Chapter 211: Whose Hong Kong?
“Lawless!”
Li Chaoren received news from the Hong Kong Police early the next morning.
Not only did the plan fail, but from the inspector carrying out the mission to Hugh Barton himself, none survived.
Even the reporters who went to the scene to take photos didn’t leave a single living person.
This made him terrified; if not for a last-minute matter, he would have almost gone to the scene himself.
If he had gone, wouldn’t he now be just another corpse in Sha Tau Kok?
Li Chaoren was deeply shaken inside, “How dare they, how dare they!”
To take out so many people at once, it was obviously China who did it.
It wasn’t hard to make such a judgment.
“But that’s also right, China has never been afraid in this regard.
But how did they get the news?
I made sure that before this operation, only a few people knew, and even I didn’t know the specific handover location.”
He felt even more panicked inside.
He felt that everything his organization had done seemed exposed in China’s eyes.
“Will they come to take me out next?”
This time, it was a major setback for him.
He had invested funds in executing the plan against Panda, and his core contact at Jardine Matheson, Hugh Barton, was dead. Whether Jardine sent someone from London or promoted a local English person in Hong Kong, the relationship network had to be rebuilt.
Whether the new Taipan would look favorably on him was completely unknown.
After all, he was Hugh Barton’s core confidant, and being a core confidant meant it would be even harder to gain trust from others.
And if Hugh Barton had been promoted, or even transferred laterally, it wouldn’t be a big deal, since the person was still there, still in the corresponding position, with replaceable resources.
But it was death, and dying in this way—when a person dies, debts are cleared, and death also means the complete disappearance of the relationship network resources.
Li Chaoren felt his luck was running out; the actions against Chinese capital had failed consecutively.
The first time he lost a third of his fortune, but this time the actual losses were much more severe.
He couldn’t help sighing inside: why fight desperately with those mud-legged folks? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to get along and make money peacefully?
He didn’t feel at all that this was his own problem, that he was the one who started this dispute.
“Ding ding ding~ ding ding ding~”
The telephone rang.
“Okay.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
In his own mansion, Li Chaoren finished a call from the Deputy Commissioner of the Police Department, asking him to hurry to No. 1 Armoury Street in Central on Hong Kong Island.
This was the location of the Hong Kong Police headquarters building, where key departments like the Police Department, Operations Command Center, and Criminal Investigation were located.
From the moment Li Chaoren arrived at Armoury Street in Central, he sensed an unusually grim atmosphere.
The entrance was filled with riot police vehicles, mobile police command vehicles, and riot squad large trucks.
This was a rare sight in normal times.
(Central Police Station entrance piled with vehicles, photo source: Sin Lok Ka’s “Royal Hong Kong Police Force 150th Anniversary Commemoration 1844-1994”)
(Mobile police command vehicle used locally in Hong Kong from the 50s, equipped inside with various communication equipment for on-site command operations.)
(Riot police vehicle used by Hong Kong Police from the 50s, with no doors installed on the body to allow police to get on and off quickly during duty.)
In an interrogation room, Edward Taylor personally sat opposite waiting for Li Chaoren:
“Mr. Li, please sit.”
Li Chaoren himself didn’t have that kind of fame to be remembered by Edward.
But this major incident, which once exposed would shock all of Hong Kong and was related to him, meant Li Chaoren’s information was on Police Commissioner Edward Taylor’s desk late last night.
“Commissioner Tai, hello.” Li Chaoren shook hands with the other and sat in the chair, looking as if he didn’t know why he was called.
Edward Taylor’s Chinese name was Tai Hua, later changed to Dai Lei Hua.
“Mr. Li, this is the specific information, please take a look.” Edward handed him a thick report.
It was full of photos, all corpse photos, the first one being Hugh Barton.
Such a big event, the entire police force from top to bottom knew about it, but the superior strictly ordered everyone not to leak information, not to let the media know the news.
Until the truth was figured out and the Hong Kong Government set the tone for the matter, the news had to be strictly sealed.
Li Chaoren wasn’t supposed to know about this on the surface.
He acted very convincingly.
Tears began to well up in Li Chaoren’s eyes, “Mr. Barton was a good man, I really can’t imagine who would do such a ruthless thing!”
After looking through it, he showed shock on his face, appearing at a loss.
Edward didn’t give him time to react and directly asked: “Alright, Mr. Li, you can go back and grieve slowly, but now, I need you to tell me everything you know as detailed as possible.
Why Hugh Barton appeared in Sha Tau Kok, and why there were reporters and a group of fully armed police, and finally your guess on who the perpetrator of this murder case is.”
Li Chaoren began slowly recounting the case design he and Hugh Barton had against Universal Electronics.
He naturally wasn’t worried that Edward would be someone from Universal Electronics.
The Police Commissioner colluding with G? Impossible, Edward was an English person.
Before he could finish recounting the general situation, someone knocked on the door outside, then a uniformed Chinese descent person walked in, whispered a few words in Edward’s ear, and handed him a newspaper.
Li Chaoren, sitting opposite, could barely make out that it was a Baihua Newspaper.
After Edward finished reading, his expression changed.
After Li Chaoren finished telling everything he knew, Edward stood up with a smile: “Okay, we understand the situation, thank you.”
Li Chaoren wanted to say more, but Edward was already preparing to leave.
He hurriedly said: “I guess it was done by the China side.”
Edward turned his head and handed the newspaper in his hand to him, “Of course, this is China’s naked provocation.”
Li Chaoren leaned in to look, and the front page of Baihua Newspaper prominently read:
“Sha Tau Kok Shocking Mass Death”
Besides the report itself, it also listed the death list in detail, including names and identities.
The first one was: “Hugh Barton Jardine Matheson Taipan”.
Li Chaoren took a deep breath.
Because whether it was China starting to do business, or the other side anticipating the enemy and striking first, or Baihua Society’s naked provocation, everything exceeded his cognition.
He felt the world was undergoing changes beyond his understanding, changes that were slow yet resolute.
“Commissioner Tai! You’re right, the China folks are nakedly provoking! We must give them a lesson to see!” Li Chaoren said indignantly after reading.
Edward looked at him strangely: “Mr. Li, are you still not awake?”
Li Chaoren was a bit confused: you English person, Hugh Barton died and you don’t want revenge? Are you also colluding with G?
He started to feel afraid.
English people colluding with China?
That day, public opinion in all of Hong Kong was in uproar.
Baihua Society reported first, and after the matter couldn’t be covered up, major newspapers rushed to report, with all sorts of guesses emerging endlessly.
In this tiny place like Hong Kong, even Inspector Li could be considered a big figure, let alone Hugh Barton.
Public opinion couldn’t be suppressed at all.
As for why these people appeared in Sha Tau Kok, and who committed this murder case, public opinion was in uproar for a while.
Baihua Society began actively releasing messages, saying it was related to Universal Electronics.
Directly releasing the truth in the form of rumors.
“Hey, did you know? It is said that Hugh Barton, because Panda Electronics stole their business, knew that China goods were transported from the Sha Tau Kok side, so he specially brought a group of police to catch them red-handed.
Unexpectedly, China got the news in advance, and China went all in and took them all out.”
“I heard about it too, I also heard it was the most elite troops that were dispatched, and the English side had no power to resist at all.”
“So that means Panda really is mainland goods?”
“Definitely, haven’t you seen that the Pandas sold on Nathan Road are of quality far superior to those fake Pandas on the marketplace?”
“Looks like I should go support them too, those white skins deserve to be killed hard!”
Firstly, because of Hugh Barton’s death, the action against Panda Electronics was leaderless, and no one dared to continue; you didn’t know how much stock China really had.
After all, exchanging was at half price, not free.
And they also had to bear capital costs.
On the other hand, China’s bold action made local Hong Kong newspapers afraid to report negative news about Panda Electronics anymore; the public, encouraged by the news, overwhelmingly supported Panda and had greater confidence in it.
Both aspects led to the exchanges disappearing without a trace, and sales volume surging.
That evening, Li Chaoren hosted Huang Qiren at his own hotel.
Compared to famous Chinese police, Huang Qiren absolutely wasn’t famous, but for Chinese tycoons, he was a more worthwhile target to win over than those famous Chinese police.
Because he was the Police Commissioner’s adjutant and private assistant.
(Huang Qiren later wrote a book called “Police Notes: Days in the Hong Kong Police Force in the 1960s”, published by Joint Publishing and distributed locally in Hong Kong)
After getting tipsy, Li Chaoren voiced his morning doubt: why when he suggested giving China a small lesson, Edward said he wasn’t awake yet.
Huang Qiren smiled: “Mr. Li, you understand business, you understand English people, but you don’t understand Hong Kong.
This place Hong Kong is under English control, yes, but not completely under English control.
China just doesn’t want to manage it, doesn’t mean they can’t manage it.
If the Hong Kong British really wanted to do whatever, then four years ago, Zeng Zhaoke couldn’t have been let go so easily.
If it were Hong Kong fifty years ago, the Zeng Zhaoke incident couldn’t have left the country so easily.”
Li Chaoren suddenly understood; he read between the lines the Hong Kong British not wanting to offend China.
Zeng Zhaoke was a former Hong Kong police; the year Lin Ran came to Hong Kong, he was sent by the Hong Kong British Government to Cambridge University for further studies, returned to Hong Kong a year later as Assistant Superintendent of Police, one of the few Chinese promoted to high levels in the Police Force, then was arrested and sent to Luohu.
“Indeed, people like Hugh Barton, because they come from London, think Hong Kong is the English people’s Hong Kong, doing whatever they want, bossing around Chinese people.
In reality, we in the Police Force know very well: when encountering those truly coming from the Mainland on missions, turn a blind eye if possible, no need to make trouble for yourself.
The longer in the Police Force, the clearer this principle.”
After taking a small sip, Huang Qiren continued: “Those ships drifting at sea, delivering various medicines, equipment, even sensitive materials to the Mainland—do we really not know?
Are Police Launch 1, Police Launch 4, Police Launch 13, Police Launch 33 just for show?
It’s still that principle: no need to make things too tense, no need to find trouble; England is too far, China is too close.
Hugh Barton died, so he died; you think an English person dying is a big deal, but actually, as long as China doesn’t publicly admit it, if they did it, then it’s fine.
Even if China publicly admits, as long as London pretends to be dead, pretends not to acknowledge, it’s fine.”
Huang Qiren saw it very clearly.
Similar dialogue also happened inside Baihua Society on Nathan Road.
Edward and Zhou Nan sat opposite each other.
But in front of them there was no alcohol, but tea.
“Mr. Zhou, I didn’t expect China to send a ruthless character like you.” Edward’s attitude was very polite, similarly not taking Hugh Barton’s death seriously.
Zhou Nan smiled: “Mr. Tai, I’m not some ruthless character.
If you’re referring to the Sha Tau Kok matter, that has nothing to do with me; if you want to know the truth, go ahead and investigate, I don’t have the perpetrator here.
Edward smiled bitterly: “Of course you don’t have the perpetrator here, the perpetrator has all gone back to Luohu; how could you have the perpetrator.
But the problem is, you can command the perpetrator.”
Zhou Nan said straightforwardly: “Saying that requires evidence.”
Edward nodded and dropped the subject: “Mr. Zhou, what do you want?
Or rather, under the current situation, what do we need to do for both sides to reach balance again?
We have no intention of changing the status quo, but from your behavior, it’s clear you want to change the status quo.”
Zhou Nan said: “No, we also don’t want to change the status quo; we just don’t want to see the public’s small businesses affected.
Times are tough, Chinese people finding a bite to eat is not easy; there are always people wanting to cause destruction, we think since we’re all Chinese, help where we can.”
Edward breathed a sigh of relief inside: as long as you don’t want to take Hong Kong back, it’s good.
Even if you really want to take it back, wait another year; I’m retiring back to London next year, and after I go back to London, you can cause whatever trouble you want.
“Rest assured, no one will interfere with Chinese people’s small businesses.” Edward guaranteed: “Whether Jardine or Swire, the Governor’s Mansion side will give them a heads-up; everyone minds their own business.”
Zhou Nan nodded: “Good.”
If this was just reaching a delicate balance.
Then when in August, America soldiers landed on a large scale in Vietnam.
When Panda Electronics’ trucks openly appeared at the dock, loading goods onto America warships, neither Jardine nor Swire had any other thoughts.
Panda’s business had reached America; would they still oppose both China and America at the same time?
Not to mention Hong Kong, even London wouldn’t have such boldness.
As for Hugh Barton, he died in vain.
The Sha Tau Kok incident also became like the Zeng Zhaoke case: everyone knew who did it, but no one admitted it; the Police Force, Hong Kong Government, China—no one admitted your guess was the truth.
