America's Road to Wealth

As the Consul General of the Hong Kong Consulate.

Michael Crossen, compared with American envoys in other regions, is among the capable ones.

There are many aspects that Gao Lesheng needs to pay attention to.

The rights and abilities he possesses are sufficient to serve as an envoy of a major power, and he is a professional-level diplomat.

In other words, Gao Lesheng has extremely high emotional intelligence.

Without realizing it, he diverted Abel's attention away from blaming Nathan de Funeso.

Of course, this also has something to do with Abel not being really angry.

If Abel is really unhappy, then Gao Lesheng's cleverness will be of no use.

Abel arrived at No. 26 Garden Road around three o'clock in the afternoon.

He stayed here until almost evening before leaving.

Naturally, he also learned that Saint Gao Lesheng would invite the entire Hong Kong and Olympic places in the name of entertaining him tomorrow night (the night written earlier has been revised to tomorrow night. After all, the words spoken that day were very hasty and unreasonable). Celebrities participated.

This will increase the influence of the consulate in Hong Kong, Hong Kong and Austria, and even Guangdong Province.

Abel agreed.

He planned to leave Hong Kong Island the day after tomorrow, and promised George that he would help with something.

The reason why he didn't do what Nathan Defuneso asked him to do was because those things involved the north, which made Abel feel a little uncomfortable.

And to help Gao Lesheng and do some simple things, Abel reluctantly agreed.

Left 26 Garden Road.

Abel did not go anywhere else, but returned directly to the Peninsula Hotel.

"Mr. Smith, you are back..."

When passing by the hotel lobby, Michael Kadoorie greeted him with a smile.

On Hong Kong Island, there are few people who can make Michael Kadoorie take him so seriously.

But now it is obvious that the chairman of the large hotel group is waiting for Abel's return in the lobby of his own hotel.

"Mr. Kaori, this afternoon... no, the sun has set. It should be better in the evening."

Don’t reach out to hit the smiling person. What's more, Michael Kadoorie has been very knowledgeable and cooperative since I moved in.

Their cooperation is as good as Queen Elizabeth's.

For this reason, Abel was more polite to him.

"Good evening, good evening. Mr. Smith, I have a heartfelt request. I wonder if you can consider it."

Michael Kadoorie was very polite and spoke with an uneasy expression on his face.

It's just that the acting factor is a bit heavy, even Abel can see it.

"Oh? Tell me."

"Is such that."

Michael Kadoorie said: "Since you came to Hong Kong Island yesterday. Henry of the Keswick family, Merlin of the Swire family, and Douglas Flint of HSBC all want to invite you to have a party with you." Dinner, I wonder if you can..."

Abel was silent for a moment, "Douglas Flint? I remember he seems to be the chairman of HSBC Holdings in London? He should be in London."

"You are right." Michael Kadoorie smiled and said, "He came here on a special trip last night and just arrived at Hong Kong Island at noon today..."

The bulk of HSBC's business and profits are all in Asia or Hong Kong Island.

But after the new century, HSBC’s center of power is no longer actually on Hong Kong Island.

The chief executive of HSBC, who was known as the invisible governor of Hong Kong at that time, is also the chairman of HSBC. He is no longer on Hong Kong Island.

The most powerful figure at HSBC in Hong Kong Island has been demoted to chairman of HSBC Asia Pacific.

The British also cleverly handed over this position to the Chinese from Hong Kong Island after the new century.

It seems as if HSBC is really in charge of the business by the Chinese themselves.

But in fact, the real HSBC executive is still British.

Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC Holdings, is the actual HSBC Taipan.

"Well, here it is, in your hotel."

As April approaches, the weather in Hong Kong Island is getting hotter and hotter.

Fortunately, the Qingming Festival has not yet arrived, and the minor summer heat has not come yet.

The weather in Hong Kong Island is at the most comfortable time of the year.

Neither cold nor hot.

So that night, Abel chose to meet the British giants of Hong Kong Island mentioned by Michael Gadoorne at the terrace restaurants of many restaurants in the Peninsula Hotel.

The Peninsula Hotel's Terrace Restaurant has a long history. Since its opening in 1933, it has enjoyed a high reputation in the gastronomic world for its exquisite cuisine.

Sitting on the terrace, you can see the sky full of stars above your head, the bustling city night of Hong Kong Island in front of you, and the Victoria Harbor at night on the left. It can be said to be very beautiful.

And Abel also met the current heads of the four major British consortiums in Hong Kong.

They are Michael Kadoorie, Merlin Schweizer, Henry Keswick, and the real chairman of HSBC, Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC Holdings.

A special mention here goes to Douglas Flint.

Douglas Flint is the executive chairman. He comes from a humble background and has reached this high position purely through ability.

He is not on Hong Kong Island on weekdays, but in London, the headquarters of HSBC.

In addition, despite the fact that HSBC accounts for more than 90% of its profits, 60% of its business is on Hong Kong Island.

But it has always regarded itself as a British bank, and has never regarded itself as a Hong Kong Island enterprise.

Among its shareholders, except for a small number of wealthy Chinese from Hong Kong Island, most are owned by European and American companies.

So it is only natural that it will listen to the Americans later.

Abel had no business contact with them and no business dealings.

Having this meal with these four people, or rather these four people and Abel, most of them wanted to get acquainted with him.

This is what touched Abel's mind so far.

Eating a meal has become a very common social interaction in the West.

Abel felt a little bored. After drinking for three rounds, he simply called Miss Carla Yeager Beneteau of the Beneteau Group.

The arrival of the French beauty made the four British giants in Hong Kong look very suspicious.

Judging from appearance alone, Carla is outstanding.

It’s just that they don’t know Carla, and they haven’t seen her picture on the list of women who have a relationship with Abel.

For a moment, the four giants were all speculating and curious about Carla's identity.

Because of her work at Beneteau Group, Carla is mainly responsible for North America.

Asia is not under her control, and she doesn’t know any of the rich and powerful people in Hong Kong.

Shi Huaiya and the others didn't know Karla, and Karla didn't know them either.

When called over, Carla originally wanted to talk about what Abel told her today.

But before she could say a word, Abel cornered her and made her just stay with him for drinks.

"Let's not talk about business matters now. I have been drinking. I am afraid that I will be impulsive and agree to your conditions just because of your beauty."

"Of course, of course, I'm not in a hurry. I'll see Mr. Smith again tonight, I understand."

Carla was not stupid, she sat next to him with a sweet smile, but looked at the four British giants opposite.

She didn't know them, and Abel had no intention of introducing them.

At this time, their eyes couldn't help but intertwined, and because of Abel, they seemed to be very harmonious on the surface.

"Hong Kong Island is a very good place, and what's even better is that it has a big backing in the north. Wall Street is very optimistic about China, and so am I. If I have the chance, I will go to the north like Bill Gates and David. one look."

After letting Carla sit down, Abel smiled and continued the topic with Shi Huaiya and the others.

They had just talked about Hong Kong Island, the impact on their British-funded consortium after returning to their home country, and what they, the British, thought of the country to the north.

Abel was very optimistic about China, and Shi Huaiya and the others were not surprised.

Because the richest man has always had a friendly attitude towards China in his speeches reported by newspapers.

Chinese people who don't know the inside story will think that Abel likes their country very much.

Thus developing a good impression of him.

But the British people, who are also business elites in the Ansar camp, actually know that reality is most likely not like this.

Because when almost any Wall Street boss talks about China, almost all of them have a friendly attitude.

This situation has been the same since that country's reform and opening up and for a long time to come.

The reason for this is very simple.

Because the further we go, as China's economy becomes more and more developed, its financial controls become more and more stringent.

Strict controls keep greedy Wall Street out.

This pissed off the guys on Wall Street.

They watched as the leeks grew fatter and fatter in the field of leeks that they could not touch.

It's so fat that it makes them drool.

But no matter what means they use, they can't put their hands in the circle and cut them off.

At most, we can only use some indirect, very complicated and troublesome methods to smell it a little bit.

So for a long time, the attitude of Wall Street bosses towards China has been known to the world...

They show goodwill to China and what they want is simple and direct.

I just want China to open up, like those Southeast Asian countries, like those small countries.

It's just that until Abel was reborn, Wall Street's overtures had never received positive feedback.

Abel has the status of a Wall Street tycoon.

No matter how good his attitude towards China is in terms of public opinion.

The European and American world all said - we understand it too well.

David Rockefeller and the big guys from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, etc. had been there in person in the 1980s and 1990s.

I've been there more than once, and I've been welcomed by the big guys there. We had a great time chatting with him, and he even offered to donate some money or provide some assistance.

It's a pity that the person over there is very witty, speaks nicely, and is very polite.

When it comes to business, push it again and again...

On this topic, the four British giants chatted with Abel for a while.

Suddenly, Douglas Flint's tone changed.

It also made Abel know that this guy who came all the way from London was the main person who treated him to this meal tonight.

"Mr. Smith, what do you think of HSBC's development in the United States?"

Upon hearing this, Abel looked at Douglas Flint.

As far as Abel knows, HSBC was developing business in the United States as early as the 1960s.

But at that time, it was just a small fight.

Wait until the Sino-British Agreement is signed later.

HSBC began to transfer its registration location, and also wanted to shift the focus of business development to avoid being too dependent on Hong Kong.

Because the United States is the world's largest economic power, HSBC's development focus has always been the United States.

After decades of development, HSBC is now one of the top 30 banks in the United States.

There are HSBC branches in many major cities in the United States.

But... Americans always eat people without spitting out their bones.

Don’t say HSBC is the British bank.

Even Americans’ own banks are easily deceived in the United States.

Over the years, HSBC has been developing very poorly in the United States.

Over the past few decades, I have not made much profit and I have been fined several times.

The amount of fines alone currently exceeds $1 billion.

In parallel time and space, after 2010, because Americans are too cruel.

HSBC was so punished that it finally began not to regard its U.S. business as its development center.

For 40 years, HSBC’s losses and fines in the U.S. market totaled a total loss of more than 20 billion U.S. dollars...

Of the money lost by HSBC, 95% came from Hong Kong Island business and 4% came from Asia business.

Making money from Hong Kong people, compensating it to Americans, and imposing fines on relevant U.S. departments. This is HSBC’s 40-year development history in the United States.

Abel knew this very well. Because Smith Financial Group is the company with which he is most familiar with its business, it can be said that it is a professional counterpart.

In addition, before his rebirth, he had paid attention to HSBC and read several articles because of a certain Chinese mobile phone brand.

Also because of his rebirth, Abel had very clear memories of his previous life.

Facing Douglas Flint at this time, within a few seconds, these things about HSBC flashed through Abel's mind.

"Mr. Flint, what are you asking about? As far as I know, HSBC's development in the United States is not going well."

"Haha - you are right." Douglas Flint admitted directly.

The British man tentatively whispered: "That's why we want to know what real Americans like you, Mr. Smith, think of HSBC."

"Real Americans," Douglas Flint said these words with particular emphasis.

"You lack local collaborators. In the United States, no matter what industry you are engaged in, as long as there are no local collaborators, it is impossible to do it."

Abel smiled: "This is the freest country in the world, its internal rules."

Douglas Flint wanted to say, you Yankees are so shameless.

Double standards are nothing more than this.

But he didn't think that the Yankees' approach was actually better than others, and might even be less shameless than others.

This blue is the home country of Douglas Flint and HSBC Bank. The sun once never set, but now the sun has set.

The conjugated father-son relationship is no joke.

"Then..." Douglas Flint remembered the reason why he flew here from London. The chairman of HSBC Holdings finally couldn't help but whispered:

"Mr. Smith, are you interested in becoming our HSBC bank partner in the United States?"

In a parallel time and space, HSBC later did not expect to find a backer in the United States.

Later, they found BlackRock Group and made it the second largest shareholder among the actual controlling shareholders of HSBC.

This is also the reason why HSBC was barely able to gain a foothold in the United States.

"It depends on everyone's sincerity in cooperation." Abel smiled and did not respond directly.

Abel remembered that it took HSBC more than ten years before it found a backer in the United States.

But Douglas Flint has now expressed his intention to find a backer.

This proves that HSBC has discovered this a long time ago. If it were not stupid, it should have started looking for backers in the United States.

But why did it take more than ten years to find it?

There may be some problems here that I don't know yet.

Abel planned to ask the Smith Intelligence Group to check and confirm the depth of the water before considering Douglas Flint's tempting proposal.

That's HSBC, the bank with the most rights to issue banknotes in Hong Kong Island and one of the most profitable banks in the UK.

If it hadn't been losing money in the United States, it might still be one of the most profitable banks in the world.

Seeing Abel's statement, Douglas Flint was unwilling to give in and wanted to say something more.

But Abel had already raised his glass and said with a smile:

"Four gentlemen, we have been here for a long time. Now I have a small wish that I hope you can fulfill. I hope that for the rest of this evening, I can be alone with the beautiful Mademoiselle Beneteau. .”

The other three British giants who had not spoken just now, allowing Douglas Flint to talk to Abel.

Seeing that Abel had issued an eviction order, Douglas Flint still wanted to speak.

The initiator of this dinner, Michael Kadoorie, was the first to stand up with a smile, and drank the wine glass.

"Oh, I remembered that I have some things to deal with. Mr. Smith, I'm very sorry, I may need to leave first."

Merlin Schweizer and Henry Keswick immediately laughed and cooperated, saying that they too.

No matter how much Douglas Flint wanted to talk to Abel.

Seeing the other three people in the group like this, I knew it would be rude to continue talking.

The chairman of HSBC Holdings could only stand up reluctantly and say goodbye with a smile.

In a short time, the four British giants were gone.

In the large and beautiful terrace restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel, there was suddenly only one seat in the middle, and Abel and Carla hadn't left yet.

Under Abel's gaze, Carla raised her hands to push back her hair, and said with a charming smile:

"Mr. Smith, the wine tonight is really good, and the scenery is very beautiful. I'm almost drunk. Is it so hot in March on Hong Kong Island?"

This action immediately revealed her slender neck, and the proud French beauty seemed to be restrained and depressed.

Abel asked with a smile: "Miss Beneteau, I heard that the Beneteau Group also has an office on Hong Kong Island. It should also have the best display yachts now, right? I'll be free tomorrow. Maybe I can try it first. Take a ride and experience the experience.”

Carla let go of her hand, her hair fell down again, bringing out the smell of perfume on her body, and then said with a smile:

"Okay, Mr. Smith is welcome to give you a test ride at any time."

A few words, spoken with a gentle pronunciation.

Abel looked at the soft sparkle in her blue eyes and already knew in his heart that this was a very smart girl.

Or maybe the person behind her is smart.

"I'm very happy..." Abel smiled and said:

"However, when I invite you, Miss Beneteau, to come over, I still want to ask you and Mr. Andre Beneteau how you and Mr. Andre Beneteau have considered what I said this morning?"

"We've thought it through. We'd be happy to work with you, Mr. Smith."

Her graceful upper body swayed gently, her movements were a little frivolous, but she didn't look like a traveler, but a unique style, "Mr. Smith, do you want to know the secret of Beneteau?"

Abel sighed in his heart.

It seems that as long as I want to understand the secret of Beneteau, I can understand it deeply.

This French beauty is indeed different from the Anzac girls.

There was Sophie Marceau who wanted to get rid of her "spider web", and then there was Carla who immediately showed her unique style after thinking clearly.

Abel smiled and said: "Beneteau's secret, I'm looking forward to it very much..."

Carla bit her lip, and then she stood up. The soft dress she was wearing seemed to be opening and closing, and her slender white hands stretched out to Abel.

"There is no need to wait for tomorrow. As the most important guest of the Beneteau Group. Mr. Smith, maybe we can go to Beneteau's most outstanding yacht now, experience the special features of Beneteau yachts, and understand... Beneteau So many secrets.”

It's really tempting.

Looking at the "Beneteau Secret" in front of him, Abel smiled and stretched out his hand, which was held by her.

"It's an honour."