Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Minister Li, you Singaporean officials have said both the good and the bad."

Chen Dong's words were extremely blunt, directly and simply pointing out the shameless face of the Po County government's desire to have it all. Li Guangdong's face gradually darkened, and his original refined expression, like that of a university professor, disappeared, replaced by a tight-lipped expression.

Milian remained seated, but his eyes grew even calmer. He didn't interrupt, letting Chen Dong break the ice. In negotiations, you can't be polite when it's time to fight, and you can't be soft when it's time to back down.

Now it's time for Chen Dong, that monkey, to fan the flames a little more.

"Mr. Chen, President Mi, our Singapore government is not saying that we do not allow international financial and trade settlements to be conducted in Singapore," Li Guangxiong said after a long pause. "It is just that it must be done through compliant and fair means, not by inciting Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia, especially those from the Teochew and Tuozhou groups, to maliciously transfer funds that should have been deposited or processed through our Singapore settlement system."

"Such malicious acts are intolerable to the international financial regulatory system. I know you, Mr. Chen, have a master's degree in economics from Harvard. You should be aware of the consequences if I report Tuocheng's actions to international financial regulatory agencies!"

"Oh, really?" Chen Dong sneered, leaning forward slightly, his eyes sharp as knives. "Minister Li, you are free to appeal directly to the international financial regulatory agency. Your county has that right, and I, Chen Zaidong, am ready to oblige at any time."

"However, before you file a complaint, I suggest you call your brother, Li Guangliang, and ask him what he plans to use to deal with the anger of the Hung Society. Is the foreign currency in the Singapore Bank enough to repay the debts owed to the Hung Society and even other Teochew Chambers of Commerce?"

"Debts owed?!"

Not only Li Guangxiong, but also Mi Lian, who had been listening quietly, couldn't help but ask the same question as Li Guangxiong: why did Chen Dong mention this debt, and even say that the entire foreign exchange reserves of the Singaporean bank were not enough to repay it?

Seeing Li Guangdong and the others looking at him with suspicion, Chen Dong took out a brown paper document bag from his briefcase, pulled out a laminated, tan-colored sheet of paper, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Li Guangdong.

"A written agreement?" Li Guangdong read the words on the laminated, yellowish-brown paper aloud in a low voice: "Due to the urgent need of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia to build the port of Singapore, we hereby borrow US$100,000 from Mr. Chen Shengyu of Chaozhou Prefecture, with an interest rate of 8% per annum, for a term of three years."

Upon completion of the three-year term, principal and interest will be repaid together. If the repayment is not made by the due date, Chen Shengyu and his descendants have the right to pursue the matter themselves, and the Singapore colonial government will recognize and assist in its enforcement.

"Guarantor: Robert Chushen, Director of the Finance Department of the British Colonial Government of Singapore County."

"The signatory... Chen Shengyu!"

"Date... March 15, 1931"

"This, this, this," Li Guangdong murmured, unable to continue. At this moment, he saw the signature and seal on the pledge. Although it was somewhat blurred due to its age, he could still vaguely recognize it as the emblem of the British Straits Settlements.

Li Guangdong recognized this written statement, which was essentially a debt note, and he had even participated in the discussion and design of some of the exchange rates back then.

In 1931, the 20th year of the Republic of China, Singapore was still under British colonial rule. The early settlers of Chaozhou went to Southeast Asia and contributed money and effort to build some of the earliest deep-water wharves in Singapore. This loan of 100,000 US dollars was one of countless similar "loans" at the time. It was said to be for three years, but the colonial government never really thought about repaying it.

Later, the Japanese marched south, and the British suffered repeated defeats. Singapore was occupied by the Japanese. At that time, the Chinese were too afraid to even flee from the vicious Japanese. Who would dare to ask the Japanese for the loans owed by the British colonial government?

Later, the Allied forces won, Japan surrendered unconditionally, and the useless British returned to Singapore to continue their lingering. At this time, most of the Chinese who were still alive and had lent money to the British colonial government had already mortgaged their loan IOUs to America's Hongmen Dagong Foundation.

In order to recover these debts, the Hongmen, together with other borrowers and their descendants, demanded payment from the British colonial government. However, they were met with military suppression and control by the inhumane British colonial government. Later, Li Guangliang came forward to make private and secret negotiations with the Hongmen.

He promised that as long as the Hongmen contacted the Chinese in Southeast Asia, publicly voted to support the self-government of Singapore County, and supported him, Li Guangliang, to become the first general secretary of the Singapore County Self-Government, he, Li Guangliang, would urge the self-government government to repay the debts.

However, after Li Guangliang actually succeeded, his attitude became ambiguous, because after fifty-three years of compound interest, the total loan amount was no longer a small sum.

The note that Chen Dong produced alone was a $100,000 IOU that his grandfather, Chen Shengyu, lent to the colonial government of Singapore. The principal of the $100,000 IOU was, according to the agreement reached with the autonomous government formed by Li Guangliang at the time. In order to avoid repaying the money, Li Guangliang used delaying tactics.

Based on the current exchange rate and the total interest at the time, a new IOU was signed with Chen Shengyu. In 1965, the principal and interest of this IOU were worth 35 million US dollars.

Afterwards, the Singapore government kept delaying repayment with various excuses. Calculated at an annual compound interest rate of 8%, by 1971, the principal and interest on the IOU had ballooned to US dollars. At that time, the American government announced that the US dollar would be decoupled from gold. Mr. Chen Shengyu was eager to recover this huge sum of money and put pressure on the Singapore government under Li Guangliang through American members of parliament supported by the Hongmen.

Singapore outwardly acknowledged the legality of the IOU, but then proposed a "principal reset." Taking advantage of this once-in-a-century upheaval in the international monetary system, they forcibly inserted an inflation adjustment clause, which diluted Mr. Chen Sheng-yu's principal and interest of US$228 million. This infuriated Mr. Chen, who cursed Singapore as an ingrate.

This $5325 million loan, compounded at 8%, has grown to its current state in 1984. The net interest is in US dollars, and the total principal and interest is in US dollars!

After reading the statement, Li Guangdong calculated the figure almost instantly. His fingers trembled slightly under the table as he whispered, "I didn't expect that the interest would snowball to this extent over the years. The net interest alone is already 91 million US dollars, and with principal and interest, the total exceeds 140 million US dollars!"

"Minister Li, you probably don't recognize this IOU. Should I bring out the new IOU my grandfather signed with your Singapore government back then?" Chen Dong looked at Li Guangxiong with a mocking expression. "There are a total of 108 such IOUs at the San Francisco Hongmen headquarters!"

"As for the loans held by Chinese people around the world and the Chaozhou-Tuozhou Chamber of Commerce, there are probably two or three hundred of them. Although not every loan amount is the same as my grandfather's, they add up to a considerable sum."

"If the group collectively demands repayment from your Singapore County Government, can your government come up with such a huge sum of money to repay it?"