Life Game In Other World
Chapter 233: Planning (Long - - Please Subscribe, Add to Favorites, Request Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 233: Chapter 233: Planning (Long Chapter - Please Subscribe, Add to Favorites, Request Monthly Tickets)

"This is Lina, starting from today, she will be my private secretary."

"Hello, everyone."

Lina watched the people sitting before her, many of whom she had only seen on television before. They were all high-level executives of the Nolanka Group, each dominating their respective domain, and calling the shots in Kaye City.

It felt like a student attending a dinner and finding themselves sitting next to the head of the Education Bureau.

"Hello."

A private secretary, this was the first personal assistant Vian ever had. Before this, all of Vian’s affairs were handled by the old butler.

The executives present were all sharp individuals, and they soon warmly introduced themselves to Lina one after another.

During this process, Lina also got to know the old butler, Danny.

"All right, what are the results of the discussions?"

Once the discussions were over, He Ao sat in the primary seat, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the executives present.

Although there were empty seats at the table, Lina thought for a moment and chose not to sit down, instead standing beside the old butler.

When He Ao called these executives together, he gave them a basic idea to discuss for viability; now he was here to review their thoughts.

The executives here were all brought up and positioned by Danny over the years, essentially considered insiders. Their being called here, while other non-Vian faction executives were not, was in itself a certain signal.

Therefore, they all appeared particularly eager.

Of course, when it came to summarizing their speeches, they still knew how to ’defer’; this was their first time interacting with He Ao, and they were afraid of misspeaking, not having grasped He Ao’s preferences.

All eyes momentarily fell on Lian, the one with glasses.

Lian was perplexed for a moment.

He was a board member and an executive and had been Vian’s childhood playmate. Having him speak first was more than suitable.

Although this was agreed upon at the start, he was still a bit nervous, mainly because what he was about to say mostly contradicted He Ao’s words.

Picking up the paper on which he had just jotted down points, he said them one by one,

"Regarding the ideas you just proposed, we’ve discussed them and feel that there might be some issues with feasibility,

First, regarding employee benefits, you spoke of providing housing discounts, educational discounts, setting up internal retirement insurance and medical insurance, and offering medical services for employees.

These additional expenditures could significantly reduce the company’s profits or even result in losses. Without profits, external investment institutions might not be willing to invest in us, and the company’s funding could be cut off."

After speaking, Lian looked up to gauge He Ao’s reaction.

He Ao nodded slightly, "Continue."

"Second, about industrial reform, you mentioned splitting Nolanka Bank’s shares for public offering and financing, which we support. However, we are somewhat at a loss to understand the rest.

First, expanding the grain sector and increasing agricultural investments — agriculture is a low-profit industry, and once we show signs of increasing grain production, entities such as Mosanto leading the Grain Industry Alliance will definitely dump grains at low prices, attempting to crash our agricultural ventures, leading to substantial losses for us.

Secondly, increasing educational investments and granting loans to street children to help them with schooling is also a business guaranteed to operate at a loss, a ’charitable industry.’

Lastly, shifting the heavy industry sector to produce military supplies. The arms industry is a sector with a low investment-to-return ratio, and our products would not be competitive with venerable military industry giants like the Yiwis Space System."

"You said this morning that our Mechas could change the world."

He Ao looked at him with a smile.

"But, that is just one advantage,"

Lian replied stammeringly, feeling as if He Ao had completely changed, serious and authoritative.

"No matter, continue,"

He Ao smiled and motioned for Lian to proceed.

"And the last point: encouraging the children or relatives of employees to join the Mercenary Corps within the group. This is simply unfeasible. Our mercenaries earn their keep through dangerous tasks, and only those who are either courageous and combat-ready, or completely out of options, would become mercenaries.

The employees are living good lives; why would they be willing to send their loved ones to be mercenaries?"

"Moreover," Lian paused, "If we were to provide such high benefits, other businesses and small consortia in Kaye City would experience employee loss, which would make us a target for the entire Kaye City."

"A bunch of small fry won’t stir up a big storm."

He Ao leaned back in his chair, looking at the executives in front of him, "So, gentlemen, you believe that we should still focus on finance and real estate to obtain excessive profits?"

Everyone bowed their heads, not daring to speak.

Lian opened his mouth but then didn’t know how to untangle the issue.

In essence, it was just a matter of perspective; He Ao’s starting point was to ensure that every Nolanka Group employee could lead a better life.

And the issue the executives had in mind was purely profit, earning more profit meant more commissions or bonuses for them, their wealth would increase, and with this increased wealth, they could lead better lives.

As for the ordinary people below, if they were unemployed, starved due to insufficient food, and died, it was of no concern to these rich people who earned money.

This was the ingrained way of thinking in this world.

But would the poor resign themselves to starving to death?

Impossible.

The root of the problem with the high crime rate in Kaye City was the increasing number of unemployed people turning into vagrants. With no food to eat, they no longer regarded any rules.

And the root of all this came from conglomerates like Nolanka Group ruthlessly exploiting the lower classes for high profits.

The so-called profit is merely selling price minus cost; if the selling price remains unchanged, the lower the cost, the higher the profit.

And labor costs are a significant part of the cost.

He Ao’s series of welfare policies, including various discounts and educational subsidies, were in fact just returning the profits squeezed from the workers to them, which was tantamount to indirectly increasing their salaries, except that the increase had to be spent where he designated.

As for the investment in agriculture, firstly, it created a lot of employment during the investment process, allowing vagrants in the city to find jobs; secondly, it ensured sufficient food production to avoid dependence and manipulation by others in the future.

As long as the employees benefited from He Ao’s policies, to prevent Nolanka Group from collapsing and returning to the miserable life of the past, they would naturally take up arms to protect Nolanka Group. Thus, any reason for not joining the Mercenary Corps would no longer exist.

And the development of the military industry was for the future protection of Nolanka Group. Implementing such policies meant that Nolanka Group would face not only internal pressures.

Would such reforms lead to severe losses for Nolanka Group?

Actually, it wouldn’t, as long as the scales were managed well. After the group cut its profit margins, it effectively reduced some essential expenses for the lower class, giving ordinary people more disposable income to purchase other products of the group—in Kaye City, they couldn’t avoid Nolanka Group whenever buying anything.

This was equivalent to opening a new market. Goods that were previously backlogged in storage could be sold, factories could operate again, more new workers would be needed, job opportunities would increase, vagrants would decrease, crime rates would drop, and the struggling economy could be revitalized.

Just shift the mindset from profit-first to everyone-having-food-first.

Then the problems brought up by these executives would no longer be issues.

Of course, this reform would inevitably lead to lower profits, which would touch the interests of many within the group. Naturally, the most affected in theory would be He Ao, the controlling shareholder and the direct beneficiary of the group’s profits.

He Ao looked at the executives in front of him, "From now on, your bonuses will no longer be linked to profits but will be determined by a comprehensive evaluation method. Does anyone still have any objections to my recent actions?"

Everyone was silent. If it was unrelated to their interests, they didn’t have to worry about these problems. After all, it was He Ao’s money that was being lost, and it had nothing to do with them.

"Good, it seems there are no objections." He Ao looked around, "Does anyone have any doubts about my plans?"

"Implementing these initiatives requires substantial funds. If we run out of money, with profits declining and difficulties in financing from the financial market, how should we raise these funds?"

An executive raised a hand.

"Bonds, to start with, when we roll out the entire plan, we’ll issue a sort of ’points,’ or say virtual currency. You can name it anything, let’s call it Nolanka Cion.

We’ll disburse salaries in federal coin and Nolanka Cion to our employees. Nolanka Cion can be used to purchase any products produced by the group, pay tuition fees at the group’s schools, or make insurance payments at the group’s insurance companies. For the vagrants recruited for new projects, we’ll pay them entirely or mostly in Nolanka Cion, making them use it for purchasing materials.

If we need money, we can issue a special Nolanka Cion bond to raise funds. How to issue this virtual currency and its mechanisms will be discussed later by professional economists from the Research Institute, but it’s beyond doubt that this method can generate funds."

In fact, only Nolanka Group in Kaye City could use this method because the group nearly monopolized every sector in the city. The virtual currency they issued could be used to purchase anything desired, creating a closed-loop economy.

"Alright, any more questions?"

He Ao spoke.

Following the first person to raise their hand, naturally there was a second. An executive stood up and asked, "Medical insurance is expensive. If we cover everyone with medical insurance, in the long run, it would pose a severe burden on our financial situation."

"Invest in medical education," He Ao said calmly,

"Insurance is expensive because medical treatment is expensive, and the core of high medical treatment costs lies in the high cost of doctors. Training a doctor requires a great deal of time, effort, and even money. Many medical colleges in the Federation have harsh admission requirements, and some even require family ties with alumni or letters of recommendation from multiple alumni to get in.

Change this practice, establish medical colleges accessible to everyone, set up a tiered healthcare system, encourage poor children to study medicine, train a large number of primary care physicians and community doctors, relieve the medical system, and fundamentally solve the problem of expensive healthcare. Next."

Subsequently, many other executives raised their hands, and He Ao was generally able to provide a direction for each question. These ideas stemmed not only from his knowledge but also from the memories of Vian.

These ideas had their merits and flaws, and were not perfect, but they broadly offered a new way of thinking, inspiring these executives.

After a long back-and-forth Q&A, He Ao tapped the table lightly,

"These are long-term strategic thoughts. There are surely aspects that do not fit with reality and will need to be adjusted in practice. I don’t need you to come up with solutions immediately, but there is one thing for which I need results tonight.

Employee benefits, housing discounts, educational incentives—I need a fundamental executable plan tonight to be announced first thing tomorrow morning.

Besides, I need a draft of the construction plan for the agricultural building by tomorrow evening. Let’s get to work, everyone."

He Ao didn’t have much time; he had to start these initiatives. Once started, the momentum would make further progress easier.

"What about me?" Lina, standing behind He Ao, asked softly. "What’s my task?"

"Your task is propaganda," He Ao rose slowly, "Make sure everyone knows who is leading and crafting this plan, what benefits it can bring, and how they can apply for these benefits."

He patted Lina’s shoulder, "Just like the program you designed today, make sure enough people see it and know about it."

With that, he headed towards the study. The casing for his micro fusion reactor was nearly ready.