Monroe applied sunscreen to Hardy's broad back, and seeing Hardy reading the news with a smile on his face, she asked, "What did you see in the news that made you happy?"

"The newspaper said that HD Security is the people's protector. What do you think of Monroe?" Hardy asked.

Menglu thought for a moment, then leaned close to Hadi's ear and whispered, "All I know is that you are my guardian angel."

"Oh, then when do you feel most protected?" Hardy asked.

"That's right~it's the strongest when you're pressing me down." Meng Lu said boldly.

Protecting the people is our unshirkable responsibility.

......

Wells Fargo President John Stone sent a telegram saying that the visit to Portugal was about to end and the next stop would be Britain.

Hardy had previously instructed to inform him before going to the UK, and he was going to go there in person, and called back to say that he would arrive in the UK at the same time.

Hardy did not bring Andy with him on this trip. He left Andy, the president of the group, to handle the company affairs. With someone here to keep him at ease, he could be at ease.

Hadi's plane arrived at London Airport only ten minutes earlier than the planes of the aid group and the inspection team, and everyone got off the plane together.

The British Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer came to the airport to greet him, and after exchanging greetings, they went to 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence.

They met with Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who was a Labour Prime Minister. After coming to power in 1945, Attlee vigorously promoted nationalization, hoping that this move could save Britain. He nationalized Greenland Bank, coal, aviation, telegraph and radio communications, transportation, electricity, gas, steel, etc.

In fact, the British were very conflicted about the US aid plan. On the one hand, Britain had a hard time after World War II and was in urgent need of aid. On the other hand, they also saw the real purpose of the Americans' aid.

The Americans' aid is not out of kindness as they say. It simply makes the aided countries develop the habit of relying on the United States in terms of economy and politics.

To put it bluntly, it is a fight for the right to speak in Europe.

Even compete for the right to speak in the world.

In fact, from the perspective of later generations, when the United States seized Britain's global hegemony, Britain also struggled and even did a lot of dirty things.

To give a small example, when the United States blockaded China a few years later, Hong Kong was the only channel, and a lot of smuggling passed through Hong Kong. Britain had the ability to completely block this channel, but Britain chose to turn a blind eye, ignore, and even allow such smuggling.

It's not about how good Britain is to rabbits, but about the way they choose to fight against the United States.

But what if I understand it?

In today's Britain, the war has drained the treasury, there is a food shortage in the country, and the unemployment rate continues to rise, leading to constant strikes. It is difficult to guarantee production and life, so they have to seek assistance from the United States again.

The Soviet Union was tough.

They just decided not to participate and turned away.

The UK was hesitant for a long time, but finally gave in and accepted the help.

But deep down, they still retain the pride of the British Empire and are not decisive in doing things. So to be honest, the list of investable countries they gave to the economic delegation this time was not as good as those of some small countries, as they were all private enterprises.

All enterprises related to people's livelihood are classified as state-owned by them, and some are even on the list of enterprises that will be state-owned, and investment is not allowed.

Hardy knew that, to put it bluntly, Britain still couldn't let go of its "imperial complex".

So my personality became a little awkward.

It is understandable that he must feel sad after being driven down from his position as the world's leader and having to beg for a bite of food from his younger brothers who used to follow him around.

While others were studying investment catalogs, Hardy didn't care too much. He only focused on three areas: banking, shipping and luxury goods.

He has asked British officials to prepare a list of luxury goods companies willing to receive investment, and as for banking and shipping, the president of Wells Fargo will be in charge.

Soon, Wells Fargo President John Stone came to Hardy and said in a low voice: "Mr. Hardy, I plan to acquire a small bank that has gone bankrupt. It has about 20 branches, three in London, and the rest in other major cities in the UK."

"It's up to you to decide," said Hardy.

"I also saw a bank that I thought was worth investing in."

"What bank?"

"HSBC Hong Kong, HSBC Bank is in the bank list, they are preparing to sell a portion of their shares, and the proportion is not small."

Hardy's heart moved.

"Is HSBC short of money?"

"I don't know, but HSBC has the right to issue money in Hong Kong. Even though Hong Kong is just a small place, having the right to issue money in a place is also a very big financial right. As long as Hong Kong develops, this bank will definitely make a lot of money."

As a financier, John Stone does have this vision, which is also the biggest reason why he values ​​​​Huafeng.

"But why would he be willing to give up his shares?" Hardy asked.

"I'm not sure about that. Maybe it's to bring in more powerful partners and expand more business, such as opening banks in the United States or other European countries," John Stone guessed.

Hardy disagrees with this reasoning.

Nowadays, most Westerners don't pay much attention to the East, but that is what Hardy pays most attention to.

During World War II, Huifeng was occupied by the Japanese and all its assets were confiscated, which caused heavy losses to Huifeng. Just after the end of World War II, the company reopened, but it was hit by China's domestic problems.

It is now 1949. Chiang Kai-shek has caused severe domestic inflation. HSBC's main investments are in China, which has made them very anxious.

Coupled with the war, dozens of HSBC banks closed down and withdrew to Hong Kong.

Another thing that worries them is whether Hong Kong can be preserved. No one can answer this question.

In fact, more people are not optimistic. If Baldy fails, the chances of Hong Kong being saved are very small. Not long ago, Victor wrote to me saying that many people are selling their assets, especially some British businessmen, who asked him if he wanted to buy them.

Hardy's answer to him was to buy the company at a lower price, and if he had no money, he could borrow from Wells Fargo.

As HSBC is headquartered in Hong Kong, it is inevitable that it will be affected by this atmosphere and want to escape. This is probably the biggest reason why HSBC released its shares.

To put it simply, it means selling shares for cash and lowering one's own risk.

This is the nature of capitalists.

“Who else is watching HSBC?” Hardy asked.

"Mr. David Rockefeller is also optimistic about the HSBC deal. He owns Manhattan Bank and is expected to acquire a stake in HSBC. I heard that he has already contacted the Sassoon family for a meeting." Johnston said.

The Shasson family.

jew.

He started out as a loan shark.

Founding family of the East India Company.

The biggest opium seller.

Hardy pondered for a few minutes, many ideas running through his mind, and he felt that he needed to get involved in this business.

Very necessary!

"John, call David Rockefeller for me and tell him I want to talk to him about something," said Hardy.

Johnston quickly made a phone call and soon got a reply: "Mr. Hardy, Mr. Rockefeller said he has time now."

When Hardy met David Rockefeller, they shook hands warmly and found a place to sit in the hotel garden. The waiter brought a pot of black tea, put it down and left. Hardy took out a box of cigars from his pocket and David took one with a smile.

The two had become friends when they were in Italy and France. David Rockefeller was very interested in Hardy's business philosophy. During breaks in work, the two often sat together and chatted. Hardy talked about a lot of theories to fool Rockefeller.

But to David, these theories are very fresh and wise. It is not uncommon for a person to have investment ability and investment vision, but when you have a unique investment philosophy, you are different from ordinary investors and have the potential to become a figure leading the times.

As a core member of the Rockefeller family, he has many capable people under him, even some university professors. However, on some issues and visions for the future, David feels that Hardy is bolder than them, but he feels that it makes sense.

In his mind, Hardy was a thoughtful investor, and he valued Hardy more and more.

"Hardy, what do you want to talk to me about?" David Rockefeller asked.

"I heard that you were planning to invest in HSBC and had already contacted the Sands family?" Hardy asked bluntly.

"Why, are you also interested in Huifeng?"

David Rockefeller asked with a smile.

Davis was not surprised that Hardy asked about HSBC. After all, Hardy is now a banker, and Wells Fargo, which he owns, has been rising rapidly recently.

"I wonder how much you know about the war in the East?" Hardy did not answer David, but asked a question.

"We don't know much about the war in the East," David said in surprise.

"The Global Times has a branch in Hong Kong and has also stationed reporters in China. China is experiencing severe domestic inflation and its financial system is basically in a state of collapse. Jiang, you must have heard about it. It's about bribing Dewey's family, and his army is losing ground."

"HSBC's largest investment is in China. Affected by inflation and war, I heard that more than a dozen branches have been closed. As the war progresses, it is unknown whether Hong Kong can be saved. I think this is the biggest reason why Sassoon wants to sell his shares. They are worried that their investment in the East will go down the drain."

After Hardy finished speaking, he looked at David. He believed that this information was enough for David to understand everything.

David frowned after hearing this.

As a doctor of finance and chairman of Manhattan Bank, Hardy's words were enough to make him understand a lot, and he also knew that Sassoon wanted to find an investor to back him up.

"Hardy, thank you for providing this information. It seems that I have to reconsider this investment." David said with a serious face.

Hardy shook his head.

"Don't worry, I haven't finished yet. I'm telling you these words because I hope you understand the risks of this investment. When negotiating with the other party, you can use these conditions to bargain hard."

David looked at Hardy in surprise.

“Do you think it is necessary to make this investment?”

"have."

Hadi answered affirmatively.

David looked at Hardy and said, "Are you planning to get involved, Hardy?"

Hardy smiled and said, "That's exactly what I'm going to say next. I want to acquire HSBC shares, but we can't have a conflict, so I came to you."

"But if you see the risks, why do you still want to acquire it?"

"This is a gamble. If you lose, you may lose hundreds of millions of dollars, but if you win, you will reap huge rewards. Maybe you don't know that last year I let Wells Fargo enter Hong Kong and invested in many industries in Hong Kong, including dozens of companies including shipping companies. Now they have been invested in succession. If I can get shares of HSBC Bank, it will be of great help to my industrial development in the East." Hardy said.

David thought for a while.

Although he didn't know why Hardy was willing to gamble, he now had an inexplicable belief that Hardy would win, because this guy's rise to wealth was so legendary, and also because of the theories Hardy had once told him.

David made a decision, "Hadi, how about we work together on this project?"

"Haha, that's what I mean." Hardy said with a smile.

"What are you going to do next?"

"We don't have to talk to the Sassoon family. We can also talk to other small shareholders and then create some public pressure in the newspapers. For example, the direction of the war in the East may cause the bank to be confiscated and the investment to be lost. Those people can't stand the pressure and the price will naturally come down. We can then lower the price hard and buy him over at a low price." Hardy said.

"I agree with your strategy. From now on, let's join forces." David smiled and stretched out his hand.

Hardy reached out and shook David's hand.

make a deal.

The two of them joining forces is equivalent to two super groups joining forces, and the power is terrifying.