Darkstone Code-Chapter 929 - 927: Small Strategies

Raymond is a botany expert, and nowadays, botanists are a rather sought-after profession because this field is closely linked to agriculture.

Agriculture and livestock might not be an industry that particularly draws people’s attention. In fact, many Federation citizens still use their foolish and outdated minds to think that so-called farmers should wear overalls, long rubber boots, and deal with wheat amidst various manure.

This is people’s stereotypical prejudice against agriculture and livestock; they always think agriculture and livestock look like this.

But in reality, it is not the case. Agriculture and livestock are developing rapidly and becoming increasingly important.

Since the Federation relaxed its immigration policy a few years ago, the Federation’s population has been growing at the fastest rate in history, although these increases are not naturally birthed numbers.

The Federation’s population has sharply increased, which corresponds to the Federation’s food becoming scarce.

In the past, people only imported a variety of superior agricultural and livestock products to satisfy their pursuit of higher quality food.

Now, people have to import a large amount of cheap food to meet the needs of the lower class, otherwise the lower society will face the dilemma of food shortage.

This has also promoted the rapid development of agriculture and livestock, and the value of agriculture and livestock has begun to rise.

This has led to various botanists starting to gain momentum; the Federation Government and various private institutions are frantically funding the hope that these botanists can research more advantageous crops to meet the Federation’s increasingly large food gap domestically.

Every botanical expert has at least three to five projects in hand, and there are still a bunch of projects queued up.

However, even though the research on food is becoming more and more popular, compared to true economic crops—especially those high-end economic crops—the revenues are still lacking.

When Every Moment called the laboratory, Professor Raymond immediately put down his research work and came to Every Moment, waiting for Mr. Lynch’s summons.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, he showed no signs of dissatisfaction. After all, Federation people know that a rich man’s time is very precious; they are busy at every moment.

Nearing half an hour, the secretary finally opened the door, and then Mr. Lynch walked in. He stood near the doorway.

Professor Raymond immediately smiled warmly and quickly walked over, reaching out his hands from afar, and when he got closer, Lynch modestly extended one hand, which was clasped by Raymond’s two hands.

"Mr. Lynch, as soon as I heard you have some issues that need solving, I immediately set aside my research project and came over. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Professor Raymond is already in his sixties, and his hair has turned grey, but at this very moment, the way he conducts himself is not how a man in his sixties should appear.

He should not be so humble, at least.

Yet who can promise the nobility and unshakeability of their personality in front of money?

Even the President is a slave to money, let alone a professor. We shouldn’t be so harsh on him!

"Thank you very much for taking the time to come over. Indeed, there are issues troubling me, and I need someone to explain them to me. I’ve heard you’re an expert in this field..."

Lynch released his hand, and along with Professor Raymond, entered the room. After sitting down, Lynch asked, "Professor Raymond, I wonder if you have enough knowledge about tobacco leaves, especially those used in manufacturing Kleve?"

Professor Raymond nodded, "I have spent a long time studying various tobacco leaves. I dare not claim to be an authority on the subject, but there’s basically nothing in this field that I don’t know."

The unique confidence and quality of Federation people sparkled in this professor.

Lynch slightly nodded in affirmation of the other’s assertion, "Professor Raymond..."

"You can call me Raymond; all my friends do!"

"Alright, Raymond, the main tobacco leaves we use currently come from Mariluo. Is there a substitute for them?"

"I mean, if we stop using Mariluo’s tobacco leaves, are there any that can match them elsewhere in the world?"

Monopoly on raw materials has always been the most difficult hurdle to overcome. The General of Mariluo will certainly not easily allow this lucrative trade to slip from his hands; he will definitely find another way to compensate.

Once he tries some tactics and fails to achieve effective results, he will start controlling the prices of raw materials, and this is precisely what Lynch least wants to see.

Every Moment’s massive profits hinge crucially upon the ridiculously low prices of raw materials.

Plus, they have worked out connections at the border and with anti-smuggling teams, allowing large amounts of essentially illegal tobacco to be transported in at virtually giveaway prices, processed into Kleve, and then sold at astronomical rates.

Once raw material prices rise, Kleve and Every Moment’s profits won’t be as high.

Professor Raymond pondered for a while; he didn’t blindly respond as he is used to dealing with these wealthy individuals and knows how to handle them.

After contemplating for a moment, he slowly said, "I am not sure what quality you refer to specifically, but we can break it down into aspects such as flavor, nicotine content, potency, richness of elements, etc., for comparison."

"Perfume isn’t my specialty; I am not sure, but if we consider only the elemental content in every tobacco leaf as a reference, then I believe Mariluo’s tobacco leaves are not indispensable."

Professor Raymond’s affirmative reply made Lynch very happy, and a smile appeared on his face. "It’s really a pleasure chatting with you, maybe soon we’ll have some projects for you. We hope you can find the time to do some research for us."

Professor Raymond’s well-maintained face immediately broke into many wrinkles of laughter. Projects mean money, and at least a quarter of the substantial experimental funds could flow into his wallet, perhaps even more.

"It’s what I’m supposed to do, Mr. Lynch."

Lynch nodded, his demeanor becoming even more gentle, "I have a question."

"Please, go ahead."

"Nagariel is close to the equator, so why haven’t I heard of any noteworthy tobacco leaves from Nagariel?"

Professor Raymond laughed again; he knew the answer to this question as well.

"Mr. Lynch, just because Nagariel doesn’t have any doesn’t mean other places don’t. In fact, there are at least five quality tobacco varieties around the Equatorial Line."

"I think the reason we haven’t used these tobacco leaves is not that they aren’t excellent, but that they are too far from us."

This was a very interesting answer. Lynch looked into Professor Raymond’s eyes, and the latter only met his gaze for a second before slightly lowering his head and breaking eye contact to show respect.

Indeed, the distance makes the shipping cost too high, which is a problem.

The quality tobacco leaves from Mariluo are right next to the Federation, saving a lot on shipping costs. Coupled with corruption along the border and within the smuggling task force, there’s more room in terms of taxes.

Whether purchasing tobacco leaves from elsewhere or growing them ourselves, it is clearly not cost-effective.

Labor costs, shipping costs, and losses are all enough to shrink Every Moment’s profit.

However, there is no other choice now.

"Professor Raymond, I want to commission you to go to Nagariel to select some tobacco leaves suitable for local cultivation for us. If you’ve been following the news recently, you should know what happened..."

Professor Raymond nodded. The significant changes in Every Moment’s shares have effectively cut off the ties between Every Moment and Mariluo.

It could even be said that this multinational company has, under Lynch’s intervention, become a Federation Mainland company, which is absolutely not a trivial matter.

At the same time, this also means that Lynch may not be able to purchase enough tobacco.

Seeing Professor Raymond nod, Lynch continued, "I plan to establish a massive tobacco plantation in Nagariel."

"There, the climate is suitable for cultivation all year round. We can ignore the winter and continuously harvest tobacco leaves."

Professor Raymond nodded in agreement, "Indeed, at least three growing seasons a year. If we select and breed some mutant or optimized seeds, perhaps each season could yield a harvest."

Lynch stood up, and Professor Raymond followed suit. He extended his hand, "Then I’ll leave it to you, Raymond. When might you have time?"

Professor Raymond shook Lynch’s hand tightly again, "Anytime and anywhere!"

Ever since Every Moment exposed its vulnerabilities, Lynch has been pondering another matter—how to keep the people of Nagariel occupied.

Over the past two years, under the ideological influence of Federation capitalists, local people have gradually begun to adapt to some novel things. Coupled with Akumal’s non-competitive approach, Nagariel’s future direction has been determined.

To make these people content with the status quo and not want to change, you have to give them tasks, so they voluntarily, spontaneously, from the grassroots level, don’t want to change. Only then can one truly solidify the societal form and structure.

The simplest thing is to "give them money."

It sounds incredible, but for the people of Nagariel, it essentially amounts to giving them money.

Having them cultivate cash crops and grains not only satisfies certain political needs but also provides an outlet for those who want change but are unwilling to work for Federation people.

Not everyone chooses to comply with the demands and management of the Federation people, or spontaneously work for them.

There are always some people, like those in the Nagariel Youth Party, who are still unwilling to work for foreigners.

Thus, growing cash crops and grains aligns with their goal of changing their lives without changing their original purpose.

They just cultivate the land and then sell the produce to other Nagariel people (small grain merchants, small tobacco merchants). No one taints their faith and pursuits; they remain free.

Furthermore, the cheap labor in Nagariel can save a significant amount of money. With Nagariel’s New Federation actively aligning with the Federation, the tax incentives will only increase. Ultimately, the only cost might just be the shipping fees.

And that’s precisely not an issue. The advanced maritime transportation of the Federation can solve any problem for Lynch. He could even purchase some freighters to specifically transport these goods.