Shadow Empire

Chapter 481 Knight
Bad news came one after another. The president locked himself in his office. He now needs more help.

As the CEO of the Liji Group, he also has many acquaintances and connections, including the Senator.

This is the Golden State, the heart of federal politics, and as long as a company reaches a certain size, it will inevitably come into contact with these people.

The transfer of interests will never stop. Politics and capital are like hostile yet mutually integrated monsters. You are in me and I am in you. We can be enemies or relatives.

He stood in front of the window, holding the phone in one hand and making huge movements with the other hand, which could better express his inner emotional changes.

"I need some help. The media is going crazy right now. They don't care what it takes to spread rumors and throw dirty water on us."

"I would like to use your connections..."

Before he could finish his words, the gentleman's voice came from the receiver, interrupting him.

"All right!"

"Don't you realize what the problem is?"

The senator's words stunned the president for a moment, and then he fell silent, "We are not willing to pay four million."

He thought it was this, but the senator gave him a negative answer, "No, that's not the reason, you forget this is the Golden State."

"This is the core of the Federation. Countless wealth myths and financial miracles have taken place here. You have forgotten all of this."

"Or do you think this has nothing to do with you?"

"Wake up, a miracle is happening, you know what I mean!"

The president suddenly froze in front of the window, his eyes fixed on the city streets and the tall buildings around him.

Xinjin City is indeed beautiful, rich and large, but it is inferior to Jingang City in one respect.

There are too many high-rise buildings here, so many that sometimes people feel suffocated when they look up in the city center!

A deep feeling of suffocation lingers around people, and everywhere there is a forest of high-speed railways covering the sky.

Even if you are on a high-rise building, there will always be buildings taller than you, and you can't enjoy the pleasure of having the entire city in sight here.

All you can see are layers of "giants" blocking your view and direction.

In fact, Liji Group encountered a "miracle", a cutting miracle!
Some small agricultural product companies suddenly filed lawsuits against them, and then this behemoth was torn into pieces by the Antitrust Law.

They had to split themselves into several companies and let others buy shares in them, but they were unwilling to accept this and they tried to resist.

They created another miracle: they are still alive and well after being dismembered by the judiciary and the capital.

So much so that he did not realize that the third "miracle" was now happening to the Liji Group!
He said bitterly, "Someone wants to deal with us!"

The senator hummed, and this was only because he had gained a lot of benefits from the Liji Group. Otherwise, he would not even be willing to say these words.

"I did some research and found out that the guys in Cleveland might have something to do with this."

Everything will leave traces, especially something that requires the mobilization of a large amount of social and political resources, which will definitely leave obvious traces.

But why didn't anyone step out to accuse them or stop them?
The reason is actually very simple, because it is not worth doing so.

Most of the time before doing this kind of thing, everyone will do a good investigation, figure out "who will be offended if I do this", and only after careful consideration will they decide whether to do it or not.

The senator who is talking to the president on the phone has been receiving benefits from the Ligi Group for many years, but the Ligi Group is not the only company that has provided him with benefits.

There are many such companies in the federation, including Bailide, Roundup and other competitors of the Liji Group.

Berman from the Baili Group had contacted him before and discussed this matter. He also mentioned that this was not a merger, but an equity adjustment for the better development of everyone.

His interests will not be reduced by a penny, and the market will be more balanced.

Now he can say these words to the president because of their many years of "cooperative relationship".

He would never have said these things if he wasn't about to retire.

Just like the other members of the Agriculture Committee, they all knew it but pretended not to know.

The president was in a very low mood, and his voice became a little hoarse. "Is there no solution at all?"

The senator didn't make a sound at first, but he could imagine that the other party must be shaking his head at this moment.

"If the solution you're talking about is to intervene through political power, then I can only say that it's difficult."

"The group of people in Cleveland are now showing a clear upward trend, and..."

The voice in the receiver suddenly stopped, as if unwilling to continue. "Anyway, it's unlikely that you expect me or others to help you."

"You can find a way to save yourself. No one will stop you. In fact, if you think about it carefully, isn't this what we see most often?"

"Because of a small problem, a huge capital change was leveraged. This is the Federation, my friend!"

"I haven't been feeling well these days, so don't call me anymore."

Then there was a busy tone in the receiver, and then the call ended.

The president lit a cigarette. His head felt very itchy. He scratched it hard and it hurt a little. Maybe he scratched his scalp.

He was smoking a cigarette and looking at the depressing scenery outside the window. Suddenly, he stiffened his neck and blushed and cursed a lot of dirty words.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are stuffed into his mouth every year, and now he is asked to stop calling. What’s even more infuriating is that other people don’t even say anything!
These people don't look like this when they take the company's money!

But soon he became depressed again. Sometimes knowing the truth is not necessarily a good thing.

When he didn't know the truth, he was still thinking about changing the situation, but after knowing the truth, it seemed that he had lost the motivation to change the situation.

After all, he was facing a group of monsters that were a combination of politics and capital...

At this moment, he felt a sense of regret for the first time. If he had not wanted to make more money from Lance's order, none of this would have happened.

If they were not unwilling to accept the blackmail contract and had simply paid the four million without hesitation, then... there would be no follow-up.

But there is no medicine for regret in this world. Who could have thought that an insignificant little character in Jingang City could eventually leverage such a huge force?

For Lance, it might just be a coincidence that some conditions were reached, but for the Liji Group, it was a disaster.

He must save himself!
He called each shareholder one by one and told them the dire situation and his ideas.

At first, the shareholders could not understand him and clamored to sell their shares, but after he explained the current situation, the shareholders finally fell silent.

Truth and facts are the things that can make people shut up!

Now everyone is predicting the bad news about Liji Group. Shareholders are either unable to sell their shares or are being sold at very low prices.

Not to mention the circulating shares, the entire trading market has more selling than buying, otherwise why would the stock price keep falling?

What’s more important is that the Liji Group is not really in trouble. It is not encountering any operational problems, but is being attacked by a group of people.

Once it recovers and people see its profitability and true financial situation, things will get better soon!
In the world of capital, profits speak for themselves, and they are not afraid of this!
So the situation now is that they all know that there is no problem with the Liji Group, but the problem is that the attack is too fierce and there is a real threat that they cannot withstand.

Those who hurt them know better than they do how innocent they are this time!

But capital behavior is capital behavior. They will not discuss whether you are innocent or not. They will only talk about whether you have the profits, wealth, or other things they want. The president spent a lot of energy negotiating with some shareholders, forming an advantageous situation and being able to control the situation of the shareholders' meeting.

Then he took the initiative to contact some people who could still come up with money at this time. He needed money and some help.

He can save himself!

At night, several independent investors, who were obviously drunk, met with the president in a relatively safe and private room.

Liji Group has not had a good time recently, but for these independent investors, there is no such thing as an easy or a bad time.

Every day is a life of debauchery, wine, money, and sex, which fill their lives.

This is their life, their everything.

From the first second the president entered the room, these people looked at him with amusement or mockery in their eyes.

He looked extremely disheveled now, and his hair, which had always been meticulously groomed, appeared a little messy. But actually, if you looked closely, it wasn't that bad.

His collar and tie were not properly positioned, and were very sloppy, as if he had not even looked in the mirror before going out.

He was flustered, and that was how he seemed to others at the moment.

"It's non-working hours now." An independent investor leaned on the sofa, sipping a cup of coffee in his hand. "We interrupted our activities and squeezed out some time for you."

"I hope what you're going to bring us next will make this worthwhile for us."

If you drink too much, alcohol will affect your brain. Drinking a little coffee with honey can alleviate some of the drunkenness symptoms, but some people say that this is not a good idea.

The room was warm enough that there was no need to wear too much, but everyone maintained the most basic demeanor and appearance, looking much better than the president.

The president pursed his lips and said, "I'm very sorry to see you so late, but I'm in a very troublesome situation right now."

"I need your help."

The independent investor sitting in the middle laughed twice, "Ninety-eight percent of people in this world need help, but we can't help everyone who needs help."

"As we said last time, the risk is huge, and you have to pay a profit that matches the risk we take, otherwise there is no way we can reach an agreement."

The president was silent for a few seconds and said, "Okay."

He had already talked privately with these people's assistants and got to know the situation.

These independent investors hope to sign a bet agreement with him. They will put out a sum of money to buy shares of Liji Group and provide some political help from the side.

If the company's stock market value returns to its previous level on January 15, these independent investors will sell all their shares and exit.

This business will bring them a huge return, potentially doubling their funds.

But if Liji Group's shares cannot return to their previous price on January 15, then Liji Group must repurchase these shares in full at the price they agreed upon, which is significantly higher.

In other words, what these independent investors demand is "guaranteed profit and no loss", and they also want Liji Group to owe them a favor.

Many people say that there is no business in this world that is guaranteed to make a profit, but sometimes this statement may not be so correct, such as at this moment.

In order to ensure that independent investors can make a profit without losses, Liji Group needs to mortgage a portion of its assets to them or put it in a bank as a guarantee of the safety of the funds.

This way, even if they don't make any money, they won't lose too much.

These conditions are actually very harsh, but now no one is optimistic about the Ligi Group. The two group companies, Bailidi and Roundup, have also begun to make efforts. The Ligi Group has reached the third fatal turning point in its history.

If the company is really going to collapse, then he will give up. After all, struggling may not necessarily allow him to survive, but may instead cause him to die faster!
But the current situation is that they want to take the gold bricks in his arms without spending any money, which is impossible!
Not only can he not give the gold brick to those people, he also has to protect it well, because once he loses it, his work, his life, or himself, will be ruined.

The success of Liji Group in recent years has made the board of directors and senior management very optimistic about the company's future prospects, and of course this is indeed the case.

At the same time, in order to ensure his position in the company, more than 60% of the president's assets have been converted into company stocks.

Now that the stock price has plummeted, it is not only a disaster for the company, but also a disaster for him.

The Federation is a highly capitalized and financialized country. The lower-class people may not feel it deeply, but the upper and middle classes of society feel it particularly clearly.

The simplest example is that the president's net worth is mostly in company stocks, with some real estate or other non-monetary assets, but he has the desire and impulse to consume.

High society is a high-consumption environment.

When everyone goes out in cars that cost tens of thousands of dollars, and you drive a car that costs only a few hundred dollars, others will think that there is something wrong with your finances.

Most of the time, people buy luxury goods not for themselves, but to wear and use them for others to see.

It's like a person who goes to negotiate business on a bicycle and a person who goes to negotiate business in a luxury car, their success rates are definitely different.

So he will mortgage his assets to the bank in exchange for a loan for normal consumption.

If nothing unexpected happens, then everything is fine.

The bank is willing to lend him money, not only because he can get stable interest, but it is also a kind of favor.

But if an accident happens, the bank will definitely find a way to recover the debt from him in order to avoid risks!
If he mortgaged the company's stocks, assuming that the stocks originally worth 10 million are now only worth 3 million, the bank would urge him to repay the loan as soon as possible.

It is not enough for him to sell all his stocks, he also has to sell other assets to fill the gap. As long as the stock price is cut in half, he will go bankrupt!
If he mortgages assets such as real estate, then after the bank takes away these assets, he will only be left with some worthless stocks.

Unfortunately, these stocks may be protected by the company's equity protection clauses and cannot be sold to other people at will, but only to people within the company.

Even if all conditions are met for sale, who will take over?
So it's a really bad vicious cycle.

Mr. President personally has a lot of loans from the bank. Human desires are endless. The vice president was thinking about taking out a loan to buy a yacht some time ago. So has the president already taken out a loan to buy a yacht?

Everyone knows the importance of capital, and capitalists will tell you that if you can get a loan, try to get one.

This is why middle-class and some upper-class families in the federation quickly go bankrupt once they lose their jobs.

So whether for the company or for himself, he must resolve these troublesome matters as soon as possible.

The most prestigious independent investor looked at his dishevelled appearance and smiled, "Can you represent the entire company?"

"Mr. President, we are not talking about a small business. Anyone can come up with this amount of money."

"If you can't take it out, and the company doesn't agree, there's no point in us investing."

The president swallowed his saliva and said, "I have already talked to the major shareholders before I came here, and there is no problem with the board of directors. As long as you nod, we can sign the agreement tomorrow morning in the name of the company."

Several independent investors discussed in a low voice for a while, then nodded, "Then see you tomorrow morning."

The next morning, in the company's conference room, the president, the vice chairman of the board, and several major shareholders jointly signed the bet agreement and selectively made it public.

"Well-known private equity funds and well-known independent investors believe that the situation of Liji Group is not bad. They have taken out a considerable part of their own money to save this stock, and they also firmly believe that its future will be better..."

No one knows what the president and the Liji Group paid for this. People only know that the stock price seems to have stopped falling.

The small increase made everyone feel relieved, including the President, who also breathed a sigh of relief.

He urged all departments to issue the year-end financial reports as soon as possible. He needed the financial reports to show the company's situation to the public.

Not only do they have no problems in their operations, but they have also exceeded this year's profit target. They are a high-quality company and a high-quality stock!
(End of this chapter)