Hong Kong Film Intelligence King

Chapter 330 Your Excellency, You Must Respect the King
After hanging up the phone, Simon went straight to the Governor's Mansion.

He could certainly call the Dude, but once bitten, twice shy, and since the Williams incident, Simon has basically stopped discussing important matters on the phone.

what?
Why do you ask why the conversation with Wang Dao is conducted via telephone?
You wouldn't believe it if I told you, but this guy believes in the kingly way more than he believes in himself.

The fact that Wang Dao dared to say such things on the phone means that his phone was not being tapped.

Besides, there's no need to hide from others about this kind of thing.

The governor should still be treated with respect.

"Sir, what does Wong's King say?" the Dude asked excitedly.

Simon shook his head regretfully:

"Wang doesn't want to waste money on such a thing."

The governor's face was full of disappointment:
"Why is this happening?"

Ximen bluntly stated:
"The King was very dissatisfied with the actions of the Governor's Mansion."

The governor shouted:
"Nonsense. The Governor's Mansion is honest and upright, and Hong Kong is thriving under its rule."

Simon almost turned and left.

What utter nonsense are you spouting? Do you even believe it yourself?

Simon had to remind him:

“The king is a great merchant and has his own sources of intelligence.”

"Let's get down to business."

"Regarding the matters of Commissioner Shen Daban and Commissioner William... what you just said was inappropriate."

The governor's face turned bright red from holding back his anger.

Forget about this!
I've talked too much about the past, and I can just spout platitudes off the top of my head.

However, the matter concerning Commissioner William III was a slap in the face for him.

Ordinary people might not know the inside story of their suicides, but how could Wang Dao not know?
Never underestimate a rich person.

The governor said awkwardly:
"What exactly did the king say?"

Ximen then recounted his explanation to Wang Dao.

The governor looked at Ximen with a sense of disappointment and frustration.

Simon asked in bewilderment:
"Lord Governor, is there anything you want to say to me?"

The governor said bluntly:
“Wang is a wise man; everything he says is correct.”

"You are a foreign firm from the Fog City, receiving so much favor from the Governor's Mansion, yet you can't even beat Chinese merchants who don't have government support..."

Simon was annoyed:

"What do business matters have to do with me?"

"Our foreign firms in Chongqing have always been protected by the government and dumped their products on the colonies."

"Aren't they just huge colonies for dumping goods?"

"There's no need to upgrade the technology."

Before World War II, the capitalists in the foggy city lived a very comfortable life. They had colonies all over the world, and all they had to do was produce products, since they could sell them in the colonies anyway.

Industrial upgrading?

Improve technical level?
What is that?

What is the purpose of colonies?
Unfortunately, the diodes acted inhumanely, uniting to promote the national liberation movement, leading to the independence of many colonies and making life difficult for the merchants of Chongqing.

"This is a tradition of the foggy city."

Do you want to break this tradition?

The governor was nearly choked to death.

Ximen meant one thing openly, but meant something else entirely.

This is how the big capitalists in Chongqing operate.

If the Governor's Mansion dared to question it, it would offend not only the four major foreign firms in Hong Kong, but the entire financial circle of Chongqing.

The governor chickened out:

"What should we do?"

Simon sighed:

"It's impossible to get something for nothing."

"To save HSBC, we have to cede some of our profits."

The governor frowned and said:
"Is it absolutely necessary to concede benefits?"

Simon countered:
"Do you think you can just snatch Hutchison Whampoa away?"

The governor sighed heavily:
"Forty years ago, it might have been possible..."

Simon looked at him as if he were a ghost:
"Sir, are you insane?"

The governor waved his hand dejectedly:

“I’m not crazy. I said it was possible forty years ago, but things are different now.”

Simon said seriously:
"Sir, you should not underestimate the power of the wealthy."

Even if it's a Chinese businessman.

"If this gets out, it could cause a lot of trouble."

The governor smiled wryly:
"You'll tell anyone?"

Ximen said solemnly:
"I don't know, but others might not be unaware of it."

Just as the governor was dismissing the idea, Simon continued,
"I always thought my office was the most private place."

"However, you also know what happened before."

"Can you believe someone has installed a bug in my office?"

The governor choked half to death, thought for a moment, and whispered,

"Has someone also installed a listening device in my office?"

"Can't you?"

Ximen said calmly:
"Who knows?"

The governor remained silent for a long time. There were too many spies in Hong Kong, and he really didn't dare to say there weren't any.

Simon said seriously:
"Do you truly wish to resolve HSBC's problems?"

The governor nodded vigorously:

"Of course!"

Simon said seriously:
"In that case, let's follow the rules of our business world."

“The problem isn’t just with HSBC; if we let it continue like this, we’ll be in big trouble.”

"Everyone will be affected; no one can remain uninvolved."

The governor smiled wryly:
"That's why I asked the jazz to contact the king."

Simon shook his head:
"If you do this, the king won't take the bait."

The governor asked, puzzled:
"why?"

Ximen said calmly:
"You don't respect the king enough."

The governor's mouth dropped open:
"what?!"

Simon explained:
“It is a fact that you do not show enough respect to the king.”

“No matter what, Wang is the richest man in the Chinese community and the taipan of Hutchison Whampoa. Although he is young, no one in the business circle dares to underestimate him.”

"Even senior figures in the Chinese business community have high praise for him."

"For example, when the shipping magnate Bao mentions Wang in front of others, he always has a lot of good things to say about him."

"However, if you want to resolve the HSBC issue, you simply call me and ask me to relay the information."

“You did not communicate with Wang at all beforehand.”

"This is a sign of disrespect."

The governor chuckled dryly:
“Wang is not a businessman from Chongqing; I have never dealt with him before.”

Simon shook his head:
"That's not a reason."

"Actually, you thought Wang was a Chinese businessman, so you could manipulate him at will."

"Don't forget, Wang came from the bottom, and he doesn't have a good impression of our Fog City."

“Wang Juqi has never received any favors from you, nor from the government.”

"You mean nothing to the king."

The governor blushed at Simon's words.

Ximen sighed:

"Your Excellency, the King is a self-made man, and he has a strong and decisive personality."

"It's practically impossible to get him to back down!"

"He responds better to gentle persuasion than force."

The governor shouted:
"Do you expect me to bow down to him?"

Ximen asked:

"If HSBC goes bankrupt, how much will it have to do with Wang?"

The governor shook his head.

Ximen shrugged:

"If that's the case, why would anyone help you save HSBC?"

"Can't they just sit idly by and watch HSBC go bankrupt?"

The governor was speechless for a moment.

Ximen solemnly said:
"If you want Wang to save HSBC, then you must have the magnanimity to ask for favors."

The governor hesitated for a moment.

Ximen laughed:

"If you want to save HSBC, I guess your first consideration will be us foreign firms."

"We've considered Jardine Matheson, Swire, Standard Chartered, and others."

"We only turned to Wang when all else failed."

“Take Jardine Matheson as an example. We lost a lot of money recently, and even Hongkong Land was acquired by Wang during the chaos.”

"He acted too quickly; the acquisition was completed before we could even react."

"If Jardine Matheson is like this, then other foreign firms are even worse."

“Even Hutchison Whampoa was successfully acquired by Wang.”

"Your Excellency must have taken into account the strength of the various foreign firms before reluctantly considering Wang."

The governor nodded with a wry smile.

Simon is a shrewd businessman; you can't hide your own ulterior motives from him.

"Saving HSBC is easier said than done."

"A bank run has already begun, and without sufficient cash, there is no way to quell the crisis."

"This is a fact."

"And this cash needs to be substantial enough. According to my estimate, at least two billion in cash needs to be prepared."

"Two billion in cash, which foreign firm could come up with that?"

The governor explained:
"The three officials said that the king can produce it."

Ximen sighed:
"He is undoubtedly the richest man in Hong Kong."

"He's got so much money to spare, and you still don't respect him."

Even if you disrespect him because of his skin color, what about money?

"A businessman who can easily produce two billion in cash deserves everyone's respect."

"What gives you the right to disrespect him?"

The governor had nothing to say.

Of course, the Dude could ignore ordinary wealthy people.

After all, he was the Governor of Hong Kong, the head of the civil officials, and wielded considerable power.

But the truly wealthy are not easy for even the Dude to ignore. For example, the four major trading houses, the wealthy families of Chongqing, the taipans of Standard Chartered and HSBC, and the Wang Dao...

Under normal circumstances, the Dude doesn't care whether HSBC goes bankrupt or not.

Financial runs are not uncommon, and countless banks have collapsed during such events.

There was no indication that the governor wanted to rescue them.

To be honest, in the Western world, it's quite normal for companies to go bankrupt, and they generally don't interfere.

But this time HSBC is different.

It is the eye of the storm, and to some extent it represents the face of the foggy city. Once HSBC collapses, the face of the foggy city will be slapped hard.

This is something even fog doesn't allow.

This is also why the Governor wanted to save HSBC – it was a matter of face for the city and his political achievements.

"Political achievements" is a neutral term, not a derogatory one.

As long as your political achievements are related to people's livelihood, then you will have people supporting you.

If it's for the sake of grandiose achievements... then we must oppose it.

The governor didn't want to retire in Hong Kong after finishing his term; he still had ambitions and wanted to go further.

Therefore, rescuing HSBC became an inevitable option.

Otherwise, if protests from his hometown lead to the strategic failure of Chongqing, then the governor will be in deep trouble.

"so what should I do?"

Simon said seriously:
"When you ask someone for a favor, you have to have the right attitude."

The Duchess looked at Simon suspiciously: "Sir, are you really helping me?"

Ximen said solemnly:
"I wish Wang would save HSBC."

The governor asked in surprise:

"What's the reason?"

He thought Simon would bring up the views he had previously expressed, such as the possibility that HSBC's collapse would trigger a financial crisis, but Simon's answer surprised him.

"Of course I hope Wang will save HSBC."

"To save HSBC, at least two billion in cash is needed."

"Only this cash can quell the bank run."

"But that's not enough; we also need enough cash."

"No one can guarantee that this run on banks will just pass."

“Standard Chartered Bank, which we work with, has recently reduced the amount of loans it makes.”

"What I'm afraid of is that if a stronger run on the bank occurs, problems will arise."

“I’ve done the math, and if Wang wants to save HSBC, then he doesn’t have enough cash.”

"unless……"

The governor hurriedly asked:

"Unless what?"

Simon smiled and said:
"Unless he can sell Jardine Matheson!"

The governor suddenly realized:

"You, Jardine Matheson, want to take back Jardine Land?"

Ximen smiled wryly:
"Yes."

"That damned guy took it upon himself to use land as bait, hoping to make a huge profit, but unexpectedly..."

When Ximen recalled this incident, he gritted his teeth in hatred.

“If he hadn’t jumped off the building out of guilt, I would have wiped out his entire family.”

"We are still busy fixing the hole he created."

Ximen said solemnly,
“I support Wang to save HSBC, so that he will have a very high chance of selling Hongkong Land.”

"In this way, there will be enough cash to quell this bank run."

"With Wang owning HSBC, our core business has returned."

"Everyone is happy!"

The governor suddenly realized:

"I see."

It seems that Jardine Matheson truly supports Wang Dao's acquisition of HSBC, and its own predicament has been saved.

The governor felt much more at ease!

If Simon has this idea, then things will be much easier.

"Sir, you should really try to persuade Wang Sheng."

The governor spoke earnestly,
"It would be good for both of us as long as he steps in to save HSBC."

If Wang Dao saves HSBC, then Simon will buy back the land, the Governor will gain political achievements, Hong Kong will return to normal, and everyone will be happy.

Simon looked at the governor and shook his head:
"You're right, we can both benefit, so what is the king's benefit?"

The governor said matter-of-factly:
"He got HSBC."

Ximen sighed:
"This isn't a good thing, is it?"

The governor's expression changed.

Simon shrugged:

"If it really came down to going bankrupt to save HSBC, many foreign firms in the city could have done it."

"But to be honest, why don't you go find them?"

The governor naturally said:
"I can't possibly ask them to go bankrupt to bail out HSBC, can I?"

"HSBC's reputation has been almost completely destroyed."

"No one would spend countless amounts of money to acquire such a half-dead bank."

Simon countered:
"Then what makes you think the king would do that?"

The governor was dumbfounded.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

Are you going to say that he is a Chinese businessman?

"But the problem is, he is the richest Chinese person in Hong Kong."

"He is indeed a Chinese businessman, but what reason would he have to do such a thing?"

The governor said angrily:

"So how do you get him to acquire HSBC?"

“Mr. Jiang, as long as Wang can acquire HSBC, it will be a good thing for us.”

Simon nodded:
“I understand what you mean, but you should know that a great businessman would never do a business that loses money.”

“I said, please respect the King, but your words still show that you do not respect him.”

The governor remained silent.

It's very difficult to change the mindset of an older white man.

"Sir, what do you mean?"

Simon put it very bluntly:
"Your Excellency, if you want to ask the King for a favor, you must show that you are asking for help."

"Otherwise, Wang wouldn't have saved HSBC."

The governor asked:

"What are the specific measures?"

Simon shrugged:

"Just do things according to business principles."

“If you want Wang to save HSBC, then you have to show him that it’s profitable to do so.”

"He would never do it if there was no profit involved."

"Not to mention the king, no one would do that."

The governor seemed to be deep in thought:
"In other words, we need to leave Wang enough profit in the acquisition?"

Simon nodded and then shook his head:
"That's not all!"

"Profitability is certainly an extremely important factor."

"But don't forget, for the king, there is another more important one."

The governor quickly asked:

"what?"

Ximen solemnly said:
“If I were the king, after the acquisition, I would ask one question—once I initiate the acquisition, is HSBC truly under my control?”

The governor shouted:
"Isn't this a matter of course?"

Simon smiled and asked in return:

"Is that true?"

Before the governor could answer, he gave his own answer.

"Not necessarily?"

"Think about Shen Daban, what makes him dare to give Commissioner William so much money?"

"Shen Daban should have taken control of HSBC's board of directors."

"He turned the board of directors into his own personal fiefdom."

"Otherwise, it wouldn't be so outrageous!"

Yes, that's outrageous!
The entire HSBC board of directors, from top to bottom, was controlled by Shen Daban.

The company secretary did not provide any reminder.

The independent directors had no objections.

The other directors followed suit...

This is a bank, not a family business.

Is Shen Daban really that capable?
After much thought, only one explanation can be found.

That's bribery!
Shen Daban bribed the entire HSBC board of directors.

Or rather, he used shared interests to bind everyone to his own interests.

Only in this way could the three William brothers and others have those three exorbitantly priced accounts.

If the bank's directors were even slightly more responsible, such an outrageous thing wouldn't have happened.

As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. With Shen Daban as an example, who dares to say that the other boards of directors are as clean as a blank sheet of paper?
Who dares to say there won't be another case like Commissioner William III?
"If Wang takes over HSBC, he will definitely check the books."

"It's possible that more than one Shen Daban is involved in the case."

The governor's expression changed drastically:

"How does this work?"

Ximen stood up to leave.

The governor quickly said:
"Sir, why are you leaving?"

Ximen sighed:

"Everyone should settle accounts for this kind of thing."

"Who would dare keep someone like that by their side?"

"Since you want to protect those people, there's no need for further discussion."

The governor gritted his teeth and said:
Why should I protect them?

"I have absolutely no connection with them."

Ximen solemnly said:
"If that's the case, then things will be much easier."

"As long as you make the decision, you can get rid of HSBC by giving it away halfway and handing over HSBC's board of directors to the authorities for a thorough investigation."

"Saving HSBC is not difficult!"

He specifically reminded that,

"Of course, you must respect the king!"

(End of this chapter)