The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 118 [To do business]

Lin Zhichao came to the wharf of Wharf, which is a deep-water port in Hong Kong. Large ships of global shipping can only unload and load cargo in the deep-water port, and they can only rent the warehouse of Wharf.

Because many goods are filed in advance to be transported, these goods will be put into the warehouse at the terminal, and then the shipping company needs to pay rent to the owner of the warehouse, which is calculated on a daily basis.

With the large number of wharves and warehouses in Wharf, Jardine Matheson earns a lot of money every year.

There is a saying: "Whoever owns Wharf will control most of Hong Kong's cargo handling, storage and transportation and cross-sea ferries."

It is true that Wharf is the largest terminal in Hong Kong at this time, and its industry covers most of the terminals, warehouses, trams, ferries and other high-quality industries in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, the New Territories, and Hong Kong Island.

The Wharf Terminal alone has a large ferry terminal, five cargo ship terminals, and a large number of warehouses on the shore.

Lin Zhichao asked: "Has Wharf deliberately targeted the unloading time of our cargo ships?"

Gao Qiqiang was in charge of the business. After thinking about it, he said, "That's not true! The price of the warehouse is a bit more expensive, but the prices are similar. Everyone is saying in private that the fees charged by Jardine Matheson are too expensive."

This is the tradition of Jardine Matheson, that is to suck blood from Hong Kong, and then get overseas investment.In the future, Jardine Matheson will only become more and more excessive (expensive fees), until Wharf has offended all Hong Kong ship owners, and even the Hong Kong government can't understand it.

The reason why Lin Zhichao asked the question just now was that he was also worried about being deliberately targeted by Wheelock & Co. Although the possibility of this was very small, he had to be vigilant.Once the unloading time is delayed by the terminal, and the rental price of the warehouse is particularly expensive, it is obviously very troublesome.

Of course, that's not happening right now.And the chances of this kind of thing happening are not high. The first is that Madden can’t control Jardines, and Wheelock is still only a medium-sized foreign firm; the second is that Jardines will not make a fuss. is the purpose.

After the Jin'an docked, Lin Zhichao also boarded the cargo ship.

"boss"

The sailors greeted each other.

Lin Zhichao asked with a smile: "How is life on this boat?"

A sailor immediately replied: "The environment on board the Jin'an is much better than that on the shore in Hong Kong. There is everything you need. This Yankee-built ship is rich."

Everyone laughed!

But Lin Zhichao said: "Don't be too happy, the crew of each ship will not be fixed in the future, but will need to be rotated. There are ships with good conditions, and naturally there are ships with poor conditions."

"We're not afraid, we're ready for this when we come out to run the boat, boss, don't worry!"

"That is, no matter how difficult the conditions are, we can do it."

For a while, these sailors responded easily.

It can be seen from their bodies that they are fundamentally different from employees of other shipping companies.

It's like the difference between a regular army and a miscellaneous army.

It seems that the courses of Global Maritime Academy can still change some people.

Later, Lin Zhichao came to the crew's living area, meeting room, library, etc., and put forward some suggestions for rectification.

"Captain Li, bring the management on board to the company meeting tomorrow!" Lin Zhichao finally said.

What kind of meeting is held is naturally a summary meeting.

Li Donglai nodded. He knows that there are many rules in global shipping, but it happens that the salary is a little higher (double pay at the end of the year, and benefits on holidays), and the treatment on board is better (food).

The seafarers on board are all trained by the Global Maritime Academy, and everyone has become accustomed to some company rules and regulations.

"Okay, boss!"

After staying on the boat for a long time, Lin Zhichao reluctantly left, because he found that standing on the boat was like standing on a yacht.

If he buys a new boat in the future, he wonders if he wants to go with the boat once and experience the feeling of sailing on the sea;
Of course, the voyage is only within ten days, such as Japan to Hong Kong.

The non-stop flight from Japan-Hong Kong-South Africa arrived at the dock in Hong Kong. Tang Zhongyuan had already received the news and immediately drove to pick up the goods in person.

He is the commander-in-chief of this rush work, and he must complete 700 dozens of shirts perfectly within three days.

With the arrival of man-made fiber cloth in Hong Kong, Tang Zhongyuan felt that the first step had been completed.

He believes that if this order does not require Japan to purchase fabrics, there may be garment factories willing to cooperate, and then there will be nothing for them.

When the cloth arrives at the Changjiang Garment Factory, the first step is to cut it.

Generally speaking, many garment factories do not have this link. They can only process and cut them outside, and then take them back to the factory for sewing.

The Yangtze River Garment Factory has an area of ​​nearly 200, all kinds of equipment are available, and there are more than [-] workers. It already has the conditions to be promoted to a medium-sized garment factory, and it only needs orders.

In Hong Kong, there are no large-scale garment factories, and medium-sized garment factories are already the largest level, and there are still very few of them.

Soon, Tang Zhongyuan had begun to direct the production, and the workers began to concentrate on their work.

Everyone knew beforehand that a batch of goods needed to be rushed, and everyone needed to complete the task overnight.

As for whether there is a reward, these workers will naturally not ask, and the boss will not give it. This is a habit in the industry.

There is no such thing as overtime pay in Hong Kong, and everyone has never stopped hearing it.

Some factories work for 16 hours, and some factories work for 12 hours. If you can’t do it, just leave.

The fact is that at present, a job of 50 yuan per month outside is a sought-after position in the market.

Salary does not necessarily make you full, but it will definitely not let you starve to death.

This is the fighting spirit of this era!
On the afternoon of the third day, Lin Zhichao came to the Changjiang Garment Factory.

"Zhichao, we've already packed it and finished it 20 hours ahead of schedule!" Tang Zhongyuan said happily with dark circles under his eyes.

"Father-in-law has worked hard! With this experience, you don't need to be nervous next time." Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

Although the two are cooperating in the Yangtze River Garment Factory, the division of labor is very clear. Lin Zhichao is only a staff member, and Tang Zhongyuan actually participates in the operation.And for these three days, Tang Zhongyuan had to take care of the three 'textile and dyeing' factories, so naturally he didn't return home.

Doing business is so hard, everyone has come here like this!
"Yes, the workers have really worked hard this time. Many workers only sleep for two or three hours a day." Tang Zhongyuan also sighed.

Not all capitalists are strict. Both Lin Zhichao and Tang Zhongyuan are bosses who attach great importance to employee welfare.Although this kind of overtime work does not pay overtime pay, the Changjiang Garment Factory itself has wages 20% higher than its peers, plus double pay at the end of the year and holiday benefits, which is already a model of a good boss.

Therefore, there is no problem if you work overtime occasionally, and you don't work overtime often.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone, but if the company develops, their treatment will naturally increase. We are not stingy bosses." Lin Zhichao said calmly.

Tang Zhongyuan nodded.

Afterwards, Lin Zhichao naturally went among the masses, after all he was the boss.

Walking into the workshop, the workers were still working on other orders. They hadn't slept well for two days, but today they could finally get off work early and go home to get a good night's sleep.

"Boss Lin" was greeted by workers.

Lin Zhichao nodded. There are both male and female workers in the factory, and men account for more than 70%.To be honest, men can do any kind of work, let's say sewing machines, most of them are better than female workers.

"Thanks for your hard work, everyone! When we win the order from South Africa, the company will grow even bigger, and the treatment of you old employees will definitely increase."

Painting cakes are a must!

Of course, this is not cake. The most important thing is that the enterprise developed by Lin Zhichao will definitely become the industry benchmark, and will be at the advanced level of the industry in all aspects.

If you do poorly in this industry and struggle twice, you have to take the initiative to close down.

"Thank you, Boss Lin!" The workers said in an 'innocent and simple' way.

What a worker!

Seeing these workers, Lin Zhichao couldn't help but go online. Hong Kong still has 30 years of 'cheap and high-quality labor'. He has to do more business and make full use of these workers.

Otherwise, he will have a bad conscience!

The next day.

Lin Zhichao and Tang Zhongyuan heaved a sigh of relief when 700 dozen shirts were put on the direct freighter to South Africa on time. After all, it was the first time they received an order from South Africa, and they were still unfamiliar in all aspects.

Now, I can finally sleep peacefully.

When the owners of the garment factories in Sham Shui Po heard that Cheung Kong Garment Factory had accepted Scott's order, they immediately had heated discussions.

"This Yangtze River Garment Factory even accepts orders from Africa, so it's not afraid that we won't be able to get the payment!"

"Boss Lin is rich and powerful, it doesn't matter if you lose money!"

"I heard that there are 700 dozens of shirts in this order, and the sales must be at least 10 Hong Kong dollars! As far as I know, the Changjiang Garment Factory only has a scale of more than 10 people (old calendar), can it earn [-] Hong Kong dollars a year?" ? If it’s a loss, it’s better not to do it.”

Colleagues are still not optimistic about the orders from Africa, and they are very prejudiced, and even plan to see the joke of the Yangtze River Garment Factory.

As for the ownership of Changjiang Garment Factory, everyone naturally thinks it is Lin Zhichao's property.

Of course, this industry was originally Lin Zhichao's industry; even in the future, he will have a [-]-[-] split with the Tang family at most.

Lin Baixin of Lixin Garment Factory also heard about the ownership of the South African order, and immediately regretted it.If this order is used as an opportunity to enter the products into South Africa, then Lixin Garment Factory will no longer be limited to the Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets.

At the same time, Lin Baixin hoped that Changjiang Garment Factory would screw things up, so that he could get a chance.

"I want to take the initiative to seek orders from South Africa, and I can't sit still!"

It was another spring (1950), and greenery can be seen everywhere on Hong Kong Island.Even Central in this era is half green, not like a concrete (concrete) forest where buildings are built next to each other in later generations.

It turns out that there is still a large amount of undeveloped land in Central.No development does not mean no owners. For example, How Tung's family owns a 1.6-square-foot high-quality land on Des Voeux Road (the former Hang Seng Bank's head office).

And Tsuen Wan is even more so, a piece of emerald green.

However, as the impact of the 'Hong Kong Island Crisis' weakened, many business owners began to come here to seek to open factories.

Naturally, the land here also began to recover.

Lin Zhichao is sitting in the office of Cheung Kong Industrial, working.

Cheung Kong is his biggest cash cow, with a monthly profit of more than 40 Hong Kong dollars, and more and more orders from Europe and the United States.

Last year, after Cheung Kong took 300 million Hong Kong dollars away from him, the debt was only 150 million Hong Kong dollars.This is equivalent to providing Lin Zhichao with a net profit of 150 million Hong Kong dollars last year.

However, with the investment in Changjiang Plastics and Changjiang Garment Factory, the two sums add up to a total of 70 Hong Kong dollars, which means that most of the profits in January and February of this year have been lost.

Lin Zhichao no longer dared to recklessly invest in Cheung Kong's funds this year, because Cheung Kong had to consider the impact of the 'trade embargo'.The most important thing is to purchase a large amount of raw materials in time for the first half of the year.

Although the factory in Singapore has been put into production, who knows if the Yankees will target that factory; fortunately, Lin Zhichao has no plan to engage in "smuggling" business, so theoretically he will not be targeted.

Even in terms of shipping business, Lin Zhichao and Dong Chuanwang are the same people, but Dong Chuanwang transports military supplies for Taiwan Island and the United States, while Lin Zhichao charters ships to Japanese shipping companies for a long time at most.

Tao Derong, general manager of Changjiang Plastic Factory, came to Lin Zhichao's office and made a work report.

"Boss, Changjiang Plastic Factory can now make a small profit and occupy a lot of market share. It has also opened up sales channels in Southeast Asia."

Lin Zhichao was more pleased to hear that, as long as Cheung Kong can make money, the total investment of 35 Hong Kong dollars was originally for accumulating experience; but now he can make a small profit and pay back the capital in a year or two, so why not do it.

"What is the wholesale price of plastic in the Hong Kong market now?" Lin Zhichao asked with concern.

As the saying goes, there is no business without profiteers, so he is naturally eager to be the champion and occupy a larger market.However, if it is a normal method, it will inevitably be impossible, or both sides will suffer.

At this time, Lin Zhichao thought of two cases for his reference:
[-]. He once saw a TV series in which Jian Pengcheng bought all the printers when the main character was re-opening, and then there was a storm at sea, so he was the only one who had the printers in his hands, and he took the opportunity to sell them at a high price.

40. Ma Bufang, a warlord who has occupied Ching Hai for [-] years, bought all the sewing machines on the market after fleeing to Dubai, so all the expatriates (those with the surname Jiao) can only buy machines from him at high prices.

This case shows that once the market monopoly is achieved, the price is not your final decision.

Tao Derong replied: "One pound (450G) is 1.4~1.5 Hong Kong dollars. In fact, the profit of plastic products is quite high. If it is processed into a ballpoint pen and a refill is added, the wholesale price can be several yuan, and the market price is even higher. A set of 21 pens, although you can’t sell an imported ballpoint pen for 100 Hong Kong dollars, the profit is also very high!”

The refills are imported, and Hong Kong can only produce pen cases.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "Although ball pens are highly profitable, we still mainly focus on toys and daily necessities."

"Ok!"

In fact, the purpose of Lin Zhichao asking this question is that he intends to purchase a large amount of plastics before the United States blocks Hong Kong trade; moreover, the cost price of plastics imported by Yangtze River Trade is only 1.2 Hong Kong dollars per pound, or even lower.

In the second half of the year, Changjiang Plastic Factory can purchase a large amount of plastic raw materials from the market, resulting in scarce raw materials in the market, so as to achieve the point of controlling the raw materials in the market.At that time, Changjiang Plastic Factory will be able to "advance and retreat freely" and become the overlord of the industry in one fell swoop.

After Tao Derong left, Lin Zhichao leaned on his chair and thought.

The next three years will be both an opportunity and a trouble for him.The trouble is the unknown of his zipper industry, but there are many opportunities, such as shipping and real estate.

As for the trouble, he has already planned for a rainy day, and only hopes to minimize the loss.

Right now, we are trying to scrape together 300 million Hong Kong dollars around mid-April, which will be used to purchase aluminum alloy, copper, and plastic in the United States, so as to avoid the embarrassment of not having raw materials at that time.For the Singapore factory, of course we have the greatest hope, but it is not the only hope.

"dong dong"

"Come in"

Wang Dongshan raised his head and saw that it was Li Jiacheng, his face was a little displeased, because the performance of Wanhe Plastic Factory has dropped rapidly recently, and this general manager has an unshirkable responsibility.

Li Jiacheng also understands what his boss thinks of him, but no matter how smart he is, he has no choice but to face the impact of "high quality and low price" from the Changjiang Plastic Factory.

What worries him even more is that he is about to quit his job and start a business, and the competition in this market is so fierce now, how to survive.

But he has to resign. People cannot work part-time all their lives. He has been in society for six years, and now it is time to start a business.He thought about it seriously, assuming he opened a plastic factory, he must make full use of the workers and produce day-to-day to reduce costs, so as to survive and survive.

As for these workers, he can recruit from those who have just come out of the farmland (Cantonese asylum), which can save a lot of salary.

Saving is the most important thing!
As for which workers have been wronged, he doesn't think there is anything wrong with it. How many people are unemployed now, even if it is a job of [-] to [-] Hong Kong dollars, they have to queue up to apply for it.

The big deal is that when I make money in the future, I will give everyone salary increases and benefits.

"Manager Li, the recent decline in performance has been serious! Why don't you think more about it?" Wang Dongshan asked.

He always felt that there was something wrong with this number one officer recently, and he was going to beat him today.After all, the general manager's salary is not low.

Li Jiacheng was embarrassed for a moment, knowing that he was wrong.

However, he quickly adjusted his mood and said: "Boss, I'm sorry, the market competition is really fierce now. Also... I actually came to resign from you!"

Wang Dongshan was immediately surprised, and said with a little excitement: "Manager Li, I know you are under a lot of pressure, but you don't need to resign! We have overcome all the storms and waves in the past, and now there is one more big player!"

He still attaches great importance to the talent of Li Jiacheng, and it is even difficult to find such an excellent general manager.

Li Jiacheng gritted his teeth and said, "It's not for this reason! At the end of last year, I already considered quitting my job and starting a business. I can't work for others all my life. I also have ideals to become an entrepreneur like you."

Wang Dongshan's face turned livid immediately, and he said unhappily: "Manager Li, if you want to raise your salary, I will agree without saying a word. You are the general manager of our Wanhe, how many customers will you take away when you leave?"

Li Jiacheng quickly waved his hand and said, "Boss Wang, don't worry, I will never poach any of the company's customers, even if they take the initiative to come to the door, I will not do business with them, this is moral."

Wang Dongshan immediately understood that Li Jiacheng had already made up his mind to go, and no further persuasion would help.

He still said unwillingly, "It's really not a wise decision for you to quit your job and start a business knowing that the competition is fierce now."

Li Jiacheng can only say: "My factory is small, I can hold multiple jobs by myself, and the expenses are much lower. So it is easier to survive!"

Wang Dongshan had no choice but to stay with Li Jiacheng for a month, and then leave after he had dealt with the company's affairs;

Little did they know that a towering hand had already gathered dark clouds, and it was mainly aimed at him, and the opponent was a person he had never met.

(End of this chapter)