Chapter 1094: The Rothschild Family is in the Bag

It was just after 5:00 p.m. when Guy and David Rothschild left their home and went straight to the airport, where they boarded a plane to London.

It was about 9:00 p.m. in the living room of the Rothschild family castle.

This time, the meeting was attended by a small group: Jacques and Evelyn Locher, and Guy and David Locher, who had travelled from France.

'Uncle Guy, what's the latest? Why did you need to fly here in such a hurry?'

Jacob Rothschild asked with concern, looking at Guy Rothschild, who was looking tired.

Before he came, David Rothschild had only confirmed over the phone that he was in London, and after getting a positive reply, he had said a few words and hung up quickly, so he still didn't know what the matter was. He only guessed that it had something to do with the Edmond Rothschild Bank!

Guy Rothschild said with a grave face, 'At 3 o'clock this afternoon, Xia Yu came to visit me of his own accord.'

Just one sentence made the expressions of Jacob and Evelyn Rothschild change slightly, and they focused their attention a little more, both staring at Guy Rothschild with burning eyes.

'He learned that the French government was going to nationalise our family's bank, and he volunteered to help us keep the bank's name and license. However, his request was that we sell our family's holdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered Bank, and BP...'

After hearing Guy Lochiel's account, the faces of both Jacob Lochiel and Evelyn Lochiel did not look good.

Evelyn Lochiel asked a very critical question: 'Uncle Guy, are you sure that forces led by the three major French families want to suppress us?'

'Xia Yu came to the door on his own initiative this afternoon. There are major doubts about this behaviour and motive!'

'I can't help but suspect that he is behind all this!'

Guy Locher said very affirmatively: 'I have received accurate information that it was indeed the three families of Bonaparte and others who met to discuss driving our family, along with the power of Rockefeller and Morgan, out of France!'

'Moreover, nationalising the banks is a major policy direction in France. François Mitterrand's campaign manifesto was also to carry out nationalisation reforms. This is definitely not something that Xia Yu can interfere with. Even those French families and consortia are the targets. Xia Yu's influence in France cannot be stronger than theirs!'

'But François Mitterrand's attitude towards us was so resolute and left no room for compromise. I suspect that Xia Yu may have made some kind of deal with him, and this is the only place Xia Yu can do something about it.'

'Of course, we can only suspect, we can't produce any evidence at the moment!'

'He has indeed been busy acquiring and integrating the LVMH Group in France. This behaviour is not fake, so it is possible that he really came to our family by accident and learned the news...'

On hearing this, Jacob Rothschild and Evelyn Rothschild fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Jacob Rothschild nodded and said, 'Uncle Guy's analysis is very objective, and these possibilities exist.'

'If things were normal, if Xia Yu wanted to buy our shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered Bank and BP, we would definitely not sell to him!'

'He definitely knows this!'

'But now that he has hit us where it hurts, we have to seriously consider his request.'

'Of course, Uncle Guy is sure that the three major French families are behind this, and if we can get this information, then Xia Yu may also have access to it.'

'It is also possible that he has discovered an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and seize the opportunity to make a profit.'

'But these are all secondary issues for now. We won't be able to investigate the situation in the short term, and even if we do, we will have to compromise in the face of this desperate situation.'

'So the most important thing now is to discuss how to cooperate with him and try to save our family's bank in France as much as possible!'

After saying this, Jacques Rothschild looked at Guy Rothschild.

Guy Rothschild nodded and said after a moment of silence, 'Yes, Jacques, the shares of these three companies are all in the hands of Barclays Bank, and it mainly depends on your opinion.'

Although they are all from the same family, their respective interests mainly come from their respective territories. Although the main interests of the French Edmond de Rothschild Bank are unified under the family's control, a part of the book also belongs to their French branch.

Similarly, the British Barclays Bank is mainly based on the interests of the head Jacob Rothschild and the British branch of Evelyn Rothschild.

In fact, Xia Yu's request was for the family to give up some of their interests on the British side in exchange for the interests on the French side.

The key would depend on the attitude of Evelyn Rothschild, the head of the British branch, and that of Jacob Rothschild, the head of the family!

Evelyn Lochiel, the head of the British branch, shrugged his shoulders and said directly and clearly to Jacob Lochiel in front of Guy Lochiel and David Lochiel: 'Jacob, the interests of the family come first. Whatever decision you make, I have no objection!'

For Jacob Rothschild to become the head of the entire family, he not only needs to be capable, but also have sufficient breadth of mind and prestige.

Since Evelyn Rothschild had no objections, he nodded directly and said, 'Uncle Guy, we can agree to cooperate with him, but we still need to continue negotiations to minimise the cost as much as possible!'

'The reason for acquiring the shares of Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank before was to infiltrate Xia Yu's Jiuding consortium and gain control over him.'

'But unfortunately it seems our plan has failed. His capital is terrifying and he is very vigilant. The core company has never been listed. As his strength grows, he no longer needs to rely on us to grow, and the possibility of our controlling him is getting lower and lower.'

'So the shares of Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank can be given to him. I think his main goal is also the shares of these two companies.'

'As for the shares of BP, they cannot be given to him!'

'Now that BP has just completed the first step of privatisation, the government's ultimate goal is full privatisation. We need this company to counter the Rockefeller family in the oil sector. It is difficult for other oil companies to compete with the Rockefeller family!'

'Now that 4% of BP's shares have fallen into the hands of the Bright Fund, this is a huge potential threat. We must start guarding against it now! Reduce his shareholding as much as possible!'

Guy Rothschild nodded slightly and said, 'We will take care of the negotiations...'

That night, they talked until late.

But the next morning, after breakfast, Guy Rothschild and David Rothschild boarded a plane back to Paris, France.

Due to the urgency of the matter, Guy Rothschild immediately called the Bright Fund after returning home, contacted Xia Yu, and invited him to come by in the afternoon. Xia Yu gladly agreed.

Still at 3pm, Xia Yu arrived at the Rothschild family's luxurious manor with a team of bodyguards.

This time there was no more idle chatter, just a few simple greetings before the negotiations began.

Guy Rothschild pre-empted the situation and asked, 'Mr Xia, we have already discussed this. We can agree to your demands, but only if you will do your best to save our Bank Edmond Rothschild.'

Xia Yu replied without hesitation: 'Please forgive me for not being able to do so. Only François Mitterrand in all of France could do this, but the price he set for making Edmond de Rothschild Bank an exception was to fail the reform and lose the presidency!'

'Mr Guy de Rothschild, do you think anyone can make François Mitterrand give up being president?'

Guy de Rothschild was not at all surprised. He had set such a high price simply to kill Xia Yu's price.

Therefore, he immediately said, 'Mr Xia, if you can't do it, then your demands are unreasonable. Whether it's the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered Bank or BP shares, they are all extremely high-quality assets...'

...

Next, Xia Yu engaged in a fierce confrontation with Guy and David Rothschild. Guy Rothschild was old and frail, and when he got tired of talking, David Rothschild took over. Xia Yu was like one against two, but he was not inferior in terms of momentum.

He had the Rothschilds eating out of the palm of his hand!

And the reason he added BP's stake yesterday was to leave room for today's negotiations.

After nearly half an hour of negotiations, the final result finally came out with difficulty!