Let's not discuss how Mr. Huang made his next grand plan, or which target he intended to set his sights on with the knives and swords in his hands.
On the other side, after the board meeting of the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company, all the directors who attended the meeting immediately reported the meeting results to their respective bosses.
Of course, these bosses were also quietly observing the meeting from behind the scenes; otherwise, they wouldn't have voted on the outcome on the spot.
After all, without the nod from the big bosses behind them, these directors wouldn't have had the ability to make such multi-trillion-dollar decisions.
However, the final land exchange and profit distribution could not be decided in a short period and would require careful planning by professional technical teams after returning.
According to the final explanation by Little Swift before the adjournment, the next month would be the period for claiming and exchanging. Because there were a total of 38 directors, big and small, with certain rights in the United States within the entire board, Little Swift announced that the first 15 days of the coming month would be a fixed subscription period. Each shareholder would have two fixed subscription slots, meaning these directors could not invest as much as they wanted, but could at most acquire 2 replacement land parcels and a fundraising amount of 20 billion U.S. dollars.
If there were overlapping demands from directors, it would be on a first-come, first-served basis. Whoever managed to secure all the required land parcels in a sector first would be able to exchange for the old land parcels and take away a subscription quota of 10 billion U.S. dollars. During this period, a shareholder family could only subscribe twice at most.
After 15 days, there would be no restrictions. Regardless of whether a director subscribed to land in the first 15 days, all land parcels would be in a state of free competition. Whichever director acquired all the land first would obtain the subscription rights for that land parcel.
After 30 days, if any land parcels remained unsubscribed, they would be directly subscribed by the Western Mustang Fund.
Such methods were very urgent, prompting all the directors of the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company to try and acquire all the required land in the sector within a month. This requirement was impossible for the vast majority of American companies, but for the directors present and the institutions behind them, the difficulty was not that high.
Firstly, these institutions already held a large amount of land. The newly formulated route would pass through land that was about 42% controlled by these institutions. Some institutions would only need to hand over the land they controlled to immediately exchange for other land parcels and receive a financing amount of 10 billion U.S. dollars, which was very swift.
Of course, institutions that were so conveniently positioned were relatively few, as the remaining 58% of the land was in the hands of others.
Of course, at this time, no one except those who attended the board meeting knew that the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company intended to change to a new route, and the landowners along the old route were naturally unaware of these secrets.
Meanwhile, with the exception of a small portion, the land involved in the new route was almost all farmland and unpopulated areas, making the purchase price of the land incredibly cheap.
Coupled with the strong influence that major institutions had in the areas they controlled, acquiring a contiguous block of land was a matter of minutes. Although there was some difficulty, it was not very high.
Although many institutions were very dissatisfied with Little Swift's obvious attempt to fleece them and the fact that they would have to spend a lot of money in a short period, the thought of turning 10 billion U.S. dollars into a huge profit of 27 billion U.S. dollars was an irresistible temptation for anyone.
The most fatal thing was that they could not unite to force Little Swift to change this decision. This was because Little Swift had indeed handed over most of the potential profits to them for distribution. Even if they changed the policy, they would still have to find a way to acquire the land needed for the new route.
If the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company were to bear this cost itself, then the profits and cash they would receive in the future would be significantly reduced, and the majority equity would still be in the hands of the other party. A direct confrontation at this point was clearly not cost-effective and offered no benefits.
Most importantly, with over 30 institutions vying for a larger share, this intense competition meant they would inevitably be unable to unite. Instead, they could only try to acquire as much land and investment share as possible. Therefore, despite their deep dissatisfaction, each institution made the decision to obtain the opportunity for this investment share at all costs.
The next morning, representatives from eight institutions simultaneously arrived at the headquarters of the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company and submitted eight agreements for the exchange of old and new land. These were institutions that happened to control the new land parcels, so they acted quickly to secure these parcels and avoid further complications.
Meanwhile, other institutions were also planning how to acquire the land within the demarcated areas based on the land they already possessed. Some clever institutions realized that although there was a limit of two parcels per institution for the first 15 days, if they could buy up land from other parcels first, wouldn't that block other institutions' opportunities?
Thus, many American farmers and landowners were surprised to find that within a few days, several groups of land agents had visited them, hoping to purchase the land they held. Initially, these land agents were extremely stingy, willing to offer only normal prices, or even slightly lower prices.
But as more and more land agents arrived, their offers gradually soared, quickly reaching about twice the market price. At this point, even a fool would know that their land seemed to have struck gold, so many farmers and landowners began to hold out for higher prices.
It was at this point that the institutions realized the drawbacks of competing with each other. Many institutions then began private negotiations, engaging in various exchanges of benefits to persuade the other party to abandon their intention to purchase land.
In short, for the next 15 days, various institutions and companies were engaged in scheming and hidden confrontations, while the landowners who were preparing to hold out for higher prices realized that many of the agents who had come to buy were gone, leaving only one person willing to acquire land at a premium of about 20%. Most landowners felt this price was reasonable and sold.
Of course, some landowners were determined to hold on, believing there was a secret behind it and they couldn't miss the opportunity to get rich. Consequently, many landowners found themselves facing great difficulties in various aspects. Some were directly fired by their companies, or their children were fired. Some received warnings from certain nefarious forces, as well as threats. In any case, various coercive tactics were employed.
Of course, in addition to coercion, there was also enticement, such as promises to help them obtain certain rights, or to help release a relative imprisoned, or other similar benefits. The methods were swift, and most landowners could not withstand such tactics and obediently sold their land.
Of course, some individuals were fearless of any threats or temptations. They armed themselves with over a dozen guns at home, and their neighbors suddenly found these individuals shooting themselves in the head four or five times.
In short, no one could stop what the powerful figures wanted. Together with these dozens of institutions, the power they could wield even surpassed that of the entire U.S. government.
Ultimately, what was initially a difficult exchange plan turned out to be exceptionally smooth. By the end of the 15 days, almost all institutions had acquired the exchange rights for two land parcels. After 30 days, with the exception of a few stubborn land parcels that were difficult to dislodge, all other land was acquired. The entire new route for the pipeline was finalized in just one month.
Considering the old route, even after eight years, only one-third had been finalized, with the remaining two-thirds locked in endless disputes, creating two extremes.
However, fortunately, all preparatory work had now been completed. The land was secured, and the 1 trillion U.S. dollar fund was in place. The vacuum super magnetic levitation pipeline, which the American people had long yearned for, could finally begin construction.
Of course, there was someone who was unhappy, and that was Goldman Sachs Group. Due to his actions at the board meeting, Little Swift directly stated to the other directors after the Goldman Sachs directors left that he did not need Goldman Sachs Group's funds or assistance this time. Not a single one of the 100 replacement land parcels would be reserved for Goldman Sachs as punishment for their actions.
The idea of a Black man punishing the venerable Goldman Sachs would have been a huge joke in the past, but now, all the directors found it very reasonable. This was because Goldman Sachs held an enormous amount of land, and acquiring a large number of parcels would mean taking away the profits of other institutions. With Goldman Sachs excluded, these profits would go to them, so why wouldn't they find it reasonable?
Of course, Goldman Sachs was furious. It was said that Professor Parkinson was summoned by the Goldman Sachs board and severely reprimanded for an entire day, stating that due to his foolishness, Goldman Sachs had lost at least hundreds of billions of dollars in profits, and he was held solely responsible. Of course, considering that Professor Parkinson had generated enormous profits for the company before, the primary action this time was a warning, along with the hope that Professor Parkinson could find a way to make up for the company's lost profits.
Under duress, Professor Parkinson had no choice but to personally visit the headquarters of the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company. After a very friendly conversation between the two parties, Little Swift stated that everything that had happened before was a misunderstanding, and now that the misunderstanding was resolved, they were still friends!