Chapter 484 Too Much Money

Guo Yang talked with Liu Deshu for a long time. The flow of capital to the countryside and farmers entering factories is a very sensitive topic.

Many people believe that capital enters agriculture in order to steal farmers’ jobs.

We often hear such voices in our lives, farmers complaining about low income, land expropriation, increased planting costs, etc.

Many experts in the rural areas attribute farmers’ poverty to capital exploitation and market injustice.

Farmers' interests have been eroded by capital.

However, in stark contrast to this is national policy. Since the beginning of the century, the state has been encouraging industrial and commercial capital to enter agriculture.

Despite more than a decade of encouragement, capital is still often hesitant when it comes to investing in the rural areas.

This is intriguing.

Because in real life, very few big capitals really make profits from agriculture, and most of them are just suffering.

As for coveting agricultural subsidies?

Without subsidies, there would probably be even less industrial and commercial capital willing to invest in agriculture.

If farmers were allowed to be self-sufficient in rural areas, the more than one acre of arable land per capita would be enough for them to make a living.

Of course, these are just Guo Yang's personal opinions, and he was just complaining in front of Liu Deshu.

With the current size and earning power of Golden Harvest, it is the perfect target for attack. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that CCTV invited him!

He had not originally planned to come, but Ning Gaoning from the National Grain Group just happened to have an appointment to talk to him, so he just came to Beijing.

According to Liu Deshu, guiding industrial and commercial capital into agriculture and rural areas is the country's general direction, so there will be no trap for him.

But be careful not to give others something to talk about.

So, after leaving Sinochem, Guo Yang immediately contacted CCTV Director Jiao Ning and proposed to change the format of the interview.

"Hidden interview?" Jiao Ning asked in confusion, "Didn't Mr. Guo arrive in Beijing? Everything was fine, why did he suddenly change? Is there something wrong?"

Guo Yang said bluntly: "The topic is too sensitive."

"Hey, why don't we just change the subject?"

"Hmm? Can we change it?"

"Of course, capital going to the countryside and farmers going to factories is just a joke on the Internet. We were planning to change it anyway." Jiao Ning smiled and said:
"How about connecting farmers and bringing them to the countryside? Isn't that positive enough? If it doesn't work, just change the program. I'll have the crew come to you and just let the host mention the issue of capital going to the countryside."

Guo Yang smiled and said, "That's fine."

"Okay, Mr. Guo, are you free tomorrow? I'll have the production team come to see you."

"Ten o'clock tomorrow morning, I'll be at Weiguang Company."

"Ok."

After agreeing on a time, Guo Yang returned to Weiguang and started reading about the recent issues concerning the flow of capital to the countryside.

In fact, this has been going on for a long time. After Energy Forest’s great success last year, various investors have been eyeing this cake.

Throughout the whole year, land transfers in various places have never stopped, which is indeed a bit crazy.

After land transfer in some areas, large-scale land reclamation was carried out, small fields were converted into large fields, and many farmlands were changed beyond recognition.

Farmers are worried. What if the enterprise runs away? Where can they collect the transfer fee?

Guo Yang also knows that such problems are bound to occur. Jiahe’s success does not mean that other companies can succeed.

Especially for some companies whose seedling sources are questionable, once their subsequent development cannot keep up and their capital chain is broken, what farmers worry about will become a reality.

Guo Yang remembers too many such cases.

There will be even more examples in this life.

Therefore, he can actually understand some of the comments he sees on the Internet and in the media, but it is a bit difficult for him to deal with pure trolls.

"Take Jiahe as an example. How difficult is it for farmers to turn things around when they are trapped by capital?"

My blood pressure soars just by reading such a title. It is hard to count how many farmers Jiahe has helped to make rich.

However, this kind of reverse marketing is like crisis theory, and many people fall for it.

Therefore, some positive reports are also necessary.

After making some preparations in advance, Guo Yang took another walk around the dimly lit office area, where he found some new and novel potted plants.

As he walked, he came to Yang Cheng's office and chatted with him for a few words.

Yang Cheng and others have already watched the two documentaries recommended by Guo Yang, Aerial America and Perspective America, and some companies on the list have also been included in the investment list.

By the way, he also checked the asset growth curve of Weiguang Management.

Since 08, the annual growth rate has been at least 40%.

The total assets of dozens of funds managed at home and abroad also soared from about 1000 billion to 3800 billion yuan!

Guo Yang was a little dumbfounded when he saw this number, and he thought for a moment, why not just repair Hongqi River and Jiahe!
Currently, only he and Yang Cheng know the total amount of assets, which makes Yang Cheng worship Guo Yang.

Most of the investment targets were selected by Guo Yang. Relying on his understanding of future development trends, Weiguang has invested in many high-quality companies.

Make assets grow abnormally fast.

Even too outrageous.

There are many companies around the world that have assets larger than Weiguang, but Weiguang’s rate of return may be far ahead.

Yang Cheng gave an example.

The Norwegian Sovereign Fund is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund and the Norwegian government's global pension fund, which is similar to our country's pension fund.

This fund makes money by investing everywhere and then provides retirement support for Norwegians.

The main investment is in Europe and North America, with some investments also in Asia, Oceania and emerging markets.

Its asset size has long exceeded one trillion US dollars, but its rate of return last year exceeded 12%, with an annual floating profit of US$ to billion.

Norway has a population of just over 500 million, which means that each person transferred more than 20 RMB.

Therefore, this fund company is very good at making money. Even though it is extremely large, its excellent investments mean that Norwegians don't have to worry about having no money for retirement.

However, even such an excellent company was crushed to pieces by Weiguang in terms of yield.

After knowing how much money he had, Guo Yang was a little silent.

If the wealth appreciation rate continues to maintain 40%, the assets controlled by Weiguang will exceed one trillion yuan in three years at most.

In a few years, A-shares will have another bull market. Apple, Google and other US stocks are also growing rapidly, and investments in companies such as Meituan are also high-quality assets.

It seems that maintaining a growth rate of 40% is not a problem, and breaking through one trillion does not seem to be difficult.

What other projects are you going to work on?
Do you want to start the Red Flag River?

How do I get this money?
A series of problems kept popping up. It was not the first time that Guo Yang encountered the problem of too much money, but this time it was a little beyond his imagination.

Today, the world's richest man is Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos, who is worth $740 billion.

Guo Yang is similar to him...

After thinking for a moment, Guo Yang had a general idea. Money was really just a number to him, so it was fine to spend it.

Isn’t there a popular word in the future?

A hunk fell from the sky. He might still be far from being good enough, but the rich first will lead the others to become rich... He decided to give it a try.

After sitting there for a long time, Guo Yang came back to his senses when the phone rang. It was Lin Keqing.

"Where are you? It's time for lunch. Are you going to the company again?"

"You guessed this, you're really smart." Guo Yang smiled and said, "Let's go to the rooftop farm to eat tonight, where we first met."

"No, come back and eat, my meal is almost ready."

"so smart?"

"uh-huh."

Hearing the cheerful voice, Guo Yang laughed, packed up his things and hurried back to Tsinghua University.

The dinner was sumptuous and filled with laughter and joy.

Late at night, Lin Keqing was already fast asleep with her hand still on him. In fact, the two of them did not spend much time together.

Thinking about the gradual growth of Qi Ziwen and others, Guo Yang considered gradually retreating behind the scenes in a few years.

The next day, the production crew of "Economic Half Hour" from CCTV Finance Channel arrived at Weiguang.

There were four people in total: producer, editor-in-chief, reporter, and cameraman.

Before the official recording, producer Wang Yunfei and Guo Yang communicated for a while in advance.

The flow of capital to the countryside, farmers entering factories, and linking up with farmers to help them are all within the scope of discussion.

After thinking about it, Guo Yang decided to talk openly about the issue of capital going to the countryside.

Wang Yunfei advised: "Mr. Guo, the director has said that there is no need to respond to sensitive topics. Leaders look at what you do, not what you say."

The rest of the people also spoke one after another, and the implications of their words were all avoidable.

"Yes, Mr. Guo, I went to the Hexi Corridor for an interview before, and it has developed very well. This year, many farmers can earn hundreds of thousands of yuan!"

"Linking farmers to help farmers is not something that was thought up out of thin air. It is a theme that the program team came up with based on actual conditions."

"Some local leaders call Jiahe the ballast of the industry, and some say it is an agricultural miracle. It has really led to leapfrog development in the local area."

In fact, there have been a lot of reports on energy forest projects before.

But there is indeed a change every year, and farmers' income is also rising.

But Guo Yang thought about it and said, "Just chat for a few minutes. If the station thinks it's inappropriate, you can edit it out."

Wang Yunfei had no choice but to say, "Okay then."

After the interview started, the reporter asked some questions step by step, and Guo Yang also talked truthfully about the development of energy forests in recent years.

Let’s talk about the energy forestry boom around 2005, Jiahe’s dormancy, and its rise against the current after the boom subsided.

Amidst a chorus of pessimistic voices, we worked together with farmers in ten cities and prefectures, signed long-term agreements, overcame numerous difficulties, and ultimately achieved fruitful results.

"In Guangxi, Gansu, Yunnan and other places, Jiahe's energy forests have helped at least millions of farmers get rich, with the average annual household income reaching more than 100,000 yuan!"

As the conversation went on, Guo Yang stopped following the reporter's questions and slowly took the initiative.

He also mentioned the Hongqi River.

This time, it was clearly stated that Jiahe is willing to promote the Hongqi River project and has already put it into practice.

Mentioned were the Dunhuang West Lake and National Desert Park projects, the water-saving fallow in Jiuquan, the hydrological and ecological changes in the Shule River basin, and even the many changes in the Heihe River and Shiyang River.

The Hexi Corridor is an important node at the end of the Hongqi River.

Dunhuang West Lake Wetland can serve as a water storage transit station to accumulate energy for flowing into Lop Nur and the Tarim River.

The Shule River, Heihe River and Shiyang River run through the entire Hexi Corridor. The improvement of hydrological conditions is conducive to mid-course replenishment during the water transfer process.

Today, conditions here have improved greatly.

And it will continue. For example, the small river that disappeared between the Heihe River and the Taolai River has a good chance of recovery.

He also talked about some investments in the Hengduan Mountains and the Sichuan-Tibet Plateau, and hoped that companies interested in developing energy forests would actively invest.

Jiahe can provide a new generation of Xanthoceras sorbifolia and Jatropha curcas seedlings that are adapted to local natural conditions.

When the reporter came to his senses, he looked at Wang Yunfei for help.

Wang Yunfei shook his head and motioned for Guo Yang to continue.

The reporter could only continue to agree helplessly.

Guo Yang had almost finished talking about the personal matters concerning Hongqi River, but when he saw that the reporter had no reaction, he jumped to the topic of capital going to the countryside.

"I saw a report these days. Someone said how difficult it is for farmers to turn things around when they are trapped by capital. They even used Jiahe as an example."

"To be honest, I knew the entire article was fabricated after just looking at the title. Anyone who has actually been there wouldn't write such a bullshit-filled article."

"By the way, let's talk about capital going to the countryside."

“In fact, any industry will always be at a low level if it does not have the attention of capital.”

“Capital is profit-seeking, and entrepreneurs of all sizes have a pioneering spirit, which has greatly promoted the application of new varieties, new technologies, and new equipment in production, thereby driving the development of the industry.

The jobs that have been taken away are only those of those who dare not try new things and stick to the old ways.”

"Agricultural technological progress has generally exacerbated income inequality, especially among high-income farmers."

“For example, in eastern regions such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, advances in agricultural technology have helped narrow the income gap among farmers.

For example, farmers in Zhejiang Province chase the sun to grow watermelons. They can be seen from north to south. Once one person makes a fortune growing watermelons, soon the whole village will start growing them.

If one person makes money growing grapes in Yunnan Province, there may immediately be dozens more people from Zhejiang Province growing grapes in Yunnan Province.

For example, Shouguang’s greenhouse vegetables have helped farmers’ per capita income jump from the bottom to the top in the country over the past decade.

But in the Midwest, the opposite is true, where advances in agricultural technology have led to greater income inequality.

The people who make big money are probably not the locals, but outsiders who come to transfer land. Among these people are farmers, small business owners, and enterprises...

Many people attribute this income imbalance to the exploitation and containment of capital.

The middlemen took away most of the profits, and the prices of agricultural inputs have been rising year after year... It seems that the root cause of the farmers' poverty is caused by these people."

When he said this, Guo Yang paused. He felt it was a little quiet and the atmosphere was a little weird. Wang Yunfei and others were staring at him.

He also wondered if he was smuggling something, or if his butt was crooked.
It seems that Jiahe is the largest agricultural capital.

Guo Yang took a sip of tea and calmed down. Who cares? It’s not a live broadcast. He can always edit it if it’s not appropriate.

“We have strayed off topic. Let’s get back to the energy forest. Judging from the development trend, the combination of land and capital is inevitable.

However, if the benefits of this capitalized land resource are properly distributed, the urban-rural dual structure can be completely changed, so that farmers can truly enjoy their due share of the land appreciation benefits.

For example, in Jiahe’s Xanthoceras sorbifolia energy forest in the Hexi Corridor, farmers are not workers but partners who fully enjoy the dividends of the industry.

Another model is large-scale land transfer.

This is most likely to result in capital plundering farmers, occupying farmers' land, infringing on farmers' interests, and ultimately leading to intensified conflicts.

I suggest that everyone go to Nongfu Spring and ask Zhong Shanshan how Nongfu’s orchards in southern Jiangxi can lose tens of millions of yuan a year.”

(End of this chapter)