[Tsk, tsk, tsk, I gave you a chance but you didn’t use it, Mr. Preparatory Grand Master. ], seeing that she really won the prize, Apollonia sent a taunt from the void, [You didn’t want the good luck before, but now you won’t lose face if you open your mouth again. 】
"How did I know it was so fast? You must have gone too far, right? Why did you hit 2.7 million taels immediately with a critical hit?"
【You blame me? It's obviously your fault for not trusting me. And if I had counted, which shot would I still be able to take? I have told you that interpreting hexagrams is more important than hexagrams. Let's not blame anyone, okay? 】
"Immortal Master Shangluo." Palca saw that he looked a bit embarrassed and asked in a low voice, "Can you promise us? Can you save Chichen Itza? Save the Mayans? If you are really too busy, If you can’t give us any guidance, can you send a message to your teacher to find a great immortal master to save us?”
"Um..."
Shangluo thought for a while. The imperial court must know about this kind of thing. It was easy to help the Mayan city-states recover, but the court turned a blind eye. There must be some deep meaning in this, and he doesn't intend to get involved easily.
However, based on his personal feelings, he still wanted to help the person who treated him to creamy cocoa all afternoon. After all, he also helped himself verify Apollonia's reliability. It's just that Apollonia is too reliable.
The surroundings were empty. The huge office has been vacated, and everything that can be moved out to pay off the bills has been used. The business of the entire Chichen Itza Hotel has also declined a lot, and their life is not good.
"Otherwise, let's do this." Shangluo raised his head, "I want to ask the Mayans first why this happened. From my point of view, it is very strange that all 17 Mayan city-states went bankrupt at the same time. All of this What’s the reason?”
"Then...it's not a long story. Master Shangxian, have you ever eaten a banana?"
"Banana? Have you eaten it?"
"No, you haven't eaten it." Palka looked into his eyes, "To be precise, you haven't eaten a 'banana' in the real sense. Have you ever found it strange that many banana-flavored drinks and banana-flavored The snacks we eat are completely different flavors from the 'banana' we usually eat?"
Shangluo thought for a while and nodded.
He certainly felt that way. For example, banana-flavored potato chips, banana-flavored candies, and banana-flavored soda are completely different flavors from the bananas you usually eat.
"Then why is that?"
"Because 'bananas' have long been extinct. 37 years ago, a sudden infectious disease swept the global banana planting industry. All banana plantations in 17 Mayan city-states died in just 3 months. Bananas around the world also All of them were extinct within one year. Now there are only a few "precious orchards" in Prince Yanping in Nanyang. They are strictly isolated from outside pollution and retain a few real banana trees. The annual output is very limited. Most of them are given away as tributes and gifts.”
"Why did the world become extinct so quickly? Bananas are not humans, and bananas can't run away."
"Because bananas are different from other crops. The birth of the banana industry was based on a coincidence - because all bananas are actually clones of the same banana plant. That banana was called the 'Big Mac Banana', created by a man named Mike The captain discovered it from the island of Jamaica. The banana plant was a rare triploid seedless banana - the flesh is plump, highly sweet and aromatic, but it cannot reproduce naturally because it is seedless. Since then, tropical areas around the world have They were all planted with 'Big Mac Bananas', and all bananas were cultivated through vegetative propagation."
"No wonder there is something wrong with those banana-flavored snacks now. It turns out that they taste like Big Mac bananas. Did the Big Mac bananas become extinct so suddenly?"
"Yes...it was so sudden. Some say it started in Africa, some say it started in Southeast Asia, and some say it was in the Mayans. But that is no longer important. The impact 37 years ago It destroyed banana industrial parks around the world, and for four years, not a single banana entered the consumer market."
"But just one season without a harvest will really make you all bankrupt?" Shangluo still couldn't figure out why he went bankrupt.
The Maya gave birth to a very ancient civilization, and it was very suitable for agricultural production. The dense rainforest has favorable conditions for rain and heat at the same time, and with the support of modern agriculture, production has soared. It’s hard to imagine that the Mayans would all collapse because of the disappearance of one banana variety.
"Of course it's impossible under normal circumstances. The warehouse at Chichen Itza was designed for war preparation. When we resisted the Spanish invaders, we could stay in the castle for several years without going out - but at that time, all Mayan city-states accepted the United Fruit 'New Dawn' plan. United Fruit purchases bananas at a price slightly higher than the market price, and purchases them in almost unlimited quantities.
"The Mayans are all excellent farmers. Within five years, we completed the plantation transformation of almost all the land and replanted it with Big Mac bananas. The banana output was 50 times what it was at the beginning. However, United Fruit still has no Satisfied, the purchase price rose instead of falling. As a result, the last spectators also invested in banana planting..."
Palka fell into a pregnant pause. Everything that follows is self-explanatory. When the Big Mac banana quickly became extinct, the impact was understandable.
"And you went bankrupt like that?"
"At that time, I came back from studying abroad at the Nanjing Imperial College. After I returned from my studies, I originally wanted to show off my talents, and the commodity futures trading market was a very new thing at the time. I thought that this kind of "futures trading" could bring prosperity to the planting industry. , but to meet the standards of futures trading, we need to grow high-quality bananas. So under my leadership, the Mayan city-states and the Nanyang Lanfang Company established United Fruit to coordinate the banana production of the Mayan city-states. Unexpectedly, United Fruit It turned out to be mainly guests.
"After the banana extinction, we defaulted on a large scale in the commodity futures trading market, and even the insurance companies were involved in bankruptcy. The Mayan states fell into a financial crisis and had to sell their country to repay their debts. You have to know that the size of each Mayan city-state is It is only about the same as a county in Kinai, and Chichen Itza is only a slightly larger county. Our size is really unable to withstand the historic impact, coupled with the large population. We can only sell our country in exchange for aid. In the end It didn’t cause any big trouble. Now I’m planting another kind of banana that I discovered a few years later, but I can never go back to the way I was before.”
"Why don't you report it to the court?"
"Are you kidding me? I am still the leader of Chichén Itzá even though I am bankrupt and traitorous. I am still the leader of Chichén Itzá. It is a big matter that weighs a thousand kilograms even if I am not named. If I really want to bring it to Yujing, it will be a big deal. ? By then, none of our 17 city-states will be able to escape, and all of them will be deconfessed. Fortunately, everything was resolved peacefully in the end. The people's livelihood is as before, and no major incident occurred that alarmed the emperor."
