Early that morning, a black carriage drove quietly towards the center of London. The carriage passed Buckingham Palace and then continued along the street. There was a passenger sitting in the car, staring solemnly at the street scene passing by.
"Hope everything goes well!"
At this moment, Buffett's mood seemed a bit heavy. Yesterday, he received a secret message from Nanhua, asking him to speed up negotiations.
"Swift victory."
How is this possible?
Negotiations between Nanhua and the Hudson's Bay Company have been ongoing on and off for seven years. There has not been much substantial progress, especially when the other party's willingness to sell is not very strong.
But Buffett didn’t know. Historically, in 1870, the Hudson’s Bay Company had sold land to Canada. Facing the strong rise of the United States, in order to prevent the United States from opening up a land passage between its mainland and Alaska, the United Kingdom gave instructions.
The Hudson's Bay Company, which was interested in selling the land, sold the territory to Canada for control. As a result, the largest land transaction in the world's modern history was born.
In this world, the threat to Canada from the divided United States has been greatly reduced. Under such circumstances, it is naturally impossible for the British government to be the "takeover". After all, running a colony requires funds.
But even under such circumstances, it is not easy to buy this land from the company. After all, in this day and age, no one can take advantage of England.
Want to dig out a piece of meat from Britain?
You don’t have to think about it, you all know how difficult it is.
But even if it's difficult, you have to do it, just like what he said when Zhu Xianhai proposed his great idea before he came to London.
"No one bites the British, not because they can't eat it, but because they don't dare to think about it. As long as they think about it, it's always possible!"
That’s right, as long as you dare to think, it’s always possible!
Ten minutes later, sitting in the office of Dawson Mulroney, chairman of the Institute of International Finance, Buffett said with a smile.
"...Seven years ago, under your chairmanship, the International Finance Association was established, bought a controlling stake in the company, and then issued a public offering of 2 million pounds as assets on the untransferred land held in the name of the Hudson's Bay Company
These real estate shares provided the society with sufficient financial capital. By selling or mortgaging the land, the new shareholders invested extensively in immigration, settlement, mining, railways, and telegraphs to accelerate the company's market capitalization.
And that capital also ensured that the company survived the financial crisis of 1866. It can be said that, Dawson, your decision was a stroke of genius."
People always feel happy when they are praised, and Dawson Mulroney is no exception. He smiled, nodded, and made a greeting gesture to the cup.
"It's just to help the company survive the crisis. As early as twenty years ago, the company's fur trade was unsustainable, and the "monopoly management rights" have also been challenged by many challenges. The land management is just a transformation. But there is still a long way to go.
It's far from being a success. After all, you know, the company did encounter some problems in its operations."
Mulroney, a banker by training, had his eye on the Hudson's Bay Company as early as eight years ago. When the company was unsustainable due to the decline in the fur trade, he invited his partners to establish the International Finance Association and took the opportunity to take over the company and through operations
Land, while helping the company get out of trouble, also made huge personal profits.
"Although immigration settlement, mining, railways, and telegraphs can speed up the company's market capitalization. These investments related to immigration expansion require real government structure support. Although through the operation of land, the company has survived the crisis and gained substantial profits.
returns, but the company’s administrative expenses in the territory are definitely getting bigger and bigger. You know, since two years ago, the company has fallen into losses again!”
Mulroney shrugged helplessly, looked at Buffett and said.
"This is why I agree to sell the company to you, but, you know, I can't make the final decision on this company. I guarantee it with my head. The only problem is that we have no way to return the "crown" to the royal family.
It would be almost impossible for us to sell the company without the Crown taking back the crown, after all, the Hudson's Bay Company is a chartered company."
In fact, as early as two years ago, Buffett had privately reached a consensus with Mulroney on selling the company. For Mulroney, a banker, he entered the company for money, and sold or leased the land to make profits.
But now the administrative expenses of colonial affairs are gradually draining the company's financial resources.
In this case, the best option was to stop the seizure immediately. Fed up with the management of the colony, the Hudson's Bay Company naturally wanted to sell all the land it owned.
But the problem is that the Hudson's Bay Company is not a simple company. The territory it holds a royal charter is the "Crown Territory", which means that without the permission of the royal family, they cannot sell all the company's land.
.
"Without royal permission, and before they agree to us returning the crown, it is absolutely impossible to sell this royal territory as a whole."
"What if we rule out Rupert territory first?"
Buffett, who intends to speed up the progress of negotiations, asked tentatively:
"It is true that Prince Rupert's Territory is a Crown Territory, but the Northwest Territory is not. It originally belonged to the North West Company. The Northwest Territory was forcibly merged by the British government in order to quell the ongoing violent disputes between the two companies. This land can be
It’s not the crown territory. If possible, we can reach an agreement on this land first!”
At least buying the "Northwest Territory" was Zhu Xianhai's bottom line. In fact, he himself also knew that it was not an easy task for Britain to sell land to foreign countries. After all, historically, the Hudson's Bay Company was a member of the British government.
Under the instructions of the company, all the company's land was sold to Canada.
But the northwest region is also several million square kilometers!
"North-west region?"
Mulroney's brows furrowed and he thought for a moment before saying.
"I don't know, my friend, you know, I personally agree, but just selling the northwest region doesn't seem to be in our plan, and it won't change the predicament the company is facing now."
"Company in trouble?"
Buffett asked with a smile.
"The government will not help you solve the company's plight. As we all know, the era of companies is over long ago. Chartered companies and the huge East India Company were solved more than ten years ago. What did the company's shareholders get?
Woolen cloth?"
Shaking his head, Buffett looked at Mulroney and said.
"Nothing was gained. Ordinary clerks could continue to serve, but what about the shareholders in London? They lost everything, everything! Downing Street could dismantle the East India Company, but what about the Hudson's Bay Company?"
For capitalists, money is the most important thing. Of course, the country must take a back seat to money. For the country, interests also come first.
"Go, sir. Frankly speaking, I don't think you can get rid of all this. I think maybe soon, in five or ten years, you will lose it all. Now while you can still make the decision, make your own decisions."
Let’s consider our interests.”
Of course, you have to consider your own interests. How could Mulroney not know the tragic experiences of those shareholders when the East India Company disintegrated. The government directly disintegrated the East India Company without giving any compensation to the company's shareholders.
Many people have lost hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds as a result.
A company as huge as the East India Company could be broken up, but what about the Hudson's Bay Company?
Mulroney fell into silence, thought for a while, and then said.
"Hey, old man. Please give me some time to convince them and convince them to sign the contract."
This chapter has been completed!