Hong Kong, Central.

Completed in 1992, HSBC Plaza has been the world's tallest building for five years at over 500 metres.

Perched in the heart of Central, overlooking Victoria Bay, the 484-metre-high observation deck has always been a popular destination for tourists from all over the world.

Arthur Rose, the Earl of Grams, took over as chairman of the board of directors of HSBC in '85 at the age of 30.

He has worked tirelessly between China and the UK, as well as Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia, making HSBC one of the world's top three businesses and a truly world-class bank.

The return of Hong Kong did not affect the adjustment of HSBC's focus, but instead went the opposite way and stuck the bank's headquarters in Hong Kong. The business of the London headquarters is not as large as the layout of the Xiangjiang headquarters, forming a dual-core model that is unique to the world.

Today, HSBC has the right to issue not only the Hong Kong dollar but also the British pound, and is the only bank in the world that can issue two regional and national currencies.

In addition, HSBC also has the right to operate in multiple currencies, and has a wide range of business outlets in South China, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, the United States and other places, covering the world.

In particular, with the help of the internationalization process of mainland banks due to the return of Hong Kong, they have carried out extensive cooperation with mainland banks around the world and obtained approval to enter the mainland market.

Today, HSBC is one of the well-deserved hegemons in the world banking industry, and in terms of international influence, only a few banks can compare.

But the most terrifying thing about HSBC is not this, but that they also have several allies who are not weaker than HSBC to help each other.

The World Chinese Investment Fund, a public fund established in the 60s, is based in Nanhua and has become one of the largest public funds in the world by relying on the rapid economic development of Nanhua.

Even South China's sovereign wealth fund may not be as strong as this public fund, but it is far less flexible and aggressive.

There is also the National Bank of South China, the largest commercial bank in South China. Although not as big as HSBC, the bank has some of the most active depositors and shareholders in the world.

In '85, the United States attacked Japan's active economy, and a Plaza Accord plunged Japan into an economic crisis.

In 92, a number of American consortia took advantage of the decline of the British economy to short the pound in the foreign exchange market, causing the UK to suffer huge losses.

But when they set their sights on South China, the State Bank of South China had no fear, and tens of millions of citizens worked together to sell gold to stabilize the exchange rate.

As a result, the world's gold price plummeted, and the Yankees did not steal chickens and rice, but allowed the South Chinese to replace the Japanese in the United States.

Even the Americans shouted at that time that the South Chinese wanted to buy the United States.

This battle made everyone see the stability of the National Bank of South China, and no one dared to ignore the huge strength of tens of millions of people united as one.

In addition to this, there are several financial institutions that have to be mentioned.

UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re.

These three financial institutions have undergone several mergers and enclosures in recent decades, accounting for almost 90 percent of Switzerland's financial market.

UBS and Credit Suisse are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 private asset management banks. Swiss Re is the world's largest reinsurer and has extensive partnerships with HSBC and South China Bank.

Then, there is the world-famous, but mysterious, Jonas Private Foundation.

No one knows how big the foundation's assets are, because it's a private foundation, its accounts are never made public, and the assets they control are hidden behind complex equity relationships.

But only with the shares of companies that this foundation holds on the surface, such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, oil companies, and technology companies in the United States. And then there's the stake they have in many of the high-tech companies they hold in Nanhua, and the foundation's assets are in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

All this is because of the merit of one person. Although he spent most of his time in seclusion on Swiss farms in recent years, rarely appearing again, no one dared to ignore his power.

In the large conference room on the 99th floor of the HSBC Plaza building, the long desks are filled with well-dressed and successful people.

But everyone was like a primary school student, listening carefully to the video call of an old man with a clear face on the big screen.

Because of the delay of electronic signals and the limitations of electronic technology in this era, the video is not clear, and only the sound transmission is quite smooth.

"HSBC is willing to work with you on a wider range of issues, but by no means Heung Kong and South China. I hope that you will carefully consider my recommendations and turn your attention to other regions. In this way, we will still see you as a friendly partner, not an adversary......"

The video call was stopped by a handsome-looking middle-aged man, who looked at an old man with gray hair across from him and said, "Mr. Soros, you should have understood what my father meant. My father has always admired you, sir, and knows that you are forced to do so at the moment. Therefore, in order to make up for the initial loss of your abandonment of the layout of Hong Kong, we are willing to provide you with a short-term bridge fund of up to 5 billion US dollars, and no fees will be charged. As long as your next direction is here......"

He nodded, sighed softly, looked at the silver-haired old man beside the handsome middle-aged man and said, "Mr. Stolko, I really didn't expect that you would come from Switzerland for this matter." ”

Born in 1918, Kelvin is about to celebrate his 80th birthday. Although his hair is all white, his face is ruddy, his shoulders are straight, and he looks younger than Soros, who is twelve years younger than him.

Kelvin smiled and said, "I'm old, and I really don't want to go out." However, the party leader attaches great importance to the current financial situation in Asia, and he does not want to confront the forces behind you because of this matter, so I made this special trip. There are still many countries in the world that have very big holes in the financial balance, and there is absolutely no need for you to aim here. ”

"Five billion dollars, in what way will they be allocated?"

"Can you call the shots?"

"This time I'm fully empowered!"

Kelvin nodded and said, "Our financial institutions have had a hedging fund in the Dongying financial market for many years, and they can transfer this money to you with a simple transfer. After three months, you can return the money to us in any way you want in the financial markets of the United Kingdom, the United States, or South China. ”

"Including bonds?"

"As long as it's a high-quality asset."

Soros stood up and said to the handsome middle-aged man: "Mr. Earl, we have never had the idea of being an opponent with you, and I hope to be able to negotiate with you on a suitable way to evacuate the initial funds in Hong Kong." ”

"Wise choice...... "Arthur Rose smiled indifferently and said, "HSBC has enough power to take over." Let the following people talk about the specific way. ”

Seeing off the group, Arthur Rose returned to his lavish office and found Kelvin standing at the window looking at the bustling Kowloon opposite.

And his brother-in-law, Loew Stolko, was looking at a stack of materials on the sofa, and in front of this old father, even if he was now the only general, he was still a little afraid.

Arthur Rose knows very well that most of the reason why his family can break through such a big situation in the world financial field today is due to his father, but at least half is due to the uncle in front of him.

His father has a macro vision and a precise vision, but he has a wealth of executive ability and experience. With such a large financial empire, many of them rely on his ability to work hard bit by bit.

So even if he is now the chairman of the board of directors of HSBC, he still doesn't dare to put on any stand in front of his father's most important assistant.

"Uncle Kelvin, you haven't been to Hong Kong in five years, have you?"

Kelvin turned around, thought for a moment and said, "Yes, it's a vibrant city, unlike Switzerland, which hasn't changed much. ”

"Mother knows that you have come to Hong Kong, so I asked you to invite you to my house."

"Say hello to the princess on my behalf, but I'm about to return to Switzerland with Mr. Huo, and the routes have been arranged, so I won't bother her anymore. Anyway, when she returns to Switzerland the next month, we'll meet again. ”

"Mr. Huo? Does the father have any plans? ”

"It's not true, it's just that he's said to be in some bad health lately, so I invited him to live in Switzerland for a while."

Arthur Rose does not have the cultivation talent of several younger brothers, and has not yet cultivated internal strength. This is also related to the fact that he grew up in England and did not get his father to teach him.

When he was a teenager, he learned Chinese medicine and Chinese from scratch, but it was already a little late, and he still did not practice internal strength, but he was better than the average person.

Even so, he did not have any resentment, because this father gave him more than most fathers.

He has nothing but respect and honor for this father.

It was his honor to be his son.

Just thinking of the conflict between his father and his aunt's family, he had a headache and didn't know how to resolve the grievances.

His origin was an accident, and it took the efforts of the royal family and his father to cover it up. But when his mother saw that Audrey's mother had given birth to several children, she was unbalanced again, and she was determined to have another child.

The birth of his half-sister Anne and younger brother James also revealed the truth of his identity, and the royal family couldn't hide it, which completely intensified the contradiction between the royal family and his father.

The aunt, in particular, had a puzzling attitude towards her father, acting like a king, almost irrationally declaring her father persona non grata in England.

This incident also exacerbated the conflict between her mother and her aunt, who could not live in Switzerland for the sake of the royal family's reputation, but she also refused to live in England again.

My mother bought houses in Australia, South China, Hong Kong, and the United States, and lived in several places in turn, but she refused to live in England anymore.

Although he, the earl, was also affected by some reputation, his identity was completely exposed, and he rightfully inherited some of his father's assets in England.

For example, he is now not only the chairman of the board of HSBC, but also the honorary chairman of the Arsenal team. Anne also inherited a stake in Sky TV's UK division and became the richest woman in the UK.

As for James, this guy's mind is not commercial at all, he is obsessed with cultivation and painting, inherited his father's artistic cells, and is now also an internationally renowned artist and martial arts master.

Strangely, although his aunt hated his father and did not say a word to his mother, she was very kind to them.

Arthur also wondered in his heart if his aunt also had a little affection for his father, which caused the complicated relationship between them.

However, he didn't dare to tell anyone about this speculation.

"Is my father too good to Mr. Huo? When his business failed, he gave full support without asking for anything in return, and when he was about to be expelled from the real estate industry, it was his father who saved him and let him become the owner of Hutchison. ”

Kelvin smiled and said, "Your father was always more appreciative of people who were patriotic. Don't talk about him, do you also have some doubts about peace talks with Soros this time? ”

Arthur shrugged his shoulders and invited Kelvin to sit down on the couch before saying, "I originally thought that my father didn't want to contradict the forces behind him, but then I also understood that he just wanted to cause trouble." ”

Kelvin nodded and said, "The most successful thing your father has done is to bring together tens of millions of people in Nanhua, a force that has money, technology, and connections all over the world. Nowadays, we have good relationships with dozens of large Chinese consortia and foundations, so we don't need to be afraid of any consortia, because no one can compare with our capital strength. So, we don't fear anyone. ”

"But are we just watching this opportunity to make money and not acting? HSBC is a commercial bank, so it's not good to participate in these harvesting operations, but what about other investment institutions? ”

Kelvin said solemnly, "That's what I'm here for. Your father was afraid that you and the second would not be able to resist it, so he kept the second by his side now and did not let him come to Asia. Without the investment institutions he controls, hundreds of thousands of accounts, it will be more troublesome for you to rely on HSBC to operate. Before I leave, I want to tell you one more thing: stop greed. ”

He slapped Loew's shoulder beside him and said, "I want to give you this sentence at the same time, you quickly withdraw the funds mobilized to South Korea for me." ”

Loew is Kelvin's youngest son, who was especially favored when he was a child, and was as rebellious as Zhou Lixiang. But Kelvin cleaned him up and was more afraid of his father.

In addition, he has always liked Zhou Xueli, who grew up as a childhood sweetheart, so in order to marry Zhou Xueli, he was corrected by the strong Zhou Xueli, which can be regarded as a prodigal son.

"Your father and I worked in finance for decades, and we've always adhered to the principle of making only what you should earn," Kelvin said. Rather than making money, we pay more attention to maintaining a healthy operating system and maintaining relationships with countries around the world. We can make money without speculation at all, so why should we speculate and lose our reputation? When there is no reputation, the global business network, the trade network, on which we live, loses its foundation, which is far more important than a little profit from speculation. ”