Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

8:11 am

The sun's rays are a bit dazzling. At this time, in the south of District 9, outside the 9th Section Headquarters, there are five connected dome houses. In the hall of the giant No. 0 Dome House in the middle, businessmen are constantly entering, and there are A large number of people from many families found the convex crystal on the floor, moved out chairs and sat down. Thousands of people were already sitting in the venue.

Businessmen at the door were inspected by Section 9 staff one by one. They showed their identity certificates and certificates from raw material suppliers, and entered the venue after passing through the inspection mechanical door.

Since last year, January 1st every year has been the pricing day for raw material prices in the city. Early this morning, raw material merchants of all sizes in the city came over, from all walks of life. Raw materials are related to the price fluctuations of all walks of life. The basic items are very strict in terms of pricing.

The 9th Business Division will regulate the price of raw materials based on the market economy scale last year. According to the provisions of the Commodity Law, raw material merchants can only increase prices by up to 101% to 200% on the basis of pricing. interval.

However, the annual price increase range depends on the raw materials of various industries. Take eggs as an example. Last year, the price of eggs wholesaled from agricultural bases was 2.6 cents each, but the price increase range fluctuated between 101% and 117%. The supply is based on the supply area of ​​the upper, middle and lower floors, with a maximum of 3.042 gross. Once exceeded, punitive fines will be imposed.

Last year, the wholesale price of milk was RMB 16 for 100 ml, and the price increase range was from 101% to 121%.

Every year, every raw material that is not subject to control and circulates freely to local markets has its own pricing and wholesale price floating range. This range is also the same in the hands of suppliers, and will later go to the hands of manufacturers, and manufacturers will Based on the comprehensive data of the materials required to make the item, you can set a market price yourself. This price needs to be approved by Section 9 before it can be put on the market. When it finally reaches the market, it will change according to the local monthly price index. In principle, it cannot exceed 150%.

However, there will also be real-time local regulation. The prices of items sold in most stores will change to a certain extent every month, and the final regulation will be based on regional supply and demand.

All these extremely complex and in-depth regulations were thought up over a long period of time by people from 12 departments. They indeed effectively stabilized the market, even during the Great Depression caused by urban construction for more than a year. time, and finally because of such strict control, the economy was stabilized at a certain level.

There was no widespread inflation, which was a blessing among misfortunes. After the city's industry recovered, there was no problem of supply chaos caused by the huge demand for goods.

Most of the businessmen who come to Section 9 want to get the price of regulated pricing as soon as possible, and then they will start to plan the supply for the new year, where is the most profitable place to supply, and how to supply can make more money. , who can you do business with to make more money.

Businessmen need to get first-hand information, and many businessmen have started to discuss it. Since last year, everyone has been discussing various countermeasures and how to avoid and deal with all this.

The market pricing power has been in the hands of the gods since the city was founded. Many people feel that this is only temporary, because once the city develops, the gods have no way to control the expanding economic volume.

Everything is as the original merchants wished. Although the pricing power is not opened to merchants, some pricing ranges will increase many times in certain seasons. In those years, Congress's relaxation of the market economy has made the city's economy With considerable development, cities in the true sense have been established, instead of the dilapidated wooden towns of thirty or forty years ago.

The establishment of the city's 120 districts and the eventual formation of today's mega-city was accomplished through continuous economic growth, and merchants were the connecting points and contributed indispensably.

However, now the city's supervision has reached a very strict level, and many of the methods used by merchants in the past have failed. Some large and medium-sized merchants have begun to transform after experiencing pain, but most small merchants have now On the verge of death.

No one wants to die, and many people seem a little nervous, especially those who stocked up on goods and planned to make a lot of money before the city factories started operations last year, including earlier. Many are already about to have a heart attack.

If the current market pricing is lower than their previous market pricing, many people will lose money, and uneasiness begins to permeate the entire venue.

At this time, the venue began to gradually become quiet, and light and shadow screens appeared all around. Brandon, the chief of Section 9, and He Lei, the secretary, and more than a dozen directors were also present, and they all walked to the stage one after another.

Pricing power is what determines the fate of most merchants. At this time, the merchants looked at the big screen near the venue. The pricing of some products had already appeared.

In an instant, a businessman jumped up with excitement, raised his fists and stood on his chair, cheering as if no one else was around. There were more and more people like this. It was like gambling. In business, there are also many people who dare to take risks. businessmen, but unfortunately, only a few of them get their bets right.

Some people were crying uncontrollably, while others were looking blankly at the pricing and floating range of the goods in their hands. They giggled for a while, and their smiles gradually became stiff.

Some people are happy and some are sad. This feeling was not obvious last year, but it is particularly strong this year. What has been built with hard work has to be started all over again overnight. This kind of pricing model is for most small businessmen every year. It is all a competition for the final few winners.

There were more and more dissatisfied questions, and then Brandon spoke.

"If you are dissatisfied, please feel free to check the pricing and price fluctuation range of a product, which will be marked in detail."

At this time, many people took out their mobile phones. Everyone in the venue obtained congressional permissions and quickly logged into the congressional system and checked directly.

A businessman looked at the pricing of Condensate No. 67 with a solemn expression. It had detailed economic market records for the entire last year, as well as a graph of the economic change rate. This Condensate No. 67 has effects in many fields.

Last year, the price of this gelatin 67 substance was 3.8 yuan per kilogram, and the floating price range was between 101% and 120%. But this year is different. It was priced at 3 yuan per kilogram, a direct drop of 8 cents, and the price floating range was 101%. to 130%. Although the highest point of the price range has increased by 10%, even if it is sold to the area with the greatest demand, you can only earn 90 cents per kilogram.

At first glance, it seems to be more profitable than last year. Last year, the maximum profit per kilogram was 7.6 cents, but this is only the pricing of raw material production results. One kilogram includes tax, labor cost, production cost and primary material cost, which is about 2 yuan. Around 2.5 cents per kilogram based on last year’s pricing.

But this year’s pricing and the price range that allows the price to float, excluding the cost of 2 yuan, plus 130% of the highest point of the price range that allows the price to float, actually only earns 1.9 yuan at most.

Last year, this businessman had upgraded his raw material processing plant, purchased equipment, and increased the number of workers, in an attempt to maintain the company's steady development through volume. Even if the price dropped, it shouldn't be that outrageous.

Now this businessman is desperate, because the following areas have given out the areas with relatively large supply and demand for polyester No. 67 last year, as well as the companies engaged in selling this raw material. The numbers are very large, which has also led to this kind of situation. The main reason for the decline in raw materials.

According to the estimated value given by Section 2, this year's demand may be 107% higher than last year. The demand for the entire polyester 67 has only increased by 7%. This is bad news for this businessman. Last year, he accumulated a large amount of polyester. Ester 67, I thought that the market might be better this year, but I could only smile bitterly. Being able to avoid losing money is already very profitable.

At the bottom, the analysis given by Section 2 is that labor costs may rise further this year, as well as tax issues. If the economy is larger, the tax rate will fluctuate.

More and more things appeared in this businessman's mind. At this moment, his mind was in a mess and his consciousness began to blur.

At this time, accompanied by a burst of female exclamations, a businessman covered his heart and fell to the ground. In an instant, He Lei led people to rush over and lifted the emotional businessman, who had a heart attack, to the side. Medical equipment was quickly brought.

A simple heart surgery was completed quickly on the side of the venue, and the businessman saved his life.

"Please don't get excited! These prices are in line with the supply and demand of the entire market structure of Bright City. They all have detailed and complete data. These data can be checked at any time by merchants registered in Bright City. Doing business means there are profits and losses. , it is impossible to make money for a long time, at least not in Brilliant City!"

As Brand said, many merchants were already feeling cold, and some merchants started trading directly on the spot, wanting to get rid of some of the backlog of raw materials, because one day late would require an extra day of raw material management fees. .

Although many merchants looked bitter, they still started to discuss it in a friendly manner. If merchants are dissatisfied with the pricing power and price fluctuation range, they can file a complaint and find other companies on their own within 3 months after the pricing is announced. Data research companies can change the pricing of products if they conduct data that is more accurate than the data provided by Xingke and find points that can refute Xingke, including predicting the direction of the market more accurately than Xingke.

But this is almost impossible. A large number of businessmen have tried it last year. They cannot refute the analytical data given by the business department. Even some professional economic analysis experts have difficulty in refuting it because there is no point of refutation. .

However, there is one person who has successfully grasped what the business department has not thought about and successfully changed the pricing and price fluctuation ranges of some products. This person is Hu Youran. However, this point is still open to question because it was caused by criminal issues. caused by the chain effect.

There is also discussion within the business department this year that if the raw material market is unstable due to crime, certain pricing changes can be made, but this issue can only be discussed at the end of the year.

Brandon breathed a sigh of relief. Throughout last year, people in Section 9 worked almost non-stop, analyzing as much as possible the industrial structure of the city, supply and demand of goods, combined with the field investigation and analysis of Section 2, and finally gave Once the pricing of all raw materials has been solved, the pricing of industries above raw materials will be much easier.

Section 2 will use an economic template that has been researched and calculated in AI13 Economic Engineering for many years to conduct preliminary economic analysis. As long as we have the materials obtained through big data analysis, Section 9 can quickly obtain results based on the efforts of Section 9 throughout the past year. The crystallization is used to plan the subsequent pricing and price floating range.

At this time, many small doors were opened around the venue. Inside, there are rooms on the 5th floor outside the dome. Businessmen can directly complete many transactions here. The transaction will be under the supervision of Section 9 to ensure effective compliance. specification.

"Okay, everyone can move to the private conference room. If you need to have a long conversation today, please make an appointment in advance. Free water and food will be delivered to the room where everyone is discussing."

A large number of Section 9 staff members have already taken their places, waiting at the door of each independent small room, waiting for the merchants to enter. If you have any questions about business transactions, you can consult with the Section 9 staff members next to them until the businessmen enter. Until you leave.

In the past, merchants were relatively free to trade goods, but there was a problem. The dual problems of black market trading and black gold laundering. Since the middle of last year, the Transaction Law has been promulgated. This is to prevent the dual problems from affecting the urban economy. harm.

This method was thought up by Brandon. After discussions with Section 8 and the Lawyers Association, such a law was finally introduced.

Transactions must be conducted in an open and transparent manner. Even if it is a private transaction, the money and goods involved in the transaction need to be retained, because Section 9 will conduct irregular reviews. Once the transaction amount and goods are found to be inconsistent, Section 7 will They will go directly to conduct a financial review. If there is a problem, Section 5 will directly arrest and conduct an economic crime investigation.

At this time, many businessmen came together and took out the invitations they had prepared, hoping that Brandon, He Lei, and other directors would honor them and attend tonight's dinner.

Brandon could only cope with it. Throughout the last year, everyone had received a large amount of gifts and cash from businessmen. Many of them were forcefully given, or they were forced into red envelopes at dinner parties.

This is very uncomfortable for Brandon and others. Most of them can only wait for a period of time and retreat, but some parts really have no retreat.

"What should I do now? I have received more than 200 invitations!"

Brandon looked at it, then looked at the people around him, and He Lei smiled helplessly.

"I can only run around. After all, I have to have a good relationship with the managers of the business family, so that I can solve many economic problems peacefully. Everyone, please work harder tonight. We will have a meeting later and discuss it carefully. , who wants to go to those places, at least each person has to visit more than 20 banquet venues."

Brand said, and the group began to return to the conference room at the back to discuss.

There is no way to do this now. After all, after Alpha's toughness, some problems that have been squeezed out need to be dealt with. Being too tough will only arouse a stronger desire for resistance among businessmen, so 9 subjects are now What needs to be done is to become a bridge between business people and the industry.

9:19 am

Locke Phoebus stood on a lawn of Phoebus Manor. A large number of reporters were asking various questions. Locke just answered them one by one with a smile.

Nowadays, the automobile industry has reached its peak. This industry has reached its peak in just over 30 years. Because of the opening of the subway, some people have begun to use the subway instead of driving, because the subway is faster and can Save a lot of time.

However, the sales of some high-end cars that use light and shadow materials are still relatively hot, especially in the design process, the Phoebes family has achieved the ultimate.

Many of the questions asked by reporters were insignificant, and most reporters were more concerned about a traffic accident that occurred this morning. This was the first time that Phoebes' Windrush series cars, which are said to be absolutely safe and fast, had such a serious traffic accident. ACCIDENT.

"Everyone, because the matter has not been finalized yet, we still need to wait for the engineers to specifically inspect the accident car. When the inspection results come out, our family will announce the results as soon as possible. Okay everyone, it is getting late, I still need to Go to the family’s company for a meeting.”

Locke said and looked at the time. It was just after 10 o'clock. He did not answer some follow-up questions from reporters. Locke was also quite worried at this time because the Phoebus family was also involved in the slave trading case last year, and the entire family was affected. Implicated, coupled with the price increase of some raw materials, the Phoebes family is currently forced to lay off employees.

At present, nearly 3,000 employees have been cut, of which more than 2,000 are car salesmen. Reporters are obsessed with this matter.

However, Locke still firmly believes that the automobile industry has not entered the dusk, but is only experiencing a periodic decline. Locke plans to adjust the entire family's industrial structure and develop aerodynamic cars with more powerful performance.

The subway also has the benefits of the subway, but cars also have the benefits of cars. As long as the traffic flow in the city is reduced to a certain extent, the roads will inevitably become empty, and the traffic of cars will be smoother.

The Phoebus family has always been making private cars. In the years when cities were developing, the demand for such cars was very large, and cars for engineering and passenger use were produced by companies of all sizes. .

Because of the intervention of antitrust laws, Locke originally wanted to follow the practices of other businessmen, but was stopped by his father. Now the Phoebes family is indeed in some difficulties. As the current family member, Locke wants to have a good talk with his father. , but my father still didn’t say a word.

After getting rid of the reporter, Locke sighed helplessly. The housekeeper Zhang Cheng was already waiting. At this time, Locke glanced at Zhang Yang, who was more than 10 years younger than him, and smiled and asked him to follow him to the office.

As soon as he entered the office, Locke sighed helplessly, and Zhang Yang poured tea for Locke.

"Zhang Yang, what should I do? It seems that my father has no plans to continue to expand his business. If this continues, our family's situation will not be good."

Zhang Yang smiled and shook his head.

"Locke, I think it's pretty good now. How about we work together and temporarily invest the money in this manor? Make it the largest resort hotel in the city?"

"I was just talking to you casually, do you take it seriously?"

Zhang Yang was a little surprised and looked at Locke, who was smiling. At this time, Locke nodded.

"Leave it to you. By the way, how have you been at school recently?"

Zhang Yang hummed.

"It's quite strict. It's a full-field college. I probably won't have much time to come back next year because I have to take new courses."

Locke nodded. Although he asked Zhang Yang what kind of courses he had taken at the All-Field Academy, Zhang Yang did not answer.

At this time, there was a knock on the door of the room, and Zhang Cheng walked in. Looking at his old father, Zhang Yang felt a little sad. He wanted to graduate from the college as soon as possible, and then return to Phoebus's house to take over his father's role as housekeeper. Work allows my father to retire and take care of himself.

"Master, Mr. Field is here."

Locke's expression became serious, and he heard shouts from outside before he could speak.

"Locke, I came to play with you."

After a while, Field came in, sat down and patted the sofa.

"Play? Field, why did you come here just now?"

Field sighed helplessly.

"Okay Locke, I promised you the supply of raw materials before, but now there is no problem. Lin Xiao, the president of the Industrial Association, is a fucking bastard."

Field smiled and didn't know what to say. After all, the current industrial association as a whole is very strictly controlled. Family businessmen like them are not having a good life, and they can only continue to support the boy.

"By the way, Field, regarding your sister Wilsie's situation, I think you still have time to visit her."

Field scratched his head.

"What happened again? She has been married for so many years."

Locke wanted to say something more, but finally held back. Nowadays, Wilsey basically does not leave the house. She attends banquets from time to time, and she is secretive, with a strange look on her face. Locke also heard his wife say, Wilsey seems to have some mental problems, and some women in the family who have been in contact with Wilsey in recent years have mentioned this.

"Locke, I came here today to talk to you about other things."

Locke's face became serious. Zhang Cheng and Zhang Yang left the room, and Locke sat over.

"What exactly happened?"

"The Hillman family recently purchased a lot of dangerous controlled substances from us, and they don't know what they are going to do. And for some reasons as you know, we can only carry out this transaction in private."

Locke understood immediately.

"what do you think?"

Locke said with a hum.

"I suggest you be careful and don't get involved. After all, Section 5 is very strict now."

Field laughed.

"We are old friends, Locke. If you know anything, please let me know. After all, your family has sold a lot of lifts to the Hillman family."

Locke shook his head.

"I never ask what they do when they buy these lifts. If you do, it's a business matter. Now most of their families are equipped with small lifts. It's useless for you to ask me about this. "

Field looked at Locke, he really didn't seem to know, so he could only give up and stop asking any more.

"Let's eat here. Let's go out for a walk. I have a plan that I want to talk to you about. I hope to hear your opinion."

Field stood up, but he still couldn't let go of the raw materials for controlled substances purchased privately by the Hillman family and his own family. This kind of thing cannot be put on the table. After all, the Hillman family owns these controlled raw materials. Bought at 3 times the price.

"I think it's better for you to go and see your sister."

Field had already gone out, and it was as if he had not heard this sentence.

10:35

Keying looked at the thick pile of handwritten documents next to her, which she was reviewing with her secretary Zhuo Yue. A large number of directors were also working.

Next to it is a huge handwritten document storage room. The handwritten documents need to be compared with the data that have been put into the virtual database before they can be stored in the database.

This is the last bit. Most of the section members and officers are on vacation. The work of Section 6 seems a bit easy in the eyes of ordinary people, but the people above are not at all relaxed, because these materials are Accurate storage is required.

The statistical work basically only takes four or five days to complete every month, but warehousing is really a big problem, and the 6 departments are already short of manpower.

There are only more than 2,000 people now, and it is necessary to compile all aspects of information in the city. This is an extremely troublesome task for Keying, especially those crimes. The number of crimes has been increasing in recent years, making Keying feel a little helpless.

There are still documents coming from the General Affairs Section. In just a few hours, Section 6 can add hundreds of documents that need to be copied and recorded virtually. This is the last review level for city documents and materials, and it is absolutely unacceptable. Any problem.

"How about you rest for a few hours first?"

A female council officer suggested with a smile.

"You think beautifully!"

Ke Ying gritted her teeth and felt that she had to finish it no matter what. She had an important date tonight.

Everyone wants to finish work as soon as possible and then have a good few days of the New Year.

At this time, a pile of information was sent to Keying by a director, and she and her secretary Zhuo Yue continued to review it.

"What are you doing?"

Keying immediately called the director back. This was some information from the Hillman family. The person responsible for copying it was an ordinary clerk. Keying felt at a glance that the numbers on it were wrong. She was born with numbers. Extremely keen, everyone gathered around at this time. On the surface, there seemed to be no problems with these numbers, but Keying immediately pointed out the problems.

"Call me that guy named Vic Hillman."

Ke Ying said and took a look at the name of this clerk. He was a guy who was expelled from the Hillman family a few years ago. He passed the examination of the business department last year and entered the 6th department. He had just worked for three months.