Yama Rising

That’s unreasonable…

…………………………………………………….

Not a single Yin spirit had the desire to chat with each other right now. After all, the Yin spirits located within the Yellow Springs Pavilion, especially the entrepreneurs located on the second floor, were all going through their materials.

“32,187,652… 32,284,435… 32,489,587…”

This was a live update of the total expenditure and the number of Yin spirits at the Heaven’s End Pavilion thus far. The figures were nowhere near the sales figures back in the mortal realm, but… there were currently no more than 20 million Yin spirits located in Ashmound City!

Yet the fact that it didn’t take them more than 10 minutes since the launch of the physical mall to rack up sales of 30 million, together with approximately 550,000 entrants, was an absolutely remarkable feat!

What did this mean?

Consumers were the lifeblood of commerce. Meng Zhiming’s heart thumped wildly as he stared at the rising numbers. He couldn’t help but lick his lips avariciously as he leaned in to Zhao Xinggang, who sat right beside him, “I don’t think it would be too much to say that Hell will see an age of material scarcity in the next ten or so years. After all, the survey reports of the construction corps sent out by Hell will take several more months, and the unification of Cathay will take Hell several more years. During this time…”

Just then, the Yin energy suddenly converged upon the main stage to create a portal, from which Qin Ye, Wang Chenghao, and several other Emissaries of Hell marched out.

Of course we do… The entrepreneurs glanced at the numbers on the screen that were still rising ceaselessly. The call of Midas made them remain right in their seats.

“Firstly, any agreement signed today will only need to be accompanied by a token deposit. The term of the agreement will be five years.”

“Thirdly, please bear in mind that we’ve got a professional evaluation team that will also be assessing your bids in the background. As mentioned, your bids will have to be submitted with a detailed report from your company on how you derived these figures, and how you intend to achieve them. We plan to hold these auctions with every five sets of resources we receive. I hope everyone has made the necessary preparations.”

“Meanwhile, do note that the Ministry of Finance will conduct a detailed inspection of each enterprise after the five year term of the agreement. Any enterprise or company that is found to have failed to fulfill its obligations under the agreement will be deemed to have gone back on their words, and Hell will lose trust in you. But if you exceed your committed goals by at least 10%, you can count on it that you will receive unimaginable rewards - commensurate with the amount exceeded.”

Whoosh… At once, everyone’s eyes lit up brighter than ever before. They had already familiarized themselves with the rules… save for the mention of “unimaginable rewards”. What exactly did that mean?

“Domestic protectionism.” A middle-aged woman dressed in a black suit stood up and adjusted her glasses, “We shall be embarking on Hell’s reunification efforts shortly, and our army is expected to march from east to west. This is going to cause a huge difference in the rate of development between the east and the west, and newer industries sprouting out in the west will naturally have to be granted domestic protection for some time.”

She adjusted her glasses and went on, “And to that end, we expect our unification plan to take 10 years.”

Silence.

Domestic protectionism. Such a concept, interpreted against Qin Ye’s suggestion of “unimaginable rewards”...

Whoosh! All eyes were on Qin Ye. He continued to run his finger gently across the lid of the cup as he responded, “No.”

The hearts of the entrepreneurs fell at once. But before they could even consider any other possibility, Qin Ye went on, “To be more precise, it’s the lifting of the policy of domestic protectionism of a provincial-capital level city.”

At once, the shuffling of restless feet could be heard. If not for the fact that Yin spirits didn’t possess blood in their bodies, their faces would be completely flushed red by now!

Dead silence. All that remained in the room were ragged breaths that signalled that the bubbling and gurgling magma in the volcano of entrepreneurs was ready to erupt!

Then, he spoke with a sonorous voice that filled the entire hall, “With that, let us officially commence with the first sea trade and enterprise negotiations.”

The first of the resources shown was a bean that emitted Yin energy. It was nearly indistinguishable from the coffee beans in the mortal realm, save that the beans were marked with a characteristic silver line in the middle. The second was a fruit that looked like a cantaloupe, and was about a foot large. It was shown with the cross section of the fruit, revealing white flesh within. A third resource revealed a tree that looked like a spindle.

“It thrives in an environment filled with intense netherflames, and the cultivation of these beans also requires high humidity and a rainy environment - preferably one that is close to the sea. Its flavour is rich and fragrant, with a pronounced heat factor. This is the most popular drink in Alkebulan, as well as in the Middle East and European underworlds. Famous brands include the Star Coffee chain in Argos, and the Return Coffee chain in Europa.”

“Last but not least, this fruit originates from the baobab tree. Unlike the ones in the mortal realm, the flesh of its fruit is similar to flour, and can be used without processing to make all kinds of pastries.”

Whoosh! At once, two Yin spirits shot to their feet and raised their hands at exactly the same time.

“And that’s just the stores. We anticipate at least 500 jobs created for the headquarters, comprising our research and development group and other major departments. Furthermore, we will have another 300 positions created for the shipping department over and above that. Give and take, we will be able to commit to the creation of 4,500 jobs!”

This was just one industry, and a standalone one at that, without any by-products! A company in a single sector that could provide thousands of jobs would easily be considered a godsend in the mortal realm! Besides, companies could grow over time.

Furthermore, nobody would ever underestimate these products, because it was on the back of these products that the Wawo Group had managed to break into the top 100 companies of Cathay!

Nobody recognized him.

“I’m the CEO of the Have A Cup Group.” The young man bowed courteously, “It’s regrettable. I do recall sharing the same car as Mr Qi in the past.”

The Yin spirits glanced at each other with great consternation - This brand name… is incredibly popular in the south right now!

“My Lord.” The young man held up a stack of documents with both hands, “These are the plans of the Have A Cup Group. By our estimates, we… expect to provide more than 50,000 jobs for Ashmound City and Everburn City combined! In fact, it could well be more!”

1. For those less than initiated in the fields of economics (just like myself), the concept of protectionism is to shield domestic producers by restricting imports or imposing taxes on foreign imports. This allows domestic products to become comparatively more attractive compared with foreign imports.