After the two of them chatted and laughed for a while, Grantham couldn't help but say:
"I heard from McCall that General Fang is planning to buy land in Taiping Mountain to build a manor?"
Hearing this, Fang Lang smiled slightly and said indifferently:
“That’s true. This time I spent such a long time in Hong Kong City, which made me realize its development potential. If I have the opportunity in the future, I would like to visit Hong Kong City more often.
In addition, my private museum is being built in Gangcheng, which houses my favorite Chinese antiques. In the future, I will definitely come here often to play with them.
Considering that it is very inconvenient for me to not have a fixed residence in Gangcheng, I plan to build my own manor in Gangcheng."
This idea was reasonable and logical, and Grantham had no reason to refuse it. In addition, the two of them had just talked about the topic of combining Chinese and Western cultures. If Grantham refused on the grounds that Chinese were not allowed to stay at Taipingshan, he would be slapping himself in the face.
He could only hesitate for a moment before nodding slowly and saying:
"In that case, I will ask the Lands Department to select a suitable location for you to build a house on the Peak."
...
...
Grantham's attitude did not surprise Fang Lang. He knew it was a matter of time.
"Haha...thank you very much, Governor!"
After that, he spoke directly:
"Then I wonder where the Governor plans to place my private museum!"
Fang Lang did not continue to hide it. Since Grantham had already taken the initiative to point it out, and Financial Secretary McCall had told him about his idea of building a house, it meant that the other party already knew about his meeting with McCall. There was no need for him to continue to play dumb and pretend that he didn't know that Grantham had already made arrangements for his museum.
Hearing Fang Lang's frank words, Grantham was not surprised. He smiled and said directly:
"General Fang, why shouldn't you ask me why I should help you choose a place?"
Fang Lang glanced at Grantham strangely, and said indifferently:
"Hong Kong City is the Governor's territory. I originally wanted to look for it myself, but I didn't want to trouble the Governor. But yesterday, I heard from Secretary McCall that the Governor had already chosen a place for me, so of course I refused.
Why? The Governor took the initiative to help me find a place to build a museum. Isn't it because we are good friends? Is there any other reason? "
This time, Grantham choked on his breath and almost couldn't breathe. Fang Lang, you insisted on choosing the land yourself in order to prevent me from choosing the land for you and repaying the favor of helping me pass the message, saying that you helped pass the message because of our friendship.
Now that he knew that he had chosen the land for him, he said that he helped choose it because he was the other party's good friend, making me unable to even say the words of repaying the favor. He is really shameless.
Compared to the other party helping him to take the risk and pass the message to the other side, I only found him a piece of construction land on my own territory, which really cannot offset the favor. Thinking of this, he could only smile bitterly and shook his head:
"Okay! You're right. We are friends. It is only natural for me to help you choose a suitable place to build a museum. I only intervened because I saw that you couldn't decide after choosing for a long time."
Hearing this, Fang Lang chuckled, bowed to Grantham and said:
"Haha... I knew that you, Lao Ge, are a good friend! This Hong Kong City is your territory after all. You must know it better than me, and the place you choose must be better than mine!
When I heard you were helping me choose, I knew you must have your own plans for the cultural area of your port city. Tell me, where is the place you helped me choose?"
Fang Lang's words made Ge Lianghong smile bitterly. Now it was not only that he had helped him choose the land and had no favor to owe him, but the other party even directly stated that he was planning a cultural and arts center for his port city.
In this way, the completion of his private museum became a support for his cultural and art center. Instead of thanking me for helping him choose the land, I should thank him for his contribution to the cultural and artistic revival of Hong Kong City!
I have to say, this kid is very slippery despite his young age.
"You are really amazing. You saw through my plan so quickly. It is just as you said. I am indeed planning to set up an art and cultural center in Hong Kong City. It was your idea of building a museum that inspired me.
Originally, our Hong Kong city had a conference hall, which was considered the cultural and arts center of our city. However, it was demolished in 1933 and the land was sold to HSBC as its headquarters building.
Now that the war is over and Hong Kong has ushered in peace, it is indeed necessary for us to revive culture and art in Hong Kong. Therefore, I plan to set up a cultural revival committee to build a new cultural and art center in Hong Kong around your private museum.
The address is near Central. In addition to your private museum, you are also planning to build a Hong Kong City History Museum, as well as a concert hall, a theater, an art gallery, a gymnasium and a series of other buildings. What do you think? "
Hearing this, Fang Lang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Wow! This old guy Grantham is really ambitious! If it is really built according to this plan, this place will definitely become the cultural and artistic center of Hong Kong City in the future.
"Brother Ge, this is really unkind of you! I was wondering why you were so kind to help me choose a piece of land! It turns out you have bad intentions! My museum is a private museum, I have never thought of opening it to the public, and now you want to use my museum as a guide to develop a cultural and art center in Hong Kong. It's not appropriate!"
When Fang Lang said this, the old fox Grantham couldn't help but blush. It was just as Fang Lang said. He had this idea in mind, but now it was directly exposed by Fang Lang. He could only laugh awkwardly to cover up his embarrassment.
"Haha...Brother Fang! I know this is a private museum. But think about it, don't you need to arrange staff to maintain the collections of the museum regularly?
The normal management cost of the museum is not low! In this case, it is not cost-effective to rely on your own maintenance! I just want to help you reduce the burden!
As long as you open the museum to the public, you can charge admission tickets. The income from these tickets can ensure the normal operation of the museum. In this case, your maintenance costs can be balanced! If you manage it well, you may even have an extra income! "
Looking at Grantham's expression, Fang Lang couldn't help but laugh in his heart. As a soul from the future, he certainly knew that opening to the outside world was the best way to run a museum.
Besides, opening to the outside world does not necessarily mean complete opening to the outside world. One only needs to set aside a part of the museum for exhibition, and the rest can be kept completely confidential. This can not only maintain the operation of the museum, but also make it easier to intercept and collect lost cultural relics. Why not do it?
As long as he can ensure that he has absolute ownership of the museum before the return of Hong Kong, and does not allow any Hong Kong British government personnel to participate in the management of the museum, then he can naturally donate the museum in its entirety to his hometown.
It's not that Fang Lang wanted to pretend to be great and selflessly return these cultural relics to his hometown. In fact, with such a gift, the benefits Fang Lang could get from his hometown would definitely not be less than the value of this museum.
Since he already had a plan in mind, Fang Lang still said this to Grantham, of course, in order to get a bigger benefit! He pretended to think seriously for a while before slowly speaking:
“What Brother Ge said makes sense, but I still have enough money to maintain the operation of this private museum.
But since my brother wants to build a cultural and art center for Hong Kong City around my museum, it would be unreasonable for me not to support such a big thing. "
After saying this, he paused and looked at Grantham who was still smiling bitterly across from him.
Seeing this, Grantham understood Fang Lang's meaning and shook his head helplessly.
"Okay, okay, no wonder you have achieved such success in such a short time. Your bargaining skills really put me to shame.
I understand what you mean. How about this! The land for you to build the museum will be provided free of charge by our Hong Kong government. That’s fine, right?
Hearing this, Fang Lang was not happy at all, but frowned and looked at Grantham with a little suspicion. He didn't believe that the British would be so kind. Coming from the future, he deeply understood a truth, that is, "free things are often the most expensive."
If the land for his museum was really given by the British Hong Kong government for free, he would be in trouble if another Governor of Hong Kong asked to take it back in the future. He didn't believe that Grantham didn't understand this, so he couldn't help but suspect that Grantham had some bad intentions.
Fang Lang's eyes were so blatant that Grantham certainly couldn't pretend not to see it. Under such a gaze, Grantham felt a little uncomfortable. After a light cough, he explained softly:
"Don't worry, Brother Fang. I have no ill will towards you. The reason I offer the land for free is to allow you to open your private museum in the cultural and arts center we are planning.
Second, I hope you can open the museum to the public; third, thank you for helping me pass on the message and for your contribution to the peace and stability of Hong Kong City. "
Fang Lang couldn't tell whether the other party's words were true or false, but he was definitely not willing to take any unnecessary risks. So, he spoke directly without hesitation:
"Brother Ge, it's not that I don't trust you. If I really get the land for free, I don't have to worry now that you are here, but what about after you leave? The next Governor of Hong Kong may not necessarily approve of your approach.
If you really want to thank me, then you can give me a larger area at a relatively favorable price. Since your brother wants to build this into a cultural and artistic center of Hong Kong City, I will not give him face. At that time, I will open some of the museum's venues to the public.
Furthermore, to show my support for Brother Ge, I can invite bids from all over the world for the construction of this museum, and look for the best design plan to build it into a new landmark building in Hong Kong. What do you think?"
Grantham obviously did not expect that Fang Lang would raise it high and then put it down gently. He had prepared himself to be ruthlessly slaughtered by the other party, but he did not expect that the other party would agree to his proposal so easily and strongly support his art and cultural center.
This made him feel grateful to the young Chinese man in front of him from the bottom of his heart. To express his gratitude, Grantham stood up without hesitation and stretched out his right hand to Fang Lang.
"Thank you for your support, Brother Fang. You are my true friend."
Seeing this, Fang Lang also smiled slightly, stood up and shook hands with the other party, and said with a smile:
"From what your brother Ge asked me to convey to the other side, I can tell that you are truly considering the future of Hong Kong City, which makes me admire you very much.
Therefore, I will naturally give my full support to your plan to build a port city.
If Brother Ge is really willing to treat someone of ours as a friend, please take good care of my Chinese compatriots during your time managing the port city."
Hearing this, Grantham was obviously stunned. He did not expect Fang Lang to make such a request. As a colonial official, to put it nicely, he was herding for the British royal family.
To put it bluntly, he was a bandit leader who plundered resources from the colonies for the British royal family. Asking him to take care of the people in the colonies was obviously against his job.
If it was before World War II, he would have absolutely rejected Fang Lang's request without hesitation, but now with the end of World War II, the British Empire's colonies around the world have become independent one after another, and the royal family is powerless to do anything about it and can only accept it.
Now, Hong Kong City is only able to maintain its rule here through negotiations with the new government in the mainland. It is difficult for him to directly reject Fang Lang's request.
After a moment of hesitation, Grantham took a deep breath and then slowly spoke:
"As the Governor of Hong Kong, it is my duty to help every citizen living in Hong Kong to have a better life. As the largest group in Hong Kong, it is also my goal to make the lives of the Chinese better.
There are some things that I will take the initiative to do even without Brother Fang bringing them up."
Although Grantham did not say anything about improving the status of Chinese people in Hong Kong, he indirectly accepted Fang Lang's request. Fang Lang had nothing to say about this.
Pulling the other party's hand that had not yet been released, Fang Lang gave the old man a hug and whispered in his ear:
"Okay, I'll take note of what Brother Ge said. If you need any help from me in the future, just let me know."
After saying that, he patted the other person twice on the back.
The other party's words seemed generous, but were actually warnings. Grantham could only respond with a helpless smile. He knew in his heart that the other party would definitely be watching his actions. If he broke his promise, this guy would definitely find a way to retaliate against him.
For a young man like Fang Lang who has achieved such great success at such a young age, I owe him a favor, and if I don't repay it, he will not let me go easily.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Fang Lang had no intention of staying in the Governor's House for long.
"Brother Ge, I will have someone from the Global Group contact you about the museum. If there is anything you can't handle, you can contact me directly.
I have to deal with some fleet matters in the next two days, so I won't come to say goodbye to you. If you have the opportunity to go to Brazil, please let me know, and I will accompany you in person."
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