The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 654: Battle with Soros!!!
Late in the night of August 1998, 8, when everything was in complete silence, a shrill telephone ring suddenly rang, pulling Liu Zhiye back to reality from his dream.

"Hey!"

On the other end of the phone, the voice of Liu Shudong, a cousin who was far away in Hong Kong, trembled slightly with excitement: "Brother! No one in Hong Kong can sleep tonight! Do you know? Tomorrow is the time for a decisive battle!"

"What decisive battle?" Liu Zhiye rubbed his sleepy eyes, a little dazed for a moment.

"The financial war of the century! We are about to face off against financial tycoon Soros, and this time we will make him lose all his money!" Liu Shudong's tone was filled with irrepressible excitement, and his words were filled with the belief that he would win.

Liu Zhiye suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh! I've been so busy with so many things recently that I actually forgot about such an important thing!"

The floodgates of memory opened instantly.

Yes, it was already midsummer of 1998, and Soros had been stirring up trouble in the Southeast Asian financial markets for more than a year.

This speculative tycoon, known as the "financial sniper", is now casting his greedy eyes on the last bastion - the Hong Kong stock market. A financial defense battle concerning the economic lifeline is about to begin.

But this time, history will be rewritten.

Under the planning and control of "Liu's Overseas Investment", a tight net has already been laid in Hong Kong. Soros is destined to pay a heavy price for his arrogance!

At five o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, Liu Zhiye's cell phone rang again.

Liu Shudong's voice came through the receiver: "Brother, do you know what the average daily trading volume of the Hong Kong stock market is on weekdays?"

"About three to four billion, I remember you reported it to me!" Liu Zhiye pondered.

"That's right. Then guess how many times today's transaction volume is higher than usual?" Liu Shudong deliberately kept the question in suspense.

"this?"

"A full 20 times! A huge transaction volume of 790 billion!" Liu Shudong's voice trembled slightly due to shock. This number was like a thunderclap, leaving a strong mark in the history of finance.

Today's confrontation reminded Liu Shudong of the screams that rang out in the Wall Street trading hall when the Mexican peso collapsed three years ago.

"Cut the real-time data over." After Liu Shudong finished reporting to Liu Zhiye, he instructed his secretary.

Then, the display screen on the entire wall of the trading room lit up instantly.

The dark blue candlestick chart jumped wildly on the LCD screen, and the Hang Seng Index fluctuated violently like a fishing boat overturned by a tsunami.

The bar chart of trading volume has reached a sky-high level, and every time the numbers are updated, they are rewriting the history of Asian securities.

Liu Shudong unbuttoned his collar and sat on the leather seat to deal with the changes at any time.

The ringing of telephones in the trading hall was like a death warrant, and on the monitoring wall composed of twenty LCD screens, real-time exchange rate data from London, New York and Tokyo poured down like a waterfall.

The backs of the trading elites' shirts were already soaked with cold sweat, and their fingertips still felt the cool metal of the keyboard.

"Ross shorted 200 billion Hong Kong dollars in the London market!" Trader Ajie suddenly roared, with a bloody smell in his voice.

Liu Shudong's hand grabbing the red hotline was suddenly held down. Director Chen of the Monetary Authority appeared behind him without knowing when. His eyes behind the lens were like a hawk: "Notify Asia Pacific Bank, Xiayin and the Hong Kong government to activate the emergency plan."

At this moment, at the headquarters of Quantum Fund in Manhattan, New York, Soros was shaking his whiskey glass and sneering at the Hang Seng Index chart transmitted from the satellite.

His finger slid across the eye-catching 11400 points on the screen, which was the carefully calculated death line - as long as this point was broken, the Hong Kong banking system would collapse like a domino.

"Step up the intensity," Soros said into the satellite phone, "Let the Xia people see what real financial warfare is like."

On the morning of August 28, Victoria Harbour was shrouded in dark clouds that indicated the approaching rainstorm.

Liu Shudong stared at the short-selling contract data on the big screen and suddenly found something unusual - international hot money was fighting on three fronts: the foreign exchange market, the stock market and the futures market. This was clearly a signal to launch a general offensive.

"Boss, they are selling Hong Kong dollars and Hang Seng Index futures at the same time in the London foreign exchange market!" Ajie shouted at Liu Shudong, his bloodshot eyes reflected in the glass window, "The HKMA's foreign exchange reserves are being consumed rapidly!"

In the Liu family courtyard in Yanjing, the ashtray in front of Liu Zhiye was filled with cigarette butts.

He picked up the encrypted phone and dialed a mysterious number: "Boss, it's time to use that plan." The rustling sound of papers came from the microphone, and a steady male voice said: "Headquarters has approved the launch of the 'Great Wall Project'."

The next day at 3pm, Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

When the Hang Seng Index fell below 11000 points, a tsunami-like cry of exclamation suddenly erupted in the trading hall.

Huge buy orders suddenly popped up on the electronic screen, and astronomical amounts of funds were injected into blue-chip stocks every minute.

Liu Shudong looked at the sudden 100,000 buy orders from "Cheung Kong Holdings" and suddenly remembered the scene of him secretly contacting Li Jiacheng.

"It's a red chip enterprise!" Director Chen slammed the table excitedly. He recognized the institutional codes that suddenly appeared - CITIC Pacific, China Resources Enterprise, and Shanghai Industrial. These red capitals are building a breakwater with real money.

Soros smashed a wine glass in anger on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Central Bank of Xiaguo suddenly announced a cut in the reserve requirement ratio, and more than 30 billion US dollars of foreign exchange reserves are being injected into the Hong Kong banking system through special channels.

What’s even more frightening is that the futures contract that he had previously shorted was suddenly acquired by mysterious funds, and the short trap he had carefully laid out is now backfiring on himself.

On August 29, the decisive day, Mr. Yam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, was personally in charge of the trading center.

When the Hang Seng Index plummeted again in the early trading session, the Financial Secretary suddenly announced the use of the foreign exchange fund to enter the market.

Liu Shudong looked at the account he was trading, and his temples throbbed every time the string of numbers jumped - this was an amount that was enough to buy half of Tsim Sha Tsui.

"Soros increased his short positions in the Chicago market!" Ajie's voice was hoarse.

Liu Shudong picked up the intercom and was about to speak when he suddenly saw the offshore RMB exchange rate on the surveillance screen begin to rise strangely.

He suddenly realized it, turned around and shouted to Director Chen: "They are shorting the Hong Kong dollar and going long on the RMB. This is to destroy the currency linkage mechanism!"

In Yanjing, Liu Zhiye personally sits in charge of the "Yantai Investment Headquarters".

The six phones in front of Liu Bencheng rang at the same time.

He quickly switched call channels and wrote down numbers on a note with his left hand: 30 billion for Beijing Automobile Group, 80 billion for Beijing Pharmaceutical Group, and 30 billion for Yanshan Wine Group. These overseas funds of the Liu family are converging into Hong Kong through a complex network.

When the Hang Seng Index fell below the psychological mark of 10000 points in the afternoon, the trading hall suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

All traders held their breath and stared at the electronic screen. Suddenly, a buy order worth tens of billions of dollars came from the British Virgin Islands.

Liu Shudong's pupils suddenly contracted - this was the offshore company account that his elder brother had him register a few years ago!
"All-out counterattack!" Director Chen's roar made the glass buzz.

Massive amounts of funds poured into the 33 Hang Seng Index constituent stocks at the same time, and the selling orders of international hot money were instantly swallowed up.

Soros, who was far away in New York, suddenly discovered that the "ammunition" he had carefully stored had been used up at some point.

In the early morning of August 12899, the Hang Seng Index settled at points.

Liu Shudong sat slumped in the paper scraps, his ears ringing with the phone call from his eldest brother ten minutes ago: "We have mobilized the overseas accounts of 320 companies under our umbrella. This is not just a victory for us Liu family."

At this time, the Quantum Fund headquarters was in the process of liquidation. Soros looked at the blood-red loss figures on the computer and finally understood the old oriental proverb: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

He will never know that in an inconspicuous building in Baoxian Special Economic Zone, the backdoor program of a foreign exchange control system has just been closed, and the "hot money" that has flowed out from here in the past 72 hours is enough to buy three small Southeast Asian countries.

As the morning light dyed the Victoria Harbour red, Liu Zhiye stood on the top of the mountain and looked out at the city of Yanjing.

“There may be no gunpowder on the financial battlefield, but there will still be bloodshed.”

At the same time, Hong Kong International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Groups of people in dark suits, who are obviously working in investment banks and securities companies, are hurriedly walking up to the fifth floor of the new wing of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Many people had sweat on their foreheads and their faces still showed lingering fear.

In the lobby of the Grand Hall on the fifth floor of the Convention and Exhibition Center, they were greeted by the smiling faces of Xia country bankers lined up in rows of flower baskets.

The 45-year-old new general manager Gao Dongqing announced that a new international investment bank in Xiaguo - Xiayin International Holding Company was officially established.

Then, Mr. Te, who was present at the celebration, gave a speech. He said: "Hong Kong has been saved! The linked exchange rate system has not been shaken!"

On this day, the settlement day of the Hang Seng Index futures contract, the Hong Kong SAR government invested huge amounts of money and launched a "financial defense war" with international speculators for nearly a year. It finally declared victory when the closing bell rang that day.

Prior to this, Western media said that Hong Kong and Southeast Asia would become "ATMs" for international speculators. The Hong Kong dollar has been linked to the US dollar for 15 years, with the exchange rate of 1 US dollar to 7.75 Hong Kong dollars.

Since October 10 last year, the linked exchange rate system has been attacked for the first time by international financial speculator George Soros and his gang.

They first directly sold a large amount of Hong Kong dollars in exchange for US dollars, and at the same time bought a large number of futures contracts in the futures market, expecting to win high returns once the linked exchange rate between Hong Kong and the US dollar collapsed.

The Hong Kong interbank offered rate once soared to 300%, and the Hang Seng Index and futures market index plunged by more than 1000 points.

However, the Hong Kong government did not sit idly by. They joined forces with the Asia Pacific Bank, Xia Yin and other Chinese tycoons in Hong Kong, and defeated Soros and his men with minimal losses.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Soros and others turned to attack Singapore.

Singapore did not have a consortium like "Liu Overseas Investment" to resist, and it soon fell.

In this campaign, these international speculators sold more than 500 billion Singapore dollars and made billions of Singapore dollars in profits in the securities market.

Having tasted the sweetness, Soros and others continued to use the same tactics.

In January and May this year, the same scene was played out again and again in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries.

Western public opinion jokingly said that these countries have become "ATMs" for international investors. Once they are short of money, they only need to press a few buttons on this ATM.

Although Hong Kong has managed to maintain the linked exchange rate with its abundant foreign exchange reserves;
However, under the influence of high interest rates, the economy also paid a high price. Interest rates remained high, the stock market fell by more than 50%, and the housing market fell by more than 50%. The economy was severely damaged and has not recovered to this day.

In the first quarter of this year, Hong Kong's economy recorded negative growth of 2.8%.

As summer approaches, the economy in Southeast Asia has shrunk sharply and has been turbulent at times.

The Japanese yen has been falling again and again, which has also put great pressure on the Hong Kong dollar and RMB;
The Javanese crisis continues; the polar bears are in financial turmoil;
In Hong Kong, all signs indicate that the upcoming unemployment rate and interim results of listed companies will be extremely disappointing.

Western investment bank analysts lack confidence in whether Xiaguo can continue to maintain high economic growth.

The forecast for China's economic growth rate has been lowered from 7%, 6%, 5% to 2% and even 0.

He also claimed that as long as Xia's economic growth exceeded expectations, there must be "manipulation" of the statistical data.

Rational economic analysis has become unwanted garbage, while rumors representing the interests of speculators are popular in the market.

The most popular rumor is that the domestic black market exchange rate has soared in the summer, and a sharp depreciation of the RMB is imminent.

At the end of July this year, there were rumors in the Shanghai foreign exchange black market that the RMB's value would be difficult to maintain due to many factors such as floods and the Japanese currency crisis.

"Xia Guo may devalue the RMB by up to 30%." For a time, the RMB exchange rate against the US dollar fell to 8.70 on the black market, 8.28% lower than the official exchange rate of 5.

The rumors also prompted investors to sell B shares to cash in and buy US dollars. On July 7, B shares fell by 28%, setting a record low.

On the same day, a commentary article in the Baoxian Special District Securities Times pointed out that the "rabbit" had warned "Uncle Sam";
If "Uncle Sam" continues to allow the Japanese yen to continue to depreciate, "Rabbit" may reconsider the issue of whether the RMB should depreciate.

A trader at Sakura Bank in Tokyo, Japan said, "It is reported that Mr. Dai, the governor of the Central Bank of Japan, said that the RMB will depreciate slightly."

For a while, yes! Unfavorable news about RMB came one after another, and people began to doubt how long it could last.

On August 8, the exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar broke through the important threshold of 3, and some people rushed to the black market to exchange US dollars at high prices.

On that day, the black market exchange rate of RMB reached 8.8 yuan to one US dollar.

In the first week of August, the black market price of RMB fell to as low as 8 RMB per US dollar, nearly 9.2% lower than the official exchange rate.

International speculators are spreading rumors of "RMB depreciation", which is like Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong, and Hong Kong is Pei Gong.

The depreciation of the RMB is bound to deal a heavy blow to Hong Kong's linked exchange rate system.

This information further stimulated Hong Kong's stock and foreign exchange markets.

In addition, the New York stock market weakened, with the daily decline reaching 299 points at one point, and will continue to decline;

The new Japanese government was powerless to reverse the situation;
Hong Kong listed companies announced their interim results one after another, with unfavorable news coming one after another. Cathay Pacific suffered its first loss in more than 50 years, while Swire and HSBC's profits fell sharply.
Rumors were rife in the Hong Kong market, causing panic and making investors feel uneasy.

These undoubtedly became signals for international financial speculators to attack Hong Kong.

Soros makes a moving comeback!
Starting from August 8, several European and American investment banks and hedge funds simultaneously launched a massive attack on Hong Kong's foreign exchange market, stock market and Hang Seng Index futures market, frantically selling Hong Kong dollars and Hang Seng Index futures in Hong Kong.

Its elite force is the Quantum Fund, the largest hedge fund in the United States under the command of Wall Street tycoon George Soros.

On the 5th, more than 200 billion Hong Kong dollars were sold in the Hong Kong market;

On the 6th, it was another 200 billion.

According to the plan of Soros and others, they would first short sell the Hong Kong dollar in the foreign exchange market, forcing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to resort to the old trick of raising interest rates and thereby suppress the stock market.

As interest rates rise, the stock market is bound to fall.

The Hang Seng Index futures will also decline synchronously, and then speculators can short sell the Hang Seng Index futures at a lower price in the futures market, making profits in both the foreign exchange market and the stock market.

The real purpose is Hang Seng Index futures.

Unfortunately, Soros and others’ wishful thinking was wrong, as they encountered a more ferocious opponent - "Liu Overseas Investment".

In the end, Soros suffered an unprecedented defeat in Hong Kong, and the "Quantum Fund" almost collapsed.

On September 9, at the 2th floor observation deck of the Central Yangtze River Center, the crystal chandelier reflected colorful halos in the morning light.

Li Jiacheng picked up the bone china teacup and looked at the workers who were removing the Standard Chartered Bank sign outside the glass curtain wall. "Mr. Liu is very clever. The landmark that the Y countrymen occupied for a hundred years has become our Chinese capital in the blink of an eye."

Liu Zhiye turned the jadeite on her pinky ring, and the satellite encrypted phone in the corner was still warm.

Three hours ago, he had just finalized the acquisition agreement of Standard Chartered's Hong Kong headquarters with a broker in the City of London. The chain reaction triggered by Soros's defeat forced 17 multinational investment banks to sell their Asian assets for cash.

"This is thanks to Mr. Soros."

"Asia Pacific Bank acquired a 23% stake in Standard Chartered Bank, ... took over the Tsim Sha Tsui land of Hong Kong Land Group, and as for Hong Kong Electric shares held by Sun Hung Kai Properties."

The sudden ringing of the cell phone interrupted his words.

After Liu Shudong finished the call, he told Li Jiacheng: "Formosa Plastics Group is secretly contacting Quantum Fund, and Wang Yongqing's second son appeared at New York's Kennedy Airport."

"It seems that our acquisition of Formosa Plastics Group is not that easy. We still have to go through some hard work!"

Li Jiacheng tapped his teacup lightly on the edge of the saucer: "Haha, the T northerner can't sit still anymore."

"Then let's fight. Soros is just a sick tiger now. There's nothing to worry about!"

On the top floor of T North 101 Building, Wang Yongqing was staring at the Hong Kong stock market chart.

The bad news came from the satellite phone of Smith, the president of Quantum Fund Asia: "Wang, our dark market in Singapore was intercepted. COFCO Group snatched the Malaysian palm oil futures contract at a 30% premium."

“This is not a commercial competition,” Wang Yongqing said, loosening his Armani tie. “Those people in Hong Kong are clearing out the remaining forces of international hot money.”

His eyes swept over the document marked "Top Secret" on his desk - "Feasibility Study on Cross-Strait Financial Corridor", and suddenly he felt a chill on his back.

At the same time, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s underground vault is conducting a century-long inventory.

Fifty tons of gold bricks shone brightly behind the blast-proof door.

Mr. Ren came in and did a final inspection to try to avoid any mistakes.

These are the "ammunition" provided by the "Asia-Pacific Bank" during the decisive battle. The inscriptions of "Asia-Pacific Bank" are still on these gold bricks.

"We will deliver the gold safely to your headquarters." Mr. Ren handed over the receipt form, and Representative Ma Zhong signed and sealed in the receipt column of "Asia Pacific Bank".

The money transport vehicle outside the basement is ready. It is a specially modified armored transport vehicle.

The gold has completed its mission and will soon be transported back to the "Asia Pacific Bank Headquarters Vault".

(End of this chapter)