Chapter 626: The British-Owned Group Makes Its Move!

Hong Kong Island!

November 8th was undoubtedly a day to remember. The “81 Gold War,” a battle that future economists would talk about with great interest, officially kicked off on this day.

It is widely believed that the British-owned conglomerates, which had dominated Hong Kong and even all of East Asia for nearly a century, began their gradual decline following this battle and withdrew from the historical stage within a very short time.

To counter Li Yi’s short-selling of gold and to stabilize market prices—ensuring the value of their massive holdings of physical gold and financial instruments did not erode—the British-owned conglomerates reacted swiftly.

As soon as the meeting at the castle concluded, Smith, serving as both chief steward and secretary-general, immediately summoned all members of the British-funded groups across Hong Kong Island to a meeting at the Emperor Hotel in the city center.

Among them were high-ranking white executives, as well as Chinese families and companies willing to act as vassals and lackeys!

Of course, there were also plenty of fence-sitters waiting to pounce on the opportunity!

At the meeting, Smith first gave a brief overview of the situation, particularly revealing that Li Yi, Li Futao, and others were planning to short gold.

The moment he spoke, the room erupted in an uproar, and many could no longer sit still!

The reason was simple: after all, the physical gold and financial instruments worth tens of billions currently held by the British-owned groups had all been purchased with their money.

Although there were dozens, if not hundreds, of these vassal families and companies, spreading that hundred-plus billion across each faction meant the burden wasn’t particularly heavy—just tens of millions to a few hundred million each.

Even if gold prices did fall, the vast majority of them wouldn’t necessarily be ruined.

Gold prices don’t plummet like stocks do once they start falling, and if a stock goes bad, it can truly become worthless.

Gold, on the other hand, has a floor—it won’t plummet to the price of cabbage.

However, such a massive holding still exposes them to significant risk. If gold prices were to crash, it would likely deal a severe blow to some of them.

This is especially true for smaller families and companies that aren’t particularly well-funded; they might not be able to weather this wave of losses—take the Lin family, for example.

Consequently, these people began asking for advice, each of them frantic with worry.

At that moment, Smith—who had a keen grasp of human nature—immediately announced the Jazz’s decision and publicly called for members within the group to contribute funds for the short-selling campaign.

Upon hearing that the Duke was leading the effort to take out Li Yi, the vast majority of people supported the move—after all, it was in their best interests.

Moreover, if this move succeeded, the profits would be substantial.

After Smith’s rallying speech, the members of the British-funded group rushed to pledge funds just as they had done before.

In less than two hours, Smith and his team had raised 8.5 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Although the results were fairly good, Smith still had a vague sense of unease, because quite a few people had actually failed to contribute to this fundraising effort.

They offered various excuses—insufficient cash flow, severe losses, and so on.

At first glance, these seemed plausible, but Smith knew they were nothing but excuses—they hadn’t acted this way before.

Whenever such situations arose, even if they truly lacked funds, they would find a way to raise the money.

Because this was not merely an opportunity; it was a matter of attitude.

Now that these people were refusing to contribute to the fundraising campaign, it could only mean that their attitude toward the British Capital Group’s circle had changed—and this was most likely related to the Li Jiuying incident from a while back.

Although he felt deeply uneasy, Smith couldn’t say a word, because they had long agreed internally that such matters shouldn’t be forced—it was entirely voluntary.

Fortunately, 8.5 billion Hong Kong dollars is no small sum; it should be more than enough.

Subsequently, following the Duke’s orders, Smith converted 7.6 billion of that sum into US dollars and transferred it to Zaiying’s side—banbanhaobang—where it was entrusted to legendary investor Old William to manage, with the aim of thwarting Li Yi’s operations in New York.

The remaining 900 million Hong Kong dollars was managed by Smith’s team to stabilize the Hong Kong market!

In the words of Jazz and the others, the price of the Hong Kong gold market must remain stable; there must be absolutely no sharp fluctuations.

At this moment, the Hong Kong gold market was undergoing a massive test.

Under the relentless pressure from Li Yi, Li Futao, and others, a large number of gold investors and ordinary citizens panicked, rushing to sell off their gold financial products.

As a massive volume of gold financial products flooded the market, the price of gold plummeted rapidly, dropping from a high of $606 per ounce all the way down to $601.

By the afternoon, the price had broken through the $600 mark, dropping to $599—a price nearly identical to what most people had paid for their holdings.

The market’s poor performance further unsettled these investors, prompting even more people to join the wave of selling gold financial products.

More importantly, with so many people selling, there were simply no buyers to take the other side of the trade.

With no buyers, investors had no choice but to keep lowering their prices…

But just as people were worrying whether the gold price would indeed plummet suddenly, as Li Futao and others had predicted, someone suddenly began buying up these gold financial products in bulk on the market—absorbing every ounce that others sold.

Under these circumstances, by the time the market closed, the gold price in Hong Kong had finally stabilized at $599 per ounce.

On the first day, the British-funded group successfully stabilized the market!

However, when the operations team reported the funds expended to Smith, he was immediately stunned.

In less than half a day, they had spent 600 million Hong Kong dollars!

In other words, over the past three hours, investors in Hong Kong had sold off at least 600 million Hong Kong dollars’ worth of gold financial products.

Originally, they had planned to use these 900 million Hong Kong dollars to sustain the market for a week, but now only 300 million remained. Whether they could hold out until tomorrow morning was still an unknown.

In light of this, Smith immediately convened the internal members once again to continue raising funds.

For them, there was no turning back; they had no choice but to hold on, or else the consequences would be dire!

Of course, the violent fluctuations in the market’s gold prices did not escape Li Futao’s notice; without even needing to investigate, someone had already quietly informed him of the British-funded group’s situation.

Upon learning that the Anglo Group had actually raised funds to target Li Yi, Li Futiao was taken aback.

He knew full well how unscrupulous these Anglo-Saxons could be in business, and their influence was vast—extending far beyond the British-owned conglomerates on Hong Kong Island to include close ties with the “Eagles” and “John Bull.”

If these people were to join forces to take down Li Yi, the consequences would be truly unimaginable.

After all, in the financial markets, it often comes down to who has the most money—especially in the futures market. With sufficient capital, one can force an opponent into a margin call even when the odds are stacked against them.

More importantly, Li Futiao knew full well that Li Yi was now completely out of money.

In other words, faced with a counterattack and ambush by the British-funded groups, they would be forced to play defense and would be virtually powerless to fight back.

In light of this, Li Futiao sent a telegram to New York while simultaneously raising funds to prepare for any eventuality!

However, when Li Yi, who was far away in New York, received the urgent telegram from Li Futiao, he didn’t panic—instead, he wore an expression of delight…

………