money player

Indonesia has a famous pair of scissors called the "Shafrudin Scissors," which were created by Finance Minister Shafrudin Praviranegara.

These scissors are specifically used to cut Dutch East Indies rupees and red coins (the initial currency issued after Indonesia's independence was red). All Dutch East Indies rupees and red coins with a face value of 5 rupees or more must be cut in half, physically dividing them in two.

The left half of the banknote remains legal tender, but its value immediately drops to half of its original face value. People must exchange these left-side banknotes for new Indonesian Federal Republic banknotes. Those who fail to exchange them within the specified period will have their left-side banknotes invalidated.

The right half of the banknote no longer serves as currency and is forcibly converted into a 30-year government bond with an annual interest rate of 3%.

This move is tantamount to the Indonesian government forcing loans on the upper-middle class who hold large amounts of cash; however, given the rapid depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah, it might be more accurate to describe it as robbery.

This practice has led to a general aversion to the Indonesian Rupiah among the citizens of the "independent territories" of Indonesia. The popular currencies are ranked as follows: Mexican Peso > Gold > Yuan Shikai Dollar > US Dollar > Dutch East Indies Rupiah, with the legal tender, the Indonesian Rupiah, being the last.

When people try to buy cloves with Indonesian Rupiah, people often complain about the smell, fearing that the rupiah's stench will taint the cloves.

It belongs to the Congo.

On a makeshift road leading from the Kipshi mine to the dock, five trucks loaded with silver ingots were driving towards the dock.

Suddenly, a series of "thump" sounds rang out, and several mortar shells drew curves and crashed into the first truck, sending silver ingots flying everywhere and blowing the cab to pieces.

Several more "thumps" were heard as smoke grenades were fired onto the hillside along the road, extending into the truck convoy's area. As the smoke filled the air, members of the Baotuquan Assault Team, under the cover of the smoke, stormed up to the trucks.

When the smoke cleared, all the trucks were brought under control.

Apart from the driver of the first truck, no one in the convoy died. After all, they only earned a small amount of Congolese francs each month, so no one would risk their life.

As all the team members boarded the last four trucks, the captain of the Baotuquan Commando Team, codenamed "Overseas Student," pointed to the first truck and said, "Yours, split up and go live a better life somewhere else."

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his Type 51 semi-automatic rifle and pulled the trigger on the two Chinese men in the truck convoy. Two shots to the chest and one to the head. He pressed his fingers on their necks to check their pulses. After confirming their deaths, the four trucks drove away.

The truck drove toward the dock and toward a cargo ship bound for Hong Kong.

at the same time.

Savings flew over the Kipshi mining area and shook hands with Captain Maurice Depay, the captain of the colonial police mining special detachment. The two reached a smuggling and blind eye agreement: for the foreseeable future, Depay would supply silver ingots to Gold Coast Industries at low prices; and he would selectively turn a blind eye to the robbery by the Baotu Spring Commando, on the condition that he would take 40% of the profits.

As midnight fell in Hong Kong, a radio wave from the Belgian Congo circled halfway around the world and entered a radio station.

The searchlights on the St. Bled Bay warship illuminated the Fuxing, which was flying the Portuguese flag. The Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns fired a burst, and the Fuxing immediately stopped moving.

All crew members were captured, and 3000 kilograms of gold and 28 silver dollars were found on board.

The USS St. Bradley Bay's patrol mission for the day has ended. It turned and headed toward the dock. The sailors on the ship stood in three rows on the deck, saluted the national flag that was flying high, and then took off their uniforms and changed into civilian clothes.

They were all sailors who had been listed as retired "on paper" a few days earlier, had no naval rank, and were performing non-existent missions.

Upon arriving at the dock, the sailors, now in civilian clothes, lined up in a column and received a thick manila envelope from a mysterious man. Inside were banknotes worth £2000, though they might not have been pounds; they could have been dollars or Hong Kong dollars.

Two trucks drove into the dock and carried away the gold and silver dollars.

early morning.

The morning mist, like a thin veil, gently shrouded the surface of Victoria Harbour. At six o'clock, Hong Kong was still bathed in a hazy light, with a pale gold hue spreading across the horizon of Lei Yue Mun in the east, dyeing the clouds a soft orange-pink, yet not completely dispelling the lingering humid heat of the summer night.

The air is filled with the salty smell of the sea, the slight choking of coal smoke, and the aroma of peanut oil wafting from the breakfast stalls on the street corner, all blending together to create a unique morning atmosphere in Hong Kong.

With a splash, the ship entered the harbor area, and Sin Yiu-man plunged into the sea, swimming towards the shore.

Once ashore, I quickly dried myself off, slipped on a pair of boxer shorts to cover my soaking wet swim trunks, and ran towards Hui Nong Terrace. Upon entering the North Point area, I replanned my route, passing by the stalls selling the Four Heavenly Kings (a type of traditional Chinese medicine), bought breakfast, clutched the oil paper in my hands, and plunged into the small garden Liu Wanqing had created.

Liu Wanqing had already gotten up and was practicing Hatha Yoga on the rooftop, wearing yoga pants.

Sin Yiu-man placed breakfast on the dining table, then went to Sin Kin-chi's door and knocked. After a short while, the sound of someone turning over was heard, but no one responded.

"Qianzhi, open the door, it's Daddy."

"Dad?" an excited voice rang out.

"Ah."

A series of barefoot footsteps sounded, the door opened, and Sin Kin-chi, wearing a tiger-patterned pajama, pounced into Sin Yiu-man's belly, climbing up a few times like a karaoke, before entering his arms.

"Dad, Mom said you're in Singapore."

"Something came up, and I got back yesterday evening. Did you have a good time in Europe?"

"Mmm." Sin Kin-chi nodded. "Dad, I went to so many places: Versailles Palace, the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides to burn incense for Napoleon, the Church of St. Joan of Arc, the Chocolate Museum in Bruges, Lake of Love Park, the Bell Tower..."

Sin Kin-chi talked on and on about her experiences during her trip to Europe. Sin Yiu-man listened attentively and changed scenes with the little girl, taking her to the bathroom and then to the dining room, letting the little girl talk while she ate.

When the little girl had finished talking, he took a break to go to the bathroom to wash up. When he returned to the dining table, Liu Wanqing had already come down from the rooftop.

The dinner table was still a one-woman show for the little girl, with Xian Yaowen eating a flatbread with fried dough sticks and acting as her straight man.

After breakfast, Sin Yiu-man and Lau Yuen-hing escorted Sin Kin-chi to school. Upon arrival, Sin Yiu-man waited at the school gate, Sin Kin-chi went into her classroom, and Lau Yuen-hing went to attend the school board meeting.

The nickname "Little Shanghai" in North Point has lost its appeal. The Lingnan faction is determined to build a Greater Hong Kong, bringing "Little Hong Kong" up to international standards of wealth and promoting it throughout China.

The Shanghainese in North Point are generally not as wealthy anymore. Among the board of directors of Songjiang Primary School, there are many who have fallen into rapid decline, and have fallen quite thoroughly, unable to even maintain their dignity.

The public accounts of Songjiang Primary School originally held over one million yuan raised by the school board. However, since the midterm exams last semester, some school board members have come to collect the funds and ask their children to withdraw from the school. The school board members are all from Shanghai and they don't make things difficult for anyone. At first, they were able to get a full refund, but as more people requested refunds, they deducted the amount already used and returned the rest.

With these two rounds of refunds, a third of the funds have been lost. Then, another wave of refunds hit during the summer vacation. Now, the funds in the account are less than HK$35. The board of directors needs to hold a meeting to discuss what to do.

Songjiang Primary School is positioned as an elite primary school. According to the initial plan, after the students pass the language barrier, various interest classes will be set up, such as music, dance, aristocratic sports, etiquette, etc. Whether it is hiring teachers or purchasing teaching materials, such as pianos, violins, horses, etc., it will be a huge expense. 35 yuan sounds like a lot, but in reality, it will be a tight budget.

Sin Yiu-man stood by the school gate, pondering the Sin Family Education Foundation.

Sin Heen-chi and Camilla Ben Ariya Hepburn have already incurred education expenses, and Sin Yan-mei and several other pregnant women will soon start spending money on education as well. This expense is enormous, with a budget of at least HK$10 per person per year, and the budget will increase as they get older. It is not a good idea to mix it with the Sin family's household expenses; it needs to be budgeted separately.

Independence is easy, but where the money comes from is a problem; it's not as simple as just receiving direct funding.

Just like the old man who raised him in his previous life, he began to establish his concept of money from the age of four or five, making him clearly understand how much his education cost, where money comes from, and how to deeply analyze and think about the meaning of money and even currency, and how to obtain money in the process of cognitive improvement.

From the age of eight or nine, he became involved in economic activities to earn his own education funds, cultivating vegetable gardens, selling vegetables in Flushing, analyzing stocks and futures, and investing millions of dollars at a time. Regardless of winning or losing, he would write detailed analysis reports, explaining the reasons for the profit or loss. If he lost money, he would also have to bear the debt and provide a plan to "fill the hole".

I remember when he was driving up the price of the Malaysian KLSE in 1994, he was sent to the Amazon rainforest for wilderness survival training. By the time he came out after two months in the forest, foreign capital had already withdrawn in a stampede, and he became the last one in the game of musical chairs, suddenly burdened with more than 9000 million US dollars in debt.

Yes, by looking into the creditors, the one hiding behind the scenes is the old man, who was betrayed by his own people.

Looking back, he felt that he could completely transplant the education mechanism built by his father, but it would need to be slightly adjusted. One of his father's major flaws was his excessive compassion, which was instilled in the education of his descendants. It took him several years after taking over to plug the drawbacks caused by this.

After a long while, he had already come up with a plan, and Liu Wanqing finally came out of the school.

"How about it?"

"Some people suggested increasing the capital, but not many people responded. Everyone's life is not as good as before, and it is a bit difficult to spend more money."

What do you think?

"Qianzhi is quite happy studying here. If there are still no results at the next meeting, I plan to join forces with a few school board members to remove the other school board members and reform Songjiang Primary School."

"Change it into a private school that recruits students from outside the school?"

"Yes, the school operates by collecting tuition fees."

“I disagree.” Xian Yaowen waved his hand. “I don’t want to see any major changes at the school before the end of next summer vacation, as that would be detrimental to Qianzhi’s growth. Besides, now is not a good time to reform the school; let’s postpone it any longer.”

"Just sit back and watch more school board buildings collapse?"

"Yes, reforming now is doing evil, but waiting a little longer will be doing good. The nature of the reforms is completely different, and there will be much less resistance."

"Will the children of school board members continue to have tuition waivers?"

"I'll give you the money then, and you can decide how to do it yourself. I won't say anything more."

"Okay." Liu Wanqing took Xian Yaowen's arm. "Will you come over for dinner tonight?"

"I already promised the little girl I'd take her out to eat before you came downstairs."

"Where to eat?"

"I won't tell you, this is a little secret between Qianzhi and me."

"Mysterious."

After sending Liu Wanqing to Jinwu Property, Xian Yaowen went to Jiashan Stadium.

Most of the people from Friendship Film Studio moved from the YMCA to the Jiashan Stadium, where the rent is lower, the venue is larger, and they have more room to perform.

He didn't go into his office, but went to the stands. It was Saturday, and the 1951-52 Hong Kong First Division Football League was on that afternoon. The Royal Navy team was familiarizing themselves with the field.

After watching for a while, Yuan Wenhuai arrived and sat down next to him.

"Mr. Xian."

"Hmm." Xian Yaowen's eyes followed the football. "Just tell me."

"The land for Yonghua Studios has been purchased, but it is currently kept secret, and Li Zuyong is unaware of it; Madam Xian met with Miss Zhu Wu, but it is unclear whether Miss Zhu Wu has already contacted Li Zuyong; Hu Jinquan and Erguang have poached a group of key creative personnel from Yonghua."

At this point, Yuan Wenhuai stopped talking and waited for Xian Yaowen's reaction.

"continue."

"The land on Clear Water Bay Road in Kowloon was successfully snatched from the Shaw Brothers. Shaw Renmei and Run Run Shaw should have received the news immediately, but it is unclear whether they guessed that it was the work of Friendship."

“I’m sure you can guess that my relationship with Jinji Trading Company can’t be kept secret from people who know better.” Xian Yaowen turned around and said, “I rushed back to deal with some unexpected matters. After I’m done, I have to go back to Singapore. Shao Laoliu will probably come looking for me.”

"Mr. Xian, how do you plan to handle this matter?"

Sin Yiu-man smiled faintly and said, "What do you think is the appropriate way to handle this?"

After a moment's thought, Yuan Wenhuai said, "It's not hard to guess that Shaw Brothers bought the Clearwater Bay land to build a film studio. This shows that Shaw Brothers is eyeing Chinese-language film production, which is not good for Friendship."

However, Friendship's distribution in Southeast Asia largely relied on Shaw Brothers' theater support. If Friendship and Shaw Brothers were to fall out, Friendship's distribution in Southeast Asia would soon be hindered, affecting the company's box office revenue.

I believe that Friendship should not fall out with Shaw Brothers in the short term. Instead, they should negotiate with Shaw Brothers regarding the land and reach a result that is favorable to Friendship.

“Your idea is good, but it’s too late. I’ve already spoken with Loke Wan Tao about the Friendship Group’s merger with Cathay Pacific. He’s quite interested, and I believe it won’t be long before things move to the substantive stage.”

Yuan Wenhuai exclaimed in surprise, "In that case, Friendship will no longer be able to play both sides so skillfully. Cathay's overall strength in Southeast Asia is not as good as Shaw Brothers', and Friendship's box office in Southeast Asia..."

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand to interrupt Yuen Man-wai, "Competition is inevitable in business. Although Friendship has cut off Shaw Brothers' plans to enter Hong Kong this time, I have no personal grudges with Shaw Brothers. We can still talk things over, and there is a chance for cooperation to continue."

With Yonghua secured, we'll be the only major Chinese-language film production company left in Hong Kong. Overseas distribution channels for Chinese-language films will all depend on us. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Friendship Distribution can develop rapidly, establish a stable distribution network for Chinese-language films in Hong Kong, and then expand beyond Singapore and Malaysia to various parts of Southeast Asia.

At that time, it should be Lu Yuntao who will talk to Shao Laoliu again about the merger of Friendship Film Company and Shaw Brothers Cinema Line.

Once the theatrical releases are fully absorbed, it will be time for Friendship Films to tone down its domineering approach. Instead of suppressing other Chinese film producers, it will provide support to allow Chinese film production to flourish.

I hope to see Lu Yuntao and Shao Laoliu establish their own independent ventures to compete with Friendship Film Company. "Born in hardship, die in comfort. If Friendship Film Company has no competitors, it will become corrupt internally and destroy itself within a few years."

Will Friendship Pictures prioritize theatrical releases over film production in the future?

“There’s no right or wrong, they’re all my flesh and blood.” Sin Yiu-man chuckled. “This is the general direction for the future development of Friendship Films. There are many things to do, and we can’t discuss them all at once. Let’s put this aside for now and talk about you personally.”

Yuan Wenhuai listened attentively.

"Originally, I was grooming you to be the head of Friendship Film Industry, giving you a few years to grow slowly, so that I could hand over the heavy responsibility to you in the future and be a hands-off boss."

However, Friendship Films' growth rate exceeded my initial expectations, and I couldn't wait for it to grow, which led to the plan to merge with Cathay.

Once the merger is successful, the position of general manager will be handed over to Lu Yuntao. I will be a hands-off manager, only involved in the company's planning and formulation, and will not worry about the specific affairs.

I will point out to Lu Yuntao that you are my confidant to ensure that your position in the company will not decline. However, with each new emperor comes a new court, and Lu Yuntao will definitely prefer to use his own people. I can't say much more. From now on, you will have to expand your own path to advancement on your own.

If you don't achieve anything during Lu Yuntao's era, when I return, I may still not be able to usher in your era. You can only wait out the years, endure the hard work, and wait for the next era to pass by.

Sin Yiu-man patted Yuen Man-wai on the shoulder, "You are about to face purgatory, but once you get through it, spring will be in the air." (End of Chapter)