Chapter 300 - 154: Paying a Visit

Chapter 300: Chapter 154: Paying a Visit

"How about this? We’ll form a joint venture mining company, but the research and development for the biomining technology will remain a Hailufeng Company project. We’ll fund the R&D ourselves. If any high-value results are achieved, our company will license them to the mining company. Then, we can charge an annual patent fee based on production volume. How does that sound?"

Jiang Miao finally showed his hand.

He had long predicted they wouldn’t invest in the biomining technology project, which suited him perfectly.

This would allow Jiang Miao to separate the technology from the mining company. The technology would remain under the Hailufeng Company’s name, which would then license it to the new mining company. Furthermore, if other mining companies wanted to use the technology, they would have to partner with Hailufeng Company, not the joint venture.

Gao Meng and her team didn’t perceive the deeper meaning behind Jiang Miao’s proposal. They discussed it quietly for a moment but didn’t make an immediate decision.

Instead, they proceeded to ask about other matters.

Zhao Shuisheng was the first to speak. "General Manager Jiang, I have a question. I hope you can clarify something for me."

"Go ahead."

"Besides the biomining technology, will the mining company have other sources of profit? We can’t just rely on luck prospecting for ore in the Monan Region, can we? That seems like a very unsound approach."

"Of course. We have other profitability plans." Jiang Miao took a file from Li Zixuan and handed it to them. "These are the mining company’s other proposals for generating profit."

Zhao Shuisheng hurriedly began to look it over.

Artificial Nutrient Soil Development Plan...

Artificial Desert Farmland Development Plan...

After reading the two plans, Zhao Shuisheng was completely baffled. He felt like his brain was overloading; he recognized each individual word, but when combined, the phrases became incomprehensible.

Seeing Zhao Shuisheng staring blankly, Gao Meng, who was beside him, coughed lightly. "Ahem, Vice Manager Zhao? Are you finished?"

"Er, yes, I’m finished. General Manager, please." Zhao Shuisheng jolted and quickly handed the file over.

Gao Meng took the file and began to read.

Meanwhile, Zhao Shuisheng hurriedly asked, "General Manager Jiang, these two profitability plans your company has provided... they seem even harder to implement than the biomining technology."

Gao Meng, who was now just as baffled, looked up. "General Manager Jiang, this nutrient soil plan... Are you sure about this? Parts of Eastern Monan do have black soil, but mining it is illegal now."

"General Manager Gao, when I say artificial nutrient soil, I mean it’s truly artificial. It won’t require the use of any natural black soil."

"Can this really be profitable?" Zhao Shuisheng asked. He was certainly familiar with nutrient soil; many places in Monan produced it, for example, by fermenting cattle and sheep manure to create a compost.

Gao Meng flipped to the other plan, equally skeptical. "And this desert farmland plan... that would be incredibly difficult to implement as well, wouldn’t it?"

"We’ll know whether or not it’s a success by this October." Jiang Miao pulled open the window curtains, revealing a view of a recently leveled expanse of sand not far away.

"So, you’re saying this is another one of Hailufeng Company’s experimental projects?" Gao Meng was hesitant. Through her local contacts, she had already learned that Hailufeng Company had leased 350,000 mu of the Tamin Chagan Desert.

’If they weren’t confident, they wouldn’t have made such a huge investment.’

’Although the local leasing fees were very low, it was still an annual payment of 17.5 million yuan. On top of that, she had seen the convoy from Sany Heavy Industry arriving today with over two hundred pieces of assorted construction machinery. The equipment alone represented an investment of several hundred million yuan. And this wasn’t a state-subsidized project; it was a private venture that Hailufeng Company was funding entirely out of its own pocket.’

’Under these circumstances, it was hard for Gao Meng not to be convinced.’

’As for the possibility that Hailufeng Company was just trying to scam them for their investment and then disappear with the money, she found it highly unlikely.’

’After all, Hailufeng Company was already collecting over three billion yuan in patent fees from the animal feed industry each year. They simply had no motive for such a scheme.’

’Now, if a real estate company had proposed a project like this, she would definitely have suspected they were just here for a cash grab.’

Gao Meng immediately made her decision. "General Manager Jiang, I don’t know where your confidence comes from, but we’re in."

"General Manager?" Zhao Shuisheng began, but then hesitated.

In truth, Gao Meng wasn’t worried about the investment becoming a major problem.

The initial startup capital required for either the nutrient soil plan or the desert farmland plan wasn’t particularly large.

At this stage, the main task for this so-called mining company was essentially a land grab: to first secure the rights to all the large, contiguous, and developable tracts of sandy terrain, desert, and saline-alkali land throughout the Monan Region.

That was right. Jiang Miao’s plan was to first secure the land. But a task of this magnitude was impossible for Hailufeng Company to accomplish alone without local cooperation. Since the Monan State-owned Assets Operation Company had delivered itself to his doorstep, he presented them with this plan.

He knew with perfect clarity that once the Immortal Bean line of products proved successful, the deserts, sandy areas, and saline-alkali lands of the Monan Region would instantly become hot commodities.

Forget 50 yuan per mu; you might not be able to lease it for even 500 yuan per mu.

After all, the leasing or subleasing fees for local irrigated farmland were typically between 600 and 750 yuan per mu annually.

And deserts reclaimed with Immortal Soybeans, even in areas without water, could be used as pastures and fields for growing fodder by intercropping the Immortal Soybeans with other drought-resistant grasses.

In other words, as long as they secured the land now, all they had to do next was sit back and rake in the profits.