Chapter 3: Bermuda, the financial paradise

Richmond is the capital of Virginia and one of the most business-friendly cities in the United States, ranking even higher than Brighton, where Harvard University is located. Of course, perhaps the name is not as famous in China as New York or San Francisco. Before Zhou Ming came to the United States, had even forgotten his name. However, his significance for the United States was extraordinary, so much so that during the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America made Richmond their capital.

Zhou Ming and Caitlyn were unable to take the boat from Charles Island to the 'outside world' as planned due to the interference of Jefferson, so Zhou Ming brought Caitlyn to Richmond to go outside through another channel.

Zhou Ming took Caitlyn directly to Richmond Airport and, following Caitlyn's previous introduction to the 'outside world', bought three plane tickets to Fieldley.

Caitlin shook her head and said, 'It's useless. Although we can fly to Fieldley Airport, we are just like everyone else passenger. There is no way to see the real outside world, otherwise I would not insist on bringing Ming with me. You must take the ferry from Long Island.'

Zhou Ming nodded: 'I certainly understand this reasoning, but now that someone is causing trouble for us, and since we have no way to take the boat, we have no choice but to have no choice. The place will always be there, so whether we take the boat or the plane, we'll just have to wait and see if we're eligible. If we're not, we'll just have to consider it a holiday.'

Caitlin let out a helpless sigh: 'That's all we can do now. I hope it really turns out like you said.'

Then Zhou Ming and Caitlin sat down in the departure lounge. Zhou Ming looked at the plane ticket in his hand and sighed: 'I really didn't expect that the so-called outside world is actually Bermuda!'

Zhou Ming would feel emotional, not because it was an island like the Down syndrome family's Quan'an Island, which was not marked on the map and seemed to be non-existent, but because it was a very famous place. Anyone with a little experience would have heard of the famous Bermuda Triangle, which was talking about this place.

It is said that many supernatural phenomena occur in the Bermuda Triangle, that ships disappear for no apparent reason, and that some even travel through time. In short, the Bermuda Triangle is depicted in various magazines and newspapers as if it were a devil with an open mouth, ready to devour everything.

Because of this, all ships and planes will slightly avoid this scary area when passing through. But in fact, Caitlyn told Zhou Ming that it is just an ordinary sea area, and those terrifying legends were deliberately fabricated to hide the existence of the 'outside world', so as to ensure that this place will not be disturbed.

In the past, the Bermuda that Zhou Ming knew also started with the Devil's Triangle, but now he is holding a plane ticket in his hand to fly to Bermuda's only airport, and those terrible rumors are disproved.

According to Caitlin, Bermuda is a relatively special second-class country that enjoys a very high degree of autonomy, including legal and political policies. Its sovereignty belongs to the United Kingdom, but it is not included in the territory of the United Kingdom. It is simply referred to as an 'overseas territory'. Bermuda is made up of seven larger connected islands and more than 20 smaller islands.

These islands actually represent the sphere of influence of the church. Apart from a few small islands that are open to tourism, the other 20-odd islands are the private property of the 13 sects of the Holy See. Nobles with the lettered mark, like Harrodsburg, are all concentrated on the seven large islands.

Caitlyn told Zhou Ming that Bermuda is at the heart of the Church's wealth system, and every day a huge amount of wealth comes in and out of the country. Therefore, Bermuda does not have any foreign exchange controls, and there is no business tax, which has also made Bermuda the world's most famous tax haven. Anyone from any country who registers a company in Bermuda can save at least 80% on tax costs.

In theory, places that seriously disrupt the tax and financial order should not exist. However, since Bermuda is backed by the church, even a strong country like the United States can only turn a blind eye and pretend not to see.

After a three-hour flight, the plane finally landed at Bermuda's Filderly Airport. Ming and Caitlin followed the flow of people out of the airport and waited in line for a taxi at the exit.

After waiting for a few minutes, they finally got into the taxi. Zhou Ming said to Caitlin, 'It doesn't look any different from an ordinary American city.'

Caitlin nodded and told Ming that this was of course the case: 'After all, the outside world is a place where the world's rich people aspire to be. Although they are unable to truly become part of it, at least because of thanks to the Bermuda Triangle legend, it has remained completely unpolluted by modern industry. The air and water quality here are among the best in the world, so the rich also regard it as the best choice for holidays.'

'As for the residents, they are basically the descendants of the slaves and indentured labourers who were brought to the island centuries ago for the slave trade and other colonial trades,' Caitlin said.

'Indeed, since the taxes here are extremely low, one can first launder money here to avoid taxes, register a company, and after taking care of one's business, go swimming at the beach and enjoy the most natural sunbathing,' Ming Zhou said with a tone of reason.

'There are many more secrets here that you would never expect,'

Caitlin said to Ming Zhou, and then told the taxi driver to turn towards Anguilla Street.

Bermuda is not big, so it only took five minutes for them to arrive at Anguilla Street. Ming Zhou suddenly saw many tall buildings with a very rich Gothic architectural style appear before his eyes.

At this time, Caitlin said to Ming Zhou, 'Each of these buildings is a work of art, and they were all designed by famous designers. But what's more interesting than these buildings is what's inside.'

Regarding this question, without being reminded by Caitlin, Zhou Ming has already seen a very familiar word 'bank'. For this word, even people who have not studied English may be familiar with it, not to mention Zhou Ming, who has been in the United States for a year. This is the bank.

'Are you trying to tell me this is a bank street?' asked Ming.

This time Caitlin didn't answer, but the taxi driver in front of them said, 'We prefer to call this a bank expo, because you can see all the big banks in the world, whether American or European, even some big Latin American banks are here, but the only thing that is a bit unfriendly is that these banks are not distributed according to region, but are randomly distributed as they please.'

'Of course, after all, this is not really a banking expo,' Zhou Ming said.

In fact, without him saying it, Zhou Ming had already seen many banks that he could name, such as UBS, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as banks that he was familiar with, such as HSBC, Citibank and Bank of China (Hong Kong) . As for the other banks, there were many that he was not familiar with, but Ming could guess that the banks that were here with the others must also be very wealthy and powerful.

Even Zhou Ming also saw the famous Childress Bank, but here, he was not the protagonist of the 'currency war'. He was just one of the banks in the back, none of which were built on the main street.

'Because because Bermuda is a wealth transfer station for the entire Western world, all banks must have a branch presence here and maintain a certain amount of deposits. Apart from banks, the other businesses on that street on the island are all insurance companies,' says Cat said, 'In fact, compared to banks, insurance companies are Bermuda's main business. You may not expect it, but more than one-third of the world's insurance companies are registered here.'

Kate Kate's words made Zhou Ming feel shocked. Since his rebirth, Zhou Ming has been studying finance, so he understands that banks and insurance companies basically make up the entire financial industry. In other words, Bermuda does not need securities companies. Otherwise, this small Bermuda could be completely equivalent to a scaled-down version of the world's financial industry.

However this is normal. After all, it is backed by the wealth accumulated by the Vatican over thousands of years. Countless fortunes flow in and out of this tiny island every day. There are no foreign exchange controls, so capital operations can be carried out at will. There is need to worry about the taxes and fees incurred by large capital operations. It would be strange if these banks and insurance companies did not jostle to stay here in such a financial paradise.

'Dear 'Dear Sirs and Madams, are you here on holiday? I can recommend the best hotels here...'

The the driver was talking to Ming and Caitlin, but Caitlin interrupted him. She told him, 'We don't need a hotel. Go straight down this Rue d'Angleterre to Alsace. There's a château there. Just take us there.'

'Are are you friends of Archduke Ferdinand?' the driver asked curiously.

Zhou Ming knew that the Archduke Ferdinand the driver was referring to was Caitlin's father, the current head of the Harburg family.

'Is there a problem?' Caitlin asked unruffled.

'So So you don't know, there is indeed a castle in Alsace that belongs to Archduke Ferdinand, but this castle has now been sealed off. It is said that because Archduke Ferdinand owed so many debts, the bank is auctioning off the castle,' the driver said.

'What What? Harresburg is going to be auctioned off? Why would I not know about this?' Caitlin was surprised.

The driver looked back a little surprised and said somewhat puzzled, 'This is not surprising. After all, Archduke Ferdinand is considered a relatively famous figure in Bermuda. He was once a wealthy family, but now he has fallen to insolvent and has to auction off the castle. It is said to be because of drugs and gambling. It seems that it is better not to get involved in these two things.'

'Shut up!' Caitlin said loudly shouted. 'My father is a decent man and has absolutely nothing to do with these two things. Moreover, the Harburg family is extremely wealthy. Even if my father were addicted to drugs and gambling, he would never have to auction off the castle. This is definitely a conspiracy!'

Hearing Caitlin Kate's words, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes and looked back in disbelief, 'You...you are the daughter of Archduke Ferdinand? Caitlin...Your Highness?'