Mixed in 1980

Chapter 345 Agreement Reached (13)

"Can you really destroy HSBC and Standard Chartered?"

Speaking of this, Old Huo became very interested. Back then, his family was almost forced to give up their foothold in Hong Kong, and these two banks played a crucial role in that.

In the early days, Britain controlled the economic lifeline of Hong Kong, ostensibly through the four major trading companies: Jardine Matheson, Hutchison Whampoa, Swire, and Wheelock.

The four major trading companies controlled most of Hong Kong's livelihood enterprises. Companies like telecommunications, electricity, and ports, which Chen Fan acquired, were all spun off from the four major trading companies.

In addition, Jardine Matheson and Hutchison Whampoa were acquired by Li Ka-shing, Wheelock was taken over by Pao Ship Magnates, and Swire Group remained in British hands.

Its core business is Cathay Pacific. Chen Fan had proposed to acquire it, but the British were unwilling to let go, and Chen Fan had no choice but to agree.

The four major trading companies are all publicly known, but HSBC and Standard Chartered are the forces behind them, providing strong financial support.

The Huo family was targeted quite a bit back then.

"It's all about human effort. Didn't we make them stumble in 92, causing their stock price to plummet by more than 20%, and we even took over Hang Seng Bank?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly and said, "HSBC and Standard Chartered are the bridgeheads for British capital to enter Hong Kong's real estate market. Once they fail to reap the rewards, hehe..."

A failed harvest will leave behind a mountain of problems!
Playing the real estate game, to put it bluntly, is all about taking out loans and leveraging. When British capital enters the market to speculate on real estate, it will definitely need to borrow heavily from two banks.

Once the real estate market is successfully exploited, the debts can be balanced. However, if the real estate market collapses, it will turn into a pile of bad debts, and the impact on banks will be unimaginable.

Everyone present was a sensible person, and they all began to think about it.

Li Zhaoji took out a cigarette again and lit it: "Do we have a chance to take over HSBC and Standard Chartered and completely drive out British capital?"

"Old Li really has guts!"

Chen Fan clapped lightly and rubbed his hands together: "See, the perspective has suddenly broadened. But it's hard to say, we can only take it one step at a time."

Li Zhaoji took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke: "Since we've come this far, I'll go along with the British investment."

"Our Huo family will join in too!"

Old Huo tapped the table lightly and looked at Chen Fan meaningfully: "If everything is as you say, and the real estate market will collapse in '97, then your plan is the best way to avoid risk."

Everyone nodded.

According to conventional thinking, all real estate professionals follow the same pattern: restricting sales and holding back sales to drive up housing prices. As long as the market doesn't collapse, they can all make a fortune.

But if the market collapses, the houses will be stuck with you.

Following Chen Fan's strategy, having foreign capital take over before the collapse would perfectly mitigate the risks and even allow for substantial profits.

The question is whether it will collapse!

If the market crashes, everyone calls it making money; if it doesn't crash, everyone loses money, and the losses can be substantial.

Profit and loss have a reference point.

For investors, the original goal was to earn 1 million, but they only earned 8000 million, which is equivalent to a loss of 2000 million.

"Our family will too!"

After weighing the options for a while, everyone nodded in agreement. Regardless of whether the real estate market would collapse, they still had to give Chen Fan face.

Moreover, Chen Fan also proposed a "harvesting of Moxi Valley" plan, which is clearly a way to compensate everyone. Even if the real estate market doesn't collapse, they won't lose much.

More importantly, Hall Han is here.

The statement, "The higher-ups hope that the real estate market can develop steadily and not exhaust its potential all at once," already shows the attitude of the higher-ups. After 1997, that's the real god that everyone should worship.

Li Zhaoji flicked his cigarette ash and asked, "What are your specific plans regarding HSBC and Standard Chartered? Taking them down won't be an easy task."

"The more foreign capital flows in, the more money they lend out. Once the real estate market collapses, the large-scale bad debts can leave them half-dead."

Chen Fan rubbed his hands together: "As for the rest, we'll stick to the same old approach. We have several companies here whose funds haven't been allocated yet, right?"

"Then keep it as a backup plan."

"Wait for the real estate market to collapse and the economic crisis to hit, then withdraw funds, incite public opinion, and see if we can stir up another wave of bank runs."

"In addition, Hang Seng Bank will begin to scale back its real estate lending business next year, telling those who need mortgages to go to HSBC and Standard Chartered."

"We cannot bear the bad debts of a property market collapse, even if Hang Seng's business encounters short-term problems."

“Then let’s do it this way!” Li Zhaoji nodded.

Chen Fan smiled slightly: "Now that we've finished discussing business, let's move to the restaurant to celebrate our alliance and send off the British capital."

"You're really mean!" Li Zhaoji shook his head.

However, Chen Fan is right. Today's meeting is like digging a hole in Hong Kong, attracting British capital in, burying it, and turning it into a graveyard for British capital.

Also buried were funds from Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, and mainland China; anyone wanting a piece of the Hong Kong property market was their target.

The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves thoroughly, and then everyone dispersed!
When Li Zhaoji returned home, he went into his study, took out a cigarette, lit it, closed his eyes, and smoked while thinking about things, carefully reviewing the conversations of the day.

Harvesting in the Mexican Valley, there's nothing to think about.

The information provided by Chen Fan was very detailed, and it would be an effortless harvest, even simpler than the previous pound exchange rate war.

During the pound sterling exchange rate war, central banks across Europe contributed significantly, but Mexico, lacking support from other countries, was easily exploited. For Chen Fan, profiting from Mexico was a way to give everyone a taste of success and compensation.

The real battlefield is Hong Kong's real estate market!

Li Zhaoji was well aware that Chen Fan needed everyone's help, which was also a way of showing goodwill to everyone.

If Chen Fan had done it alone, the results wouldn't have been so great, but for Hong Kong's tycoons, it would have been an absolute disaster.

When pushing up housing prices, everyone only knows how to hold back sales and restrict sales, working together with British capital. The end result is that when the market collapses, everyone still has a bunch of houses to hold onto.

What I need to consider now is when to follow up and expand sales.

The right time, the right price!

Li Zhaoji opened his eyes only after the cigarette had burned down to the last bit, burning his fingers. He stubbed out the cigarette, lit another one, and sighed, "A great upheaval indeed!"

In times of great change, the worst thing is not being able to see the road ahead.

Without a doubt, Chen Fan was the one who saw things clearly, and he was also the one making the moves; every move he made was aimed at the British.

In fact, it started as early as 1984!
In 1984, the real estate market was stagnant, but Chen Fan was the only one who acquired a large amount of land, precisely timing the market recovery and successfully grasping the lifeline of the British.

By 1985, Chen Fan had acquired several state-owned enterprises, giving him the confidence to challenge the British.

And now, they're trying to take advantage of the British again.

While at the Chen family's house, he even considered asking, "What grudge do they hold?"

Looking back at the origin of all the grudges, it probably started when Chen Fan was acquiring Kwai Chung Port. The British asked him to change his nationality to British, and then Chen Fan shouted, "Kwai Chung Port is mine! Even the Queen of England can't stop me! I said it!"

Ten years have passed, and the feud is still not over!
Li Zhaoji smiled, called in his eldest son Li Jiajie, and explained the plan to harvest the Moxi Valley, asking him to assemble a team to cooperate with the authorities.

As for the real estate market, he didn't mention a word about it. Before foreign capital entered the market, he wanted to keep it to himself to avoid leaks.

"Decades have passed, and I can finally take my revenge!"

Back home, Old Huo was quite excited. He drank several cups of tea but couldn't calm down, so he simply opened a bottle of wine and started drinking by himself.

Just like an ordinary person who is constantly bullied by the village bully, and has been bullied for decades, you can imagine the resentment in their heart.

Now that there's a chance to stab the bully in the back, who could resist doing it?

"Dad, what are you so happy about?"

His eldest son, Da Huo, came over and sat down next to his father: "Did we get another chance to make a fortune at Mr. Chen's house today?"

"It's more satisfying than making money."

Old Huo also kept the real estate matter a secret, only talking about harvesting the Mexi Valley: "You take over this matter and get it done."

"Not handing it over to the second son?" Da Huo frowned slightly.

The three sons of the Huo family each have their own strengths. The second son has the greatest talent in business and controls more commercial resources. The eldest son is mainly responsible for the Huo family's business in the sports and political fields.

Old Huo shook his head slightly: "The main reason I sent you is to get acquainted with Chen Fan, so you won't offend him later if you're not careful."

"Only a madman would provoke him," Da Huo said, scoffing.

Chen Fan's pettiness and vengefulness are well-known in Hong Kong. Anyone with a sound mind would not dare to mess with him, except for the British.

The Huo family and Chen Fan have a good relationship now, especially after the last attack on the bank. They are both shareholders of Hang Seng Bank and have become acquainted.

"Hong Kong is a small place, so it's inevitable that we'll run into each other. It's best to get to know each other beforehand. This time, we're cooperating with the authorities, so we need to build good relationships in advance."

"I'll do as you say," Da Huo agreed.

Old Huo waved his hand, telling his son to rest, and sipped his wine, humming a tune, and said happily, "I never thought I'd have a chance for revenge in my old age."

Compared to the others, Da Liu is the one with the least pressure.

The reason is that he owns the least land, has no family support, and started his business relatively late. Although he also has a real estate company, he doesn't have many projects.

For him, the losses in real estate were nothing; what mattered most was harvesting the profits in Moxi Valley with Chen Fan, which was far more lucrative than real estate.

The Soviet Union began selling off its assets, easily netting billions of dollars. It also made a lot of money in the pound sterling exchange rate war and by targeting Hang Seng Bank.

Even if Chen Fan said that the real estate market would suffer a huge loss, he wouldn't hesitate. Having a large amount of cash on hand is much better than hoarding a bunch of houses.

"It would be even better if we could take down HSBC and Standard Chartered!"

Xin Yingjie had the same question, so he stayed at Chen Fan's house and asked directly, "You really haven't thought about taking advantage of the situation to acquire HSBC and Standard Chartered?"

Do you think the chances are good?

Chen Fan stretched and twisted his neck slightly: "To acquire global banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered, the right timing, location, and people are all indispensable."

"It's all about human effort!"

Xin Yingjie chuckled and teased, "HSBC and Standard Chartered control the issuance of Hong Kong dollars. If you can take them over, you'll truly become the King of Hong Kong, not just half of it."

PS: First update! Just a few more votes to reach 1000 votes. Thank you all for your support. Two more updates to come!

(End of this chapter)