The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 131 [Recruitment] (Ask for a monthly ticket!)

In mid-October, the impact of the embargo has reached the lives of Hong Kong citizens. It is obvious that the number of unemployed people has gradually increased, because many companies have been relying on trade with the Mainland for a living. Although the "smuggling" industry has been derived, but After all, not everyone has channels and courage.

Originally, the chances of getting a job were small, but now that the number of unemployed people has increased, many people's lives have become even more difficult.

The only gratifying thing is that a large number of overseas charitable funds have poured into Hong Kong, which is more than the expenditure of the Hong Kong government. Coupled with the donations of local rich people, many relief stations have been formed.

You can't starve to death, but you can't eat enough!
Under such circumstances, Global Shipping began to recruit 120 seamen, which caused a huge sensation in Hong Kong.On the day of applying for the job, there was a huge crowd of people outside the whole Yangtze River Industry, thousands of people heard the news and came early.

In order to avoid accidents, Global Shipping specifically called and asked the police to come to maintain order.But when a dozen or so JCs arrived at the scene, they immediately felt that they were too small.

The scene is still chaotic!
"Who the fuck are you, squeezed into our team?"

"You don't care who I am, is this your family's territory?"

Soon, there were all kinds of contradictions, which gave JC a big headache.

"do not fight!"

"Believe it or not, I'll put you in the prison and starve you for three days!"

When some people saw only one or two policemen approaching, even policemen in uniform, they immediately became contemptuous.

"So it's the flowery boy who didn't grab it!"

"That's right, what's the use of light and fierceness!"

Seeing that the situation was going to be chaotic, suddenly a group of uniformed personnel, led by a foreigner, trotted in, shouting slogans.

"Maintain order"

"Those who make trouble, use a wooden stick!"

William shouted in English, and the trainees couldn't understand, but Global Security provided William with an interpreter.What's more, when William waved the wooden stick, the students already understood.

The next question is simple. This group of students has undergone devil training in the past month, and they are worried that they have no place to vent. When encountering unruly and troublesome male students, they will smoke wooden sticks when they go up.

For a time, order was quickly maintained.

"Who are you, why are you beating people!" Someone protested.

"Line up your team, don't cause trouble on the spot, and get out if you don't apply for the job!" The male students ignored it.

It is rare to find a place to vent, and he still has to show his prestige.

Many of them have served as soldiers, or practiced martial arts, or are tall and powerful, so naturally they are not afraid of these mobs.

Those who made trouble didn't dare to say a word. This group of people seemed to be eating gunpowder, their faces were full of anger.

A policeman stepped forward and asked, "Brother, from that team, your camouflage uniform is very powerful!"

When the male student saw that it was a policeman, his expression softened, and he immediately said, "From the Global Shipping Escort Team."

The policeman looked confused and asked blankly, "Isn't it JC?"

"Have you ever seen a Hong Kong JC wearing something like this?"

After the male student finished speaking, he stopped talking to these colorful boys.

In his opinion, as long as they pass the training of the devil, these policemen may not necessarily be comparable to their salaries.

Do not envy!
Soon, the news that Global Shipping had a convoy of dozens of people was known to all the youngsters present.

"A ship runner, why does he have so many security guards, is he going to fight pirates at sea?"

"Have money! Don't even look at who their boss is!"

After having 45 bodyguard trainees to maintain order, the order of the whole scene suddenly improved a lot.

The recruiters are all managers of Global Shipping. After asking a few questions, Zhong Yi will give a form, and there will be no more bread;
If you are selected on the first day, you have to take this form to participate in the second application on the second day.

Global shipping has higher and higher requirements for seafarers. After all, it takes money and energy to train them.

Wheelock's old Madden, since he had an unhappy meeting with Lin Zhichao, although he was very disdainful, he thought that Lin Zhichao was just a bragging Chinese shipowner.

But in fact, Lin Zhichao's lofty ambition of "surpassing Wheelock within ten years" has been lingering on the old Madden's head.From time to time he would always inquire about World Shipping to learn about this potential competitor.

What's more, the last time he took the initiative to cut the price by 10%, the result not only did not take away the global shipping business, but also caused joint protests from Chinese and British businessmen, which can be said to have caused a lot of trouble.

Since then, he has been concerned about global shipping.

This time, he got information that the Maritime Academy under Global Shipping actually recruited another 120 seamen.

This made old Madden's jaw drop in surprise.

You know, he guessed based on some information that Lin Zhichao already has a fleet of 3 to 5 tons.This has already made him unbelievable. After all, a shipping novice who has only been in the industry for a year has such strength?

After a while, he found Miller, a subordinate who was familiar with the terminal business.

"This round-the-world shipping, do you know how many tons of ships they have?"

Miller shook his head and said: "I don't know the details. At present, I only know that they have opened two fixed routes. The combined tonnage is 1.6 tons. In addition, they also have two [-]-ton free ships. Months have disappeared. So, maybe less than [-] tons!"

Old Madden nodded, thinking that this analysis should be reasonable.

A cargo ship with [-] tons a year is also very powerful!

You know, Wheelock Shipping currently only has a total deadweight of 20 tons, and manages cargo ships (many) with a deadweight of 5 tons.

Originally, 120 tons would be fine, but Global Shipping is now recruiting [-] seafarers, which is obviously extraordinary.

Could it be that global shipping will double in the next six months?
At this rate of development, the old Madden felt the pressure.

Of course, it is not that he is afraid of the rise of global shipping, but that he wants to bring some competition and stumbling blocks to global shipping, and tell young people not to get carried away!

"Which regular route are they opening?"

Miller said: "It is a regular route from Yokohama to Hong Kong."

Old Madden suddenly laughed, and then said: "Yokohama Port, isn't that the base of the US military? Will others still rent his boat?"

Miller reminded: "Yokohama has started rebuilding in the first half of the year, so there are some cargo orders!" He is also guessing, not knowing the specifics of this route.

Old Madden was a little embarrassed, feeling that his news was behind.

In order to alleviate the embarrassment, Old Madden immediately said: "Since the reconstruction of Yokohama, Japan's resources are scarce, and it must require a lot of imported materials from overseas. So, can we also open up a similar route to get a share?"

Miller thought for a while and said, "It should be possible! But boss, aren't the company's ships in Asia mainly for one-way charter, and they rarely run fixed routes?"

Wheelock has fixed routes from Hong Kong to Europe, and in Asia, almost all of them run one-way leases, so the price is high.

Old Madden said: "In any case, you should first investigate whether the route from Hong Kong to Yokohama is really busy. If it is busy, I will dispatch the ship and try to see if this route can make more money."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

In a word, give that kid some color and see!
It can also be seen from this point that old Madden is narrow-minded and arrogant.

If he learns that HSBC has given loans to global shipping, he will be so shocked that his teeth will fall out.

Lin Zhichao came to the "Qiuyi Building" in Queen's Road Central, and Global Shipping officially moved into the fifth floor of the Qiuyi Building, not far from HSBC Bank.

Qiuyi Building is located at No. [-] Queen's Road, near the triangle area, next to Ice House Street and Des Voeux Road.The famous "No. [-] Queen's Road Central" in later generations is the Holland Bank, Yili Bank, Des Voeux Road's Guangdong East Bank, and the Qiuyi Building on Queen's Road.

In this case, once the three sides facing the street are opened up, the plot rate can be increased a lot, and the value is equivalent to a lot of increase.

At present, many buildings in Hong Kong occupy an area of ​​less than [-] square feet, or just over [-] square feet; unlike the buildings of later generations, almost all of them occupy an area of ​​[-] square feet or even [-] square feet.

This is because, in Hong Kong in this era, the commercial buildings were not high, almost five or six floors, so the area was not large; the commercial buildings of later generations were almost [-] to [-] storeys, which was obviously too small. It is impossible, so it can only be solved by merging buildings.

At present, Lin Zhichao's career is considered huge, and he wondered if he could own a modern building in the late 50s or early 60s.

Building commercial buildings too early, firstly, wastes and takes up funds; secondly, the Hong Kong government has not encouraged the development of buildings to the sky; thirdly, the modernization of the buildings is insufficient.

Walking into Global Shipping, the two front desk staff immediately stood up and greeted them.

Lin Zhichao nodded, and finally became a big company.

Global shipping will start next year, and the annual profit will be tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. It is definitely a big company in Hong Kong.

"Call the financial manager, Fang Ping, and come to my office!" Lin Zhichao said to the assistant Li Haoshi who came up to him.

"Okay!" Li Haoshi rushed to the accounting room.

After a while, Li Haoshi and Fang Ping walked in, and Li Haoshi immediately made tea.

Seeing Fang Ping running in so quickly, Lin Zhichao asked, "Do you know why I called you here?" Right now, you're not ready either.

Fang Ping quickly said, "Is it the financial situation of the Venus, boss?"

In fact, he was a little sure, but in order to take care of the boss's face, he naturally asked in a questioning tone.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Really, sit down and report."

Each of its ships is registered with the company. Although the financial accounting is done separately, it is actually the financial department of Global Shipping that is doing the accounting.And the 7600-ton Venus has been in operation for more than a month, so Lin Zhichao is very concerned about its financial situation.

Afterwards, Fang Ping sat on the sofa and reported the financial situation of the 'Venus'.

"Venus has completed a fixed route at present, with a load of 5200 tons of cargo, the unit price is 15 US dollars per ton, and it took 43 days. Excluding expenses, the gross profit should be more than 6 US dollars."

There are also many uncertainties in Maori, such as the sudden repair of the ship.

These are all one-way situations. Generally, there is no cargo on the return trip to Japan.According to the current market situation, it only takes a little over a year to earn back the price of the ship.But considering that the market is still rising, it is no problem to earn back the price of the ship in one year, after all, it is an old ship.

This wave of market can be described as "earning back an old ship in less than a year". It is estimated that the hot market will last for two years, and then gradually decline, but the market is still good.

Of course, this is just a general description, there must be deviations in the specifics, and there are special circumstances.For example, if you go to the north to transport goods, you may earn back the price of a large ship in one trip, which is more than enough.

"Well, it seems that this route is relatively good."

"Indeed, the overall benefit is better than that of the Gold and Silver (8800 tons)."

Lin Zhichao nodded. After all, Venus opened up a new market and was the first to eat crabs.It's not that there are no ships running from Hong Kong to Yokohama, but the Venus is the first ship with a fixed route.

The fixed line has the advantage of being on time and slightly cheaper.

After Fang Ping left, Lin Zhichao leaned back on the chair and relaxed a bit.

The shipping business is doing well, and the feedback from the ships also shows that the performance of these ships is very good, which is considered a treasure.

Although shipping is a big subject, it doesn’t need to be used all at once, so Lin Zhichao didn’t have anything that he couldn’t cope with while learning about shipping.

In fact, he started studying shipping two years ago.At that time, Li Gaofu chartered a ship to trade in the north, and Lin Zhichao had the opportunity to get in touch with shipping.

Today, Lin Zhichao can not only consult with the veteran ship king, but also directly visit and learn from the shipyard repair shop, or study on-site on his own freighter.

These are basic skills, and what is more important in shipping is 'finance' and 'period'.

A ship is expensive, if it expands slowly, the achievements will be limited; if it is proficient in finance, it can speed up the pace of expansion.

Periodicity, the periodicity of shipping can make shipowners "overnight riches". By using several times the rent, he bought six boats within a year.Of course, the cyclicality of shipping can also allow shipowners to "return to JF once". For example, in the Great Depression of shipping in the 30s, ships were parked in ports, and a ship worth 200 million US dollars only cost [-] US dollars.

Whether it is 'finance' or 'cycle', Lin Zhichao not only has a forward vision, but also has a smart brain, so he is also full of confidence.

Lin Zhichao wrote down on paper: shipping, industry, real estate, while thinking about future plans.

In fact, Cheung Kong Properties has been developing residential buildings. After the Hong Kong Island crisis, Cheung Kong Properties also spent some funds to buy some old buildings (uninhabitable), and then made small-scale investments.After one year, seven tenement buildings were also built, and some small money was made.

Anyway, it is to calculate the cost, and do it with a little profit, but never invest too much, following the principle of "fried four hot meats".At present, there are only about [-] per floor in Hong Kong, and there is still a downward trend, affected by the embargo.

In terms of industry, zippers, plastics, clothing, and clothing have all stabilized. Affected by the embargo, it may take three years to stabilize before seeking breakthroughs and new developments.

Step by step!
The time is still very long!

Lin Zhichao relaxed.

Lin Zhichao came to the Blue Room of the Hong Kong Club again, but this time he was not invited by the old Madden, but by Sandas.The Hong Kong Club has no Chinese members. If Lin Zhichao came alone, he would only be rejected.Only when the waiter heard that he was invited by a member would he take him to the restaurant.

Seeing Sandas, Lin Zhichao had a smile on his face, this is his God of Wealth.Although, the cooperation between the two is a mutual achievement, or even without the support of HSBC, Lin Zhichao has thought of a backup fund channel plan.

But in any case, he still most hoped to obtain financial support from HSBC.

After Lin Zhichao sat down, Sandas signaled the waiter to give Lin Zhichao the menu to order, since it is Western food, just order each one.

"I heard that the Global Maritime Academy is recruiting a large number of seamen again. I wonder what your plan is?" Soon, Sandas asked this question.

Lin Zhichao said frankly: "You should also know that now the shipping price is soaring, the business in the Far East is soaring, and the ship shortage is only a matter of time. My three [-]-ton ships are highly valued by Japanese customers and the business is busy. So I am sure, early next year. When it expires, they will choose to renew the contract at a high price. And this time, I want to renew the contract for three to five years."

Sanders immediately understood Lin Zhichao's plan and said, "Do you want to use the renewed funds and contract to borrow money from HSBC to expand your fleet?"

Lin Zhichao nodded honestly and said, "The best result is like this!"

Sanders then laughed and said, "What about the worst possible outcome?"

Obviously this is a joke!

Now that we have the first loan, HSBC will more or less conduct a risk assessment based on the actual situation.As a result, it is a question of how much to borrow.

At this time, within HSBC Bank, global shipping was highly regarded, because this company could open up a profitable market without relying on smuggling.It is the first ship owner in Hong Kong to charter long-term with Japan, which obviously opens up a market.

Lin Zhichao also jokingly said: "It's not easy. The cost of training a seaman is about 500 Hong Kong dollars, and the cost of 5 training is only [-] Hong Kong dollars. For us, we can afford the loss."

The implication is that these seafarers can be dismissed.

Sanders smiled, and then said seriously: "Actually, HSBC Bank has not set a precedent for investing in shipping. One of the reasons for the last loan was that Global Shipping's heavy assets amounted to more than 200 million US dollars. The loan is only 25%, and your achievements, Mr. Lim, in real estate and business. In fact, HSBC still regards shipping as a 'black book'."

Lin Zhichao was taken aback for a moment, and then thought it was true, but he didn't feel depressed.

"Anyway, World Shipping and HSBC have already reached a cooperation, haven't they?"

What he meant was that he had a good start.

Sandas nodded and said, "Of course! Anyway, I will help you and convince Charlie from the project department."

In fact, Sandas himself supports it, and he has already appointed a project manager, so there is still hope that the loan will be successful.

But Sanders didn't give Lin Zhichao a guarantee, and Sanders himself didn't know how much Lin Zhichao wanted to borrow!
Afterwards, the two talked about many things, and Sanders found that Lin Zhichao had many unique insights, which inspired him a lot.

For example, when Lin Zhichao talked about Hong Kong's economy, he speculated that Hong Kong would gradually transform from an entrepot port to an industrial city.

Sanders felt that the analysis was well-founded, and he became more determined that after he took office (the project manager), he would initiate HSBC to take the initiative to make loans to factory owners.

Although HSBC has provided sparse loans to factory owners since World War II, it is still relatively conservative at present.

The two chatted happily, and went home after dinner. Invisibly, the two also became friends.At this time, Sandas never dreamed that Lin Zhichao knew that he would become a project manager, and even the chairman of HSBC Bank, so he approached him proactively.Sandas simply believed that Lin Zhichao went to the doctor in a hurry and came to him.

Back in the car.

Lin Zhichao had something in his mind. He hoped that at the beginning of the year, he could get a loan of 200 million US dollars, so that he could increase the cargo capacity by about 4 tons (plus his own funds).This loan appeal is not excessive, and the risk is relatively small.

With this development, the peninsula war is over, and global shipping will have a load capacity of about 30 tons, of course all freighters.

With the first wave of 'copy', distance from other Chinese shipowners.

Today, Sandas suddenly asked Lin Zhichao, which is also good news.It shows that he is paying attention to global shipping, and it can also show that he has decided to support global shipping.

Not bad!

Originally, Lin Zhichao felt that the recruitment was a bit too fanciful, but he did not expect to get a useful piece of information.

(End of this chapter)