Chapter 135 The Shipping King’s Suspicion!
In the capital, inside the office of the foreign affairs department.

A secretary dressed in youth clothes hurried into the office holding a document.

"Leader, Peking University has sent me an application."

"Peking University? They send us applications?"

The leader who is now in charge of the entire foreign affairs department heard the secretary's report and looked up with some curiosity and asked.

"It's a request for a meeting. A student from the Economics Department of Peking University wants to meet Mr. Bao who is currently at the Jingcheng Hotel."

The secretary said softly.

Hearing the secretary's words, the leader frowned slightly and said angrily

"Mr. Bao came here secretly. How did the students from Peking University know about this?"

Upon hearing this, a trace of helplessness appeared on the secretary's face.

"Leader, this is a complete coincidence."

"The Peking University student who applied is called Li Changhe. Before this, he went to the Capital Hotel every weekend to teach English to waiters. The application was first made by the Capital Hotel."

"We also went to Peking University to investigate because Li Changhe's wife used to work at Union Hospital. He would go there to pick up his wife every weekend, and then teach English to waiters at the Beijing Hotel for free."

"He went to the Jingcheng Hotel yesterday weekend and happened to hear the waiters chatting. He knew Mr. Bao's name, and therefore knew about Mr. Bao's visit to the mainland."

"So what did he want to do when he met Mr. Bao?"

The leader asked in confusion at this time.

The secretary continued, "We have already asked him carefully. He is a student in the Department of Economics. After he knew that Mr. Bao was coming, he wrote a business economics plan for Hong Kong Island overnight and wanted to have a meeting with Mr. Bao."

"He spent an entire night in the library writing this economic plan. Our staff have confirmed it, and all the teachers on duty at the Peking University Library yesterday knew about it."

"Then Professor Chen Daisun from the Economics Department of Peking University also read this proposal and applied in the name of the Economics Department of Peking University."

"Have you read this application?"

"How is Li Changhe doing at Peking University?"

The leader then asked the secretary seriously.

The secretary smiled and said, "It's quite famous."

"Leader, this Li Changhe was already a well-known writer before he entered school. Last year, his work "The Death of an Educated Youth" was published in People's Literature, which caused quite a stir."

"He was one of the first batch of college entrance examination candidates last year, and he had the highest score in liberal arts in Beijing. His essay was also selected for publication in the People's Daily."

"After entering the economics department, he performed well, and the people we investigated discovered something new."

"His novel was selected by the Beijing Film Studio and adapted into a movie, and he received 450 yuan in adaptation fees."

"Then he put the adaptation fee in the dormitory as a mutual aid fund for students in need to borrow. This happened last month."

"It is said that because of this, the entire economics department recommended the D quota, and the students of the two classes of 77 unanimously agreed to give the only quota to him."

"The school committee has already talked to him, and he is now a candidate for membership."

"I have also checked his family connections. Both his parents are teachers at Beijing Institute of Technology. His father is a Level 4 professor who just returned from the United States."

"Li Lishan?"

As the head of the entire foreign affairs department, he had carefully reviewed the list of people who had gone out some time ago, and naturally knew Li Lishan's name.

"Yes, that's him. Li Changhe is his son."

"Yes, I remember now. Some comrades said that Professor Li Lishan's son is very famous. Today he has come to us."

"Has Peking University sent over the plan?"

The leader asked curiously.

"It's been delivered. Here it is!"

The secretary pulled out several sheets of plan written on letter paper from the file bag in his hand and handed them to the leader.

The leader took it and started reading it.

"On the counterattack and acquisition of British-owned industries by Chinese commercial capital in Hong Kong"

"The young man is not very old, but he has a rather arrogant tone. However, his handwriting is quite good."

After the leader commented on it, I read it carefully.

Then, his expression gradually became serious. He could not say that he was completely proficient in economics, but looking at this plan, he found that it was well-reasoned and not just randomly written.

"Well, go call Director Lu of the Tourism Bureau and ask him to come to my office."

The leader said seriously.

"Ok!"

The secretary nodded and then turned and left.

About an hour later, Director Lu from the Tourism Bureau came to the office.

"Lao Liao, what do you want from me?"

"Old Lu, you understand economics, come, take a look at this!"

Director Lu is also from Ningbo, Zhejiang. He was engaged in trading in Shanghai before the founding of the People's Republic of China and is one of the important talents in the national economy.

Director Lu came to the leader, picked up the plan on the table curiously, and started to read it.

After reading it, Director Lu was a little surprised: "What is this?"

"It was written by a Peking University student who wanted to see Mr. Bao with this. He called me to apply for a meeting."

The leader said softly.

"Peking University? How did he know Qi Ran was here?"

Bao Yugang's nickname is Qi Ran. Director Lu and his wife are cousins. They had worked together many times in Shanghai in the 1940s.

Hearing Director Lu's question, the leader smiled and shook his head: "It's a coincidence. This Peking University student named Li Changhe goes to the Beijing Hotel every weekend and holiday to help their service staff with English training."

"He went there yesterday and found out by accident while chatting with the waiter. Then it was said that this student returned to school and wrote this plan overnight. Today, he applied in the name of Peking University."

"By the way, he is a student of economics, and I think his major is suitable for him, so he became interested."

"So I want to discuss with you, should we approve this application or not?"

"Student of the Department of Economics, I see. From my perspective and experience, this plan is well written, with sufficient theoretical basis. It must have taken a lot of effort. After all, the data here cannot be collected in a day or a night."

"Personally, I encourage such outstanding students. What you have learned should be put into practice. It is useless to just talk about it on paper."

"But Qi Ran came here privately after all, so it's hard for us to assign tasks to him. How about this, I take the plan and show it to him."

"If he agrees to meet, we will arrange for them to meet."

"If Qi Ran disagrees, then we can only say sorry to this student. What do you think?"

Director Lu said softly.

The leader nodded and said, "I think this is appropriate. We still have to respect Mr. Bao's opinion."

"That's it. Go meet with Mr. Bao and ask for his opinion. We will respond to Peking University based on his opinion."

"Okay, then I'll go meet Qi Ran."

After Director Lu finished speaking, he put the plan into his file bag and left with it.

"Sure enough, heroes have always emerged from youth!"

After Director Lu left, the leader sighed softly.

Those educated young people back then were so passionate and enthusiastic. As long as they found the slightest opportunity, they were willing to try boldly and were never afraid of failure.

And now, he saw the same qualities in Li Changhe.

This is the eternal flame and the hope for national rejuvenation. After sighing, the leader picked up the pen and continued to work.

Young people are so energetic, so he, an old man still in the stable, can't be too bad.

On the other side, Director Lu left the office and took a car directly to the Capital Hotel.

Inside the Beijing Hotel, Bao Yugang and his wife had just finished lunch and were considering where to go.

This time, visiting relatives was just a cover for coming to Beijing. The real reason was to contact high-level officials from the mainland.

But this time they only met Mr. Liao, and the person they wanted to see most was not there.

Since the person who made the final decision was not there, the couple felt that since they were in the capital, they should go out for a walk and take a look.

Just as I was about to go out, there was a knock on the door.

Bao Yu just walked over and opened the door, and it was Director Lu who came in.

"Cousin is here?"

Seeing Director Lu come in, Bao Yugang's wife greeted him with a smile.

They are cousins, and Director Lu's mother and Bao Yugang's mother-in-law are sisters.

"Well, I came to see you guys and give Qi Ran something."

Director Lu nodded and said.

"Give me?"

Bao Yugang was a little surprised.

Director Lu took out a briefcase.

"Yes, I'll give it to you. But it wasn't written by me. It was written by a student from Peking University."

"We have a young student from Peking University who is a foreign language teacher at the Jingcheng Hotel. He came to teach yesterday. When he heard that you were coming, he rushed out a plan overnight and then reported to the foreign affairs department through the school, hoping to meet with you."

"In the end, we decided it would be better for you to make the decision. Here is the plan he wrote. You can take a look at it first."

Director Lu handed the plan written by Li Changhe to Bao Yugang, who took it curiously.

"A student from Peking University, I have to take a look."

When he was in mainland China in the 1940s, Peking University was already very famous.

As soon as he took a look at the plan, Bao Yugang's expression became solemn.

Seeing Bao Yugang's face become solemn, Director Lu also seemed to be thinking about something.

"Cousin, sit down first!"

Bao Yugang's wife Huang Xiuying pointed to the sofa next to them and invited Director Lu to sit down first.

Bao Yugang sat there and read it carefully word by word.

After reading it, Bao Yugang had a strange expression on his face.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

Director Lu stared at Bao Yugang curiously and asked.

Bao Yugang shook his head: "No, it's not wrong, it's too right."

"Too right? What does that mean?"

Director Lu was a little surprised.

Bao Yugang looked at Director Lu seriously and said, "Brother, tell me the truth, these are really not the information you collected?"

"The information we collected? What does that mean?"

"You know, I've only been in office for a few days. I haven't figured out a lot of the work yet, and you're here."

Director Lu was a little puzzled. He had just resumed work less than half a month ago and had not yet sorted out all the work matters. He didn't understand what Bao Yugang was getting at.

"Well, that's right. Even if he knew some of it from the newspaper, it was only the beginning. The rest was not disclosed in the newspaper."

Bao Yugang said with emotion at this time.

Director Lu was even more confused: "Qiran, don't keep me in suspense. What's going on?"

"Brother, the plan he wrote is exactly what I am doing now."

"Before I came here, I had just acquired 10% of Wharf Holdings from another person in Hong Kong Island in July. Now I own 20% of Wharf Holdings and am on the board of directors of Wharf Holdings."

Wharf Holdings is a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson & Co., which owns large tracts of land near Victoria Harbour, all of which are super-prime land with a 999-year property right.

"Ah? You mean, he actually read the newspapers in Hong Kong?"

Director Lu asked in surprise.

Bao Yugang shook his head and said solemnly: "If he only wrote about Wharf, then it can be said that he was sensationalizing based on newspaper news."

“But in fact, he wrote HSBC’s Hutchison Whampoa afterwards.”

"His plan is that after Chinese capital takes over Wharf Holdings, he will use my relationship with HSBC to join forces and take over Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC."

"As a result, Jardine Matheson & Co., one of the four major British companies in Hong Kong, was cut off, and Hutchison Whampoa was completely swallowed up. The share of British capital in Hong Kong was cut by at least one third."

Lu Xuzhang nodded thoughtfully. He knew Hong Kong Island very well.

At that time, the British business in Hong Kong Island was completely controlled by four major trading companies, namely Jardine Matheson, Swire, Hutchison and Wheelock.

"Qiran, what is this Hutchison Whampoa?"

Director Lu asked curiously.

Hutchison Whampoa was only merged last year. Director Lu was not aware of the merger, he only knew Hutchison Whampoa.

"Oh, it's the merger of Hutchison Whampoa and Whampoa Dockyard last year. Due to poor management, 33% of the company's shares were pledged to HSBC. In other words, HSBC is now the major shareholder and actual controller of Hutchison Whampoa!"

Bao Yugang explained to Director Lu.

"I see. No wonder his plan says that he can get control of Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC through you."

Director Lu nodded in sudden realization. The actual controlling power of Hutchison Whampoa was in the hands of HSBC, and HSBC and Pao Yu-kong had always had an excellent relationship.

So if we buy Hutchison Whampoa through Pao Yu-kong, it will indeed work.

"So what do you think is wrong with this plan?"

Director Lu asked Bao Yugang again in confusion.

Bao Yugang shook his head and said seriously: "It's not wrong, but..."

He considered it for a moment, then said to Director Lu: "Didn't I just say that the shares of Wharf Holdings that I hold were sold to me by another real estate businessman in Hong Kong, Li Jiacheng."

"And the content of the agreement he sold to me was that I would help him get the Hutchison Whampoa shares held by HSBC."

"This agreement was discussed between the two of us in private and has not been announced to the public."

"In other words, what Li Ka-shing and I are discussing now is that he sells me his shares in Wharf Holdings, and I help him acquire control of Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC."

"The news about Wharf was published in the newspaper."

"But the Hutchison Whampoa matter has not been announced yet. After all, I haven't communicated with HSBC yet."

"In other words, the business plan outlined in this plan actually completely overlaps with the business plan you and Mr. Li have proposed, right?"

Director Lu said with understanding.

Bao Yugang nodded: "Yes, even if he reversely deduced it from the news about Wharf Holdings, I think this student is very capable. However, there is a point in his plan that I don't understand."

"I really want to meet him and talk to him now!"

Bao Yugang became interested at this moment and said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)