The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 113 [Give me freedom or give me death]

Lantian Yayuan.

In the evening, Lin Zhichao was having dinner with his family. There was a mother, a wife, a sister, and a son. They were considered a happy family, and there was a servant serving them.

"This Sunday, I'm going to go to Europe to buy a ship. This time it may take half a month." During the meal, Lin Zhichao said suddenly.

There is no way. In this era, it takes only three days for a one-way trip, and six or seven days have passed for a round trip.As for the purchase of the ship this time, Lin Zhichao still went to the UK to see the opportunity, and there was no intermediary. He did not trust the ship intermediary in Hong Kong.

Why not go to the United States to buy a ship?

You know, after World War II, the United States had 3800 million tons of merchant ships, while the United Kingdom only had 1800 million tons of merchant ships; No. 3 France had only 200 million tons, and the Soviet Union, Italy and Japan had only more than 100 million tons.

It is normal for Lin Zhichao not to go to the United States to seek opportunities, because once he buys a ship in the United States, it will definitely leave a record; once the peninsula campaign starts, his fleet will be monitored and may even be asked for trouble.

Of course, Lin Zhichao will definitely not risk being sanctioned, but he is still worried about these things.

What's more, to live in the British colonies, it is natural to do more business with London, and the pound has just depreciated, so the goods will naturally 'reduce'.

"So long?" Tang Caiyun asked reluctantly.

She knew that she definitely couldn't go with her because she had to take care of the son at home.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "Well, this time we are mainly looking for ships. It will take a long time, and maybe half a month may not be enough time."

Seeing what he said, Tang Caiyun immediately changed her attitude and said, "Okay, you can rest assured that you have me and mother-in-law at home."

Although the family has reluctance and worries, they also understand that Lin Zhichao's decision cannot be changed; what's more, Lin Zhichao attaches great importance to his career.

After dinner and washing up, Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiyun returned to the bedroom.As for Lin Ruihuan, she shared a room with her grandma.

Lying on the bed with his arms around his wife, Lin Zhichao talked about something for the first time.

"Every time I go abroad, I will leave a document with my personal lawyer, and it's the same this time. In the future, Caiyun, you can learn more about the family business and sit firmly behind me."

Tang Caiyun understood what it meant, and immediately held Lin Zhichao's arm nervously, as if she had some resistance to this aspect, but she didn't dare to say it out, for fear of bad luck.

Lin Zhichao patted her on the shoulder and said, "This is a normal procedure, so don't worry or worry."

Only then did Tang Caiyun calm down, and then said: "Okay! I don't care too much!"

Lin Zhichao said with satisfaction:

"Well, that's right! Especially now that I have Lin Ruihuan, I will be more prepared for these things. Today I will tell you what assets I have: Changjiang Real Estate: This company currently has no debts, and its net assets are 300. Dowan’s properties, including the 21.2-square-foot warehouse on Paterson Street, the six-storey property in Lantian Yayuan and Telford Gardens. Remember, Hong Kong’s properties will continue to rise, and any decline is only temporary , it will rise again sooner or later. Because land is the right.”

Tang Caiyun immediately asked, "How do you plan to develop the land on Paterson Street?"

Lin Zhichao laughed, this question is not bad, of course he will share it with the people next to him.

"It's very simple! In the next five years, Hong Kong will undergo an industrialization process. After all, we have undertaken so much capital and technology. As the population of Hong Kong increases, the Hong Kong government will sooner or later encourage real estate development, such as allowing the construction of high-rise buildings. At that time, If you build eight or nine commercial and residential buildings on this land, you can get thousands of residential units and a large number of commercial rental properties. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money to invest, as long as you sell off-plan properties, you can immediately use other people’s money for development. You probably understand Just go down!"

Tang Caiyun nodded and said, "Well, I feel like there are a lot of problems here."

Doing real estate is not that simple!Lin Zhichao is also learning by doing.

In his previous life, when he was a real estate developer, he didn't even know how to open a bank account or how to take out a bank loan. He didn't know anything about it, and soon became a real estate tycoon.Because things will force him to try his best to develop.

"The second asset: Cheung Kong Industries. At present, Hong Kong and Xingdao have achieved simultaneous production, and the products are exported to Europe, America and Asia. At present, there are two debts - 150 million principal and interest of the Bank of East Asia, and 80 follow-up of Sidburn Machinery Equipment funds. There are sufficient funds in the account. Even if I withdraw 300 million Hong Kong dollars, our net debt this year will actually be more than 150 million Hong Kong dollars. The net debt of 150 million Hong Kong dollars is nothing. much higher than that.”

Tang Caiyun asked curiously: "You took out 300 million Hong Kong dollars to develop shipping?"

Lin Zhichao said: "Yes! The third asset of our family is the newly established Global Shipping. There are almost 160 million US dollars in it, which is more than 920 million Hong Kong dollars. I have already deposited this money in HSBC as a ship purchase money."

Tang Caiyun suddenly became unbelievable. It was the first time she knew that Lin Zhichao was so rich.

A pair of beautiful big eyes stared at her husband's beautiful eyes.

In fact, no one knows that Lin Zhichao is a multi-millionaire.It is estimated that Jian Dongpu can't even count it. After all, Lin Zhichao didn't know how much he made by speculating in gold.

"Husband, you can make money so much, shall we have more children?" Tang Caiyun took the initiative.

Lin Zhichao reacted immediately, but said: "No rush, let's take our time, one child every two years, four or five are enough!"

Tang Caiyun was pressed down by Lin Zhichao, and said softly: "Are you still thinking about Caiying?"

Judging from the recent performance of Lin Zhichao and Tang Caiying, Tang Caiyun understands that everything is going towards this man's idea.Tang Caiying liked it, but her parents didn't stop her, and she let go.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Isn't this very good! The children of your two sisters will have a land career and a sea career in the future."

Tang Caiyun immediately pretended to be sullen and said: "This Caiying hasn't entered the house yet, but she has already shared with me, but I won't let her!"

Tang Caiying downstairs suddenly sneezed, not knowing why.

Lin Zhichao smiled and said nothing, how will the two sisters get along in the future?
"Smile! Husband, your plot has succeeded! But you are not allowed to miss her now!" Tang Caiyun hugged Lin Zhichao from behind and tightened her grip.

Soon, the two rolled the sheets.

At the end of December, after Lin Zhichao arrived in London, he quickly obtained various information from the major shipping managers, but he did not start.

On this day, a shipping manager named Willis saw that Lin Zhichao was still not enthusiastic after seeing that he had introduced many ships, so he said, "Mr. Lin, I have introduced so many excellent second-hand ships to you. You are not interested, maybe you are interested in Williamson's Liberty Ship? This ship is cheap, but the United States built it in a hurry during World War II, with slow speed and short life, and we ship managers are not willing to sell them. "

As soon as Lin Zhichao heard about 'Freewheel' and 'Williamson Company', he immediately wrote it down, and then said embarrassedly: "Mr. Willis, I will go back and think about it, and I will give you an answer as soon as possible!"

When Willis heard this, he didn't doubt him, so he politely got up and saw him off!
"Stay back!"

When Lin Zhichao walked out of the office building, it was already dark. The smog in London is quite serious in winter. No wonder 1.2 people will be killed by the smog in two years. Of course, these people also have serious respiratory diseases and heart diseases.

At this moment, in his mind, he began to think about Willis' last words.

Liberty Wheel, he is familiar with it!

During World War II, in order to cut off Britain's overseas (U.S.) supplies, Germany started "unrestricted" submarine warfare, and for this purpose it has accumulatively equipped thousands of submarines beyond imagination to cruise around the Atlantic Ocean, regardless of military or civilian ships, as long as Not the Axis powers, when they appeared in the Atlantic Ocean, Germany would sink them all with submarines lurking in various places, so as to stop the sources of weapons and other materials in the British and European battlefields, and force them to surrender, so that Germany could win the entire war. Europe wins the world war.

Then Britain turned to the United States for help, and American mathematicians gave the government a plan: that is, the speed of shipbuilding in the United States must be faster than the sinking speed of German submarines.

Although this is not a scientific research conclusion, the United States has taken it seriously, and the Liberty Wheel plan was born.

It only takes 30 days for a Liberty ship from laying the keel to sea trial. By 1943, this process was shortened to 24 days. At the same time, dozens of Liberty ships were built together.Later, the construction became faster and faster, and it only took more than three days to complete the steps from laying the keel to launching, because the Ford assembly line was used.

The "Liberty Ship" is not a small ship, but a very strong transport ship that can cross rough oceans.It has a total length of 135 meters, a displacement of 1.5 tons, and a cargo load of 5000 to 9000 tons. From 1941 to 1944, the United States built a total of 2710 ships, and an average of 3 ships were launched every day.

In order to speed up the construction, simplified technology was used wherever possible, especially when assembling the hull, more advanced and faster welding technology was used instead of riveting, which performed slightly better than traditional transport ships in terms of reliability and durability Worse.

The shipping manager Willis meant that since the design life of Liberty Ship is five years, those ships have almost reached the end of their life (in theory), so many ship owners dare not start at this time.

The cost of a Liberty Ship is 180 million US dollars. During the war, the cost can be recovered as long as it is transported once, because the goods on board are worth 200 million US dollars.After the war, the Liberty Ships were sold to countries around the world by an American Shipping Board.Greece alone bought 600 ships; the Z Commercial Bureau of the Republic of China also bought ten ships, totaling 550 million US dollars.Britain took more than 180 ships, and the Soviet Union refused to return 43 ships.

Others may be worried about the quality of Liberty Ships, but Lin Zhichao is more confident, because these boats can be used until the 70s; even in the late 60s in the Mainland in his previous life, he bought a batch of such dilapidated Liberty Ships at a price of 80 to [-] pounds. It didn't end until [-]s.

Therefore, if Lin Zhichao can buy Liberty Ship, it can be at least 20 years in theory; one Liberty Ship can earn him ten new ships of the same tonnage within ten years.

Not long after he walked out of the office building, Lin Zhichao was about to take a taxi back to the hotel.

Suddenly, he noticed a foreign girl not far away was crumbling, as if she was drunk or sick; when he was considering whether to step forward to help, the girl then sat by the flower table and fell down again. symptom.

Once he fell down, he might be injured. Seeing this, Lin Zhichao decided not to hesitate.

"Ma'am, do you need me to take you to the hospital?" Lin Zhichao stepped forward and asked.

When the girl with drooping head heard that she was sent to the hospital, she quickly raised her head and said, "No! Thank you, I'll be fine after just sitting down!"

At this time, Lin Zhichao saw the girl's face and was shocked!
how is she?

Just as he was surprised, the girl probably didn't want to look like this in front of strangers, so she wanted to get up and leave.

Who knows, I can't hold on this time, and I am about to fall down.

Lin Zhichao quickly supported Hepburn, then looked up and looked around, and said, "I'll take you to the restaurant over there to sit and drink a cup of hot water, and your situation will be relieved soon!"

He knew that because Hepburn was malnourished when she was a child, her body was always relatively thin; at this stage, Hepburn and her mother didn't have much money, and she herself only played some inconspicuous roles in the song and dance troupe.

"Thank you," Hepburn said in a daze.

She was already very dizzy at this time, and could only follow Lin Zhichao's movements. Although she was surprised that Lin Zhichao was an Asian, she couldn't care about that at this time.

Afterwards, the two came to the restaurant, and Lin Zhichao immediately ordered two cups of hot water and some bread, and took good care of Hepburn.

After about 30 minutes, Hepburn's condition eased.

"Thank you very much, sir! My name is Audrey Hepburn, how about you?"

"My name is Lin Zhichao, you can call me Lin."

Hepburn's big eyes regained some of their spirits, and asked: "I made you laugh, I may have forgotten to eat lunch, so I was a little dizzy just now."

She lied because she was worried about being seen as poor!
Lin Zhichao said very bluntly: "Your body is very thin, probably caused by long-term malnutrition. You should usually eat on time, rest on time every night, and recover your body through slow conditioning."

Although Hepburn was surprised by Lin Zhichao's subtle observation, she didn't want to show that she was poor in front of others, so she explained: "Actually, I am a song and dance actor, probably because I know it because I am tired. I have studied ballet since I was a child, so The body is thinner."

Lin Zhichao smiled and said nothing, and Hepburn immediately understood that this man saw through her intentions at a glance, and suddenly seemed a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, Lin Zhichao said immediately: "Your image is very good, you will become a good actor, even a Hollywood actor."

The intention was to comfort her, but Hepburn asked immediately, "Really? Why do you think so?"

Lin Zhichao was at a loss for words, he couldn't say, I am a prophet!

Hepburn soon realized that others were just being polite, but she became serious and could only say, "Sorry!"

Lin Zhichao felt that the atmosphere would end like this, so he said: "I really think you will become a good actor. If I were the director, I would definitely let you play a princess."

Hepburn became serious again and asked, "Princess? What kind of princess is it?"

Why is this person always serious!
Lin Zhichao could only helplessly search the plot of "Roman Holiday" in his mind, and said: "It's a princess who was locked in a cage since she was a child. She needs to pay attention to her own words and deeds, eat and drink, and have no free soul. Suddenly there is One day, she was curious about the outside world, took advantage of the negligence of the housekeeper, and escaped through the window, planning to take a day off for herself. On this day, she ate cheap ice cream, and even went to the flower shop without knowing that she had to pay. When she met a commoner, Going to play truth or risk, go to a public party, have a secret relationship with civilians, and finally have to face reality, pick up your own national responsibilities, and end this one-day relationship. That’s probably it!”

Hepburn's eyes turned beautiful immediately, and she said, "Are you really a businessman, not a screenwriter? I think your script looks pretty good."

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It's a very simple story!"

When the matter developed to this point, Hepburn became a little curious about Lin Zhichao, and asked, "What kind of businessman are you?"

Lin Zhichao replied: "Shipping! I am buying a ship in the UK. It is a very large ship. My dream is that the ships I own can occupy various ports in the world and provide convenience for the development of the world economy."

Although anyone who heard it thought Lin Zhichao was bragging, Hepburn said: "Well, you can do it."

She saw that Lin Zhichao was the same age as her and had an Asian face, but she had no doubts that this was her kind quality.

The two chatted for a while, and Lin Zhichao was just about to take a taxi, so he took Hepburn home together.

After Hepburn got out of the car, she looked at the car going away, only to realize that she forgot to leave a contact information, and immediately felt annoyed.She has a good impression of Lin Zhichao, and since she received help from others today, she should invite others back someday.

Thinking of this, she touched her empty bag, which meant that she was too poor.

"Hey, how is this rich?"

When she took out the things in her pocket, Hepburn was surprised to find that it was a thick stack of pounds.

Immediately there was also a note (borrowed by the hotel), which said: "After you become a star, return it to me!"

For a moment, Hepburn was stunned!

After a while, I counted the pounds in my hand, and there were a total of 500 pounds.

"He found out that I was malnourished, so he planned to help me! But how can I spend this money? Besides, he didn't even leave his contact information, so he may not meet him in the future."

After hesitating for a while, Hepburn kept the money well and did not plan to spend it for the time being!
On the other side, Lin Zhichao returned to the hotel without regret.

The career has not yet succeeded, so why think about such good things!
Although the other person is just a poor girl now, the two of them are separated by thousands of miles, how can he have the heart to chase after a girl!

So in the end, he didn't want to exchange contact information, although he knew Hepburn's address.

The next day, Lin Zhichao found Williamson Company.

This company is a company with diversified businesses, and shipping is only one of its businesses. Seeing Lin Zhichao coming to buy a ship, Charlie, the person in charge of Williamson Company, looked at him with strange eyes.

"Sorry, Mr. Lin, we only deal with ship managers, and all ships are handled by ship brokerage companies."

Seeing this, Lin Zhichao said sincerely without any haste: "I hope to buy those two Liberty Ships from your company. I need them very much. I want to engage in shipping, but my funds are limited. I want to get a more reasonable price."

Although very sincere, this time I obviously met someone who insisted on principles.

Charlie then said: "Although I am very touched by your determination in shipping, it still cannot change my decision. These two Liberty ships were produced in 1943. We sold them very cheaply for 15 pounds, but only ship managers are approved. "

When Williamson first purchased the ship from the United States, the price of the ship was only a little over 50 US dollars; now it has been almost three years, and the cost has been earned back, and it can still be sold for 42 US dollars. Why not do it?

Lin Zhichao said unwillingly: "However, the ship managers seem to be reluctant to sell these two Liberty ships. They think that no one will buy Liberty ships with a design life of only five years."

Charlie was stunned for a moment, he didn't think of this, no wonder the two Liberty Ships have not been sold for a long time, although the ships have been in operation.

"Only those of us who actually use the Liberty Ship know that this kind of ship is definitely not a five-year lifespan, or 20 years without any problems."

Lin Zhichao also said: "But the slow speed of the ship is also a disadvantage. Generally, merchant ships can maintain a speed of 14 to 15 knots, while free ships can only maintain a speed of 11.5 knots."

1节速度等于1小时1海里，1海里等于1.85公里。欧洲到香港是9000多公里，也就是5000海里左右。所以说，一个单程就需要18~20天的时间，自由轮也是有缺陷的。

But Lin Zhichao didn't care. A few days later is not a problem. What is important is that in the second half of 1950, there will be a ship shortage in the Far East.

For a moment, Charlie hesitated.Seeing that Lin Zhichao came prepared and sincere, and that the agent hadn't released it for a while, he began to change his mind.

In fact, even if Charlie insisted on brokering, Lin Zhichao could save some brokerage fees.For example, he took the initiative to find a broker and proposed how much commission. If you don’t do it, I will find the next one. Anyway, I have already found the source of goods.

"Well, since you have analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the Liberty Ship well, you must be very eager to get them. I will sell these two ships to you directly, and the price is 30 pounds."

Lin Zhichao was overjoyed, and immediately agreed.

Of course, in terms of details, he still found a law firm to deal with. At the same time, the two ships still needed to be overhauled in the UK before returning to Hong Kong.

What made Lin Zhichao happy was that the two Liberty Ships only cost US$84, which means he still had US$80 in funds to purchase the ship.In this way, he can also buy two cargo ships, although of course he will not continue to buy right away.

This allowed his fleet in 1950 to reach at least four fleets of 4-8000 tons.Of course not necessarily, because in the second half of 10000, he may add more ships.

This strength is enough for him to quickly become a shipowner at the same level as Dong Chuanwang and Xu Chuanwang.

Of course, Lin Zhichao made an investment of nearly 1000 million Hong Kong dollars as soon as he made a move, which can be regarded as a very generous existence.

(End of this chapter)