Chapter 441: The Most Expensive Consultation Fee in History: A Century‑Old Bank!

In the handset linked to London, Li Zhi'an's voice, distorted by excitement and confusion, came through.

"Boss? You... what did you say? Barclays Bank? Aren't we supposed to go all‑out against AIG? Over here in London..."

Li Zhi'an's words were cut off before he could finish by Lu Qingshan's calm voice.

"Li Zhi'an."

Those two words made the line on the other end fall silent in an instant, leaving only suppressed breathing.

In Saint Remo Apartment, even a pin could be heard dropping.

David Cohen just propped half his body up from the carpet; when he heard the name Barclays Bank, his eyes bulged like copper bells. He didn't lie back down but leapt up, pointed at Lu Qingshan, and screamed in a near‑rasped voice:

"No! Boss! Are you crazy?! Barclays? That's Barclays! The Queen's bank of the United Kingdom! We're in a showdown with AIG, and you want to sting the British beehive now? We'll be caught in a crossfire and die without a trace!"

Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru could no longer think. Their minds were blank as if formatted. If the earlier plan—from short selling Lehman to dismembering AIG—was crazy yet still within the logic of a financial game, then now, with the AIG nuclear bomb about to detonate, suddenly turning the gun on a British bank they could not possibly reach, had gone beyond logic into the realm of theology.

"Why the panic?" Lu Qingshan took the phone from Ye Ning, his tone indifferent, "The sky hasn't collapsed yet."

"But boss, all our plans revolve around AIG! Switching to Barclays now means every deployment has to start over! Moreover, Barclays is a century‑old bank of the United Kingdom, a symbol of London Financial City, and we…" Li Zhi'an's voice was filled with anxiety and incomprehension.

"Precisely because it's a symbol, we must strike it."

Lu Qingshan walked to the window, his gaze seeming to pierce the heavy clouds and land on Fog City across the Atlantic Ocean, shrouded in panic.

"Li Zhi'an, I ask you: a shrew who just fell in front of the whole world, lost face, and was scolded by our people, now comes to you begging for mercy. Should you help her up and gently persuade her, or should you, while she's on her knees, take the most valuable thing in her pocket straight away?"

That vulgar yet pinpoint analogy left Li Zhi'an on the other end speechless.

In the apartment, Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru felt as if thunder cracked in their heads, a bolt of lightning cleaving all the fog!

They jerked their heads up, staring at Lu Qingshan's back; their expression was no longer that of looking at a boss, but of gazing at a demon god manipulating the world's chessboard.

"The call from Downing Street 10 wasn't asking me for any 'advice'," Lu Qingshan said with a knowing sneer, "It was Iron Lady Thatcher, using her last pitiful pride to send me a distress signal!"

"She is scared. She's afraid the fire from Wall Street will reach London, that her painstakingly built Financial City will be destroyed in an instant. She's even more afraid that, over the Hong Kong Island issue, she'll completely lose her bargaining chips with us."

"So she needs a stepping stone, one that lets her keep London while making a respectable concession."

"And I, right now, will deliver that stepping stone to her face."

Lu Qingshan turned, looking at David Cohen, who had shifted from screaming to a stunned stare.

"AIG is a bomb; we've already lit the fuse and tossed it into Wall Street's living room. Now firefighters worldwide are running there with buckets, and no one has time to worry whether a neighbor's house is on fire."

"And we will seize this chance to storm the neighbor called 'London' and yank away its fattest cow outright!"

"In front of everyone, tell Thatcher, tell the whole world!"

"You want me to put out the fire? Sure!"

"Hand over the controlling stake of Barclays Bank to me!"

"Boom—!"

Those words completely shattered the rationality of everyone in the apartment.

David Cohen opened his mouth but could not utter a word. He felt he wasn't partaking in a Financial War, but watching a myth being born. Using a top British bank to barter for a political concession and, incidentally, generate a war fund. What audacious, what domineering Yang Plan!

"I... I get it! Boss! I completely get it!" Li Zhi'an's voice on the line trembled with extreme excitement, "You're serving Iron Lady a hard dish! I'm going right now! I'll mobilize personnel immediately! Even if I turn London Financial City upside down, I'll strip Barclays Bank down to its underwear for you!"

"Not only strip it," Lu Qingshan's voice grew cold, "I also want you to take its bones apart piece by piece and see which part is most valuable."

"Understood!" Li Zhi'an's voice sounded as if injected with chicken blood.

He hung up.

The whole apartment's atmosphere shifted from the earlier despair and bewilderment to a near‑mad frenzy.

Li Junjie was the first to react. He didn't cheer; instead he rushed back to his computer, his hands hammering the keyboard like a storm, muttering rapidly: "Logic holds! Feint east, attack west, encircle Wei to rescue Zhao! No, it's surround the point and strike the aid! No, it's…" He couldn't find the right phrase, so he vented all his emotions into the data, "Found it! Barclays Bank's latest financial report shows total assets over 5,000 billion pounds, Leverage… My god, the leverage exceeds thirty‑five times! Higher than Bear Stearns! They're a massive powder keg! Boss, we only need a tiny spark to blow them sky‑high!"

Zhang Qianru also immediately went into work mode, swiftly pulling up all statutes on United Kingdom financial regulation to find exploitable loopholes, her eyes flashing with unprecedented brilliance. "The United Kingdom's 'Financial Services Act' has just been revised; its restrictions on hostile takeovers are fewer than those in the United States! Moreover, their bankruptcy protection procedures favor major shareholders! Boss, this is a battlefield tailor‑made for us!"

Watching the team revert to war footing, Lu Qingshan nodded with satisfaction.

He walked up to Ye Ning.

The girl who was always expressionless now could barely hide the flush on her face, her breathing a few beats faster than usual.

"Ye Ning."

"Boss, I'm here."

"Give Downing Street 10, that secretary named Allen, a call back."

Ye Ning was stunned.

"Now?"

"Yes, right now." Lu Qingshan picked up a glass of clear water on the desk, took a sip, and moistened his throat.

"Tell him the Prime Minister (female) 'advice' I have already thought out."

Lu Qingshan set down the cup; the crisp clink resonated in everyone's mind.

"As for my 'advice fee'..."

He gazed at the deep night sky beyond the window, as if watching a chessboard soon to be captured.

"Pay it with Barclays Bank stock."