Chapter 926: Mai Lihao Leaves Hong Kong (Two in One)

"Thank you!"

Mailihao raised his glass and accepted Lin Baicheng's toast.

A glass of wine went down his throat.

Lin Baicheng said: "Sir, after you return to London, we should have more exchanges. It is very pleasant to cooperate with you. I hope we can continue to cooperate like this."

"Definitely."

Mailihao heard this and said: "I hope Mr. Lin can support me in the future."

After returning to London to take up his post, Mailihao needs support from all parties, among which the support of the sponsor is particularly important. It is not easy to find a big sponsor who is willing to support himself. How could Mailihao give up easily?

"Sir, our cooperation is mutually beneficial. As long as you have a cooperative attitude, I believe our future cooperation will be as pleasant as it is now."

Cooperation with Mailihao is a win-win situation. Lin Baicheng will not give up cooperation with Mailihao. After all, he also has industries in England and needs official power to help him speak out.

Just like in the United States, Lin Baicheng chose to cooperate with the Elephant Party. The reason is the same.

Of course, the premise of cooperation is win-win, mutual benefit. If Mai Lihao takes the benefits but does not give back, Lin Baicheng will be stupid to continue to cooperate with Mai Lihao, and he may even choose to retaliate against Mai Lihao.

It is not okay to take the benefits without giving back, or not retaliate, because others will follow suit.

Since Mai Lihao can get the benefits without doing anything, then of course I can do it too, and others will definitely think so, and then everyone will follow suit.

Once this situation occurs, Lin Baicheng's loss will be too great, so he must retaliate at the beginning, let everyone see the consequences of taking benefits without doing anything, and deter others.

The two chatted while eating.

After lunch, Lin Baicheng did not leave immediately, but took a walk with Mai Lihao to digest the food.

"Mr. Lin, I have something to ask."

"Sir, please go ahead."

"I want to ask, after the Yum Fund expires next year, will you still accept my funds?"

The Yum Fund is a fund affiliated with Yum Securities. It receives funds from people related to the Hong Kong government, such as MacLeod and Police Commissioner Henry, to help them manage funds and create profits, so as to win them over and make them support Lin Baicheng.

After raising funds, the Yum Fund was closed and expired in May 1984.

During the closed period, all funds cannot be redeemed, but the fund will issue a bodyguard to investors every six months, so MacLeod and others know the current returns of the fund.

In order to win over MacLeod and others, Lin Baicheng put his heart into this fund. Although he did not try his best to create profits for the fund and make the fund profit more than ten times, by the end of 1981, the net value of the fund had reached 2.38.

The net value of the fund is initially 1. If it reaches 2, it is equivalent to doubling the profit. 2.38 is equivalent to a profit of 138%.

In other words, if you invest HK$1 million, it has now become HK$2.38 million. Even if you deduct the highest 50% share, the investor still has a 69% profit.

In two years, the investment has a profit of 69%, which is already a very high ratio.

Although Lin Baicheng wants to win over Mai Lihao and others, he is not working for them for free. He does not charge them management fees, but the profit share is drawn in a tiered manner, with the highest ratio being 50%, that is, the fund and the investor share equally.

Once the fund creates a profit of no less than 100% for investors at the end of the closed period, the fund can get a 50% share. The higher the net value of the fund, the more commission the fund gets, and the more profit the investor makes.

In two or even three years, the investment profit exceeds 50%. Such a business is not so easy to find, and Mai Lihao certainly does not want to miss it.

"Don't worry, Sir, as long as our cooperation is not over, the Yum Fund will continue to accept Sir's funds until Sir is unwilling to invest one day."

Lin Baicheng smiled when he heard this. Only with interests can the cooperation between the two parties be deepened. Of course, he will not terminate this way of cooperation.

"I feel relieved after hearing what you said, Mr. Lin."

The opportunity is rare, and Mai Lihao still hopes to create more wealth for himself and his family.

Lin Baicheng smiled. People are always profit-seeking, even a governor like Mai Lihao is no exception. This is why he can win over a large number of important officials of the Hong Kong government.

At the same time, this is also the reason why Lin Baicheng is not worried that the Hong Kong government will severely suppress him after Youde takes office.

Lin Baicheng believes that even if Youde takes office, many people will still stand on his side. Even if some positions are replaced, as long as he can make money for them, and make a lot of money, there will definitely be many people who choose to stand on his side.

Even if you can't help Lin Baicheng openly, it's okay to secretly tip off and provide some help.

Of course, if the British government is determined to suppress Lin Baicheng, it will be useless even if Lin Baicheng buys off some people when Hong Kong is still under British management, but he thinks this kind of thing is unlikely to happen, and the British government has no reason to suppress him at all costs.

To put it bluntly, the red family, the Huo family, supports the mainland more strongly. If they want to suppress it, they should suppress the Huo family first. There is no reason to suppress Lin Baicheng with all their strength.

"Sir, how much do you know about the war between Britain and Argentina?"

As the two walked and talked, Lin Baicheng suddenly mentioned the Falklands War. He mainly wanted to know the judgment of the British on this war and how much Mai Lihao knew.

"I know a little, but not much."

Mailihao said, "Mr. Lin, you know that I am only the governor of an overseas colony. I have not yet taken office in London. I know very little about such a major event of launching a war against foreign countries."

"When the lord takes office in London, he will be able to intervene in national affairs."

Lin Baicheng praised him, and then said, "This war has been going on for a month and a half, and it has not ended yet. Argentina's strength seems to be quite strong."

"Britain will defeat Argentina soon."

Mailihao immediately said, "Britain's strength is not comparable to Argentina. Even if it cannot be compared with decades ago, it is still a major country ranked high in the world and is in the first echelon below the United States and the Soviet Union."

Mailihao must resolutely refute and correct any doubts about his country's strength.

"The lord is right."

Lin Baicheng smiled and did not refute.

Britain's current national strength is definitely not comparable to that of the United States and the Soviet Union. It is not wrong to say that it is the first echelon between the two poles, but the key is that the gap between this so-called first echelon and the United States and the Soviet Union is huge. Several countries combined cannot compare with one of the United States and the Soviet Union.

In this era, China has not yet risen, and its comprehensive national strength is far behind that of the United States and the Soviet Union, and it is even inferior to Western powers such as Britain. This is an indisputable fact.

However, after about 20 years, China will be able to catch up with Western powers such as Britain, and 34 years later, it will be able to pose a huge threat to the United States, a superpower, and replace the Red Soviet Union to compete with the United States.

Britain, which is still a big country now, has made progress in strength in 30 or 40 years, but when all the big countries have made progress, its strength has not been far away from other countries, and it can only become one of the big countries under the two poles.

In other words, when all countries have made progress, Britain's development has been wiped out, which is equivalent to standing still, and it may even regress.

The simplest example is that in the early 1980s, Britain was not as obedient to the United States as it would be 30 or 40 years later. Britain would not dare to offend the United States after decades. From this point, it can be seen that Britain's international status has changed, not only has it not progressed, but has regressed.

So, it is hopeless to follow Britain now.

Mai Lihao thought Lin Baicheng didn't believe him, so he said: "Mr. Lin, do you believe it? In a month or so, Britain will definitely defeat Argentina."

"Oh? Sir, are you so confident?"

Looking at Mai Lihao's confident look, Lin Baicheng couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"I have full confidence in the Prime Minister and Britain's strength."

Mai Lihao nodded heavily. The reason why he was so confident was not because he got any news in advance, but from the perspective of politics and diplomacy.

This war was led by the Conservative government. If Britain could not defeat Argentina in a short time, then Britain, which was already in a bad economy, would inevitably have bigger problems. The Conservative Party would definitely be held accountable, and the Conservative Party would have nothing to do with the election next year.

Therefore, out of consideration of its own political stance, the Conservative Party's support for this war must be very strong and failure is not allowed.

In addition, Britain still has a lot of colonies. If it cannot defeat Argentina as soon as possible, other countries will definitely follow suit, which is not conducive to Britain's rule over other colonies. Therefore, from the perspective of national interests, Britain must also defeat Argentina as soon as possible.

Out of national interest, all walks of life in Britain will not hold back the Conservative Party, and the Conservative Party can fully support this war.

Britain is definitely stronger than Argentina. With the full support of the government, the British army will surely defeat Argentina in a short time.

It is because of these that MacLehose is so confident.

If something unexpected happens, the situation will not only be bad for Britain, but also for MacLehose.

MacLehose has now joined the Prime Minister. If the Conservative Party cannot defeat the Labour Party next year, then it will be questionable whether he can be elected as a member of parliament.

There is even a worse situation, that is, Hong Kong is directly taken back by China, and Lin Baicheng believes that there is no need to cooperate with him anymore. He loses Lin Baicheng's support, and the possibility of his successful election as a member of parliament is greatly reduced.

These bad consequences make MacLehose more willing to believe that Britain can defeat Argentina soon.

Seeing this, Lin Baicheng asked, "Can I know where the source of Sir's confidence comes from?"

"Mr. Lin, do you need a reason to believe in the strength of your motherland?"

Mailie Hao asked back with a smile. Of course, he couldn't tell Lin Baicheng what he was thinking.

"What Sir said is that you don't need a reason to believe in your motherland."

Lin Baicheng couldn't help but smile when he heard it. It was indeed true.

In the eyes of some patriots, their motherland is the most powerful, or they believe that their motherland will become strong sooner or later and become the world's number one.

Mailie Hao looked at Lin Baicheng and said, "Just like Mr. Lin believes that your motherland will become strong, so Mr. Lin supports the mainland, right?"

"Sir, you hit the nail on the head."

Lin Baicheng smiled and nodded, giving affirmation.

Mailie Hao didn't persuade Lin Baicheng when he heard it. He knew that people like Lin Baicheng who had achieved great success at a young age were very confident, even arrogant, and the decisions they made could not be persuaded by others.

Mai Lihao is not so skeptical about China's ability to become strong. After all, China has a long history, a large population, a large land area, and a strong foundation. It is not impossible for China to develop and become strong in a few decades.

However, Mai Lihao does not think that China can be stronger than Britain. Even if China is given a few decades, it will not be able to catch up with Britain, because China is too backward. This is not backward in a certain aspect, but backward in all aspects. China cannot catch up with Britain without a hundred years.

It can be said that this is not the opinion of Mai Lihao alone, but the opinion of many people.

No one would have thought that China could become one of the most powerful countries in the world in thirty or forty years and compete with the United States in all aspects.

I am afraid that even the top leaders of China would not have thought that China could catch up with Western countries in just thirty or forty years and become the second strongest country in the world in terms of comprehensive national strength.

As a reborn person, Lin Baicheng certainly knows this, but if he tells others this now, others will only look at him as a fool and think he is whimsical.

Lin Baicheng also knows this. He will not tell others this, and there is no need to say this. Anyway, the facts will be told to the world in a few decades.

More than half an hour later, Lin Baicheng left Mai Lihao's mansion.

Lin Baicheng and Mai Lihao talked a lot, but most of them were about their future cooperation. They didn't talk about Hong Kong. After all, Mai Lihao was about to leave Hong Kong, and things about Hong Kong would have nothing to do with him in the future.

The next day, Lin Baicheng brought people to Kai Tak Airport.

Lin Baicheng came to the airport to see Mai Lihao off. Mai Lihao, the former governor, would leave Hong Kong before the new governor arrived, that is, he would leave by plane today.

Lin Baicheng was not the only one who came to the airport to see Mai Lihao off. There were important officials of the Hong Kong government, business people and people from all walks of life. They were all close to Mai Lihao. They knew that Mai Lihao would leave today, so they came to see Mai Lihao off.

As for the lower-class Hong Kong people, no one came.

This was not because Mai Lihao was unpopular, but because the news of Mai Lihao's departure at this time was not announced. Otherwise, over the years, there must be many people who have received Mai Lihao's favor. Knowing that he was leaving, someone would definitely come to the airport to see him off.

"Sir, have a good trip!"

"Thank you, Mr. Lin, for coming to see us off."

Lin Baicheng and Mai Lihao shook hands, and a reporter nearby quickly took photos.

Yes, there were media reporters here, although not many, but there were several newspapers, and the newspaper under Lin Baicheng's name was also here.

The two did not say much, as they had said what they should say yesterday.

Mailihao said goodbye to everyone who came to see him off, then walked up the gangway, waved goodbye to everyone again, and entered the cabin.

Seeing Mai Lihao enter the cabin, Lin Baicheng greeted several familiar people present and left.

At this moment, as Mai Lihao boarded the plane, Hong Kong officially bid farewell to the Mai Lihao era.