Soon after Gu Chen left, Mrs. Thatcher convened the cabinet members in London, and at the beginning of the meeting, Mrs. Thatcher did not say much nonsense, and said directly: "Before you arrived, I just held a relatively successful meeting with Gu Chen, and he promised to let the Global Development Bank form a strategic partnership with the Bank of England, but the requirement is that he must take a stake in the Bank of England, and I have agreed, I think it is more in the interests of Britain to give Gu Chen the shares of the Bank of England to those greedy conglomerates in the United States." ”

Cabinet members on both sides of the table immediately began to talk, and after a meeting with Foreign Secretary S. S. Honey was the first to speak: "It is really good that Gu Chen can agree to our request, which will bring us a broader diplomatic space, and the means will be more flexible when carrying out certain diplomatic activities, and Britain's national interests will be further guaranteed and expanded." ”

"As for letting Gu Chen take a stake in the Bank of England, I don't think it's a big deal, he can only get one seat on the board of directors at most, and he doesn't have the final decision-making power on bank affairs, and the Bank of England is still under our control. And I don't like American conglomerates either. ”

Margaret Thatcher added: "I promised to give him a 10 per cent stake, plus a seat on the council, which should be acceptable to us." ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John? Mei Jie nodded: "That's right, this is indeed within the range of our acceptance, Gu Chen is a very realistic and shrewd capitalist, if you want him to make a compromise, it is impossible for us not to pay some substantial price, so I agree with Madame's decision." It's just that the foreign consortia that are competing may be unhappy. A large piece of meat was suddenly snatched from the mouth. ”

John? Major, who was only appointed chancellor of the exchequer late last year, is a very influential figure in the Conservative Party and a trusted and relied on aide to Margaret Thatcher. It is one of the objects that Gu Chen has deliberately befriended recently, no one knows whether he has accepted Gu Chen's benefits or not, but it is true that they have a good relationship, so there is a bit of a plausible bias towards Gu Chen between the words.

Moreover, co-opting the Global Development Bank to cooperate with the British government is a policy they have long set and urgently needs by the British government. No one can make irresponsible remarks.

The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer all agreed, and the others wisely did not speak out against it, and the issue was settled. Then Margaret Thatcher said: "In addition, Gu Chen also made an additional request, he hopes that Hong Kong can form an internal security force composed of Hong Kong people, about 5,000 people. Responsible for Hong Kong's internal security and major emergencies. In return, he will waive half of the interest on this year's government bonds, and you can discuss whether we should promise him. ”

As soon as these words came out, there was a burst of discussion in the conference room, which was even more enthusiastic than just now, obviously this request exceeded everyone's expectations, and soon the Minister of the Interior, Dirac? Senge said with a surprised expression: "I know that Gu Chen is not a capitalist who keeps to himself. He had great ambitions, and he figured out the guò internal guard force to achieve his goal of controlling the whole of Hong Kong. I don't think we can promise him, it's a very dangerous act, and if it does, he'll be completely out of our control. ”

Deputy Prime Minister Jeffrey? Hao directly objected: "I don't see it that way, an ambitious Gu Chen is more in line with the interests of Britain, it is precisely because he has ambition that he needs us, if he has no ambition, then he will most likely fall to red China in the future, which will be a real disaster for us." What's more, is the current Gu Chen under our control? This time, the oil issue of the Falkland Islands was raised again by the Argentine government, but he did not come to us, but went directly to the United States to reach an agreement with the Rockefeller family, the specific content of the agreement is not yet known, but this is enough to show a very strict problem, in some important interests, we are not his only choice, he does not necessarily need us, this is the real danger. ”

"I believe that everyone here should know that at least $350 billion in assets, such a huge amount of money is enough to do anything, and even it can cause huge turmoil in the global financial market with just one transfer. In the future, we still have a lot to work with Gu Chen on, so we must let him know that Britain is his strongest and most authentic reliance. ”

Foreign Secretary Srps? Honey said thoughtfully: "In less than eight years, Hong Kong will be returned to China, and the Chinese army will be stationed in Hong Kong, and then we will quickly lose our power in Hong Kong, but if there is an internal security force composed of Hong Kong people, we will be able to avoid the situation in which the PLA dominates Hong Kong, and this may provide us with some potential opportunities." ”

Industry Secretary César? Louis questioned: "What you said is true, but will that little Mr. Zheng agree?" Not only him, but I am afraid that no one in the top level of China wants such an uncontrollable and unpredictable force to emerge in Hong Kong, unless their heads are broken. ”

Defense Secretary Powell? Belluk retorted: "They won't agree, but we don't need them to agree, the Sino-British Joint Declaration does not stipulate that Hong Kong cannot form an armed force composed of Hong Kong people and led by Hong Kong people, and now that China is under sanctions from Western countries, as long as we are tough enough, or make some compromises in other aspects, they will agree." ”

You can hear it from the words, Bauer? Belluk is a hardliner, and he is a hardliner on China, and he has no reason to disagree with such a thing that can not only cause chaos in China but also protect British interests, and he is even thinking about how to control this armed force.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John? Major said: "Bauer is right, it is a very feasible way to form troops in Hong Kong, we can't just give up Hong Kong, that is a jewel in the crown of Her Majesty, it can have the beauty and prosperity it has today, we British people have paid more than a century of efforts, can we give it to red China in vain?" I have to say it's just too bad. ”

When the Thatcher government decided to return Hong Kong to China, the opposition in Britain was very loud, including within the Conservative Party. Major was one of them, so he said this entirely from his own political standpoint.

Industry Secretary César? "The sanctions are led by the United States, not us, we should take a long-term view, China will be a huge market in the future, Britain needs it, we can't completely tear the Chinese government apart," Lewis said. ”

Foreign Secretary Srps? "Yes, Britain needs the Chinese market, but China also needs our technology, and I think everything can be talked about on the basis of our guarantee that Hong Kong's sovereignty and governance will be returned to China in '97," Honey said. Now is a good opportunity for China's leaders to find a breakthrough in the face of sanctions and diplomatic isolation. ”

"As Power said just now, as long as we make some concessions in certain areas, the Chinese leaders will seriously consider our proposals."

……

All the members of the Cabinet had their opinions, and those who were generally in favor were predominant, and Thatcher herself was more inclined to agree, so after seeing that no one continued to speak, she concluded: "Since the majority agrees, the matter is settled." ”

At this time, Deputy Prime Minister Jeffrey? Hao opened his mouth and said: "Madam, if this matter can be realized, although it is beneficial to us, after all, it was Gu Chen who first proposed it, and he must also want to get the benefits he wants from it, so is it too little to reduce the interest on the treasury bonds by half?" I think he should be asked to waive not only all the interest this year, but also the next three years. ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John? Major retorted, "Do you think it's possible? That's more than $10 billion in wealth, and even the richest people don't turn a blind eye to it. If we go too far, Gu Chen can completely change his original intention, and if he and the Hong Kong tycoons unanimously oppose it, then even if the Chinese government finally compromises, we will not be able to do anything, and in the end it will worsen our relationship with him, and the gains outweigh the losses, so we can bargain with him on the issue of government bond interest, but in moderation. ”

"I agree with John that Hong Kong's wealthy class is an important determinant of the future direction of Hong Kong society, and we should not neglect our relationship with them because of immediate interests. There is another question, we are not clear what Gu Chen's specific requirements are? ”

Defense Secretary Powell? Belluk's words made everyone suddenly wake up, yes, they only knew that Gu Chentiyì had a huge ambition to form an internal security force, but they didn't know what this ambition was, including Margaret Thatcher.

"I feel like we can promise whatever he wants, as long as it's in our interest and the price he's paying is high enough. The formation of the internal guard forces itself is in our interests in the first place, and the rest is an additional gain, isn't it? ”

Foreign Secretary Srps? "John is right, there's nothing worse than losing Hong Kong completely, as long as you make sure that Gu Chen's position is not biased towards China, I think it's okay to make some concessions," Honey said. And it should be pointed out that Gu Chen has a very close relationship with the top richest people in Hong Kong, including that Fok Yingdong, and the economic benefits of the joint fund they jointly established are very good. As long as we win over Gu Chen, it is equivalent to winning over the top rich class in Hong Kong. (To be continued......)