In a luxurious private room at the Royal Yacht Club in Central, Li Xuan was drinking coffee while chatting leisurely with a white man. Although the other party tried his best to talk about some light topics, the few wisps of worry between his eyebrows still betrayed his current mood.

As the second largest British-owned group in Hong Kong after HSBC, Jardine Matheson's influence in Hong Kong is undoubted. Jardine Matheson's Taipan has been one of the city's most influential figures since the opening of Hong Kong in the 19th century. The reason why the Opium War broke out between Britain and the Manchu Dynasty was also to leave the lobbying of the two founders of Jardine Matheson in London.

But it is clear that the current Taipan Sir Nippon of Jardine Matheson has been in a very bad situation lately, or it can be described as terrible. Last year, he made a strict judgment of Hong Kong's political and economic situation. He was optimistic that Margaret Thatcher's visit to China would be based on the settlement of the Hong Kong issue. As a result, Hongkong Land, the flagship subsidiary of Jardine Matheson and the largest real estate company in Hong Kong, continues to spend a lot of money on land despite the cautious wait-and-see situation of many peers.

Hongkong Land first purchased the Pak Pen Hill site on Tai Tam Road on Hong Kong Island for HK$1.308 billion, and then purchased the old wing of the Miramar Hotel in the central tourism area of Tsim Sha Tsui for HK$2.8 billion, and won the bid for the "Land King" in Central on Hong Kong Island at a high price of HK$4.755 billion, preparing to build the Exchange Square Building.

However, last year, the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher fell at the door of the Great Hall of the People, which not only cast a shadow on the Sino-British negotiations, but also completely broke the confidence of the Hong Kong people. Since 1977, the real estate industry has experienced a round of rising waves that lasted for five years. A large price bubble had already gathered, but now it finally burst in an instant.

Hong Kong's real estate industry has been in an avalanche decline since October last year. The company, which was too aggressive in the early stage, was immediately hit hard. For example, Hong Kong's veteran real estate company, Carnival Group, just announced bankruptcy and liquidation. Hongkong Land's life is also very difficult, with losses of more than 3 billion yuan in the three major investment projects of the Central District Exchange Square, the old wing of the Miramar Hotel, and the Baibishan Development Plan. According to Hongkong Land's latest financial statements for the first quarter of this year, the company's total debt has soared to 15.07 billion yuan, and the debt ratio has risen to 56%, making it the largest debt company in Hong Kong. It is nicknamed the "debt king" by market investors.

In fact, Hongkong Land under the leadership of Niu Bijian has always pursued a conservative, steady and serious style. But in 1980, Mr. Bao Yugang of Global Shipping abandoned the boat and landed. took away the control of Wharf from under the nose of Hongkong Land. Together with Li Ka-shing's acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa, this battle is known as a classic historical event in which a Chinese-funded consortium in Hong Kong challenged British capital. And Niu Bijian not only lost face, but was also fiercely attacked by the Keswick family, the majority shareholder of Jardine Matheson.

It was from 1980 onwards that Neubijian's business style began to shift to aggressiveness, impatience, and speculation. So much so that Hongkong Land has become a "super big friend" in Hong Kong's real estate industry in the past two or three years. After the loss of Wharf. In order to prevent the Chinese consortium from coveting other companies in the Jardine Matheson family, he came up with the idea of cross-holding shares between Jardine Matheson Group and Hongkong Land to defend the controlling stake of the company. However, as the so-called blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, because of the mutual control of Yizhi, not only is Hongkong Land itself mired in losses, but even the parent company Jardine Matheson has been dragged down by its performance because it holds more than 30% of Hongkong Land's equity, and the profit in the first quarter has just turned from profit to loss. There was a big dive compared to before.

"Your Excellency, I have heard that Mr. Li Jiacheng seems to be interested in acquiring HK Electric?" asked Li Xuan with a smile.

Hongkong Land before this year. It can be described as one of the most high-spirited companies in Hong Kong. In addition to spending 10 billion yuan to buy land, Newbijian also launched Operation Dawn, acquiring 34.9% of the shares of Hong Kong Telephone Company and Hong Kong Electric Company, which are also among the top ten British listed companies.

Niu Bijian received Li Xuan's invitation to afternoon tea today was actually unexpected, because Li Xuan's Oriental Electronics Company and Jardine Matheson Group rarely intersected, and he did not guess the other party's intentions.

"Mr. Li Jiacheng has this intention!" said Niu Bijian with a nod.

"It is said that when Hongkong Land acquired HK Electric last year, Jianing and Cheung Kong were also interested! Now Jianing Company has been unable to protect itself, but I did not expect that Mr. Li Jiacheng's Cheung Kong is still interested!

In fact, I admire Mr. Lee's character of planning before acting, for example, his previous acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa is a classic! HK Electric's current power plant on Hong Kong Island is too close to the city, and environmental pollution is not conducive to the health of all Hong Kong citizens. I wonder if Mr. Lee will be able to convince the Hong Kong government to approve another piece of land to build a new power plant in other places, such as Lamma Island!" said Li Xuan with a smile.

Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong is the most powerful Chinese-funded company to challenge Hongkong Land's position as the leader in Hong Kong's real estate industry. Li Xuan's words have been said very bluntly, the reason why Hongkong Land and Cheung Kong both look at the Hong Kong Electric Company is nothing more than their fancy to the land of its power plant located in the upper ring of Hong Kong Island, after all, the relocation of the power plant is a matter of popular desire.

The power plant covers a large area, and once the land is vacated, it can definitely be developed into a huge real estate project. If Nurbikin sells HK Electric to Li Ka-shing, it will undoubtedly be an act of rivalry.

"I think Mr. Li may have heard the gossip wrong, and we have no intention of selling HK Electric!" said Niu Bijian with some grimness.

"Oh, yes, but a few days ago, I heard that Simon Keswick, the managing director of Jardine Matheson, publicly stated that Hongkong Land needs to implement a large-scale slimming and austerity policy, control expenses, reduce debt, and will actively sell some non-core assets!" Li Xuan showed a surprised expression.

New Bijian's face has become more and more gloomy, since Simon Keswick came to Hong Kong from England last year to take up the post of managing director of Jardine Matheson, he has been asking him for trouble at the governor's meeting. Niu Bijian is also well aware that the Keswick family, the majority shareholder, has been dissatisfied with him for a long time, and very much wants this Simon to replace him and become the fifth Jardine Taipan of the Keswick family.

Dragged down by Hongkong Land's huge losses, Jardine Matheson is experiencing a complete exit from the Chinese mainland market since 1949. One of the strictest business crises. HSBC and Standard Chartered, the largest creditors of Jardine Matheson, have issued warnings in both directions. If Hongkong Land is unable to maintain its liabilities at a low-risk level, the two banks will not rule out early loans.

For real estate companies, once they lose the credit support of banks, it means the end of the world. Fortunately, the Taipan of the two banks only hinted privately that Niu Bijian needed to do his best to make some positive moves. Otherwise, once the market knows the news, Hongkong Land's share price, which has fallen by 40% cumulatively, may collapse instantly.

That's why there's so much pressure on you. Although he was well aware of the actual purpose of Li Jiacheng's proposal to acquire HK Electric, he still did not refuse. And today, Li Xuan suddenly mentioned this topic, and he couldn't help but make Niu Bijian guess. Could it be that Dongfang Electronics Company is also interested in entering the Hong Kong real estate industry?

As we all know, Li Xuan's Oriental Group is the company with the most money shortage in Hong Kong, and even if it has been acquired with heavy punches before, most of it has used its own capital. Niu Bijian couldn't help but guess the smiling "God of Wealth Li" in front of him. Are you also interested in the Hongkong Electric Company? Not to mention the relocation of HK Electric's power plant in Wan Wan on Hong Kong Island. The fact that the vacated land can create a lot of benefits is simply that HK Electric itself is also a high-quality enterprise.

For example, only two companies in Hong Kong have franchises for power generation and transmission, namely HK Electric with a franchise on Hong Kong Island and CLP Power Power for Kowloon and the New Territories. Because they have exclusive competitive franchises, most of these companies have very stable profits, and they are good investment targets in their own right.

"So, I wonder if Your Excellency Sir has considered selling the Hong Kong Telephone Company?" Li Xuan asked suddenly.

It dawned on Niu Bijian at this point. It seems that his previous conjecture was completely wrong. It is said that at the end of last year, Dongfang Electronics and Chinese mainland jointly established a communications equipment manufacturing company. It was used to develop telephone exchanges.

Obviously, the acquisition of the Hong Kong Telephone Company is more suitable for the identity of this "God of Wealth Lee" as a technology tycoon. The meaning of what the other party said just now is obvious: if Hongkong Land chooses to sell the Hong Kong Telephone Company, it can also recover a large amount of money to cope with the current debt crisis, which can suspend the sale of the Hong Kong Electric Company and allow Li Jiacheng to take advantage.

"The Hong Kong Telephone Company has the franchise of local local telephones, and the Great Eastern Telegraph Office is also very interested in this!" "Niu Bijian is worthy of being an old and cunning fox, although the shape is very unfavorable to him now, it still only took him half a second to find a reason to raise the price.

If it can acquire the Hong Kong telephone company, it will be able to dominate the telecommunications market in Hong Kong, which will be very beneficial to its future operations.

Li Xuan did not say anything about Niu Bijian's words, but asked quietly: "I don't know what the price offered to you by Dadong Telegraph Bureau? Last year, Hongkong Land acquired 34.9% of the equity of Hong Kong Telephone Company at a price of 8.2 Hong Kong dollars per share, and at that time, Dadong Telegraph Bureau thought that the price was too high, so it did not make a competition!"

Now that the share price of the Hong Kong Telephone Company has fallen to 6.8 Hong Kong dollars per share, I wonder if they will buy it at an equal price or at a premium?"

A hint of anger flashed on Niu Bijian's face, but he immediately covered it up well. If in normal times, he is accustomed to seeing strong winds and waves, and he claims to be a gentleman, he will definitely be able to be happy and angry. But now he is stepping into a situation where he is trapped inside and outside, and everyone betrays his relatives. External debt collectors and suppliers kept coming to the door, while internal Simon Keswick kept contacting other directors to challenge him. Niu Bijian, who was anxious, also lost his former composure.

Li Xuan, who had been staring at Niu Bijian, keenly captured the anger he felt at the moment when he spoke. It seems that the Great Eastern Telegraph Office must be preparing to take advantage of the fire and robbery, and it is likely that Hongkong Land will transfer its shares in the Hong Kong Telephone Company at a price lower than the market price.

"Dongfang Electronics is willing to acquire 34.9% of the equity held by the geological company at a price of 1.7 billion Hong Kong dollars!" Li Xuan said bluntly.

Last year, Hongkong Land bought the stake in Hong Kong Telephone Company for HK$2 billion, but now its market value is only about HK$1.65 billion. Although the company's performance is still stable, due to the collapse of the Hong Kong stock market, the company's share price has also been affected, and it has fallen by nearly 20% compared to the price of Hongkong Land when it launched the acquisition. Although the offer given by Li Xuan was not a premium, it at least showed his sincerity and did not mean to take advantage of the fire.

"Mr. Li, I think you underestimated the value of the telephone company, although its stock price has fallen a little, but the actual number of sales is rising, I think 2.2 billion Hong Kong dollars is a suitable price!" said Niu Bijian with a smile.

Li Xuan sneered: "Sir New Bijian, please don't regard my kindness as weakness and deception! Last year and this year, Hong Kong's economic situation has been deteriorating, and the increase in the number of Hong Kong phone companies' business is actually due to the depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar! You must know that the Hong Kong phone company just raised the price of local calls per minute at the end of last year, and after removing this part of the factor, the business volume of Hong Kong phone companies has not increased much!"

Niu Bijian's face was red and white, he hadn't been robbed like this in front of him for a long time. But he couldn't attack, Li Xuan's offer was undoubtedly more sincere than that of Dadong Telegraph Office, and he naturally couldn't offend such a God of Wealth when he was in urgent need of money.

So Niu Bijian said a few words, saying that the teams of the two companies would be responsible for the specific negotiations. He also thought about putting pressure on the Dadong Telegraph Bureau after he went back, and it was best to let Li Xuan and the Dadong Telegraph Bureau raise the bar, and the two sides would bid for a high price. And Li Xuan didn't think that a meal of afternoon tea would be able to pocket the Hong Kong Telephone Company, he just expressed an intention to Niu Bijian.

Seeing that the business had been discussed, Niu Bijian took his leave and left the yacht club in a hurry. In contrast, Li Xuan's mood was very leisurely, he was not in a hurry to leave, but drank tea while looking out the window at Victoria Harbor.

The ultra-luxury yacht he had commissioned a year and a half earlier at the Italian yacht company Wally was supposed to be completed in March this year. However, due to several industry-wide strikes organized by various Italian trade unions last year, the yacht delivery date was forced to be postponed by three months. It can also be seen that in the past 1982, the global economic situation was indeed very bad.

But this has little to do with Li Xuan, his industry has always been thriving, giving him enough money to buy a superyacht as a top luxury toy. In June, the 235-foot-long superyacht will dock in Victoria Harbour to await his review.

"Boss, Assistant Ke just called, saying that Miss Guan came downstairs to the company, and she has been waiting for an afternoon and refuses to leave, hoping to see you!"

Li Xuan was looking out the window at the scenery when his security assistant stepped forward with a black brick-like object and said. (To be continued......)