1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 277 Man’s calculation is not as good as God’s calculation
"I have already managed this money and divided it into four parts."

"For one part, I estimate it to be about 300 to 400 million US dollars. I will use the name of an investment company to help you transfer it to the Chase Manhattan Bank in the United States."

"At the same time, this money will also become your capital for acquiring Hong Kong Land. I suggest that you ask Chase Manhattan Bank to send an acquisition team to Hong Kong Island to help you implement the plan to acquire Hong Kong Land."

"They have their own branch in Hong Kong Island, and the flow of funds only needs to be internal. It doesn't take much time to get from the United States to Hong Kong Island."

"Most importantly, the Rockefeller family is the one behind the Chase Manhattan Bank. They are American-Germanic people, so they have no good feelings towards either Great Britain or Jardine Matheson."

"Even for HSBC, the settlement review is just a formality. Americans don't have a good impression of the UK right now."

Bao Yugang said to Li Changhe with a smile at this moment.

Britain in the 1970s was not yet the little follower of the United States in the future. It could not let go of its former glory, so it often jumped back and forth around the United States and took inconsistent positions, which made the United States hate it very much.

The relationship between the two sides eased and became closer, but it was not until Reagan and Thatcher joined forces to spread the ideas of neoliberalism that they had a unified ideological stance.

Li Changhe nodded: "Uncle, I know, this is all for your face."

Bao Yugang has a very good relationship with the Rockefeller family. He has a good personal relationship with both Rockefeller's chief steward Dr. Kissinger and the head of the Rockefeller family, David Rockefeller.

After all, one of the core businesses of the Luo family is oil, and Bao Yugang is the world's largest maritime shipowner in terms of tonnage. The two parties' businesses are complementary.

"As for the remaining part, I will transfer it directly from London to Japan, convert it into Japanese yen, and deposit it in Mitsubishi Bank and Fuji Bank."

"Like Chase, they also have branches in Hong Kong Island, so withdrawals will not be affected."

"If you need to, you can convert Japanese yen into Hong Kong dollars or US dollars here."

Bao Yugang continued to talk to Li Changhe.

"Yen?"

After hearing this, Li Changhe looked at Bao Yugang in surprise.

Many people may not know that although Japan was already the world's second most powerful economy in the 1980s, it was still relatively closed.

Its financial market has always been a semi-closed market, and the Japanese yen is not yet an internationally circulated currency.

Although it opened the market to foreign banks, it essentially still relied on policies to regulate foreign banks while supporting domestic banks, which was almost the same as the later policies of the University of Tokyo.

Therefore, the Japanese financial market at that time was not completely free and open, and its funding channels were regulated.

This situation did not change until 1984, when the United States forcibly broke Japan's financial controls and made it a completely free financial market.

So in this era, if you want to bring large sums of money into banks in Japan, you must have sufficient reasons and connections. You can't just get in if you want to.

Bao Yugang just happens to have all of these qualities. His shipping business started in Japan, and a large part of his partners are Japanese companies.

This also gives him deep connections and business resources there, including banks.

"Uncle, you are so thoughtful."

Transferring money into this semi-closed financial market also means that the funds can be dispersed and deposited.

Moreover, at present, Japanese banks are only supervised by their government financial institutions. If you want to check other companies, it is impossible and they will not even pay attention to you.

"The rest will be transferred to Hong Kong Island as normal, and part of it will be deposited in some Chinese banks in Hong Kong Island through the gold market. I have already told Wells about this, and he will help you arrange it."

"Another part of the group entered Standard Chartered and returned to Hong Kong Island through Standard Chartered."

“Although the amount of money is not small, it is not enough to cause a sensation.”

"The four channels can basically absorb your funds, and at the same time, with the help of Chase Bank, we can purchase the land."

"And in this way, even if someone is determined to track it down, they will only trace it back to me in the end."

"At most it will be linked to your fake identity again."

Bao Yugang said to Li Changhe seriously.

Li Changhe stood up gratefully and bowed deeply to Bao Yugang.

"Thank you, uncle!"

Li Changhe said this sincerely. Looking at Chinese families around the world, only Bao Yugang has the ability to disperse more than one billion US dollars and inject them into markets around the world.

And this is based on his unique network of friends.

At present, no other wealthy Chinese family can do this.

This is also the reason why Li Changhe chose Bao Yugang as his target.

"Why are you so polite to me?"

"Besides, I have to thank you for relieving my worries."

"I think there will be no problem with either Wharf or Hong Kong Land now."

"Let's join forces and take down Jardine Matheson, the king of foreign companies, this year."

Bao Yugang said this with great pride at this moment.

Li Changhe certainly made a lot of money from this wave, but it also brought Bao Yugang considerable benefits.

Bao Yugang estimated that his profit from this wave has exceeded 200 million US dollars, which is a huge amount of money.

He has great confidence in acquiring Wharf Holdings. Now, he no longer just wants to control Wharf Holdings, but plans to swallow up all the shares of Wharf Holdings and turn it into his own land kingdom.

"As for Jardine Matheson, I don't think their patience will last long. The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for them."

"Uncle, you have to be careful in the next few months. I think they will attack at any time."

Li Changhe remembered very clearly that Jardine Matheson started the battle for Hutchison Whampoa in April 80, when Bao Yu had just gone to Europe.

But he couldn't tell the time clearly, so he could only give a vague reminder.

Hearing Li Changhe's words, Bao Yugang laughed and waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Don't worry, I can't wait for it to start tomorrow. I'm ready for the fight."

"Uncle, there is one more thing. Although we have funds now, I think we still have to consider HSBC's position. If it lends a helping hand to Jardine Matheson, it will not be a good thing for us."

Li Changhe spoke seriously to Bao Yugang at this moment.

If he remembered correctly, the relationship between Jardine Matheson and HSBC was actually very close. Not only did the two parties hold shares in each other, but most importantly, Jardine Matheson was also one of the founding consortiums of HSBC.

Back then, in order to protect their interests in the Qing Dynasty, several major British foreign banks joined forces to form HSBC, including Jardine Matheson and Sassoon, which was the Jewish drug trafficking group.

The boss of Jardine Matheson was also the first boss of HSBC.

So HSBC actually has a deep connection with Jardine Matheson.

Although Li Changhe didn't know why HSBC gave up Jardine Matheson and supported Pao Yu-kong in history, there was no absolute choice in such matters.

Li Changhe still had to remind Bao Yugang.

Bao Yugang smiled and said, "Changhe, sometimes you see things very clearly, but sometimes, you see things very vaguely."

"In fact, it seems to me that HSBC would not support Jardine Matheson."

"Ah? Uncle, why is this?"

Li Changhe really didn't understand this time.

"It's very simple, because HSBC is the HSBC of Hong Kong Island, and Jardine Matheson is the Jardine Matheson of Great Britain!"

“This alone is destined to lead to their differences.”

"When Jardine Matheson chose to transfer its assets out of Hong Kong Island to avoid risks, it and HSBC went down the wrong path."

"You have to know that banks are different from companies. Banks often represent the financial channels of a region or a country."

"HSBC is a bank that has absolute power in Hong Kong Island, but in the UK, it is not really a giant."

"Its roots are in Hong Kong Island, where it plays the role of a central bank, so essentially, the better Hong Kong Island is, the stronger HSBC's position and power will be."

"If Hong Kong Island weakens, HSBC will also weaken. Its lifeblood is tied to Hong Kong Island."

"But Jardine Matheson is different. It is a company that wants to make money and avoid risks. So when it felt that Hong Kong Island was not safe, it decisively withdrew."

"Over the years, Jardine Matheson has used the money earned from Hong Kong Land and Wharf Holdings to continuously invest overseas, which is actually sucking the blood out of Hong Kong Island."

"One wants to develop Hong Kong Island and make it a better place, but the other is constantly draining its blood, intending to drain all its resources. Do you think they will still keep pace?"

"The same is true for Hutchison Whampoa. John Keating proved that he had no ability to control Hutchison Whampoa, so HSBC sold Hutchison Whampoa to Li Ka-shing without hesitation."

"Li Jiacheng is Chinese, but he has to add another label to his Chinese identity, that is, Hong Konger!"

"Compared to white people like Jardine Matheson and John Chi, who continue to bring destruction to Hong Kong Island, Chinese businessmen like me and Li Ka Shing can make Hong Kong Island's economy and development better."

"Then it goes without saying who HSBC will choose between us and them."

"Many media outlets are promoting the Chinese victory over British financial groups."

"In fact, for HSBC, there is no difference between Chinese and white people. In their eyes, there is only a difference between Hong Kong people and non-Hong Kong people."

"This is also the reason why Jardine Matheson and Swire sought to acquire Hutchison Whampoa but were all rejected by Shen Bi."

"Shen Bi saw clearly that HSBC's status must have been brought to them by Hong Kong Island, not by these British financial groups."

"So, Shen Bi will support whoever can make Hong Kong Island better. It has nothing to do with being Chinese or white."

"So now you know why I am not worried about HSBC."

Bao Yugang said confidently to Li Changhe at this time.

Li Changhe nodded thoughtfully: "I see."

In fact, he has always been curious about what was the reason that drove HSBC to first support Pao Yu-kong and then support Li Ka-shing.

It turns out the root cause is here.

In fact, if we refer to future development, HSBC’s choice is not wrong. The Chinese businessmen it supports have made Hong Kong Island more prosperous and made it easier for it to suck blood.

If it were not for the Sino-British negotiations, which suddenly changed the ownership of Hong Kong Island and interrupted HSBC's plans.

Then HSBC will soon become like Wall Street in the United States, a giant that completely controls Hong Kong and radiates to Southeast Asia.

All I can say is, man proposes, God disposes!

(End of this chapter)