The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

On Saturday, Lin Zhichao came to the pier in Sai Wan to inspect the "Fu He Xing" of Li Gaofu and others.

Fuhe Hong is currently not only engaged in the "Hong Kong-Weihaiwei-Japan" trading business, but also opened a shop at Sai Wan Pier to solicit goods for ship owners.

The so-called cargo collection can also be regarded as a shipping agency company. Many shipowners in Hong Kong only have one ship, and they don't even know how to dock, so they need people on the shore or shipping agents to collect cargo for them.

Fuhehang, founded by Li Gaofu, Huang Tinggui, etc., has gained some popularity in the Hong Kong port in the past six months. Many people in the industry know that they have made a lot of profits in the Hong Kong-Weihaiwei-Japan trade.

In this era, whoever has the ability to make money is the benchmark in the industry.

"How is the business doing?" Lin Zhichao asked.

He was preparing to buy his first boat, so he came to inspect Fu He Xing in advance because he planned to let Fu He Xing do the shopping for him. The first ship was only used by Lin Zhichao to test the waters and familiarize himself with shipping experience, so he could only make a small deal, that is, buy about 1,000 tons, and the investment was relatively small.

Once his shipping company has more ships, he will naturally set up his own shipping company, open up fixed routes, and lease them to customers for a long time, and adopt multiple business methods to go hand in hand.

Huang Tinggui said: "Not bad! Lin Sheng, if you buy a boat, we guarantee that your boat will not stop."

He knew that Lin Zhichao was considered a nobleman of Li Gaofu and had the favor to support him. And Li Gaofu is the rudder of Fuhehang. Although everyone decides the proportion of shares according to the capital contribution, the other three partners respect Li Gaofu very much, because it is Li Gaofu who came up with the current trade route.

Fu He Xing is already on its sixth voyage, and has made more than 750,000 in profits (300,000 divided among them) in the previous five voyages. The partners are very motivated.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "As expected of someone from a trading family, it's rare that the business is on track so quickly!"

Li Gaofu is more at the helm of Fu He Xing, while Huang Tinggui is responsible for cargo and docks, and the other two partners also perform their respective duties.

This kind of cooperative enterprise is very common in Hong Kong and has many advantages. For example, Hang Seng Bank, Dachang Trading, Bank of East Asia, etc., these enterprises are almost all partners.

"Lin Sheng deserves the award. Everyone works together. Brother Gao Fu is the chief rudder and leads the brothers to make a fortune." Huang Tinggui said modestly.

He understood that without Li Gaofu, they would not know where to invest even if they had money. Moreover, as far as the current trade route is concerned, Fuhehang is the first to run in Hong Kong. With this vision and information, the three of them are very convinced by Li Gaofu, the chief helmsman.

Little did these people know that Lin Zhichao was their benefactor, but of course Lin Zhichao didn't take it to heart.

Lin Zhichao, Li Gaofu, and Huang Tinggui came to the dock again, mainly to accompany Lin Zhichao.

In fact, during this period of time, Lin Zhichao has been learning shipping and related knowledge. Of course, he can only ask others for advice, but he is no longer a layman.

Standing on the dock, a group of workers are busy. Hong Kong is a trading port, and all the docks are very busy. Many ships entering the port need to wait at sea, and wait for a berth before docking to unload.

Many of these dock workers are teenagers and women, and their eyesight is blinded by the weight of heavy cargo. From time to time, British soldiers boarded the ship for inspection, wearing shorts and leather shoes, holding a long gun with a shiny tip. These people were in positions with abundant oil and water.

"Shanghai is about to be liberated, and the whole country will soon fall into their hands. The trade in Weihaiwei may not last long. So, what are your plans?"

A mere business of soliciting goods can make a little money, but it cannot support that many people. As for Fu He Xing, there are almost a dozen guys.

Li Gaofu said very assertively at this time: "We have also considered this issue. Everyone's idea is to make two trips after the trade is over, and try to buy a ship of the thousand-ton class; in the future, we will also rely on that ship for food, and then Do other mainland trade."

Before the second half of 1950, the trade between Hong Kong and the mainland was very prosperous; after the Peninsular War began, it declined rapidly, but the channel of smuggling also emerged.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "This is a good idea! Boats are portable assets and are backed by insurance companies. They are a good investment direction."

Suddenly, Lin Zhichao thought of a good idea.

"By the way, since you guys have no money now, I happen to be planning to buy a thousand-ton ship. Let's just form a partnership and invest 50/50 in the purchase. A year later, I will sell you 50% of the ship's shares at the original price. How about it?"

The reason why Lin Zhichao did not immediately invest in the shipping industry was to develop shipping more safely and seize the best opportunity, and the first half of 1950 was the best time to buy ships.

Li Gaofu immediately said: "I feel very good about this cooperation! In this way, we can have the ship immediately."

Then he couldn't help but look at Huang Tinggui, meaning that he could cooperate.

Huang Tinggui thought about it and realized that this cooperation was indeed good. The big boss wanted to learn from experience, and they could share the risks for a year.

What's more, Li Gaofu has already spoken, and this face must still be given to the helmsman.

"Okay, let's go back and notify the other two partners and try to take action immediately."

Lin Zhichao nodded!

He also recently confirmed that Li Gaofu and others' trade with Weihaiwei did not cause any serious consequences.

As for Yingjiang, there will be no action, after all, it is not a peninsula battle.

Therefore, it is not a big problem for everyone to hold the ship in partnership for one year.

While the three of them were chatting happily, they encountered a group of people accusing one or two people, which seemed to have caused some public outrage.

Curiosity prompted the three of them to walk over!

"Liu Sheng, why are you so angry?" Li Gaofu immediately greeted someone he knew.

When a shipowner surnamed Liu saw Li Gaofu, he immediately smiled. The two had cooperated once. He knew what kind of business Li Gaofu and others were doing, and it was very big.

"It's Li Sheng and Huang Sheng. The situation is like this. This Zhao Sheng from the Shanghai Stock Exchange owns a 3,500-ton ocean liner. But when he first arrived in Hong Kong, in order to attract goods, he lowered the freight, which affected everyone's Benefits, today we are going to find him for theory."

People from Guangdong Province are locals in Hong Kong, so they naturally have local advantages. It doesn't mean that people from other provinces can't come to do business, but you can't disrupt the market in the industry.

It's that simple!

The shipowner surnamed Zhao could only apologize to everyone and at the same time express that he would rectify the situation; it’s not good to be soft, and if you are not familiar with the place, how can you offend these local snakes!

At this time, Li Gaofu immediately took out the famous post and handed it to the shipowner named Zhao, and said: "Sheng Zhao, we are in the business of soliciting goods for the shipowner. If you are not familiar with the local business, you can consider us."

This action immediately made several shipowners extinguish the fire. The first is that they have almost "learned" anyway, and the second is to sell Li Gaofu's face.

If the captain of the Shanghai stock market can hire people from Guangdong Province to pick up the goods, everyone will naturally not be embarrassed.

Zhao Congyan immediately took the name card happily, looked at it for a few times, and said, "That's great! Don't worry, everyone, after this incident, I already know the rules here, and I promise not to break them again."

"Okay, Captain Zhao is right to think so!"

"There is nothing much you can do to improve if you know your mistakes"

Several captains stopped the crusade one after another, and they couldn't really do anything to Zhao Congyan, it was more of a warning.

If Zhao Congyan continues to solicit goods at low prices, he will be targeted by many peers, and it will be difficult for Hong Kong Shipping to gain a foothold.

This matter is not aimed at people from other provinces, but Zhao Congyan did break the rules.

At this time, Lin Zhichao had already learned of Zhao Congyan's identity, but he didn't expect such a small episode in "Ship King".

So, he also walked over.

"Hey, it's Lin Sheng! We don't know Taishan. We didn't know you were coming to the dock. We just left you alone!" A ship owner recognized Lin Zhichao and said happily immediately.

The two of them had not done business directly. He could recognize Lin Zhichao obviously because Lin Zhichao already enjoyed a certain reputation in Hong Kong's business circle.

Seeing that his companions were a little confused, the shipowner immediately introduced Lin Zhichao in a grand manner - zipper tycoon and real estate tycoon, and immediately made Lin Zhichao's deeds public. He himself seemed to know Lin Zhichao, and he acted like "I have a lot of connections."

Although the other shipowners did not know Lin Zhichao, they knew the word "Lin Zhichao" very well, so they all greeted him warmly.

On the other side, Zhao Congyan left and stayed, standing there slightly embarrassed. He secretly slanders, it is really a tiger being bullied by a dog, and he is still a figure in the Shanghai stock market.

Moreover, he is a practicing lawyer, but it is of no use in Hong Kong because the law here is British law.

"Haha, thank you! I will soon become a small ship owner like you, and we are all in the same boat." Lin Zhichao said modestly.

Everyone expressed their welcome!

What he thinks in his heart is unknown.

Later, Lin Zhichao greeted Zhao Congyan again: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, we people in Guangdong Province are very particular about fairness when doing business. Don't take this matter to heart today. Everyone abides by industry rules. Naturally, anyone can do business freely in Hong Kong." Trading port.”

When other shipowners saw this, they all echoed and expressed their generosity!

Zhao Congyan immediately said gratefully: "Mr. Lin is right. This situation occurred because I didn't check for a while. I will ask all colleagues to supervise and make progress together in the future."

"To the extreme! To the extreme!"

Soon, everyone calmed down and several shipowners left one after another.

As for Zhao Congyan, Lin Zhishenshan didn't have much intention of getting acquainted with him. He just took advantage of the trend and sold well. He aspires to be the world's shipping king, so he must compete with the four shipping kings from Shanghai, and it will be '1VS4'.

Of course, the four ship kings of the Shanghai faction are not in the same group. They all do their own thing.

Lin Zhichao and others also left, leaving behind a helpless Zhao Congyan, who was almost beaten by a group just now.

This also made him understand that the locals in Hong Kong are very powerful, and if they want to survive, they have to follow their rules.

"Let's go"

Finally, Zhao Congyan left with his men.

In the new week, Lin Zhichao came to the office building of Changjiang Real Estate.

Changjiang Real Estate has not developed a new project for a long time, but it still has 21 employees and has two property management projects, which can be considered a stable source of profit. At the same time, some of the original employees were assigned to the property management company as managers.

As for the remaining people, Changjiang Real Estate will naturally not fire anyone. The Finance Department has been supervising the finance of Changjiang Bank, and the Engineering Department has undertaken some external projects. If there is nothing to do, they will arrange more study and understand the market conditions.

Zhou Fuzhao came to Lin Zhichao's office and greeted: "Boss"

Lin Zhichao nodded, and then said: "The Yangtze River Bank wants to withdraw 6 million Hong Kong dollars in funds. Please help me convert all the money into US dollars and deposit it into a US dollar account. I will invest it later."

Zhou Fuzhao immediately said: "Okay, I will find out the best channel right away and let you know."

With so many U.S. dollars, I'm afraid only HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Merrill Lynch can exchange them, but I don't know which one has the cheaper handling fee.

"Well, report to me if you have any situation."

With such a huge deposit, Jian Dongpu would naturally come to ask Lin Zhichao personally. However, Lin Zhichao already had a plan and was destined to miss the Bank of East Asia.

What's more, it is impossible for Lin Zhichao to deposit all his money in the Bank of East Asia, and his eggs cannot be put in one basket. Cheung Kong's capital transactions are handed over to the Bank of East Asia, which can be regarded as a return of support over the past few years. After all, everyone achieves each other's achievements.

As for Lin Zhichao, he converted everything into U.S. dollars and kept it in a U.S. dollar account. He estimated that the pound will depreciate in the second half of this year, so if he does not convert it into U.S. dollars, it will depreciate by 30%.

Anyone would be heartbroken to lose so much wealth all of a sudden.

After this batch of Hong Kong dollars is converted into U.S. dollars, Lin Zhichao will continue to arrange funds for Cheung Kong Holdings and also convert them into U.S. dollars to avoid asset reductions.

After a while, Hu Zhaoxu came to Lin Zhichao's office.

"How is the housing situation outside recently? Is anyone starting to build a private housing estate?"

Hu Zhaoxu shook his head and said: "They are all quite cautious. Although there are stratification and installment methods now, everyone continues to use the 'Four Hot Meats' method. Mainly because the land price is too high, and secondly, since Hong Kong added new recruits last year, everyone has also There is a vague concern about the future of Hong Kong.”

The so-called speculation on the four hot meats means that the owners build 2 to 4 five-story tenement buildings, no more than 4, because they are worried about risks.

In fact, currently residential buildings cannot be higher than 5 floors. This alone determines that real estate is not very profitable. Coupled with the high land prices, real estate is still not a hot spot.

But in any case, due to the emergence of "stratified installments", there are more and more property owners in Hong Kong who are "speculating on four hot meats". Overall, there are probably thousands more properties than in the previous life.

"Continue to inquire more and sort out information. When the time comes, I will make big moves in real estate." Lin Zhichao warned.

Hu Zhaoxu nodded immediately and said, "Okay!"

Later, Hu Zhaoxu said: "Boss, the two owners next to the Cheung Kong Industrial Factory in Tsuen Wan are interested in selling the surrounding land. They approached me and said that it only cost 6 Hong Kong dollars per square foot. They also said that with the increasing population of Tsuen Wan, the land price is only It will be more expensive, so let’s buy it early.”

Lin Zhichao laughed and said: "For that poor place, the land price can be even more expensive. They have a good idea. You reply to them that Cheung Kong Industrial has an area of ​​250,000 square feet, which is enough for the factory. As for their land , you can choose to sell it externally.”

In fact, 120,000 square feet is enough, and the additional 120,000 square feet purchased will be reserved for future expansion. As for the surrounding land, it is impossible for the current owners to sell it to themselves at a high price.

At the same time, the JF Army went to Guangdong Province to see if they could lower the price. They were afraid that they would have to sell it to Lin Zhichao for 4 Hong Kong dollars.

The land price increase in Tsuen Wan began in 1950. At that time, the Shanghai entrepreneurs who came to Hong Kong officially built factories one after another. At the same time, it was not until the beginning of the Peninsular War that Eagle Sauce's Seventh Fleet sailed to Taiwan, and the 'Hong Kong Island Crisis' It was finally lifted because the Hong Kong government believes that since the Yankees have come to Asia, they will never ignore anything that happens in Hong Kong.

"Well, I will tell them." Hu Zhaoxu replied.

Lin Zhichao also hopes to win the 200,000 square feet of land from the two owners, provided the price is not high. If it is taken down, it will be 'marinated' and used to slowly expand the factory. After the 1970s, it could be used to build large housing estates and commercial buildings.

But if the price is high, it will obviously not be cost-effective given Lin Zhichao's current financial resources.

On Wednesday, Lin Zhichao came to the Yangtze River Bank to inspect the accounts.

Lee Shau Kee, Chow Fook Chiu, and Ah Hao are all here. Only these three people are in charge of a net worth of 7 million at the same time, so Lin Zhichao can rest assured. Among them, Ah Hao is the financial manager, Zhou Fuzhao is the financial manager, and Li Shauji is the person in charge. All three of them need to be responsible to Lin Zhichao at the same time.

After all, this is the Yangtze River Bank with a net worth of 7 million, which is the vast majority of Lin Zhichao's assets.

"Have all the accounts been checked?"

Zhou Fuzhao nodded and said: "Not bad at all! Yangtze Real Estate took away 6 million Hong Kong dollars, leaving 688,000 gold speculation funds, and the store assets are 225,000 Hong Kong dollars."

Lee Shau Kee also smiled and said: "This delivery was relatively smooth. Those merchants who bought our gold had no choice but to deliver it because they did not want to lose money immediately. If they buy back the gold, they can still wait for the appreciation in value."

There is some truth!

However, sometimes the gold and silver trading center will take the initiative to let some contracts be delivered (too many times) because there are too many contracts and it is inconvenient to handle.

Next, Lin Zhichao learned about the market and found that gold had dropped to just over HK$550 per tael, which can be said to have dropped by almost HK$60 in ten days.

Of course, the price also increased by HK$120 in the previous month, which is considered an exaggeration.

"Now that gold has stabilized, I plan to buy it." Lee Shau Kee said.

Anyway, he didn’t have much money left, so Lin Zhichao said directly: “It’s up to you!”

"OK"

In this way, Cheung Kong Industrial withdrew a huge sum of 6 million from the Yangtze River Bank. After receiving the money, Lin Zhichao and Zhou Fuzhao immediately came to HSBC Bank.

A British manager hosted the pair because they were big clients.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Zhou, if the 6 million Hong Kong dollar deposit of Cheung Kong Holdings is converted into US dollars, the handling fee is 1.5%. This rate is already very favorable. Because we need big customers like Mr. Lin."

Beforehand, Zhou Fuzhao had already communicated with this manager Smith and learned that it was Lin Zhichao. HSBC immediately paid attention to it. Although British banks and foreign banks looked down on the Chinese in this era, Lin Zhichao was already an upper-class figure among the Chinese, so how could they despise him.

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "Director Smith, after converting it into US dollars, I will continue to deposit it in your HSBC bank. I will need overseas payment and other services in the future."

Smith is the director of the foreign exchange department, so he immediately said: "I can introduce you to a business manager. Don't worry, our HSBC bank has a very good reputation and overseas payments are also very convenient."

This was what Lin Zhichao was interested in, so he quickly handed over one-stop business to HSBC, that is, exchanging U.S. dollars and depositing them into U.S. dollar accounts.

In the end, Lin Zhichao received US$1.4665 million!

The exchange rate of US dollar to Hong Kong dollar is 1:4.03.

Compared with losing 1.5% in handling fees, Lin Zhichao is more concerned about the fact that the pound will depreciate by 30%, and the Hong Kong dollar will also depreciate by 30%.