In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 613: Large-scale demonstrations, Governor MacLehau shows up!
Following the actions of Huifeng Bank, soon, both the stock investors and the customers who were already impatiently waiting in line to withdraw cash at various branches were instigated in an organized manner.

A storm of protests against Bank of East Asia quickly spread.

Instigated by public opinion, shareholders of the four major stock exchanges and customers of the 20 branches of Bank of East Asia continued to flock to the Bank of East Asia head office.

They just want an explanation.

The city center of Hong Kong is not big, but the four major stock exchanges and 20 branches of Bank of East Asia are all located in the core commercial areas of Hong Kong.

Therefore, it did not take too long for a large number of citizens to gather at the headquarters of Bank of East Asia.

In just about an hour, tens of thousands of citizens gathered outside the Bank of East Asia's head office building, and the flow of people was still increasing.

In front of the Bank of East Asia headquarters, the crowd surged like a tide, with stockholders waving their stock certificates and shouting slogans such as "Bank of East Asia, give me back my hard-earned money";

Customers who queued up but failed to withdraw cash held up signs saying "Service collapsed, no way to withdraw money" and emotionally demanded an explanation from the bank.

The scene was in chaos and the police had to dispatch additional officers to maintain order and prevent the conflict from escalating further.

This time, the number of citizens gathering was not as large as that at the CSRC building a few days ago, where so many citizens appeared at once.

Therefore, when the first wave of citizens appeared, Dashan had already asked for help from the Hong Kong Police Headquarters.

Even the Hong Kong Police Department would not dare to act rashly in the face of such a riot. If a major bloodshed really occurred, it would have immeasurable negative impact on Hong Kong's social stability and international image.

After receiving the call for help, the General Police Department quickly activated the emergency plan and deployed a large number of police forces to the scene. Multiple cordons were set up around the Bank of East Asia headquarters building to separate the protesting crowd from the bank building. At the same time, police officers were arranged to patrol the crowd, closely monitor the situation and prevent violent conflicts.

Lin Haoran did not go to the scene, but stood in the office on the 51st floor of Kangle Building a few hundred meters away, overlooking the situation over there.

This situation was something they had expected.

When the employees who had secretly changed jobs in various branches came to work in a sloppy manner in the morning, causing the customers in the queue to complain, they guessed the purpose of Huifeng Bank.

Therefore, neither Dashan, the new interim president, nor Lin Haoran, the boss behind the scenes, were panicked or at a loss.

Instead, they methodically activated the emergency plans they had prepared long ago.

Does Huifeng Bank think it has everything under control?
Lin Haoran just quietly watched as more and more people gathered at the headquarters of Bank of East Asia in the distance, and a cold smile arose in his heart.

Did Huifeng Bank think that it could completely defeat Bank of East Asia in this way, causing Bank of East Asia's reputation to completely collapse, making it unable to recover?
When Lin Haoran learned that the other party was secretly poaching people, he already knew the other party's next plan.

Next, it’s time to fight back.

As more and more citizens gathered at the headquarters building of Bank of East Asia, the scale of the event had already been several times larger than the last one at the headquarters building of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The interweaving of various forces, some coming for their own interests, some to watch the fun, and some controlled and instigated by Huifeng Bank, made the scene like a pot of boiling porridge, with all kinds of noise and shouting coming one after another, making people's eardrums hurt.

The liveliness of the scene was much crazier than that of a concert. Concerts were still orderly, and the audience at least followed the basic process of entering, taking a seat, and enjoying the performance.

But here, the crowd was surging without any order, like a group of wild beasts driven by an invisible force, only concerned with venting their anger and dissatisfaction.

Especially among these, Huifeng Bank had planted many spies whose main task was to instigate trouble, which caused all kinds of rumors to fly around the scene. The dissatisfaction of the citizens became more and more boiling, like a volcano about to erupt, which could break through the shackles of reason at any time and cause more serious chaos.

Many reporters had already smelled the blood and came here.

Even Hong Kong's two major television stations, TVB and ATV, have started live broadcasts from the scene, broadcasting the on-site images to the entire Hong Kong population.

Before the TVB reporter team set out, Run Run Shaw had already called Lam Ho-ran in advance to ask him if he could broadcast live.

After all, although Lin Haoran has no business in TVB's affairs, he is still the largest shareholder of TVB and the nominal vice chairman of the board of directors.

Therefore, if Lin Haoran did not want TVB to report the matter, Run Run Shaw would give Lin Haoran face and give up such good news material and traffic opportunities.

However, to Shao Yifu's surprise, Lin Haoran responded directly: "Go ahead and report live!"

In front of the camera, the chaotic scenes, excited citizens, and waving banners constantly stimulated the audience's nerves, making the entire Hong Kong shrouded in a tense and restless atmosphere.

As time went by, the number of people gathered had grown to 20,000 or even more, and the atmosphere on the scene became increasingly tense, as if a spark could detonate this huge "bomb".

In the headquarters building of Huifeng Bank, in a conference room equipped with a television, Shen Bi, Bao John, Pu Weishi and other senior executives of Huifeng Bank gathered here, watching the live broadcast of ATV, with proud smiles on their faces.

"Mr. Shen Bi, Lin Haoran hasn't shown up yet. It seems that the other party really has no other options. Humph, the Bank of East Asia is now in a desperate situation. Looking at this chaotic scene, I wonder how they can turn things around!" Bao John laughed.

"Yes, Lin Haoran thought that he was invincible in Hong Kong after he brought down Jardine Matheson. Little did he know that our Huifeng Bank is not as useless as Jardine Matheson." Pu Weishi crossed his arms in front of his chest, with a mocking arc on his lips. "When Bank of East Asia completely collapses this time, Lin Haoran's idea of ​​entering the banking industry will probably be completely extinguished."

They knew Lin Haoran's true strength in the business world, so they never thought that they could defeat Lin Haoran just by defeating the Bank of East Asia. This was unrealistic.

However, in their opinion, as long as Lin Haoran gave up the idea of ​​entering the banking industry, they would have won this time.

Lin Haoran is now a big name in the business world, so what they are wary of now is the financial industry, especially the banking industry.

As long as Lin Haoran does not interfere in the banking field, Huifeng Bank will be able to continue to sit firmly at the top of the industry and enjoy the huge profits brought by the monopoly by relying on the deep foundation accumulated in the Hong Kong financial industry over the years and its absolute market share.

“What I don’t understand is why Lin Haoran didn’t transfer the financial operations of companies under the Hong Kong Land Group, Hong Kong Electric Group, etc. to Bank of East Asia. Once transferred to Bank of East Asia, even if these citizens would withdraw their money from Bank of East Asia because of the choice between the two, there shouldn’t be a serious bank run. But now it’s been quite some time, and the other party seems to have forgotten about it!” Bao John put away his smile and raised a question.

When Lin Haoran announced that he would become the controlling shareholder of Bank of East Asia, they were already mentally prepared for this.

But until today, they have not seen Lin Haoran's companies applying to Huifeng Bank for fund transfer.

"After all, Lin Haoran is just a shareholder of Bank of East Asia, and Bank of East Asia is still a listed company. After Li Fushu and others left Bank of East Asia, I guess Lin Haoran has lost confidence in Bank of East Asia, so he has planned to give up Bank of East Asia. So far, he has not interfered in too many affairs of Bank of East Asia. Therefore, this possibility is very high!" Pu Weishi expressed his thoughts.

This statement was recognized by the people at the scene.

Today, Bank of East Asia is finding it difficult to recover after suffering multiple blows from Bank of East Asia.

Even if Bank of East Asia has had a good reputation over the past few decades, it will gradually be eroded. If Lin Haoran really intends to give up Bank of East Asia, it is not impossible.

What's more, as far as they knew, Lin Haoran's total investment in Bank of East Asia was only a little over 10 billion.

With the assets Lin Haoran has, he can definitely afford this loss.

“Thanks to the plan proposed by Mr. Pu Weishi, it would not be so easy for us to defeat the Bank of East Asia. Now that the Bank of East Asia has lost the Li Peicai family, it is like losing its soul.

In addition, the employees we secretly poached are causing chaos in various branches, and the internal situation is already riddled with holes. With capable people like you, why should Huifeng Bank continue to dominate the Hong Kong financial world?" Shen Bi looked at everyone with satisfaction, his eyes full of greed and ambition.

Although Huifeng Bank has been trying to expand its overseas markets in recent years, progress has been slow.

In other words, Hong Kong is where their core interests lie and is the foundation for the survival and development of Huifeng Bank.

They would never allow anyone to shake this foundation, and if Lin Haoran's taking over of Bank of East Asia was ignored, it would pose a threat to Huifeng Bank in the future.

Therefore, in the eyes of Huifeng Bank, the Bank of East Asia is now the biggest "cancer" that must be eradicated.

This would deal a heavy blow to Lin Haoran, making him realize that in the Hong Kong financial world, Huifeng Bank is the undisputed overlord that will not tolerate any challenge, and would also make the other party give up the idea of ​​touching the banking industry pie.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

After a while, Shen Bi's assistant came in and reported to everyone: "Everyone, I just received news that in order to prevent the scene from getting worse, the Governor has decided to come forward to coordinate the matter, and he is now on his way in a special car."

Shen Bi and others were not surprised to hear the news. This was completely within their expectations.

After all, if gatherings like this are not handled properly, the consequences will be very serious, and may even gradually develop into an uncontrollable riot that can only be quelled by dispatching the army.

For example, the Double Tenth Riots in Hong Kong in 1956 and the 1967 Riots in Hong Kong both caused indelible damage to Hong Kong's social stability and economic development. The Governor will certainly not sit idly by and watch the Bank of East Asia incident escalate into a large-scale social conflict.

Otherwise, this will inevitably leave a serious negative mark on his resume and become an indelible stain on his political career.

"Next, the real show begins. I want to see how Bank of East Asia responds?" Shen Bi laughed.

Other people at the scene also started laughing.

Although Mr. MacLehose is considered to be a relatively fair and just governor among all the governors, in order to calm the anger of the citizens and avoid further collapse of social order, the Governor's Office will most likely put some pressure on the Bank of East Asia to demonstrate its determination to solve the crisis it is facing now.

This is exactly the situation that Shen Bi and others wanted to see. They seemed to have foreseen that the Bank of East Asia would be crumbling under pressure from multiple parties.

Pressure from shareholders, pressure from depositors, pressure from the Governor's Office... At this moment, they seemed to see that under pressure from multiple parties, the Bank of East Asia was falling into an irretrievable situation just as they wished!

At the same time, almost all the big shots in Hong Kong were watching TV and following the developments of this matter.

Bao Yugang, Li Jiacheng, Chen Songqing, Zheng Yutong, Guo Desheng, Li Zhaoji, Guo Henian and others, they all wanted to see how Lin Haoran would deal with this matter.

Some people thought that under the fierce attack from Huifeng Bank, Lin Haoran gradually gave up Bank of East Asia.

However, some people still believe that Lin Haoran is secretly planning, waiting for the perfect opportunity to counterattack, preparing to deal a fatal blow to Huifeng Bank.

After all, Lin Haoran has always been known in the business world for his resourcefulness and decisiveness, and he has never failed.

In the eyes of some people, Lin Haoran’s silence on the crisis that Bank of East Asia is facing does not mean that he has really given up.

As the situation continued to develop, more and more people flocked to the headquarters building of Bank of East Asia like a tide for their own selfish interests.

Under the heavy pressure of suffering huge losses, many people have lost their minds, just like trapped animals that have lost their way.

It is precisely because of this that they were so easily bewitched and manipulated by the spies secretly planted by Huifeng Bank, and became pawns in other people's conspiracy.

The Governor's motorcade, under the protection of the guard, soon appeared at the headquarters building of the Bank of East Asia.

Upon seeing this, Dashan and other current senior executives of the Bank of East Asia hurried out to greet the Governor.

Governor General MacLehose slowly got down from the special car. He did not look very happy. After all, such an incident in Hong Kong was also a challenge for him.

The protest storm caused by the Bank of East Asia has attracted widespread attention from all walks of life. If it is not handled properly, it will not only affect Hong Kong's international image, but may also trigger a series of chain reactions, causing immeasurable losses to Hong Kong's future development.

If this situation really happens, it will be a dereliction of duty for him as the governor. Some political opponents in the Westminster Parliament of the United Kingdom will inevitably seize this handle to launch fierce attacks on him, which may even affect his future political career.

With the appearance of Governor MacLehose, the noise at the scene seemed to be a little quieter the moment he appeared, and everyone turned their eyes to this key figure who controlled the direction of the situation in Hong Kong.

"Hello, Governor. I am James, the president of Bank of East Asia." Dashan brought a group of senior executives of Bank of East Asia to Mai Lihao.

Mai Lihao nodded, but did not respond to him, instead turning his gaze towards the gathered scene.

Mr. Mai Lihao glanced at the chaotic situation at the scene, frowned tightly, and secretly thought about how to deal with it.

At this time, the police from the police station had handed a loudspeaker to Mai Lihao.

He took the megaphone and moved closer to the gathered citizens.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Mai Lihao said in not very standard Hong Kong dialect.

Suddenly, the scene gradually became quiet.

MacLehose has served as the Governor of Hong Kong for ten years. During his tenure, he implemented a series of policies and reforms that had a profound impact on the development of Hong Kong.

It was during his tenure that Chinese was established as one of the official languages, a move that promoted the parallel use of Chinese and English in Hong Kong.

In order to better govern Hong Kong and communicate with the people, MacLehose also learned and mastered a lot of Hong Kong dialect over the years so that he could communicate with local residents.

Scenes like today's are when the results of his learning of Hong Kong dialect are displayed.

He understood that at this moment he needed to face these emotional citizens in an attitude that was both authoritative and reassuring.

“I already know your demands. Under the premise of not violating the law and financial order, the government will do its best to promote the solution of the problem. But please remain calm. Violence and chaos cannot really solve the problem. They will only make the situation worse and ultimately harm everyone’s interests.”

MacLehault's voice was clearly transmitted to every corner of the scene through the loudspeaker. The originally noisy crowd gradually quieted down, and everyone pricked up their ears to hear what solution the governor would come up with.

"As an important member of Hong Kong's financial system, Bank of East Asia has always contributed to Hong Kong's economic development. The government will conduct a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into this incident to ensure that it is handled fairly and impartially.

Next, I will personally meet with Mr. Lin Haoran and ask him to give an accurate answer so as to completely resolve this matter. At the same time, I also hope that everyone will give Bank of East Asia some time and space to let them solve the problem and give everyone a satisfactory answer. "

From beginning to end, MacLehose never mentioned Huifeng Bank as the culprit.

If it were not for Huifeng Bank, this situation would not have happened to Bank of East Asia. In fact, the benefits brought by Lin Haoran's entry into the company would make the bank's prospects brighter.

However, Huifeng Bank is a British bank after all, and the Governor's Office and the British financial consortium have a relationship of common interests in which they prosper and suffer together.

Given the complex interweaving of political and economic interests, the Governor-General's Office could not easily attack the Hui Feng Bank and could only temporarily focus the conflict on the Bank of East Asia and try to quell the turmoil by coordinating among all parties.

As soon as Mai Lihao finished speaking, different reactions began to appear in the crowd.

Some citizens felt that since the Governor had come forward, things might turn around and the mood might be slightly eased;
But some radical people did not buy it. They thought it was just a delaying tactic of the Governor. Just like what they had done before in front of the CSRC building, what the CSRC Commissioner Mai Si said was all bullshit and it could not really solve their problems afterwards. So they started shouting again.

"Mr. Governor, we can't wait that long. Our hard-earned money is in the Bank of East Asia. Now the Bank of East Asia is dragging its feet and refusing to let us withdraw it. Our capital chain is really broken. What should we do?"

"That's right, Bank of East Asia must give us an explanation immediately. We can't just drag it out like this!"

Facing these doubts, Mai Lihao remained calm, raised the megaphone again and said: "I understand everyone's concerns, but solving the problem takes time and cannot be done in a short time.

I assure you that I will give you a satisfactory answer in the shortest possible time. Now, please leave in an orderly manner and do not gather here to avoid accidents.

Otherwise, I will have to personally send the army out to maintain order. If there are any discordant scenes, don't blame us for being rude." Mai Lihao's words were full of unquestionable majesty and toughness, and the commotion in the crowd gradually died down.

Since Governor MacLehose arrived, the number of police officers on the scene has doubled. Coupled with the Governor's Defense Force's high alert, a powerful deterrent has been formed invisibly.

Under such circumstances, many people have begun to disperse on their own initiative.

The majesty accumulated by the Governor's Office over the years has made many citizens feel in awe and unwilling to easily confront the authorities. Even if they still have concerns about funding, they dare not challenge the Governor's authority.

As for those who still wanted to stay and cause trouble, seeing that others were leaving one after another, they did not want to be the first to do so, so they just followed suit and left the scene.

After all, these are just a group of ordinary people who are worried about the safety of their hard-earned money, not thugs who deliberately cause trouble.

Thus, the crisis was gradually resolved with just a few words from Governor MacLehose.

Twenty minutes later, the streets that were originally crowded, noisy, filled with tension and anger gradually returned to their former calm, leaving only the orderly evacuation of police officers and the occasional sporadic conversations.

Lin Haoran, who was far away in Kang Le Building, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the scene gradually return to calm.

He also watched the whole process through Channel Jade. He had to say that Governor MacLehose's prestige in Hong Kong and his ability to deal with emergencies were truly amazing. These were all within his expectations.

However, although the time for counterattack had come, he was also afraid that if the situation got out of control and the citizens rushed into the headquarters building of the Bank of East Asia, the losses caused to the Bank of East Asia would be great.

Fortunately, things went as he expected and were easily handled by the Governor's Office.

At this moment, his mobile phone rang.

It was quite unexpected that it was Governor-General MacLehose who called personally.

"Mr. Lin, if you are free, how about coming to the headquarters of Bank of East Asia? I'll wait for you here!" Mai Lihao's tone towards Lin Haoran was still relatively polite.

After all, Mai Lihao also knew the cause and effect of the matter, and it had little to do with the investor Lin Haoran.

"Okay, Mr. Governor, please wait for me for ten minutes and I'll be there soon. By the way, please keep the reporters here. Since Mr. Governor wants me to solve this matter, I will solve it in front of the reporters. How about that?" Lin Haoran answered directly.

Lin Haoran knew that the reporters at the scene were still there, waiting for more valuable news content.

Therefore, he also needs to make use of these reporters.

Next, Lin Haoran plans to give a live speech in front of many news media including TVB and ATV.

He wanted to bring out all the evidence, so that Huifeng Bank would fall into a different crisis of public opinion and trust, and take advantage of the aftermath of the Bank of East Asia incident to deal a heavy blow to Huifeng Bank.

Since Huifeng Bank wants to take over Bank of East Asia, it should be prepared for severe retaliation.

Lin Haoran is not the kind of person who can be easily manipulated.

(End of this chapter)