Break out of the courtyard

Faced with Zhang Heping's question, Professor Lin, not wanting to lose face in front of his student Chang Wen, hesitated for a moment before speaking:
"After World War II, because the United States had a large amount of gold reserves, it established the Magnesium dollar as pegged to gold through the Bretton Woods Agreement, and other currencies were pegged to the Magnesium dollar, making the Magnesium dollar the core of the global reserve currency."

"In order to expand the circulation of magnesium coins, the United States also provided magnesium coin aid to countries such as Europe, Japan and South Korea, and subsequently strengthened the dominant position of magnesium coin settlement in trade settlement."

"In the 70s, after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the United States reached an agreement with Middle Eastern oil-producing countries to settle oil trade in magnesium dollars, which solidified the irreplaceable role of magnesium dollars in international commodities."

Zhang Heping nodded, and seeing that Professor Lin had stopped talking, he continued, "Nowadays, the foreign exchange reserves of central banks around the world are mainly in magnesium dollars, and enterprises mostly use magnesium dollars for cross-border transactions, which has led to the global economy falling into the 'magnesium dollar trap'."

"The Middle East wars have re-established the United States' hegemonic position. With the Soviet Union's defeat, the United States can now transfer its inflation risk by printing magnesium dollars."

"Professor Lin, you must have heard about the effects of the Longevity Elixir. I can say without any modesty that humanity can live without oil, but it cannot live without the Longevity Elixir, which slows down aging and prolongs life!"

"Now that I've explained it this way, Teacher Lin understands my intention in linking the cost of the Longevity Potion to RMB!"

Professor Lin nodded emphatically, "This is the first time I've heard of Consultant Zhang's idea of ​​printing money to shift the risk of inflation, but judging from the current situation of excessive issuance of magnesium dollars, they are already doing just that!"

"Thank you for your explanation, Consultant Zhang. I will relay the conversation to the comrades at the People's Bank of China as it happened."

Zhang Heping and Professor Lin exchanged a few more words and set a time for their trip to Hong Kong Island. Then, Zhang Heping and his niece Chang Wen saw Professor Lin off to his car.

"When you go to Hong Kong with Professor Lin and the others, you must stay within the bodyguards' sight at all times," Zhang Heping said, turning to his niece Chang Wen.
“The composition of people on Hong Kong Island is very chaotic now, filled with spies, agents, gangsters and so on from various countries.”

"Don't worry, Third Uncle!" Chang Wen said with a smile, "After Professor Lin and I go there, we'll only go between the company and the hotel, we won't wander around!"

"Put on the tracking bracelet I gave you before. In case something happens, we can find you immediately," Zhang Heping said, and then walked towards the villa entrance.

Chang Wen followed closely behind, explaining why he wasn't wearing a bracelet: the professors were very simple, and it wasn't convenient for him to wear one normally.

Zhang Heping's advice was simple: wear them on your feet!
……

Dinner at Government House, Central, Hong Kong Island.

The Governor of Hong Kong sent Shen Bi to Shenzhen several times to invite Zhang Heping to a banquet, but Zhang Heping declined each time, citing that he was too busy.

On the contrary, his father-in-law, Tang Ming, a tall old man who looks even younger than his eldest son, Tang Ren, has been frequently attending parties hosted by the Governor of Hong Kong recently.

Of course, Xu Jiefeng, who was also more than twenty years younger, went along as well, since they were now living at their eldest son Tang Ren's house and had no choice but to come along.

Tang Ren is 67 years old this year. Although he is well-maintained, the wrinkles on his face still betray his age.

Tang Ming and his son Tang Ren attended the banquet together, which naturally led to many topics of conversation, but the tone of their conversation tonight was a bit off!
"Mr. Tang, I've been reading the Times recently, and it frequently mentions that there are no human rights and no respect for the law in mainland China. I've heard that you were unjustly detained by them for many years before?"

A blonde middle-aged woman suddenly approached Tang Ming and asked him a question in standard Mandarin, which startled Tang Ming and Xu Jiefeng for a moment, as if they were recalling unpleasant memories.

The Soviet Union's power was waning. As those allied countries seceded and gained independence, the propaganda offensive originally targeting the Soviet Union began to shift to the few remaining socialist countries, especially the mainland!

“It’s much better now!” Tang Ming replied with a smile. “At least it’s not like you Americans, who divide Hong Kong into first, second, and third categories of citizens. You talk about human rights every day, but in reality you divide people into different classes.”

Tang Ming's stance remained firm. If it weren't for his fourth son-in-law's request to come to Hong Kong to advertise for Shouyuan Pharmaceuticals, he would probably be in the capital attending various meetings right now.

The blonde middle-aged woman seemed not to understand Tang Ming's sarcasm. She seized on the first part of his statement and asked, "Mr. Tang said things are much better now, meaning that the mainland didn't really have this before..."

Xu Jiefeng raised her glass and swirled it between the two women, interrupting them, "Madam, in this hot weather, you're wearing a coat over your skirt. Are you feeling cold or catching a cold?"

"Your pockets are bulging, are they filled with medicine bottles?"

"Is your cold contagious?" Xu Jiefeng asked three times in a row, and even pulled Tang Ming back two steps, as if avoiding a plague god.

The blonde middle-aged woman's expression froze. Was she supposed to tell the other person that she had a recording device in her pocket?
Tang Ming, having worked in undercover operations before, belatedly realized, after being interrupted by his wife Xu Jiefeng, that the blonde middle-aged woman opposite him had ill intentions.

However, since this was the Governor's House, Tang Ming couldn't do anything to the woman, so he turned around and went elsewhere.

Tang Ming was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. As Western media criticized the mainland on issues such as human rights and trade, a propaganda war against the mainland was thus launched.

To this end, the capital has also drafted a white paper on the human rights situation, which is ready to be released to the outside world at an appropriate time.

Meanwhile, Tang Ren and Tang Qiang were surrounded by several Americans discussing the recent tariffs the US had imposed on electronic products.

“Mr. Tang, given your relationship with the Peace Group, you could easily move the production of smartphone components to the United States.”

"In this way, you will not only save a lot of tariffs, but also make a fortune in the production of mobile phone components!"

A balding, pale-skinned, overweight old man, with his left hand in his pocket and a wine glass in his right, was talking animatedly.

It seemed as if everything he did was for the Tang family's business, but it couldn't hide his ambition to obtain mobile phone component-related technologies!

A gray-haired American next to him nodded in agreement, saying, "Mr. Tang, if you need funding or other support, you can come to us anytime."

"Just like Datang Telecom, we will definitely give you our full support!"

Tang Ren raised his glass and said with a smile, "I've already retired, and my son and his team are managing the company."

Tang Qiang chuckled from the side, "Mr. Bell knows me. I have no interest in physical business, so the US raising tariffs won't affect me much."

"It still has a significant impact!" The gray-haired American man called Bell frowned and said, "You should have heard of the World Trade Organization, which was proposed last year!"

"The EU and other countries have reached a preliminary agreement and are just waiting for a formal meeting to finalize it before it can replace the GATT."

"You may not know this, but the soon-to-be-established World Trade Organization did not invite the mainland!"

"If Datang Telecom cuts off the supply of mobile phone components as a result, our 4G communication equipment investments in the United States will become a pile of scrap metal!"

The balding, fair-skinned old man interjected at the opportune moment, "As I said before, you can move the production of smartphone components to the United States to avoid wasting your huge initial investment!"

None of the three generations of the Tang family expected that the dinner they had been having a good discussion about the effects of the Lifespan 120 potion just a few days ago would turn into a night full of attacks against the mainland.

When they got home that evening, they told Zhang Heping about it on the phone.

Zhang Heping on the other end of the phone chuckled casually, "Isn't this normal?"

"The Soviet Union is doomed. Europe, the United States and other countries must find another opposing country to target, otherwise they will suffer from internal strife."

Tang Ren asked into the hands-free phone, "He Ping, what do you think about the phone parts? What should we do about it in the future?" "The cost will ultimately come from the consumer!" Zhang Heping said dismissively. "The Americans don't dare to ban the import of smartphone parts like they did with trolleys. They're hoping to use the chips in those parts to reverse-engineer China's chip technology."

"So, whatever tariffs they raise, you just need to raise the price of your phones accordingly!"

Tang Ren felt relieved after Zhang Heping said that.

As Zhang Heping said, unless Americans stop buying smartphones, all the increased costs will be paid for by American consumers!
So, will Americans not buy smartphones?

Tang Ren couldn't help but look at his grandsons playing games on a large-screen smartphone next to the sofa, and his third son, Tang Qiang, checking stock information on a large-screen phone.

The answer is self-evident!

……

While the Middle Eastern prince was still trying to show his filial piety and raise 120 billion RMB, the Grand Secretary of the United Kingdom made a special trip to the mainland capital under the guise of a visit to Hong Kong Island's new airport.

The Americans want to reclaim land north of the outlying islands and spend HK$100 billion to build a new airport.

One hundred billion Hong Kong dollars, approximately 130 billion US dollars.

Is this expensive to build?

Of the several airports invested in by the air, land, and sea companies in mainland China, only Xishuangbanna Airport had a relatively high cost of 6 million US dollars due to its remote location and inadequate infrastructure. The average cost of the other airports did not exceed 2 million US dollars.
This comparison might still not be very intuitive.

Take Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport as an example. Construction began in 1988 and was completed in October 1990, with a total cost of 150 million US dollars.

Given their proximity, the prices differ by nearly 100 times. I ask you, who in China would agree to let the Americans build this airport?

So, on September 2nd, taking advantage of the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" science and technology breakthrough summary and commendation conference, Hua Lao took Zhang Heping to the capital.

As it turned out, Secretary Chen accepted the certificate and medal for Zhang Heping on his behalf, and Zhang Heping was taken directly to the meeting to discuss whether or not a new airport should be built on Hong Kong Island.

Because the Peace Group controls the only airport on Hong Kong Island, the higher-ups all wanted to hear Zhang Heping's opinion.

In particular, Zhang Heping's opinion became even more important after news broke that he wanted to use the RMB to challenge the international monetary status of the magnesium dollar.

As soon as Zhang Heping followed Elder Hua into the Huadu Hall conference room today, everyone in the room stood up and applauded.

Looking around, most of the people present were experts in economics and finance, and there were no high-ranking officials, which made Zhang Heping feel at ease sitting on the podium.

The meeting moderator briefly explained the topic of discussion and then handed the microphone to Zhang Heping, which was quite direct.

"Ahem!" Zhang Heping cleared his throat and said, "I see many familiar faces, so I won't stand on ceremony with you all."

Before discussing the new airport on Hong Kong Island, we first need to understand one question: Do the Americans want to return Hong Kong Island?

"You don't want to, right?"

Zhang Heping looked around and saw that most people were taking notes with pens and notebooks, so he slowly said, "Anyone who has dealt with the Americans should be able to tell that many Americans look down on Americans and call them hooligans and thieves."

"But then again, those Americans who started as pirates and sold opium were hardly any better."

None of the attendees expected Zhang Heping to belittle the British people in such a way, and for a moment no one dared to make a loud noise, even their breathing became much softer.

"So you guessed right, the Americans' proposal to spend HK$1 billion to build a new airport is definitely not for good reasons."

"You guys can even be bolder: what if the new airport is halfway built and the Americans suddenly tell you, 'Sorry, the 1 billion budget isn't enough, we need more money!'"

"To put it simply, they want to use this new airport to bankrupt the Hong Kong government!"

"To put it more simply, with so much money, the Americans are bound to embezzle some of it into their own pockets."

"Advisor Zhang!" A middle-aged male professor in the audience raised his hand, stood up and asked, "With your influence in Hong Kong, it shouldn't be difficult for the sea, land and air company to win the new airport construction project, right?"

"If we let the land, sea and air companies win the project and then have domestic construction teams carry out the work, we estimate that it will cost a maximum of 20 billion US dollars!"

Zhang Heping raised his right hand and gestured for the other person to sit down, then said, "Your thinking is still stuck at the level of how much money you have!"

"Whether it's 130 billion US dollars or 20 billion US dollars, to me it's the same as 130 yuan or 20 yuan, there's no difference."

"If I wanted to, the Peace Group could plunder £130 billion from the British financial market at any time!"

If anyone else had said that, the economics and finance experts present would have called them a complete idiot!

However, the person who made this boastful statement was Zhang Heping, a financial tycoon who had just plundered tens of trillions of yen from the Japanese real estate and stock markets!
Zhang Heping paused for a moment, and seeing that no one objected to his outrageous remarks, he continued, "If this matter is handled simply, it is nothing more than limiting the amount of loans the Hong Kong government can take out to build the airport, and not allowing them to live beyond their means."

“A more complex approach would be to send personnel from the Hong Kong-based team to join the airport construction planning group to oversee all revenue and expenditure aspects of the construction of the new Hong Kong Island airport.”

At this point, Zhang Heping leaned back in his chair and said calmly, "In my opinion, the Hong Kong government's construction of this new airport actually has a deeper meaning: they want to kick the bodyguards and security guards from the Peace Group's Protective Umbrella Security Company out of the new airport's security team!"

"Over the years, at my request, the entry and exit of any dangerous materials such as firearms, knives, and explosives on the sea, land, and air transport routes of Hong Kong Island have been strictly prohibited, even if the Governor himself came!"

"However, there are still unexpected situations. For example, when the Eagle King and the former Grand General of the Eagle Kingdom came to Hong Kong Island, the weapons brought by their entourage could not be restricted by the bodyguards and security guards of Umbrella Security Company."

"To put it simply, this is because there are no relevant restrictions under the laws of Hong Kong Island."

"To put it more broadly, it's because Hong Kong Island is still under the jurisdiction of the United States."

"After saying all this, what I really want to tell you is this," Zhang Heping sat up straight, brought the microphone closer, and said seriously:
"The Peace Group will compromise on the issue of the new airport on Hong Kong Island, but will demand that the Hong Kong government introduce relevant public safety laws."

What does Zhang Heping need this public safety law for?
The first reaction of most people present should have been to restrict Eagle King and the Chief Executive from bringing weapons into and out of Hong Kong Island!
But Mr. Hua knew that the weapons and equipment secretly possessed by the Umbrella Security Company were the most dangerous thing in Hong Kong!
Therefore, Hua Lao had a vague suspicion that Zhang Heping was restricting the security company that protected him!

He's worried that Umbrella Security Company might one day become too powerful to control!

Thinking about it this way, Hua Lao suddenly felt that more people should be sent to increase the infiltration of the Umbrella Security Company.

Just as Old Master Hua was thinking about other things, the people in the meeting hall began to discuss how to limit the Americans, following the principle of agreeing in principle to build a new airport on Hong Kong Island... (End of this chapter)