"Gentlemen, I certainly won't have you digging soil. My intention is that we can obtain authorization and permits for these lands through a swap," Little Swift said with a smile. "Our newly planned routes are designed to bypass urban centers as much as possible, being built in secondary areas of cities. Therefore, land prices are not high, currently around 300 billion US dollars. This is roughly equivalent to the price of much of the land the company currently holds in prime CBD areas. Thus, we can find ways to exchange the land we possess for the land needed for our new routes!"
"A pipe dream!" Hearing Little Swift's words, many couldn't help but chuckle.
However, their mockery was not misplaced, as the plan indeed sounded like a pipe dream.
Although the land was comparable in actual value, the problem was that such exchanges were not so easily accomplished.
Firstly, people would not sell their land only to accept equivalent land located thousands of miles away.
And even if they accepted, how would it be allocated?
The land owned by the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company, the most valuable portion, worth about 200 billion US dollars, consisted of expensive urban CBD areas.
If this land were exchanged for land stretching across desolate wilderness, one square meter could potentially be swapped for over three hundred thousand square meters of land. How could this possibly be managed?
Would you ask dozens of farm owners along the route to unite and sell their land just to obtain one square meter of land in a city CBD core?
In short, people would simply refuse to make such an exchange.
Finally, even if Little Swift possessed immense ability and managed to persuade others to exchange land.
Then, those individuals would know you desperately needed their land, and the route could hardly be altered. Immediately, thousands of "nail households" would emerge. If you didn't offer a price ten or twenty times higher, they simply wouldn't sell. How could this be managed?
Besides these issues, countless other difficulties existed. The directors present had no idea where this young man's courage came from to propose acquiring land for pipeline construction through land swaps.
Did he actually expect them to fork over their own money to buy it for him?
As they were all thinking these thoughts, Little Swift spoke with utmost reasonableness, "Esteemed directors, for the sake of the company's development, each of you should contribute a part of your strength."
"Therefore, I have divided the land required for this railway construction into 100 parcels, and similarly divided the company's existing land into 100 parcels. These are bound together based on equal value."
"I hope each of you directors will undertake to acquire one or more parcels of land. You will be responsible for collecting and purchasing the new land required for these parcels. Upon obtaining ownership of this new land, you can then transfer it to the company in exchange for the corresponding original land!"
"Gentlemen, who will take the first bite and help the company overcome this difficult period?" As Little Swift finished speaking, everyone looked at him as if he were an idiot.
So, this fellow actually had such a scheme in mind for them. He truly expected them to pay out of their own pockets to help him buy land. Was his head filled with muscle?
The crowd had forgotten how to critique their chairman. Words like "presumptuous" and "self-important" could no longer describe the chairman's level of idiocy. They couldn't find precise adjectives to describe their feelings at that moment.
Fortunately, everyone was intelligent. After calming down, they reasoned that, no matter what, Little Swift couldn't possibly be this foolish, or he wouldn't have become the "God of Finance." Therefore, he must have other plans to force them to agree to this land swap.
With this thought, everyone became extremely vigilant, facing Little Swift with the utmost caution, wary of when he might sell them out.
"Very well, as the specific swap plan is too complex, we will not discuss it further at this meeting. I welcome all directors to speak with my secretary privately after the meeting concludes. They will be responsible for negotiations and discussions with you!" Little Swift said with a serious expression, as if everyone was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to participate in this land swap plan.
"Now, let me address another cost issue!" After abruptly discarding the land swap plan he had just proposed, Little Swift continued to announce his plans to everyone, without any pause, giving the other directors no chance to offer suggestions.
"Having solved the land issue without spending a single cent, the most pressing matter remaining is the construction cost of the super vacuum magnetic levitation pipeline railway!" Little Swift stated. "The cost I mentioned, 1 trillion US dollars, is almost entirely for these pipelines."
"That's impossible! 1 trillion US dollars is nowhere near enough for the construction cost of the nearly 7,000 kilometers of pipelines you're talking about. Stop trying to deceive us!" someone exclaimed, loudly refuting him.
"Oh, this director says 1 trillion US dollars isn't enough. Then we can't just make baseless claims. You need to provide concrete evidence to prove to me that this 1 trillion US dollars is indeed insufficient!" Little Swift countered.
"Do I need to provide data for that? The company conducted a detailed assessment several years ago. The total construction cost for the entire pipeline reached 3.9 trillion US dollars, and that was for a pipeline of 4,000 kilometers. On average, each kilometer of pipeline required 1 billion US dollars in construction funds. This is the result the company calculated long ago and it's directly stated in the company's financial reports. What other evidence do you need me to provide?"
"Ah, yes, I recall that assessment result is actually six years old. And in these past six years, the inflation rate in the United States has been truly astonishing, with a significant decline in the purchasing power of the dollar. The actual decline has reached a staggering 13.6%."
"In other words, what required 3.9 trillion US dollars six years ago would likely now cost around 4.5 trillion US dollars. And if we consider the nearly 7,000 kilometers of pipelines in your plan, the construction cost would directly jump to over 8 trillion US dollars."
"But you're telling us now that only 1 trillion US dollars is needed. Is that even possible? Aren't you treating us all like fools!" the director said angrily.
Facing the director's furious questioning, Little Swift maintained a polite smile throughout. Only when the other person could no longer speak did he say, "I have seen that six-year-old report you mentioned. Your memory is remarkably accurate, with hardly any data errors. With such a good memory, you are certainly not a fool."
"But ladies and gentlemen, do you think I, Little Swift, would be a fool to have reached this point?"
"Each of you probably manages at least dozens of companies. Do you believe the various data reports released by those companies? To profit handsomely from land acquisition, you inflated the value of 300 billion US dollars worth of land to 6 trillion US dollars."
"Then, let me counter by saying that if this 3.9 trillion US dollar cost estimate can be reduced to 200 billion US dollars, wouldn't that also be logically consistent?"
"In fact, after taking over the company, I also immediately arranged for the company's employees to re-calculate the manufacturing costs. Upon comparing the two reports, I discovered many very interesting details."
"For a ton of steel that costs only 600 US dollars on the market, you simply had it processed in an empty steel processing plant and added a so-called special designation, and the market price directly became 8,600 US dollars per ton."
"Also, for something that clearly could be completed in one process, you insisted on it going through seven additional unrelated processes. This alone increased the construction cost by a full 100 billion US dollars. Who do you think this money ends up with?"
"I can't be bothered to say more. Such methods are rife throughout this report. Do I need to point them out to each of you one by one?"
"We are all seasoned foxes here, so let's not pretend to be saints. This 4.9 trillion US dollar cost report, according to my people's calculations, can be halved. It only requires 2.5 trillion US dollars!"
"So, do any of you have any interest in seeing me present the new cost calculation report for your review?" Little Swift's questioning immediately silenced everyone, and no one was interested in seeing the report.
Little Swift was absolutely correct. They were all seasoned foxes. Even without seeing the report, they could guess with their eyes closed that such practices must exist, and likely to an even greater extent.
"Alright, even if it's 2.5 trillion US dollars. But you're building 7,000 kilometers, so the cost should increase to at least 4 trillion US dollars. Your 1 trillion US dollar funding is still definitely not enough!" Everyone tacitly abandoned the previous issue and began questioning again.
"Indeed, if we were to use the previous technical methods, the construction cost would indeed require around 4 trillion US dollars." This time, Little Swift nodded very readily, admitting to the figure. He even added, "Furthermore, I recently met several friends who are also involved in vacuum ultra-high-speed magnetic levitation pipelines. They told me that while budgets might seem sufficient on paper, various unexpected events often occur during actual construction, leading to further budget increases. In total, costs could increase by about 25%."
"Therefore, the theoretical construction cost of 4 trillion US dollars would need an additional 25% increase, bringing it to around 5 trillion US dollars, which is more reasonable!" Little Swift stated sincerely.