91: Chapter 92 All in: The Shanghai Business Alliance uses two billion US dollars in cash flow to establish an absolute foothold.

As this smokeless North-South war officially broke out, accompanied by that piece of gambling agreement, the top-tier circles of the Yangtze River Delta had completely fallen into a state of near-fanatical determination, burning their bridges behind them.

As the absolute main force of this commercial war of the century, Wu Tianheng, Zhou Zhenghai, and Zhu Qingshan—representing the will of the Wu, Zhou, and Zhu families—had not left themselves or their families even a single path of retreat from the moment they stepped out of the closed-door meeting at Bund 18. This was a life-or-death game where one could only advance, never retreat!

Almost overnight, these three Old Money families, which had entrenched themselves in Shanghai for a century, launched a crazed "overseas asset fire sale" on a global scale!

Quality blue-chip stocks on Wall Street, iron ore mining rights in Australia, chateau wineries in Europe, and even the luxury yachts docked in Victoria Harbour and the Gulfstream jets registered under private names... all those non-liquid assets that once symbolized the supreme heritage and glory of the Old Money families were forcibly thrown onto the international market with a desperate stance bordering on "fire-sale prices." As long as it could be converted into USD cash at the fastest speed, everything could be sold, without even blinking an eye!

In just a few short days, the Wu, Zhou, and Zhu families forcibly drained all their overseas heritage. They managed to smash out a terrifying cash flow of as high as 1.2 billion USD, equivalent to nearly 10 billion RMB!

And this was just the beginning. Under the lead of the three families' tragic "flesh-cutting and blood-letting" charge, the entire Shanghai Business Alliance was completely ignited. All the core figures of the regional circle followed suit, directly slamming all their trump cards onto the poker table!

Qin Zhengye, having just submitted his letter of allegiance, gritted his teeth and smashed even his reserved overseas retirement trust fund, forcibly cashing out 100 million USD; immediately following, Chen Mingyuan entered the fray, throwing in 50 million USD; Su Yunjing mobilized the family's secret channels to inject 200 million USD; Li Jianfeng emptied his venture capital portfolio and charged into the battlefield with 100 million USD...

Accompanied by astronomical sums of money flowing like rivers into the sea into the joint operation accounts of Jiyuan Technology and Meituan, the entire Shanghai Business Alliance was completely consolidated by Shen Du, erupting with an absolute power that would make any international hot money tremble.

When the numbers on the board finally stopped jumping, the entire Shen Family and the Shanghai Business Alliance behind it had directly piled up a foundation on the books that would trigger an earthquake even on Wall Street. Over 2 billion USD in terrifying liquid capital!

Looking at the shocking, dozen-digit number in the joint account, whether it was the calculating Wu Tianheng or the sharp-edged Zhou Zhenghai, these Old Money patriarchs who were usually suited and booted and looked down upon others, had not a shred of fear in their eyes, only a heart-palpitating, clear-headed madness.

It was not that this group of pampered tycoons didn't want to live a peaceful life, but rather that these shrewd people who had struggled in the business sea for most of their lives understood a cruel truth better than anyone: where this wealth, rich enough to rival a nation, in their pockets actually came from!

Their ability to possess the status of being able to summon wind and rain today was certainly due to the heritage and methods of their families over several generations. But the most fundamental cornerstone was built upon the uniquely advantageous, open, and excellent commercial soil of Shanghai. This was their place of origin, the territory watered by the blood and sweat of their ancestors, and even more, the "root" upon which they relied for survival!

In this cruel winner-take-all world, if they chose to retreat in this life-or-death struggle, choosing to let Northern Capital achieve a complete victory, then what awaited them was absolutely not some peaceful era of living in a corner, but complete and utter destruction!

Everyone understood clearly: once the hungry wolf of the Beijing Circle completely occupied the Yangtze River Delta, and once Northern Capital established new rules on this land, then the excellent business environment that had been passed down in Shanghai for a century would completely cease to exist.

By that time, even if they still held onto a lot of cash and retained many quality industries, they would be forcibly dismantled and devoured, bite by bite, by this group of wolf-like Northern tycoons using various legal and gray commercial means over the next few years or even decades!

The business world is a battlefield; a king who loses his territory ends up worse than a beggar. Once the fundamental base completely collapses, the final outcome for these high-and-mighty century-old families could only be to be stripped of all privileges and wealth, mercilessly beaten back to their original form, and reduced once again to ordinary people waiting to be slaughtered.

This was a humiliating way to die that any traditional Old Money family with a century of pride could absolutely not accept! Therefore, when the butcher's knife of Northern Capital was raised high, in the face of this world-class commercial nuclear war, the entire Shanghai Merchants circle, from top to bottom, young and old, did not have a single person who chose to compromise, nor a single person who suggested retreating.

They left themselves no path of retreat, nor did they prepare any defensive contingency plans. Under Shen Du's aggressive strategic consolidation, this group of top-tier heavyweights who controlled half of Shanghai had only one common and sole bloody belief left in their minds: All-in, to the death!

Entering mid-June, when those 2 billion-plus USD in chips were officially poured into the various joint operation accounts, the entire internet market of the Yangtze River Delta completely changed overnight.

Shen Du did not give Northern Capital any chance to catch their breath or regroup. Sitting in the top-floor office of Jiyuan Technology, he pressed the nuclear button without hesitation, fully unveiling the most bloody "money-burning era" in Chinese commercial history!

The first to tear through the sky and sound the horn of counterattack was Meituan, which had previously been suppressed and struggling to hold on. Having received massive ammunition and re-entered the field, Wang Xing completely shed all defensive postures.

Meituan's massive offline ground-push iron army was no longer going to "talk" to merchants about cooperation. Instead, they were going directly with official, sky-high subsidies to "smash" down doors! As long as merchants dared to join, the platform would directly subsidize them with real money, forcibly raising the merchants' profit margins.

And for the delivery riders, the logistics foundation that determined life and death, Meituan showed an outrageous display of wealth. Riders didn't need to pay upfront. On the day of hiring, brand-new windbreakers, helmets, high-endurance electric scooters, and top-tier insurance were all provided for free! Using the most violent means, they directly raised a heavily armored cavalry on the streets of Shanghai that no one could poach.

Following that, the e-commerce sector under Shen Du's camp also completely fell into a jaw-dropping state of "involution." In that year of 2011, when even "Double 11" had not yet been fully popularized, Shen Du directly started a day-and-night money-sprinkling mode. As long as users dared to open the APP to purchase, regardless of the amount, the platform would shamelessly issue divine discount coupons and cash subsidies. Something originally priced at 100 yuan could be delivered to one's door with free shipping for just 60 or 70 yuan after subsidies. This wasn't doing business at all. This was taking bundles of 100-yuan bills and forcibly stuffing them into the pockets of the common people, to forcibly buy out their consumption habits!