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

Chapter 726 The Swan Conference

December 30, 1982, Central Ferry Pier, Hong Kong Island.

"Whose yacht is this? It looks so high-end!"

"Conqueror? That's a strange name!"

"Such a large yacht, and it's brand new. I don't think I've ever seen one before. Which wealthy person in Hong Kong Island recently bought it?"

At this moment, many people waiting for the ferry at Central Pier are looking at the brand-new cruise ship with great curiosity, discussing it in hushed tones with those they know.

Yachts are not uncommon on Hong Kong Island, and the famous Yacht Club is just a short distance away.

However, it's rare to see such a luxurious and grand yacht in the past. With a hull length of over 100 meters, it is truly unique on Hong Kong Island today.

"Do you think this yacht might belong to Xiao Baosheng?"

"Victor is the name of the Conqueror. In the entire Hong Kong Island, besides Mr. Bao, there is probably no one else who can afford such a large yacht."

At this moment, a young man in a suit suddenly hesitated and said something.

After listening, the others echoed his sentiments, finding his words to make a lot of sense.

"Wait, a convoy is coming!"

Just then, a long convoy of cars drove up from a distance.

The cars that drove up were all luxury cars, such as Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, and so on.

"It's Mr. Kwok from Sun Hung Kai Properties!"

"Not only that, there's also Mr. Feng and Mr. Li from Henderson Land Development."

"Zheng Sheng from Chow Tai Fook, have they gotten together?"

"It's not over yet. There's also Mr. Hu from Hehe Real Estate and Mr. Cao, the wool textile tycoon. My goodness, how many billionaires are there?"

"Wait a minute? That's Huo Sheng!"

"And Zhuang Sheng of Nanyang Bank."

Cha Sheng of Xingye Real Estate

Tian Sheng, the "Leather King"

"Wow, Mr. Li from Hutchison Whampoa is here too?"

At this moment, one luxury car after another stopped at the pier, and then one Hong Kong Island tycoon after another got off.

The onlookers on the roadside were already numb with shock; there were just too many wealthy people there.

"I was wondering why Pier 8 was closed today. Turns out so many big shots were traveling."

"It seems this yacht must belong to Xiao Baosheng. After all, who else but him could get the Star Ferry to shut down Pier 8?"

Star Ferry is a company owned by Wharf Holdings. In the eyes of many people on Hong Kong Island, as a member of the Wharf family, Xiao Baosheng would surely be able to become the head of Wharf Holdings.

At this moment, the yacht slowly docked at Pier 8.

Guo Desheng and the others looked at the luxurious-looking yacht in surprise. No wonder Bao Zeyang said they would take a boat.

"Gentlemen, please board the ship."

Ella then stepped off the yacht and respectfully addressed Guo Desheng and his group.

"Let's go up and take a look!"

Guo Desheng cheerfully led the group onto the boat first.

Subsequently, a group of wealthy individuals boarded the ship one after another.

“Ah Yang, come here, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Cheng Yu-tung of Chow Tai Fook. I mentioned your idea to Mr. Cheng, and he agreed without hesitation.”

"Hello, Uncle Zheng"

Li Changhe immediately greeted him warmly.

Regardless of what happens to these people in the future, at least this time, their ability to board the ship is of great help to Li Changhe and even to the country.

"Ah Yang, if good things happen in the future, don't just think about Lao Guo and the others, remember your Uncle Zheng too!"

At this moment, Cheng Yu-tung spoke cheerfully to Li Changhe, his words full of desire to get closer to him.

"No problem, as long as Uncle Zheng doesn't mind me bothering you."

Just then, Li Changhe saw Cao Guangbiao waving at him again, so he immediately smiled apologetically at Zheng Yutong and the others, and then walked over.

"Ah Yang, come here, let me introduce these two to you."

"This is Cha Jimin from the Cha family of Haining."

Upon hearing this, Li Changhe immediately greeted the other party.

The Cha family is a large family in Hong Kong, and Cha Chi-ming is considered a core figure in the Haining Cha family, even more so than Lao Jin.

After chatting for a few minutes, Li Changhe started greeting the other people.

During this time, he did discover someone who was quite intriguing to him: Wang Dehui of Chinachem Group.

He didn't expect that Wang Dehui would also come up.

Looking at this wealthy man who would later be kidnapped and killed, Li Changhe made a decision at that moment.

Based on this guy's patriotic act of boarding the ship, Li Changhe also plans to rescue him in a few years.

Of course, whether they can be saved or not depends on fate.

Soon, after exchanging greetings, the thirty-odd wealthy individuals sat in the spacious reception room and began chatting.

"Ah Yang, your yacht is huge, and so luxurious inside. It must have cost a lot of money, right?"

After everyone was seated, Cheng Yu-tung took the initiative to ask a question.

Old Zheng is not a frugal person; on the contrary, he enjoys life.

He likes everything, from yachts to mansions.

Upon seeing Li Changhe's luxurious yacht, he immediately became interested.

Upon hearing this, Li Changhe smiled and said, "Uncle Zheng, I don't know the exact price, but the modification of this ship cost me about three million US dollars."

"All things considered, it should be around thirty million US dollars."

Thirty million US dollars, that much?

Everyone present was shocked upon hearing Li Changhe's words.

Thirty million US dollars to buy a yacht?
Isn't this too luxurious?
Seeing everyone's expressions, Li Changhe smiled and explained, "Uncles, I didn't spend this money. I only spent the three million US dollars on the modifications."

"In fact, this ship was built by a wealthy Iraqi man in the Middle East for their leader Saddam Hussein."

"It is said that the ship cost 28 million US dollars to order, but it was only built when war broke out in the Middle East, so the ship was never delivered and remained in a Saudi port."

"When Saddam found out, he simply gave the ship to Saudi Arabia's new king, Fahd."

"Later, when King Fahd heard that I was planning to buy a yacht, he gave it to me as a gift. I spent three million US dollars to refit it, and it just so happens that it has arrived in Hong Kong Island these past few days."

"This is our first time setting sail."

"I knew you'd be willing to part with such a luxurious yacht; it turns out it was a gift from the King of Saudi Arabia."

"Ah Yang, it seems you have a special relationship with the Saudi royal family."

At this moment, Cheng Yu-tung couldn't help but sigh. Such a luxurious yacht was actually a gift from a king of a country. The rumors that Bao Zeyang had deep connections in the Middle East were indeed true.

"It's alright, we just happened to get involved."

Li Changhe didn't explain in detail.

To be honest, this ship was also a way for Fahd to express his gratitude, since Li Changhe had helped them earn more than a billion dollars.

Just as Saddam Hussein gave him the yacht, Fahd happened to know that Li Changhe was also ordering a yacht, so he simply gave the new yacht to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe arranged for someone to modify it, and it just so happened that it was driven back to Hong Kong Island in the last few days. He took advantage of this opportunity to use it as a vehicle to take a group of wealthy people to Guangzhou.

This time they will drive directly to Guangcheng Port and then check into the White Swan Hotel.

Although the White Swan Hotel has not yet opened, the interior is already fully renovated and is just waiting for an auspicious day to open.

This place also happens to be their accommodation and reception area, so we can take the opportunity to experience their service system.

As Li Changhe's yacht sailed north, Sir Michael Sandberg arrived at Edward Youde's office at Government House.

"Your Excellency, our information is correct; Bao Zeyang has indeed led his men to Guangcheng."

“High-ranking officials from the mainland have already arrived there, and it is said that we will meet with them to discuss matters.”

It was by chance that Shen Bi was able to know these things.

They didn't actually find out Bao Zeyang's intentions, but in addition to Li Changhe's side, Huo Lao and Zhuang Lao of Nanyang Commercial Bank also won over many wealthy people in this wave of invitations from Hong Kong Island.

Li Jiacheng and Zhuang Lao are both from Chaoshan, and their relationship is actually very close, which is why Li Jiacheng was able to board Bao Zeyang's yacht.

Shen Bi learned of this information from Li Jiacheng.

Then, connecting this to Bao Zeyang's actions, I guessed his intentions.

"This young man is really hot-blooded."

"I heard that he accepted the mainland's overtures in a fit of pique because he wasn't satisfied with the options Downing Street offered him?"

Yud also spoke up with a smile at this moment.

Shen Bi shook his head and said helplessly, "I don't know about that."

"Where did you hear this reason?"

“He said it himself when he gathered those tycoons. He felt that Downing Street was belittling him and that we were not taking his importance in Hong Kong Island seriously.”

"Especially since he helped you put so many US dollars into HSBC and Hang Seng, while Downing Street only gave him ordinary brands, he was very angry."

"So he felt that instead of submitting to us, it would be better to also contact the north, so that these Hong Kong island tycoons could work together and demonstrate their power."

“These are things he said himself when he gathered those families.”

Youde said in a deep voice, his information was clearly more complete than Shen Bi's.

After listening, Shen Bi sighed.

"To be honest, Your Excellency, I also think Downing Street made some mistakes this time."

"Perhaps they still consider Bao Zeyang as a child of the Bao family, so the things they gave him were really too perfunctory."

"For Bao Zeyang, this was nothing short of an insult. You have to understand that even in the United States, he was a guest of honor of the president and a highly valued partner of various families and conglomerates."

“Even if Downing Street doesn’t want to sell some brands, I think it should still be included in the price, at least to make it look good.”

Yud nodded in agreement.

“In fact, Mike, I completely agree with you. I also think that Downing Street miscalculated this time.”

"But you have to understand that many times, many things are not up to you, nor are they up to me, and even the Prime Minister's word may not count."

“Many people in London are not mentally sound; you can’t expect them to pay much attention to a young person who is thousands of miles away.”

Thinking of those lazy, incompetent guys in London, Yud felt helpless.

No country is monolithic, especially a party system like the UK, which is internally chaotic.

“Mike, I’ve had someone re-examine Bao Zeyang’s intelligence report and sent it to Downing Street. I think this detailed report will be worth Downing Street’s attention.”

"As for their current destination of Guangcheng, there's nothing we can do but wait and see what happens."

“I know you have a good relationship with the Bao family. When they come back, I think you will need to step in and appease them. No matter what, at this time, we need to keep them in check and not let them stand against us.”

Yu De said to Shen Bi with a helpless expression.

Shen Bi nodded in agreement: "I'll try my best. I'll see if I can talk to Victor when he gets back."

That very evening, Ta Kung Pao took the initiative to publish the news.

[Breaking News: A group of Hong Kong tycoons, led by Bao Zeyang, Huo Yingdong, and Guo Desheng, traveled to mainland China to meet with high-ranking officials.]

Is Bao personally taking sides?

Hedging Our Gamble? On the Political Thinking of the Bao Family

Subsequently, newspapers began publishing news about this incident one after another, and under Li Changhe's deliberate arrangement, some inside information was even revealed.

With this news coming to a close, the anxiety that had been raised in recent days by British companies such as Swire Group and Wheelock and Company announcing their withdrawal from Hong Kong Island has dissipated somewhat.

In the eyes of most people, at least the wealthy in Hong Kong Island have started to take action.

Two days later, on New Year's Day in 1983, that super-luxury yacht slowly sailed into Central again.

However, this time, in addition to the convoy that had been waiting there, there were also a large number of media reporters and members of the public waiting there.

At the pier, the Star Ferry staff helped clear the area for these wealthy people, but at the exit, a large crowd of onlookers and reporters blocked the entrance.

"Mr. Guo, could you tell me what the topics of your trip to the mainland were?"

"Mr. Cao, I heard that you have decided to support the mainland this time?"

"Mr. Huo, could you reveal the outcome of your meeting?"

Almost every luxury car that came out of the dock was surrounded by reporters asking all sorts of urgent questions.

However, the security personnel brought by Ming Wang quickly cleared a path, allowing the vehicles to leave slowly.

However, even in the evening, many more news items were still published in the newspapers.

"Xiao Baosheng established the [China Education Foundation], with an initial investment of HK$200 million to support education on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

"Inside the White Swan Hotel talks: Mainland China made the following commitments to Hong Kong."

"China Bank announced that it will release a huge amount of funds to support the recovery of the Hong Kong stock market."

Hong Kong tycoons seek to partner with Chinese companies to enter Hong Kong and fill the void left by the loss of British capital.

At the beginning of 1983, a series of news stories began to spread in Hong Kong through various media outlets.

A series of news reports quickly calmed down the Hong Kong Island residents who were initially panicked by the economic collapse.

Regardless, this meeting and statement between the mainland and the wealthy group has given the people of Hong Kong a lot of confidence.

At the same time, upon seeing these messages, Shen Bi immediately contacted Li Changhe.

However, to Shen Bi's dismay, Li Changhe was not there.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Taipan, our boss did not return to Hong Kong Island, but went directly to Shanghai. As for when he will return, we don't know either."

Upon hearing Ella's reply on the other end of the phone, Shen Bi frowned and put down the phone.

He suddenly felt a little panicked. Could it be that Bao Zeyang was really using this opportunity to go to the mainland and negotiate with them?
(End of this chapter)