Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 858: 2 Million and Aftermath
It was early May, half a month before Margaret's due date.

Yingguo negotiated a loan with the other nine countries of the G9 for a month, but the negotiations ultimately broke down because the loan conditions were too harsh and the Wilson government could not accept them.

Fortunately, the opposition party, that is, the conservatives, surprisingly stood on the side of Wilson's opponent this time.

But what followed was that the exchange rate, which had already fallen to 1 to 3.09, suddenly plummeted. Within just a week, it fell below 1 to 2.74.

During this week, Chu Xiangqian began to slowly sell his futures contracts after the exchange rate fell to 2.85.

It is impossible for Chu Xiangqian to wait until the exchange rate really falls to 2.8 before starting to use the US$11.35 billion deposited in Standard Chartered to repurchase a large amount of British pounds and return them to the financial institutions of the three major exchanges and banks in Magnesium, Japan and the UK.

What he didn't expect was that as he bought a large amount of pounds in the market, the exchange rate fell even faster.

According to normal logic, the more a certain product is bought, the less of it there is on the market, and the price should be more expensive.

Unfortunately, the pounds Chu Xiangqian bought were not hoarded like physical goods.

Instead, they buy it and return it to the financial institutions and banks.

In this special period when the pound and the British economy are continuing to decline, these banks and financial institutions will not keep so many pounds in their hands.

In addition, many of Chu Xiangqian’s 11.35 billion short-selling pound contracts were bought by private individuals, which was simply a bet against Chu Xiangqian.

If Chu Xiangqian makes money, someone must lose money.

This caused the exchange rate to fall below 2.8, and it only temporarily stabilized at 2.74.

This also made Chu Xiangqian start to worry.

If the exchange rate falls below the historical level, it will cause even greater losses to the Kingdom of Ying, and as a big short seller, I might become the one to take the blame.

Even if he doesn't become the scapegoat, if the news leaks out, he will become the target of public attack.

So Chu Xiangqian also began to make preparations for the aftermath, and he even thought of finding someone to take the blame for himself when necessary.

When Chu Xiangqian sold all the $11.35 billion worth of contracts, the average price was actually 2.81, which was several million dollars more than he had expected.

As for the expectation of starting to sell at the price of 2.8 and making a profit of US$2.1384 million, it can only be said that this is just hope.

Basically impossible.

But faced with US$2.1 million, after deducting Standard Chartered's commission, the profit was nearly US$2 million, and Chu Xiangqian was still very excited and satisfied.

Margaret was so happy that she held her belly as big as a ball and promised that she would go to see Yingguo's big manor after she gave birth and recovered.

When he bought Downton Abbey, which covers 5000 acres and has a Gothic-style castle, it only cost $560 million.

Although prices have been rising over the past few years, after deducting the thousands of cattle and sheep and various machines on the ranch, this manor is now worth at most seven or eight million US dollars.

But if converted into British pounds, at the current exchange rate, the increase is huge.

However, after the sharp drop in the pound exchange rate, it is foreseeable that the price of the manor will definitely see another wave of increases.

Moreover, taking advantage of the special period when the pound has just plummeted and many capitalists, landlords and aristocrats are short of money, real estate will actually fall in value.

If you are lucky, the larger the integrated farming and pastoral estate, the greater the fall will be.

Therefore, Chu Xiangqian didn't care much about the fact that Margaret couldn't wait and had summoned several private agents with considerable reputation in London to come to the manor for a meeting in the afternoon.

What Chu Xiangqian didn't expect was that Margaret had no interest in the castle at all.

As a princess, this girl knows the shortcomings of the castle too well.

It looks majestic and heavy from the outside, but it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer when you actually live inside. Moreover, due to military requirements, the rooms are generally small and it is difficult to convert them into indoor bathrooms.

Together with the old castle of Downton Abbey, it is one of the best castles in the world.

Since she already has one, Margaret really doesn't want to buy a second one, and the annual maintenance cost of the castle is not low.

So the more expensive those ancient and famous manors and castles were, the less she liked them.

In the end, no one knew who she found to act as a middleman, but she actually negotiated sales agreements with more than a dozen farmers and ranchers around Downton Abbey.

As long as the contract is signed and the money is paid, the area of ​​the estate will increase from 5 acres to 1.4 acres.

However, the lands of these dozen or so farm owners are not connected.

Although, like the manor, all are in one county of Yorkshire, they are scattered over several areas.

There will be some additional costs in future management.

But for Chu Xiangqian, this cost is nothing.

Moreover, the farms and ranches are scattered in different places in the same county, which makes it easier for Chu Xiang to go to various ranches to distribute the cattle and sheep in the game.

As for the price, the total amount does not exceed 1200 million US dollars, which is hundreds of thousands of dollars more expensive per thousand acres than when Downton Abbey was purchased.

But if you buy it next year or the year after, it could cost 1500 million or even 1800 million US dollars.

So Chu Xiangqian paid the money very quickly, which made more than a dozen farmers and ranchers very grateful to Margaret and him, the buyer behind the scenes.

At this time, most people in Ying country feel that the exchange rate will most likely fall, so using US dollars to buy farms and ranches is also an advantage.

At the same time, these farmers and ranchers can get a lot of benefits by repaying their debts in US dollars.

After all, there is already a hint of dollar shortage among the people of Ying.

Although this situation is not serious yet, and most ordinary people, small factory owners, and small farmers and ranchers are not aware of the shortage of foreign exchange at all.

However, companies with large capital and foreign trade will certainly try their best to exchange for US dollars to tide over the difficulties.

Even Philips and Norton called Chu Xiangqian, wanting to exchange some US dollars from him.

Chu Xiangqian didn't even want to refuse.

The outside world certainly doesn’t know yet that he made $2 million by shorting the pound.

At this time, a large amount of US dollars were privately exchanged to Philips. This guy would definitely act as a middleman to make a profit.

By that time, I will definitely have exchanged 100 million, and I will want to exchange it for 1 million.

If you don't change it, people will hold a grudge against you, so it's best to refuse from the beginning.

However, Chu Xiangqian also knew that there was a high probability that the news of his shorting of the pound would be leaked.

He doesn't care whether he will be scolded or not, but he certainly doesn't want to be pushed out as a scapegoat.

So the evidence of Wall Street's short selling was prepared in advance and soon appeared in the hands of major newspapers in London.

This evidence is actually half-true and half-false news that Chu Xiangqian adapted based on the information he bought.

By the way, the editors-in-chief of these newspapers also received bearer cash checks ranging from 1 to 3 US dollars.

Unfortunately, Chu Xiangqian cheated the Japanese too much this time. Out of the 2.1 million in profits, at least 1.5 million US dollars were earned from the Japanese market.

The people, the media, and even Downing Street in London all blamed the allies for the collapse of the pound.

The other major economies in the G1.5 would not let this dirty water splash on them. The media on both sides fought for a while, but suddenly there was news from Japan that someone had made at least $ million by shorting the pound during this pound crisis.

There are also rumors that the company providing financial services to this force is Standard Chartered.

When Chu Xiangqian heard the news, he was shocked at first, then he became furious and cursed.

Although he had expected that his secrets would be exposed, when it suddenly came out at this time, Chu Xiangqian knew that this was a way for Japan's financial institutions and banks to divert attention.

They even want to put the blame for losing money on themselves.

Chu Xiangqian suppressed his anger and called back to Hong Kong Island immediately.

He ordered Feifei, who had been at the newspaper, to immediately find He Yisheng, who had been promoted to manager of the newspaper group.

Ask him to find a newspaper in Pianying country with a circulation of over 10 and spread the news that Morgan Jr. and MacDonald had stayed in Hong Kong Island for half a month some time ago.

One is the heir to the Magnesium Group and the other is the heir to the major shareholder of Royal Bank. Both of them visited Hong Kong Island in March.

The Japanese also revealed that the forces shorting the pound were cooperating with Standard Chartered. At this time, it was suddenly revealed that J.P. Morgan and MacDonald appeared in Hong Kong Island.

After reading the report, 9% of people will definitely blame the short selling on themselves.

Even if the two come out to clarify, the more they clarify, the more likely it is that the public will not believe it.

Based on Chu Xiangqian's understanding of the two men, it is possible that these two guys, while cursing in their hearts, might simply not say anything to anyone.

First of all, it’s hard to explain.

Secondly, saying nothing can actually boost the stock price.

Thirdly, Chu Xiangqian believed that these two guys would never miss this opportunity to make him owe them a favor.

As long as the benefits are sufficient, I believe Morgan Jr. and McDonald will not mind taking the blame for themselves.

After hanging up the phone, Chu Xiangqian thought about it and waited silently for a few hours until daytime came in Hong Kong Island and he was sure that the news there had been reported.

Then he called Morgan Jr. and McDonald and talked about this and that. Chu Xiangqian's last hint made the two of them feel a little uneasy.

Uneasy thoughts suddenly occurred in my mind.

Chu Xiangqian knew very well that no matter how good his confidentiality measures were, it would be difficult to hide the fact that he was the financial backer of the short selling from J.P. Morgan and McDonald.

Rather than being found out by them, it is better to notify them in advance.

Although he let his collaborators take the blame, Chu Xiangqian's purpose was only to muddy the waters so that the Ying country, both the official and the people, would not vent their anger on him.

Chu Xiangqian was even more afraid that the people would hate him, while the powerful and the media would just spend some money.

After a few days of commotion, just as Chu Xiangqian had expected, the media in Ying country really put the biggest short-selling force on the head of Mei Nuo.

And this is actually not nonsense. Before Chu Xiangqian signed the contract, he had already discovered that someone on Wall Street was eyeing the exchange rate of the pound.

Otherwise, the first $10 million contract with 1.35x leverage would not have been met with a cold reception on the New York Stock Exchange.

The number of people who bought the contracts was obviously less than that of Britain and Japan, which was indirect proof that at that time, the Chinese were not optimistic that Britain could maintain the exchange rate of the pound.

Therefore, as soon as the media ignited the anger of the British people, various news came out proving that Wall Street had established a large number of short contracts during this crisis.

Even if someone now says that Chu Xiangqian was the financier behind the $1.5 million profit mentioned by the Japanese, many people will not only not believe it, but will actively interpret it as an attempt to use Chu Xiangqian to take the blame for them.

As for J.P. Morgan and McDonald, although they wanted to beat Chu Xiangqian up, as time went by, although the two banks were scolded, their stock prices made them laugh.

Moreover, in the future, the investment departments of banks will definitely be favored by more speculators.

As for being criticized, the fact that the Royal Bank’s full name contains the word “Scotland” shows that this will do more good than harm.

However, they were both very active in asking Chu Xiangqian for rewards.

Seeing that Chu Xiangqian was in London accompanying Margaret to give birth, the two contacted each other and decided to fly to London together.

Otherwise, once the matter becomes too popular, Chu Xiangqian might deny his debt.

After all, this guy did not hesitate when it came to cheating his partners, and it was really possible that he would deny it afterwards.

As for the advance hint, it was also one of the reasons why the two did not fall out.

Of course, Chu Xiangqian made at least $1.5 million this time, and he made it in the foreign exchange market.

It also made the two realize that in addition to his horse racing and shipping business, Chu Xiangqian was also an expert in finance.

At least his sense of the financial market is no worse than that of banks.

This makes it even more necessary to continue cooperating with him.
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On May 5, Margaret, who had already been admitted to the delivery room prepared in the manor five days in advance, suddenly felt a pain in her stomach.

Chu Xiangqian immediately called in the doctors and nurses hired by Gao Xin and signed extremely strict confidentiality clauses.

Chu Xiangqian spent nearly 8 pounds to build this delivery room.

Not only do we have the best doctors and nurses, but the equipment is also the most advanced these days.

After Margaret had been struggling in the delivery room for almost two hours, she still hadn't given birth to the baby.

Not only Philip and Eliza came over, but also Margaret's mother Maria came.

Seeing Chu Xiangqian walking around outside the delivery room, Eliza asked hurriedly, "What's the situation inside?"

Chu Xiangqian was actually in a very bad mood at this time, fearing that something might happen to his wife and children.

But when facing Eliza, Chu Xiangqian knew that no matter how anxious he was, there was no need to make Eliza and her husband and Maria worry as well.

So I said, "Don't worry, it shouldn't be a difficult birth. I have already hired the best obstetrician, the most experienced nurses and the most advanced equipment in London.

It will be okay.”

Eliza and Maria felt a little relieved after hearing this. As for Philip, this guy seemed to trust Chu Xiangqian 100%.

He smiled and congratulated Chu Xiangqian, and then began to discuss what name to give the little one after he was born.

Chu Xiangqian had already thought of a Chinese name, Chu Jingxing.

As for the English name, the surname is inevitably Austin.

But Margaret insisted on adding a capital C to the little one's name.

The consciousness was very obvious, it was the first letter of Chu Xiangqian's surname.

So the two finally decided to call him Henry C. Austin.

Philips had no objection to this, and he had no right to decide on the name, so he just said a lot of good things.

But Eliza frowned and hesitated for a moment, and finally said to Chu Xiangqian, "Stark, if you and Margaret are willing, I hope the child will be named Henry George C. Austin."

(End of this chapter)