Chapter 229: Selling It All Together

Meanwhile, at the European and American institutions in Colombo.

They were also beginning to feel that something was amiss. The news coming from Gem City further confirmed their unease.

Financial Street in Colombo.

This was the center of Ceylon’s financial industry. Although there wasn’t much of a financial sector to speak of, it was still home to the offices of numerous international financial institutions.

For example, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley Company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merrill Lynch Bank, HSBC Holdings, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, UBS Group, Bank of China International, China Merchants Company, Royal Bank of Scotland, Temasek Investment, Mitsubishi Bank, Han Gong Bank, and others.

All had branch companies or offices here.

The financial institutions that had invested in Ceylon’s sovereign bonds, in particular, were now constantly calling or emailing their headquarters.

John, the head of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s office, looked at the documents in his hands and the reports his subordinates had gathered in Colombo over the past few days. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Fuck, is that guy insane?"

Also in his office were Horton from Citigroup and Sunny from Morgan Stanley Company.

Sunny adjusted her glasses. "He’s not insane. He just feels that with Ceylon’s current GDP growth, it’s impossible to repay the ever-accumulating debt, so he plans to maintain the state of bankruptcy."

"Why did he choose that Qingye Group?" John’s expression was pained.

If Dis had just come to them for a discussion, to ask for a delay on the sovereign debt payments, the major investment firms wouldn’t be in such a passive position now.

Sunny speculated, "He doesn’t trust us. Or perhaps he’s simply a spokesperson for Qingye Group. Have you guys noticed? Manila Bank has been continuously buying up Ceylon’s foreign sovereign debt at low prices."

The international community now basically considers the three major groups of Hongsawaddy and the five great family consortiums of Luzon to be part of the same system.

After all, the methods of Qingye Group and Homo Sapiens Company are more or less the same.

Judging from the previous collaborations between Hongsawaddy and Luzon, it’s clear there must be some unknown internal connections between the two sides.

Of course, one might now have to add Siam to the list, as that country is also rapidly transitioning to the Hongsawaddy model.

East Japan and South Korea, however, are not surprised by these super-conglomerates; after all, the situation in their own countries is quite similar.

Therefore, with Manila Bank acquiring Ceylon’s foreign debt and Qingye Group making a full-scale entry into Ceylon, outside observers connected the dots and quickly deduced that Manila Bank was helping Qingye Group acquire the debt.

Originally, the major investment firms had no intention of letting Qingye Group off easy. They planned to continue holding Ceylon’s foreign debt to force Qingye Group to make a painful concession.

But now, they were dumbfounded.

These international investment firms weren’t fools. They might not have reacted in time at first, but now they had discovered the trickery involved.

Dis’s actions weren’t aimed at saving Ceylon at all; he intended to sell the country off for cheap.

Qingye Group’s recent frenzy of investment in Ceylon’s various industries was, in effect, hollowing out all of the country’s industries and resources.

Dis was also constantly pulling strings for Qingye Group, while simultaneously granting them decades of tax exemptions.

So you insist on holding onto the foreign debt, do you?

You want to take this opportunity to squeeze Ceylon and Qingye Group, is that it?

Fine, I’ll just sell off everything completely. All industries, land, people, and cities—packaged and sold to Qingye Group, complete with long-term tax exemptions.

Meanwhile, Ceylon’s treasury wouldn’t receive a single cent, and the country would remain under bankruptcy protection. Want Ceylon to repay its debt? The national coffers are so empty that even a mouse would starve to death inside.

Dis also had Ceylon’s central bank print money like crazy, causing the local currency to devalue at a rate comparable to the Zimbabwean Dollar.

This forced the residents and local businesses of Ceylon to accept the reality of the Jin Yuan completely replacing their local currency.

At the same time, anyone who went bankrupt had their industries liquidated by Qingye Group.

With this series of combination punches, Qingye Group was rapidly hollowing out every single industry in Ceylon.

Soon, Ceylon would likely become an empty shell, its only remaining purpose perhaps being to bear that $51.8 billion in foreign debt.

As long as the European and American financial institutions refused to give up on that sovereign foreign debt, Ceylon’s bankruptcy would continue—a state of affairs that Qingye Group couldn’t care less about.

Qingye Group had already devoured all the flesh and blood. As for the shell, they would just let the stalemate drag on. It was a matter of seeing which side would break first.

The whole world was stunned by Ceylon’s outrageous moves.

The country had sold itself, and for a price that was practically a giveaway.

Now, the pressure was suddenly on the international investment firms.

John clenched his fists, his anger uncontrollable. "That damned bastard! Does he really think we’re a bunch of pushovers?"

"If we sell off Ceylon’s foreign debt now, we’ll lose at least 80%. This is absolutely unacceptable," Sunny said, equally furious.

Horton said viciously, "Contact headquarters! Qingye Group wants to invest here, right? Then we’ll make their investment a complete failure."

Meanwhile, Chen Jianxiong was personally overseeing the situation in Colombo.

After reviewing the intelligence from all sides, a contemptuous smile appeared on his face, and a trace of mockery surfaced in his mind. ’With trash like you?’

He quickly gave orders to bring the hundred or so core members of the Converts under control, while also closely monitoring the operatives of organizations like Black Ship who were undercover in Ceylon.

On another front, Chen Jianxiong quickly contacted the External Security Division and had them urgently dispatch 5,000 New Human security personnel from Luzon and Hongsawaddy to directly take full control of Ceylon’s armed forces and police.

The Blood Blade Special Team and the special commercial investigators from the Foreign Affairs Division, who were already in Ceylon, went on high alert.

The Ceylon investment company established by Qingye Group wasn’t idle, either.

The scale of its all-out investment in Ceylon was almost unprecedented. Dozens of large corporations rapidly charged into the country, going on a veritable rampage.

These companies frantically absorbed labor. Regardless of work experience, as long as they were young and able-bodied, they were immediately hired into subsidiary companies. In any case, with an initial monthly salary of 500 Jin Yuan, it was treated as a work-for-relief program.

Later, through screening and training, the positions and compensation of these new employees could be gradually adjusted.

The massive number of jobs directly swallowed up several million of Ceylon’s laborers, suppressing the unstable element of the unemployed to an absolute minimum.

After all, given the purchasing power of the Jin Yuan, as long as one didn’t buy large appliances or cars, 500 Jin Yuan was enough to provide for the basic needs of a family of five.

Ceylon only has a population of 22 million. Excluding the remaining government officials and military personnel, a workforce of several million was connected to the vast majority of Ceylon’s population.

After experiencing over a month of chaos and the shock of food and supply shortages, as long as they had something to eat, the ordinary people of Ceylon would not be easily stirred to cause trouble.

At the very least, they were still very clear on who was putting food on their tables.

People only learn to treasure what they have after they’ve lost it.

As for how Qingye Group would recoup the costs of such a massive investment...

Anyone who understood the operating model of a mega-corporation knew that Qingye Group would not engage in a losing business, and that it would be very difficult for them to lose money at all.

After all, things like grain, food, daily necessities, machinery, fuel gas and oil, and building materials were all produced by Qingye Group and its sister companies. It was equivalent to moving money from the left hand to the right; the costs didn’t need to be very high.

Furthermore, Ceylon had favorable agricultural conditions, maritime shipping advantages, and abundant undersea resources. As long as they found the right direction for the future, there was no need to worry about the country’s development.

Clearly, Qingye Group’s aggressive tactics and their move of pulling the rug out from under them had caught Europe and America somewhat off guard.

Realizing what was happening, Europe and America quickly ordered their local Converts, fifth columnists, and the like to take action.