Chapter 333: New Director's First Lesson: How to Set Fire and Snatch Land!

Everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

Lu Qingshan looked at him and made a "please continue" gesture.

The young man, his face flushed with excitement, pushed his glasses up and, in almost a pilgrim‑like tone, asked, "Director Lu, the internal report says that on Hong Kong Island you, in less than two months, crushed the English Capital Alliance led by Yingzi and Swire, earning back hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars in foreign exchange… We… we are especially curious, how exactly did you do it? How does that kind of financial capital operation differ from our dealing in physical trade?"

That question voiced the thoughts of everyone present.

The conference room fell so silent that a pin could be heard dropping; everyone held their breath, and even the veteran official in the corner, arms crossed, expression solemnly scrutinizing, named Qian Weiguo, subconsciously sat up straight, adjusted his reading glasses, and his sharp gaze locked onto Lu Qingshan.

Zhang Rongfeng felt a sudden thump in his chest, just as he was about to say we should discuss work first.

Lu Qingshan smiled, walked to the blackboard, and picked up the eraser.

"That question is well asked."

He erased the complex flowcharts and data on the blackboard cleanly, chalk dust fluttering down as if wiping away an old era.

"Comrade Rongfeng just spoke about how to sell our goods, stitch by stitch, cloth by cloth; that is the 'technique', the foundation, and it is very important."

He turned, faced everyone, and picked up a fresh piece of chalk.

"But have you ever wondered why the money we earn from painstakingly producing a whole shipment of clothes is still less than what people make by punching a few numbers on a screen?"

On the clean blackboard, he drew a simple balance scale.

On one side, he wrote 'Physical goods (commodities, labor)'.

On the other side, he heavily wrote two characters—'Pricing Power'.

"We have the world's largest workforce and the cheapest costs, but we lack Pricing Power. So the scale is always tilted."

"And in the financial market, what we do is more direct." He pressed the chalk tip harder on the three characters 'Pricing Power', producing a crisp "Da!" sound, "We don't produce goods; we go straight to seizing the Pricing Power itself!"

"Imagine the Yingzi companies as a great landlord; their stocks are the most fertile lands they hold. For us outsiders, buying their land is hard and expensive. So what do we do?"

Lu Qingshan's mouth curled into a cold arc, his eyes flashing a chill that sent a shiver through everyone present.

"We don't buy land. We set fire to the mountain beside it, then tell everyone that the blaze will soon reach his property. The landlord and all prospective buyers panic, start dumping land wildly. When land prices fall to cabbage‑price levels…"

He paused, his gaze sweeping the room, and at that moment the veteran official named Qian Weiguo could no longer hold back. In a deep voice, with a hint of doubt, he said, "Director Lu, forgive my bluntness, the 'Setting Fire' you propose is too risky! We're playing with fire on someone else's turf; if the flames turn on us or the target doesn't bite, won't we lose everything? Every cent of our country's foreign exchange is hard‑won!"

That question was equally sharp.

Lu Qingshan looked at him and, rather than showing displeasure, nodded approvingly. "Comrade Qian hit the crux. So Setting Fire also requires technique. First, you must ensure you stand upwind. Second, you must know the landlord's land better than he does—where the dry grass is, where the oil depots lie. Third, and most importantly," his voice grew sharp, "you must have the strength and resolve to buy the entire mountain once the fire starts. We're not gambling; we're harvesting. Only with victory in hand can we call it…"

His eyes flashed like lightning as he stared at Qian Weiguo: "As for risk, may I ask Comrade Qian, when we fought the three great campaigns, was there any risk? When we pursued Two Bombs One Satellite, was there any risk? If we stay holed up at home, will the wolves stop eyeing us? No! It only makes the wolves think we're fatter and easier to bite!"

Qian Weiguo's face flushed red, his lips moved a few times, yet no word came out. The arms he had held crossed over his chest had, at some point, dropped, his hands clenched into tight fists.

Lu Qingshan turned back and said word for word, "We go back in and Land Snatch the land back."

"Setting Fire is releasing negative news to create panic. Land Snatching is Short Selling for profit, while simultaneously bottom‑fishing acquisitions. This is financial warfare—no bloodshed, yet it kills unseen and seizes wealth from afar!"

His words were thrilling yet easy to understand.

The whole conference room was left with only the heavy, staggered breaths and the frantic 'scratch' of pen tips on notebooks. The young man who asked the question had his glasses slid down to his nose, scribbling furiously as if to engrave every word of Lu Qingshan into his notebook. Meanwhile, Qian Weiguo, the department's veteran, stared intently at the three characters 'Pricing Power' on the blackboard; the initial scrutiny and doubt in his eyes had been completely replaced by a complex mix of shock, excitement and shame.

They looked at the young man before them and felt he wasn't lecturing but opening a door to a new world for them!

"Alright," Lu Qingshan set down the chalk, brushed the dust off his hand, surveyed the room, "the lesson is over. Now, let's get down to business."

He didn't return to his seat but reached directly to Zhang Rongfeng, "Comrade Rongfeng, bring me the original and all revisions of the 'External Economic and Trade Development Strategy Outline (Draft)'."

Zhang Rongfeng was startled, then quickly recovered, jogged back to his office, and shortly after returned, panting, with a stack of documents as tall as a mountain, placing them on the conference table.

Lu Qingshan didn't even glance at the crowd, sat down, grabbed the topmost document, opened it, and picked up a red pen.

In the whole conference room, over thirty people stood there, daring not even a breath, watching their new director, a single man, sit and begin annotating the flagship document that would determine the nation's economic direction for the next ten years.

Time passed second by second, only the rustle of turning pages and the 'scratch' of the red pen on paper could be heard.

Zhang Rongfeng stood nearby, watching Lu Qingshan's pen tip glide across the paper, feeling his own heart pound as if it would burst from his chest.