I have a debt of 3 trillion, and my creditors are begging me not to die.

Chapter 221 Jiangcheng City's GDP Ranks First in the World, Shocking the World

"According to the calculation results of the special task force of the Statistics Bureau, the total GDP of Jiangcheng City last year was indeed inaccurate."

The moment the spokesperson made those remarks, the atmosphere in the entire venue tensed up, and the cameras of the media reporters clicked incessantly.

Upon hearing this, the leaders at all levels in Guangdong Province, who had served as the elder brother for many years, breathed a sigh of relief.

Haha ...

I told you it was impossible.

It was only a little over one trillion two years ago, how could it have suddenly surged to 14 trillion last year?

No matter how amazing a city is, it can't develop that rapidly.

At this moment, netizens watching the live stream also started sending barrage comments to tease the viewers.

"See? I told you it was an overstatement. The point is, even if it was an overstatement, people would still believe it if it was 3-4 trillion, but who would believe it if it was 14 trillion?"

"Wow, something big is about to happen, someone's going to get punished."

"I even doubt whether they looked at the numbers when they released them. Anyone who was even slightly careful wouldn't have made such a big mistake."

"What should we do? We're not just going to let this go, are we?"

"Guangdong Province is still number one; no other province can surpass us in terms of GDP."

……

The spokesperson was deliberately mischievous, pausing briefly to adjust everyone's nerves.

The spokesperson continued, "After careful, comprehensive, and repeated calculations by our task force, we have determined that Jiangcheng's GDP last year should be 16.5 trillion yuan, not the 14.75 trillion yuan they announced."

The atmosphere at the press conference froze instantly, and everyone stared in shock at the spokesperson who was laughing so hard he was doubled over.

At this time, the people of the entire Guangdong province were in a bad mood.

What the hell?
Did Jiangcheng deliberately underreport its figures?
impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Who would believe that?
14 trillion is already outrageous enough, 16 trillion is even more impossible.

At this moment, the live broadcast rooms of major media outlets were filled with "?" comments.

The spokesperson for the Statistics Bureau continued, “We asked the Jiangcheng municipal government why they deliberately underreported the GDP, and their answer was that they were worried people wouldn't accept such a high figure. So they deliberately omitted the GDP contributions from micro-enterprises and individual businesses, only counting the GDP contributed by large-scale enterprises. After careful and repeated calculations, Jiangcheng's total GDP last year should indeed be 16.5 trillion yuan. 90% of that was contributed by the Sihai Group and related enterprises or economic activities. Please look at the large screen behind us; we have summarized the areas in which the Sihai Group contributed to Jiangcheng's GDP.”

When everyone saw the revenue, profit, and GDP contribution of Sihai Group's various subsidiaries, as well as the revenue, profit, and GDP contribution of Sihai Group's upstream and downstream partners, they were all so shocked that they dared not speak.

This only includes companies in Jiangcheng City. If we include the contributions of companies from other cities that cooperate with Sihai Group to GDP, the figure would be even more staggering.

For example, in Hecheng and Haicheng, which border Jiangcheng, Sihai Group has many partners and subsidiaries in these two cities. According to the principle of territorial jurisdiction, the GDP contributed by these companies is counted in the GDP of Hecheng and Haicheng, but not in the GDP of Jiangcheng.

For example, military companies such as Baoli Military Industry and Aerospace Feike, which are paired with Sihai Intelligent, contribute GDP to Beijing's GDP.

As the Sihai Industrial Park continues to expand and all components become self-sufficient, Sihai Group's contribution to GDP will remain more in Jiangcheng, and the GDP data to be released by Jiangcheng next year may look even better.

At this point, leaders at all levels in Guangdong Province were convinced, as were netizens in Guangdong.

Live chat comments on various media platforms.

"Holy crap! Sihai Group is just too incredible! Four large industrial parks, more than a million workers, they really did it for nothing, it's really profitable."

"That makes sense when you calculate it like this. The mobile phones produced by Sihai Electronics are going crazy overseas. It is said that more than 2000 million SH-01 model mobile phones have flowed back to China through zero-yuan purchase and second-hand channels alone. Da Mao, Er Mao, You Yu, and Bale, those companies use drones and robotic beasts to bombard each other every day, and the consumption is huge."

"Last year was a year of explosive growth for the Sihai Group. Sihai Investment reaped wealth from foreigners everywhere. I even suspect that they underreported their revenue and profits. Wherever Mr. Yang goes, the stock market of a country has to kneel down. How could he only make a few hundred billion? I suggest that we audit Sihai Investment's accounts. They have definitely underreported."

"This spokesperson is something else, being so playful in such a serious setting, trying to lighten everyone's mood. I could practically hear the sounds of my fellow Guangdong folks going from nervous to happy to heartbroken. Haha..."

"That's the advantage of being a poor province like ours. No matter who's number one, it doesn't affect our stable, lagging ranking. The most upset one is Guangdong Province. Jiangcheng City's GDP alone surpasses Guangdong's, so isn't Binjiang Province's GDP going to reach 20 trillion? I'm really looking forward to Binjiang Province's total GDP. Please announce it soon."

……

The spokesperson continued, "We are now officially correcting Jiangcheng City's GDP for the previous year to 16.5 trillion Dragon Coins. Here, we would like to commend Chairman Yang and Sihai Group, as well as the Jiangcheng City government. We hope they can continue their close cooperation in the future to make Jiangcheng City, and even Binjiang Province, more prosperous. We also hope that Sihai Group can take care of other cities. We are all descendants of Yan and Huang, children of China, and should help other cities. Local governments in other cities should also work harder, whether it's attracting Sihai Group's projects or cultivating local enterprises, they must be more proactive and sincere."

After hearing this, netizens flocked to the comment sections of Yang Chen's Weibo, Douyin, and other platform accounts to leave messages and petition.

"Mr. Yang, the government wants you to take care of other cities and come to our Northwest to do business. Labor is cheap here, the land is vast and sparsely populated, making it very suitable for investing in and building factories."

"Mr. Yang, I want to work for Sihai Group, but I don't want to leave my hometown. I hope you can help me find a solution."

"This is the first time I've truly understood the meaning of 'wealth comparable to a country.' Who would have thought that a conglomerate could contribute so much to the economic development of a city? Compared to that, those billionaires on the previous rich lists are nothing."

"What I really want to know is how to get a job at Sihai Group? I've had several interviews but haven't been accepted. Either the candidates are younger or have higher degrees. It's ridiculous that there are undergraduates and master's students on the assembly line."

……

This generation of netizens is quite brave. They not only left messages on Yang Chen's Weibo to petition, but also left messages on the municipal websites of their respective cities to petition. Some even directly called the mayor's hotline to ask the mayor to lead a team to meet with Yang Chen to discuss investment opportunities.

Soon, the previous year's performance of Sihai Group and the GDP data of Jiangcheng City were transmitted to the external network.

For ordinary people, they usually don't pay attention to the GDP of a certain city in China or the performance of a certain company.

But things are different now, because Sihai Group is Yang Chen's company, and they are all willing to learn more about it.

For think tanks and economic analysts in countries like the United States, studying China's GDP data is an important means for them to speculate on China's economic development and future trends.

When they saw that Sihai Group contributed 12 times to Jiangcheng's GDP in the previous year, reaching 2.26 trillion Eagle Dollars, of which 90% was related to Sihai Group, everyone was astonished by these figures.

What does 2.26 trillion Eagle Dollars mean?

Two years ago, New York, the world's top city in terms of GDP, reached 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars, while Jiangcheng's GDP last year was almost twice that of New York.

This means that Jiangcheng City has jumped from being ranked outside the top dozens to becoming the city with the highest GDP in the world in just one year. In the future, global economic development will no longer only focus on cities like New York, and Jiangcheng City will also become a key city that investment, economic and financial analysts across the country must study.

How can I accept this?

This is unacceptable!

Another Western myth has been shattered.

Foreigners were initially shocked by the data, but then unanimously expressed their skepticism.

"Impossible! This is absolutely fake data. China loves to engage in vanity projects. Jiangcheng City isn't even in the top five in China. How could it possibly surpass New York to become the world's leading city in economic terms in just one year? It's fake, absolutely fake!"

“I don’t believe a single number of these figures. They must be trying to create a role model, so they’re fabricating the performance of Sihai Group and exaggerating the GDP of Jiangcheng City. I admit that Sihai Group was indeed outstanding last year, with drones, robotic beasts, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, and cancer treatment technology, but that couldn’t possibly make it so powerful in just one year.”

"Now I understand why the US is sanctioning the Four Seas Group. It's terrifying. One company makes more money than all the cities in the world combined. They have no choice but to sanction it. But then again, is the US even capable of doing this? How come the Four Seas Group is still thriving despite all the sanctions? I suggest that all countries in the world join forces to sanction the Four Seas Group, preventing their products from entering any country and allowing them to be sold only within China. I don't believe they can still thrive like this."

"Some people shouldn't be so stupid. For us ordinary people, as long as we can use cheap and good products, it doesn't matter whether they're from our country or China, since we have to spend money anyway. If you join forces to sanction the Sihai Group, Yang Chen will dare to refuse cancer treatment to cancer patients outside of China. Those politicians and tycoons have plenty of ways to get treatment, but what about us ordinary people? Cancer patients have just one chance to live, don't you want to destroy it with your own hands?"

...The heads of many departments, including the Department of Commerce and the Economic Analysis Think Tank of the United States, gathered together for a meeting.

Commerce Secretary Reventon stated without reservation: "The facts have proven that our sanctions against the Four Seas Group were absolutely the right thing to do. Despite so many restrictions, they have still achieved such incredible results. If we were to completely lift them off the road, I really can't imagine how phenomenal their performance would be. Therefore, I suggest increasing the sanctions against the Four Seas Group, prohibiting any company from having any form of trade with the Four Seas Group, even if they use the same suppliers or have the same customers. Their products should no longer be allowed to be sold in our country. What do you all think of my approach?"

Everyone expressed their opinions.

"I think this method is feasible. If we're going to do it, we should do it thoroughly, leaving no room for it to operate, and see how it can develop. We'd rather Yang Chen make money in the financial market than let him make money in the industrial and technological fields. Our experience has proven that finance cannot build a nation, while industry is the foundation for a country's long-term development. Therefore, we must cut off Sihai Group's industrial development opportunities."

"I'm really curious how Sihai Group can achieve such phenomenal results. Relying on domestic sales within China and purchases from a few other countries, how did they manage to sell so many drones and smart equipment? There must be something wrong here. I think our most important task right now is to figure out exactly which customers Sihai Intelligent's products are being sold to. I suspect there's a mole among us!"

"Impossible! Don't talk nonsense! We can't undermine our internal unity. Besides, if there really is a mole, many people will be implicated. Whoever investigates will die! Don't forget that the last president's plane investigating the military was shot down as soon as it took off. I don't want to be shot dead in the street, nor do I want to be shot down in a plane one day. Don't drag me into this."

……

This is not an exaggeration. When the previous president investigated evidence of corruption within the UAE military stationed in Ahuhanna, the plane carrying the task force members was shot down by a missile.

Otherwise, the bald eagle military would buy a bag of screws for 90,000 eagle dollars, a toilet seat for 10,000 eagle dollars, and nine goats for 6 million eagle dollars, etc. So many obvious problems have not been addressed yet?
So many of Commissioner Smith's bribes, how could they let anyone find out?
Anyone who investigates will die!

Michael Connett, chief analyst at the Bald Eagle Economic Think Tank, said, "In my opinion, Sihai Intelligent couldn't possibly have achieved such results relying solely on the Chinese market. I'm certain there must be a large volume of purchases from overseas markets. However, based on the market intelligence we have, Sihai Intelligent's main clients are Russia and the Sand Kingdom. But considering the weapon consumption of the Squid Kingdom and Russia, the equipment purchased by these two countries can only contribute at most half of their revenue. So who contributes the other half?"

Everyone knows that the current fighting mode between Da Mao and Er Mao is a battle of various unmanned intelligent equipment, and there have been no reports of casualties on either side for a long time.

The situation is the same in Squid Country and Bale Country. Squid Country is using Boston Dynamics equipment supported by the White Eagle to bombard Bale Country with the Four Seas Intelligent Equipment that Bale Country obtained from Sand Country.

Since the weapons consumed by the Great Mao and the Bale Kingdom can only contribute half of the Four Seas Intelligence's performance, wouldn't it be fair if the same amount of intelligent equipment consumed by the Squid Kingdom and the Second Mao Kingdom were added?
No one said it aloud, but everyone's face showed a shocked expression, which was enough to show that they had all guessed the problem: the intelligent equipment produced by Boston Dynamics and Skechers was a semi-finished product purchased from Sihai Intelligent, and then they rebranded it to complete the final process.

No wonder Sihai Group was able to achieve such good results under such severe sanctions; there must be a mole inside!
No one dared to speak; the scene was eerily quiet.

After a long pause, Michael Connet said, "I think everyone has guessed it. Now what do we do? Pretend we don't know, or report it?"

Everyone immediately rushed to express their opinions.

"Report it! It must be reported!"

"You can report it if you want, I won't report it, it's none of my business, I didn't attend this meeting today!"

"I didn't participate either. I'm sleeping with my wife right now, and she can vouch for that."

"Let me make this clear first, I haven't expressed any opinion. No matter what you do, just don't add my name, or I'll make you pay!"

……

The scene fell silent again; damn it, they discovered a problem but dared not report it.

Gradually, everyone's attention turned to the Department of Commerce, Reventon.

Others can pretend not to know, but she, as the Minister of Commerce, cannot.

Raventon asked nervously, "Why are you all looking at me like that? Just because you're all scared doesn't mean I'm not!"

Michael Connett said, “That’s different. If we report it to higher authorities, that’s tattling, and it’s not legitimate. But as the Secretary of Commerce, it’s your duty to report a problem, and no one can find fault with you. You just report it; whether or not to investigate and confirm it is a matter for higher-ups, and it has nothing to do with us. But if you don’t report it, that’s dereliction of duty. If this matter is exposed one day, all the responsibility will be placed on you, and you’ll have a hard time surviving.”

Reventon was almost in tears with anger. She said with a wronged expression, "I told you we shouldn't have held this seminar, fuck!"

Michael Connet reassured him, "Don't worry too much. Just do as I say, only report the problem, don't express any opinions, and everything will be fine."

Raventon wanted to argue, even to curse, but then he realized it was pointless and swallowed the words back down.

Being an official in the Bald Eagle's country is not easy.

Yang Chen was teasing Chen Xi when Boston Dynamics President Silva Lopez called.

"Mr. Yang, this is terrible! Based on the financial report of Sihai Group, we've discovered that we might be manufacturing your smart equipment under an OEM contract, and they're preparing to submit the report tomorrow. What should we do? You shouldn't have revealed the true state of your business reports!" Silva Lopez said anxiously.

Yang Chen smiled and reassured him, "Don't be nervous. From the moment we started cooperating, I anticipated this day would come. I've already prepared a countermeasure for you. Your semi-finished products are shipped from Mosaic, where we've established several factories entirely controlled by Mosaics. Just say that to reduce costs, the factories in Mosaic will produce the parts and semi-finished products, while you'll be responsible for the final labeling and packaging. If anyone investigates further, didn't your predecessors teach you how to handle it? Just bombard them with missiles. Isn't this the time when Commissioner Smith, who received so many benefits from you, should come in handy?"

Silva Lopez calmed down instantly; it did sound feasible.

This claim is perfectly valid as long as the flow of funds at the Mosaic factory is not thoroughly investigated.

The worst-case scenario is that the higher-ups send a special investigation team. In that case, we'll do as Yang Chen said and have the military launch missiles to bomb them. What the previous president could do during his term, this president can do as well.

“Mr. Yang is always reliable. Let’s do it your way. Give me the information about the factory in Moscow, and I’ll send someone over right away to get our statements straight, so there won’t be any mistakes later,” Silva Lopez said with a smile.

Yang Chen replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll have Sihai Intelligence send it to you later."

Just after hanging up the phone, Boris Skadi, president of Skadi Drones, also called Yang Chen.

Skadi was just as nervous as Lopez, but Yang Chen had already arranged a factory in Mosaic for him, so he just had to deal with it like Boston Dynamics.

The legal representative, senior management, and ordinary employees of the Mosaic factory are all members of Sihai Security who have been developed locally.

It is well known that Mosaic drug traffickers and gangs are extremely arrogant; they dare to kill anyone, including their president.

It was even worse than the gangster movies of earlier years, where whoever had the most power called the shots.

If they obey, Yang Chen will let them live a life of extravagance and debauchery, and will also let them gradually eliminate the Mosaic gang, making them the biggest gang in Mosaic. What awaits them in the future is a status and life even better than that of the Mosaic president.

If they harbor even the slightest disloyalty, the mosquitoes, flies, spiders, and other insects guarding their homes can kill them at any time.

At that moment, Chen Xi entered.

"Off work? Where are we going for dinner tonight?" Yang Chen asked with a smile.

Chen Xi replied with a smile, "My ears are sore from answering so many phone calls today. Many city governments have called to see you. Most of them have already set off and will come to the company to see you tomorrow."

Yang Chen said helplessly, "It's really a headache. Last time, we finally got the allocation sorted out for the construction of the automobile industrial park, and now they're back again. Other cities want me to build factories here, and Jiangcheng wants me to build all the factories here."

Chen Xi said, "There is no land in Jiangcheng that exceeds 3000 mu. They have to demolish and even occupy farmland to make up a contiguous plot of land of more than 3000 mu. Just use this as an excuse. It's not that you don't want to build the factory in Jiangcheng, but that Jiangcheng cannot meet your land needs."

“If I just ask, they’ll get me the demolition work, so your method won’t work. But I do have an idea. Hehehe…” Yang Chen said with a smile.

Yang Chen picked up his phone and called Wang Wenkang, saying directly, "My teams from many cities will be coming tomorrow. If we don't give them any, it'll be embarrassing. We'll leave the existing business in Jiangcheng untouched, and give the future business to other cities."

Wang Wenkang immediately said, "Oh, no! Look, we've just completed a full year of cooperation, and our achievements are unprecedented. We're currently holding a meeting to discuss how to better cooperate with you in the coming year, to work even harder for another year, and to strive for a GDP exceeding 20 trillion next year. If you give the business to other cities, how will we set new records?"

“I can’t put myself in a difficult position just to help you set a record. I still have to deal with other cities. This is a tough matter, so please don’t make things difficult for me,” Yang Chen replied.

Wang Wenkang smiled and said, "Difficult to handle? Then let's not do it."

Yang Chen chuckled and asked, "What do you mean?"

(End of this chapter)