In the western suburbs of Shanghai, there is a British classic-style country house called "Robe's Garden", commonly known as "Sassoon Villa".

This is the residence of Victor Sassoon, the richest man in Shanghai, and it is also the place where Zhou Hexuan went to the banquet tonight.

Two Indian Ah San, with their heads entangled, guarded at the gate of the villa with guns on their backs. Seeing Zhou Hexuan's car coming, one of them, Ah San, immediately stepped forward to check, and then beckoned his colleagues inside to issue it.

As soon as the car drove into the villa, someone ran to lead the way and led the car to the side of the main house before stopping.

Then the English butler appeared with the servant and walked to the side of the car to respectfully luggage: "Good evening, sir!" ”

"Hello." Zhou Hexuan rolled down the window and nodded in return.

A maid cautiously helped open the car door, and when Zhou Hexuan and Ruan Lingyu got out of the car, another maid immediately brought a wrung out hot towel and presented it: "Sir, madam, please clean your hands." ”

Zhou Hexuan wiped his hands and complained to Ruan Lingyu: "He is worthy of being the richest man in Shanghai, and the pomp is really big." ”

When they had finished cleaning their hands, the English butler bowed and said, "Sir, madam, please follow me!" ”

Zhou Hexuan followed the housekeeper to the main house, while the driver drove to the garage in the rear. The villa has a large plot of land and not only has a garden lawn, but also a dedicated flower room and stables. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was used as a sanatorium for workers of the Shanghai Textile Bureau.

On both sides of the main house, there are plantains, podocarpus, acacia and other trees, which are lush and quiet, and this environment alone makes Zhou Hexuan quite envious.

The entrance to the main house is a large platform, and there is a corridor after entering the door, and through the corridor is a rectangular hall of 200 square meters. To the east of the hall is the dining room, which is also large and has an extremely long dining table that can accommodate at least 20 people at the same time.

"Hahahaha," Victor Sassoon suddenly stood up and walked towards Zhou Hexuan with a big laugh, "Mr. Zhou, I have admired my name for a long time, and we finally met today!" ”

"Mr. Sassoon, you still speak English, I don't understand Shanghainese very well." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Victor Sassoon was a burly man, blind in one eye and lame in the other, but he walked quite quickly. He shook Zhou Hexuan's hand and said, "I have lived in Shanghai for more than ten years, and I am used to speaking Shanghainese. ”

The British Consul General in Shanghai was named Bo Renan, an old gentleman with a civilized stick, and he shook hands politely and said, "Hello, Mr. Zhou, we meet again." ”

"Hello, Mr. Consul." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

Sassoon and Berynand's wife were also there, and the two women greeted them warmly, and everyone quickly sat down around the table.

The dinner was a standard French meal, with hors d'oeuvres followed by cold dishes and soups, and Zhou Hexuan was so hungry that he croaked before serving the main course. When a plate of food is served, a chef comes over to introduce the ingredients and methods, and details the characteristics of the food and how to eat it.

Ruan Lingyu looked very restrained, it was the first time she had eaten like this, and she felt uncomfortable.

Sassoon and Berynand didn't get down to business at all, and talked about endless topics. Zhou Hexuan was not in a hurry, anyway, what the other party said, he just went down and talked a lot of nonsense.

It wasn't until dessert was served at the end of the meal that Berynand began to talk about the main point: "What does Mr. Zhou think about the current economic situation in China?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "It's good, now that housing prices in Shanghai have plummeted, I took the opportunity to buy some real estate, and it is estimated that I will be able to make a fortune next year." ”

Victor Sassoon said angrily: "If Mr. Zhou wants to buy a property, just tell me where he likes, and promise to give you the lowest price!" ”

"Definitely, definitely." Zhou Hexuan echoed.

Known as the "Rothschild of the East", the Sassoons have a huge influence in India, Southeast Asia and China. Victor Sassoon's father and uncles were all involved in the opium trade, and Elias Sassoon was the largest opium dealer in China at that time, and they provoked the Opium War.

Victor Sassoon is the current head of the Sassoon family in China, and when he took over the family business, his main business was banking, arms and opium. With the efforts of Victor Sassoon, the main project gradually turned to real estate, known as the "king of real estate".

Shanghai's land and housing prices have been speculated so high, and Victor Sassoon is very responsible.

Similarly, when the silver crisis broke out in China, the heaviest loss in Shanghai was Victor Sassoon, whose fortune evaporated in at least half of half of his life. After the "128" incident, this guy felt that the situation in China was critical, and he was selling off various industries step by step, but the silver crisis disrupted his plan, and real estate and bank assets worth hundreds of millions of yuan were rigidly trapped.

If anyone wants to solve China's silver crisis the most, it must be Victor Sassoon.

After chatting about real estate for a while, Berynand suddenly said, "Mr. Zhou, do you know Li Ziros?" ”

"I've heard of it," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "he is the chief financial adviser of the United Kingdom, and Mr. Norman's right-hand man." When I visited Mr. Norman last year, Mr. Norman mentioned this man. ”

"Litzroth is visiting Japan," Borynan said. ”

"Uh-huh," Zhou Hexuan nodded, "What does Mr. Brenan want to say?" ”

"Li Ziros was appointed by Mr. Norman to go to Japan to negotiate a joint solution to the Chinese silver crisis, but unfortunately the results of the negotiations were not satisfactory. ”

"Of course Japan doesn't." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

A few months ago, Zhou Hexuan visited Montague Norman, the governor of the Bank of England, and the old neurotic was very excited to take the opportunity to bring China into the pound system. However, first, the negotiations did not go well, and second, the British Foreign Office was taboo against Japan, and after many wrestling, it actually wanted to pull Japan together to solve the Chinese silver problem.

As Montague Norman's right-hand man, Litzros was sent to Japan to lobby. The Japanese side directly refused, they wanted to monopolize China, how could they take the British to play?

Burnham continued: "Mr. Zhou, you are a well-known patriot, and you, like us, want to solve China's silver crisis as soon as possible. But now something is wrong and we need your help. ”

"What's the problem? Where are you in the negotiations? Zhou Hexuan asked.

"Everything is going relatively well, but there are still some problems that need to be solved on the Japanese side." ”

Well, the Nanjing government has taken basic control of the major banks in China and has taken advantage of the opportunity to control the shares of many national enterprises. Lao Jiang, Kong Xiangxi, and Song Ziwen planned to wrap up, and were willing to conduct substantive negotiations with the British, and showed great sincerity.

What sincerity?

Promised the UK to maintain control over Chinese customs, including making the UK responsible for recruiting foreign customs staff, but the number of foreign staff would be determined by China.

On the contrary, Britain was more cowardly, fearing that it would arouse the dissatisfaction of the Japanese government, and proposed that the content of customs should not be included in the articles - Japan also set its sights on the position of director of the General Department of Customs and Customs.

Zhou Hexuan smiled: "Just say anything directly, right?" ”

Victor Sassoon said in a loud voice: "I would like to ask Mr. Zhou to lobby the Nanjing government to recognize the legal status of Manchukuo. As long as you do this, I will give you 50 Shanghai Garden Villas! ”

"Hehehe," Zhou Hexuan laughed angrily, "Mr. Sassoon, you seem to have found the wrong person. For this kind of thing, you should go to Kong Xiangxi, Minister Kong must be happy to serve. ”

"I've looked for him," Victor Sassoon shook his head, "this man is ineffective, like a waste." ”

Recognizing the legitimate status of the puppet Manchukuo, let alone looking for Kong Xiangxi, even if it is impossible to find Lao Jiang directly, who dares to take this responsibility!

Zhou Hexuan straightened his sleeves and stood up, and said, "If it's just these, then there's nothing to talk about, farewell!" ”

"Mr. Zhou, wait," Berynand hurriedly shouted, "It was just a joke, Mr. Zhou, don't mind." ”

Zhou Hexuan said in a cold tone: "This joke is not funny, what do you two think?" ”

Berynand glanced at Victor Sassoon speechlessly, and he felt that the crippled man had gone mad to make such a request. Burnham said sincerely: "Mr. Zhou, I hope you can go to England again and persuade the British government through your influence. ”

"What's the situation?" Zhou Hexuan was a little confused.

Berynand began to elaborate on the situation, and it turned out that the British government was a bunch of fools. The British Treasury wants to help China solve the silver crisis as soon as possible and eat alone in China's currency reform, but the British Foreign Ministry is afraid of Japan and insists on cooperating with Japan to solve the China problem.

For this reason, Britain forced China to recognize the puppet Manchukuo, but of course China was unwilling, and then the negotiations were completely stuck.

The arrogant British actually believed that with the consistent cowardice of the Chinese, this problem could be solved, and as long as it dragged on, China could be forced to submit. No matter what the British diplomats in China explain, the British government is not convinced, and the thinking of the British parliamentarians is still stuck in the last century.

The British ambassador to China was speechless – he had been promoted to ambassador, the only result of the Sino-British negotiations in recent months, and the British Consul General in Shanghai was speechless. These diplomats looked forward to being in China and of course knew that China could not compromise on the issue of the puppet state of Manchukuo.

British business interests, represented by Victor Sassoon, forced diplomats to persuade Parliament, and at the same time united others to put pressure on Parliament. But it didn't work, so they rushed to the doctor, wanting to invite a Chinese to London to show up, and Zhou Hexuan became the most suitable candidate.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to get involved in this kind of thing anymore." Zhou Hexuan spread his hands.

Borynan persuaded: "Mr. Zhou, you are a pure patriot, and this matter is about the interests of China and the interests of the Chinese people. I sincerely hope that you will travel to London, you are not alone, and the British Treasury and some MPs will cooperate with you. ”

Victor Sassoon also said: "Mr. Zhou, no matter whether your trip to London is successful or not, I guarantee that 50 Chinese students will study in the UK within five years, and that these students will be able to study in the best universities in the UK!" ”

Zhou Hexuan said entangledly: "Let me think about it again." ”

Unlike a few months ago, British government officials appear to be divided into two factions. The Treasury Department went crazy trying to help China with currency reform, while the Foreign Ministry opposed Britain acting alone. The diplomatic department alone will certainly not be able to compete with the financial department, and the British military and civilian population should also oppose it.

Now that the situation is deadlocked, as long as Zhou Hexuan is responsible for breaking the balance, the consortium with large British investment in China is Zhou Hexuan's help.

It's just that Zhou Hexuan doesn't want to do this kind of thing anymore, it's thankless.