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Chapter 686: Chapter 590: Astonishing Words (Please Subscribe!)_1
Myanmar.
Yangon.
Inside the negotiation room.
All the influential men of Myanmar stare wide-eyed at the documents in their hands, their faces filled with disbelief.
Because Ling was presenting the economic development data of his territory over the past six months—achievements in people’s livelihood, the establishment of laws and regulations, as well as plans and projections for the future.
Upon closer examination...
In comparison...
The conditions Ling gave them were indeed mediocre.
This made them blush. No wonder others didn’t want to follow them. Even though they knew Ling was rich, and Ge Dan had given them some feedback, it was still not as shocking and detailed as the actual data.
Coughing twice, Lang Cai straightens his face.
"Mr. Ling, we greatly appreciate the economic achievements you’ve made. We’re also very pleased. However, your territory is small and the population is low, meaning investment is limited. If we were to achieve similar economic and social development, it would be astronomically expensive."
Lang Cai’s tone weakens a bit as he starts to emphasize the difficulties.
Ling maintains his composure, speaking calmly:
"If you can’t achieve this, how can you convince me of your capabilities and a future for Myanmar. Such standards are below average in Huaxia. They have twenty to thirty times the population of Myanmar. If you can’t even achieve this. Isn’t it embarrassing to say it out loud?"
Ling’s words hit home, even bordering on sarcasm.
"How dare you speak to us this way..."
"Shut up."
A man attempts to scold Ling but is silenced by a bellow from Lang Cai. The man closes his mouth and obediently sits down.
Lang Cai speaks solemnly, "Mr. Ling is right. There’s no mistake in the data. Huaxia reached this level ten years ago. It’s undeniable. I can’t refute it. But Mr. Ling, we can’t afford to achieve this in a short time. What if you change your mind after we do?"
Ling doesn’t answer directly, but counters, "Who said it can’t be achieved in a short time?"
"Oh? You have a solution?" Lang Cai’s eyes brighten.
"Of course. To achieve all this in a short time, it all comes down to money. You’re a country after all. There must be a way. Is money the issue?" Ling replies nonchalantly.
Lang Cai, expecting some good advice, is disappointed by this ’trivial’ solution, "If printing money was the solution, we would have done it long ago."
"Printing Myanmar Kyat would be useless and only cause severe inflation domestically. My suggestion is to expand the economy. Like Huaxia, solicit investments, build factories, promote education, invest in infrastructure, and establish characteristic economy to enlarge and spread out the economic pie. The money would naturally come in then." Ling explains.
"This would not be easy." Lang Cai wrinkles his brow.
He would love to learn from Huaxia’s experience, but many countries want to learn and almost none succeed. Simple indeed, it’s about executive power in resource mobilization and determination to change at the higher levels.
Myanmar lacks both. The domestic interest groups don’t want to loosen their grip, and they’re not ambitious. Sometimes, Lang Cai feels powerless.
"But it’s not that difficult either. We can lend a hand in this aspect." Ling says.
"Oh?" Lang Cai raises his head.
Ling continues, "You should know that I have many factories producing products popular worldwide. If we can do it in our small place with limited resources, why couldn’t you? Especially with the technology and equipment we provide, there’s no reason not to."
"You’re willing to provide equipment and technology?" Lang Cai casts a doubtful gaze.
"Of course. I said before, I wish to see a future for Myanmar, not just mine or my people’s, but everyone in Myanmar. They’re merely technology and equipment, there’s no reason not to provide them, as long as they meet our requirements. We’re not stingy." Ling responds with a smile.
Lang Cai ponders for a moment, and then says something surprising.
"I’m curious, where did you get your technology and equipment from? They seem to have the full capabilities for industry layout."
The only thing Lang Cai didn’t say was whether Ling was backed by a country.
Ling faintly smiles, replying: "What’s difficult about that? As long as you have money, what can’t you buy or sell in this world? Combining that with self-production, setting up a basic industrial system is no problem."
At present, Lang Cai doesn’t know about the advanced industrial level of Ling’s territory. Would he believe Ling if he knew? Sadly, Lang Cai doesn’t know, and won’t for a while. By the time he does, it will be too late.
Lang Cai sizes up Ling.
But Ling looks back fearlessly.
Lang Cai hopes to read something from Ling’s eyes but ends up disappointed. Ling’s gaze remains unflustered, which makes him hard to deal with. Lang Cai rubs his forehead. Of course, he doesn’t fully believe Ling’s words.
But he can’t help but believe them.
Putting aside all earlier conditions...
Ling now adamantly refuses to be bound to him. Abducting Ling would be a loss of face. Besides, Ling might already be prepared and not fearful at all. It would be very awkward if everyone were unable to back down. Therefore, he must accept this fact.
And upon accepting this fact...
He must carefully consider, even agree to, the terms Ling proposed.
Conflicted, Lang Cai is torn. Usually decisive in making decisions, he struggles to do so when faced with Ling. The stakes are too high. One misstep and the good situation at hand may dissolve.
Once they become hostile towards each other, a formidable enemy will be added.
Hiss...
"Mr. Lin, it’s getting late, we should get lunch first, and discuss in the afternoon. You know this is a significant matter, and we also need to have internal consultations." Lang Cai checked his watch and decided to adjourn the meeting to discuss later.
Such a big decision couldn’t be made by him alone.
"Alright."
Then, Lang Cai gave Ling a grand reception.
There were also gifts prepared ready to be presented, Ling naturally received them all and reciprocated with a few boxes of fruit wine. However, no one dared to drink it. After all, whether Ling was a friend or an enemy was yet unclear. How could they dare to drink such a thing?
It could only be preserved for now.
After the meal.
Ling was arranged to rest in a guest room while Lang Cai and his associates gathered together for another meeting.
Again, it was a scene of swirling smoke, like a fairyland.
"Let’s talk about it, Ling came here in person and proposed his terms, what do you think?" Lang Cai said, rubbing his aching head.
"I think Ling is just too ungrateful. I say we arrest him. I don’t believe he is not afraid of death." The man whose words were cut off by Lang Cai earlier expressed indignantly.
"Exactly, I think he is arrogant, we should dampen his spirit, I think we should..."
"Yes, ..."
With Ling absent, quite a few people’s tempers flared, becoming armchair strategists.
Looking at these people, Lang Cai felt depressed. It seemed that he had promoted too many confidants over the years, with mixed good and bad. They were willing to resort to violence over serious state affairs. Damn it, they should go and show their fierceness to those two characters instead.
Incompetent teammates could really cost you many lives.
He couldn’t listen to these people anyway.
Looking at the calm looking Kan Qin, Lang Cai nodded continuously. If looking for a successor, he felt that Kan Qin would be a good choice but his background was too weak to command respect. He would always be restricted to his current position.
Should he retire, Kan Qin might even be marginalized, not even being able to secure his current position.
A talent wasted indeed.
"Kan Qin, do you have anything to say?" Lang Cai asked Kan Qin.
As soon as Lang Cai spoke, others immediately shut up, looking at Kan Qin with various expressions. However, none of them was of respect. How could someone who had climbed up from a common background compare with them? Without Lang Cai’s preference, Kan Qin would have had no qualification to sit here.
But it was okay - someone had to be the scapegoat for many things, and Kan Qin was just a good candidate.
Kan Qin took a deep breath.
"I think Ling’s request is not too excessive. He is just looking out for the people under him. After all, what he says is true. We really aren’t as good as them. The situation is very clear. He absolutely will not submit completely to us. So..."
Looking at the eyes around him, Kan Qin continued, "We could consider Ling’s proposal."
The moment he said that.
The conference room was again in an uproar.
"Vice-Chairman Kan Qin, what are you talking about? Ling is not being excessive? He has a pro-Qing tendency, just like those two. I believe we shouldn’t raise a tiger to invite calamity. We should nip the problem in the bud."
"I also think we can’t agree fully, at least soldiers should be under our management."
"Yeah, me too..."
"..."
One after another, they voiced their opinions. Kan Qin’s view was totally negated.
Looking at the state of these people, Kan Qin felt a wave of disappointment. Recalling his conversation with that person a few days ago, he found it necessary to consider working together with these people. Otherwise, they would only lead Myanmar to decline.
But that person’s plan was so shocking that he barely dared to think about it. However, at this moment, he wavered.
Lang Cai looked at the people making a ruckus and felt helpless. A meeting like this had just become meaningless. When Ling was not here, these people at least had some wisdom. Once Ling was present, thinking they were in a winning position, they didn’t know where they left their brains.
"Okay, stop arguing. Capturing Ling is definitely not an option. If it occurs to you, don’t you think Ling would also have thought of it? Do you think he would be stupider than you? Now wake up and think of a viable plan, okay?"
Lang Cai directly slammed on the table.
The scene instantly quieted down, each person bowing their heads.
"Kan Qin, please continue." Lang Cai allowed Kan Qin to keep speaking. 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
"Ahem, I believe Ling is sincere to us, which should be evident to all of you. They won’t restrict our people from going there, meaning our people can live, work, do business, etc. freely. Ge Dan won’t be restricted anymore either, this has been made clear by Ling’s stance.
Secondly, through this cooperation, we can also rely on Ling’s technology to enhance our industrial strength. Ling promised to build a large number of factories here, employ workers to solve their labor shortage..."
Since Kan Qin had chosen a stance, of course, he would try his best to extol the benefits of cooperation.
Indeed, Lang Cai was moved.
Just as Kan Qin said, the benefits of this matter far outweighed the disadvantages. Ling had offered a lot of help and promises. This is also the direct reason why he didn’t oppose some of Ling’s excessive demands.
