The Chief Detective Inspector is dead. I'm now the top police officer in Hong Kong!

Chapter 73 Defeated Soldiers (17) Requesting first subscription and monthly votes.
Upper decision decided by the economic background.

The "police reform" implemented by foreigners in the 1970s was similar in nature to the "August 3rd Strike" and "anti-gang and anti-crime" campaigns in China.

All of this is aimed at removing obstacles at the grassroots level for economic development.

The policy was implemented from top to bottom to eliminate corruption and unleash economic vitality. In short, one can doubt the character of foreigners, but not their political acumen.

In fact, the Westerners were very farsighted; before their southern tour, they had already done their homework and were waiting for a period of rapid growth.

This is leading corrupt police gangs down the old path, resisting the times. But heroes are those who adapt to the times, jump ship, change flags—it's the only way to survive.

Lin Tiansheng was a soldier, but soldiers must first and foremost be politically aware. The stereotype of a rigid and brainless officer does not exist in the minds of ordinary people.

Occasionally, a couple of idiots would appear; it was the person who was idiotic, not the soldier himself. During his months on Hong Kong Island, besides working tirelessly, he also constantly observed society and analyzed its phenomena.
The four words "adapt to the times" exploded in everyone's minds like a thunderbolt, deafeningly loud.

Qiao Jingxing, who held a high position, had tried to find a way out, but he couldn't figure out the underlying logic and was speechless. He stammered, "How do I adapt to the times?"

Hong Baolian's bright eyes sparkled with anticipation: "Asheng, tell me something useful."

When it comes to the general trends of the times, specific solutions are needed for concrete matters. A single, general summary won't fool the astute people here.

Who can't talk nonsense?
Every political group's new policies must be implementable and able to resolve current contradictions. The remnants of the party have two contradictions: the first is power, and the second is making money.

However, comprehending the underlying logic of the era is not easy. Without traveling back in time and reflecting on the past and present, Lin Tiansheng is not necessarily more insightful than them.

Historically, the collapse and demise of remnants of the regime was a natural progression. Lin Tiansheng wanted to forcefully reverse the tide of destruction, so he had to demonstrate sufficient strength.

He sat down in front of Guan Yu and said, "From now on, we will do two things. First, we will actively solve cases, forge ahead, and rely on our abilities to openly and honorably replace the elite faction."

"The second thing is to not accept bribes, but to establish legitimate companies to invest in real estate, finance, and industry."

“In the past, foreigners made money in the underworld, and we made money in the underworld. Now, foreigners make money in the legitimate world, and we make money in the legitimate world.”

"Stick to the foreigners and squeeze out those foreign-speaking dogs! You shouldn't hold any more shares in the triad's companies, right?"

In the past, it was quite normal for corrupt police officers to take shares in triads and provide them with protection. However, the remnants of the triads who managed to survive until the 1980s had long since severed ties with them. Therefore, making money through legitimate means was not a voluntary choice, but a reality they had been forced to accept.

There was not a trace of naivety, but rather a bloody reality. Those who were reluctant to leave were either in prison, overseas, or, after being dismissed from their posts, were completely exploited by the gang and turned into trash.

Lin Tiansheng reiterated that he was not asking them to cut their losses, but rather to sever any thought of turning back.

Compared to making money through legitimate means, making money through shady methods is certainly ten or a hundred times easier.

No matter how difficult it is, we must keep going. Otherwise, if we can't even achieve financial transformation, what's the difference between corrupt police and gangsters?
It's important to understand that the difficulty for triads to transform their businesses stems primarily from poor management skills. They are often forced to entrust their operations to professional managers, who are then unable to effectively control them. Many triads that attempted to legalize their operations ended up losing all their money to their managers, leaving them furious and returning to their shady ways.

Therefore, while Westerners prohibit public officials from accepting bribes, they do not prohibit them from holding shares or establishing companies.

This is both to leave an opening for legitimate revenue collection and to promote the economy by incorporating it into the "free market."

However, Lin Tiansheng was aware of economic trends, and even without knowing the details, he could try to adjust the situation accordingly. He could also use the power derived from military force to influence politics and provide legitimate support for legitimate businesses. Compared to transformed triads, this approach offered greater control over managers, eliminating the worry of being taken advantage of.

To give an example, while triads cannot influence policy, once they rise to the top ranks of the police force, they can even influence development plans through the municipal council.

While triads cannot track the money that has been transferred, the police can use the Commercial Investigation Division to trace the flow of funds into accounts, freeze accounts, and recover the money.

These are all benefits that come with power, and their reasonable use is not illegal.

Furthermore, while legitimate businesses are subject to the control of foreign firms, with their ceilings locked—for example, core land, trade, and finance are all in the hands of foreigners—their floor is a ceiling that shady businesses can never reach. In this world, the white side is always bigger than the black side, and legitimate businesses will always make more money than the underworld.

If the current situation is resolved successfully, in the future, through economic investment and political speculation, the support of the North can be won, the Westerners can be completely overthrown, British-owned trading companies can be swallowed up, and the ceiling can be broken. However, the last step is a long-term plan, and he did not reveal it, so as not to make Qiao Jingxing and others think that he was just making empty promises.

At this point, Huang Qixian, Pu Yongshi, Li Jiaxiang, and others had growing doubts and were starting to have second thoughts.

It's one thing to squeeze out the elites based on their professional abilities. But if Westerners want to use Chinese people, there's no real difference between the remnants and the elites. It's perfectly reasonable to use whoever is stronger.

Qiao Jingxing could even think of something a little higher, such as turning the tables and recruiting the elite faction. Huang Qixian and others were not stingy with their reputations; if the foreigners needed dirty work, then they would do the dirty work. On the surface, their business skills were solving cases, but on a deeper level, the foreigners had many needs, and some of those needs were exactly what they were good at handling.

Making money through legitimate means is a sound principle, but who bears the losses? Everyone just wants to make money effortlessly, without any effort at all. If you had the ability to run a company, who would still be working in the police force? Everyone would be a big boss!

The "remnants" in front of me were a bunch of defeated soldiers, some of whom were losers in the competition during the time of the Chief Detective Inspector. Don't be fooled by their current glamorous appearance; apart from their jobs, they probably don't have much substance.

After the New Territories riots, the newly arrived Senior Inspector of the New Territories South Uniformed Division, "Yam Chiu-hung," put down his teacup and said, "Young Master Sheng, I'm a newcomer, so I'm not afraid of saying the wrong thing. As for the shares in the company, I don't actually own any, but I can still make some money by issuing tickets and inspecting casinos."

"If you put the money you earn into the real estate market, regardless of how much you make, who will bear the loss if you lose it all?"

Lin Tiansheng sighed and said, "I'll take care of the bookkeeping. For our first deal in the real estate market, I've set up a real estate brokerage company. As long as everyone is willing to invest money, not counting shares, but just interest, it'll be 12% annually. Let's do it for a year and see how it goes. If it's good, we'll discuss it again at next year's meeting."

There is no other way to correct this situation. Those in positions of authority are born to bear responsibility. Power doesn't come from status, it comes from taking on responsibility!
An annual interest rate of 12% is equivalent to a 12% annual return, which is not low, but it is still far less than the housing market growth rate in the 1980s.

It would be mutually beneficial to take advantage of the situation and let Li Zhongying use it to speculate on real estate. Consider it as financing from underground banks, at least it would mobilize the remaining funds of the party.

(End of this chapter)