Darkstone Code-Chapter 761 - 0759 First Conversation

Strictly speaking, no publicly listed company can be completely free of issues.

The purpose of a company’s listing is not to prove any great ideals and concepts to society; frankly, it’s just to take money out of the pockets of retail investors.

The stocks of a listed company are divided into two parts, one of which belongs to shareholder stocks. This portion is held by shareholders, both large and small, and is not easily traded.

The other part is the circulating stocks issued during the listing, which are held in the market’s trading accounts and are frequently traded. These stocks will determine the market price of the company’s shares in the end.

Regardless of what those capitalists and listed companies say, whether they call buying stocks an investment behavior, at the end of the day, it all boils down to convincing people of one thing: buying their stocks can make money.

The more popular the stocks are, the higher the stock price, the higher the market value, and thus the higher the value of stocks held by shareholders.

Therefore, most listed enterprises choose to raise the stock price as their main profit-making strategy after listing—this is much faster than making money properly.

A listed company may only make a few million in net profit through hard work in a year, but as long as they can increase their stock price by a bit, five percent, ten percent, the company’s market value growth will surpass a year’s hard-won net profits.

This is the main reason why modern society tends to direct funds toward finance; investors avoid long-term operations and can reap a large amount of wealth. Of course, they also might get harvested.

So how to make a stock popular is actually simple: falsify financial reports, fake sales, and appropriate hype.

For example, if this year’s market value of the company breaks through from one billion to two billion, achieving a twofold increase, such favorable news will directly affect the trading market.

Latecomer investors start gathering sell orders, buy orders constantly appear, coupled with other means like inviting experts to talk about the long-term development trend of the stocks or finding some brokerage firms to promote these stocks.

Eventually, these stocks begin to sell well, and their price might increase by seventy or eighty percent or even over a hundred percent to match the announcements from the listed companies.

This approach, which treads the line between legal and illegal, is something every listed company will do, blindly blowing positive news to make investors realize their dreams of getting rich.

Even if these companies don’t use such tactics to boost the stock prices, they’ll use some methods to cover problems and prevent stock prices from falling. This is why the Gafura Financial Index plunged at the opening today.

The Minister of Finance knows these listed companies too well, as do the markets, especially those big investors. They directly chose to give up instead of persevering.

Like some heavy industries and chemical enterprises, they are bound to face various environmental issues, but they have ways to cover up such bad news, ensuring that evaluations aren’t affected.

Normally, this isn’t a problem, rather it’s a public relations strategy, but the situation is different now; everything is under the microscope, and even insignificant issues are now enormous errors.

Some have already become examples, waiting for these six companies only leads to huge plunges in stock prices, massive fines, and even trading restrictions.

When a listed company encounters such problems, the losses aren’t what’s painful so simple; they’ll hurt to the soul!

Other companies, to avoid being the next batch targeted by the Minister of Finance, now urgently need to improve their image in his eyes. The simplest way is to buy back circulating stocks.

This is what the Minister of Finance previously asked these task forces to do, but they didn’t agree at that time.

Buying back stocks costs money, and a minor buyback is of no use at all.

If a company wants more capital, the best way is to issue more stocks, like those major stocks, with at least tens of millions of shares in circulation.

Even if they buy back just ten percent, they need to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions in cash, which will significantly affect the company’s operations, one of the main reasons they initially refused the Minister of Finance’s demand.

But now, they’ve compromised.

"When a person has no retreat, they become scarier than a fierce lion!" The Prime Minister said with some emotion upon hearing the news.

There were others in the room; as the Prime Minister’s influence improved, given his large family and assets, it was easy to find enough people to work for him.

No one else spoke, seemingly pondering over his words.

After speaking, he didn’t continue, just quietly thought for a while, then let out a scoffing laugh, "A very capable person, but we won’t just surrender like this."

He glanced towards the first row on his left at the table, focusing on a young man. Despite being called young, he was over thirty, his eldest son.

"First, arrest those named Finance officials. I’ve talked to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and they’ll temporarily arrange a floor for your use. I need definitive confessions..."

Considering his son seemingly had never handled such matters, the Prime Minister further instructed, "I want them to explain how they accepted bribes and used their office power for crimes, who their superiors are, and how benefits were delivered, understand?"

The Prime Minister stared intently at his son, who nodded seriously, "I know what to do!"

His family had waited for so many years, finally getting such a good opportunity, with all the elites gathered around him, serving him. This is why great nobles always remain great nobles.

As long as there’s one prominent figure, the strength they exhibit far exceeds that of ordinary people without heritage. Ordinary people simply can’t overpower great nobles, the possibility almost non-existent.

He then looked at the second person, a nephew in his forties, appearing somewhat ordinary-looking, somewhat... docile. Yet the Prime Minister knew he was ruthless.

"The shareholders of Yuanrong Capital have been arrested. I’ve negotiated with the police headquarters, they’ll give you seventy-two hours, within which you must get these people to speak."

"I want to know why they came to Gafura, their specific collaboration with Richard, the plans they formulated, and how they used bribery to obtain operating licenses and get listed."

His nephew bent slightly, "Rest assured, in one day’s time, I’ll have them speak the truth." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The Prime Minister believed this, but still cautioned, "Don’t kill them, and I want them to confess while fully conscious."

One plan after another, steps communicated methodically, while the Prime Minister’s seemingly calm depths were already turbulent; this was his closest chance to power, he wouldn’t let it slip away.

After delegating all the tasks, he patted the armrest and stood up.

His eldest son quickly fetched his coat, assisting him to wear it, while others stood nearby.

Skillfully donning the clothes, he raised his chin for his son to adjust his collar.

Nobles are extremely particular about collar details; they consider it a way to discern the other’s social class.

"Father, are you going out?" his eldest son inquired while adjusting the collar.

"Me?" The Prime Minister responded with a nasal "um" sound, "I’m going to visit Lynch and discuss the matter with him."

"His actions have given me much insight, and since we share similar goals, perhaps we can collaborate." He stepped aside after knowing the adjustments were done, casually picking up a hat to wear, "Don’t underestimate anyone, even if it’s just a coachman."

"Coachman" is a Gafura anecdote, about a coachman once being just a Knight’s retainer, caring for the Knight’s steed.

During a war, the Knight was injured, but simultaneously their Lord was about to face a life-or-death battle. The coachman decided to replace the Knight in battle, even if dying, he wouldn’t let the Lord blame the family.

Unexpectedly, on the battlefield, the coachman’s performance was exceptionally stellar, helping the Lord to achieve ultimate victory.

When the Lord was rewarding achievements, he discovered the Knight wasn’t in fact a Knight, but a coachman.

However, he wasn’t angered, instead knighted the coachman.

Still, this Knight later died, in a duel about "who will sleep with the Countess," winning the duel, but losing to the Count...

The Prime Minister simply wanted to use this anecdote to tell his children that even though Lynch is a foreigner and a minor noble, he shouldn’t be underestimated.

After watching the Prime Minister depart, others also began attending to their duties.

A little past eleven, the Prime Minister’s car stopped outside Lynch’s residence.

"Hope I’ve come just at the right time!" When the two met, the Prime Minister displayed a warm smile, taking the initiative to shake Lynch’s hand for ten seconds without letting go.

Lynch responded warmly, "I’ve always thought about visiting you, only afraid you wouldn’t have the time."

"Seems I’ve arrived just right?" This was an affirmative rhetorical question.

The servant beside Lynch helped the Prime Minister remove his coat, respectfully leading them into the living room.

The Prime Minister glanced at the decorations here without commenting; in his eyes, he saw nothing but drabness, although this house wasn’t cheap.

After sitting down, the Prime Minister said, "I’ve always heard people say you’re the Federation’s most outstanding young man, especially regarding economics more insightful than some expert scholars studying this field."

"Given the problems we’re currently facing, what’s your opinion?"