Reborn in 1970, I thrived in Hong Kong.

After some hesitation, He Shanheng and others finally sold all of their Hang Seng Bank shares to Li Huai-ren, and the transaction was completed on the same day.

On August 14, 1971, after completing the debt-to-equity swap and acquiring 61% of Hang Seng Bank's shares, Li Huai-ren acquired the remaining 39% of Hang Seng Bank's shares from Ho Sin-hang and others for HK$39 million, thus gaining 100% control of Hang Seng Bank.

Hang Seng Bank's General Manager, Li Guowei, has been invited to remain in his position, while all other shareholders have resigned from the Hang Seng Bank board of directors.

Since Li Huai-ren had 100% control of Hang Seng Bank, which had become a private bank rather than a joint-stock bank, Li Huai-ren immediately dismissed the Hang Seng Bank board of directors that same day.

That evening, Phoenix TV broadcast the news that Li Huai-ren had acquired Hang Seng Bank, causing a city-wide uproar.

The following morning, several armored trucks appeared at the entrances of Hang Seng Bank's headquarters and branches, and large amounts of cash were carried into the banks amidst the attention of Hong Kong citizens.

Half an hour later, Phoenix TV began broadcasting the story on a loop, including footage of a reporter interviewing Hang Seng Bank General Manager Li Guowei.

On television, Li Guowei appeared all smiles and full of confidence, saying that Hang Seng Bank had completely resolved its liquidity problem and that depositors could withdraw their deposits at any time. He thanked the people of Hong Kong for their trust in Hang Seng Bank, and so on.

Hang Seng Bank now has plenty of cash available for depositors to withdraw at any time, so depositors naturally won't withdraw their fixed-term deposits at the expense of interest, and the bank run crisis was quickly averted.

What outsiders don't know is that by resolving the Hang Seng Bank run crisis, Li Huai-ren took the opportunity to launder all the cash hidden in his basement and openly put it into Hang Seng Bank, where it then circulated throughout Hong Kong.

This is what is meant by "wanting both," or in colloquial terms, "killing two birds with one stone, urinating to catch dog lice."

With MacLehose's appointment, before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established and before the many loopholes in Hong Kong's tax system were plugged, Li Huai-ren naturally had to launder the money he had obtained from Lei Luo and others through corruption and bribery as soon as possible.

This is also one of the biggest advantages of Li Huai-ren owning a bank.

With the acquisition of Hang Seng Bank concluded, Li Huai-ren immediately focused his efforts on acquiring Tao-Da Company.

In 1971, Hong Kong experienced a stock market crash.

This stock market crash was the first modern collapse of Hong Kong's financial market. Although its intensity was not as great as the 1973 stock market crash, it profoundly exposed the fragility of the colonial-era financial system.

1968-1970年，越南战争促使国际热钱涌入香港避险，恒生指数3年暴涨 785%，从1967年58点暴涨至1970年1770点。

During this period, almost everyone in Hong Kong was involved in stock trading. By 1970, there were over 50 registered stock investors, accounting for 20% of the adult population. It became fashionable for housewives to pawn their gold jewelry to invest in stocks.

Manipulated stocks are rampant, with British consortiums controlling pseudo-tech stocks such as "Hong Kong Antenna" and "Hong Kong Carpet," driving up their price-to-earnings ratios to 80.

From January to June 1971, a series of deadly man-made incidents occurred in Hong Kong. On January 15, 1971, the Hong Kong British government suddenly introduced the Rent Control Ordinance, which restricted rent increases, causing real estate stocks to plummet by 22% in a single day (real estate accounts for 65% of the index weight).

On March 9, 1971, the fake stock scandal broke out, with Hong Kong brokers forging "Jardine Matheson" stock, triggering a market-wide credit panic.

On May 11, 1971, a major foreign investment bank (Jardine Fleming) led the sell-off of stocks, with a single-day turnover of HK$320 million (10 times the monthly average), causing a liquidity crunch.

1971年6月18日，恆指跌破 500点心理关口，触发散户踩踏，指数全年累计暴跌 74.5%（1770→406点）。

During this period, Hong Kong was hit by a policy black swan event: the sudden introduction of the Rent Control Ordinance, which froze rents and hit property developers’ cash flow, causing Cheung Kong Holdings and Sun Hung Kai Properties to lose 60% of their market value.

Then came a tightening of credit, with British companies HSBC and Standard Chartered suddenly tightening stock-pledged loans, and margin (margin) ratios surging from 30% to 70%.

Most importantly, the Hong Kong stock market had already experienced market disorder. Before 1974, Hong Kong had no price limits, meaning there was no circuit breaker mechanism. The Hong Kong Antenna (known as the Hong Kong Chi Line by Hong Kong citizens) plummeted by 98% in a single day, with its share price falling from HK$18 per share to HK$0.3 per share.

The most fatal thing is that the market makers dump their shares, and British conglomerates (such as Jardine Matheson) sell off their shares at high prices in advance, trapping all Chinese retail investors.

This stock market crash had disastrous consequences, with the total market capitalization of Hong Kong stocks shrinking from HK$450 billion to HK$110 billion, resulting in an average loss of HK$6800 per person (at the time, the average annual salary was only HK$3000).

Many brokerage firms have gone bankrupt, with 32 brokerage firms in Hong Kong going bankrupt, accounting for one-third of the total. Even the century-old Li Fuzhao Brokerage Firm is on the verge of liquidation.

Accompanying the stock market crash was, of course, a wave of suicides. Seventeen people jumped to their deaths on Pedder Street in Central within a month, a phenomenon Hong Kong media dubbed the "stock market crash meat grinder."

There are also cases of industrial collapse, with real estate developer Liu Chuangxing forced to sell industrial land in Kwun Tong to repay debts due to margin calls on pledged shares.

In this stock market crash, leverage, a double-edged sword, was one of the main culprits. Margin trading accounted for 40% of the total, becoming an accelerator of the collapse, just like the A-share stock market crash in 2015.

In other words, this was a meticulously planned operation to exploit Hong Kong, much like the 2015 A-share stock market crash. The difference is that this crash involved many financial institutions acting as insiders, colluding with outsiders to fleece investors...

This is not baseless speculation or nonsense; the Hong Kong stock market crash of 1971 has a very clear timeline:

British conglomerates (Jardine Matheson and HSBC) first instigated a bubble and then withdrew their funds, trapping Chinese retail investors.

In the aftermath, some people said that this exposed the injustice of the colonial system, but in fact it was a precise harvesting of Hong Kong by the British.

In July 1971, the Hong Kong government launched an emergency bailout, with HSBC and Standard Chartered jointly injecting HK$200 million to take over high-risk brokerage firms, but only rescuing British-owned affiliated institutions.

Li Huai-ren was naturally very clear about the 1971 Hong Kong stock market crash—no, it was the British's exploitation of Hong Kong.

In fact, he was actually looking forward to this stock market crash, hoping it would allow him to achieve the following goals:

Firstly, they shorted the Hong Kong stock market before the British, aiming to make a quick and easy profit.

Secondly, it will take advantage of this stock market crash to complete the acquisition of Hang Seng Bank and Amoy Company.

Third, they quietly increased their holdings in British-owned companies such as Dairy Farm and Wharf Holdings and Hongkong Land.

Now that Hang Seng Bank is in hand, it's time to take advantage of this stock market crash to acquire Taoda Company.

At 9:00 a.m. on August 16, Li Huai-ren quietly appeared in the office of Zhong Wei-kang, the general manager of YNM Securities Investment Company.

Li Huai-ren sat on the sofa next to the coffee table, carefully reviewed the documents in his hand, looked up at Zhong Wei-kang, and said:

"The Hang Seng Index closed at 465 points yesterday. Although it is still falling, there is not much room for further gains. Starting today, we will close out short positions and recoup funds."

After the funds were recovered, the company prioritized increasing its holdings in Tao Da Company as planned, and then secretly continued to increase its holdings in companies such as Dairy Farm, Wharf Holdings, and Hongkong Land.

I will entrust the acquisition of Taoyuan to the securities department of Hang Seng Bank. YNM Securities Investment Company must not be exposed; it can cooperate covertly.

Oh, and later you should settle all the shares of Taoda Company with Li Guowei...