The Lu Family's influence in Malaya is no longer what it once was. Many of the businesses that Grandfather Lu You once controlled have been transferred to others. Even though their relationship with the Britain is still relatively amicable, the idea of Britain granting tens of thousands of acres of land to the Lu Family is no longer a possibility. His father's uncles and aunts are not even capable of maintaining the family business; they only know how to fight over the family assets. Most of the top talents that Grandfather recruited abandoned the Lu Family one by one after Grandfather 'Lu Family death and during the internal strife. The few who remain are all old and frail, barely managing to maintain the Lu Family's vanity.
Today, Lu Yuntao, the current head of the Lu family in Malaysia, is Lu Yuanchun's fourth uncle. He and Lu Yuanchun's father, Lu Yunhuai, have long since broken off relations and even their beliefs are different. Lu Yunhuai is a member of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association and is aligned with Cheng Jiageng, supporting the Chinese Communist Party. Lu Yuntao, on the other hand, is loyal to the Kuomintang and is currently planning to launch the Southeast Asian Film Producers Association with filmmakers from Taiwan, Japan, and other places.
Although this association claims to be Southeast Asia, it allows even Japan, a country in Northeast Asia, to join, while Mainland China is deliberately ignored, which reveals the sordid nature of the situation.
This incident even caused a stir within the Lu Family. Lu Yuanchun's father cursed Lu Yuntao as Collaborator and a sellout, while Lu Yuntao retorted that Lu Yunhuai was a fence-sitter. He said that his father, Lu You, had once strongly supported Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen was a member of the Kuomintang, but Lu Yunhuai had changed his mind halfway and supported the Communist Party, which violated his father's teachings.
"It's better to stay in Hong Kong for a few days. It's quieter. Even if it's just for this rare peace and quiet, I should seriously consider settling down Hong Kong." Lu Yuanchun held a wine glass in his hand, lost in thought, and suddenly chuckled to himself.
Chapter 364 War is Imminent
As soon as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange opened, a line of nearly a hundred people had already formed outside. Most of them spoke with Shanghai or other accents, holding wads of cash and waiting for the securities firm staff inside the exchange to help them open accounts.
In the past, licensed securities firms would send stockbrokers to people's homes to persuade them to open stock accounts. How long has it been since we've seen stockholders proactively begging us to open accounts?
Moreover, these people have a very clear goal: they put money in to open accounts in order to buy shares of Xizhen Properties.
Yesterday, Xizhen Properties' stock price surged to HK$4.03 at the close. If you had bought at HK$1.78 at the opening yesterday morning and sold at the close, you would have made more than double your money. You invested Hong Kong dollars 1,000 in the morning and received Hong Kong dollars 2,300 in the afternoon, which is faster than robbing money.
The people who came to open accounts today were envious of those who made money yesterday. So they didn't wait for a stockbroker to come to their door, but took the initiative to come to the exchange with cash to open an account. When opening the account, they didn't say anything else to the stockbroker, but only one sentence. "Buy Xizhen Properties stock."
So throughout the morning, the blackboards of the exchange were filled with sell orders of all sizes targeting Xizhen Properties. Some people, impatient, placed high buy orders and waited outside the exchange. However, after two hours, apart from a few small sell orders being quickly absorbed, almost no large sell orders appeared.
"Have the brokerage firm we've entrusted recommend Prosperity Rubber to investors, telling them that this stock will rise at least 50 cents today." Tang Boqi sat in the exchange hall, picked up the phone, and called the dedicated secretary that Prosperity Rubber had arranged for him, "Then notify Mr. Studwell to have his company place sell orders, and my account will be responsible for buying them all within two hours, making the stock price rise and attracting investors to bring in money to buy Prosperity Rubber shares."
"Understood, Manager Tang." Tang Boqi hung up the phone after the secretary on the other end of the line gave a crisp reply.
Prosperity Rubber is now considered a complete junk stock. Previously, Prosperity Rubber mainly engaged in the business of transporting rubber from Malaya to mainland China for resale. However, after the Embargo Order was issued, rubber became a strategic material that was strictly prohibited from being transported to Mainland China. Therefore, it is now barely surviving on some scattered orders from Taiwan and Japan. In addition, Japan and Taiwan already have their own companies engaged in rubber trading, Prosperity Rubber's current losses are already very serious.
As the major shareholder of Prosperity Rubber, the Lin Family held 67% of the Prosperity Rubber's shares after the war. When the rubber trade was booming, the company could bring the Lin Family a considerable income every year. However, after the Embargo Order was imposed, the stock price plummeted. Now, even if the Lin Family wanted to sell their Prosperity Rubber shares, no one would be interested.
Tang Boqi and Studwell distributed the Prosperity Rubber stock held by the Lin Family as a reward. Now, apart from the Lin Family still holding 36% of the shares, the remaining 31% of the shares have been dispersed by Studwell and Tang Boqi into six different newly registered companies, making it easier for them to drive up the stock price and dump their shares when the price is high.
"Mr. Tang, Zhaofeng Trading has issued an announcement stating that it has issued new shares, which will be underwritten by the stock underwriter, Wealth-Through Securities. Wealth-Through Securities will pay Zhaofeng Trading Hong Kong dollars 27 million in advance. The issuance of new shares and related risks are unrelated to Zhaofeng Trading and will be borne entirely by Wealth-Through Securities." A trader under Studwell walked up to Tang Boqi informed him of the latest news.
"Understood." Tang Boqi smiled gently at them. "You two keep an eye on things here. I'll go prepare some materials and information to present to the clients."
"No problem." The equally young trader smiled at Tang Boqi. He already knew Tang Boqi was from the United States. Seeing Tang Boqi stand up, he casually asked, "Mr. Tang, what are the exchanges on Wall Street like?"
Tang Boqi paused for a moment, then said with a hint of longing, "Not to mention the stock exchange, the office lobby of any licensed securities firm on Wall Street is bigger than the Hong Kong Stock Exchange."
"When I have the chance, I must go to London and New York to see for myself." After hearing this, the trader opened his mouth slightly in surprise, imagined the scale of the place, and finally, as if making a promise to himself, turned around and continued with his work.
Tang Boqi glanced at the simple blackboard and tangled telephone wires in the trading hall and said softly, "Yes, I should go to Wall Street and London to see for myself sometime."