The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

At the official auction, Lin Zhichao sat down after greeting various real estate developers. In the eyes of outsiders, Lin Zhichao was high-spirited and domineering, and all the people present paid attention to him.

In fact, most of the land of Changjiang Real Estate was purchased from private individuals and private companies. At the auctions from 1956 to 1957, Changjiang Real Estate always made thunder without rain.

This year, Cheung Kong Properties purchased 250,000 square feet of land, and there are only three buildings for sale, equivalent to a reserve of 180,000 square feet of land.

Airship Tai was sitting next to Lin Zhichao, and Li Gaofu was on the other side. The entire auction site was quite small, and everyone was almost all in close proximity.

At this time, the main developers in Hong Kong include: Lin Zhichao, Liu Baoshan, Feiping Tai, Chen Detai, Peng Guozhen, Li Gaofu, Ma Jincan, Zhang Yuliang, etc. They are still the real estate developers of the mid-1950s, with only Li Kangjie really falling behind.

The reason why Li Kangjie fell behind was because he was originally weak and relied on the "grand alliance" to develop. After the crisis, the partners no longer trusted him, and naturally no one could cooperate with him.

In comparison, although Chen Detai was also on the verge of bankruptcy, he was rescued by HSBC. Now he has regained some strength and returned to the real estate industry; after all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. At this time, Guo Desheng and Li Shauji can only be regarded as Small and medium-sized real estate developers are not ranked first.

"Hi everyone, welcome to today's auction. There are seven lots in total today," the British auctioneer said enthusiastically.

It's a pity that I speak English. This kind of speech is greatly discounted to the Chinese. Of course, most real estate developers can understand it, but they don't have so much empathy.

Seven plots of land, more than 20 real estate developers participated, the competition is fierce. However, many people did not really come to participate, but to join in the fun, and based on the situation of the auction, they analyzed the current real estate trend.

Crown land auctions have always been a barometer of Hong Kong real estate.

"Okay, now the auction will officially begin. The first piece of land is located in Yau Ma Tei."

The auction officially started, but Lin Zhichao did not take action, as if he had been waiting. But even without his participation, the auction will be very fierce. Residential land in Hong Kong and Kowloon will soon rise to an average land price of HK$120 per square foot.

Although it is not as high as the peak land price in 1957, it fully demonstrates that real estate is recovering very quickly.

"The next Fifth Blessing site is located at 71 Des Voeux Road Central. It covers an area of ​​16,000 square feet and has an astonishing plot ratio of 20 times. It can build first-class Grade A office buildings. I think everyone will definitely I'm really looking forward to it, so I won't say much and just start bidding directly. The base price is HK$10 million, and each increase will be no less than HK$100,000!"

However, it seemed like a good piece of land, but no one bid for it immediately!

Just when the auctioneer was about to speak, Lin Zhichao stretched out a finger. The auctioneer breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he was going to lose the bid today.

Next, everyone started bidding one after another. It turned out that everyone had tacitly suppressed the crazy temperature in the auction house.

Lin Zhichao raised a finger every time, without looking at who was bidding with him, with a relaxed expression. When someone looked at him, he did not forget to smile.

The phenomenon was quickly captured on film and will likely make tomorrow's headlines.

The pressure on Zhang Yuliang on the other side has increased greatly. The Zhang family has made a lot of money over the years, and its assets are close to 100 million. After the death of his brother Zhang Yujie this year, he began to take charge of the rights of the Zhang family, so he is eager to give the family a sea-fixing needle.

Isn't a first-class commercial building the best anchor to the sea?

But facing Lin Zhichao's ease, he was not at all relaxed, and the price quickly climbed to 15 million!

"15.2 million"

During the auction, Lin Zhichao gently raised a finger. His expression was relaxed and he did not consider his opponent at all.

Airship Tai and Li Gaofu were beside them. They fully felt the relief and couldn't help laughing.

On the other side, Zhang Yuliang could only continue to deal with it, but the pressure increased greatly.

And He Shanheng of Hang Seng Bank has shaken his head to give up.

The deposits of Hang Seng Bank are only over HK$90 million. It would be very dangerous to spend 20 to 30 million to build a building.

At this time, Hang Seng Bank had about the same amount of deposits as Liao Chuangxing, and was far from developing rapidly because the title of 'bank' was changed only at the beginning of this year. In the previous life, in 1965, Hang Seng Bank already had 700 million in deposits, threatening HSBC's retail business and surpassing Bank of East Asia.

It can be seen how fast development was in the 1960s.

He Shanheng thought to himself that they were lucky to have purchased a piece of land in Queen's Road Central for only more than 7 million Hong Kong dollars (13,000 square feet). It is still possible to build a headquarters building on this land.

Zhang Yuliang finally couldn't bear the pressure and stopped bidding when the price reached HK$16 million!

Although the assets of the Zhang family are close to 100 million yuan, after all, if you invest 30 million yuan in this building, it will still be risky.

"Lin Sheng, congratulations!"

The surrounding real estate developers sent out congratulations, and Lin Zhichao immediately became humble. Maybe few of us are sincere, but this does not hinder Lin Zhichao's status in Hong Kong real estate.

Strata, installment, and public housing leases were all invented by him. Without him, Hong Kong's real estate industry would not be as developed as it is today.

So, what’s wrong with eating a big head!

Lin Zhichao didn't extend his "finger to the sky" in the subsequent plots. He came today for No. 71 Des Voeux Road Central. What's more, Cheung Kong doesn't have any extra funds for the time being. After all, the project on Paterson Street in Causeway Bay has already started, so they don't plan to buy land.

Next year, we will continue to buy some land by using the residential units on Paterson Street for sale.

Kai Tak Airport.

The two Boeing 707-120s ordered by Hong Kong Airlines from Boeing have been delivered and flown back to Hong Kong.

To this end, Hong Kong Airlines held a ceremony to put the new aircraft into service. Even the Governor of Hong Kong, Robert B. Robertson, was invited. Other attendees included HSBC Chief Executive John Douglas, Vice Chairman John Sanders, and Swire Pacific Chief Executive Officer Shiyok. , Chinese people include Zhou Xinian, Jian Dongpu, etc.

The ribbon-cutting was carried out by Bai Liji, after all he was the most important guest.

After the ceremony, Park Liji said with a smile: "Hong Kong Airlines should be the first to use Boeing 707 outside of the United States?"

The British people present were vaguely disappointed. The glory of the Viscount aircraft was no longer, and the next glory would be the Boeing 707. In the past year of operation, Pan Am's performance in all aspects shocked the entire aviation industry.

Importantly, this is a milestone for jet aircraft; the Boeing 707-120 is a classic three-cabin configuration and can carry 149 people, twice as many as the maximum number of passengers allowed by a propeller aircraft.

As the president, Hill is still the public face of Hong Kong Airlines. He said: "Yes, Hong Kong is the first to use Boeing 707 besides the United States. Although there are only two aircraft, it will change a lot. For example, the time between Japan and Hong Kong, Hong Kong and Taiwan Island will be shortened by one-third, and the passenger capacity of each flight will be greatly increased."

At this time, Shi York, a competitor, asked: "If Hong Kong Airlines can get the aircraft so quickly, it must have placed the order last year. Could it be before Pan Am's commercial flight?"

For a while, everyone looked at Lin Zhichao and Hill one after another, a little unbelievable.

Douglas and Sanders smiled and said nothing. As lenders, they certainly knew that Hong Kong Airlines had already been planning three months before Pan Am.

Hill said: "Yes! It was Mr. Lin who overcame all opinions and decided to buy two Boeing 707-120s."

Everyone was a little surprised!

Lin Zhichao, a layman, can have such vision?

"Mr. Lim, you're gambling! Cathay would have been in trouble if... had bought the Comet jets," Schjöck said.

He didn't want to admit that Lin Zhichao was so proficient in the aviation industry, so he used his own light experience to illustrate this problem.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "I also have many friends in the United States. After asking them for advice, I felt that the opportunity was not to be missed. This year, the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong increased by more than 30%, reaching more than 130,000. Hong Kong Airlines needs this Two planes are competing with foreign airlines and winning."

A route can only be served by one airline per country/region. For example, for routes between Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan can only allow one airline to fly. Essentially, the flights must be the same.

Now that the Boeing 707 is in place, Lin Zhichao believes that Japan Airlines cannot compete with Hong Kong Airlines on this route.

At this time, Bai Liji said something fair: "Hong Kong Airlines has greatly improved its service and quality in the past two years, which is the pride of the Hong Kong aviation industry. Of course, Cathay Pacific is not to be outdone. The two airlines have made progress together and created a bright future for the aviation industry." Hong Kong’s aviation industry deserves glory!”

The specific performance is of course cabin crew service, airline food, etc., but it is true that the business of both airlines is growing.

Shiyok then said: "Mr. Lin is indeed a business genius. As an aviation person who has been in the aviation industry for more than ten years before you, I admire you very much. Cathay Pacific also ordered two Boeing 707s in the first half of this year and is expected to put them into operation in 1961. Operation!”

His words concealed murderous intentions and were suspected of sowing discord. After all, Hill and other management teams still contributed a lot.

"It's all the result of the concerted efforts of colleagues!" Lin Zhichao said modestly.

Cathay Pacific's strength is not strong, at least for now. It only launched direct flights to Sydney this year. Other routes include Southeast Asia routes such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Of course, if direct flights to Europe and the United States are launched in the future, Cathay Pacific will naturally surpass Hong Kong Airlines.

As for Hong Kong Airlines, we can only look forward to the mainland market, which still has more than 20 years to go!

Politico and other government officials are also happy that Hong Kong's aviation industry is developing well and give recognition to both parties.

In fact, everyone understands that Cathay is a big step behind.

Back at the Hong Kong Airlines office building, both Lin Zhichao and Sandus attended the meeting, representing the two shareholders. Of course, Lin Zhichao also represents the ‘actual controller’ and ‘boss’, otherwise he would not be able to get involved in Hong Kong Airlines.

Sandus asked the management: "How much profit can Hong Kong Airlines make this year?"

Hill immediately said: "It is expected to reach more than 1.4 million US dollars, with a growth of more than 20%. Among them, the profit from aviation food is about 200,000 US dollars."

Sandus smiled and said: "That is to say, since Oneworld Airlines took over Hong Kong Airlines, annual profits increased by more than 50%."

All the management members sighed in their hearts that things were so great, and turned their attention to Lin Zhichao, somewhat convinced.

Hill immediately said: "Profits will continue to grow next year. The introduction of new aircraft will greatly increase our competitiveness. We expect profits to grow to US$1.6 million."

The Hong Kong Airlines loan amount is 8 million US dollars, with an annual interest rate of 6%, provided by HSBC.

Pay it off in five years, maybe in just four!

Of course, maybe two years later, another plane will have to be purchased.

As long as the business is running well, you can take out a loan at any time to continue purchasing aircraft. Anyway, the only shareholder is Universal Shipping, and the guarantee is 100% assured.

Lin Zhichao said: "The number of tourists visiting Hong Kong will continue to increase, and profits will continue to strengthen. We can also develop horizontally into 'airport ground handling services', 'guard services', etc. But generally speaking, profits in the 1960s required the continued purchase of aircraft." , requires long-term investment.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the senior management couldn't help but applaud. Even Sandus understood that Lin Zhichao had the most credit for the huge changes in Hong Kong Airlines.

As Lin Zhichao's power gradually strengthened, he also planned to recruit some Chinese middle and low-level managers in the 1960s to prepare for the future. Otherwise, always facing a group of foreigners would make me feel a little uncomfortable.

Half foreigners and half Chinese are more acceptable to him. Even if there are more foreigners, there is no way there will be no Chinese in the meeting.

afternoon.

Lin Zhichao made an appointment with Jian Dongpu for afternoon tea. Jian Dongpu is 75 years old this year, but he still works hard at his job. This year, he was elected chairman of the board of directors of Bank of East Asia and concurrently serves as managing director.

In order to repay the favor of those years, most of Cheung Kong Industries' financial transactions were handed over to the Bank of East Asia; all of Cheung Kong Industries' deposits of more than 200 million were also in the accounts of the Bank of East Asia.

Lin Zhichao has only one request, and that is absolute confidentiality.

It can be said that Bank of East Asia has developed rapidly with Lin Zhichao's deposits. It will be difficult for Hang Seng Bank to surpass it in this life.

Of course, the Bank of East Asia suffered from bank runs in the 1930s, so it has a conservative style; this is one reason why it will not be affected by bank runs in the future (it will be, but very small), but its development will lag behind Hang Seng Bank.

"Mr. Jian, Cheung Kong Industrial has developed a large-scale real estate on Paterson Street with almost more than 2,000 residential units. Does Bank of East Asia have any ideas for cooperation?"

During this period, Lin Zhichao once again repaid the Bank of East Asia.

Jian Dongpu said: "You are saying that our bank will collect the funds from home buyers, and then collect them in each installment, and then transfer them to you, without going through a law firm?"

In this era, installment payments were collected by law firms and then handed over to real estate developers.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "If this is the case, there is no need for the bank to get involved! My idea is: the home buyers will borrow money from you and then you will transfer the funds to our developers, and the home buyers will repay your principal and repayment every month. Interest!"

Jian Dongpu is old but not old-minded, so he immediately said: "Aren't you transferring the risk to our bank? If a home buyer defaults, our bank will bear the risk?"

That's the truth!

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "This is the trend of real estate and banks in the future! Banks can obtain interest income and increase the risk of customers and influence. Buyers loan 50-80% of the house to you, but the house is mortgaged to you. Banks. If home buyers default, you can auction off their homes, so that the risk is still in the hands of home buyers. Banks can decide the installment period and loan amount to adjust market risks.”

Jian Dongpu listened very carefully and was very moved by the end. In the final analysis, this model is just like lending money to entrepreneurs.

"I'll go back and discuss it with the management and give you an answer as soon as possible."

"No problem! To be honest, I prefer HSBC for this kind of cooperation, after all, they are stronger. But Mr. Jian took care of me back then, and now I am willing to repay Bank of East Asia. In fact, our real estate company can also set up a 'finance company' , providing loans to home buyers. I will also make further progress in this model."

Jian Dongpu said with admiration: "If you become a banker, the leading Chinese bank in Hong Kong may be your bank!"

This person has more than 200 million in cash deposits alone. If he opens his own bank, 200 million would be his greatest foundation.

Lin Zhichao said: "Some things are not because I don't have strength, but if I do it, I will lose some other things. So I also thought about the banking industry, but in the end I still didn't realize it. If I opened a bank back then, how could there be HSBC Bank?" Without our cooperation, the development of my shipping company may not be what it is today.”

Jian Dongpu nodded and said, "That's the truth!"

In those days, Global Shipping's loan was really convenient, and HSBC contributed a lot. Of course, it’s not that without HSBC, there would be no Global Shipping. It’s just that without HSBC’s loans, the scale would definitely be much smaller.

After the two parties separated, Lin Zhichao said in his heart: "Repay the Bank of East Asia for the last time!"

Of course, the capital of Cheung Kong Industries still exists in the Bank of East Asia, because the Bank of East Asia's liquidity accounted for about 75%; for example, there are 500 million deposits, and they only lend out 25%.

The loan-to-deposit ratio of 25% is lower than the bank standard of 40%. Because of this, Bank of East Asia has avoided multiple runs, but its development has also been slow.

For example, the deposits of Liao Chong Hing Bank were 80 million, and an estimated 65 million were lent to Liao Baoshan herself and her customers.

In the previous life, in 1965, Hang Seng Bank had deposits of 700 million yuan and loans of at least 400 million to 500 million yuan. Because of this, after a run of 200 million yuan, there were still a large number of people queuing up to withdraw money.

At this time, even if Hang Seng Bank can borrow 200 million, it will be severely damaged.

Only with the backing of HSBC to restore credibility can Hang Seng Bank develop better.

Therefore, it is said that a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise. This is the truth.

If it were not for the acquisition by HSBC, Hang Seng Bank may not have achieved its subsequent development.

As for He Shanheng's borrowing money from Lin Zhichao, 30 million can be considered, and it is also in line with his status. (End of chapter)