The Birth of the Hong Kong Island Family.

Chapter 161 [Story of the Embassy Building]

Central, Uniqlo clothing company.

In the conference room, Lin Zhichao is having a meeting with senior executives. The crocodile shirt has many bright and innovative measures, adhering to the quality of 'high quality, good service'; because of this, it has become a 'branded clothing' in Hong Kong and has penetrated into Hong Kong People's hearts.

Deputy General Manager Zhao Mingyihui reported: "At present, our competitor is not the Lion King, but Shalilila clothing. The car clothing factory run by this Indian claims that it only takes 36 hours from tailoring to trying on. This kind of fast delivery It is very popular with some people, and there are even overseas tourists who specialize in their business."

Lin Zhichao naturally knew this too, but he didn't expect that the Xiali Lila clothing would become the biggest competitor of the crocodile shirt.Of course, with the development of the times, the clothing model of this Indian family will not have much development prospects.Not to mention 36 hours, some shopping will not accept even 36 minutes.

The Xialilila family, like the Zhang Zhushan family of the Huashang family, adheres to the lifestyle of "family living together and sharing wealth". There are also several brothers in the family. The big family lives together, works together, and eats together.

The immigration history of Indians in Hong Kong is counted from the day when Hong Kong was opened as a port. Indians came to Hong Kong as servants of the British army and officials; There are inextricably linked, so at the beginning the social status was higher than that of the Chinese, second only to the Westerners.

With the rise of Chinese businessmen, the decline of Indians, many of them are engaged in the work of security guards and servants, but their number is very large, about tens of thousands; a theater in Wanchai will show an Indian movie every weekend , the venue was bursting, showing the number of Indians in Hong Kong.

And this Shalilila family, and another Mejenni family, are the two major Indian families in Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao thought for a while and said: "We and this Xialila clothing use imported fabrics from Europe and the United States, and the prices are relatively similar. They are indeed the biggest competitors. Summarize the differences between us and them, and tell us!"

Wang Caihua, the manager of the design department, immediately said: "Fit! The reason why many people choose Xialila clothing is probably because tailor-made clothes are more suitable."

The crowd joined in.

An idea flashed in Lin Zhichao's mind, and he said: "Have you ever thought about using data statistics on the figures of Hong Kong people to make a more suitable size. It's like taking a thousand Hong Kong guests and making more tailor-made for them. The body data of each person is used as an indicator, and then statistics and analysis are carried out to produce five to six size standards."

This is a long-term strategy. It seems that there are only minor changes, but if customers find that they are more suitable after long-term purchases, then they will naturally have a sense of belonging.

Wang Caihua immediately said: "The boss's suggestion is very good. Even if there is a certain gap between each size; but through this kind of statistics and analysis, the gap between the local people's body size can definitely be narrowed."

Afterwards, everyone gave high affirmation, and this plan was approved and handed over to the design department for completion.

For other issues, Lin Zhichao discussed with everyone one by one. Since Lin Zhichao personally participated in the planning of many aspects, it is not wrong to say that it is dimensionality reduction to attack the clothing industry in this era. Otherwise, how could the crocodile shirt be sold in less than three days? In two years, it earned more than 170 million and expanded four stores.

The monthly profit of crocodile shirts has risen, reaching 50 to [-] Hong Kong dollars per month, and millions of Hong Kong dollars a year; I believe that with the popularity of Western-style clothing, crocodile shirts can earn Lin Zhichao tens of millions of net worth in the [-]s.

Although his wealth is huge, it is obviously very remarkable to earn tens of millions of net worth by relying on a clothing brand.No wonder the previous life crocodile shirt had a market value of more than one billion in the late 80s.

After the meeting, Deputy General Manager Zhao Mingyi came to Lin Zhichao's office.

At this time, Lin Zhichao said: "I didn't mention one thing in the conference room just now, that is, Xialila clothing always secretly competes with us and conducts targeted advertisements."

Zhao Mingyi nodded, and said, "That's right! In their advertisements or promotions, they always have the meaning of satirizing us, and they really played a little trick. The boss thinks..."

Sarcastic "crocodile shirt" can only be regarded as mid-range clothing, not high-end;

Ironically, the size of the 'crocodile shirt' does not fit, and the clothes should be bought to fit.

Although these are all carried out secretly, as long as you have the heart, you can detect it.

In fact, Xialilila is also a garment produced by a car clothing factory, with more than 200 tailors, because they also do military uniform business.

However, Lin Zhichao has always insisted on personally experiencing the 'crocodile shirt', treating it as a normal shopping experience, and then analyzing it; even if it is an advertisement he sees on the road, he will think about it.

"The key is what can you do?" Lin Zhichao said.

Zhao Mingyi immediately racked his brains, he must not use illegal means, and the boss is not that kind of person, he must be talking about business.

After a long time, Zhao Mingyi said: "Why don't you let the newspaper publish an article introducing the development history of the Xialilila family. I heard that they have done business with the Japanese. Is it a stain?"

Lin Zhichao immediately became interested, and said: "This idea is not bad, at least the Chinese should be very disgusted!"

In the business field, although Lin Zhichao upholds business as business, he just said that he would not use illegal means, and he considered this kind of thing to be a commercial means.

In the end, Lin Zhichao said: "It happens that I know the Xialilila family. I will write some materials later, and you will find a way to covertly publish it in the newspaper."

Zhao Mingyi nodded and said, "I promise you won't be noticed!"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "If you want to be invisible, the key lies in the article. You can't deliberately slander others, but you must seek truth from facts. Alright, I will spend an hour on this matter, and you will pick up the manuscript later."

"Ok"

[In the 20s, an Indian named Yunnis Shalila came to China to do business, and later moved to Hong Kong to gain a foothold feed the family
The Japanese army was rampant, and Xia Lila could only stay in Hong Kong because he could not make up enough travel expenses.In Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation period, brothers Harry and George bought some British-made garment heads from a closed garment factory. After repairing and painting, they sold them to Japanese soldiers and sent them back to their hometowns for their relatives. The Japanese soldiers exchanged food and medicine. Harry The brothers sold the grain to the Huaxia people.After a few rounds of back and forth like this, Brother Harry made a lot of money and developed a talent for doing business.

After the recovery of Hong Kong, the wealth of the Xialilila family was wiped out, because all of them were Japanese military tickets, which were prohibited from circulation in the market.When the Xialilila family was in food shortage, the clever Harry used his brains on the supply of the British troops stationed in Hong Kong.When the British army received the Japanese army warehouse, they got a large amount of tobacco and alcohol, which they could not enjoy.Although the British army had rationed food, it still lacked some food and had to rely on the black market.The price on the black market is high, and even the well-paid British army is complaining.

The Harry brothers bought vegetables from farmers in Dapu, New Territories, and shipped them to the British army camp in exchange for tobacco and alcohol.At first, the British military officers estimated to give them, and then let these peddlers go to the warehouse to get them.When others take more carelessly, and even use a car to move goods, only Harry only takes cigarettes and alcohol with a small profit each time, so he won the trust of the British military officers, and he was awarded the military uniform contracting business. Later, the British military officers introduced Asian beauty. The uniform business of the barracks, the Harry Brothers prospered. 】

In the article, Lin Zhichao described the transactions between Harry and the Japanese army in great detail. It seemed that he was exaggerating Harry's business acumen, but he was actually saying that Harry colluded with the Japanese; He is a scheming person who is good at dancing with long sleeves and plans.

Come and go without indecent!
Since you are advertising, then I will help you advertise again.

Although it may not be too lethal, it can at least affect the Xialilila family, especially some Chinese who suffered a lot from the Japanese army.

And this article seems to be praising Xia Lila, but it is actually a hidden murderous intention. I am afraid that no one would have thought that this is someone who is 'messing up' the Xia Lila family.

Of course, although Lin Zhichao can use some small tricks, he is not actually a person who will kill them all.He also needs to pay attention to his own image, and the media in Hong Kong is out of control, so he doesn't want to make a mess of history in the future.

"dong dong"

Zhao Mingyi walked in.

"You pass this article to the newspaper through someone else, don't intervene yourself. Let them edit it a little bit. The article can't deliberately expose the shortcomings, but should seek truth from facts."

Zhao Mingyi looked at the manuscript written by Lin Zhichao and said, "Then I will copy the manuscript first and hand it over to you later. My son will copy my manuscript and hand it over."

Lin Zhichao was taken aback for a moment, thinking the same thing, his handwriting was still on it!
"Row"

Although it's "come and don't reciprocate indecently", it is natural to be low-key if you can keep a low profile. For example, Xia Lila's clothing also alludes to the "crocodile shirt".

There are six brothers in the Xialilila family, the head is the second Harry, and the eldest is George. At this time, their family is holding a family meeting.

Harry said: "We didn't close the pace of expansion on military uniforms, but added suits and fashion business, and now we have achieved good results. Next, we will make great strides in the development of suits and fashion business, adding new stores, and opening new stores on a large scale.”

George frowned and said, "Crocodile shirts only have four stores, and we are opening new stores on a large scale. Is it a little aggressive?"

He knows that his younger brother is a business genius, but he is also worried that his younger brother is too aggressive, so he reminded his younger brother; at the same time, he told his younger brother that they don't just obey you.

Harry smiled and said, "Brother is too conservative! We are different from crocodile shirts. Crocodile shirts can only be mass-produced in an industrialized manner and cannot be classified as high-end clothing. However, we undertake sporadic business, from tailoring to trying on, It only takes 36 hours. This is a fast delivery method, and it is not an industrialized mass production. Therefore, we need a large number of stores to keep us busy. Currently, 7 branches are not enough. We need to expand to 30 stores. After all, we can’t let all the customers squeeze into a few stores to queue up for a tailor, so others might as well buy crocodile shirts!”

George said again: "I don't veto your point of view, but I hope you will develop steadily, which will be more beneficial."

Harry said: "If you want to seek big development, you must take risks. I am naturally opposed to putting everything in one basket. Investing in sporadic businesses is part of the family's diversified development. Our military uniform business is doing so well, but we can't be the only one who lays eggs." business, so sporadic businesses must be done, and they must be large. This is diversification. Even if one side loses and the other earns, the whole army will not be wiped out. On the contrary, if there is only one business that lays golden eggs, I don’t think so. Insurance. Therefore, sporadic businesses should also be bigger and stronger.”

A group of brothers stopped vetoing and began to agree with Harry's decision.

At this time George said again: "However, we still don't want to target crocodile shirts in advertisements in the future. After all, now that the Chinese are developed, even the British value them, so don't make extra trouble."

Harry said again: "It's not that we target crocodile shirts, but we want to promote our own advantages. Crocodile shirts are an industrial production model, and they actually say that they are mid-to-high-end, but they just use European fabrics. In fact, they are mid-range at most." What's more, now that the two of us are competing, we should naturally magnify our own advantages and expose the enemy's shortcomings."

George said: "Although that is the case, it is easy to arouse the resentment of others. Doing business does not have to be like this. You have said that we have a lot of advantages, so why bother to offend others, customers should know how to choose."

Harry quibbled: "I didn't offend anyone. Customers gave feedback through word of mouth. In the advertisement, I didn't mention my name."

George also said seriously: "You have to pay attention too, it's better to keep a low profile."

The other brothers helped the eldest brother this time, and Harry finally bowed his head. Although he didn't think so in his heart, for the sake of family unity, he couldn't be overbearing in everything.

In Harry's view, crocodile shirts pose a great threat to his clothing store. The quality, service, and decoration of crocodile shirts are refreshing and have a great impact on traditional tailor shops.

Lin Zhichao and Hu Zhaoxu came to the embassy building at No. 7 Kaiping Road, Causeway Bay, and were going to discuss the purchase with Li Zeming.

Lee Hysan, the previous generation of Lee Family, made his fortune in the opium business. He purchased the Nite Hill (Lee Garden Hill) in Causeway Bay. After development, he owned a large amount of land (the mud and rocks were used for reclamation by the Hong Kong government), and his wealth increased dramatically.The embassy building is one of the many properties of the Ricci family. At this time, it is mainly leased to some foreign ambassadors, consuls, and diplomats stationed in Hong Kong.

The embassy building is an apartment-style structure with a large construction area of ​​more than 3 square feet. The building materials are very good and the decoration materials are high-end. It can be regarded as one of the largest and most advanced buildings in Hong Kong at this time.

Lin Zhichao contacted the other party, intending to let Uniqlo Clothing buy this building. Of course, the insufficient funds will be borrowed; due to the sharp increase in deposits in Hong Kong, with Lin Zhichao's personal connections, he can get a low-interest loan as low as 6 yuan. Of course, the score is specific Condition.

That being the case, Lin Zhichao thought, why not let Uniqlo buy a large property!Although Uniqlo clothing is affiliated to Cheung Kong Industrial, it is actually operated separately, so the investment properties should also be separated.

Even if the embassy building is purchased, Uniqlo clothing will still need the industrial land in North Point to build industrial buildings, which is not very big for Uniqlo's financial limitations.

"Lin Sheng, I have been waiting for you for a long time!" Li Zeming greeted him personally at the gate of the embassy building, and said enthusiastically.

Although the Lee family is an established family, Lin Zhichao is even more prominent today. With just the title of 'Chinese Ship King', he is one of the top elites in Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao stretched out his right hand, and said, "You are too polite, Li Sheng, thank you for your kindness!"

Li Zeming smiled and said: "It should be!"

Merchants make money with kindness, talk less about feelings, how the Lee family prospers has nothing to do with Lin Zhichao, let alone other people's descendants are now patriots, why feel disgusted!

As long as there is no direct competition, both parties can be friends. Even if there is direct competition, as long as everyone abides by the rules of the game, they can still be friends.

The two talked happily and visited the embassy building by the way.

And Lin Zhichao also likes this building very much. Lin Zhichao also laments the wealth of the Lee family. The entire Eite Hill in Causeway Bay is owned by the Lee family. It has about several million square feet. At this time, the value is already several Tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

The fact that the Ricci family has been selling land does not affect their family wealth, because it is difficult for their family to develop the entire area. It is better to sell some land for others to develop, so as to drive the surrounding business, and they can also withdraw funds to develop important projects.

"Causeway Bay is a great place!" Lin Zhichao exclaimed.

Li Zeming asked curiously from the side: "Lin Sheng's wealth is even the Central property is within easy reach. Why do you sigh like this!"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Central is a commercial office building. Causeway Bay can develop a commercial and residential area. After all, the closer it is to Central, the easier it is to undertake commercial prosperity."

It was just a simple evaluation, Li Zeming didn't think much about it.

Afterwards, Lin Zhichao said straightforwardly: "I like the building very much, let Lisheng make a price!"

Buying a building is not about buying small things. If you like it, you just like it. Don't pretend to be too stingy.

Li Mingze also said straightforwardly: "Since Lin Sheng is interested and we are going to sell it, then I will make an offer and Lin Sheng will see if it is suitable."

Lin Zhichao nodded and waited for the next article.

"270 million Hong Kong dollars"

"Very reasonable, I accept this price."

Li Mingze said with a smile: "Lin Sheng is really straightforward. The annual rent of this building can be 35 to 40 Hong Kong dollars, and the capital can be paid back in seven years. Of course, I know that Lin Sheng is a master in the real estate industry, and he will not rely on income. Rent it, maybe you can think otherwise."

Lin Zhichao responded: "Lisheng is also very straightforward, and the price is very fair. As for other ideas about this building, I think it is better to collect the rent for a few years, and then consider new ideas in the future. After all, the buildings and materials here are all It's wealth."

"It makes sense. As far as I know, Lin Sheng has no shortage of property in his hands."

"you flatter me!"

Lin Zhichao's purchase of so many properties has more or less leaked some rumors, so it's not surprising that Li Mingze knew about it.It's just that everyone doesn't know that much.

In fact, Lin Zhichao also changed his mind recently, that is, Global Shipping will no longer spend money on property purchases this year, but will save the funds until the end of the year to buy ships, and then sign long-term contracts while the war is not over.When you buy a ship, you can make money immediately, and you can pay back your capital in a year or two.

If you buy too many properties, it means that there will be no profit in the past three years, so this account still needs to be settled.

What's important is that land prices won't rise much next year, so why be in a hurry.

Afterwards, the two agreed on a time and planned to bring a lawyer to sign the contract.

When Lin Zhichao was about to leave the building, he found a charming woman walking towards the embassy building with three dogs.

Somewhat familiar, Lin Zhichao involuntarily stepped forward and asked, "Ma'am, are you Meng Xiaodong a master of Peking Opera?"

I saw Meng Xiaodong wearing a cheongsam and cloth shoes. Although she was plain, she could still tell that she was quite handsome when she was young. When she saw a young man approaching, she instinctively held on to the dog's leash.

"you are?"

Before Li Mingze left, he stepped forward and introduced: "Miss Meng, this is Mr. Lin Zhichao, a Hong Kong shipping tycoon and industrialist. He is planning to buy the embassy building, and he will be your new landlord from now on."

It turned out that the two knew each other, but thinking about it, isn't the Li Stage a place to sing operas, even if Meng Xiaodong didn't sing operas, someone else had invited them.

Meng Xiaodong seemed to know Lin Zhichao's name, and said, "Lin Sheng is really young and talented!"

After she finished speaking, she stopped talking, giving people a feeling of refusal.

Lin Zhichao didn't expect that he would also become Meng Xiaodong's landlord. Hong Kong is really small.

"Master Meng still accepts amateur apprentices?"

Li Mingze was a little surprised, and Meng Xiaodong was also a little surprised. After all, a "big man" like Lin Zhichao is still interested in singing?
What's more, shouldn't people from eastern Guangdong sing Cantonese opera?

"Sorry, I don't accept amateur apprentices."

"Excuse me! Master Meng, please!"

Lin Zhichao didn't bother, he was just curious about 'celebrity', and he really liked listening to Cantonese opera, not Peking opera.Of course, if Meng Xiaodong accepts him as an amateur apprentice, he will also spare time to practice, and he will not be overwhelmed by his skills.

Meng Xiaodong nodded, then led the three dogs into the embassy building.

Li Mingze also said goodbye: "Lin Sheng, see you sometime!"

"Lisheng, see you sometime."

The two parties agreed to bring a lawyer to sign the contract three days later, and the deal will be considered a success.

(End of this chapter)