Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

Wang Yaotang decided to keep an eye on things for now and didn't order anyone to take action. It wasn't the right time yet. His reputation had been damaged after Boss Lü's entire family died, and many wealthy people had expressed their dissatisfaction with him openly or secretly.

Wang Yaotang believed in "cutting the weeds and eliminating the roots," while other wealthy people, who had no vested interests, were more concerned with "not letting their families suffer the consequences." Their perspectives and ideas differed.

If Kadoorie's people were suddenly assassinated on a large scale now, everyone would know that he was the one who did it, and his reputation would be truly ruined.

It's not like when we were street thugs, all of us desperately wanting to be infamous and intimidate people...

……

That evening, newspapers and radio stations gave extensive coverage to the "march" and "strike" in front of the Governor's House, and the intervention of the Hong Kong British government had no effect.

They've always championed freedom of speech, so how could they possibly suppress it now?

The Kadoorie family tried many connections, but to no avail.

The media also needs to consider the issue of authority.

If other newspapers report on it, but yours remains silent, the next day those newspapers will attack your stance and professionalism, saying you've been bribed and dare not tell the truth.

In such a small place as Hong Kong, with only a few dozen newspapers, the competition for market share is fierce.

Therefore, even if some newspapers are lobbied, they will only try to whitewash the situation by mentioning things like the "oil crisis" and the "long construction period of power plants," and it's impossible for them to suppress the news.

ATV and TVB, along with Wang Yaotang, Kadoorie, and the Hong Kong government, all had public relations efforts, but the report still came out. They are major electricity consumers, and the rising electricity prices in recent years have indeed increased their costs significantly.

Putting aside others, Fang Yihua and Uncle Shao's obsession with cost control... of course they wouldn't hold back at this point.

The West has a relatively sound procedure for handling strikes.

If you pretend you don't see it, the strikers also need to work and eat. If it goes on for too long, you'll just have to let it go.

Of course, if you encounter an organized professional strike team... then you should negotiate with the strike representatives, promise benefits and make a deal, and finally the authorities will come out and make some encouraging speeches to temporarily improve the situation.

However, this time the organizer was Wang Yaotang's man, which made things a bit more difficult. As soon as the negotiations started, cameras were set up, ostensibly to give an explanation to other striking factories and workers, and to ensure "fairness" and "transparency" in communication with the authorities. This made Youde feel very annoyed!
"Damn bastard!" Yud cursed as he heard the report from below.

“Should we send the garrison to maintain order? That bastard has done a lot of illegal things. There must be a lot of weapons in his stronghold, especially his security company base on Putai Island. There are reports that his warships are stationed there, and passing ships often hear the sound of gunfire from the island. He is hoarding a large amount of weapons!” Old Lian’s person in charge said.

"Are you fucking crazy!" Yud cursed angrily, "Deploying troops, and then what? Fierce fighting, huge casualties, isn't that giving them an excuse? Do you believe the Chinese army will cross the river the next day!"

"Have you seen how tough they can be? I have!"

Yud rose to power through the "Purple Water" incident.

These tiny island nations often engage in provocative incidents to demonstrate their influence and incite public sentiment.

Despite being decimated on the European battlefield and having a disastrous domestic economy, they still act like the British are on the verge of never setting. When we announced the deadline for the withdrawal of Chinese and foreign warships, British ships deliberately sent frigates up the water, ignoring warnings and continuing to advance. Do you think the Chinese can tolerate this?
More than 50 shots hit him, forcing him to raise the white flag and surrender. In the following 24 hours, three warships were sent to rescue him, but they were also attacked and suffered heavy losses. Only then did he suddenly realize that he could no longer intimidate people... What a coward!
They wanted to get what they couldn't get on the battlefield through the negotiating table. The negotiations reached a stalemate because the negotiator refused to admit the mistake of trespassing on the inland waterway. At this time, Youde came up with the idea of ​​"substituting one thing for another". As the negotiator, he communicated with the Chinese on the front line to attract attention. "Amethyst" turned off its lights and disguised itself as the "Jiangling J Fang" passenger ship to escape. The real "Jiangling J Fang" was mistaken for "Amethyst" and was sunk by the Lao Chinese.

He was nearly killed on the front lines... Afterwards, Yud was awarded the MBE for his meritorious service.

When Chinese people get angry, they really dare to fire!

The old Inspector Lim was scolded so badly he didn't dare to raise his head, but he showed no fear on his face, merely giving the Governor a way out.

"Alright, let's talk about it however we want. The problem of rising electricity prices is the same all over the world, it's not just Hong Kong." With that, Youde stopped pretending and waved everyone away.

After a moment's thought, he made a phone call: "Mr. Kadoya, how are you feeling? Are you feeling any better?"

Xiao Jia's heart skipped a beat. "It's alright. The doctor said I need to rest and keep calm."

"The most important thing is to be happy. I think this saying in Hong Kong is very true: whether you're troubled or happy, it's still just one day, right? The Kadoorie Foundation is operating well, CLP Power is in a stable market, and the company's affairs are handled by professional managers. Enjoying life is the most important thing. What do you think?"

Xiao Jia cursed inwardly: "That Wang guy is going to confiscate our house, what are you still enjoying?!"

“Governor, please speak your mind!” Little Jia Daoli said through gritted teeth.

"The oil crisis is a global problem, and ensuring Hong Kong's power supply requires the participation of more people and collective wisdom."

Xiao Jiadao was breathing rapidly. "It was the robbers who were sabotaging the power supply, not me!"

"The rise in electricity prices is an objective problem, and the authorities must take action. This is to be responsible for the 500 million citizens of Hong Kong and the tens of thousands of factories. Now is the most important moment!" Youde's voice also turned cold. These damned greedy scumbags, Grandet who would rather die than hand over his gold coins.

Suddenly I understand Adolf: you should use a strong degreasing agent!
Xiao Jiadao clutched his chest, his face turning a deep purplish-red. "You're interfering with the free market economy! It's illegal, immoral, it's robbery!"

"I'll arrange a meeting with Wang Yaotang the day after tomorrow to give you some room for negotiation. That's all!" Youde slammed down the phone.

His face was equally grim. These damned Judas! He had helped them so much before, letting them use official power to cause trouble for Wang Yaotang, and they didn't even know how to be grateful!

It's not that I'm trying to help that guy surnamed Wang, it's that you couldn't even use your chance!
On the other side, Kadoorie was so angry that he almost had to be taken away by ambulance again. After taking medicine and calming down, he cursed loudly, "These damned Anglo-Saxon pirates, ungrateful! The scapegoat 'Jiangling' was found by the Kadoorie family, and now that they've taken over, they've forgotten everything!"

"And those damned Chinese, without Kadoorie Education, they're just a bunch of yellow-skinned monkeys, always dragging their feet when it comes to doing anything!"

"Damn it, damn it!"

"The cooperation with the Japanese should have continued from the beginning!"

"Boss, BHP Billiton has sent a fax..." the secretary said in a low voice.

"Get out!" Xiao Jia shouted, knowing what it was without even looking.

After a moment's hesitation, the secretary said, "Boss, someone is shorting the stock market..."

"It's that robber!" Xiao Jia immediately realized.

Protests, strikes, and public exposure to put pressure on the Hong Kong British government—these were not Wang's trump cards; the stock market was!
The man surnamed Wang has a large number of shares in circulation that he is selling. Even if financial companies see this, they know that he and the man surnamed Wang are locked in a fierce struggle and they will not get involved or oppose the man surnamed Wang for such a small amount of money. As for retail investors, they dare not take over the shares in the face of such a big negative news. It is inevitable that the stock price will collapse because no one will take over the shares.

As members of the oil stain family, how could they not be involved in financial operations?

Many of CLP Power's shares are pledged to HSBC and Standard Chartered to raise funds for use in the financial market and reinvestment. Once the share price falls below the pledge price, the banks will immediately execute the pledge, and the shares will then become the banks' property!
He could handle the previous ones, but the cash flow absolutely cannot be cut off!

Little Jia cursed again. These Anglo-Saxon pirates were completely unreliable. Britain's influence in Asia was getting weaker and weaker, and it was easily broken. They couldn't count on them anymore and had to find a new backer.

Mountains crumble when you rely on them, people run away when you rely on them, and oil stains only make more oil stains!
"Contact Israel! I want to become an Israeli citizen and establish a security company there. Recruit a large number of people for me! It's just an army, right? I want one too! I can buy warships! God's chosen people are fearless! We are the smartest! Our warship technology is unmatched by any yellow-skinned monkey! I must kill him! I must kill his whole family!" Little Jia Daodao roared and waved his arms in the room, his face contorted with rage.

"Boss, how many people do we need to hire?" the secretary asked excitedly.

"Recruit 200... no, let me think." Xiao Jia's mind raced, calculating. Although they were all brainless lousy soldiers, the salary was still 2000 a month. No, that was too much. There was no danger involved, and their worthless lives weren't worth that much money!
$1500, plus food, lodging, and insurance, bringing the monthly cost to $3000.

The thought of spending so much money made Xiao Jia Daoli feel dizzy, lightheaded, and short of breath; it was worse than death for him.

Through negotiations between China Resources and Laos, CLP Power, leveraging its long-standing expertise in power plant operation, management, equipment, and capital, partnered with Laos to jointly develop the Shajiao Power Plant, which required substantial funding.

As a prominent Hong Kong family, they had no secrets from the authorities and naturally discovered that Southeast Asian countries were on a fast track of development, with great potential in the electricity market.

It's such a waste to spend this money on these worthless soldiers instead of investing it!
“150 people, no, 100 people, 100 people is a lot, enough. Oil stains are God’s chosen people, the noblest race. 100 people are enough to fight 1000 yellow-skinned monkeys!” Xiao Jiadao said through gritted teeth.

The thought of spending nearly $400 million a year on security made him feel dizzy.

"Forget it, 50 people is enough, that's enough."

After giving the order, Xiao Jia waved the person away and sulked to herself.

……

For major incidents, negotiations were arranged directly at the Governor's Palace.

When Wang Yaotang arrived, he was in high spirits. As the victor, he naturally wanted to be high-profile. He waved to the reporters before striding into the Governor's Mansion. "Old monk, let them get to work." "Alright," the old monk nodded.

When Xiao Jiadao got out of the car, his face was ashen, as if his ancestral graves had been dug up. He didn't even look at the reporters and went straight into the Governor's Mansion.

As soon as he entered the conference room, Wang Yaotang immediately stood up and waved, saying, "Wow, good afternoon, Mr. Kadoorie!"

"Damn it!" Little Jia Daoli's eyes almost popped out as he glared at Youde and shouted, "Governor, you saw it! He's making the 'natif' gesture! He's humiliating me!"

"It's just a simple greeting, why do you always feel like others are targeting you oil stains?" Wang Yaotang scoffed. "Well, indeed, for thousands of years all rulers have been cracking down on oil stains, and every country has been criticizing oil stains."

So, why is that?

"Germans hate you, Russians hate you, French hate you, British hate you, even grease hates grease, who likes you?"

"Look for the reasons within yourself and reflect on why other ethnic groups are not targeted, but oil stains are."

“You damn racist, you damn sodium, I’m going to…”

“Fuck your mother! Hong Kong has over 500 million people, but there are only 3000 'oiled people' in total. Sassoon, Hardoon, Copenhagen, and Solomon were all driven out before the 60s. Only your Kadoorie gang of cowards is left behind, a lone commander!” Wang Yaotang shouted angrily. “If it weren’t for Governor Youde’s intervention, I would have driven you Kadoorie out of the country.”

Seeing Xiao Jia's face turning red from being argued, You De had no choice but to step in and help, "Alright, Your Majesty, we didn't bring you here today to discuss the issue of national progressiveness. Let's get back to the main topic!"

He forced Xiao Jiadao to submit for the sake of stability, and now he is helping Xiao Jiadao for the same reason.

Wang Yaotang's power has expanded too quickly...

“Alright, I’ll give the Governor face.” Wang Yaotang spread his hands and laughed. “Originally, I was going to drive Kadoorie out, but now I’m giving up 30% of the shares so you can continue to have a share.”

"Impossible! CLP Power was established by Kadoorie Kadoorie himself. You can't take it away!" Kadoorie Kadoorie Jr. suddenly stood up and roared.

"Losers should have the awareness of losers."

"I'd rather CLP Power go bankrupt and take everyone in Kowloon with me!" Kadoorie was certain that the Hong Kong British government would never agree to this.

“Governor, he’s not giving you face. This puts me in a difficult position.” Wang Yaotang shrugged.

“CLP Power has been operating well. Wang, the authorities believe that Chinese capital should participate for stability reasons, but participation is not replacement, which goes against stability!” Yu De stepped in again.

"Ha!" Wang Yaotang slowly stood up. "So you sent me here today just to play a trick on me?"

“Absolutely not!” Youde quickly stood up. “Things need a gradual transition, just like in Hong Kong. Moving too fast isn’t a good thing, is it?”

"..."

……

London, England.

2 PM in Hong Kong, 6 AM in London.

Thomas Kadoorie, who had been partying all night, came out of the bar and, escorted by bodyguards, headed toward a nearby coffee shop, intending to have breakfast before going home to rest.

The bodyguard pushed open the glass door, and Thomas Kadoorie swaggered toward his usual seat. The bodyguard said to the clerk, "The usual."

"Yes, gentlemen." The clerk nodded expressionlessly.

These two men were regulars; you could tell they were a rich young master and his bodyguard, but he didn't like this guy who was reluctant to give a tip at all.

Rich people are the stingiest of all!
At another table, two men wearing baseball caps and sporting mustaches put down their knives and forks, took a sip of their coffee, stood up, and casually pulled an UZI from their bag with their right hand.

"Tu tu tu tu tu—"

"Tu tu tu tu tu—"

Bullets rained down like a storm, shattering tables and glass into countless fragments. The bodyguard's eyes were filled with terror, and Thomas Kadoorie was knocked to the ground without even raising his head!
The staff member was so frightened that he immediately shrank back behind the counter, while the other customers covered their heads and crawled under the table.

Two men with mustaches pulled up their shirts, took out new magazines, changed their ammunition, calmly picked up their backpacks, walked over, and fired a few more shots into the heads to confirm their deaths before swaggering out of the coffee shop.

Get in the car, start the engine, and drive away.

……

Manchester, England.

A Ford pickup truck was parked in front of a mansion in a wealthy neighborhood.

Three black men wearing hooded jackets got out of the car, opened the iron gate and the front door of the house one after another, and walked into the mansion as if they were coming home.

Then...

"Wang Wang Wang-"

"Da da da"

"Da da"

"Da da"

It was a luxury house after all, with excellent soundproofing, so the party wouldn't disturb the neighbors. A little over a minute later, the three of them walked out, stepping on bloody footprints, got into the car, and drove off.

……

Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Basel, Switzerland.

Athens, Greece.

At the same time, people of different skin colors appeared, opened fire, killed people, and then drove away...

……

“Very good, then let’s proceed as agreed. Wang Yaotang will acquire the 22% stake in CLP Power held by the Kadoorie family’s fund for US$2.64 million in cash. Draft the contract and sign it!” Youde said loudly.

Wang Yaotang clapped lightly, then turned to look at the general manager of Standard Chartered Bank, "I'll use assets as collateral for $2 million, is there a problem?"

“No problem,” the Standard Chartered Bank general manager said with a smile.

Xiao Jia nodded silently with a dark expression.

The three lawyers quickly got to work, and the only sounds in the meeting room were the rustling of writing and the clicking of typewriters.

It took the lawyers a full hour to finish everything. The contract was over a dozen pages long and was signed by Wang Yaotang, Xiao Kadoorie, Standard Chartered Bank, and HSBC.

“OK!” Youde stood up, smiled, and clapped his hands. “The past is the past. Let’s look to the future and work together to speed up the construction of the Castle Peak Power Plant, bring down the high electricity prices as soon as possible, and revitalize Hong Kong’s economy.”

"Rest assured, Governor, I will ensure the stability of coal prices and supply, complete the second phase of construction and put it into operation as soon as possible, and at the same time help stabilize the emotions of the affected factory owners," Wang Yaotang said with a smile.

Youde gave a thumbs up, so bringing in Wang Yaotang's capital was still very useful.

Now that things had come to this, Xiao Jia forced a smile and shook hands with everyone.

After a 'harmonious' dinner, the group finally left the Governor's Mansion. (End of Chapter)