Chapter 931: One Core, Six Pillars

Time passed by minute by minute, Xia Yu waited patiently, watching MacLehose flip through the pages and pause from time to time to look thoughtful.

Around 4 pm, MacLehose finally finished reading both documents. After putting them down, he still looked thoughtful.

He saw MacLehose shake his head slightly to clear his thoughts, then look at Xia Yu and say with emotion, 'Mr Xia, the contents of these two documents have shocked me.'

Xia Yu gave a faint smile, modestly revealed his attitude and said nothing more.

MacLehose didn't care, and continued with emotion, 'Mr Xia, I understand your purpose, and I sincerely hope that your business will grow bigger and bigger. This is good for you and for Hong Kong.'

'The research report on the future of Hong Kong mentions the idea of developing Hong Kong into 'one core, six pillars'. In my opinion, it is highly implementable. If it can be successfully developed, then Hong Kong will definitely be able to attract the attention of the world.'

The 'one core, six pillars' concept in the economic research report is very concise and clear, and the description is also very attractive, which makes MacLehose very excited.

The core is the financial services industry.

The six pillars are the trade and logistics industry, the electronics and high-tech industry, the heavy machinery manufacturing industry, the petrochemical industry, the healthcare industry and the tourism and entertainment industry.

The property industry is not included in the 'one core, six pillars', but the document also provides a detailed discussion, explaining the harm the property industry can do to these industries. MacLehose can easily understand this, but when he thinks about the current situation in Hong Kong, he cannot easily make a decision.

'However, if Hong Kong is really to develop in these directions, then the existing industrial parks are probably not enough.'

Upon hearing MacLehose say this, Xia Yu immediately laughed and said, 'Governor, I hope you can consider building a new, super-large industrial park in the New Territories. The existing industrial parks are almost full, and they are almost all supporting industries such as textile processing and plastics, which are difficult to transform.'

Before large-scale land reclamation in later generations, the total land area of Hong Kong was less than 1,100 square kilometres.

The area of Hong Kong Island is 81 square kilometres, the Kowloon Peninsula is about 47 square kilometres, and the New Territories and all the outlying islands together total about 976 square kilometres!

For Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories is definitely vast and sparsely populated, even though the population of the New Territories has increased by more than one million in the past decade!

A large proportion of this population is young and middle-aged, making them good candidates for recruitment.

Therefore, building a large-scale industrial park in the New Territories is definitely the most ideal solution!

Hearing Xia Yu's suggestion, MacLehose nodded in agreement and said, 'Mr Xia, the New Territories is indeed a very good choice.'

'I will gather people to discuss it at a meeting. When there are concrete results, I will contact you.'

Xia Yu nodded and said, 'No problem.'

After a moment's thought, he added, 'However, Governor, I hope that we can come to a decision soon. As you have seen from my investment report, many of my plans are about to be completed. If we delay too long, it will cause a lot of trouble and losses.'

MacLehose's expression became solemn, and he nodded, saying, 'Mr. Xia, I understand your concerns. Please be assured that the Hong Kong government's ultimate goal is the same as yours, which is to better develop Hong Kong. I will discuss a decision as soon as possible and let you know.'

'I'll leave it to you, Governor...'

After Xia Yu and the others had left, Murray MacLehose carefully locked some of the documents Xia Yu had left behind in the safe, and at the same time called his secretary to arrange meetings for the next few days.

Xia Yu, who had left the Hong Kong government, was not overly worried. In his opinion, it was just a matter of time.

Because Xia Yu knew Murray MacLehose well, he also knew the attitude of the British government towards Hong Kong very well.

For the time being, the attitude of the British government towards Hong Kong was to maintain the status quo as much as possible.

It's just that MacLehose is more relaxed, more humane, and knows how to benefit the people of Hong Kong.

But that's not important, what's important is that he personally approached MacLehose, and it was also he who wanted to take the lead in transforming Hong Kong's industries.

If it had been anyone else, MacLehose would never have attached such importance to it, but in the face of Xia Yu, who had already penetrated the upper echelons of the British, MacLehose had no choice but to pay attention.

Over the past year or so, he had received many phone calls from senior members of the Conservative Party and the Mayor of London, Gerard Pat.

As a native of Hong Kong, Xia Yu had the right to develop Hong Kong. If he didn't support this kind of thing, did he want to force Xia Yu to invest and set up factories in Pengcheng on the other side?

If that really happened, not to mention whether Xia Yu would use the upper echelons of the UK to pressure him, the blame and attacks alone would be predictable.

After returning, Xia Yu immediately instructed the Jiuding Think Tank to further refine and produce a secret development report based on the theory of 'one core, six pillars' and combined with the actual situation of the Jiuding Consortium.

What can be shown to MacLehose and what is implemented in secret are naturally different in nature!

While Lin Shanyuan and the others were once again caught up in their busy schedules, Xia Yu began to implement some of the plans that had been discussed and decided upon.

That evening, a black car arrived at Xia Yu's home unobtrusively. The person who got out of the car was none other than Leung Ding-bong, a non-official member of the Legislative Council.

'Mr Leung, please come in. The boss is in the living room.'

Li Wuming took over Leung Ding-bong's gift and then led him to the living room, where Xia Yu was sitting alone on the sofa watching the news.

Seeing Liang Dingbang arrive, Xia Yu turned down the volume, got up, smiled and said to Liang Dingbang, 'Mr Liang, you're here.'

'Mr Xia, good evening, you've been waiting a long time!'

Liang Dingbang lowered his posture, greeted Xia Yu with a humble attitude.

'You even brought a gift, what's the point of being so polite, you're not a stranger, please sit down!'

Xia Yu said with a smile, glancing at the small gift in Li Wuming's hand.

'Have some tea!'

'Mr Liang, are you doing well in the Legislative Council?'

Xia Yu asked with a smile.

Liang Dingbang immediately beamed, obviously doing well.

With a sincere and grateful expression, he said, 'Mr Xia, I have to thank you for your support. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am now.'

'I'm doing well in the Legislative Council now. I know you're behind me, and neither the British official members nor the unofficial members want to offend me.'

Xia Yu smiled and nodded. He had expected this situation. On the one hand, it was certainly due to his authority, but on the other hand, it was also due to the money.

There were two types of legislators in the Hong Kong Legislative Council: official members and non-official members. Official members were more central, similar to the 'executive directors' of a company. They were all British, but non-official members were different, similar to the 'non-executive directors' of a company, with some difference in power.

As for the chairman of the Legislative Council, he is concurrently the Governor of Hong Kong.

Previously, Xia Yu's Jiuding Securities Company had specifically set up a fund targeting politicians. After Liang Dingbang entered the Legislative Council, Xia Yu ordered Wang Qide to open the back door.

Now those legislators get a salary from the Hong Kong government every year, which is far less than the annual dividends they invest in Jiuding Securities Company.

As the saying goes, those who take others' hands are short, and those who eat others' mouths are short!

What's more, they have enjoyed this legal investment channel that brings in money without any effort, and they don't have to worry about being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. This is extremely rare, and they can't bear to give it up.

Therefore, after learning about Leung Ding-bong's background, no one in the Legislative Council would not give him a little face, even the four ex officio members appointed by the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General, the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for Home Affairs. Leung Ding-bong's words carry a lot of weight.

Xia Yu picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, then continued, 'Tell me about your achievements since joining the Legislative Council and the current situation of the Legislative Council.'

'Okay!'

After answering, Liang Dingbang pondered for a moment, composed himself, and said slowly, 'Last year, the Legislative Council expanded considerably, with a total of four additional non-official members and three additional official members.'

'Currently, there are a total of 21 official members and 20 non-official members in the Legislative Council.'

'Of the 20 non-official members, only two are British, and the remaining 18 are Chinese.'

'Currently, as you instructed, I have already gathered a group of loyalists within the Legislative Council. Of the 18 Chinese non-official members, excluding myself, there are a total of six people who secretly belong to my faction. Four of them were recruited, and they have the cleanest backgrounds and are also in a marginalized position; the other two were supported by me with great effort.'

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu immediately said, 'In other words, the two you supported are the two of the four new non-official members of the Legislative Council last year?'

Liang Dingbang nodded and said, "Yes!'

Xia Yu immediately praised, "Not bad!'

With the addition of four new non-official members, Liang Dingbang was able to dominate half of them, which is enough to show that he took Xia Yu's words to heart and started looking for and training his own people early, so that he could push them up when there were more candidates for legislators.

With such means, he is very suitable for mixing in the official circles. What he needs is Liang Dingbang to form cliques, so that he can gradually expand his influence in the Legislative Council.

Although other non-official and official councillors will give him face because of Jiuding Securities, these people definitely have other social and interest ties, and there is no way to guarantee that they will take the same stance as him.

But those that you train yourself are completely different. They are thoroughly loyal and can be relied upon in critical moments!

After a moment's thought, Xia Yu instructed Liang Dingbang, 'Next, you continue to cultivate young people with a clean background and potential. Last year, new councillors were added, and there will definitely be new additions in the future. You must prepare in advance.'

'Okay!'

Liang Dingbang nodded in response.

Xia Yu thought some more and asked, "You have been in politics for two years, so you should have a better understanding of other departments outside the Legislative Council, right?'

'I have a certain understanding of it. If you need it, I will focus on doing this," Liang Dingbang said.

'Well, for other departments of the Hong Kong government, you should also continue to identify Chinese people who have already been employed but have a clean background and potential. If you are too busy, make a list for me and I will arrange the corresponding funding.'

Hearing Xia Yu's words, Liang Dingbang's eyebrows jumped and his mind was shocked. He glanced at Xia Yu, then lowered his head to suppress the shock in his heart, burying his guesses in his heart. He immediately said, 'Okay, I will do my best to take care of this.'

Xia Yu took in Liang Dingbang's reaction with satisfaction, and nodded slightly, saying, 'Next is about you.'

'Before I tell you, take a look at this document.'

After receiving the document, Liang Dingbang immediately read it attentively, and the shock in his eyes became more and more intense.

Xia Yu showed him the economic research document on the future of Xiangjiang that he had shown to MacLehose this afternoon.

Time passed by minute by minute, and Liang Dingbang finally finished reading the document. He took a deep breath, handed the document to Xia Yu and said, 'Mr Xia, I've finished reading it.'

'You can keep this document, but you must be aware that it is top secret and only a limited number of people know about it. It is forbidden to divulge it!'

Xia Yu waved his hand and said to Liang Dingbang.

'Okay, apart from when I'm at home, I will lock it in the safe at all other times!'

Liang Dingbang said solemnly.

Xia Yu nodded slightly and said again, 'This afternoon I talked to MacLehose for a whole afternoon about the content of this document. If there are no unexpected circumstances, the Hong Kong government will pass plans and motions similar to the content of this document.'

'Study the content of this document carefully. At that time, MacLehose will definitely involve the Legislative Council, and that will be your time to shine.'

'In addition, as soon as the Hong Kong government makes a move, it will affect the entire Hong Kong. You need to make arrangements in advance and contact relevant groups in Hong Kong related to education, employment, people's livelihood, etc., and try to win them over...'

...

That night, Xia Yu and Liang Dingbang talked until after ten o'clock. The content of their conversation accounted for about half of the secret arrangements he had made in the political arena of Hong Kong, and placed a heavy burden on him.

While Liang Dingbang felt the pressure, his heart was also filled with enthusiasm, and he kept expressing his determination to Xia Yu.

Whether he could guarantee perfect implementation in action remains to be seen!

Anyway, Xia Yu wasn't putting all his eggs in one basket.

Afterwards, Xia Yu arranged for a bodyguard to escort Liang Dingbang back, while he went upstairs to get ready for bed.