen cut to another shot where the document appeared full and clear.
It listed a lot of data, while the expert explained off-screen, "These are the returns from some of last year’s most renowned financial hedge funds globally, where the highest was only 16%, and the highest return from a Bail Federal fund was only 13%."
"And our own, all foundations and related organizations, the highest return they gave was only 12%."
"These are reliable, legitimate financial institutions, some of whose founders or operators have left their names in history."
"These professionals can’t offer such high returns, so why...", the screen cut back to the studio, and a hint of sneer appeared on the expert’s face, "why can a foreigner without a college degree promise a 96% annual return?"
"What’s most interesting is that many people believed this claim!" His voice was exaggerated, as if saying, "So damned many people believe this, are you people brainless?"
The camera quickly turned to the other expert, who continued, "Let’s talk about the profitability of gold mining."
"As of the last trading day of last week, the closing price of gold was only twenty-two Fla per ounce, and the price per ton was seven hundred seventy thousand Fla."
"This price looks delightful, but we must clarify an important factor: refining a ton of high-purity gold takes time and incurs various costs."
"Data we found give us a simple number, showing that in ordinary gold mines, each ton of ore yields less than ten grams of gold."
"Calculating with ten grams of gold, that’s roughly... about eight dollars."
"But to mine a ton of ore, crush it, then sift out the parts containing gold for further crushing and smelting, our company would spend around three to four dollars on costs, including transportation."
"We have a table here that’s not entirely accurate—not more because there are unregistered individuals and others unwilling to divulge their true Gold Certificate holdings."
The second expert presented a table, and the camera switched again, "To our knowledge, the purchase amount for the first phase of Gold Certificates exceeds ten million, exactly how much we’re not sure."
"Eight percent of ten million is eight hundred thousand; they need to purify at least three tons of pure gold each month just to barely cover expenses, not to mention any profit."
"But there is not only one phase of Gold Certificates; rumors say sales for the second, third, and even the fifth phase have begun and are incredibly popular."
"At least a billion-scale of Gold Certificates has already been sold, requiring them to pay investors a minimum of eight million funding monthly."
"What kind of gold mine do they need to mine to make back this money, a natural pure gold mine?"
"Of course, it’s possible that Yuanrong Capital has already put many gold mines into use, and they have sufficient reserves to do this, as they say—they aim to make money with everyone, they’re doing a good deed."
The sarcasm in his words was almost undisguised, but nobody in the studio or in front of TV screens laughed, as people realized how frightening this was.
What’s terrifying is not its return rate, but that the first batch of Gold Certificates pulled in tens of millions in funding, with more returns promised thereafter.
Indeed, this is very understandable, with a 96% annual return; anyone would be tempted.
The host nodded and asked again, "But Yuanrong Capital’s business seems to be going very well, and they have successfully gone public, as we can’t find any problems from their financial reports."
"Monthly growth rates multiple times that of most, if not all, companies within the Empire—is there any problem, and where are the issues?"
The two experts exchanged glances, one expert pursed his lips and nodded, "Yes, host, there’s not just a problem here; there are significant issues."
"We actually mentioned the problem earlier; the higher Yuanrong Capital’s profit growth rates are, the more expenses they need to cover monthly."
"Providing at least eight million monthly expenses is not something gold mines alone can support, because the most recent financial report is from two months ago, and we can’t ascertain their current operations."
"I believe its scale should now be larger, with more funds needed monthly, possibly twenty million, even thirty million.
Expert one’s tone took on an inducive quality, "It’s fine if nothing goes wrong; but once something does, the Gold Certificate will completely collapse." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
The host’s brow furrowed, "Are you suggesting that Yuanrong Capital might be unable to pay those returns?"
Expert two nodded, "Indeed, we think there’s a high probability because, in all current industries, we can’t find one matching its profitability rate."
"We do have some industries with very high profit margins, like those with dozens or hundreds of times profits, but these industries are limited for various reasons—they are not large in scale, have low output value, low sales, or long cycles."
"Yuanrong Capital meanwhile publicly claims to profit mainly from gold mines and gold, which doesn’t align with our assessments; hence we suspect them of lying."
Mining is profitable, but it’s not fast money; in any case, each statement points towards the same conclusion, that Yuanrong Capital is fabricating.
The host’s expression grew increasingly grim; he picked up a newspaper and showed it to the camera, "This is today’s issue of the ’Ledu Daily’, which carries a significant scoop."
"A reporter inadvertently discovered an important clue and went undercover at a Yuanrong Capital gold mining site."
"Last month, they even advertised this mining site..." The host picked up another newspaper, displaying a photo of a large group of people holding various sizes of gold ore, posing together at the mining site, "These investors went underground and did find their own pieces of ore."
"But now this reporter discovered that this mining site was actually abandoned years ago and uncovered some more crucial information..."
The host kept showcasing more, and even viewers who hadn’t read ’Ledu Daily’ had some understanding, many picked up their phones to order today’s paper.
The host laid down all comparison materials and continued questioning, "Let’s take a bold guess; if all the gold mines don’t exist, how is Yuanrong Capital maintaining the current situation?"
"How can they pay every return on time in full and fabricate even more impressive business performances?"
