Chapter 1093: Revealing True Intentions
Guy L'Oisel slowly asked after gazing at Xia Yu for a long time, 'Mr. Xia, how did you find out about this?'
Xia Yu's expression remained unchanged, without any signs of guilt, and he said with a faint smile, 'I also learned about this incident by accident.'
'Mr Guy de Rothschild, it is common knowledge that the French government wants to carry out reform through nationalisation. As an investment company, Bright Fund naturally has to find out what is going on. This is the most fundamental requirement, isn't it?'
'It so happens that I have some friends within the French government. We occasionally talked about this matter, so I asked about the situation and unexpectedly learned that Edmond de Rothschild Bank is also in the ranks of those to be nationalised.'
This reason seemed impeccable, but both Guy Locher and David Locher felt that something was wrong.
Guy Locher, who was old and wise and had seen all kinds of darkness in the world, had a dark heart and became suspicious of Xia Yu.
However, he did not question Xia Yu directly. He would find out the truth later.
The most pressing task was to see how Xia Yu wanted to cooperate and whether he could really help the family!
He calmed down and asked, 'Mr Xia, I would like to know how you plan to cooperate?'
Xia Yu gave a slight smile and said slowly, 'I heard that the French government plans to nationalise all French private banks with more than 1 billion francs in deposits from residents before 2 January 1981, and will not issue all types of banking licences for several years, further limiting the number and size of private banks.'
'With such a major policy, I am sure there is no way to make Edmond de Rothschild Bank the one that is not nationalised.'
'But if you just apply for another full-category banking licence and keep the name Edmond de Rothschild Bank, it should still be possible!'
'I have to say that the Rothschild Bank is a bank named after your family, representing your family's centuries of honour. If this bank falls into the hands of another family... I don't think many people would like to see this happen, and that includes me, a friend of your family.'
Guy Rothschild's brow furrowed, and his cloudy gaze became as sharp and intimidating as an eagle's. Xia Yu calmly met his gaze.
Xia Yu had actually said what their family had decided as the bottom line after deliberating a few days ago!
What a coincidence!
Or... was it not a coincidence?
Was there someone in the family that he had been monitoring?
Or had someone betrayed the family?
Or was Xia Yu really a prophet, who had directly analysed the situation?
Guy de Rothschild couldn't help but ask a series of questions in his mind, which seriously disrupted his thoughts.
Glancing at Xia Yu, who looked carefree, Guy de Rothschild could only suppress all the doubts in his mind once again.
No matter what the truth is, the bait thrown by Xia Yu is indeed very attractive.
And based on the contribution of the Bright Foundation during the French presidential election, the Bright Foundation is indeed very close to François Mitterrand, and Xia Yu really has the potential to successfully lobby François Mitterrand.
The opportunity is in front of you, do you accept or not?
In just a moment, Guy Locher made his decision!
Accept!
It is most important to first maintain the strength of the family!
Guy Locher asked with a stern voice, 'Mr Xia, can you guarantee that you can do what you say?'
Xia Yu shook his head with a slight bitter smile and said, 'Mr Guy Locher, I can't guarantee that. I can only say that I feel it is possible, and I will mobilise all resources to give it a try. As for whether the final result will be successful, we can only leave it to fate. After all, if it were easy, with the energy of your family, it would have succeeded long ago.'
Guy Lochiel could not help but feel doubtful. He did not believe Xia Yu's words. If he was not sure, would he have come to the door now?
It was just a matter of whether the Lochiel family could offer enough.
He also did not beat around the bush with Xia Yu, and said bluntly, 'Mr. Xia, what kind of conditions do you need in order to help us achieve what you said!'
That's direct, I like it!
Xia Yu smiled, took a sip of coffee and said, 'I need the shares of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered Bank and BP!'
Seeing Guy Lochiel and David Lochiel's faces turn dark, Xia Yu added with a smile, "Of course, I mean buying, I have no intention of asking your family to give them to me, after all, that is definitely impossible!'
Guy Lochiel and Xia Yu looked at each other for a long time before Guy Lochiel said, "Mr Xia, your request exceeds my authority.'
'You can change the conditions. For example, we hold a number of shares in high-quality major companies in France, and I can sell them to you directly!'
Xia Yu kept smiling and shook his head to decline: 'My main acquisition target in France has been completed, and it will take a long time to digest. I have no plans to make major moves in France for the time being.'
He would never give Guy de Rothschild the chance. The old fox just wanted to sell him the shares of the company held by Edmond de Rothschild Bank. On the one hand, he could recover some funds, and on the other hand, Edmond de Rothschild was about to be nationalised, and all assets would belong to the French government at that time. Guy de Rothschild could be said to be completely grateful to the government for doing so.
If he really agrees to this, Guy de Rothschild can be said to have done nothing at all, and Xia Yu will be working for him for free.
Don't even think about it!
What's more, from beginning to end, Xia Yu's goal has been to get back the shares of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank, especially the shares of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It will be extremely difficult to seize the Rothschild family's lifeline again in the future to blackmail them without causing a huge conflict!
Although Standard Chartered Bank is actually controlled by Xia Yu behind the scenes, if he holds a confrontational attitude, he can still forcefully take advantage of the Rothschild family, but the risk is very high.
The key is the Royal Bank of Scotland, because previously the Rothschild family stood him up halfway through, causing him to only acquire 58.9% of the shares, and 41.1% of the shares are in the hands of Barclays Bank.
Without absolute control, Xia Yu was unable to use RBS to do some key things, which made some of his plans and actions more troublesome.
So this time, he must absolutely seize the opportunity to completely get rid of the Rothschild family!
'Mr Guy Rothschild, I don't have enough funds, I'm only interested in the equity of these three companies. If you don't have the authority, you can go and discuss it with Mr Jacob Rothschild and give me a reply!'
'Anyway, there should still be some time now. I'm in no hurry. If we really can't cooperate, there's nothing we can do about it.'
David Rothschild, who had been sitting next to Guy Rothschild and had been silent the whole time, saw how Xia Yu looked and a feeling of anger rose in his heart.
Xia Yu was now talking casually, clearly taking advantage of the fact that the Rothschild family was in a hurry.
Guy Lochiel, who was older, was calmer. He nodded slightly and said, 'Okay, I'll discuss it with the family first and give you a reply later!'
'But Mr. Xia, I hope you're not joking and that you really are confident of completing this task!'
Xia Yu smiled and nodded: 'If I can cooperate with your family, I will definitely do my best!'
'Mr Guy Locher, and Mr David Locher, I have some things to attend to, so I won't disturb you any longer!'
After saying this, Xia Yu got up and prepared to leave.
Guy Locher and David Locher got up one after the other, and at the sign of Guy Locher, David Locher accompanied Xia Yu as he walked out.
A few minutes later, with the roar of a car fading away, David Lochire returned to the house.
He could no longer hold back his anger and said aloud, 'Uncle, can you be sure that this time it is really the forces led by the three major families that want to deal with us?'
'With Xia Yu's relationship with François Mitterrand, could it be that he is the one behind everything?'