The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 100 [Introduction to Shipping]

On Saturday, Lin Zhichao came to the pier in Xihuan to inspect the "Fuhexing" of Li Gaofu and others.

At present, Fuhehang is not only engaged in the "Hong Kong-Weihaiwei-Japan" trade business, but also opened a shop at the West Ring Wharf to solicit goods for shipowners.

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 leader of the industry.

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

He is preparing to buy the first boat, so he came to visit Fuhehang in advance, because he planned to let Fuhehang to collect the goods 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 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 will guarantee that your boat will not stop."

He knew that Lin Zhichao could be regarded as Li Gaofu's nobleman, and he had the grace 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.

Fuhexing is already on its sixth voyage, and the previous five trips have earned more than 75 yuan in profits (30 yuan was divided), and the partners are very motivated.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "As expected of being from a family in a trading company, it's rare for the business to get on the right track so quickly!"

Li Gaofu is more at the helm of 'Fuhehang', while Huang Tinggui is in charge of cargo and docks, and the other two partners also perform their 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 has won the award. Everyone works together to do things together. Brother Gao Fu is the chief steward, leading the brothers to make a fortune." Huang Tinggui said modestly.

He understood a truth, without Li Gaofu, even if they had money, they would not know where to invest it.Moreover, as far as the current trade route is concerned, Fuhexing 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.

These people didn't 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 pier again, mainly to accompany Lin Zhichao to visit.

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 teenage children and women, whose eyes are 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 and a shiny knife point. These people are all jobs with plenty of oil and water.

"The liberation of the Shanghai stock market is imminent, and the whole country will soon fall into their hands. I'm afraid the trade with Weihaiwei will not last long. So, what are your plans?"

A mere solicitation business can make a little money, but it can't support so many people.As for Fuhexing, 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 inland 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 idea is very good! The ship is a movable asset, and with the backing of an insurance company, it is a good investment direction."

Suddenly, Lin Zhichao thought of a good idea.

"By the way, since you have no money now, I happen to plan to buy a thousand-ton ship. The two of us will partner up and buy it with [-]% of the capital. One year later, I will sell [-]% of the original price of the ship to you. How about it?"

The reason why Lin Zhichao did not immediately invest in the shipping industry was because he developed shipping more safely; he seized the best opportunity, and the first half of 1950 was the best time to buy a ship.

Li Gaofu immediately said: "I think this cooperation is very good! In this way, we can immediately own the ship."

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

Huang Tinggui thought about it, this cooperation is really good, the big boss intends to learn from experience, and they can share the risk for a year.

What's more, Li Gaofu has already spoken, and this face should be given to Master Tuo.

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

Lin Zhichao nodded!

He also confirmed recently that Li Gaofu and others traded with Weihaiwei and 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 to go 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 changed into a smiling face. The two of them also cooperated once. He knew what 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 market owns a 3500-ton ocean liner. However, when he first arrived in Hong Kong, he lowered the freight rate in order to attract goods, which affected everyone's expectations. 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 a name card and handed it to the shipowner surnamed Zhao, and said, "Mr. Zhao, we are in the business of collecting goods for the shipowner. If you are not familiar with the local business, you can consider us."

This action immediately made several shipowners put out 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 accepted the name card happily, and after looking at it for a while, he said, "That's really great! Don't worry, everyone, after this incident, I already know the rules here, and I promise not to break it again."

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

"If you know what's wrong, you can improve it a lot"

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 the identity of Zhao Congyan, but he did not expect such a small episode in "Ship King".

So he also walked over.

"Hey, it's Lin Sheng! We don't know Mount Tai with our eyes, and we didn't know that you came to the pier, and you were left alone just now!" A shipowner recognized Lin Zhichao and immediately said happily.

The two had not done business directly, and 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 grandly—the zipper tycoon and real estate tycoon, and immediately made Lin Zhichao's deeds public.He seems to know Lin Zhichao himself, and he has the expression of "I have a lot of connections".

Although the other shipowners didn't know Lin Zhichao, they were familiar with the word "Lin Zhichao", so they greeted him warmly.

On the other side, Zhao Congyan left or stayed, standing there a little awkwardly.He was slandered in his heart, he was really bullied by dogs, and he was still a figure in the Shanghai stock market.

Moreover, he himself is a practicing lawyer, but he is useless in Hong Kong because the law here is British law.

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

Everyone is welcome!

I don't know what I think in my heart.

Afterwards, Lin Zhichao greeted Zhao Congyan again: "Don't worry, Zhao Sheng, we Cantonese people are very fair in doing business. Don't take this matter to heart today. Everyone abides by the rules of the industry. Naturally, anyone in Hong Kong can come to do business freely." trading port."

Seeing this, other shipowners echoed one after another, expressing their generosity!

Zhao Congyan immediately said gratefully: "Mr. Lin is right. I didn't investigate for a while, so this situation happened. In the future, I would like to ask everyone in the same industry to supervise and make progress together."

"To the pole! To the pole!"

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

As for Zhao Congyan, Lin Zhichao naturally didn't have much interest in getting acquainted, so he just took advantage of the trend to sell well.He aspires to be the world's ship king, and he is bound to compete with the four ship kings of the Shanghai School, and it is '1VS4'.

Of course, the four ship kings of the Shanghai School are not in the same group, everyone does their own thing.

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

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

"Go, go."

Finally, Zhao Congyan left with his men.

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

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

As for the remaining people, Changjiang Properties will naturally not fire one person. The finance department has been supervising the finances of Changjiang Bank, and the engineering department undertakes some outside projects;

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

Lin Zhichao nodded, and then said: "Changjiang Bank wants to withdraw 600 million Hong Kong dollars in funds. You help me convert all the money into US dollars and deposit it in a US dollar account. I will invest separately later."

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

With so many U.S. dollars, I am afraid that only HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Merrill Bank can exchange them, but I don’t know whose handling fee is cheaper.

"Well, report the situation to me."

With such a huge deposit, Jian Dongpu would naturally come to ask Lin Zhichao in person, but Lin Zhichao already had a plan, and he 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 he cannot put all his eggs in one basket.The transfer of Cheung Kong's capital transactions to the Bank of East Asia is considered to be a reward for the support of the past few years. After all, everyone has achieved each other.

As for Lin Zhichao's conversion into US dollars and depositing in a US dollar account, he estimated that the British pound will depreciate in the second half of this year, so if he does not convert it into US dollars, it will depreciate by 30%.

Losing so much wealth all at once would make anyone feel heartbroken.

After these Hong Kong dollars are converted into U.S. dollars, Lin Zhichao will continue to arrange Cheung Kong's funds and convert them into U.S. dollars to avoid reducing assets.

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

"How is the housing situation outside recently? Has anyone started construction of private housing estates?"

Hu Zhaoxu shook his head and said: "They are all very cautious. Although there are stratification and installment methods, everyone continues to use the 'fried four hot meat'. The main reason is that the land price is too high, and secondly, after the addition of new recruits in Hong Kong last year, everyone also I am vaguely worried about the future of Hong Kong."

The so-called fried four hot meat means that the owner builds 2 to 4 five-storey tenement buildings, not more than 4, because he is worried about risks.

In fact, residential buildings cannot be higher than 5 floors at present. This alone means that real estate profits are not high;

But in any case, because of the emergence of "layered installments", there are more owners of "Fried Four Hot Meat" in Hong Kong, and the overall number of properties may be thousands of floors more than in previous lives.

"Continue to inquire and organize more information. When the time is ripe, I will make a big move in real estate." Lin Zhichao urged.

Hu Zhaoxu immediately nodded 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 the price is only 6 Hong Kong dollars per square foot. They also said that the population of Tsuen Wan is increasing, and the land price is only It will be more expensive, let's buy it early."

Lin Zhichao laughed and said, "The land can be even more expensive in that poor place. They have a good idea. You can tell them that Cheung Kong has a land area of ​​25 square feet, which is enough for factories. As for their land , you can choose to sell it externally.”

In fact, 12 square feet is enough, and the purchased 12 square feet will be reserved for expansion in the future.As for the surrounding land, it is impossible for the current owners to sell it to themselves at a high price.

At other times, the JF Army will display the products in Guangdong Province to see if they will lower the price. I am afraid they will have to sell it to Lin Zhichao for 4 Hong Kong dollars.

The increase in land in Tsuen Wan began in 1950, when Shanghai entrepreneurs who came to Hong Kong officially built factories one after another; at the same time, until the Battle of the Peninsula began, Yingjiang's Seventh Fleet sailed to Taiwan Island, and the "Hong Kong Island Crisis" It is considered to be lifted, because the Hong Kong government believes that since the Yankees have come to Asia, they will never ignore something in Hong Kong.

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

Lin Zhichao also hopes to win the 20 square feet of land from the two owners, provided that the price is not high.If it is taken down, it will also be 'pickled', and it will be reserved to slowly expand the factory.After the 70s, it could be used to build large housing estates and commercial buildings.

But if the price is too high, it is obviously not worthwhile with Lin Zhichao's current financial resources.

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

Lee Shau Kee, Zhou Fuzhao, and Ah Hao are all there. Only these three are in charge of 700 million net assets 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 Lee Shau Kee 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 Changjiang Bank with a net worth of 700 million, which is the vast majority of Lin Zhichao's assets.

"Have you checked all the accounts?"

Zhou Fuzhao nodded and said, "That's not wrong at all! Changjiang Real Estate took away 600 million Hong Kong dollars, leaving 68.8 Hong Kong dollars for speculating in gold, and the retail assets are 22.5 Hong Kong dollars."

Lee Shau Kee also said with a smile: "The delivery is relatively smooth this time. Those merchants who bought our gold can only bite the bullet and deliver because they don't want to lose money immediately. If they buy gold back, at least they can wait for the appreciation."

Some truth!

However, sometimes the Gold and Silver Exchange 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 took another look at the market and found that gold has fallen to just over 550 Hong Kong dollars every two, which can be said to have fallen by almost 60 Hong Kong dollars within ten days.

Of course, the increase of 120 Hong Kong dollars in the previous month is also very exaggerated.

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

Anyway, he didn't keep much money, Lin Zhichao said directly: "You can figure it out!"

"Ok"

In this way, Cheung Kong took out a huge sum of 600 million yuan from Changjiang Bank. After the account was received, Lin Zhichao and Zhou Fuzhao immediately came to HSBC.

A British manager took on the two because they were big clients.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Zhou, if Cheung Kong's deposit of 600 million Hong Kong dollars is converted into US dollars, the handling fee is 1.5%. This rate is already very favorable. Because we need a big customer like Mr. Lin."

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

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "Director Smith, after converting into US dollars, I will continue to store 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 is what Lin Zhichao took a fancy to, so he quickly handled the one-stop business for HSBC, that is, exchanging US dollars and depositing them into a US dollar account.

In the end, Lin Zhichao won 146.65 million US dollars!
The exchange rate of US dollar to Hong Kong dollar is 1:4.03.

Compared with the loss of 1.5% handling fee, Lin Zhichao is more concerned that if the British pound depreciates by 30%, then the Hong Kong dollar will also depreciate by 30%.

(End of this chapter)