silent farm

Chapter 7 My protagonist cannot be short of money

For this auction, Li Sheng's only hope is to raise the funds he needs as soon as possible.As for the others, he didn't really care.

"You are experts. Just do as you say." Li Sheng nodded. "Your auction will be held in half a month? Then when can I get the auction money?"

Hearing what he said, the woman knew that he might need the money urgently, and said: "After the auction, the auction proceeds minus taxes and auction fees can be transferred to your account within three days. If you can't wait for the auction, We can also help you contact buyers. The auction price of those high-end emeralds is estimated to be 50%, I think there are still customers who will agree to buy directly. As for those rosewoods, there will be more interest. The estimated price we give is 5000 million Euros. I think if it is auctioned, it is likely to fetch around [-] million euros. But if it is purchased directly, it is likely to be only [-] million euros."

Christie's is a British company, and many of their auctions began to be settled in euros two years ago.This is also related to the continued downturn of the US dollar in recent years.Perhaps they would prefer to use the British pound for settlement, but after Brexit, the status of the United Kingdom is somewhat uncertain, and the currency of the British pound is not necessarily more confident than the U.S. dollar.

Li Sheng thought about it, and there are actually a lot of those things in the space.He also sold it to make money to buy the farm.If the time dragged on for too long, the farm might be bought away.So he nodded and said, "Yes, if the transaction can be completed as soon as possible, I can accept it."

"Okay. But when these deals are done, we're going to charge a 3.5% brokerage fee."

"Okay." If it can be sold, Li Sheng doesn't care about the money.

So they signed another entrustment agreement.

The next day, people from Christie's informed him that a European buyer was interested in his red sandalwood and would come to Hong Kong today.Ask him if he is free tomorrow morning.If you have time, ask him to visit the headquarters of Christie's.

At ten o'clock the next day, Li Sheng arrived at Christie's Lingang headquarters on time.He was brought into a conference room, where a handsome blond guy was sitting at the conference table, and behind him stood two burly European men.

The woman who received Li Sheng before said: "This is Mr. Fernando, from Portugal. This is Mr. Li Sheng, the owner of the batch of red sandalwood."

After a set of diplomatic rhetoric, Fernando first went to the main topic: "Mr. Li, I am very interested in your red sandalwood."

He spoke English, and the woman acted as an interpreter.

So after some less intense bargaining, Fernando finally said: "I will offer 7000 million euros for the overall purchase. This is the highest price I can offer."

Although he knows that this price may still suffer a lot more than what he received from the auction, Li Sheng's main purpose now is to raise money. As long as he has enough money, he can still afford this loss. In fact, he doesn't think a few How much is wood worth.There are many such woods in the space."I can accept the price. But I want to get the money within two days," he said.

"Two days? You have to know, Mr. Li, 7000 million euros is not a small amount, and Huaxia's financial management is relatively strict. I'm afraid it won't be possible to complete the procedures in two days. Can it be done within a week?"

Li Sheng shook his head and said, "If I have to wait a week, I might as well wait for the auction."

Fernando didn't expect that the negotiation on the price would go smoothly, but there was a disagreement on the payment time.He thought for a while and asked: "Excuse me, Mr. Li. I don't know if you plan to use the money to invest or do something. Of course, if it is not convenient to say, I didn't ask. I mean, are you Don't you have to get all the 7000 million euros?"

Li Sheng knew that he planned to pay in installments, but this was not unacceptable: "I need at least 4000 million euros. I plan to buy a ranch."

After hearing the translation, Fernando smiled suddenly, and said, "I think the only ranch worth close to 4000 million euros in the market is the [-]-acre ranch listed two weeks ago in Montana, USA. But I think Mr. Li may be disappointed. Because the ranch has already been bought."

Li Sheng looked at him suspiciously.

Fernando continued indifferently: "Of course, if Mr. Li doesn't believe it, you can check it online to see if the order has been completed."

Li Sheng took out his mobile phone and checked it. Sure enough, the list on the website said that the transaction had been successful.Huge disappointment is certain. I have been busy for the past few days, but I didn't expect the result to be like this.

He smiled wryly and said, "If that's the case, I think Mr. Fernando's trip was in vain this time. I think those red sandalwood auctions are more in line with my interests."

"No, no..." Fernando said with a smile. "Mr. Li, you know, although a friend of mine bought the farm, it has nothing to do with me."

Li Sheng continued to smile bitterly and said, "Mr. Fernando, you misunderstood. The main reason I changed my mind is that the reason for my urgent need for money has disappeared, and there is no need to harm my own interests in order to get the money as soon as possible."

"You are honest!" Fernando said with a smile. "But if you want to buy a farm with a large enough area, I don't think you need to be disappointed by missing that farm."

"What do you mean? Do you have a farm for sale?"

"No, I don't have a farm. But I have a piece of land that is more than 400 times larger than that farm. If you are interested, I can sell it to you."

"More than 400 times? 500 million acres?" Li Sheng asked with wide-eyed eyes. "Sell it to me? Are you kidding me?" 500 million acres of farms, perhaps in no other country except Australia.

Fernando smiled and said: "Yes, I don't know how big it is now. If it is calculated according to the plane area, it is [-] square kilometers. There are some hills, so we have not really confirmed the specific surface area. Pass."

Li Sheng was excited for a moment, but immediately smiled wryly and said, "How can I afford such a big place? Unless you are willing to split it up and sell it. Besides, the local government..."

"I also want to split the sale. But the law does not allow it. As far as the local government is concerned, I will handle it and there will be no problem." Fernando said with a shrug. "That's not the land in the United States. And the land is not very suitable for the development of agriculture. So the price is much cheaper than the unit price of that American farm you fancy."

Hearing that it was cheap, Li Sheng immediately asked, "Then how much do you want to sell it for?"

"You know, that piece of land is located in the Brazilian Amazon basin, and the east, west, and south sides are bounded by rivers. The south side is plains, while the north side has low hills. The forest there has been deforested by about 40%, mainly in the plains The forest in the north is still in a pristine state. The Brazilian government has issued a new timber export decree, which increases taxes by 35% on the export of 150 main types of logs and timber. Timber business there can no longer compete with Southeast Asia and Africa. So we The family intends to sell the land at a low price." Fernando seemed to be explaining why he wanted to sell the land, but he was actually explaining the current situation of the land: logging can no longer be done there.If Li Sheng wants to cut wood in the future but is punished, don't blame him for not reminding him.

"Such a large area can be used for farming." Li Sheng didn't quite believe his words.

"Yes, the plain is huge. There are also many people who have cultivated land in the area or used it as a cattle ranch. Unfortunately, the soil layer there is very thin. Those areas that have been cleared of trees, earlier Without good protection, the soil loss is very serious, and the land that has lost forest protection in the past few decades has only clay soil." Fernando said with a smile. "Moreover, large areas of land, because of the loss of forests, have no way to conserve water sources, and droughts often occur in those places."

"Will the Amazon plain be dry?" Lin Ming really couldn't imagine it. "Isn't it in a tropical rainy area?"

What he doesn't know is that only in the 21st century, the Amazon plains experienced severe droughts that occurred once in a century in 05, 09, and 14.

"When the rain falls on the ground, it will flow into the river in less than a day. The clay on the ground can't store much water at all. So those cattle farms can't grow grass at all, and cattle have to buy a lot of feed and turn it into a farm. The cost is too high. High. And we are developed by a company, and we have to pay a large amount of land tax every year. This is also the main reason why we cannot divide and sell. If you buy it, the land can become personal land. According to Brazilian law, farmers , you only need to pay personal income tax. Of course, you need to be a Brazilian first. I don’t think this is a problem for you. Because as far as I know, if you want to buy land in the United States, you must also be an American.”

"Then how much do you hope to sell it for?"

"Two hundred million euros." Fernando said with a smile.

The price of 3 square kilometers is [-] million euros, which seems very cheap.But for ordinary people, it's not worth the price there.We must know that a large ranch of more than [-] square kilometers in Australia was listed for more than [-] million US dollars a few years ago.The value of land is not based on the area, but on its productive capacity.

According to Fernando, cutting down trees on that piece of land is not profitable, and the conditions for a farm are too poor.The unit land price is low for sure.If it is not considered that Brazil may change its timber export policy in the future, no one will buy that piece of land for [-] million euros.

However, Li Sheng felt that it was not expensive, and he was sure that he could get the land right.

But what he didn't expect was that Fernando also concealed a piece of news.That's the land where the native Indians live.The family's company wanted to sell the land because it had problems dealing with the Aboriginal people.

"I need detailed information on that piece of land. If it suits my heart, I am willing to buy that piece of land. But you also said just now that I must become a Brazilian. I hope you can provide me with the procedures for naturalization in Brazil and the procedures for land transactions. Help." Li Sheng thought for a while, and felt that such a large piece of land could be taken. "And I hope to get a statement of the land situation issued by a notary institution that recognizes qualifications worldwide."

In fact, he didn't care much about the vegetation and soil quality of that land.As long as the land is on the earth and the terrain is suitable, even if it is a desert, he thinks there is a way to turn it into fertile soil.The ability to control water and the biological resources of space gave him enough confidence.

Fernando clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Of course, there is no problem."

(End of this chapter)