Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 788: Someone gives you money for free, only a fool would not take it
After having lunch at the palace, Chu Xiangqian thought that the visit was over, but he was still asked to stay and discuss issues such as the future child's name and surname.

Chu Xiangqian knew that it was basically impossible for the child to have his surname Chu, and Eliza raised this question out of consideration for the royal family's face.

Even though the outside world knew that the child was not Anthony Austin's, he still had to use the last name Austin.

However, there are also benefits. From now on, no matter whether the child is a boy or a girl, he will be the first heir to Viscount Austin.

If Chu Xiangqian and Margaret were more ruthless, they would kill Anthony now, and the child would be born as a hereditary viscount.

Seeing that Chu Xiangqian didn't say anything, Eliza and Philip thought he still wanted the child to have the surname Chu, so Philip could only promise, "Stark, when the child is born, we will give him the Knight's Medal.

If necessary, I can even adopt him as my godson. There is even a chance that he can enter the House of Lords when he comes of age."

Eliza and Philip knew that after the child was born, they would not have to worry about money at all.

The M&S Fund has confirmed that Margaret and the child are the only three beneficiaries, which means that the child is one of the ultimate owners of the fund and enjoys the fund's annual dividends.

However, Chu Xiangqian is not only the beneficiary but also the manager of the fund. Margaret and the child's shares in the fund are all held by Chu Xiangqian.

This means that all power is in Chu Xiangqian's hands, and Margaret and her children will only enjoy dividends in the future.

But even so, judging from the growth of M&S's assets in recent years, Margaret and her children can get a total of six to seven million US dollars each year.

The income from cattle, sheep and fodder produced by the Los Angeles ranch and Downton Abbey alone is probably more than 600 million.

Adding the dividends from the 20% stake in Universal Pictures, the revenues from Universal Studios Hong Kong Island, the Los Angeles Beach Seafood Restaurant, the Toy Factory and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge, the total amount is probably more than 700 million US dollars.

Chu Xiangqian, Margaret and the child will split it equally, so more than 4 million US dollars per person per year is no problem.

Converted into pounds, it must be over a million pounds.

In terms of assets, these industries are worth probably 70 to 80 million US dollars.

In the future, it will be worth at least tens of billions.

When that female leader comes to power, England will begin to implement privatization. Once Chu Xiangqian buys up gas, water, electricity, and docks on a large scale, it will not be a problem for him to become one of the top ten richest people in England in the future just by combining these assets.

By that time, it would be even more necessary to hold assets in England in Margaret's name, after all, the children would only be teenagers then.

It was not until the 80s and 90s that people began to acquire these assets.

As for Chu Xiangqian's proposal to buy shares in London Gas Company, which he had mentioned last year, there was too much opposition because it involved state ownership, and Downing Street rejected it without even giving him a chance.

Margaret and her children could each receive a million pounds in fund dividends every year, not to mention Philips who could only get 25 pounds from the royal grant every year. Even Eliza envied Margaret.

At this time, the total grant the royal family could get was only 500 million pounds, which was only 1 million US dollars at an exchange rate of 3.6 to 1800.

The money seems like a lot, but in reality, there are many people sharing it.

Even the wages of hired servants, attendants, and guards were paid from this appropriation.

In other words, on the surface, the money that Eliza and Philips can use every year is not as much as the money Margaret alone gets from the M&S fund every year.

It would be strange if I wasn't envious.

As for the total assets of the royal family, in this era, it is probably only a few hundred million, while Chu Xiangqian’s apparent assets have long exceeded 2 million US dollars.

And this is what he earned in three years. In the next five or ten years, in Philip's eyes, this guy might be richer than the royal family.

This is why he tried to win over Chu Xiangqian.

Chu Xiangqian didn't mind the dividends from the M&S Fund. After all, the fund was in his hands, which meant that the capital and rights were in his hands.

If he and Margaret had more children, his own offspring would be the ones who would benefit the most.

Moreover, if you want to keep your assets in Europe and the United States safely, it is best to leave them to your children.

Although Margaret also benefited, Chu Xiangqian really needed her name at this time and openly held shares in these companies.

Otherwise, it is impossible that no one would have been concerned about the ranch, Universal Pictures' shares and the toy factory in the past two or three years.

As for the benefits promised by Eliza and Philip, they seemed useless, but Chu Xiangqian had thought about it before. When his children grow up, if the first, second, or third child is interested in going into politics.

Being a member of the House of Lords is very useful.

If it were possible to go further, it would not be impossible to simply give up one's aristocratic status and move into Downing Street.

After the deal was done, Philips took Chu Xiangqian for a chat in the garden under the pretext of a walk, hinting that Anthony Austin would not do anything small.

If necessary, you can even make him disappear.

Chu Xiangqian was not surprised at all. He could never be sure that one day he and Philips would have a huge conflict of interest and he would become the target of elimination.

This is also the reason why Chu Xiangqian insisted on getting the Philips scandal. It was because he had seen too many reports about the filth and darkness within the royal family in his previous life.

If you don't watch out for their tricks when dealing with them, you may never know when you will be sold out or die.

Since Philips made the first goodwill gesture, Chu Xiangqian must respond.

Pulling Philip, he whispered, “Once the five Victory ships from London arrive at Hong Kong Island, the first batch of iron ore can be shipped to Neon.

Just wait to get paid."

Philip was overjoyed and promised to adopt Chu Xiangqian and Margaret's first child as his godson. This was to tell Chu Xiangqian that I would protect your child, but as for the business in East Asia, you, as a father, would have to be more active.

After the two men finished their talk and walked back to chat, Philip looked around and made sure no one could hear him.

Then he whispered, "Where did you buy the two diamonds that Margaret is wearing?"

Chu Xiangqian was stunned, thinking that this guy wanted to buy one for Eliza, but he didn't expect that this guy just mistakenly believed that the company he and Zheng Yutong cooperated with had the right to purchase diamonds in South Africa, and could buy good diamonds at a lower price to give to his lovers.

He even asked Taylor vaguely how he was doing in Hollywood recently?
Chu Xiangqian smiled, pulled him aside and whispered, "This month, the first stop of the Triple Crown of Horse Racing in the United States, the Kentucky race, will start. If you are free, I can help you think of a way to ask that guy Morgan to send you an invitation.

Taylor will probably go to the game then.”

Philips was immediately tempted, but after thinking for a few seconds, he shook his head regretfully, "If I go to Kentucky, it will be very troublesome even if I go there as a private person."

Chu Xiangqian thought about it and understood what he meant. By then, there would definitely be people in the Magnesium Country who would protect and pay attention to him openly or secretly.

It's not easy to steal food.

Just as he was thinking about how to help him maintain his relationship with Taylor, Philips took the initiative to say, "Stark, someone in London wants to invest in Hollywood movies, and you are one of the behind-the-scenes shareholders of the Universal Board of Directors.

And your success in film investment in recent years has also proved your vision. Otherwise, among the projects set up by Universal this year or next year, can you help select one or two movies and attract funds from London to test the waters?"

After hearing this, Chu Xiangqian rolled his eyes at Philip. This guy's purpose was nothing more than to create an opportunity to date Taylor and at the same time do a favor to the capital in London.

If it succeeds, he will definitely follow suit and invest in the future.

If he fails, as long as he doesn't lose everything, the investors in London will not blame him.

After all, investing in movies is risky, and the risks are not small, which is no secret.

But even if some people are rich and have connections, they don’t even have the opportunity to join the Magnesium market and get a share of the box office pie.

And Magnesium is the largest market for the film industry in this era, so there are too many people who are concerned about the box office in Magnesium.

Moreover, the films produced by Universal are basically small and medium-sized investments.

A small knife can cut down a big tree. With the intervention of Wrinkle Huai, Chu Xiangqian rejected several film projects that Chu Xiangqian obviously did not think highly of.

And after exporting a number of successful Hong Kong martial arts films, the company has indeed made good profits in recent years.

Universal's market value has increased by several percent.

But Philips is actually an outsider. It only sees that Universal is making money and doesn't pay any attention to how these Hollywood companies are cheating foreign funds.

To put it bluntly, you can enter the market, but if you want to take away the profits, that is just dreaming.

Even European professional film companies and investors invest in Hollywood projects not to make money, but to launder the funds behind the scenes.

It would be even better if we could get the European distribution rights, so that we can earn commissions from these funds that come from shady sources, while also making profits from the distribution.

Killing both ends is the fundamental reason why Europe has so much capital. They know that Hollywood is a scam, but they still enter the market.

What if there is an outsider who has some spare money and foolishly wants to join the game, then who else would he be cheated if not you?
Even Chu Xiangqian is now taking advantage of his status as a shareholder of Universal and the success of several consecutive 'Chu's Films' kung fu films.

They took the opportunity to cheat those Hong Kong capitals and film companies that wanted to enter Hollywood by making ruthless efforts in distribution.

This is a matter of mutual consent. Even though some people know that the issuance costs are high, they still want to try their luck.

If their own movies are very popular in the United States, the profits they get will indeed be several times or even dozens of times more than the cost of making the movie.

So even though Chu Xiangqian knew that Philip was trying to take advantage of him, he was not angry at all.

This is equivalent to giving money to Universal to make movies.

Universal must have been eager for foreign capital to come in, even if it was for Philips' sake. In the end, the box office sold well and the loss was only 10% or 20%, which was already a great respect.

Even if the box office is in loss, Universal has a solution and only the investors will lose.

Moreover, those investors who want to join the global project through Philips’ relationship will definitely not care about the loss of 10% or 20%.

Once this money goes around Hollywood, it can be used with justification.

Compared with underground banks, the commission is at least 3%, and some even reach 5%, which means they are making money.

Philips agreed to Chu Xiangqian's request immediately and was so happy.

I pulled him aside and chatted with him about which movie Universal would make this year or next year that would be suitable for Taylor to be the leading actress.

Then I came to London to shoot the exterior scenes, and came back to London to promote the film when it was released.

When they were almost back, they saw Margaret and Eliza taking their children out for a walk, so they ended the topic.

After the two joined the main group, Chu Xiangqian chatted with a few children for a while and quickly realized that the gifts he brought today would be very popular with the little ones.

In particular, Andre, who is only 5 years old this year, pulled Chu Xiangqian and kept asking questions about horse racing.

Chu Xiangqian simply smiled and said that he would give him a one-year-old Arabian horse foal as a gift on his sixth birthday.

Not only Philip and Eliza were surprised and happy, but 14-year-old Charles and 13-year-old Alice also showed envious expressions.

Andre jumped up excitedly and held Chu Xiangqian's big hands tightly with both hands, fearing that he would fool him.

Chu Xiangqian laughed and actually liked this little guy who would be involved in a sex scandal in the future.

To put it bluntly, he didn't really want Andre to succeed, so a playboy would be more likely to influence him.

And there is no need for you to lead him astray. Instead, you can win the favor of Philip and Eliza by giving him some advice in the future.

As for Charles, Chu Xiangqian knew that even if he wanted to contact him, he would be stopped by all parties.

It’s better to distance yourself from him from the beginning to avoid trouble.

Besides, this guy himself is not a person who will settle for nothing.

What Chu Xiangqian didn't expect was that when Andre had time, he would go to the small ranch next to the manor in the suburbs to select a Arabian horse foal.

Philips actually pulled Chu forward and said that he hoped he could teach Charles kung fu.

Chu Xiangqian instantly thought of the time when Charles was bullied in school when he was in middle school.

Bullying in schools in England is not only common, but many schools have also turned this unhealthy trend into a tradition.

Or they may use orientation and club activities to cover up bullying.

In fact, there are many people who are dissatisfied with the royal family. In addition, Philip wants Charles to attend the Goldens High School where he studied. This is basically a school with military management, which is very uncomfortable for a child like Charles who grew up in a honeypot.

There are many children who are jealous and envious of his background, so being bullied is a no-brainer.

Chu looked forward at Charles, whose gaze was a little evasive. He knew this guy's personality. He was indeed as sensitive and shy as Margaret had said during the chat.

Saying shy might be Margaret's euphemism. Chu Xiangqian naturally didn't want to offend an heir who would take decades to ascend to the throne and whose royal power would have completely declined after ascending to the throne.

He smiled and waved his hands, saying to Philip, “Practicing martial arts is very tiring, and if you just want to avoid being bullied, learning boxing is the best choice.

It is easy to get started and not very lethal.

Otherwise, you might accidentally cripple someone by practicing powerful Kung Fu moves."

Philip and Eliza were stunned. They didn't expect Chu Xiangqian to say that.

(End of this chapter)