Chapter 135 - 133 Efficient Exploitation

Words : 1160 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Although he had confirmed Li Yulong’s plans and intentions, Chen Xin still did not allow him to enter his shelter. He merely let Li Yulong enter the preparation room, where they could sit down and discuss the matter. "Xiao Chen, you’re wrong to think I want the currency issuance rights, that would be such an injustice to me. The government is still around! How could such a thing be allowed for private individuals?" Despite his ambition, Li Yulong remained level-headed, not assuming that the end times allowed for any outrageous behavior: "What I want is simply the minting rights, not issuance rights, and whether this happens or not doesn’t really matter. The real core interest is that with a market, there is commercial flow." Hearing this, Chen Xin couldn’t help but laugh: "You have a clear view; money is only money when it’s in circulation, when hoarded it can only be called production materials." Nonetheless, while praising Li Yulong, Chen Xin remained curious and asked: "I understand you want to establish commercial flow, but the total amount of resources in the hands of survivors is limited. Without societal production, these people will eventually exhaust the wealth they control, and the market will soon run dry. How do you plan to solve this problem?" "Xiao Chen, can you use your geothermal heat pump to build a greenhouse?" Li Yulong slyly asked Chen Yu, raising another question. "A planting greenhouse? Of course, the geothermal heat pump provides a continual heat source, maintaining the planting greenhouse..." Chen Xin instinctively responded; halfway through speaking, he suddenly had an epiphany: "Ah, I see—plantation economy, exploiting surplus value." Seeing Chen Xin understood his idea, Li Yulong scratched his head sheepishly: "Hehe, Xiao Chen, that’s harsh. I’m not a capitalist; I’m just trying to help others survive while gaining a little extra for myself." Both Chen Xin and Li Yulong understood what the other was saying, but Qin Lan found it somewhat confusing. She could comprehend what Chen Xin meant when he said the market would soon dry up—demand determines value, and what survivors need most now are various survival commodities, which are essential needs and the most valuable wealth. However, the survival resources that each survivor possesses are limited and will gradually be consumed over time. It’s similar to how everyone’s money is limited; if you can’t earn more, the existing money will eventually be spent. While she understood what Chen Xin meant by market drying up, Qin Lan still couldn’t grasp what he and Li Yulong meant by the planting greenhouse, nor did she understand the plantation economy and surplus value exploitation Chen Xin mentioned—content she had only heard in high school politics class, leaving her bewildered. "Ah Xin, what are you talking about?" Not understanding, Qin Lan directly asked Chen Xin about her confusion. "Sister Qin, we’re not discussing much, just that I want to build a planting greenhouse and need Xiao Chen to provide a geothermal heat pump." Li Yulong hastily explained, but it was evident he was trying to mislead Qin Lan, hoping she wouldn’t understand the true motives. However, Chen Xin glanced at him and began explaining to Qin Lan: "Ah Lan, you should understand that for a market to have commercial flow, there must be a constant supply of goods for trading, right?" "Of course, if there are no goods for trading, there’s no commercial flow. I understand that principle." Qin Lan nodded, indicating her understanding. Seeing Chen Xin begin to explain to Qin Lan, Li Yulong’s expression turned ugly, but he held back the urge to speak, merely keeping a sullen face as Chen Xin explained his intentions to Qin Lan. "Since you can understand this, Ah Lan, you should realize that given the current environment, the resources in survivors’ hands are limited. Aside from the official capacity to produce new resources, other survivors practically lack production capacity right now," Chen Xin continued, perceiving Li Yulong’s change in demeanor: "Therefore, if you truly want to create a trade platform and establish commercial flow, the supply becomes very important. Currently, for all survivors, the most valuable items are survival resources, particularly food and heating. The geothermal heat pump I can make serves as heating equipment, and once Xiaolong gets this equipment from me, he can sell it to survivors in need, but that’s just a one-time deal, yielding limited profits. To earn more, Xiaolong plans to use the geothermal heat pump to create a planting greenhouse, employ survivors to work for him, produce more food, and then sell this food to survivors, ensuring an endless source of profit." "But in that case, why would everyone buy his food?" Qin Lan understood Chen Xin’s explanation but had a new question: "Can’t they also obtain food by working at the official shelters?" "Good question!" Chen Xin praised her, resembling a skilled orator pleased with an engaged audience, as he stood up to explain: "If it’s simply about growing food to sell, then there’s no need for a trade platform; just selling the food suffices. But only primitive and foolish slave owners would use such an inefficient method to make money. A smart capitalist employs more effective means to profit. If I were Xiaolong, I would hire a group of people to work for me, and after growing food, I would distribute more food than they need as ration, and this part becomes excess production material, evidently usable in trade. With tradable resources in workers’ hands, commercial flow starts, but that’s still insufficient, as all production resources only circulate in a closed loop—just from me to the workers, then back to me. This way, I can’t gain profits, so I need to introduce another trader between me and the workers, namely other survivors." Chen Xin continued to explain to Qin Lan, gesturing and pointing at Li Yulong: "Suppose Xiaolong is another survivor, and Ah Lan, you’re my worker. The food you grow each day far exceeds what you need to eat. Even though I ’generously’ give you enough food for two people, the total food you produce still greatly exceeds the wages I give you, and the excess is the surplus value I exploit from you. At this point, I can take this surplus value and trade it with other survivors like Xiaolong, exchanging food for the resources I need from him, thus enhancing market activities. But that’s not all, as the resources I exchanged from Xiaolong far exceed my survival needs. At this point, I can sell these resources to you, Ah Lan. However, this way is too inefficient. I can have Xiaolong sell these resources directly to you, allowing the food you have beyond your survival needs to participate in market flow. Thus, a three-party trade market forms. By maintaining the planting greenhouse and trade platform’s existence, I can continuously achieve new profits. This is the most efficient exploitation method—the gains appear generous, but in reality, you’re left with nothing."

Chapter 135 - 133 Efficient Exploitation

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