After Christmas, it's time for the new year. From the 70s to the 80s, Xu Guanwu couldn't help but feel very emotional.

Six years have passed since I crossed over. In the past six years, through his hard work, he has finally risen from a penniless commoner to one of the richest people in Xiangjiang now.

Looking back on the past, people can't help but feel a lot of emotion.

The people of Xiangjiang do not have so much sentimentality as Xu Guanwu, and since Christmas, the streets of Xiangjiang have begun to be lit up, and everyone is smiling and ready to welcome the New Year.

But at this moment, a report from the north directly destroyed the mood of the people of Xiangjiang to welcome the New Year.

On 16 January 1980, at a meeting of cadres convened by the party, Deng Taizong announced that resolving the Wanwan issue, recovering Xiangjiang and Macao, and completing the reunification of the motherland were among the three major tasks of the 90s.

The news soon spread to Xiangjiang, making Xiangjiang people instantly realize the seriousness of the problem. In fact, as early as '72, the mainland had already issued a statement that it did not recognize British sovereignty in Xiangjiang.

Moreover, the declassified archives also pointed out that when the 10-year turmoil broke out in the mainland in '69, the British authorities were also considering that if the turmoil in the interior continued to expand, they would consider withdrawing the garrison in Xiangjiang and returning it to the mainland.

At the end of the 70s, with the major changes in the world situation, especially China, which replaced Wanwan as a member of the United Nations and became one of the five permanent members, and at the same time, after the subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States, Japan, Britain and other countries, the Xiangjiang issue was put on the agenda by the British government.

After a century of development, Xiangjiang has now become one of the brightest pearls in the Orient with a developed economy. The population is large. Geographically dangerous. Naturally, the British government did not want to give up such a piece of fat.

However, according to the previous contract with the Qing government, sooner or later the New Territories must be returned to China, and the ownership of the two islands of Xiangjiang and Kowloon is still to be discussed.

Some right-wing radicals have proposed building a wall along the Kowloon border to completely separate Hong Kong Island and Kowloon from the New Territories. However, most of the materials on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon need to be imported from the mainland, especially daily necessities and the most important water source need to be transported from the mainland. Therefore, the consequence of building a wall by oneself is to seek death, which is simply an anachronistic proposal.

Since '79 Britain and China screamed. He kept sending people to the interior in order to find out China's cards on the Xiangjiang issue. Among them, in June and July this year, Hong Kong Governor MacLehose went to the mainland to discuss this matter, but because the news he got was not optimistic, in order to avoid causing panic among the people in Xiangjiang, MacLehose did not mention it after returning to Xiangjiang.

In fact, the people of Xiangjiang are generally politically short-sighted, so they have not paid enough attention to this matter, and they are still running and dancing, and only a few people with a heart will notice that this year, the British-funded foreign banks in Xiangjiang have begun to withdraw their investments. This is why in the 80s, Bao Yugang first grabbed Wharf, and then grabbed Defeng to buy important British-funded foreign firms one after another. And Li Zhaoji can also buy China Gas. You must know that a company with a monopoly position like this in the past will not be sold at all.

Now Deng Taizong's speech on the Xiangjiang issue has been reported, and the people of Xiangjiang have realized that in the 90s, the mainland will take back Xiangjiang, and it is less than 20 years away. Twenty years is not a short time, but it is not very long.

Especially for these people who have lived in Xiangjiang for generations, 20 years is just a blink of an eye. Twenty years is even more fatal for the company, and it will take at least two or three years to return on investment, and like some manufacturing industries with huge investments, the period of return to capital is often extended, which also makes them lose confidence in the future of Xiangjiang and dare not invest in Xiangjiang casually.

For ordinary people who want to buy a house, it is also a question whether it is cost-effective to buy a house now. Because no one knows what kind of laws will be implemented in the mainland in Xiangjiang after 20 years of recovery, and what will happen if the house will be confiscated by then, won't half a lifetime's hard work be wasted at that time? !

In addition, the leftist uprising in Xiangjiang in the 60s, as well as the endless flow of smugglers, provincial and Hong Kong flag soldiers, and cousins and cousins, made Xiangjiang lose confidence in the mainland, so when they heard that the mainland announced that it would take back Xiangjiang in the 90s, the people of Xiangjiang immediately panicked.

At this time, Hong Kong Governor MacLehose had no choice but to stand up to reassure the people, declaring that if the contract was not signed, Hong Kong would not return to Hong Kong, and the British Empire would be responsible for the thousands of citizens of Hong Kong.

The people of Xiangjiang have been colonized for nearly a hundred years, and their servility is deep in their bones, and when they heard the governor of Hong Kong explain, they immediately began to be happy again.

But they forget that during World War II, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain also announced to the British people, "This is a day of peace, and everyone can go to bed in peace." But then Germany tore up the armistice, brazenly invaded Czechoslovakia, and slapped Chamberlain in the face.

……

The Xu family is not as panicked as people in the market, one is that they know that their second child has a close relationship with the mainland, and they attend the New Year party held by the Xiangjiang branch of Xinhua News Agency every year; Second, the Xu family responded to the call of the mainland's reform and opening up, and was the first batch of Hong Kong businessmen to set up factories in the mainland.

In fact, most of the misunderstandings between people are deepened because of poor communication and mutual suspicion, and eventually become a dead knot that cannot be solved.

The Xu family has always had close cooperation with the mainland, and people are sent to the Canton Fair every year, and the Xu family's chain stores are also supplied by the mainland's China Resources Company, so the exchanges are naturally very close, and the more contact with each other, the deeper the understanding of each other, it will not be so easy to misunderstand.

"Ah Wu, do you think Xiangjiang will be taken back?" In the evening, in the Xu family's villa, the four brothers of the Xu family sat together to discuss things. Xu Guanwen asked Xu Guanwudao.

"I'm going to take it back." Xu Guanwu replied affirmatively.

"Then Britain will let it go so easily?" Xu Guanjie asked in surprise. "The mainland should not be in a position to compete with Britain now, right?"

"You all think too strongly of the UK. In fact, Britain's current economic recession is simply not able to support another war. Xu Guanwu waved his hand and said, "What's more, if the war really starts, Xiangjiang has no place to defend, and the battle will end within two or three hours." At that time, British warships were still in the Atlantic. And even if it travels thousands of miles, across the Atlantic, across the Pacific Ocean, what use can a few warships do? The current hinterland is not a corrupt Qing government. Gone are the days when a warship could be parked on the shore to force China to cede land. ”

"Take 10,000 steps back, even if the war really starts, can this side of Xiangjiang afford a war?" Xu Guanwu laughed and said, "Not to mention that there are tanks, planes, missiles, and even nuclear weapons in the mainland, even if it is only 100,000 troops entering Xiangjiang, Xiangjiang can't afford it at all." When the stock market crashes, housing prices plummet. When foreign capital retreats, Xiangjiang will definitely be full of mourning. The war does not matter which side wins. What is left for Xiangjiang is broken walls and ruins, and it is a mess. ”

"Yes, I hope it's better not to fight, this is where we grew up, I don't want this Pearl of the Orient to become a purgatory on earth." Xu Guanwen sighed and said, "Ah, since we can't afford to fight, is it possible to solve it peacefully?" ”

"It is very likely that Britain cannot afford to fight now, and the mainland does not want to fight now, so the only way to solve the Xiangjiang issue is to negotiate." Xu Guanwu smiled and said, "I think since the two sides are willing to talk, they will inevitably find a way to solve it, and what I am most afraid of now is that they are unwilling to talk." ”

"Don't worry, we will definitely talk." Xu Guanjie smiled and said, "Most of the supplies in Xiangjiang now need to be provided by the mainland, if the mainland cuts off water and food to Xiangjiang, do you guess Xiangjiang will be able to survive for a few days?" Therefore, at the end of the day, Britain was forced to go to the negotiating table. ”

"Well, but that kind of approach is too extreme, and the mainland will not use it easily." Xu Guanwu smiled and said, "I don't think Britain knows each other, after all, there is still the existence of the Soviet Union, and Western countries still need to draw China together to resist the Soviet Union, so appropriate concessions are also necessary." ”

"If we do return, what will happen to our family's business?" Xu Guanjie said worriedly, "Will the mainland confiscate our property?" ”

"Don't worry, the times are different, we are changing, and the mainland is also changing." Xu Guanwu waved his hand and said, "It's completely unnecessary to worry about this, but I think we should increase investment in the mainland from now on." From the report published by Tang Taizong, we can see that promoting economic development will also be the main task of the mainland in the future, so Hong Kong businessmen like us will definitely benefit more strongly when they invest, and the mainland has a huge market of more than one billion people, which is 300 times the total population of Hong Kong. With such a large population, there is such a huge market potential, if we can enter the mainland market one step ahead, we will grab the fattest piece of the cake before everyone else. ”

"However, because of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the relationship between Wanwan and the mainland is becoming more and more antagonistic. Last year, many leftist film company actors were blacklisted by the Liberty Film Association, which barred their films from being screened in Wanwan. And some small film companies that work with leftist film companies have also been suppressed. Xu Guanjie said worriedly, "I'm worried that if we have a closer relationship with the mainland, they will also take action against our company, and maybe our company's films will not be released in Wanwan anymore." ”

"You don't have to worry about this, the Wanwan market is a huge box office treasure trove that other film companies can't lose, but for us Xu, he is actually a rabbit in Chinese New Year's Eve, and there is not much more meat than it, and there is no lot of meat without it." Xu Guanwu smiled and said, "Wanwan only has a population of 25 million, but the mainland has a population of more than 1 billion. ”

"And Wanwan itself is a small place, raw materials are heavily dependent on imports, although the economy is growing fast, but in fact, it depends on low labor costs, replacing us in Xiangjiang to continue to be a factory in the world." Xu Guanwu said with a smile, "But when it comes to the cheapness of labor costs, which country can compare with the mainland?" There are more than a billion people there, so it has more potential than Wanwan, and don't forget that the mainland is rich in land and resources, and the manufacturing industry is completely self-sufficient, which will further reduce costs. On the other hand, Wanwan is heavily dependent on imports of raw materials, and once the price of raw materials rises internationally, Wanwan will immediately fall into economic recession. What is there to be afraid of such a congenitally deficient deformity? ”

"What the second brother said is indeed reasonable, for the sake of a small place in Wanwan, and give up the entire mainland market, it is definitely not the work of a wise man, I agree with the second brother's idea, and support continuing to increase investment in the mainland." Xu Guanwen also said with a smile. (To be continued......)