The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 136 [Fleet Increase] (Ask for a monthly ticket!)

Lin Zhichao came to Japan again non-stop, and found Tatsuro Yamashita for help.

"President Yamashita, I need your cooperative bank to open an LC for me to prove that the contract between us can be guaranteed. This LC contract is very important to me, and it is related to the amount that HSBC is willing to loan."

Tatsuro Yamashita showed a bit of embarrassment, and then said: "Mr. Lin, the protection of this contract is not only about our Yamaguchi steamship, but also about your global shipping. The risk of cargo ships at sea is even far greater than ours. Yamaguchi steamship."

The implication is that the most important thing to guarantee is global shipping.

Lin Zhichao said confidently: "I assure you, I will do my best to fulfill my responsibilities and be responsible to the end."

It stands to reason that if the ship is leased to others, it will be used by others, so what responsibility should it bear?

The responsibility of global shipping is to properly manage the ship.Doing shipping business is different from doing business on land. Ships go on the sea, not on the ground.

For example, if you run a factory, you can see for yourself that if you lock the door of the factory, everything will be inside.

You can't lock the boat, how do you lock it?
It moves, and if it doesn't move (broken), you will lose money.

The ship is moving, and if the management is not proper, mistakes will occur, so the responsibility is really great.

Tatsuro Yamashita seemed to be persuaded, but he still didn't express his position, and he didn't speak, as if he was thinking and embarrassed.

Lin Zhichao is so sharp-eyed that he has already discovered Tatsuro Yamashita's intentions, but he doesn't express his opinion;
He immediately guessed that with the shrewdness of the Japanese, he must want certain benefits.

"President Yamashita, our Global Shipping is very good at managing ships. You can rest assured about this. In addition, if my ship is damaged while transporting your cargo, the insurance compensation will be entirely yours. I will directly ask the insurance company to pay the money." Dial into your bank account, I won't take a cent."

Anyone who does shipping knows that the sea is ruthless, the wind and the clouds are changing, and the journey is full of dangers. In case of any accident, you will get a considerable amount of compensation.

Generally speaking, the insurance money is not enough to cover the total loss of the cargo and the ship, but if the shipowner waives the insurance money, all will be given to the cargo owner, so the cargo owner has no risk.

Of course Tatsuro Yamashita knew what Lin Zhichao's abandonment of the insurance compensation meant to Lin Zhichao.He thought in his heart that since Lin Zhichao could make this promise, it showed that this person was indeed sincere, so he would fulfill him, and we could cooperate more happily in the future.

"Okay, I promise you, I will take you to our bank manager."

Lin Zhichao was overjoyed immediately. This matter has been more than half successful, and the bank needs to "break through the barriers". Fortunately, there are two lobbyists.

"Thank you, President Yamashita, for your trust!"

Later, Tatsuro Yamashita took Lin Zhichao to Bank of Kobe, Japan.

Two days later.

When Lin Zhichao put a very important "letter of credit" issued by the Bank of Kobe in front of Sandas, the British man touched the paper in disbelief.

He couldn't figure it out, Lin Zhichao was a young man with no background and not much shipping experience.In just a few days, I got back a letter of credit from a bank in Japan.

While being surprised, Sandas admired Lin Zhichao even more. He was thinking that it would be a loss for HSBC if such a young man was not supported.

In view of the 'gentleman's agreement' between the two, the banker's most important thing is a 'letter', Sanders said: "Okay, I will do my best to facilitate this loan."

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "Thank you!"

Afterwards, Sandas took Lin Zhichao through the formalities at HSBC and left in a good mood.It is only a matter of time before the loan is released, and the HSBC project department has already agreed to the loan.

The huge sum of US$300 million is enough for Lin Zhichao to buy 5 10-ton second-hand cargo ships, and his fleet will reach more than [-] tons.

Back to Global Shipping, Lin Zhichao immediately called a management meeting.

"Manager Feng, tell the Global Maritime Academy to recruit another 60 students. This time, we must insist on those who have worked on ships first."

All the management team were overjoyed. The boss said that it was obvious that global shipping was about to develop on a large scale.You know, there are a total of 120 seafarers already in training.There are a total of 180 seafarers, indicating that global shipping will double this time.

Could it be that HSBC loaned a lot to the company.

"Okay, I'll do it right away." Feng Yongfa said hastily.

There is no shortage of seafarers in Hong Kong, and there are plenty of them. There are also many important positions such as captain, chief mate and second mate, and chief engineer.

Later, Lin Zhichao also frankly told everyone that HSBC Bank was going to lend a huge sum of US$300 million to Global Shipping.

For a while, everyone was shocked.

You know, the five ships of Global Shipping are not worth 300 million US dollars.But the boss can borrow 300 million U.S. dollars. This is because HSBC wants to support his own boss.

With honor!

"Therefore, you have to keep your spirits up and be sure to be foolproof in the management of the cargo ship. The same is true for me. I will supervise and inspect the work of the entire company. I hope everyone will not let me catch mistakes."

"Yes, boss!"

Everyone answered with high spirits as if they had been beaten with chicken blood.

They know that the boss's understanding and learning ability of shipping is very strong.

Such a boss can't rub the sand in his eyes.

When Lin Zhichao came to Cheung Kong Industrial, he received affirmative information from Sing Tao that the Sing Tao Changjiang Zipper Factory was not affected whether it was purchasing or exporting.

This made him breathe a sigh of relief. After all, his household registration is in Hong Kong, so Lin Zhichao was worried that the relevant departments in the United States would seize this point; now it seems that the strategy of building factories around the world in order to avoid trade barriers is indeed effective.

In this way, Cheung Kong can spend these three years in peace and stability, and even make a breakthrough.

As for the zipper market in Japan, Cheung Kong is stronger than imagined, so that YKK zippers can't surpass Cheung Kong in market share at all for a while, let alone drive them out of the Japanese market.

The market prices are similar to everyone, but the agents of Cheung Kong Industries have chosen to continue to cooperate. They have made a lot of money in the past few years, so although they are only making small profits now, they still choose Cheung Kong Industries.What's more, the conditions given by YKK zippers are not generous.

In this way, YKK zippers can only rely on factory direct sales and a small number of agents to compete for large and medium-sized customers in Japan.With the help of agents, Changjiang Zipper can supply small and medium-sized customers in Japan.

The performance of YKK zipper made Lin Zhichao feel confident that if the Japanese market is like this, the overseas market will only fail completely.

After a while, Sun Tao from the R&D Department came to Lin Zhichao's office.

Cheung Kong’s R&D department has a group of serious engineers with university education, most of whom have immigrated to Hong Kong from the mainland; their salaries are at least at the level of middle management, and they can afford a 60-year-old High earners with meta nanny.

These engineers can ensure that the engineering machines are ready to run at any time, and can continue to improve the machines, and develop some small machines, so that they can be handed over to Bourne Machinery for production.At the same time, the R&D department must ensure the optimization of the entire production system.

"Boss" Sun Tao greeted respectfully.

It is already the pride and excellence of the Chinese to be able to achieve the level of a boss in the industry. Sun Tao admires his boss very much.

Lin Zhichao motioned for him to sit down, and then said: "I want to use nylon to produce zippers and become a pioneer of non-metallic zippers. Therefore, I plan to cooperate with Bourne Machinery to conduct research in this area."

If he remembers correctly, the first country in the world to develop non-metallic zippers is the Federal Republic of Germany.

But now, he plans to cooperate with Bourne Machinery to conduct research in this area.

If Cheung Kong can take the lead in producing nylon zippers, the increase in popularity will be very beneficial.

After thinking about it, Sun Tao said, "If nylon zippers can be developed, the cost will be greatly reduced."

Their R&D department is dealing with zippers and zipper machines every day, and the level is naturally not what it used to be.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "Non-metallic zippers are a trend in the future. Not to mention the elimination of metal zippers, they are at least more popular. My idea is that you lead someone to Bourne Machinery to discuss cooperative research and development. What's the matter?" For the specific plan, I will support you whether you need to establish a research and development department in Germany; in terms of funds, even if 10% of the profits are used as research and development expenses, I can agree."

10% of the research and development expenses is about 50 Hong Kong dollars, which is already a high proportion for companies in this era.

Sun Tao suddenly felt that the task was very heavy, and the boss was very determined in research and development, so he said seriously: "Okay, I will organize and come up with the plan as soon as possible."

He knows that his boss also understands machinery, and he is credited with improving the zipper rice arranging machine.Because of this, everyone in the R&D department knows that it is not an easy task to satisfy the boss.

"Well, go get busy!"

After laying out this initial task, Lin Zhichao also decided that he should pay attention to the research and development strength of Yangtze River Industry, and needed some technologically advanced products in the later stage.For example, the Rubik's Cube requires architecture and physics for its internal structure, and the interior of a high-end Rubik's Cube is even more complicated. Fortunately, although this thing is a bit technological, it is not impossible to make it in Hong Kong.

In late December, Lin Zhichao came to London again to purchase second-hand boats.

This time, he brought along the deputy general manager Feng Yongfa and several middle managers.

Of course, it doesn't mean that he will hand over the purchase of the ship to others in the future.After all, this is unrealistic. A second-hand ship costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lin Zhichao will not be at ease if he does not personally participate.Moreover, it may be several ships at one time, so it is even more impossible for Lin Zhichao to rest assured of others.

When he arrived in London, Lin Zhichao asked his men to live in a hotel, while he took Audrey Hepburn to the apartment.

As soon as he arrived at the apartment, Lin Zhichao just put his arms around her slender waist.Audrey Hepburn immediately changed her face and changed her intimacy on the road.

"You don't miss me at all! Every time you buy a boat, you just drop by to date me, but this time, you didn't come here for three full months, which shows that you don't love me at all." After finishing speaking, Audrey Hepburn hugged me arms, and turned around, looking angry.

When Lin Zhichao saw this, he knew it was time to coax the woman.

First, he hugged Audrey Hepburn from behind;

Then, just as Audrey Hepburn was about to get rid of it, Lin Zhichao's head was already on her shoulders, and he immediately restrained her.

Finally, Lin Zhichao whispered in her ear: "It was my fault for neglecting my beautiful princess, so this time I am willing to stay for you for a week and accompany you every day."

As soon as the words fell, Audrey Hepburn immediately changed her face again and turned around.

"Hmph, why don't you justify yourself, saying that you came to London to see me in September, not every time you came to buy a ship."

Audrey Hepburn's tone was also much softer.

"How could I quibble in front of you!"

Lin Zhichao felt a little guilty towards Audrey Hepburn, and concealed the fact that he was married. Probably in this life, he would only lie to this one woman.

Subsequently.

"Audrey, your body is much better than before, and you are no longer weak!"

"Ah! My body is indeed much better. I haven't felt dizzy for a long time. It's amazing!"

Far more than miraculous!
When Audrey interacted with him, not only did her body recover a lot, but even her skin became more delicate.If it is said that Lin Zhichao gave her money and her living conditions improved, this is obviously only a small part of the reason.

After all, congenital deficiencies are not so easy to make up for. The most likely reason is Lin Zhichao.

Of course, this kind of thing can only be understood but not explained in words.

"Honey, I want a baby!"

Suddenly, Lin Zhichao almost left Audrey Hepburn on the ground.

It’s too unexpected!

"Did you lie to me about something?"

"I'm just surprised!"

Audrey probably got it wrong, and said with a smile: "Don't worry! You are the world's shipping king in the future, and you will soon be a super rich man who owns 10 tons of ships. My mother will definitely like you!"

She is just a small actress, and she only starred in dramas, so she felt that the skin color of the two would not be a problem, because Lin Zhichao was very rich; at the same time, there was not much generation gap between the two of them in terms of communication and thoughts.

Therefore, having lost her father since childhood, she suddenly wanted to get married and have children.

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "Audrey, we are still young, I hope to see the day when you become a real actor, this is your dream, and it will also become my dream in the future."

In this way, Audrey was finally fooled and didn't mention that.

The next day, Lin Zhichao still chose to work. Buying a ship is a major event and cannot be sloppy.

Fortunately, in this regard, Audrey is very supportive.

In the ship brokerage company of Willis, Lin Zhichao and his colleagues are checking the ship information.

Willis said in a flattering tone: "Lin, since you called, I have not only searched for suitable targets in the London market, but also in other European countries. I must let you buy a satisfactory ship. The ship information here, a total of There are seven 7-ton cargo ships, three 3-ton cargo ships, two 8000-ton cargo ships, and a total of twelve ocean-going ships."

When Lin Zhichao was in a hurry to sign a contract with Shankou Steamship, he asked Willis to look for suitable ship information first. Although the loan may not be successful, even so, Willis would not complain, because he had already made money in Lin Zhichao's hands. Not a lot.

And this information, he can continue to use.

For ship brokers, they not only look for the source of goods, but also inquire about the authenticity and risk of the source of goods.For example, what is wrong with the ship, what is the reputation in the port or among the crew, these brokers have ways to find out the news.

Therefore, shipping companies generally do not deceive ship brokers, only some ship brokers deliberately deceive some customers.Of course, the premise is that the client has no background and is weak in financial situation.

For a large shipping company like Global Shipping, if the ship broker cheats, he will definitely face a lawsuit.

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "I hope this time I can return with a full reward!"

Friends are friends, and business is business. This time, Lin Zhichao will not only read information from Willis; he has brought several management members with him, and he intends to cast a wide net in London.

Not only consider the cost performance of the ship, but also consider a special situation - which shipping company can provide installment payment.

In other words, Lin Zhichao hopes to not only buy a $300 million ship, but maybe $400 million, maybe $500 million.

Of course, the finances of the three ships leased to Yamaguchi Steamship have been frozen by HSBC Bank. It is equivalent to the next year and a half. The profits of these three ships can only be repaid to HSBC Bank (net profit after expenses).

Willis also understands that Lin Zhichao has brought a lot of colleagues from the company this time, and he may not only investigate in his hands, but he still has great confidence; at least, this person has already called him in advance before buying the ship Hello, this makes the resources in his hands more and better.

This is his proper God of Wealth.

'The victory wheel made in 1944 cost 82 US dollars.' Soon, Lin Zhichao was pleasantly surprised to find that the victory wheel appeared.

Lin Zhichao is very keen on the free wheel and the victory wheel.Moreover, Lin Zhichao had carefully observed the Victory Ship and found that it could be transformed into a container ship.Although the center of gravity will be a little unstable, if you put heavy objects on the bottom of the bilge, you can find a balance.

In this way, it can become Lin Zhichao's test ship in the future!
At the same time, he found that the price of the victory ship had only increased by less than 20%, which was obviously very good.

"Which shipping company is this Shengli ship, and why are they selling this newer ship?" Lin Zhichao asked directly.

Willis didn't hide his secrets, and said: "It was the Cunard company last time. They needed to adjust their business, not to mention that they can sell at a high price now. Naturally, it is not surprising. The important thing is that they can provide installment payment, and the down payment is only half of it." The shipping fee can be paid in full in one year."

Big companies are different. They don't worry about who defaults on their debts, and they can get interest on installment payments.

"Well, this ship is really good, let's book it temporarily! For the rest of the ships, we will think about it carefully and give you an answer as soon as possible."

"Ok!"

In the next few days, Lin Zhichao sent Feng Yongfa and others to inquire about the news of major ship brokers in London, and while he was finishing the victory round, he dated Audrey Hepburn.

He stayed in London for just over ten days, and finally settled all the matters concerning the purchase of the ship, and completely tidied up Audrey Hepburn.

货船方面：一艘15000吨胜利轮（82万美金）、四艘万吨18~25年年龄的万吨级别货船（62万美金、63万美金、66万美金、68万美金）、两艘8000吨级别16年龄的货船（54万美金、55万美金）。

A total of 450 million US dollars for the ship needs to pay a small amount of taxes and fees, which should add up to about 465 to 470 million US dollars.Of course, there is another 180 million installment payment, and less than 20 interest has to be added.

In other words, Lin Zhichao will spend 480 to 490 million US dollars this time.And he only has 300 million US dollars, and he has to be in debt of 190 million US dollars (including interest).

But Lin Zhichao is not in a hurry at all. This batch of cargo ships has a full load of 7.5 tons, and his carrying capacity for global shipping has increased by 1.5 times.

Once fully put into use, the total load capacity of global shipping will reach about 12.7 tons, which is simply a step up to the sky.

Although compared to the legend of Bao Yugang's previous life - one ship will become seven after one year, it's a bit close.

However, after all, global shipping is growing on a large scale, with a large base.

After this expansion, Global Shipping will have to wait at least half a year before formulating a new ship purchase plan.

Moreover, it is unlikely that HSBC will lend again this year, or it should be possible by the end of the year.

Fortunately, he has a total of 9 tons of ships, which can generate continuous profits, that is, ships that do not need to repay the HSBC loan.

In mid-January 1951, Lin Zhichao returned to Hong Kong, leaving Feng Yongfa in London to continue to lead people to keep an eye on the purchased ship.

Lin Zhichao likes to carry out maintenance and painting after purchasing a second-hand freighter, which gives people the feeling that it is a relatively new ship;

The reason is simple, it takes time to collect cargo, loading/unloading at the port also takes time, and the speed of a fully loaded cargo ship is also slow; if it is empty, it may take 18 days to sail from Europe to Hong Kong.The back and forth time is a waste of 30 days.

Charter customers in Japan, they allow your ship to be in Hong Kong when the charter comes into force, because that's also convenient.Whether it is going to Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe, America, or Africa, it is the only way to go.

(End of this chapter)