Chapter 237

Without waiting for the Prime Minister's reaction, Yuan Guodong sighed: "I said she is simple. This is not an exaggeration. She usually speaks so directly, but what she said is not wrong. The truth is this, Xiangjiang cannot withstand any Devastated, we still hope to resolve it through consultation. The UK has been showing its role as a great power to the world. At this time, we should have an overall view. Of course, if there is anything we need to do, please speak up. Capability also means responsibility. We also hope to do something for Xiangjiang. "

Yuan Guodong's words are very beautiful, but there is really nothing wrong with him. While hugging Lin Wei, it is rare that he is also sincere.

Lin Wei echoed: "Mr. Yuan is right."

The Prime Minister looked at them for a few seconds, and then smiled: "There are really thousands of people with different faces. I have heard many people talk to me about Miss Lin, but I still feel strange when I see her. " It's different."

"Did I say something wrong again?" Lin Wei said with a look of hindsight, and immediately looked worried, "I said something wrong in public last time, and I still regret it. I absolutely regret it." No offense, there are always people who will misunderstand what I mean. "

Lin Wei likes the persona Yuan Guodong created for her. If it were her today, she would probably be silent and not say anything. After all, she does history. The direction will not change, there is no need for her to charge forward.

It's just that the other party has made it clear that she needs to cooperate with Yuan Guodong and clarify the position of the Xiangjiang businessman.

Someone on both sides must make a compromise, and the one who makes compromises and retreats should be the British side. Trying to put pressure on the mainland through the influence of businessmen and local people will not work.

The Prime Minister smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. We are all our own people here. Miss Lin can be more casual and don't have to be formal. I also like people who are straightforward."

Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, otherwise I will be scolded when I go back."

"Someone would scold you?" The Prime Minister seemed curious about her statement.

"That's a lot," Lin Wei said. "I am born with deficiencies and have developed many bad habits. I work hard to make money just to prevent my bad habits from getting rid of."

"What bad habits does Miss Lin have?"

"Extravagant and wasteful," Yuan Guodong said for Lin Wei, "I have told her many times, and I don't think anything else is a big problem. That's it. Change clothes at least once a day. If you wear clothes once, you won't wear them again. "It's both wasteful and not environmentally friendly."

Yuan Guodong complained sincerely. He was used to being thrifty and his family lived a simple life. Lin Wei really couldn't stand this. In the past, the friendship between gentlemen was as light as water. Later, when he became familiar with the principle, he would always whisper a few words beside Lin Wei to make her restrain herself.

Lin Wei quickly defended: "I'm much better now, and I'm not so exaggerated."

This is true. In the past two years in the UK, she has spent most of her time in the shipyard, looking disgraced every day, wearing work clothes, and has no time to change into anything else. clothing.

Also, Wu Ming often asked her assistant to bring back the clothes she had to deal with for her to wear. She changed them every day, and sometimes she couldn't remember them at all. She only discovered them later when she was caught, and she didn't bother to worry about them.

"This is not really a shortcoming. Miss Lin is so outstanding. Compared with the wealth she has created for society, this is nothing."

Mrs. Eaton also said: "Indeed, Lin is one of the most diligent women I have ever seen. A smart and hard-working woman deserves the best of everything in the world."

Yuan Guodong sighed helplessly: "I promise to remember the lesson of this time and not to speak ill of ladies at will, especially when other ladies are present, otherwise it will happen. This is an embarrassing situation."

Lin Wei smiled and said, "Then I'm finally free."

The topic went astray.

Each of the people at the table was more knowledgeable than the last, and Lin Wei was the kind of person who knew a little bit about everything. She was curious about children's books, but they were not very knowledgeable, which caused her to read until she was three years old. From children to 80-year-olds, they can all have a conversation as long as the other party offers a topic.

After eating barbecue, the four of them felt like family and friends, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Even when they talked about the future of Xiangjiang, the topic did not become tense. Lin Wei talked quickly and Yuan Guodong used the topic to play.

After coming out of the Prime Minister's Palace, Yuan Guodong invited Lin Wei to sit in his car.

After getting in the car, Yuan Guodong, who originally had a gentle smile on his face, sighed deeply, with a trace of sadness on the tip of his eyebrows. .

Seeing his appearance, Lin Wei asked, "What's wrong?"

"Are you really not worried at all? I thought you were just pretending," Yuan Guodong looked at her, sighed again, and said, "So It's better to be a multinational company and not just stick to this one-third of land." He really envied Lin Wei. With Hezi and Queen's Castle, two international companies, everything happened.

Lin Wei said "Ah" and then understood his worries. Because she knew the future direction of history, she had nothing to worry about and could just do whatever she needed to do.

But Yuan Guodong doesn't know, so from his perspective, the future of Xiangjiang is uncertain now, and the shadows that came to Xiangjiang from Shanghai are coming again.

Yuan Guodong is no longer a shipping king. After the oil crisis, the shipping industry has been in recession. He began to reduce ships and landed early. Now most of his net worth is in Xiangjiang, and he can no longer withstand such troubles.

"Don't worry, Mr. Yuan, nothing will happen to Xiangjiang," Lin Wei comforted, "This will not do any good to either party. You have been in the mainland for some time, and you should know the attitude in the country..."

"This is more exciting. Worry, the result of a head-on confrontation will affect Xiangjiang in the middle. No matter what her plan is today, we must act as the middleman and actively coordinate to prevent the situation from getting further..."

Lin Wei listened to Yuan Guodong's analysis of the current situation, with a look on her face. Slowly showing a thoughtful expression, if Yuan Guodong thinks this way, then other businessmen in Xiangjiang may be even worse. If this is the case, people may lose confidence in the future of Xiangjiang due to concerns about the future of Xiangjiang. Then Xiangjiang The real estate industry is likely to face the next crash.

Her diary only records up to 1980, so she is not very clear about what happened during this period. Her memory of this period is also very vague. On the contrary, she knows more about it from newspapers. In the past, she felt that this It's normal to forget some things when you get old, and you don't remember them every time. Looking at it now, she was probably really in a state of chaos at that time.

"The Hong Kong dollar will depreciate further." Lin Wei suddenly said.

Yuan Guodong stopped and looked at her.

"The Hong Kong dollar has been falling slowly for two years. It will probably continue to be like this until the matter is finalized, but as it gets closer, it may become crazier."

When Lin Wei came to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong dollar was pegged to the British pound. Later in the 1970s, When the pound depreciated at the beginning, it became pegged to the US dollar. As a result, the US dollar depreciated again, and it changed to a floating exchange rate system①, which has been the case until now.

But in her memory, the Hong Kong dollar has always been linked to the linked exchange rate system②.

Every change in the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate system is caused by major events that affect the development of Hong Kong's own economy. Since it has decoupled from the US dollar and the pound, it is not a problem with the foreign currency. The problem is probably the Hong Kong dollar itself.

Was there a "Hong Kong dollar crisis" in the 1980s?

"What do you mean..." Yuan Guodong looked at her blankly.

"I don't think anything can happen to Hong Kong. What can happen is people's hearts. Both the Hong Kong dollar and real estate represent people's confidence in Hong Kong. If people's hearts are unstable, it will immediately be reflected in stocks, real estate and... currencies."

Yuan Guodong listened . After Lin Wei finished speaking, she pondered for a while, and then said: "You should have mentioned it just now."

The depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar will inevitably affect the UK. If extreme situations will occur as Lin Wei said, then the British government will rescue the market , there will also be heavy losses.

For this reason, the UK should also act carefully to avoid backlash on itself.

Lin Wei said "Ah" and explained: "I just thought of it." Recently, all she could think about was the shipyard. Whenever she closed her eyes, it was either the design drawings or the cranes. How could she have time to think about these things?

"It's okay, there's always a chance," Yuan Guodong said with a smile, "The brain is easy to use, so just move more. I feel like you are just lazy, and you will only think about things when things are about to happen."

Lin Wei said "Oh" Voice: "You misunderstood me..."

She has worked very hard, why do others always think she has not tried her best?

...

"They really have a good understanding of each other."

After Lin Wei and Yuan Guodong left, the Prime Minister took off his white gloves and commented like this. The two people didn't even look at each other, and someone started to speak the next sentence. , all looking for arguments to support the other party’s point of view.

Mrs. Eaton shook her fan gently: "They have known each other for more than ten years. They both have a great influence in Xiangjiang. One is brave enough to fight and constantly expand his career territory. The other is steady and steady, and puts everything on the plate." To make the cake bigger, they can indeed represent the position of Xiangjiang merchants, but..."

Mrs. Eaton smiled and said: "Since someone says that she is British and will stand for the British position, then let her stand completely. "

The Prime Minister looked up at her and didn't speak immediately. After a while, he said: "Your grievances are deeper than I thought."

Mrs. Eaton shook her head and said, "It's not so much grievances as self-protection. As long as there is a chance. , She will definitely not let me go. For my own safety, I will seize every possibility to make her stumble. "

Of course, it would be best if I can make her stumble completely.

When Lin Wei got the latest issue of the newspaper, her first reaction was to tell the nurse not to show Wu Ming today's newspaper.

In the end, Lin Wei was a step too late. Standing at the door of the ward, she saw Wu Ming reading the newspaper expressionlessly, with a hint of gloom in his eyebrows. She turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Wu Ming was still staring at the newspaper, not looking at her.

Lin Wei turned around and showed a smile: "They are taking it out of context. They didn't mention what I said later. I clearly mentioned the colony, but they only cut out the front part."

Wu Ming turned his head and looked at Lin Wei: " So you really got high in front of the Prime Minister?"

He now felt that the word "high" was really appropriate.

He said that he was British and had sworn allegiance to the Queen. He did not want to see the bloodshed and sacrifice of his compatriots and stood on the side of Britain.

I really dare to say this.

"Calm down," Lin Wei raised her hand and made a downward motion in the air and said, "In fact, even if I don't say anything, the newspapers will still write like this. They don't target Yuan Guodong because Yuan Guodong knows everything. Didn't you say it? The real reason is that it is not good for them. Yuan Guodong has a good relationship with everyone, which means that his relationship with everyone is not good enough. There is no obvious tendency, but I am different. I am too angular. They did this to prevent me from moving towards the mainland."

But unlike Mr. Huo, she didn't deal with the British Hong Kong government at all. She was destined to be unable to get into trouble with the other side for Harland's sake.

Wu Ming put down the newspaper: "So you knew in advance that they would do this, so you said it on purpose?"

Lin Wei: "..."

Do you want to be so "observant"?

She sat down and said, "Some shortcomings of people may only be tolerated temporarily. It is really difficult to completely change them. I don't think much of myself anymore. Don't worry about me. Just take good care of yourself. When soldiers come, we will stop you. When water comes, we will cover you up." "It depends on what else they want to do?"

She was actually resentful. Something happened to Wu Ming just now. The British government had been setting up obstacles for her over the years. The power of the civilians was too weak, so she could only defend passively to ensure that she was safe. It's hard to live in the cracks if you suffer a little loss.

"Do you think they will make other moves?" Wu Ming was focused on what would happen next.

"It's most likely like this. Everyone is not stupid. How many people believe this kind of rumor in the newspaper?" Lin Wei picked up a banana and said, "Nine times out of ten, what else are they going to do? At least Make it look like I'm really tied to them. "

They take her a little too seriously. How much spark can a businessman have?" A scoop of water will extinguish it, and it will not affect the overall situation.

Otherwise, why would she have spent so many years getting Haaland?

"What do you think they will do?"

Lin Wei bit a banana and shook her head: "It's hard to say. It should give me some benefit, but this benefit may not be realized... Don't worry about them. I'll just take whatever you give me."

Wu Ming stared at her, trying to find something from her expression, and found that she was really so caring that she wasn't worried at all.

Sometimes, I really want to take her head open and see what is inside.

When Wu Ming was almost healthy, the gift prepared by the British side for Lin Wei really arrived.

In order to thank Lin Wei for her contribution to the British shipbuilding industry, the Queen of England was going to award Lin Wei the knighthood of GBE and also confer it on St. Michael. and the Order of St. George.

It's okay to be a knight. It's not the same as those noble titles such as baron and earl. It's just an honor bestowed by the monarch on civilians, and it's not hereditary.

This is not a strange thing. Now it seems to be more powerful. In future generations, it will be like wholesale. Hong Kong's rich businessmen will also have one. Even now, Yuan Guodong was awarded the title a few years before her.

If I have to say something different, it is that this level of GBE is the highest level among the knight-level commander medals. Yuan Guodong got the third level. Only the first two levels can be included in the knighthood, so Lin Wei's is better.

The highlight is the medal of St. Michael and St. George at the back.

It cannot be said that this medal is difficult to obtain. It is the last of the five levels of Knighthood in the British Honor System and was once awarded by the Prime Minister of Singapore.

The key point is that the reason why this medal was established was that George IV commemorated the Ionian Islands becoming a British protectorate and the British controlled the islands for 50 years from 1814 to 1864.

This award was given to Lin Wei at once, and after someone with a heart interpreted it, it was really a sure thing.

If this matter were spread back, there was no telling how the island would scold her.

What a traitor.

Wu Ming sighed.

A man who clearly had no good impression of Britain turned out to be a knight and a decorated man, and he didn't know who was making things difficult for whom.

On the day of the conferment, Lin Wei happily accepted the medal awarded by the Queen.

After the ceremony, she also accepted an interview with reporters.

"What do you think of this honor?"

Lin Wei smiled and said: "Keep working hard, strive to make more contributions, and live up to this honor."

"You seem to have made remarks that offended the Queen before, how could you accept it today? "Queen's conferment?"

"That's a beautiful misunderstanding." Lin Wei answered very briefly without giving a specific explanation.

Seeing that Lin Wei's answer was very official, someone asked -

"Excuse me, you were invited to the Prime Minister's manor before. What did you talk about at that time?"

Under the bright sunshine, Lin Wei raised her smooth forehead and smiled at the corners of her lips. : "The Prime Minister is very concerned about the development of Xiangjiang's shipbuilding industry. She said that the House of Lords will urge the British Hong Kong government to implement shipbuilding support policies. In the future, Xiangjiang's shipbuilding industry and its upstream enterprises will enjoy special financial assistance, tax incentives, credit preferences and other policies. In short , the Prime Minister has promised to support the Xiangjiang shipbuilding industry in the future and continue to write Haaland's century-old legend. Therefore, on behalf of those engaged in the Xiangjiang shipbuilding industry and related industries, I would like to express my gratitude to the Prime Minister for this decision."

She finished. Reporters quickly gathered around and asked questions about the details of this issue.

Lin Wei had a faint smile on her face. Her relationship with the British government could be closer, but the other party was still too conservative.

Coming out of the circle of reporters, Wu Ming looked at her for a while and was speechless.

"You are really brave." He commented after a long time.

How dare she make something out of nothing.

Lin Wei walked to the car door and said: "There are only two results. If they deny it, then the relationship will break down and the calculation will fail. If they acquiesce, I will get some real benefits."

She did not expect all these policies to be implemented. But if she can implement one or two items, she will really slow down and have an advantage in the competition with Japan and South Korea. The local big guys in Xiangjiang actually like to buy ships from her. It is convenient for maintenance, can keep track of the progress, and the communication is smooth. Japan and South Korea are somewhat inconvenient. If there are preferential policies, shipping big guys like Xiangjiang can do it. She is so fat that she is, after all, the second largest shipping center in the world.

What use does she have for these two broken badges, except to show off that they can be used as food?

Since you want to bind, give some blood and give some benefits.

But after getting in the car, Lin Wei couldn't help but frown.

"What's wrong?" Song Ye asked.

"I always feel like I've forgotten something?"

...

Yangcheng, in a garden house.

Fang Lianxin repeatedly checked the contents of the newspaper with his glasses, and then said to the visitor: "When did my daughter become British?"

Why is this newspaper so messy?

"The photo above should be her, right?"

Fang Lianxin looked at the woman standing with the Queen of England, smiling brightly, and took a deep breath: "Fang Yantang!"