655 Peaceful Takeover

The exchange rate was like a knife. If it were used well, it would be able to cut off a large piece of meat from the players participating in the market without any effort.

The Federation's merchants' attempted to completely shrink the mutated fruits farm area by dumping low-priced nutrient supply so that they would then gain complete control of the nutrient supply production.

However, Gear Commerce of Chamber did not think that NAC would directly devalue the crystal in their hands through leveraging the exchange rate.

NAC had complete control of all the mutant farms in NAC region. And those farms accounted for 20% of energy consumption in NAC! This was already a very high number.

Depreciation of the crystal was like a double-edged sword, hurting others and hurting oneself.

The only difference was that NAC could withstand this loss and could wait until the value of the crystal returned to normal, but the Gear Chamber of Commerce couldn't. Unless they didn't want to do business and hoarded the crystal in the warehouse for a long time.

Unless NAC opened a dedicated channel for the exchange of credits and crystals... but it was obviously an unfeasible option.

Zhao Corporation purchased about 500,000 boxes of nutrient supply from the market and transported it back to the Sixth Street by NAC's cargo airship. Now the population of the Sixth Street exceeded 100,000, the floating population was above 70,000, and hundreds of merchant fleets moved through the area.

The nutrient supply consumed every day there was three times that of Hongcheng. The excess nutrient mixture would soon be transported out of the Sixth Street by merchant fleets to other regions. With areas under NAC control free of any danger, the cost of transportation was very low.

With Qingshan market returning to normal, there was still a few incidents left to be resolved.

The Gear Chamber of Commerce was in a desperate situation. It was about to welcome its inevitable collapse.

Jiang Chen immediately sent a merchant from NAC to register a shell company in Federation, and then contacted shareholders other than Liu Hong about the acquisition of their shares.

Instead of using the depreciated crystals, he used credits.

The minority shareholders wanted to get rid of their shares as soon as possible. Although the rational majority shareholders were wary of the hostile takeover proposal, when NAC's premium rose from 10% to 20%, they couldn't resist the temptation.

Was holding the full warehouses of crystals with Liu Hong worth it, or was accepting the credits from NAC and starting over somewhere else a better option?

Smart people already made their decisions.

However, a smarter person made a decision even Jiang Chen didn't expect.

The most luxurious hotel in Qingshan.

The guards outside were guarding the door, and inside...

"...Gulp, gulp…" After taking a drink, the beauty gasped for some air and gently brushed her hair. "Did that feel comfortable?"

"Of course."

Sitting by the window, Jiang Chen patted the beautiful face looking up at him with a sly smile on his face.

The beautiful woman smiled softly. She slowly stood up, picked up her clothes, and covered her slim figure.

"Astonishing. I thought you would live in a luxurious palace."

Looking at the perfect hands putting on her clothes, Jiang Chen laughed.

"I won't stay here for a long time. It doesn't make sense to clean the palace out."

Wu Qian, the third largest shareholder of Gear Chamber of Commerce. When the merchant sent by Jiang Chen went to see her, she made a special request to the merchant - "I agree to sell the shares, but I want to meet your leader."

After getting permission from Jiang Chen, the NAC people escorted her to Qingshan. However, when they met, Wu Qian proposed to become the spokesperson of NAC in Federation and attached quite an attractive condition - voluntarily becoming his mistress.

Wu Qian was keenly aware that NAC's acquisition of Gear Chamber of Commerce was not for the purpose of ruining the largest chamber of commerce in the area, but intended to include the entire Federation within its rule. As a result, controlling Gear Chamber of Commerce was much more important than destroying it.

For assets far from Wanghai, NAC's geographic separation would make it difficult to govern. Therefore, the decision was bound to be choosing a spokesperson as they did for the Empire.

Ever since knowing this fact, Wu Qian too had her own initiative.

For Wu Qian's proposal, Jiang Chen felt surprised. He did intend to retain the Gear Chamber of Commerce, and he also considered the idea of a spokesperson to help him manage Federation. However, he had yet to think of a good candidate. The President would be Yu Jicheng, but the person overseeing the chamber of commerce… he must find someone smart and easy to control.

And Wu Qiao, just happened to be a good candidate.

虽然江晨觉得她的附加条件很没必要,但本着嘴边的肉不吃白不吃的原则,他很无节操地接受了她的"服务".

于是便有了刚才那出香.艳的戏码...

吴芊已经穿好了衣服,恢复了那端庄而不失威严的女强人仪容,就好像刚才什么事都没发生一样,微笑道.

"那么,先前说好的事,就拜托您了."

离开房间的时候,她礼貌地带上了房间的门.

...

Although Jiang Chen felt that her condition was not necessary, in the principle of not wasting food, he accepted her "service" without any dignity.

So that just happened in the hotel room.

Wu Qian was already dressed and had restored her graceful and majestic appearance as if nothing happened. She smiled.

"So, what we have agreed on before, please and thank you."

When she left the room, she politely closed the door behind her.

...

In just three days, NAC completed the acquisition of Gear Chamber of Commerce, which cost a total of 500,000 credits and they controlled 52% of the shares. At the same time, NAC used the Federation's securities trading law and offered two times premium to forcefully acquire the remaining shares from Liu Hong.

At this time, the valuation of Gear Chamber of Commerce for 37% of the shares owned by Liu Hong was only worth 200,000 credits. With double the valuation, it was 400,000 credits. When Jiang Chen paid the money to Federation's stock exchange, Liu Hong was kicked out of his own chamber of commerce.

It was too late to change the law then.

The Gear Chamber of Commerce, which was valued at 10 million crystals, became Jiang Chen's assets overnight.

As a result, the only plantation in Federation was now also under NAC's control.

However, it was just the beginning of Federation's nightmare.

The NAC, which monopolized the production of Hongcheng nutrient supply, immediately announced a price increase and raised the price of nutrient supply to 2 crystals, citing the reason due to the depreciation of crystal.

Commodity prices skyrocketed by a factor of four, the prices of other Federation goods also skyrocketed. Although the number of crystals in Federation citizens' pockets did not change, the wealth of every citizen shrunk. Facing the strength of credits, the circulating crystals in Federation plummeted.

And because the survivors of Hongcheng had already exchanged their currency for credit, the price increase didn't impact them significantly. The only ones affected were the hunters who hunted for crystals, but the loss was negligible for NAC.

NAC's first stab penetrated Federation's chest.

The dissatisfied peopled naturally unleashed their anger on the president.

The wave of protests completely collapsed the city.

At the same time, Ji Yucheng, the NAC ambassador, announced his resignation and returned to Federation's parliament. He stood in front of the public and told the story of the assassination attempts on the president and how NAC saved him.

No matter which era, political assassination was always a scandal.

When the president's chief of staff released an audio recording of the president purchasing his head, the public opinion naturally stood on his side.

Using the public's support, Ji Yucheng immediately announced his election campaign.

"Conspiracy, depression, bankruptcy...Look at what our President has done? This can't continue anymore! Before he ruins our homeland to a point it can't be saved, we must kick out this villain blinded by power. I will run for the next presidential campaign. Brothers and sisters, I need your support!"

The audience burst into loud cheers. People whistled and embraced him like a savior.

On the other hand, the Gear Chamber of Commerce had completed its restructuring. With the support of NAC, this aged behemoth finally regained its vitality.

The former third largest shareholder Wu Qian was elected as the new president of the Chamber of Commerce.

The dignified and glamorous female president, with her excellent management ability and negotiation "means", received orders for nutrient supply from NAC's military government. It also signed crystal supplying agreements with seven factories from the Sixth Street which completely turned around the company.

Under the money offered from NAC, the media gave high praises to her and successfully fabricated her to be one of the most outstanding merchants. But what the public opinion didn't know was how scandalous their goddess acted when she was with Jiang Chen.

What happened next is already predictable.

The scandal, weak economy, and the public dissatisfaction with the president all reached their peaks.

Wu Qian used her influence to speak through the media, attacking the president, accusing him of incompetence in solving employment problems and maintaining market order. On behalf of the Gear Chamber of Commerce, she demanded the president be impeached and called forth another election.

Losing the support of Liu Hong, Jia Ming could only watch this all unfold.

Without the support of capital, he didn't have a fighting chance.

The army was controlled by the parliament, and the parliament was controlled by the merchants. Under the sugar-coated shell of NAC, the parliaments all turned one by one. NAC promised to exercise a high degree of autonomy in Hezhong City as it did in Qingshan Town. Since their own interests would not be affected, the merchants didn't have a reason to say no.

Otherwise, Gear Chamber of Commerce would be their precedence.

The election took place as scheduled.

Without any suspense, the people of Federation welcomed their savior to the president's throne.

The first thing Ji Yucheng did after he took office was disarmament. He sighed a defence agreement with NAC. At the same time, the price of the nutrient supply controlled by NAC fell, showing his people the president's "ability".

Just like that, without a single shot fire, NAC's flag rose above Federation.