The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Hong Kong is ushering in spring again, a season full of greenery.

In the early morning, Lin Zhichao, who had been working hard all night, lifted up the quilt with great energy. The two mermaids opened their hazy eyes, and then occupied the open space as usual and hugged each other for warmth.

Lin Zhichao simply put on his pajamas and was very satisfied when he saw the deep relationship between Tang Caiyun and Xu Caiying. With perfect tacit understanding, Lin Zhichao is delighted both physically and mentally every time.

Walking out of the bedroom and going to the courtyard downstairs, he played a set of Tai Chi and entered the health care stage in advance. In fact, Lin Zhichao is more breathing the fresh morning air to keep his meridians and blood flowing smoothly.

It was a very simple idea, so he finished Tai Chi in fifteen minutes. Then the female bodyguard Qin Li handed him a few newspapers, and he sat in the yard and read the morning paper.

"How is work? Do you have any worries in life?" Lin Zhichao asked casually with concern.

Qin Li is the person next to Tang Caiyun, and it is impossible for Lin Zhichao to use a female bodyguard. After all, in this era, she is too conspicuous and easy to be gossiped about. On the contrary, Tang Caiyun, Xu Caiying, Lin Xiner, and Wu Wenying all have a female assistant and bodyguard.

"The job is good and life is trouble-free!" Qin Li was about to leave. After hearing this, she said briefly.

During the training of bodyguard students, the instructor said that while protecting the safety of the employer, the bodyguard should try not to disturb the employer's life.

Lin Zhichao continued: "Did you study English and cultural classes well?"

Due to the cultural and educational level of this era, his bodyguards are generally less educated, but this makes some things inconvenient; for example, when he and his family need to go abroad, the bodyguards cannot even communicate in simple English. If you don't know every word, it will really delay your work.

Therefore, Lin's bodyguards all have cultural classes. Regular assessments will also be conducted. If you fail to learn, you may be removed from your position.

"Yes, the teacher said I have made great progress!"

"Well, study hard. When I retire from the bodyguard position in the future, I can also arrange better jobs. You bodyguards have followed us and have seen a lot of the world. It cannot be said that you have left the bodyguard position and went to the bottom of society to make a living. That is A waste."

Qin Li was finally moved. There was such a good boss in the world, and she quickly said: "I will definitely not let down the boss's expectations!"

Lin Zhichao nodded, and then started reading the newspaper. Qin Li automatically disappeared from his side, but she was on duty around him. The Lin family has two live-in female bodyguards and two live-in nannies, both of whom are in the servants' room on the first floor and are on duty all night. As for the male bodyguards, they are arranged in nearby rental houses, and some are on duty outside the bungalow. It only takes about three minutes for the others to arrive quickly.

If your family is big and your business is big, you must always protect your family.

The trend of Hong Kong newspapers has changed suddenly recently, and the direction of public opinion has taken a sharp turn. After all, Hong Kong itself is a paradise for "profiteers" and "capitalists". Coupled with the death of the Ship King, the impact was huge.

Lin Zhichao read the news in the newspaper very quickly without missing anything. After reading the newspaper, it’s almost breakfast time, so I can share delicious food with my family.

"I seem to be pregnant!" Xu Caiying covered her mouth and said.

Tang Caiyun immediately asked: "Are you feeling nauseous and want to vomit?"

Xu Caiying nodded, and then hurriedly walked towards the bathroom. Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiyun quickly followed.

Wu Wenying said happily: "This kid is really amazing!"

I don’t know who I’m talking about is powerful, but Lin Xiner’s face turned red after hearing this.

After breakfast, Lin Zhichao took Xu Caiying to the hospital for a check-up. Sure enough, he was told that he was pregnant, and he was immediately overjoyed.

"Will it affect our travel plans?" Xu Caiying said softly.

Lin Zhichao has agreed to arrange a vacation in the United States in May and June, and he will take Xu Caiying with him. He also wants to check it out.

"No, the plan will not change!"

"That's pretty much it. Otherwise, this brat would have already offended his mother before he was born!"

Lin Zhichao immediately smiled and silently prayed for his unborn child.

Returning to Global Shipping in the morning, Lin Zhichao immediately arranged the ship purchase.

Currently, Global Shipping has a huge amount of more than 2 million US dollars in its account, while HSBC only owes 2.35 million US dollars (including interest).

Therefore, Global Shipping's net assets are already twenty cargo ships, reaching about 12 million US dollars.

The important thing is that those long-term contracts are intangible assets and are worth a lot of money.

The ship purchase is still the same as the old rules. I borrowed US$3 million from HSBC and added my own funds to make the purchase. Theoretically, the load capacity will be increased by 70,000 to 80,000 tons.

The price of a ship is not fixed. It costs about 1.5 million U.S. dollars to build a 7,500-meter freighter in Europe. After the mid-1950s, Japanese shipbuilding also developed. It only costs 1 million U.S. dollars, and its performance and equipment can reach European levels.

A 7,500-ton European-made second-hand ship, about 15 to 25 years old, costs US$500,000 to US$600,000.

These were the market conditions under normal circumstances in the 1950s, but once the shipping off-season arrived, such as the period from 1959 to 1961, major ports around the world were full of second-hand ships, waiting for people to pick them up. The price of a 10,000-ton freighter may only cost 60,000 U.S. dollars, and you can also give you a loan of 40,000 U.S. dollars. Of course, these boats are quite old, and whether they can run or not depends entirely on luck and skill.

After a while, the assistant called Lin Zhichao to a meeting, and he cleared his mind and walked towards the conference room.

As soon as I entered the office, I felt that everyone was in good working condition. As a shipping giant, the net worth of these executives has also increased. Generally, the annual salary is around 20,000, which is the level of buying a building.

The high salary means that Lin Zhichao has high demands on everyone. Overtime work on weekends is the norm, and he will be scolded for his ideological decline and degeneration.

"How is the situation with the sailors?" Lin Zhichao sat down and got straight to the point.

Deputy General Manager Feng Yongfa immediately said: "Everything is fully prepared. 80 senior seafarers have been studying for almost half a year, and most of the time is spent on practical training; 120 ordinary seamen have also been trained for two months, and they have enough theoretical knowledge to arrange at least seven For the operation of eight ships, ordinary seamen were temporarily recruited for the shortfall.”

Although Feng Yongfa is the deputy general manager, he also has key tasks, that is, he is responsible for shipping business, terminal loading and unloading, etc. Of course Lin Zhichao intends to cultivate his ability to control the overall situation, but he is more just cultivating a helper rather than a general manager.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao will probably always insist on choosing the chairman and general manager together.

"Well, if there is no problem with the ship, the focus now is on business. I just came back from Japan and got a rough idea from Yamaguchi Steamship and Nippon Steamship. Each of them can only charter two 10,000-ton freighters, and the term is four years. , but the price has been cut off by them. Of course, these are acceptable. Boats that cannot be rented out are more of a burden than boats. So there are several boats left, and we can only look for new long-term rentals in Japan customers, or come up with fixed routes.”

This time, the price offered by Yamaguchi Steamship and Nippon Steamship was lower. For a 10,000-ton cargo ship, they only offered a rent of US$650,000 to US$700,000 per year. At this level, it would take 15 to 18 months for a ship to pay back its capital.

Little Japan is very shrewd and knows that ships in the Far East have two directions. The first is to deal with the mainland, and the second is to deal with Japan. They figured out that Lin Zhichao didn't dare to take risks, so they lowered the price now.

However, Lin Zhichao agreed with almost no counter-offer, which made the Japanese very depressed.

Of course, the Japanese cannot lower prices too much because of the market conditions. Long-term rentals are generally 75 to 80% of short-term rentals. No matter how low they are, they cannot open an outlet.

As for Lin Zhichao, his idea is that no matter how low the price is, can it be lower than the market price from 1953 to 1955? I am afraid it is still much higher, because important ships are always sailing.

Therefore, it is in his interest to sign a long-term contract at the peak. He not only gains benefits, but also gains fame.

Gao Qiqiang said: "We can still open two European routes, and the rest will be sold to other shipping companies in Japan. Long-term chartering is generally very popular there. The current market is still good, so the cargo ship purchased this time must be Once you can enter the port, you have a mission."

Everyone feels that business is worry-free for the time being!

Indeed, this is what many people think, so they only see immediate profits. In the first half of next year, I am afraid that each ton of cargo will return to the level before the Peninsula War (10 to 15 US dollars per ton, depending on the cargo and route, usually more than 50 days for a round trip, including port time).

"Okay, let's arrange it like this for the time being, and then we will go to Japan to sell and sell."

Long-term lease is the most beneficial to Lin Zhichao, because he will calculate the time, even if the lease period is long or short. And at this point, the lessee does not understand, they will only calculate how much less than the current rent, whether they need the ship in the future.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao is also serious about calculating Little Japan.

Even after a few years, these customers will not think that Zhichao Lin is very smart, because they will not believe that Zhichao Lin knows the future. Moreover, this is the skill that shipping people should have.

Later, Lin Zhichao arranged for people to go to the European shipping market to inquire about the market, and he would go to investigate and negotiate in person later.

In the Blue Hall of the Hong Kong Association, Lin Zhichao and Sandus were meeting, but when he talked about the need to borrow another three million US dollars from HSBC, Sandus was already numb.

Sandus never thought that shipping could make money so easily and stably. If there were financial risks to Global Shipping, he would refute it as a banker. Because global shipping can be said to be 'zero debt' at present, and those long-term contracts are obviously 'very stable assets'.

"How long will your pattern of development last, I'm curious?"

The expansion is really fast, which is incredible.

Lin Zhichao said: "I have conducted a detailed investigation of the market prospects and analyzed the impact of regional wars, so this year is very critical and a good time to expand the fleet. In fact, as you know, Global Shipping's finances are very healthy."

Assuming that the funds for the purchase of the ship are between 5 million and 5.5 million US dollars, in fact, it only takes four months to pay off all of them, and it does not even take that long.

Sanders nodded. World Shipping's finances are healthy because they hold a large number of long-term leases, which reassures the bank.

"There should be no problem with the loan. Come to my office tomorrow and we will go to the project department together."

"good"

Later, Lin Zhichao asked tentatively: "Suppose I want to build a new ship, can HSBC provide a loan?"

Sandus was stunned and then said: "I think HSBC has not changed its view on shipping. If the loan is huge, HSBC will not agree. So if you want to build a new ship, you can only rely on yourself. Maybe we can provide it." A small amount of funds. In short, I am still giving you a loan conservatively."

A new ship is about three times the price of an old ship, and an oil tanker of the same tonnage is more expensive than a cargo ship.

Therefore, in the view of Sanders, Lin Zhichao does not have the strength to build new ships, and it is better to operate second-hand ships honestly.

Lin Zhichao said at this time: "Sandashi, I often inspect Japan and find that the times are changing. Japan did not stay quiet after the war, but buried its pain and rushed to catch up. They can now build cargo ships that are comparable to Europe. But the price is one-third cheaper than in Europe.”

In 1949 the U.S. military occupied Japan and the Japanese authorities approved the reopening of the Japanese shipbuilding industry until 1956. As far as Lin Zhichao knows, in his previous life in 1956, Japan became the world's largest shipbuilding country in just seven years.

Sanders said unconvinced: "But after all, they learned from Europe and the United States. In terms of experience and technology, they can only be regarded as elementary school students."

Lin Zhichao is noncommittal or not, it is still too early to argue about this.

On the contrary, Sanders asked curiously: "Why do you suddenly praise the development of Japan's shipbuilding industry?"

Lin Zhichao said: "I just think this may be a good opportunity! The Japanese have developed rapidly in the past two years. Workers' wages are bound to rise, and the competitiveness of shipping will also weaken. Coupled with their strict foreign exchange controls, I think they will be more Willing to rent a boat.”

The two were friends. Lin Zhichao analyzed these market trends and gave them to Sandus. The purpose was to let Sandus see his vision and support him in building new ships in the future.

Sanders will probably take up the post of project manager in 1954, and he will be the God of Wealth in power at that time. There is no reason for Lin Zhichao not to establish a good relationship in advance.

"Makes sense! It seems that you stare at the Japanese market like owning a hen that lays golden eggs."

"Indeed. Of course, I also hope to charter the ship to European and American customers one day, but obviously it is not the time yet."

The two spent a pleasant time chatting, and suddenly Old Madden and Little Madden walked towards them and met again by chance.

Hong Kong is so small, and the Hong Kong Club is a British club, which is quite normal.

Everyone greeted each other, but Lin Zhichao and Ma Deng never mentioned their "intrigue".

But obviously, Old Madden was still worried about the 'bet', so he couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Lin, you now own a very large fleet, right?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "I don't dare to think so. To call it huge, it should be a fleet owned by shipping kings like those in the West. In fact, I have just entered this industry, and Wheelock's fleet There should still be some distance left.”

In fact, Lao Madden practiced diversified investment and did make a lot of money in the past few years, but the fleet has only increased to about 250,000 tons. In other words, Lin Zhichao will soon surpass him.

The old Ma Deng felt a little depressed, knowing that Lin Zhichao's fleet was estimated to be about 150,000 tons, so he was so calm.

"Well, congratulations on getting a loan from HSBC."

Old Madden also tried to get a loan from HSBC, but was rejected. He asked the people in the project department, and Charlie put forward three conditions. The first was a long-term contract to guarantee it, and the second was to obtain a lease. The other party's letter of credit, and the third is that someone guarantees it for him.

Obviously, he can't do any of them.

"Thanks"

Afterwards, the two parties parted ways, and Sandas couldn't help asking about their grievances for the first time, and Lin Zhichao didn't hide it either.

"Haha, I didn't expect such a thing. How did you know each other?"

"No fight, no acquaintance"

"Why don't you tell him you're about to win Wheelock."

"I think I won't be happy that way. In that case, why bother showing off!"

Sandus sighed: "You Chinese people are really humble. I have seen many people like this!"

Not being modest, in a few years old Madden would find out from the newspapers that he had lost everything.

What's more, Lin Zhichao knew in his heart that he had defeated Old Madden, and that was enough.

In late March, Lin Zhichao started a buying and selling model in London, purchasing six 7,800-ton 25-year-old cargo ships and five 10,000-ton cargo ships at one time, for a total of 11 ships with a total load capacity of just over 100,000 tons.

This time he found a small leak. A British shipping company packaged and sold six 7,800-ton cargo ships at a price of only US$500,000 each. One of the big reasons is that Lin Zhichao enjoys a high reputation in the British shipping industry. Shipping The company is willing to sell these second-hand ships to him and provide installment payment.

Of course, a 25-year-old second-hand boat is indeed relatively old. But Lin Zhichao feels that there is no impact. There is no problem in using these ships for another 10 to 15 years, and such a long time is enough for him to earn more than 5 million US dollars per ship.

The total purchase price of this ship was US$6.2 million. Although Global Shipping only paid US$5.4 million, it provided an installment payment of US$1.5 million, so there was no financial pressure.

This time Lin Zhichao was also received by government departments in London, which made Lin Zhichao feel that shipping is really an influential cause. In order to build a good relationship with London, Lin Zhichao is preparing to symbolically build one or two new ships in the UK in a year or two.

After returning to Hong Kong, Lin Zhichao simply took care of his official business and couldn't wait to go to Japan for promotion.

As a result, a new major customer was added - Japan's Sanko Shipping. They leased three 10,000-ton cargo ships from Global Shipping. The lease period is four years and the annual rent is US$2.2 million per year. The price has dropped by approximately US$300,000 per year. , but Lin Zhichao was still very happy to accept it.

Yamaguchi Steamship and Nippon Steamship respectively leased one 10,000-ton cargo ship and two 7,800-ton cargo ships. The lease period was also four years and the annual rent was US$1.7 million (a group of three ships).

Big win!

His subordinates were impressed by Lin Zhichao's sales pitch, and three shipping companies were willing to lease nine ships for four years.

The remaining two ships naturally followed fixed routes.