Chapter 1314 A Ticket to an Alien Planet?

Frien's idea is actually very simple, that is to use his contacts to find a group of interested investors, imitate Lu Zhou's Tiancang V (Tau Cetus) alien system colonization foundation, and set up a similar fund.

The only difference is that he will set the target in a place other than Tiancang-5, preferably closer to the solar system.

And, the fund will be issued publicly.

However, it is precisely because this idea is really too easy to think of.

When he brought the materials to the largest commercial bank on Wall Street and was about to go through the relevant procedures, he was surprised to find that there was already a long queue in the lobby.

And judging from the clothes and attire of those people, they obviously didn't come to withdraw money...

Regardless of the long queues in several commercial banks on Wall Street, just as Frien had predicted, the opportunity came on the day when the news of the establishment of the Tiancang Five Alien System Colonization Fund hit the headlines on Wall Street, and the whole world was shocked by this. Shocked by the sudden news!

"This could open up a whole new business model!"

The financial column of ABC TV station, Paul Krugman, the well-known Nobel laureate in economics, said in an excited tone when he was interviewed by the financial column.

"In the past, most of our investment activities were carried out on an annual basis. Except for trust products that avoid inheritance tax, even investment products that consider long-term returns rarely plan for returns of more than a hundred years."

"In the short term, compared with other hot projects with more investment value, it is not a wise choice to focus on the aerospace field, and it can even be said that the profit is meager. But if you look at a century- —Even in the future after several centuries, the short-term unprofitable aerospace industry is actually closely related to our future, and this fund will help our aerospace industry get on the right track at a faster speed.”

The host asked seriously: "So, this is actually a public welfare undertaking?"

"Not exactly," Paul Krugman shook his head. "To be precise, it is a long-term investment with public welfare attributes. All mankind will benefit from his generosity today."

"When more social resources are concentrated on the development of outer space resources, we will enter the gate of the interstellar era at a faster speed."

"And at the same time, the investment, which may prove meager or even unprofitable in the short term, will bring him huge returns in the future—there is also no doubt about that."

Host: "But... can anyone live that long?"

"That's a problem," Paul Krugman nodded, "but he can name his descendants as beneficiaries."

"If hyperspace theory makes faster-than-light travel possible, we have every reason to believe that colonizing new worlds will be possible a century from now."

"I even have an idea that this plan can actually be combined with the cryogenic dormancy plan. After all, normal people may not live that long, but if you really want to devote yourself to the great cause of interstellar colonization..."

"It may be a good choice for ordinary people to donate property to the aerospace industry in exchange for a 'ship ticket' a century later, and then freeze and hibernate until that time."

In fact, it wasn't just Paul Krugman who had this in mind.

Investors, including Frien, who have already lined up in Wall Street banks, have obviously thought of this early.

Almost the morning after the news was published, a number of commercial banks in the United States issued similar alien system colonization funds.

The money-making ideas of these funds—or the publicity ideas are almost the same, that is, to choose a beautiful and not too far away potentially habitable galaxy as the destination and the cover of the promotional posters, and to surround this beautiful planet Tell stories and consume people's vision of the future.

But what's interesting is that maybe some companies really plan to launch a colony ship in the future.

Therefore, considering that the competitors are too strong, most of these funds bypassed Tiancang 5 chosen by Lu Zhou, but chose Nanmen 2 which is relatively closer in distance (4.24 light-years away from the solar system), or Tiancang 5 Other K-type main-sequence stars such as Yuan IV (10.7 light-years away from the solar system) are used as targets.

And for these planets, the prices offered by various funds are also varied, even full of entertainment spirit.

For example, a colony fund that sets its target on Proxima Centauri has a promotional slogan that only needs to pay 10 US dollars to get a Proxima Colony Resident Certificate and an "economy class ferry ticket" to Proxima Centauri. If you spend US dollars, you can enjoy first-class seats and bring one more person on board.

At the same time, the price of the ferry ticket increases at an annual growth rate of 5%, which means that an economy class ticket will cost US$10.5 next year, and US$1315.01 a hundred years later.

Of course, once the ticket is sold, it will not be refunded, but it can be traded to other interested people through the second-hand market. It is really like those companies that sold refuge tickets before 2012.

There are also funds that use land as a bargaining chip. For example, in addition to the boat ticket to the New World, you can get a square kilometer of land in the colony for every additional $100 you pay, whether you want to build a house or grow crops on it. .

Of course, all of these, no matter how "attractive" the conditions offered, are things that can only be fulfilled a hundred years later. What's more, there are still a series of risks such as "competitors taking the lead", "poor management and bankruptcy", "future policy changes", etc., which may turn the vouchers in their hands into a piece of waste paper.

So no matter how serious and serious the outer space colonization fund is, even if it is guaranteed by NASA or Space-X, it will be difficult for investors to take it seriously.

However, perhaps even many issuers did not expect that these seemingly extremely unreliable funds were unexpectedly welcomed by many people after their release.

Although it is almost impossible for most people to survive the interstellar age a century or two later without resorting to cryogenic hibernation, spending $100 on a beautifully crafted alien citizenship certificate and Proxima Centauri It seems that the land title certificate is not too bad?

Although I don't expect that I can live a hundred years later and have the opportunity to set foot on my own land, but it can be used as a conversation piece after dinner. For those who are not short of money, these hundreds of thousands of dollars are quite a bargain. .

Of course, there are some more serious people who will carefully study and identify which funds are really planning for the alien colonization plan in a hundred years, and which funds are purely entertaining the public.

For example, an old Texas farmer named Joseph spent $1 million to buy 10,000 square kilometers of land on Proxima Centauri and gave it to his six-year-old grandson as a birthday present .

This incident caused a huge sensation in the local area, and even attracted reporters from the neighboring city.

When interviewed by the reporter, the old farmer was very happy to be on the TV show with his farm, and said happily to the reporter's microphone.

"This is a long-term investment. I plan to give these lands to my grandsons and pass them on as family heirlooms!"

Reporter: "Aren't you worried that this money will not be cashed in the future?"

"This is a small probability event. The fund issuer I chose is Citibank, and I have carefully studied their investment plan. Although their strength is not the strongest, in my opinion they are the most promising to successfully run The end!"

Reporter: "What are you going to do with this 10,000 square kilometers of land?"

"Do you need to ask? Of course it is farming! This is 10,000 square kilometers of freehold land. My descendants will become the richest farmers on Proxima Centauri. Haha, they will thank my ancestor!"

Seeing the hearty smile on Mr. Joseph's face, the reporter smiled awkwardly, and couldn't help but continued to ask: "But...but how do you know that the soil and climate on Proxima Centauri are suitable for farming? "

"I don't know, but my intuition tells me that it can't be harder than faster than the speed of light."

Shrugging his shoulders, the expression on Joseph's face was full of confidence, even a little blind.

Facing the interview camera, he continued.

"Whether you go to an alien planet or not, you have to have enough to eat."

"I believe that as long as we have the conditions to go to such a distant place one day in the future, those scientists who study seeds will always find a way to solve these problems. At worst, we will not grow corn and potatoes at that time, and it is also possible to grow some local specialties of!"