Codename Doctor, Moved to Hong Kong

Chapter 63 Liberty and Victory

"Xu Yan, go get the gift!

Dayong, arrange for someone to start setting off firecrackers!" Zhang Chaoyang instructed Xu Yan and Wei Dayong.

"Yes!" Xu Yan and Wei Dayong agreed and turned to go out.

Not long after, firecrackers were heard outside.

Zhang Chaoyang was not short of money, so he naturally bought a lot of firecrackers, and he only bought the big ones.

It would be a bit disturbing to others if it was set off at this time, but Zhang Chaoyang didn't care. No one from the foreigners living on the top of Taiping Mountain dared to provoke him now.

Xu Yan quickly brought out the gifts and red envelopes that she had prepared in advance.

Zhang Chaoyang gave red envelopes to everyone, while Hu Jiahui and Hu Jianing were responsible for distributing gifts to everyone, one person per person, and everyone got the same, without any bias.

Even the servants in the house were the same, each of them received a gift and a red envelope.

The size of the red envelope does not matter; what matters is the thought behind it.

The New Year is spent in a joyful atmosphere.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Chaoyang held a party at his home, and all the important people in Hong Kong were invited.

This time, the foreign merchants and foreign politicians were much more active than before. They no longer maintained their status and waited until the last to show up.

Otherwise, these foreign devils are just despicable and will not behave themselves unless they are taught a lesson.

However, Ge Lianghong was the last one to arrive.

"Mr. Zhang, Happy New Year!" Ge Lianghong was very polite. He said Happy New Year to Zhang Chaoyang in broken Chinese, and also saluted Zhang Chaoyang by clasping his fists like the Chinese.

"Haha, Your Excellency Governor Ge Lianghong, Happy New Year!" Zhang Chaoyang laughed and clasped his fists in return.

"Mr. Zhang, Happy New Year!" McIntosh and Smith also clasped their fists to congratulate.

Compared with Ge Lianghong and Mai Jingtao, Smith's Chinese is much more authentic.

"Sir MacIntosh, Sir Smith, Happy New Year!" Zhang Chaoyang smiled and clasped his fists in return.

Zhang Chaoyang accompanied them around the venue and then walked into Reception Room No. 1.

"Mr. Zhang, the trading company and shipping company you mentioned before have been registered. When will they start business?" Smith asked directly after sitting down.

"Mr. Zhang, if you want to buy a cargo ship, I can still help you a little. I can introduce our country's shipping companies to Mr. Zhang." Mai Jingtao also said.

"Thank you Sir MacIntosh for your kindness. I have already contacted the freighter. After a while, I will go to America to buy the freighter."

"Oh! Why go to America? Our country's cargo ships are also very good and the prices are very cheap!"

"Sir MacIntosh, what I want to buy are the Liberty and Victory ships!" Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile.

"Mr. Zhang, although the Liberty and Victory ships were manufactured in the United States, our country also has Liberty and Victory ships. The shipping company I mentioned earlier has several Victory ships ready for sale!" McIntosh explained with a smile.

The Liberty and Victory ships were a miracle created by the United States during World War II. They were giant ships with a load capacity of 9700 tons and a displacement of more than tons, and they could be built in just days.

During World War II, the United States built a total of 2751 Liberty ships and 531 Victory ships.

Most of these transport ships were equipped with one to four 3-inch to 5-inch guns, various 40mm Bofors or 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, and even 28mm 75-caliber Mark 1 and | anti-aircraft guns eliminated by the US Navy. A small number of Liberty ships were even equipped with depth charges.

It is a kind of armed transport ship. This kind of ship was specially designed for war and to deal with German submarine attacks. It is fast to build and cheap. One ship can transport 2800 jeeps or 260 "Sherman" medium tanks, or 440 "Stuart" light tanks.

The ship is equipped with a 50-ton crane, which can independently carry out loading and unloading operations in ports with simple equipment.

He made outstanding contributions in World War II.

The only drawback of the Liberty Ship is that it has a relatively slow speed of only 11 knots, which is not enough to deal with the German submarines with a speed of 12 knots.

So there was the Victory, whose top speed reached 18 knots.

After the war, the surviving Liberty and Victory ships were decommissioned and bought by various countries. Even the Russians bought ten of them.

Because the designed service life was only five years at that time, and now it is fifty years, even the latest Liberty Ship has reached the end of its designed service life.

Therefore, there are a large number of Liberty Ships and Victory Ships waiting to be sold in the world's second-hand ship market, and the prices are much cheaper than ordinary cargo ships.

Zhang Chaoyang naturally doesn't care about the Liberty/Victory ships that have reached or exceeded their service life. He knows that these cargo ships are stronger than expected and have a longer service life.

The longest-lived Liberty Ship was still in use until the 1980s.

What Zhang Chaoyang cares about is that the Liberty/Victory ships are cheap enough. A Victory ship costs US$900,000, and a Liberty ship costs US$500,000.

This price is just the asking price, and there is still a lot of room for bargaining.

“Sir MacIntosh is willing to introduce the Liberty and Victory ships to us, which is naturally a good thing!

So, after a while, I will go to London to take a look at those cargo ships. If the price is right, I will naturally prefer to buy from Great Britain. "Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile.

"Mr. Zhang, don't worry about the price. After all, I am also a shareholder of the shipping company. The interests of the shipping company are my interests!" Mai Jingtao shrugged and said with a smile.

"My trading company has already placed orders with America, Great Britain and other European countries. We are just waiting for my ship to arrive so that the first batch of goods can be loaded and shipped back."

"I don't know. What kind of goods did Mr. Zhang buy? Where are he planning to sell them to?" Ge Lianghong asked.

"There are a lot of them, including machinery and equipment, production materials, medicines, food, and so on.

As for where to sell it, it’s naturally the Red Continent!

Is there a bigger market in Asia than the Red Continent?" Zhang Chaoyang said frankly.

"Mr. Zhang, do you still have contact with the Red Continent?" Smith asked calmly.

"Yes, I have!
I'm a businessman, and I receive guests from all over the world.

Smith should know that my goods were not only sold to Baldy, but also to people in northern Shaanxi.

It doesn't matter to me who is in power in China. I'm just a businessman. As long as the price is right, I will do business with the other party. " Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile, spreading his hands.

"Mr. Zhang is right!
But I am curious, does the Red Continent have the money to buy so many supplies?"

"Sir Ge Lianghong has underestimated the Red Continent. It is a huge country with a population of 40 million. The supplies we transported over there are just a drop in the bucket for such a huge country.

I have already negotiated with the other party. They are willing to settle the bill with gold. Governor Ge Lianghong, Sir MacIntosh, Sir Smith, you just need to wait for the money to be divided!" Zhang Chaoyang said with a smile.

Zhang Chaoyang did not lie about this. Currently, most of the domestic transactions are settled in gold and silver because the country lacks foreign exchange.

(End of this chapter)