The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 150 [High morale]

Friday, April 8.

Lin Zhichao came to Global Shipping in the morning and sat in his spacious office, feeling good.

He went to London in mid-August and purchased a total of eight second-hand ships:
Among them, the deadweight of four cargo ships is only 7500 tons (total tonnage of 3 tons), and the price is between 55 and 60 US dollars;
其中，四艘货船的载重量在10000~12000吨（总吨位4.6万吨），价格在65~75万美金。

The total price of the eight cargo ships is US$520 million (total tonnage of 7.6 tons), and the age of the ships is between 15 and 25 years.

This time, Lin Zhichao adopted a one-time payment without installment loans; HSBC loaned 300 million US dollars, plus 220 million US dollars of working capital expenses in the company's account.

At the same time, Lin Zhichao went to Japan again this week and negotiated a long-term lease of six ships:
Among them, four 350-ton freighters are all leased to Japanese shipping companies for a period of five years and an annual rent of [-] million US dollars;
Two of the 7500-ton freighters were leased to Yamaguchi Steamship for a period of five years at an annual rent of US$125 million.

The rent is very NICE!The market is still very good!

Theoretically speaking, these six ships only need 12 to 15 months to pay back their capital.

If it wasn't for Lin Zhichao's proposal to sign a contract for five years and lease it for three years according to the client's idea, it would be safe to pay back the cost in 12 months.

As for the five-year contract, the client has no objection. Since the Japanese economy is developing at a visible speed, both clients are very confident and have high expectations for the future situation of Japan's shipping industry.

In addition, Japan Shipping is still short of ships, and the Far East is also short of ships, so it is only natural for everyone to reach a mutually satisfactory contract.

The remaining two 7500-ton freighters will open up routes from Asia to Europe.

Lin Zhichao was in the office, calculating financial problems:

Originally, as soon as the rent was collected in September, the previous debts were cleared (theoretically), and Global Shipping had a deadweight of 12.6 tons (12 ships).

Now it costs 520 million US dollars to buy a ship, which is equivalent to debt (converted).And starting from October, global shipping can make a monthly profit of 10 million to 100 million US dollars.In this way, all debts can be paid off in February next year, and the global shipping has a deadweight of 110 tons and a total of 20.2 ships.

Of course, these are all based on data, in fact, the debt will not be repaid in advance.And next year (1952) is very critical, the market is still there, and it is the best time for expansion.

"dong dong"

"Come in"

Chen Tian'an, assistant to the general manager, walked in and said to Lin Zhichao, "Boss, it's time for the meeting!"

Lin Zhichao nodded, then got up and walked towards the meeting room.

Global shipping has been modernized into a corporation, and various departments and divisions have formed a huge management organization, and nearly [-] seafarers are also large enough.

If the media learned about the strength of global shipping, it would be no less than dropping a depth bomb and shocking everyone in Hong Kong.

Of course, Lin Zhichao didn't want that kind of fame, so it's better to keep a low profile.In the eyes of outsiders, global shipping, that is, seven or eight [-]-ton freighters, is already a symbol of strength, and this is enough.

After arriving at the meeting room, more than a dozen core executives looked at Lin Zhichao with excited faces.With the rapid development of global shipping, they all admire Lin Zhichao's courage and mind.

None of the shipowners in Hong Kong thought of going to Japan to seek long-term charter and establish a relationship of trust. They almost all waited in Hong Kong, waiting for customers to come to Hong Kong for charter.Even when Japanese customers come to Hong Kong, these ship owners will only choose one-way short-term charter, or half a year, which is considered the longest term.They are only interested in high short-term returns, but they have no brains to think about gaining the trust of the bank.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao is using the vision of the times to reduce dimensionality and attack competitors.

Of course, there is another reason, that is, when Lin Zhichao invested in shipping, the capital was more than 900 million Hong Kong dollars, which is quite remarkable.The high base of the starting point has also resulted in particularly rapid development.

And there are still a series of opportunities, such as buying Liberty Ship and Victory Ship cheaply, for example, no major ship accidents have occurred yet.

In short, success is the accumulation of various factors.

"Almost everyone knows that the company bought a total of eight freighters this time, and the company has reached a new level."

Just after Lin Zhichao finished speaking, everyone couldn't help applauding and motivating, feeling the exciting moment.

Then, he went on to say, "The bigger the company, the greater our responsibility. Sailing is a dangerous business, and our task is to reduce the risk"

It is already a cliché, but Lin Zhichao still emphasizes it all the time.Sometimes when an accident occurs, the loss is in various aspects, and the tenant will not even pay the rent for that period of time, and give a certain impression.

Of course, if it is a ship accident, usually take a plane and then take a small boat to rush to repair it, and it will be repaired in 3 to 5 days without affecting the mission.At present, Global Shipping has not encountered this kind of accident, but once it does happen, Lin Zhichao will definitely rush to the destination in person to participate in emergency repairs.

Global shipping is now the period to gain the trust of customers, it is best not to have accidents.

After exhorting, Lin Zhichao found that everyone was recording, and nodded secretly in his heart, the attitude was extremely important.

Next, Lin Zhichao asked: "Can the senior staff of the eight ships make sure everything is safe?"

Lin Zhichao has a characteristic, that is, he attaches great importance to marine engineering, that is, the management of offshore marine machinery, mainly the usual maintenance and overhaul of ships.Having a good team of engineers will save you a lot of trouble and even reduce your time in port.

In order to win over such talents, Lin Zhichao turned himself into a double-faced person. In front of the marine engineers from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, he called himself a son-in-law of the Shanghai school, and everyone was a fellow villager;So much so that everyone on board said that the boss was from the same village.

Deputy General Manager Feng Yongfa said: "No problem! Everyone is engaged in this line of work, and after six months of practical and systematic learning."

Six months of practical learning is the key. They have been receiving training since April, and their level must have improved a lot.

Later, Lin Zhichao listened to the work reports of various departments, discussed many details, and made sure to prepare for the addition of eight ships this time, so he was relieved.

The next day was the beginning of September.

When Lin Zhichao came to Changjiang Industry, a small groundbreaking ceremony was held in an open space, and the construction of a five-story industrial building was officially started.

This industrial building is the tallest industrial building in Hong Kong. It is not that Hong Kong cannot build five-story industrial factories, but most factory owners feel that the cost is too high and it is unnecessary.

As long as there are no more than five floors, there is no need for too complicated approval.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, Lin Zhichao said to Huang Changhong, engineering manager of Cheung Kong Industries: "Quality is very important, and there is no need to rush the construction period."

At present, the factory area of ​​Changjiang Industry is still sufficient, with more than 13 square feet.

Huang Changhong nodded and said, "I understand, the quality must be maintained."

Lin Zhichao asked again: "How many workers are involved in this project?"

Huang Changhong said: "There are more than 50 workers. Now Hong Kong's property purchases have stagnated. Many construction workers have no work. The more than 50 workers are all skilled workers and former contractors."

Lin Zhichao sighed, and said, "There is no other way! The house price has fallen to about 25 Hong Kong dollars, and the building can only be built with five floors. Who is willing to take risks. But we, Cheung Kong Industrial, need to take advantage of these few years to learn a lot. And keep a low profile, opportunities will always come."

Huang Changhong nodded. He believed that the boss would definitely develop real estate in a big way, because the boss still had a piece of land of more than 20 square feet.At the same time, the boss not only subsidizes employees to study abroad, but also encourages everyone to study more and wait for the company to develop rapidly.

In fact, Cheung Kong has been insisting on development, but it is just "fried four hot meat", and it seems to build ten tenement buildings a year.It's all about rebuilding some bad old houses, and releasing them with a small profit.

After chatting for a few words, Lin Zhichao left the construction site and walked towards the office of Changjiang Industry.

The largest number of workers in Tsuen Wan is not Cheung Kong Industries, but Oriental Textiles, which is the factory of Lin Zhichao's father-in-law. Since textiles and garments are large laborers, Tang Zhongyuan has a staff of nearly 800 people.

Of course, if Changjiang Industry includes the Xingdao branch, the number of people will exceed [-], reaching a scale of nearly [-].

"Boss, there is another manufacturer of plastic bottles called Changhe Plastic Factory. Their price is cheaper than ours. But the quality is a little bit worse." In the morning, Tao Derong came to Lin Zhichao's office to report.

Lin Zhichao was taken aback, this Li Jiacheng actually noticed this kind of business opportunity, no doubt he was a Chaoshan boss in his previous life.

At the same time, Lin Zhichao is also more happy, because he now also has the genes of a successful boss, and no longer depends entirely on the memory of the traveler.

It is a very simple proof that Lin Zhichao and Li Jiacheng are definitely not the only two in the American "Time Plastic" magazine, but they can overcome all difficulties and develop machines independently.Others believed that the United States would not export machines to Hong Kong at present, and this machine was a bit expensive, so they simply gave up.

"Since there are competitors, we naturally have to adopt a low-price strategy, mass production, and a strategy of small profits but high sales. Our factory is large, so we won't be afraid of losing to shrimp soldiers and crab generals!"

It is Lin Zhichao's strategy to weaken Li Jiacheng's strength little by little.

The most important point is that Changjiang Plastic Factory must first introduce plastic flowers. In this way, Li Jiacheng's Changhe Plastic is at best a member of other copycat factories.

Then Li Jiacheng's ability to do real estate in the future will be greatly weakened. After all, the plastic flowers in his previous life brought Li Jiacheng tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in profits.

Lin Zhichao and Li Jiacheng have no enmity, and he himself will not kill him with a single stick. It is just a pure business competition to weaken the opponent.Whoever it is, he will always do this, such as the charter king, Dong Haoyun and other ship kings.

Tao Derong nodded and said, "I think so too! But it was originally a unique business, and it could make a lot of money. I didn't expect someone to take a share of it so soon."

Lin Zhichao waved his hand and said, "Plastic factories don't think about making big profits. I just need you to develop steadily, ensure quality, and accumulate customers. Stable development is not necessarily worse than rapid progress."

"Been taught a lesson!"

Changhe Plastic Factory, Li Jiacheng returned to the factory excitedly and signed many more orders.Because his plastic bottles were sold cheaply, many shops and grocery stores made large purchases, which made him nearly [-] yuan in a short period of time.

At this time, another salesperson came back from the outside, saw Li Jiacheng, and rushed to meet him.

"Boss, the plastic bottles of Changjiang Plastic Factory have suddenly dropped sharply, and the price has been reduced by more than 30%."

Li Jiacheng was surprised. He had only sold for more than a week, and others quickly took targeted measures.

"This price!" Li Jiacheng muttered.

Afterwards, he had a bit of bitterness on his face. He could still make money at this price, but it was no longer a huge profit.

"Go with it, and we try to avoid the big wholesalers and big stores, and specialize in small grocers and small stores, avoiding their markets."

"Ok."

Li Jiacheng understood that others lowered the price on purpose this time. Of course, after he produced it, he also gave it a lower price than the Changjiang Plastic Factory.Because he felt that Changjiang Plastic Factory thought it was an exclusive production, so it sold at a high price.Now that he can produce, of course the price cannot be the same.

After the salesman left, Li Jiacheng sat in his seat with some trepidation. Overall, his business was going smoothly.

You can make money in the first year, and you can go further in the second year.

However, he feels that he has also experienced some things, such as the rise of raw materials, the monopoly position of large factories, etc.

"It doesn't matter! The plastic industry has a bright future. Once in a while, I will seize the biggest opportunity to stand out from the plastic industry."

In the end, Li Jiacheng rekindled his fighting spirit.

"This time the plastic bottle can be regarded as an improvement, and it is not without gain."

(End of this chapter)