Since arriving in Hong Kong yesterday, he hasn't slept more than five hours a night. He's been constantly reviewing various stock market data, HSBC data, Jardine data, Lin Family data, and even data on some Chinese-owned banks, making plans, and dealing with this China assistant who seems somewhat dissatisfied with him.
"No problem, what are the requirements?"
"The more the better. Right now, the Lin Family is driving up the price of Prosperity Rubber entirely with their own money, and it's only just started to become active. Only a small number of shareholders have actually bought in; most are still observing. Moreover, some of the original holders of Prosperity Rubber are selling very actively. It seems this stock has been giving them a headache for a long time, and now that they have the opportunity to sell, they're not hesitating. So, within the next two days, you should be able to acquire 8% to 10% of Prosperity Rubber shares. Also, as for Xizhen Properties's shares, let those shareholders who made money before..." Jonathan Gore gestured enthusiastically, "Let them vent their enthusiasm. When they start to have doubts, you can then continue to drive up the price. Just like that, keep both stocks on the rise."
Luo Zhuankun gave the other person a deep look, then turned and walked out. "Okay."
"Remember to close the door for me, Mr. Luo." After giving the instruction, Jonathan Gore continued working with his head down.
Inside the Jardine Building on Queen's Road, next to the Hong Kong Club, the three Lin brothers, Lin Xiaoze, Lin Xiaohe, Lin Xiaosen, finally met with John Keswick, the Jardine of Jardine Matheson, who had arranged a time for them. They had originally wanted to invite John Keswick to lunch, but it was clear that the Jardine did not have enough time for a lunch, which was not a good start for the three Lin Family brothers.
Inside the executive office on the seventh floor of Jardine Building, a large oil painting immediately catches the eye upon entering. The figure in the painting is a distinguished, resolute, and ruthless elderly Britain gentleman. This gentleman is William Jardine, the founder of Jardine Matheson. It was this Britain, with his Jardine ship laden with opium, paved a path for Britain to plunder wealth from China, following the Dutch and Portugal. Now, this notorious Britain drug lord, who used opium to attack China, is hung on China Hong Kong soil as if he were a Jardine, for everyone entering and leaving Jardine Building to admire.
"Mr. Keswick," John Keswick's secretary said to the Britain, who was bent over a large office desk reviewing documents in front of an oil painting, after leading the three Lin Family brothers in. "Your guest has arrived."
The Britain behind the desk looked up, and just then a beam of sunlight shone in from the floor-to-ceiling window next to him, illuminating his face. Half of Britain face was exposed to the light, and the other half was hidden in shadow, creating a striking contrast between light and dark. His grey-blue eyes were slightly sunken in their sockets, and his features were sharp and angular, like those of a statue.
Upon seeing the three members of the Lin Family enter, 55-year-old John Keswick did not rise. Instead, he placed his hands on the table, smiled, and greeted them warmly by their English names, "Richard, Sam, Colin, my friends, it's been a long time. Please have a seat."
After speaking to the three men, he turned to his young assistant. "Son, have my old maid prepare a four-person morning tea for my friends and me within five minutes. Go."
"Yes, sir." The assistant turned and left briskly, closing the office door behind him.
Lin Xiaoze, Lin Xiaohe, and Lin Xiaosen sat down on a large sofa. Lin Xiaoze said to John Keswick, "Mr. Keswick, it's been a long time. The weather in Hong Kong hasn't been very good lately, so I haven't had time to invite you to play golf."
"I know, I know, we haven't really had much time to go to a horse race or play golf together lately, but Mrs. Sam and my wife often have ladies' parties together," John Keswick said casually with a warm smile. "I heard they're planning to start a ladies' club, you know, women... they always have wild ideas."
In fact, John Keswick's mood was the exact opposite of his expression. He hadn't met with the Lin Family members before, not because he was intentionally making excuses, but because he was genuinely very busy. He had just gone to Beijing, China with his brother to make a final effort for Jardine's various businesses in mainland China, but they had returned empty-handed once again. Moreover, he had just returned to Hong Kong when he learned that HSBC had also been given a choice by Mainland China.
So for the past two days, he and HSBC tycoon Morse have been meeting to discuss Jardine and HSBC's assets in Mainland China.
Compared to HSBC, Jardine suffered even greater losses. Half of Jardine Matheson's assets in the Far East were located in Mainland China. Jardine Matheson had offices in almost every port city, including Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Qingdao. When the China Civil War broke out, other British trading companies were accelerating their withdrawal, but Jardine Matheson alone did not evacuate its employees or assets. This was because Jardine was too closely involved with the Kuomintang. By the time the Kuomintang government was at a disadvantage, it was too late for Jardine to withdraw. Subsequently, the People's Republic of China was established. Jardine, which had been plundering China's wealth for nearly a century through opium, naturally had its assets in Mainland China confiscated by the China government.
John Keswick was also a formidable figure. He led a team, including lawyers and former Britain MPs, to travel between Beijing and Shanghai, subtly conveying to the China government that Jardine's legitimate rights and interests in China must be protected and that Jardine's legitimate assets in Mainland China must be unconditionally returned to Jardine.
However, the Chinese government completely ignored John Keswick. Helpless, John Keswick tried to enter the Shanghai branch of Jardine Matheson but was unable to do so. In a fit of anger, he reportedly said some harsh words, the gist of which was that the British government would absolutely not sit idly by in this matter, and if the Chinese government did not give him an answer, he would return to London to report the issue to the British government, which would then escalate the matter into a major international dispute.
As a result of this harsh statement, Keswick was dumbfounded. The Korean War broke out, and China directly confronted the United Nations Forces, mainly composed of British and American allied forces, in the Korean War.