Chapter 48 Minzhu is the worst investment environment
"What's so difficult about this? It's settled in one word."
Faced with Zhu Youdong's three-part agreement, Gu Kun agreed without hesitation.
He doesn't covet the so-called title at all. What he wants is a stable foundation to ensure that all his future careers will not be seized by the national team or unexpectedly expropriated. This is enough.
As for the slightest benefit brought by the title itself, Gu Kun looked down upon it at all.
After agreeing, Gu Kun seemed to be afraid that Zhu Youdong would think he was too cheerful and insincere, so Gu Kun explained a few more sentences very sincerely:
"Actually, businessmen don't care about the rights and interests brought by title and noble status at all. What businessmen care about is a long-term stable environment. Your Highness, originally our business in Lanzhou was underdeveloped, so you may not have much insight in this regard.
But I hope that from now on, you can agree with me on this issue. As long as we do not betray our promises or change our orders overnight, sooner or later Lanfang will become a beautiful city of free trade and free investment, and the number one cultural center in Southeast Asia.
Luxury tourist resort. Even the monarchy is not a problem, but can be an advantage."
Gu Kun's words were extremely sincere and gradual, which moved Zhu Youdong quite a bit.
If Gu Kun had said "monarchy is a system that is conducive to the business environment" when he first came up, Zhu Youdong would never believe it, and would think Gu Kun was hypocritical and flattering.
But Gu Kun first showed his tough and principled side, and then he reasoned step by step, and every step seemed right. Finally, he said that "the monarchy can also add points to the business environment", which made people willing to listen patiently.
.
"How is this possible? Since ancient times, monarchs and nobles have been said to be villains who rob merchants of their wealth, fatten them up and then kill them. Don't you take what you just said for granted?" Zhu Youdong asked seemingly majesticly, but in his heart
In fact, he expected Gu Kun to give him an answer so that he could justify his beliefs.
However, after Gu Kun heard this question, he smiled knowingly:
"At this time and at that time, the ancient monarchy was mainly about family affairs and there was no international competition. Therefore, there were many ugly monarchs. The technical conditions and hardware infrastructure at that time did not support the wealthy people.
Wealth can be transferred to foreign countries at low cost, which intensifies the aristocracy's exploitation of capital.
But what is the modern environment? I won’t talk about constitutional monarchy and traditional monarchs. Even if it is a traditional monarch, as long as the country does not rely mainly on land wealth to attract investors, then the monarch cannot do anything random. Otherwise, hot money can escape in minutes.
It is an environment with sufficient international competition. The monarch has to compete with foreign managers for employment and international hot capital.
In fact, let’s not talk about it far, just look at Li Jiapo next door. It is actually an example of a powerful country similar to a hereditary monarchy that pays attention to the construction of national capital. If Li Jiapo was a people’s pig, it would have been over long ago. They can win today
This step is completely dependent on the capable and strong-armed family to do poisonous things."
Many novices will think that Lijiapo is a country of people and pigs, which is actually completely nonsense.
Is there any place in Southeast Asia that is more poisonous than Li Jiapo? The laws there do not pay attention to the spirit of the rule of law, but only pay attention to the cost of governance and severe punishment. As long as the national order can be maintained at a low cost, Li Jiapo does not care about the so-called rights and interests at all.
But as long as it is willing to be Oceania's dog, Oceania has never pointed out the human rights issue in Li Jiapo in these years.
Just like Oceania never talks about people being pigs to those Middle Eastern monarchy allies who look down upon them.
Of course Zhu Youdong knew Li Jiapo's background and knew that Gu Kun's factual judgment was not inconsistent.
"Yes... Lijiapo is actually just a secret monarchy, but why does such a country have a good investment environment?" Zhu Youdong was confused.
"It's very simple, Your Highness, do you think the investment environment in Oceania is good?" Gu Kun asked in a persuasive manner.
Zhu Youdong didn't even think about it: "The investment environment in Oceania is of course the best. This is the most democratic country on the planet. Perhaps, it can only be said that the monarchy will not hold back, but the democratic system is more
Superior."
Gu Kun shook his head: "No, no, no, the investment environment in Oceania is actually far inferior to that of authoritarian countries with smart leaders. The reason why there are so many high-tech companies and so many international giants in Oceania is just because of other aspects of Oceania.
His hard qualities are too strong. But in terms of politics, Oceania is actually held back."
Zhu Youdong couldn't help but ask: "How can you see it?"
Gu Kun: "It's very simple. Why have those who are engaged in industry and factory opening fled Oceania in recent years? The strong trade unions are only one aspect. We must also see the essence of the problem, that is, the trade unions are actually just pawns of the political faction, nothing more than white gloves.
.
The industrial policy of Oceania, and even the industrial policies of its states, changed with the changes in the factions that came to power. The reason why some states today seem to have relatively stable industrial policies is simply because they have always been 'deep southern states' or have always been
It's just a 'people's pig stall and iron ticket warehouse', so the local factions that are in charge have not changed much, and the routine of preferential treatment for which industries has been relatively stable.
However, we must also see that in recent years, swing states and iron-clad states have become swing states, and more and more states have defected, so the industrial investors in Oceania have fallen into great uncertainty. They are completely unwilling
I know that today I invested money to open a factory here, and the governor and mayor promised to give him the discount. If the governor and mayor step down tomorrow, will another political opponent come up and give it to him?
Therefore, Oceania can only become more and more virtualized, not only because the union is forcing them to leave, but also because they want to make their bodies lighter and become less dependent on any state as their base.
Once the governor or even the president who supports them gets out, they can immediately go to other states or other countries.
As for the guild, haha, in the final analysis, they are so called powerful just because politicians need these white gloves to kill those guys who "raise money for my political opponents to canvass votes."
Comparing this to a monarchy with an enlightened and knowledgeable person as the monarch, the investment environment is too superior, because as long as the monarch is not driven out, the preferential conditions promised by him can continue. To engage in industry and other things, it must be implemented
, by closely integrating industrial capital with the local area, you can safely think about the long term, without having to leave some backup to be ready to run away at any time, and dare not use your full strength.
What I am telling you today is just to tell you that the environment in Lanfang is actually very good. I just hope that Lanfang can continue to leave such a good impression on the world and increase confidence. As for other things, I don’t care at all.
No, nothing else is valuable in Lanfang. There is only a 'long-term, stable policy expectation for the future', which is the most valuable."
Anything tangible in Lan Fang is actually not very valuable.
Only confidence is the most valuable.
Confidence needs to be built by stability, stability in all aspects, including the stability brought by the long-term rule of the ruler. If anyone takes action, this fragile and invisible confidence will be shattered, and no one can gain it.
Lose-lose.
Confidence cannot be transferred from one person's hands to another by snatching it, it will only collapse at the first touch.
Therefore, Gu Kun will not covet the so-called title. He is Zhu Youdong's safest long-term ally, regardless of whether the next generation has entanglements.
This is what Gu Kun successfully conveyed to Zhu Youdong with his earnest and thoughtful words.
"I'm really old, that's all. I don't restrict you with other conditions. It just depends on whether you and Youran have this fate. Whether she likes you or not."
After Zhu Youdong thought about it, he felt deeply behind.
His understanding of the operating rules of the modern international economy is too outdated. All his life, he has only known the art of controlling subordinates and conventional governance, but he is far ahead of the times.
Professional matters should still be left to young people.
To put it bluntly, before the influence of the Gu Kun clan entered the country, there were only a few nobles in Lanfang who had studied in some Bu's universities, or those "Nanyang XX University" in Li Jiapo, and there were not many other high-level intellectuals.
I believe that in the future Lanfang will become a stage for the "Jiaotong University Department" to take charge of civilian politics.
An era has passed.
…
In the car, the core interests were clearly discussed, and when we got off the bus at Zhaoming Palace, Zhu Youdong completely relaxed his expression.
The state banquet truly begins with the guests and hosts enjoying themselves.
Other members of the royal family also came over to meet Gu Kun one by one and drank together without any pressure.
Gu Kun looked around and saw that only the Grand Duke's closest relatives were present, while Zhu Jingye and others, who were distant cousins, did not appear at all.
Obviously, Zhu Youdong took care of Gu Kun's emotions, so even though it was a state banquet, he did not allow relatives who did not have a good relationship with Gu Kun to show up.
Zhu Jingye should be considered gradually marginalized now.
"Madam, I wish you good health." Gu Kun toasted to the distinguished guests including the duchess one by one, listening to their compliments and advice.
"We are so lucky to have you among the younger generation of Lanfang." The Duchess held Gu Kun's hand and patted it twice, praising her sincerely. To Gu Kun's surprise, she also took out a thick red envelope.
,
"Here, take it. I heard that foreign companies gave you bonuses for winning the gold medal. Although our team is small, we can't lose our dignity."
Gu Kun couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.
Of course, when giving a red envelope, you cannot include a check, but only cash, otherwise the good fortune of the red envelope will be lost.
So he pinched the thickness and texture and estimated that the other party just wrapped a stack of one thousand ringgit notes, probably one or two hundred.
Maybe it’s a bonus of RM10,000 for each gold medal? If there are 11 gold medals, that’s 110 pieces of paper, which can fit inside.
The Malay currency with a denomination of 1,000 ringgit was newly issued in the past two years. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. With the financial crisis in Southeast Asia, it was soon no longer printed and was replaced by smaller denominations such as 500/200.
"Thank you, Madam, for your kindness." Gu Kun regarded it as a sign of good luck and did not refuse, just like people from eastern Guangdong who take advantage of the market.
After receiving the red envelope, Gu Kun was quickly pestered by the little princess next to the duchess.
"You are so awesome. In fact, I watched all those competitions on TV. Can you teach me how to swim? I found that girls are so handsome when they swim."