The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Monday, May 16th.

“It’s over 600 Hong Kong dollars per tael.”

The gold and silver trade market was abuzz with people, who were overwhelmed, excited and regretful by the rise in gold prices.

In just over a month, the price of gold has climbed from more than 480 Hong Kong dollars per tael to 600 Hong Kong dollars. It can be said that speculation is booming.

"Gold will continue to rise! At least 700 Hong Kong dollars, and 800 Hong Kong dollars is also possible!" Someone shouted a shocking slogan.

People are going crazy about the rise in gold. The war to liberate the Shanghai stock market started last week. The price of gold in Hong Kong has naturally soared. Even jewelry stores are overcrowded.

News of the gold and silver trade reached the Yangtze River Bank, and Lin Zhichao was overjoyed.

The rise of gold to the mark of HKD 600 per tael can be described as just the right time:

First, the war between JieFeng and the Shanghai stock market is in full swing, which will inevitably create an external environment that will cause the price of gold to continue to rise;

Second, the Hang Seng Silver just cashed out a batch of gold last week, estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 taels, while the subsequent gold is still at sea and has not yet arrived in Hong Kong.

"Arrange to cash out the 3,000 taels of gold in your hand first, at a price above HK$600!"

Lee Shau Kee said excitedly: "Okay, I'll make arrangements right away!"

He knew how much gold the boss had in his hands, which was more than 15,000 taels.

Although Hang Seng Silver has recently sold off 20,000 to 30,000 taels, it is a partnership after all, and it is the leader of the gold and silver trading market.

As orders are delivered.

Ashan from the gold and silver trading center quickly stood in the middle of the patio, curling his fingers outward with his palms, and a group of people immediately swarmed up.

Ashan quickly sold 6 lots of gold (600 taels) and traded them to three of them;

Then everyone walked down and each took a notebook to record everything. They would go to the registration department later.

Ashan did not continue to cash out immediately, but waited for the next operation instruction;

Ah Jin needs to pass the news on the field to the headquarters on the second floor of Yangtze River Bank.

"Boss, it seems that this week is a good time to cash out. The price can stabilize above 600 Hong Kong dollars per tael. If it is next week, Hang Seng Bank and other gold merchants may also cash out in large quantities. It's just that your remaining gold is still mortgaged in the Bank of East Asia. ." Li Zhaoji reminded.

Since he decided to cash out, he guessed that the boss planned to cash out all the money.

After thinking for a while, Lin Zhichao said: "I will go to the Bank of East Asia later to make it convenient for Mr. Jian to withdraw gold and cash it out at any time. I think there will be no problem with this."

The purpose of mortgage is to be able to repay the loan. Now that Lin Zhichao's gold has risen so much, Jian Dongpu will naturally be accommodating. What's more, in Jian Dongpu's heart, Cheung Kong Industries was worth four to five million.

In the afternoon, Lin Zhichao came to the Bank of East Asia Building at 10 Des Voeux Road. This building was built in 1935 and is a landmark building in Central, Hong Kong. At that time, it was rated as a "model of modern streamlined architecture".

Seeing these buildings, Lin Zhichao felt very longing for them. Maybe it was because he liked to be a 'landlord' and a 'rent collector' in his heart.

After arriving at the general manager's office, Jian Dongpu happily greeted him.

"I knew you were coming for me, gold has risen so much."

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Mr. Jian is in such a good mood, have all the assets in the Shanghai stock market been evacuated?"

In order to make good friends with Jian Dongpu, Lin Zhichao analyzed the situation to avoid Bank of East Asia's losses.

Jian Dongpu patted Lin Zhichao on the shoulder and said gratefully: "You still have a sharp eye. We sold the property assets in Shanghai in time at the beginning of the year and avoided a lot of losses."

After saying that, he invited Lin Zhichao to the sofa and made tea for him personally.

The Bank of East Asia building in Shanghai was very beautiful and became a protected building in later generations. Originally, it was impossible for the Bank of East Asia to withdraw so cleanly and completely, and Lin Zhichao was responsible for this.

Lin Zhichao rarely analyzed anything because he was afraid that others would not believe him. He only mentioned some things in front of Jian Dongpu and Li Zhaoji. Of course, he wasn't saying anything bad about anyone, he was always fair about what everyone stood for.

"That's great! But I admire Mr. Jian very much for making this decision."

This decision was not so easy, otherwise why would Jardines lose £30 million in assets.

"To be honest! This decision is indeed difficult to make. After all, Bank of East Asia has a large business in the Shanghai stock market. But I am familiar with you. I am thinking that there must be many outstanding people who can create such wealth in two or three years. So I decided to gradually withdraw from the mainland against all opinions. The headquarters building in Shanghai alone brought an income of US$500,000 to Bank of East Asia."

Jian Dongpu was still old-fashioned and sold off heavy assets first, and did not withdraw all Bank of East Asia's business from the Shanghai stock market until March.

"So cheap?" Lin Zhichao asked curiously.

You know, Du Yuesheng sold the mansion in Shanghai for 400,000 US dollars. The Bank of East Asia building is very large, located at the corner of Sichuan Middle Road.

"If we don't deal with it cheaply, how can anyone take it over? Now it seems that even with a hundred thousand dollars, I'm afraid no one would dare to take it over."

Lin Zhichao thought to himself, maybe there are still bargain-hunting properties in the Shanghai stock market!

"By the way, why are you here this time?" Jian Dongpu asked.

Gold has soared, and this young man's net worth has also soared. But in his early twenties, his net worth is probably close to 10 million Hong Kong dollars, plus Cheung Kong Holdings.

Not simple, he is simply a business wizard!

Lin Zhichao said seriously: "I want to cash out all the gold, which is expected to be within this week. Therefore, I want to get the mortgaged gold back first, and then repay the loan and interest from the Bank of East Asia."

Jian Dongpu thought for a while and said, "Go through the formalities, this is not a problem!"

At the end of the day, mortgages are about risk. Now that others are cashing out to make a profit, there is naturally no risk.

Lin Zhichao quickly expressed his thanks!

Jian Dongpu asked curiously again: "After you cash out this time, will you continue to speculate in gold?"

Lin Zhichao said directly: "No, I won't remember it at all! Even if gold rises to 1,000 Hong Kong dollars per tael, I won't regret it. Of course, I feel that behind gold are all those imported gold merchants who arbitrage Shanghai gold prices." merchant’s cash.”

Jian Dongpu laughed and said, "It makes sense! But you also have a share, and you can cash it out."

Since this young man has already hooked up with He Xian, it makes no sense that he can't import gold at all. To be honest, the Bank of East Asia doesn't even have such a good treatment. Of course, this is also very small compared with the scale of the Bank of East Asia's gold speculation.

Lin Zhichao shook his head and said, "The profit is limited, and the risk is too high, why bother to commemorate it."

There is a lot of profitable business, so he won't be so stupid.

Jian Dongpu admired Lin Zhichao a little bit. If it was him, he would not stop immediately after making so much money.

Afterwards, Jian Dongpu led Lin Zhichao to start the formalities. After the procedures were completed, he could withdraw gold at any time.

Thursday.

Changjiang Yinhao sold 15,160 taels of gold in less than 4 days, with an average price of 606.5 Hong Kong dollars per tael. Such a large-scale cash-out has more or less affected the rise in the price of gold, but it has not allowed the price of gold to fall below 600 Hong Kong dollars per tael.

Who would have known that Hang Seng Silver began to sell heavily again that day, and its intensity was much greater than that of Yangtze River Silver. It sold a huge amount of 10,000 taels in one day, and the price of gold also began to fall, but it was still stable.

"I don't believe gold will fall! The price of gold will rise sharply! Make arrangements for me immediately to buy another 50 lots!" Huang Caifu, a Shanghai-based gold merchant, roared on the phone.

After hanging up the phone, he was still uneasy and decided to go to the gold and silver trading center in person to supervise the battle.

During this period of time, he has made a full profit of 500,000 Hong Kong dollars, and he thinks gold will rise to 800 Hong Kong dollars per tael, so the more he speculates, the bigger the money will be.

But just now, my subordinate called and said that the price of gold had dropped below 600 Hong Kong dollars per tael, and the selling order was very large.

"Hold on! Hold on! In the Mainland, in JieFeng and Shanghai, war will cause the price of gold to skyrocket!"

"Those selling orders must be short selling orders. As long as gold goes up, they can only lose money! Or take out the gold!"

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Huang Caifu decided to join forces with his counterparts in the Shanghai stock market to give those who were "short selling orders" a good look.

There are many Shanghai gold merchants and financiers who have this idea. First, they are optimistic about the future of gold. Second, they do not know that Guangdong gold merchants can import a lot of gold from Austria. Third, they are not familiar with the local market.

at the same time.

The reason why the Hang Seng Silver dared to sell a large amount of gold was because the radio wave of the gold transport ship had been transmitted back to Hong Kong and was about to arrive at the Omen Pier.

As long as they smuggle it into Hong Kong next Monday, they can complete the physical gold delivery and cash out.

Some other Cantonese gold dealers noticed something unusual when they saw the Yangtze River Bank cashing out so violently. Then when they saw the Hang Seng Bank cashing out even more violently, they instantly understood that the price of gold was going to fall, and they immediately joined the selling ranks.

At this time, the general trend outside is no longer important. What is important is who can control the market.

Of course, there are generally very few people who dare to "sell short orders". Everyone has gold or receipts in their hands.

In the Hang Seng Bank office.

He Shanheng said with a smile: "The more wealthy these Shanghai-based gold merchants are, the happier I am. This time we are going to cash out 20,000 taels of gold. As long as they eat it, it will rise to 700 Hong Kong dollars per tael, which is also their ability. I am happy It’s not too late.”

They are selling physical gold, so they are very happy that Shanghai gold dealers won. Of course, there are also some Cantonese gold dealers among them.

He Tian said with satisfaction: "Even though the 25,000 taels in front were sold too early, Lin Zhichao will still seize the opportunity!"

He Shanheng nodded, not jealous of Lin Zhichao's ability, but said: "Perhaps, his goal was very clear from the beginning, that is, to sell for more than 600 taels. But I don't know, will he still speculate in gold?"

After He Tian thought for a while, he said: "Maybe! If he goes to Austria to import gold, my brother will not refuse to give it to him. From his tone, he intends to make this friend."

He Shanheng nodded. Although He'an Gold Company takes care of Hang Seng Bank, it cannot only supply gold to them exclusively.

After all, if this happens, everyone (Cantonese gold merchants) will not be happy to raise prices.

Yangtze River Bank.

Lin Zhichao is calculating his income from gold speculation:

15,160 taels of gold, with an expected return of HK$9.16 million;

Coupled with the funds for ultra-short-term speculation, it has risen to HK$350,000;

We have to add the store's assets, including gold and foreign currencies, to a total of HK$220,000.

The assets of the entire Yangtze River Bank are HK$9.73 million.

He needs to pay a dividend of HK$30,000 to the Lee brothers, and also needs to repay a loan from the Bank of East Asia of HK$2.8 million plus interest (principal of 2.5 million).

In other words, the net assets of Yangtze River Bank are HK$6.9 million.

Among them, 3 million Hong Kong dollars are the funds (principal) of Changjiang Real Estate, which is equivalent to 3.9 million Hong Kong dollars earned from gold speculation.

Gold merchants and financiers in the Shanghai Stock Exchange took over the orders one after another and accepted a large number of sales orders.

They soon discovered that their trading partners were choosing physical gold delivery, so they could only spend cash to buy it at a high price, or sell the gold documents in their hands at a loss in advance.

Although the price of gold has only dropped to HK$585 per tael, Cantonese gold merchants are already laughing. They have cashed out a large amount of gold at a high price, and they bought this gold at a low price.

In fact, many gold speculators from Shanghai have already used leverage to speculate in gold. Now, whether the price of gold continues to rise or fall, they are losers.

Because the main way for Guangdong gold merchants to make profits is to cash out the gold imported from Austria. The higher the price, the less likely Cantonese gold merchants will choose to buy gold from the market, and will find ways to import more physical gold from overseas, because African gold is much cheaper.

Once gold collapses that day, their net worth will be at least halved, and those speculators who borrowed money or leveraged will go bankrupt.

Lin Zhichao closed the account book and said to Lee Shau Kee: "The Yangtze River Bank is expected to close at the end of August. In the remaining three months, apart from the store business, I will leave you another 700,000 Hong Kong dollars as gold speculation funds. You can also speculate in gold anyway. , just do it for me for another three months, it will be convenient to fry together."

After paying off the debt, another 6 million yuan of funds was withdrawn, leaving only 900,000 yuan of funds for Yangtze River Bank (including store assets).

As for why it was done until the end of August?

This is because Lin Zhichao gradually converted all funds into US dollars to achieve the effect of preserving value.

Li Shauji said seriously: "Okay, I don't want to leave this year. By the way, the Yangtze River Bank can actually import gold from Austria, so it can make more. After all, Mr. He Xian seems to be interested in making friends with you, the boss. Compared with how much more At least some gold will be supplied.”

He'an Gold will indeed provide gold to the Yangtze River Bank. Although it is not much, it is estimated that the amount can be two to three thousand taels a month. This gold itself is nearly 10% cheaper than the market, so it is almost a profit.

Of course, if gold suddenly plummets, you will lose money. But it is obvious that gold will remain stable until Guangdong Province solves the problem.

Lin Zhichao shook his head and said: "Now that the risks at sea have increased, who knows whether the defeated G Army has joined the pirates. So, just buy and sell at the gold and silver trading market as usual."

Li Zhaoji's heart suddenly tightened, and he felt that it made sense, and he would not take risks in the future. He is now rich, with assets approaching 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, so why risk smuggling anymore.

"Ok, I see!"

After some arrangements, the Yangtze River Bank continued to operate, but the total capital became about 900,000 Hong Kong dollars. Of course, the Yangtze River Bank's funds in the gold and silver trading market will not be withdrawn all at once.

Assume that when the delivery period is approaching, the buyer transfers the loss from the contract in his hand; then, he has to make a new contract.

Of course, in this process, Yangtze River Bank will receive income such as price differences and interest.

At the same time, not all will be transferred out. There are many people who fail to transfer out in time or want to transfer out when the delivery period comes, so they must pay cash to reach this contract.

In any case, Yangtze River Bank began to have more cash flow in its account.

Lin Zhichao has already begun preparations to enter his next business - shipping.

At present, he has entered into three businesses in total - manufacturing, real estate, and gold speculation. Among them, real estate is waiting for opportunities, and gold speculation is coming to an end. Therefore, he has the energy and funds to enter the shipping industry.

The important thing is that Lin Zhichao has grasped the opportunity and made a careful plan.

The next day.

Hang Seng Silver sold for just over 10,000 taels again. Coupled with the sales of other Chaozhou-based gold dealers, the price of gold fell again for a while. When the market closed in the afternoon, it was already about 565 Hong Kong dollars per tael.

It can be said that this week, Yangtze River Bank and Hang Seng Bank dominated the Hong Kong gold and silver trading market, and the settlement amount of the two reached more than 20 million Hong Kong dollars.

Some Shanghai gold speculators gathered in a high-end restaurant that evening.

Huang Caifu, who speculated in gold with more than 2 times the leverage, got a little angry. He was in a state of anxiety all day today, because the current loss of 35 Hong Kong dollars means a loss of 80 Hong Kong dollars. So, he drank and said nothing.

At this time, another gold merchant, Xu Shijie, said: "It's been crazy recently. Many silver gold merchants use physical gold for delivery. I originally thought they were going to transfer orders, but I didn't expect that when three days came, they would Deliver the gold.”

Huang Caifu was shocked and said, "Really?"

Others nodded, and someone said: "It must be that some of them smuggled gold from Omen and then transported it to Hong Kong to cash out. So, Brother Huang, you have to prepare the funds for delivery next Monday."

These people are not familiar with the local market and do not know the huge amount of gold smuggled in Omen. This is a serious information jam.

Huang Caifu was stunned. He also expected that on Monday, because there was no physical gold in those sell orders, he could only buy "gold" from the market and form a new contract.

As a result, there will be a large number of buy orders, and gold will naturally rise back.

Now, a wake-up call!

However, he quickly cheered up and said: "It's okay. If you buy gold, buy gold. Gold will continue to rise. I am firmly optimistic that it can reach 800 Hong Kong dollars per tael."

In fact, I feel guilty!

But his words immediately won everyone's approval.

Someone said: "That's for sure! Now everyone is frightened. We people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai are buying gold, and locals in Guangdong and Hong Kong are also buying gold. And the war will not stop for a while, so gold will definitely rise sharply."

This statement was echoed by everyone.

In fact, these people did not think of a key issue, which is that Guangdong gold dealers used a large number of smuggled gold to cash out instead of buying gold from the market.

This resulted in more and more gold in the market, which was accumulated in the hands of Shanghai gold merchants. Once the war subsided and the supply of gold exceeded demand, their wealth would shrink; once the gold was purchased with leverage or borrowed money, it would be natural to go bankrupt. Not a problem.