The day after arriving in Shanghai, Wang Zheng and the four of them went to HSBC to withdraw the money from the trip after eating breakfast of steamed buns that cost only five cents a piece and a cup of coffee for five cents.

In 1921, HSBC set up its head office in Shanghai, and the Britons spent a lot of money to build a seven-storey, 14-acre building at No. 11 and 12 on the Bund in two years, boasting that it was the most luxurious building from the Suez Canal to the Bering Strait in the Far East, and fully seized the Chinese gold and silver market.

During World War II, because HSBC provided loans to the invaders and built railways for the invaders, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, HSBC had no choice but to withdraw from Shanghai, and the Bund No. 11 and 12 buildings were also nationalized, and later moved in by the Shanghai government and renamed the Shanghai Municipal Building.

Wang Zheng and his entourage asked a lot of enthusiastic passers-by before they found the location of the Lyceum Building, a small five-storey western-style building occupied by various companies, although it was also near the Bund, but it could not be compared with the original building of HSBC.

When Wang Zheng and the four of them found the HSBC China office on the fifth floor, there were only a few staff inside, and they looked at the four people who arrived in a daze, and it could be seen from the stunned expressions of the staff that no one had patronized this place for a long time.

"I'm Wang Zheng from Xiangjiang, let your person in charge here come out to see me. ”

Looking at the cramped office and messy environment in front of him, Wang Zheng frowned to identify himself, although he had greeted the head office of Xiangjiang HSBC before leaving, it still made him a little worried that the Shanghai office would not be able to provide funds.

Just as Wang Zheng's brows were getting tighter and tighter, a blonde foreigner in a suit walked quickly towards the four of them, and they arrived before they arrived: "Hello, Mr. Wang, I am Thomas, the person in charge here, and I have been waiting for Mr. Wang for a long time!"

Thomas spoke fluent Chinese, and Wang Zheng held his outstretched hand and asked, "Hello, Mr. Thomas knows me?"

Thomas laughed when he heard this: "I often fly back to Xiangjiang to handle the business of the office, so I naturally know that Mr. Wang is a famous director in Xiangjiang!"

It seems that the Thomas in front of him is not only a China expert, but also very familiar with Xiangjiang, Wang Zheng no longer spoke politely to him, and said straight to the point: "Since Thomas knows me, he should know the purpose of my trip, I wonder if your bank has already helped me handle it?"

Thomas invited a few people to the office in the office, and after everyone was seated, he said: "Mr. Wang is not only a VIP user of our bank, but Mr. Shao Yifu's Shaw Foundation also has a lot of business dealings with our bank. ”

After speaking, Thomas took out a check from the drawer and handed it to Wang Zheng, and continued: "The US dollar exchange rate released by the British government in Hong Kong this year is 1 to 8, excluding the intermediate fee, 20 million Hong Kong dollars can be exchanged for 2.56 million US dollars, this is a check from the Bank of China, please check it by Mr. Wang!"

Wang Zheng took the check, his frowning brows also stretched, and handed the check to Miss Lin on the side, and after she confirmed that it was correct, he smiled at Thomas and said, "Thank you, I didn't expect your bank's efficiency to be so fast!"

The reason why Wang Zheng suggested that Shao Daheng exchange the donation for US dollars is that the common rate of the Hong Kong dollar is too low, and it is fundamentally different in the mainland, although the Bank of China has opened a Hong Kong dollar exchange business, but there are many restrictions set up, and the second is that China in the 80s is in urgent need of foreign exchange, and the US dollar is the world's largest currency in circulation.

You must know that the exchange rate between the RMB and the US dollar in 84 was 1 to 3, and no one was willing to exchange the US dollar for the RMB, and in the international currency market in 1984, the RMB had not yet been able to occupy a place.

Hearing Wang Zheng's thanks, Thomas smiled slightly: "You're welcome, the customer is our God!"

Thinking of the purchase plan for 18 on the Bund, Wang Zheng asked Thomas: "I will stay in the mainland for a while, and if there is a need for funds during this period, how long will it take for your bank to prepare?"

Thomas quickly replied: "Mr. Wang does not have to worry about the inconvenience of withdrawing funds, although HSBC only has this office in Shanghai in Chinese mainland, our bank is actively communicating with the government, I believe that it will not be long before HSBC will fully resume business in China, before resuming business, Bank of China will provide our bank with a certain amount of fund withdrawal business, so Mr. Wang can withdraw at any time as long as he needs less than 200 million US dollars!"

Hearing Thomas's affirmative reply, Wang Zheng was very satisfied, and finally ended the business with a double handshake.

Next, Wang Zheng will go to the Shanghai Housing Authority to see if he can buy the ownership of 18 on the Bund.

Buildings with a certain history like No. 18 on the Bund are generally not sold publicly, but are traded by auction, and the biggest problem facing Wang Zheng now is that his hukou is not in the mainland, and he is afraid that the Shanghai government will refuse for this reason, but no matter what, he wants to give it a try.

The location of the Shanghai Housing Authority is near the Bund, and when the four of them came, many citizens in the business hall were handling business, and Wang Zheng didn't know which person in charge to find, so he simply came to the consultation desk to explain his intentions.

"Hello comrade, I am an investor from Xiangjiang, I want to consult your leaders for some business problems, please introduce me?"

The little girl at the consultation desk was a little stunned by Wang Zheng's question, and it wasn't until Wang Zheng asked again that the little girl responded, and probably never encountered this situation.

"Please wait a minute, I want to ask our leader. ”

Not long after, a middle-aged man with a big belly received four people in a reception room, and through talking to each other, Wang Zheng learned that the middle-aged man surnamed Chen was the deputy director of the Huangpu District Housing Management Bureau.

In order to let the other party abandon his identity as a Xiangjiang person, Wang Zheng said directly: "Director Chen, I am one of the shareholders of Xiangjiang Shaw Brothers Film Company, this time I went to the mainland to replace Mr. Shao Yifu for Zhejiang University and Dunhuang Art Exhibition to carry out charitable assistance, this time I stayed in Shanghai, I saw several ancient buildings when I was sightseeing on the Bund, and I liked the architectural style of No. 18 very much, so I came this time to see if I could buy this building." ”

Although Wang Zheng has not yet become a shareholder of Shaw Brothers, in order to highlight his social status, he had to borrow it first, and showed that this charity trip also hoped to leave a good impression on the other party.

Although Shao Yifu made the film and television kingdom bigger and stronger in Xiangjiang, the Shaw Brothers already had a great reputation when they worked hard in Shanghai in the early days, so Shanghai citizens are also familiar with the Shaw Brothers, which can be seen from Director Chen's expression.

Hearing that Wang Zheng and the four of them are from Shaw Brothers, this time they are here for charity, Director Chen was very enthusiastic, but when he heard that Wang Zheng wanted to buy No. 18 on the Bund, Director Chen's enthusiastic expression gradually dissipated, and he said tactfully: "No. 1 to No. 25 on the Bund are all key protected objects of the city, and Mr. Wang wants to buy the ownership of No. 18, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult!"

After the release of the first film "Ghost Blowing the Lantern" brought Wang Zheng fame and money, he was very disgusted with wasting time on negotiations, and seeing Director Chen's tactful tone, Wang Zheng directly made an offer: "I am willing to pay $2 million to buy the ownership of the Bund 18." ”

Director Chen, who was drinking tea slowly, was so shocked that he choked on a sip of tea when he heard Wang Zheng quote a price of $2 million, and began to cough vigorously.

It would be impossible for future generations to buy 18 on the Bund for $2 million, but it is highly likely in the era of '84, when foreign exchange was urgently needed.

Not to mention the strong liquidity of the US dollar, even if it is converted into RMB at an exchange rate of 1 to 3, there are 4.6 million, and the lowest price of a bottle of Moutai in later generations is also between 1600 yuan, which is 200 times, 200 times that of 4.6 million is 200 million, and the value of RMB in 84 years is definitely more than 200 times compared with the price of later generations.

Mr. Wang wanted to raise the price even higher, but now he only got $2 million.

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