Upon hearing this, Fang Lang immediately knew that what he had said to Nottingham Jones and others had reached the Governor's ears. Seeing this, Fang Lang did not hide it and smiled and said:
"That's right! I asked the Governor to come here today because of this!"
"Oh! So there is a way I can help General Fang, right?"
"Yes, I would like to ask the Governor to grant me a piece of land in Hong Kong City for the construction of my museum."
As a British, I am very interested in cultural relics from various countries. Just think about how many precious cultural relics from other countries are collected in the British Museum.
Now that Fang Lang told him that a private museum was going to be built on his territory, he would of course be very interested, especially in the cultural relics collected in the museum.
"It seems that General Fang has quite a few collections! He even needs to build a private museum to house them."
Grantham's interested expression made Fang Lang's heart alarm. These British people are all robbers. Now that Hong Kong City has not been returned, I wonder if these British people will take advantage of my collection when I put it in the museum!
But now the only place that can store these cultural relics is Gangcheng. It's not that he can't send these things back to his hometown directly, but if he sends them back to his hometown, when the special period comes, it is hard to say how many of these things can be preserved.
...
...
Therefore, even if it is to be sent back to the hometown, it must not be done now. After the reform and opening up or after the return of Hong Kong, you can send it back anytime you want, and there will be no problem in opening a private museum in the hometown.
Since it cannot be sent back to my hometown now, the best choice is to place it in Hong Kong or Haojing. Haojing is actually not bad, but the place is too small. If I want to build a bigger museum, there is not even enough land.
In addition, only in Hong Kong City can there be a chance to receive more good things flowing out of the hometown, so, on the whole, the museum can only be built in Hong Kong City.
In fact, it is very simple to stop the British from coveting the museum's collections. All you need to do is arrange a force that the other party dare not covet to guard the museum.
It might be difficult for anyone else to come up with such a force, but he just happened to have such a force in his hands.
As early as the night of the food stall conflict, Fang Lang had intended to open a branch of God's Whip in Gangcheng, but after some thought, Fang Lang finally decided to postpone the implementation of this plan.
First of all, he was worried that his proposal might cause the other party to have bad associations. After all, he was Chinese and had a powerful paramilitary force in Hong Kong that was not under the official control of Hong Kong, which would inevitably make many British people feel uneasy.
It would be better to let General Clark fly to Hong Kong City at the right time. As a retired American general, it may be easier for him to gain support in Hong Kong City.
Secondly, Fang Lang was also worried that the establishment of the Whip of God branch in Hong Kong at this time might be used by the Americans to make trouble.
After all, the Peninsula War was about to break out. If Fang Lang established a Whip of God branch in Gangcheng at this time, the Americans might take the opportunity to place an order with the company and let their company create some chaos in the south, their hometown. This was not what Fang Lang wanted to see.
Therefore, it would be better to wait until the end of the Peninsular War before officially opening a branch in Gangcheng. This would not only protect their own industries in Gangcheng, but also prepare for the South Vietnam War that would break out in the future.
In the end, Fang Lang resisted the urge to propose building a branch of God's Whip in Hong Kong City. After a moment's hesitation, he responded directly:
"I do have some collections, but not a lot. This is just a personal hobby of mine. When I passed by Japan this time, I met two enthusiastic friends who bought some for me after hearing that I liked this stuff.
I thought if I shipped them back directly, the sea route would be long, the winds would be high and the waves would be rough, and I was worried about any accidents. But when we got to the port, I thought about whether I should leave them there. I could come and see them when I have time.
What? The Governor is also interested in these things? "
“Haha… I am interested in everything that carries history. Unfortunately, my personal financial resources are limited and I cannot collect too many items. If your private museum can really be established in Hong Kong City, it would be very good news for me.
I only need to pay for a ticket to visit the precious cultural relics that only a big boss like you can afford to collect.
I just don't know how big a private museum you plan to build in Hong Kong? Hong Kong has received many Chinese refugees, which has put a lot of population pressure on us and our land resources are also very tight.
So if you want to build a huge museum, the location might not be very good.”
Grantham smiled very frankly, without any intention of pretending! He also did not hint at Fang Lang's intention of giving him two cultural relics, which made Fang Lang a little confused about his true thoughts.
However, the other party mentioned the population pressure in Hong Kong City, which still made Fang Lang a little confused. After all, their labor dispatch company and immigration company have been transferring refugees from Hong Kong City. In history, Hong Kong City did have a large number of refugees, but it shouldn't exist now!
This made him unable to help but ask:
“Your Excellency Governor, as far as I know, the labor dispatch company of the Brazilian Fangyuan Group has been recruiting Chinese workers in the port city, and their work is very effective. Almost one or two immigrant ships leave the port city every week.
This should be able to greatly ease the population pressure in the port city. Why does the Governor still feel that the port city is facing huge population pressure now? "
After hearing Fang Lang's words, Grantham first smiled, then turned it into a wry smile, shrugged helplessly and said:
“General Fang, you don’t know that before the war, Hong Kong City had a population of about one million. After the war, a few refugees who had fled to Hong Kong returned to Hong Kong City. At that time, your labor dispatch company was recruiting immigrant workers in Huacheng, so the number of refugees entering our Hong Kong City was actually not that large.
But as the war broke out in China, some refugees who wanted to escape the war gradually fled to the port city. According to our judgment, these refugees probably valued the port city's proximity to China and planned to return home after the war.
Therefore, they did not follow the ships of your immigration company, which enabled the population of our port city to quickly recover to the pre-war level of one million by mid-1946.
But this is not the end. With the outbreak of the civil war, your labor dispatch company has become significantly more active. Even in the port city, there are people who specialize in recruiting refugees for you. This has caused the population pressure in our port city to soar rapidly. Most of these people only stay in the port city for a short time before directly boarding your immigration ship.
But some refugees, for some reason, did not follow your immigration ship, but stayed behind, which made us very embarrassed. Up to now, the number of refugees stranded in our port city has exceeded one million, which means that one out of every two people in the port city is a refugee. "
Fang Lang was stunned when he heard this. What did this mean? Was he blaming the increase in the number of refugees in Hong Kong City on our immigration company?
However, Fang Lang also understood what Grantham meant. The Hong Kong government now believes that these refugees are just trying to escape the war and are staying in Hong Kong for a short period of time, and they will not stay there forever.
Therefore, Fang Lang chose to follow his words directly:
"Haha... Your Excellency the Governor, you said that these refugees are probably trying to escape the war. When the other side stabilizes, they will probably all return to their hometowns. By then, won't the population pressure on the port city be greatly reduced?
This is not a bad thing for you, it is just very cheap labor, right? You can take the opportunity to develop some labor-intensive industries to quickly restore the economy of the port city!"
Grantham originally wanted to take the opportunity to complain about Fang Lang and his immigration company, which attracted too many refugees to the port city, causing great population pressure on the port city. Unexpectedly, the other party took the opportunity to describe these refugees as opportunities for the development of the port city.
This made him feel full of resentment towards Fang Lang, but what Fang Lang said that the refugees would return to their homes sooner or later coincided with his idea.
Unfortunately, he did not realize that Huacheng has been liberated and peace has long been restored in China across the port city. If these refugees really wanted to return to their homes, they would have gone back long ago and would not have to wait until now.
In fact, most of the refugees stranded in the port city supported the National Government. They stayed in the port city in the hope that the National Government would win so that they could return to their hometown in glory.
But the reality now is that the opposite is true. The regime they have high hopes for is doomed to fail miserably due to corruption and incompetence. Naturally, they will not return.
Most of these people still have some savings, so they are unwilling to follow the labor dispatch companies from Brazil to work thousands of miles away. But when their savings are slowly consumed, their lives will inevitably fall into trouble.
"I hope so! I don't have time to care about when the refugees will return home. The more important thing now is that the heavy troops stationed in Huacheng may cross the border at any time. This is what I am most worried about now."
Upon hearing this, Fang Lang's eyes moved slightly. It seemed that he had taken the initiative to say that the other side would not take the initiative to attack the port city last time, which attracted Grantham's attention! The other party brought up this topic again now, obviously with a hidden meaning.
Seeing this, Fang Lang smiled. Just at this moment, the waiters in the restaurant began to bring plates of exquisite dishes to the table. Fang Lang stopped talking and made room for the waiters to serve the dishes.
Because there were only two people eating, there were not many dishes on the table, only three meat dishes, one vegetable dish and one soup, and in order to prevent waste, the portions were not large. Therefore, the dishes were served quickly.
After the waiter left, Fang Lang picked up his chopsticks and gestured to Grantham:
"Your Excellency Governor, the dishes are all here. Let's eat and talk!"
When he was in his twenties, Grantham was hired by the British Colonial Office to work in the Colonial Secretariat of the British Hong Kong Government. After arriving in Hong Kong, he went to Guangzhou and Macau to learn Cantonese. Therefore, he was already very familiar with Cantonese cuisine and was even more proficient in the use of chopsticks.
After hearing Fang Lang's words, he didn't hesitate and picked up the chopsticks skillfully and said:
"Then I won't be polite. The barbecued pork at the Spring Moon Restaurant is really delicious. I haven't tasted it for a long time."
As he said this, he started eating.
Fang Lang looked at Grantham's skilled movements and laughed:
“Hehe…it seems that His Excellency the Governor is also a gourmet! It was only after I stayed at the Peninsula Hotel these few days that I realized that the best Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong is hidden in the restaurant of this Peninsula Hotel.
I have enjoyed a lot of delicious food these days! It's a pity that His Excellency the Governor lives in Central and it is not very convenient for him to come to the Peninsula Hotel. Otherwise, I can invite His Excellency the Governor to dinner every day!"
Hearing this, Grantham laughed and said:
"Haha... you know what, I actually thought about hiring the chef from Jialin House to work as my personal chef at the Governor's Mansion, but then I thought that doing so might cause public outrage, so I had to give up the idea."
"Haha... If Mr. Governor really did that, I would have no chance to taste such delicious food."
The two chatted for a while and drank a few sips of red wine. Seeing that Fang Lang seemed unwilling to bring up the topic he had just raised about the inland troops approaching, Grantham could not help but speak again:
"General Fang, I remember you told me very confidently last time that the other side would not directly attack Hong Kong City, right?"
This time Fang Lang did not answer directly. Instead, he picked up the wine glass and took a sip before slowly looking up and saying:
“Your Excellency the Governor, I do think so, but that is based on my understanding of the other side.
But after this period of time, I have lived in Hong Kong and learned about some of its policies and the ideas of its politicians. I feel that my ideas are one-sided. "
Grantham had never expected that Fang Lang's thoughts would change so drastically in such a short period of time. He was stunned for a moment and even lost the mood to eat. He put down his chopsticks and asked:
"Oh! What unusual situation did General Fang find in Hong Kong City recently that made you have such an idea?"
Noticing that Grantham had put down his chopsticks, Fang Lang didn't pay any attention to it. Instead, he continued to slowly pick up a piece of roast duck and put it into his mouth. After carefully tasting the delicious food for a while, he slowly spoke under Grantham's eager eyes:
“Because I had never heard of the Young Mo Qi Project before, this was a variable that I only learned about after I came to Hong Kong.
In my opinion, if Hong Kong City really follows this plan, then I am sure that the other side will directly use force to take back Hong Kong City. "
When Grantham heard Fang Lang mention the "Young Muqi Plan", his expression froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered and looked at Fang Lang with deep eyes and said:
"So General Fang is not optimistic about the 'Young Muqi Project'?"
Fang Lang heard this, smiled and looked up, looking into Grantham's eyes, and said word by word:
"Isn't the Governor himself not very optimistic about this plan?"
These words made Grantham silent for a long time. He didn't say anything, but looked at the young man opposite him with burning eyes. Fang Lang did not avoid Grantham's eyes, and looked at him calmly for a long time.
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