Chapter 572 The Governor's "Good Will" Reminder

Chapter 572 The Governor's "Good Will" Reminder

Chapter 572 The Governor's "Good Will" Reminder

After the two chatted for a while, Trench suddenly asked, "Mr. Yang, you will also participate in the auction of the reclamation land in Central, right?"

"Of course, everyone wants such a good position."

Unable to figure out Trench's purpose, Yang Wendong could only tell the truth for now. This kind of thing could not be concealed as he needed to apply to the Hong Kong government.

Trench smiled and said, "To be honest, I admire Mr. Yang for being able to develop from a squatter's home 12 years ago to the current scale of his business.

But you are still too young after all, and you may not understand many things. If you are willing to listen, I would like to give you some advice. "

"Governor, please speak." Yang Wendong said politely, "I am very willing to listen to any suggestions."

In fact, he had thought about these things, but he was just too young.

Even though he had entrepreneurial experience in his previous life, his status was very different from what he is today. Moreover, he was in the mainland at that time and is now in Hong Kong. Many of his experiences and ways of dealing with people cannot be directly replicated.

Time travelers will be far superior to all the natives in terms of cognition, but when it comes to wisdom and interpersonal relationships, it is hard to say how they can compare with the local elites.

This is like a modern person going back to ancient times. He will have a lot of ideas, but if he participates in court struggles, his ability in this regard will probably not be comparable to those of the cabinet, prime minister, etc. who have emerged from millions of people.

Looking back at history, the several governors of Hong Kong were basically all smart and capable people. They either did not stand on the side of the Chinese, but they were all veterans in politics.

Trench smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll just talk about it casually. It's also because I'm leaving, and we've had a very good cooperation over the years, so I don't really care about the British and Chinese capital issues at the moment.

But you can’t do that, Mr. Yang. After all, you still want to develop in Hong Kong, so you must pay attention to this aspect.”

"I understand." Yang Wendong also roughly understood what Trench meant: "Then what should I do?"

Trench did not answer directly, but said: "Mr. Yang, you should know that Hong Kong is now the face of Britain in Asia, so many policies have been introduced to improve Hong Kong's economy so that Chinese capital can gradually participate in it fairly.

But a country has never been the opinion of one person. Even the emperors of ancient China found it difficult to be completely in power.

The same is true in the UK. There are countless factions within the country, and these factions actually exist for the sake of interests. Some of them involve Hong Kong, because Hong Kong is also one of the most important overseas incomes of the British Empire.

Although on paper, the UK will not collect taxes from Hong Kong, you know how it actually works.”

"I know." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So what the British side meant was that my actions affected the interests of the British consortium?"

In the 60s, Britain gave up collecting taxes from Hong Kong and several of its colonies. It was not because it was truly good for these places, but because Britain's influence was no longer there. In addition, the United States has been advocating global free trade. If it continues like this, the Commonwealth will definitely fall apart.

So as a second best option, the UK did not want taxes and gave up making money directly, but the more profitable indirect route is still continuing.

For example, in the early years of Hong Kong, the ports, water, electricity, gas, oil, airports, export trade, real estate, finance, etc. were all in the hands of British capital, and Chinese capital had no chance of participating.

Therefore, the money earned by Chinese-owned factories and ordinary Chinese people will eventually flow directly or indirectly into British financial groups, and some of it will also benefit the UK.

Trench said: "Yes, in the last port auction, Chinese and British capital each accounted for half, which made many British politicians and investors dissatisfied. However, they were restricted by the rules they set and could not do anything."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I understand, but I don't regret what I did. If I had the chance again, I would do the same thing.

The Governor of Hong Kong also said that Britain is not a monolithic entity. People like Jardine Matheson & Swire have connections in Britain, and so do I.

And I didn't directly infringe on their interests, I just competed fairly. If they do something behind the scenes, then I can do the same."

Over the years, Changxing Group's business has spread across Europe and the United States, and it has established relationships with many local zz groups. In fact, because it has no special requirements, those zz people are quite fond of it.

Among them, the United Kingdom is also a top priority. Changxing Shipping even placed a shipbuilding order in the United Kingdom for this purpose.

Trembling smiled and said, “I know this, I am just reminding you that there is a saying in Chinese that goes “too much is as bad as too little.”

After all, you are not British. If you control too many of Hong Kong’s core lifelines, I can’t say what will happen in the future.

You will definitely not agree to give up what you have already obtained, but if you have not participated yet, there is no need to participate.

Rather than taking some risks, it is better to participate less now and develop overseas. Didn’t Changxing Group itself start with overseas markets? "

"Mr. Governor is right. I'll think about it." Yang Wendong nodded. He already understood that Trench might be here to lobby. In this environment, British capital would not use political means to deal with him, but they did not want to compete with him fairly for capital, so they hoped that he would give up part of it.

Unfortunately, he knows the future. One thing he knows is how Hong Kong's economy will develop in the future. These infrastructure and real estate will become the world's most profitable industries after Internet high-tech companies, and they are almost risk-free.

The second is that in a year or two, the relationship between the mainland and the West will have improved, and Britain will be even less likely to do anything shameful about things in Hong Kong, not to mention the results of the negotiations in the 80s.

If you know nothing and are unsure of the future benefits and risks, then you might consider reducing your involvement, but this is of course impossible now.

However, face for the Governor of Hong Kong still needs to be given, even though he will leave next year, so "considering" it is also a way for him to step down. Trench Trench will not know his future decision, and even in a year or two, if the mainland establishes diplomatic relations with the United States, he can directly take action against some British capital.

"Okay, Mr. Yang is indeed a smart man." Dai Linzhi was very satisfied with Yang Wendong's performance. After a moment, he said, "But I have another way to make Mr. Yang no longer have to worry about this problem."

Yang Wendong asked curiously: "What method?"

Trench smiled and said, "Mr. Yang can become a British citizen. Then you will be British-owned. No matter what you do in Hong Kong, you will not have any inconvenience."

"Join the nationality?" Yang Wendong smiled and asked, "It shouldn't be that simple, right? There are many Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong who have become British citizens. But they can't get the same treatment as British capital?"

In this era, it is very easy for people from the Commonwealth to obtain British citizenship. Basically, as long as you are not too useless, you can do it.

Even in the 50s and 60s, because Britain was short of people after World War II and in order to preserve its colonies, the British government introduced a policy that anyone from the Commonwealth who came to the UK would be treated the same as the British and could be officially naturalized after a few years.

This policy is idealistic, just like what the United States did with Cuba, hoping to attract elites from various colonies and strengthen itself.

As a result, not many elites came, but too many trash came. In just a few years, millions of Indians and blacks went to Britain. They all couldn't make it in their own countries, but at least they wouldn't starve to death when they came to Britain.

As a result, things were in complete chaos in the UK. A few years ago, when Changxing Industry invested in the UK, Yang Wendong ordered that it would be better to spend more money to recruit white people and Chinese rather than Indians and blacks. This was the reason.

Dai Linzhi said: "It is definitely not enough to just naturalize. The British side means that the headquarters of Changxing Group needs to be moved to the UK, and some factories also need to be moved there.

In return, many large infrastructure projects in Hong Kong can be given to you, such as some of the Hong Kong government's tender projects during this period."

Hong Kong's government public projects are basically undertaken by British capital. For example, the construction of so many roads, public buildings, parks, reservoirs, forest maintenance, etc. in Hong Kong cost half of the Hong Kong government's fiscal revenue, with an investment of several hundred million yuan a year.

Chinese investors are also very jealous of these things, but they have no chance to participate at all. This is also a legal way to transfer the Hong Kong government's money into British capital, and then transfer part of it to the UK.

"I still need to think about it." Yang Wendong still didn't say anything definite. He had to give face, but he also had to stand her up. At least there was no need to turn against her for now.

Even if you are rejected, you should delay it for a while. It is best not to refrain from confronting them in person. This is basic courtesy.

Trembling knew that such a thing could not be decided immediately, so he smiled and said, "Okay, I hope to hear good news from Mr. Yang soon."

After discussing the important matters, the two exchanged greetings for a while and then said goodbye to each other.

The Hung Hom Tunnel below is operating normally, except that there are a few more people, but there are no other problems.

By the afternoon, Yang Wendong obtained three hours of data, showing that a total of 3 vehicles of various types passed through the tunnel, with a toll of nearly 8600 yuan. The estimated toll for the whole day was about 4 yuan.

This is the first day, and many people may be looking for something new. According to predictions, it is estimated that there will be an income of 5 to 7 yuan per day in the next day. What is uncertain is the situation of various trucks passing by.

With this income, the total revenue for a year is about 20 to 30 million. After deducting operating costs, maintenance costs and interest costs, it is possible to make several million in profit a year.

The profit will not be very high, mainly because this kind of public infrastructure involving the entire population has profit margin limits, including power companies and telephone companies. However, there is a way, which is to increase costs appropriately, but there must be a limit, and the Hong Kong government is not a fool.

But the real core of the infrastructure industry is betting on the future. If Hong Kong's economy continues to perform mediocrely, then such infrastructure will not lose money but will not make a lot of money. However, if the economy takes off in the future and car usage increases dramatically, the prices set today due to the small number of cars will be absolute huge profits in the future.

The same principle applies to inland highways in the past. As the economy developed, making money from highways was like picking up gold with your eyes closed.

However, the Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel project originally came with a large amount of land on both sides of the tunnel entrance. Now, with the opening of the tunnel and the booming economy of Hong Kong, the value of the land will become even higher.

In the future, the value of the land may even exceed the tunnel itself. This is also a special benefit brought by the prophet.

……

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(End of this chapter)