The Hong Kong government was very efficient, and just after sharing lunch with Youde, Xu Zhi had just returned to the headquarters of Hutchison Building, and Xu Zhi received the news that the Hong Kong Government's Lands Department had approved the application for industrial transformation of two plots of land in Hutchison and Evergrande, and needed to make up the difference of HK$300 million and HK$100 million respectively.

This price is a little lower than the price negotiated by Li Jiacheng in the original history, and it can be regarded as the Hong Kong Governor's gift of peaches and lees.

Xu Zhi also immediately summoned the heads of Hutchison, Evergrande and the Bank of East Asia to announce the agreement with the Governor.

Ma Shimin asked worriedly: "Chairman, are you absolutely sure about this matter, otherwise, our losses will not be light." ”

"Don't worry, I'm not sure how much I can make from this, but I certainly won't lose money. Xu Zhi affirmed that in the original history, the British government used its own dollar reserves to help Xiangjiang, and at the same time, it immediately launched formal negotiations with the mainland to save Xiangjiang's economy from two aspects.

In this case, with or without Xu Zhi's help, the result will not change, and the reason why the Hong Kong governor asks for someone is because he is not clear about the future and wants to increase the chances of success.

I missed this opportunity, but I never did.

Seeing that the boss was so tough, Ma Shimin agreed: "Okay, then let's operate like this." ”

Yuan Tianfan also said: "I will immediately arrange the bank and prepare to exchange it with all my might." ”

"Okay, then you will start tomorrow and make every effort to exchange Hong Kong dollars. Xu Zhi smiled and issued an order.

......

Early the next morning, a prominent sign was posted at the door of the Bank of East Asia:

"Recently, many banks in Hong Kong have stopped converting US dollars, and some people who do not know the truth have begun to panic, worried that the Hong Kong dollar will depreciate seriously.

In order to cooperate with the Hong Kong government's rescue plan, Mr. Xu Zhi, the chairman of the Bank, will inject US$200 million into the Bank in his capacity, and at the same time, the Bank will borrow US$1.1 billion to open a fund account to allow our depositors to convert the Hong Kong dollars in their accounts into the equivalent of US dollars. ”

Like other small and medium-sized banks, the Bank of East Asia has stopped exchanging foreign currency, but now most of the people who come here are engaged in other business.

Seeing this announcement, everyone suddenly gasped in their hearts, 1.3 billion US dollars, according to the current exchange rate of 9.6, the total value is as high as 12.4 billion Hong Kong dollars. Such a large amount of money is equivalent to 6% of the entire GDP of Hong Kong, which is almost equivalent to telling BEA customers that they have no problem exchanging US dollars.

The news spread quickly, and it was just afternoon, and some people who had not opened an account at the Bank of East Asia also came to open an account as soon as they learned of the news.

Soon, congestion began to begin outside the bank, and some police officers were already starting to maintain order.

The next day, the newspapers in Hong Kong announced the news, and countless people flocked to the Bank of East Asia in order to get their coveted dollars.

In the afternoon of the same day, Xu Zhi also came to the headquarters of the Bank of East Asia, found Yuan Tianfan, and asked, "How is the situation of each branch now?"

Yuan Tianfan said: "The situation of each branch is similar to what we expected, a large number of people come to exchange dollars, it is only 3 o'clock, but I estimate that the current exchange of funds has reached 50 million US dollars." ”

"So fast!" Even if Xu Zhi knew about the run, he didn't expect that the speed of others would be so fast, and he exchanged so much in a little more than half a day, if it goes on like this, I am afraid that the $1.3 billion he prepared may not be enough.

"Generally speaking, the speed of the run is like this, it depends on whether the government can give confidence to the people, if the people believe in the Hong Kong government, then the run will end soon, on the contrary, the speed of the run will get faster and faster, and eventually get out of control. Yuan Tianfan explained.

Xu Zhi asked, "Then what do you think will happen in the next few days?"

Yuan Tianfan pondered for a moment and said: "Chairman, it is difficult for me to be sure of this, but I estimate that if the Hong Kong government does not move, in the next few days, more and more people will come to the Bank of East Asia to ask for the exchange of US dollars, and I am worried that if this continues, the $1.3 billion we have prepared will not be enough." ”

Xu Zhi asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Yuan Tianfan said: "Limit the exchange amount, as far as I know, among the people who came to exchange dollars, many of them exchanged as much as one million Hong Kong dollars, which is a serious consumption of our dollar reserves. ”

Xu Zhi asked, "How much do you want to restrict?"

Yuan Tianfan said: "Ten thousand dollars per person." ”

"It's useless. Xu Zhi shook his head and said: "This kind of person can invite a bunch of people to come and queue up to exchange, can you still identify it?"

"What does the chairman mean?" asked Yuan Tianfan.

Xu Zhi said: "Then starting tomorrow, for all customers who do not have an exchange, each exchange needs to pay a handling fee, 5% of the total amount." ”

"This is a bit too much!" Yuan Tianfan was also taken aback, the general exchange fee for international currency exchange is 1%~1.5%, and the 5% range is too ruthless.

Xu Zhidao: "Since this group of people doesn't believe in the Hong Kong dollar, it's nothing to pay more fees, and now the entire currency crisis in Xiangjiang is caused by this group of people, and only 5% of them is considered less." ”

Xu Zhi is not the Hong Kong government, his purpose is to convert the US dollars in his hands into Hong Kong dollars, naturally he will not limit the maximum exchange amount, and if he charges another handling fee, he can earn hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars more, as for this group of people who only believe in US dollars, no matter how ruthless the handling fee is, they can't stop them.

......

In October, the Hong Kong dollar crisis is still ongoing, and many people are still queuing up to exchange US dollars at the Bank of East Asia.

Because there is no restriction on the exchange in the early stage, there are also many people who exchange millions of dollars at one time, resulting in the Bank of East Asia exchanging $600 million in funds just after September.

When the Hong Kong government learned of this, it suggested that BEA set a limit on exchange.

Xu Zhi agreed, because his dollar reserves were not much, and if they could be fully exchanged, the Hong Kong government would have to give face.

Starting from October 1, the Bank of East Asia (BEA) imposed a daily exchange limit of HK$10,000 per ID card, and the daily transaction volume dropped rapidly until October 13, when all US dollar foreign exchange was completed and the US dollar exchange window was closed.

The Bank of East Asia stopped converting US dollars, and it quickly spread like a storm throughout Hong Kong, but it did not cause any problems, because on the 15th, the Hong Kong government officially announced:

"From 17 October, Hong Kong will implement the USD/HKD Linked Exchange Rate System, with the exchange rate set at 1:7.8. ”

The Hong Kong dollar exchange rate storm is officially over!