The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 108 [Wait and see]

Star Island, Nanyi Group.

The secretary walked into the chairman's office and reported: "Chairman, Mr. Lin Zhichao, the owner of Cheung Kong Industrial in Hong Kong, would like to have a meeting with you. I don't know what you mean?"

Lee Kong Chian (Li Yukun) raised his head, thought for a while, and then asked, "Does Cheung Kong produce zippers?"

It seems that he has heard of this person, but he is not sure.

The secretary immediately said: "Yes, their zippers are sold all over the world and occupy an absolute share in Asia. According to the senior executives of Cheung Kong who contacted us, their company built a factory on Bukit Road a year ago, and now it is about to start production .”

Li Guangqian suddenly realized, and said: "Yes, it is him. I remembered, the young zipper king, seems to be the world's first stratified, installment purchase of a young man with ideas. But, what did he ask me to do?"

The older he gets, the less he wants to socialize too much. Now he devotes more energy to the reconstruction of Xingdao, that is, to government affairs.

The secretary said: "You are the chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Xingdao. He is going to open a factory in Xingdao now, so he naturally wants to pay you a visit."

Li Guangqian nodded, this secretary has been with him for a long time, and it is very in line with his wish to be able to analyze some things for him.He thought about it carefully, although Lin Zhichao was not from his hometown, but others had good grades anyway, and he was so young, he should give him some face!

Sometimes youth is great potential.

"All right, you arrange a time, just my office, but you have to consider other people's time." Lee Kong Chian said.

Either refuse, or take care of others, this is his style.Because of this, he was elected as the president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

"Okay, let me communicate again."

On the plane from Hong Kong to Sing Tao, Lin Zhichao was thinking about this trip.

After agreeing to meet, he immediately set off to Sing Tao to meet Mr. Lee Kong Chian.

This trip did not have much interest in profit, it was purely because Lin Zhichao felt that since he opened a branch factory in Xingdao, if he could visit the president of the Xingdao Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, it would show his determination to invest in Xingdao.

Of course, Xingdao is just a layout of Lin Zhichao, and he will not invest too much for the time being, and it will depend on the situation in the future (politicians like it or not).

For example, for Orchard Road, although Lin Zhichao knows that the future development prospects are very promising, he will not eat alone or monopolize; at most, he will invest in a five-star hotel, a large shopping mall complex (including office buildings) on Orchard Road, is already satisfied.

After arriving in Xingdao, Lin Zhichao went directly to Cheung Kong Industrial's factory.The factory covers an area of ​​[-] square feet and is covered by two buildings, one is a three-storey factory building and the other is a one-storey warehouse.

The investment in the whole factory is about 50 Hong Kong dollars, which is less than 25 Singapore dollars.

"It's a beautiful factory!" Lin Zhichao said happily.

The layout is reasonable, and the environment inside the factory is also very good. Now there are people on duty and management inside.

Bao Chunlai said with a smile: "Indeed! A factory like Cheung Kong is second to none in Sing Tao. The industry here is still far behind Hong Kong."

This is not nonsense, Hong Kong has undertaken the manufacturing industry of Shanghai Stock Exchange in recent years, how can it be underdeveloped!
Moreover, even in terms of status in the eyes of London, Sing Tao is far inferior to Hong Kong; the British only regard Sing Tao as a trading port, but they are indeed developing hard in Hong Kong, such as Jardine, Swire, Huangpu Shipyard, etc., can be said to be large-scale manufacturing enterprises.

"That's right! If you are recruiting workers in Xingdao, you must not recruit workers from one province, but recruit evenly across the provinces; at the same time, workers from each province must be distributed among different positions. You understand What do I mean?"

Arriving in Xingdao, it is not as easy as Hong Kong. If the people here are particularly ganged up, the factory will be in big trouble.

Bao Chunlai was awakened immediately, and said hastily: "The boss reminded you right, I didn't think so far, I'm really ashamed."

Lin Zhichao nodded, and was not dissatisfied with Bao Chunlai. No one is perfect, and he formulated this strategy based on the experience of later generations.In many factories in later generations, people in certain places don't want it, especially in areas where people like to drink and make trouble.

Bao Chunlai still has many advantages, such as being good at interpersonal relationships and good at factory management, so it is still possible to be qualified for the Xingdao factory.

"In short, I will give the factory some time to adapt, and if any problems are found, they will be corrected in time."

"Ok"

There will be almost no problem, Lin Zhichao thinks so, Hong Kong will send at least 50 skilled workers, plus 5 management staff, to Sing Tao.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Zhichao came to Nanyi Group and met Mr. Lee Kong Chian (alias Lee Kong Chian).

"You are so young! When I was young like you, I just dropped out of school and worked because of financial difficulties due to World War I." Li Guangqian greeted him with a smile, and said kindly.

Lin Zhichao hastily stretched out his hands and held Li Guangqian's hand respectfully, keeping his posture very low. After all, he is a junior.

"You are too modest! Although you have just started working, as far as I know, you have already joined the league and also worked as a teacher. Your resume is much more meaningful than mine."

"Haha, you're funny. Come on, let's sit down and talk!"

It seemed that when it came to Lee Kong Chian's heart, the atmosphere immediately improved.

After sitting down, Li Guangqian immediately said: "This time you took the initiative to ask me out, is there something?"

Cut to the topic first, if this young man is not a person with a lot of interests, then he can continue to contact him.Because of his age, he doesn't like people who are too self-interested.

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "Just a normal visit to you! Of course, Hong Kong and Sing Tao are mainly Chinese areas. I have a natural sense of closeness, so I decided to open a branch factory in Sing Tao to build our Chinese home. Come There is no purpose in visiting you!"

Li Guangqian immediately felt relieved, and he was in a very good mood.

"It's my honor that you can think of me. Xingdao welcomes industrialists like you to invest."

Before the meeting, Lee Kong Chian got acquainted with Lin Zhichao and found that this young man was very good. Cheung Kong had more than 500 workers; the important thing was that Cheung Kong was a relatively "technical" enterprise in the industry.With other impressive résumés, it's clear that this young man has a bright future ahead of him.

Afterwards, Lee Kong Chian handed Lin Zhichao a piece of his name card, and Lin Zhichao quickly exchanged his own name card.

In this way, it can be regarded as initially having a foothold in Xing Tao's social circle.

The conversation between the two was very fast, about half an hour, and then Lin Zhichao bid farewell.In fact, when the two met for the first time, they had this time to talk, which showed that they had already paid more attention to each other.

Coupled with the fact that there is no opportunity for cooperation, it is natural that enough is enough.

In Sing Tao, Lin Zhichao's most important thing is not Lee Kong Chian's interpersonal relationship, but the lawyer-turned-politician.So when that person returns to Xingdao, they have to communicate with each other and see if they can establish a good relationship.

When doing business in Southeast Asia, the most important thing is to have good political and business relations. This is not a free trade port, so the relationship is particularly important.Of course, Lin Zhichao didn't want to build a large enterprise in Southeast Asia, he just came to occupy a position. If he has a son who is willing to immigrate to Sing Tao in the future, he will naturally have a business to inherit.

Hong Kong.

Wang Liang, the deputy general manager of Changjiang Industrial, came to Lin Zhichao's office.

Wang Liang said calmly: "Boss, a zipper factory has appeared in Hong Kong and is taking over our Hong Kong market."

He is not in a hurry, because Cheung Kong can easily crush this emerging factory.

Lin Zhichao laughed, and then said, "This isn't a sheep running into a wolf's lair—you're looking for death! What's the origin of the other party?"

Although there is only one industry in Hong Kong (machine production), this is not incomprehensible.

Wang Liang also said with a smile: "Wang Tongyuan, a textile tycoon in Shanghai, is said to have invested a lot, and his purchase was three automatic rice arranging machines imported from the United States."

"It's him!"

When Lin Zhichao and this Wang Tongyuan moved into the new factory in Dongfang Textile, they exchanged a few words in a friendly manner. He did not expect that he would set his sights on his own business so soon.

This can be said that shopping malls enter the battlefield, changing rapidly!
Wang Liang immediately said: "They gave Hong Kong manufacturers 0.85~0.9 Hong Kong dollars for a zipper, and many manufacturers were pulled away by them at once. But what is certain is that this Wang Tongyuan is also stupid. He only investigates the Hong Kong market and the Southeast Asian market. We supply The zippers are produced by old-fashioned machines, and the price is slightly higher. I don’t know, because we have no competitors, so we are temporarily like this.”

Indeed, this Wang Tongyuan didn't investigate carefully at all. He just heard from other places that Changjiang Industrial is very profitable, so he was very jealous.Of course, it is more difficult to investigate more carefully. After all, he is a native of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and does not understand the local market.

To be honest, the last time Lin Zhichao saw Wang Tongyuan, Guan Jiahui was what Lin Zhichao thought of, but unfortunately he was not born yet.

It doesn't matter, he can wait and even raise him, but he can't live for others.

"What do you think should be done?" Lin Zhichao asked back.

It's a safe chess game, let's see how Wang Liang plays it.

After Wang Liang thought about it seriously, he said: "Let's wait for the new machine to be installed in the Xingdao factory, and then give him a heavy blow. With the old-fashioned rice arranging machine, hand-stamped sliders, and imported materials For trade, etc., their cost is 0.6 cents, and the quality is not as good as new machines, so they are not competitive at all. At that time, we will first throw the eliminated machines to a familiar trader, and then we can sell each machine for 1.5~ 1.8 US dollars a set to them."

There are some silver coins, but Lin Zhichao likes it very much.

"This method is good! In short, regardless of whether they will buy the machines we have eliminated, as long as we supply the zippers produced by the new machines to the Yangtze River in Hong Kong, the price will be calculated at 8 cents. Wang Tongyuan's zipper factory does not have much room for survival."

2 gross, Wang Tongyuan does still have profits, but manufacturers will choose products with better quality at the same price.Of course, if this is the case, it will not go bankrupt, and you can linger on for a while.

"Yes! Moreover, in just over a month, it is impossible for their products to open up much of the Southeast Asian market, so the impact is not very big. As for the purchase of machines, I think there is a great chance of success, and it will cost 1.5 US dollars. You can throw it to him, and he has to be fooled obediently!"

The machine was originally planned to be put in the warehouse, and it would be fine for Li Gaofu to sell it to the mainland in the future.

Lin Zhichao laughed, and he also thought that Wang Tongyuan must have been fooled. After all, it costs 3.5 to 4 US dollars to import one from the United States, which is very expensive.But now you can get the machine for less than half the price, why not do it!
Six zipper machines, only about two years!
"It doesn't matter! Even if these things don't completely destroy his zipper business and go bankrupt, I still have another move!"

Wang Liang responded with a smile: "The boss really thinks highly of him!"

Wang Tongyuan miscalculated this step just by entering the zipper field hastily.The simplest reason why no other manufacturers in Hong Kong follow suit is that the market is not big (Hong Kong), and Cheung Kong has already grown, so there is no room for other factories to survive.

And this Wang Tongyuan’s strength is really good. In 1948, he invested more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars to establish a Hong Kong textile factory. It is the largest and most advanced textile factory in Hong Kong’s textile industry; it is 2% higher than the investment of No.50 Nanyang Textile Factory. No.3 It is Tang Bingyuan's Nanhai Textile Factory.

And why Lin Zhichao is sure that even if Wang Tongyuan's zipper factory is not destroyed this year, it will be destroyed next year, and it will certainly be able to destroy his zipper factory.

Wait and see!

Hong Kong textile mills.

Looking at the machines imported from the United States, Wang Tongyuan spit out zippers continuously, and immediately felt that this business is very good, and the profit is much higher than that of the textile industry.

With such high profits, why don't those people follow suit?
The profit of the textile industry is so low, but everyone rushes in.

Worried about competing with Cheung Kong Industrial, that's only people who have no strength think so, Wang Tongyuan thought so.

In 1940, Wang Tongyuan had already served as the chairman of the family textile factory. At that time, the scale of his factory had reached 2000 employees.

In 1946, in view of the domestic political turmoil, Wang Tongyuan planned to ship a batch of new spinning machines and power looms ordered by the United Kingdom to Hong Kong.At that time, he inspected Hong Kong for six months and found that although Hong Kong is a free port with ideal conditions, the local sales market in Hong Kong is narrow, lacking enough water and skilled workers (the current shortage of water is also a problem, but many manufacturers will pump water from the mountains), and the weather The heat and humidity made it difficult to spin cotton and the result was disappointing.

In February 1947, the national government informed Wang Tongyuan that there was not enough foreign exchange and that he was not allowed to import machines. Wang Tongyuan had no choice but to send the machines to Hong Kong again and put them in the warehouse.

In 1948, the domestic situation deteriorated again. Wang Tongyuan sent 80 skilled workers and technicians from Shanghai to Hong Kong to start a Hong Kong textile company. to settle in Hong Kong.

The huge investment in Hong Kong's textile factories and the large number of technicians and workers brought in from the Shanghai stock market naturally opened up the situation very quickly.

When Wang Tongyuan saw that Changjiang Industrial had achieved such a scale, but had no opponent, his eyes became very envious.Through the investigation of his subordinates, he found that Cheung Kong's profit margins were very high, which completely gave the opponent room for development.

How does this work?
How can money be earned by one person, so he quickly decided to buy three American automatic zipper rice sorting machines.

"Why is this slider produced differently? Why is Cheung Kong's slider so good?" Wang Tongyuan asked Wu Mingcheng, the manager of the Hong Kong zipper factory.

Wu Mingcheng made a comparison and said: "Some are produced by automatic stamping machines, but this manufacturer doesn't value them very much, not to mention our price is [-] cents cheaper, and everyone is a little dissatisfied with the long-term high-priced sales of Changjiang Industrial. I believe it will soon It can occupy half of the market in Hong Kong."

Wang Tongyuan frowned and said, "No way! You still have to find a way to inquire about this slider automatic stamping machine. There are imports there. We can't lag behind in technology. After all, we still have to open the Southeast Asian market."

Since he wants to do it, he must do his best. This is his determination to enter this industry.Although the zipper industry is small, it is only the current situation. With the development of the economy, people's clothing will become more and more modern (Western style), so the zipper market will increase exponentially.

Today's zipper market in Hong Kong, conservatively, has 40 zippers. This small market alone has a profit of more than 10. Why doesn't he do it? Moreover, he asked people to investigate in Southeast Asia and found that the agent used by Cheung Kong Industrial Co., Ltd. In the cooperation mode, the zipper that Changjiang can get is 0.9~1 Hong Kong dollars.

Such a good market, it's no wonder he didn't fight for it.

"Okay, we must find the machine channel as soon as possible."

Wang Tongyuan nodded happily. Southeast Asia is a market that is dozens of times that of Hong Kong. If he gets a piece of the pie, it can be regarded as an extra business.

"Alone Better Together"

Wang Tongyuan thought so.

In the evening, the Lin family and the Tang family had dinner at home.

During the meeting, Tang Zhongyuan also told Lin Zhichao: "Wang Tongyuan's Hong Kong textile factory invested in a Hong Kong zipper factory and imported three American machines."

He understands the strength of Cheung Kong Industry, so he is not very worried, just a reminder.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, anyone can invest in this industry! Moreover, we are expanding the European and American markets recently, and we can't care about the Hong Kong market for the time being. Let him be proud for a while."

Tang Zhongyuan nodded and said: "Although it is said that anyone can do this business, in fact not everyone can do it. In short, Wang Tongyuan will stumble this time."

Lin Zhichao didn't want to be aggressive, insidious and cunning in front of his family, so he didn't say much.On the contrary, show a kind of generosity, but very confident.

"By the way, father-in-law. It's time for Changjiang Garment Factory to replace it with the most advanced electric clothes. You should be responsible for this. In short, it needs an advanced electric sewing machine. It is best to be an American Singer brand, and it must have a full range of machines. need more."

Tang Zhongyuan was taken aback, and immediately said: "The investment is so large, but Hong Kong's garment industry has not developed, and there are so many people in the Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets. Can you consider slowly importing equipment, which can save some money?" ?”

Although he was refuting Lin Zhichao, he was also seeking Lin Zhichao's opinion.

Lin Zhichao said firmly: "It can be divided into two batches of imported machines, but it is best to complete them within half a year. Therefore, we have to invest 50 Hong Kong dollars in purchasing equipment. As for the market, don't worry, I will buy a clothing brand , we will work hard to strengthen the markets in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, as well as to enter Africa (South Africa)."

The garment industry can only make a difference in these markets at present.To enter the European and American markets, it was after the mid-50s; at that time, Europe and the United States imposed trade barriers on the RB garment market, which led to the rise of Hong Kong's garment industry.

Of course, in the past few years of the Peninsular War, Hong Kong was also unable to import new electric sewing machines, which was insufficient in the Southeast Asian market and lost to the RB garment industry.

Although Tang Zhongyuan wondered why the import of sewing machines (electric car clothes) was banned, he did choose to trust Lin Zhichao's vision; if he invested 50 yuan to buy the machine, he would pay 15 yuan according to the investment ratio.

I can afford it!This time, I made a profit of 10 Hong Kong dollars by speculating in U.S. dollars.

During the period, Song Qiaoling interjected: "But now everyone in Hong Kong is in danger, saying that even Hong Kong has been taken over."

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Mother-in-law, don't worry, what I bought is a machine, and I have a boat. At that time, I will even transport the factory equipment away. We will go to Singapore again. In a few years, we will return to Singapore." Go to Europe and the United States. Of course, I don’t think it will be accepted, after all, Hong Kong is like a bridge connecting the West, if I really have to accept it, I can only be tied to the bears in the north in the future, which is a very bad situation.”

When Tang Zhongyuan heard it, he immediately felt that it made sense, and said, "I don't think so either!"

"Father-in-law, don't go out and talk nonsense! Everyone thinks that Hong Kong Island is a threat, and the land in Tsuen Wan has not become cheap. You can expand the area around the factory a little bit, and it will be useful in the future, and it will also appreciate quickly. If you are short of money, the Yangtze River Industry can lend you some."

Tang Zhongyuan's eyes brightened. His Dongfang Textile also had a monthly profit of 60 Hong Kong dollars, and the current debt was only 40 Hong Kong dollars, which was not yet due.And he has [-] Hong Kong dollars in his hand, which is actually not bad.

"It's not necessarily much worse. I will try to buy another 10 square feet later, which is a little bit worse."

"Well, take your time. It's normal for the land price in Tsuen Wan to drop to around HK$4 this time."

Of course, the premise is that someone is willing to sell.

After the dinner party, Tang Zhongyuan and Song Qiaoling returned to their home, and the couple returned to the bedroom.

"Zhichao is very kind to our family?" Song Qiaoling said.

Tang Zhongyuan said with a smile: "It's normal, he is our daughter's husband; what's more, he is good to everyone around him, his cousin, just because he came to Hong Kong to live there, he supported others to become the boss. It can be seen that he is a person who values ​​affection and righteousness."

Song Qiaoling pinched Tang Zhongyuan and said, "I mean, he and Caiying got too close, I don't believe he has no ideas."

Tang Zhongyuan thought for a while and said, "Caiying is still young!"

Song Qiaoling was stunned. When her husband said that, didn't he mean that he could grow up?

"Go to sleep, there is no use worrying about some things too early, the children can choose for themselves."

Song Qiaoling was immediately unconvinced, and said: "The children agree, and I don't want to agree. This...wouldn't it embarrass your Tang family."

Tang Zhongyuan said: "As long as his career is big enough and my two daughters are not wronged, what can we do if we forcefully interfere? Caiying's appearance at least doesn't dislike Zhichao; and Caiyun's appearance, He is also very attached to Zhichao. We don’t encourage and don’t interfere too much. Taking a step back, we still have two sons.”

Men value their careers. Tang Zhongyuan is eager to make a career in Hong Kong, and Lin Zhichao is his noble man.

Therefore, if at least the two daughters do not object, he will not interfere.

(End of this chapter)