Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 744 Everyone Has a Time to Be a Little Brother

At this time, He Chaosheng was not yet the super rich man who would dominate Hong Kong and Macau in the future. His net worth was only 10 or 20 million. Although he was also a rich man, he could not even catch up with the real rich.

Moreover, he has too many brothers and sisters, and he is not the eldest son. Even if he can get help from his family, it will be limited.

So in He Zanyuan's mind, when comparing He Chaosheng and Chu Xiangqian, he naturally sides with the latter.

Chu Xiangqian had never lacked cash in recent years. Starting from the mid-60s, he bought gold from He Zanyuan and his elder brother every year.

He was also a shareholder of Standard Chartered and Hang Seng. During the dollar crisis in October 60, Chu Xiangqian used the gold in his hands, plus the more than ten tons of gold paid to him in advance by the Celestial Empire for the purchase of grain, as collateral.

In one fell swoop, he earned more than 20 tons of gold during the dollar crisis.

He stored 30 tons of them in the warehouse of the Novice Village.

Among them, Standard Chartered has 7.5 tons of gold stored and Evergrande has 2.5 tons.

In addition, in two transactions around the 60s, he bought 2 tons of gold from South Africa from the He Zanyuan brothers.

After the first horse racing auction ended, Chu Xiangqian used the money from the auction to continue to find the He Zanyuan brothers to buy 2 tons of South African gold.

All of them are deposited in Hang Seng Bank.

At first, the head of Standard Chartered, or the general manager, advised him that Hang Seng Bank was small and it was not safe to store so much gold.

But Chu Xiangqian knew that although the bank was indeed small at the time, the shareholders had great family background and strength.

At worst, when the bank run crisis occurred in 65, they could have lobbied Standard Chartered to inject capital into Hang Seng.

Even as in history, accepting capital injection from HSBC and becoming a member of the HSBC circle can help avoid the bank run crisis.

Moreover, Chu Xiangqian can also take the opportunity to use these 6.5 tons of gold as bargaining chips to inject capital into Hang Seng first, so that he can not only get more shares.

Perhaps his capital injection alone can help Hang Seng survive the crisis.

No, as long as Chu Xiangqian is willing to lend tens of millions to Hang Seng, it will be 100% able to overcome the crisis.

He will also become the largest shareholder of Hang Seng and truly control a regional bank with high growth potential.

Therefore, at the beginning of 61, Chu Xiangqian once again used part of the proceeds from the horse racing auction to continue purchasing gold from the He Zanyuan brothers.

They originally wanted to buy 4 tons, but unfortunately the price of gold had already been rising at that time, so the He Zanyuan brothers were naturally unwilling to sell too much gold to Chu Xiangqian.

That's why Chu Xiangqian only bought 2 tons, but after he and Zheng Yutong started working together, he bought 1 ton of gold from Zhou Dasheng's channel.

At the end of 61, when the price of gold rose to US$38, the He brothers simply hoarded the gold and did not sell it.

Chu Xiangqian could only buy another ton from Zheng Yutong.

In 62, when the gold price broke through $40 per ounce, Zheng Yutong was worried that his own Chow Tai Seng would also face a gold shortage, so he simply started hoarding gold.

As a result, the international gold price soared to US$45 per ounce in the middle of the year.

As Chu Xiangqian had obtained dozens or even hundreds of tons of gold from the Indian Temple and the Middle-earth, he no longer cared about the trade of one or two tons of gold.

This was equivalent to buying a total of 10.5 tons of gold and depositing it in Hang Seng. Chu Xiangqian immediately became the object of wooing and flattery from all levels of Hang Seng.

For fear that he might be unhappy, he deposited the gold in Standard Chartered Bank.

Based on the gold price at that time, it was worth more than 1600 million US dollars.

Not to mention, Chu Xiangqian must have a lot of cash in his hands because of the horse racing auction, so He Zanyuan favored Chu Xiangqian without any hesitation.

He Chaosheng felt betrayed and was extremely angry and unwilling.

Just as he was getting angry, he rationally shook his head in frustration.

If Chu Xiangqian becomes the chairman of Hang Seng, we will have to ask him for loans in the future.

Of course, He Chaosheng could also borrow money from other banks, or even HSBC.

But Chu Xiangqian also acted as a guarantor for Ye Xiaoli and helped him borrow money from Standard Chartered as start-up capital for the engineering project.

It is another collaboration with Shark Tong, and it is obvious that there is an intention to support Shark Tong.

He Chaosheng could see that Chu Xiangqian was cultivating a new force with himself as the core.

If He Chaosheng hadn't thought it would be easier to ask He Zanyuan for a loan and he wouldn't have to owe Chu Xiangqian a favor, he would have approached Chu Xiangqian long ago.

However, he would not have thought that he would stab his own people in the back without hesitation. While He Chaosheng was cursing himself as a fool, he could not help but think of how Zheng Yutong's business had been booming since he met Chu Xiangqian.

We opened one jewelry store a year, and three in two years, all in busy areas like Queen's Road and Admiralty.

Just by listening to Chu Xiangqian's advice, he directly bought the property rights of the stores. He spent more than 3 million on the three stores. It can be seen that he has indeed made money in the past two years.

In another two years, maybe the money Zheng Yutong has earned in the past four years will be equal to all the wealth He Chaosheng has accumulated with great difficulty over the past decade.

In an instant, He Chaosheng made up his mind that even if he had to give shares to Chu Xiangqian, he would still get him to run the Treasure House together.

As for Baifanyu's shares, He Chaosheng no longer cares about them, but that does not stop him from targeting other shareholders.

Since Treasure House is still just a seafood restaurant, there is a limit to how expensive it can be.

After purchasing it and making some minor renovations, the value of the Treasure House will be greatly increased.

By then, I will have entered Chu Xiangqian's circle. When I need money for other businesses in the future, I can ask Chu Xiangqian to borrow money, or continue to recruit him to join me. Business should be much easier.

Moreover, Chu Xiangqian was willing to support even Ye Xiaoli. He Chaosheng didn't believe that he, a rich family kid with a higher birth rate than Ye Xiaoli and no less capable than him, would not want to be his younger brother.
-
However, Chu Xiangqian had the memories of his past life and knew that the offshore casinos only flourished for seven or eight years before they began to decline.

Even Ye Han had to sell his boat and retire ashore.

Therefore, Chu Xiangqian pays more attention to the luxury gaming hotels on land.

At the same time, Zhenbaofang is a fully qualified and fashionable seafood restaurant, so it is normal for it to be prosperous for twenty to thirty years.

But it is too small to be used as a casino, and there are huge risks in sea navigation.

Even if it only sails between Hong Kong Island and Macau, it is still quite dangerous. After all, when the ship was started, there was no consideration of leaving the waters near Hong Kong Island.

In addition, even if it can avoid supervision for three to five years.

As time goes on, it will inevitably be hit jointly by Hong Kong Island and Macau.

Portugal was the first to refuse to agree because it could not collect taxes.

Hong Kong Ying will not sit idly by and watch large amounts of tax revenue slip away from its hands.

In the end, we might be taxed by both Hong Kong and Macau, which would not be worth the loss.

Moreover, offshore casinos do not need to pay taxes and are unregulated, which means they can do whatever they want.

The means of cheating and trapping will become more unscrupulous. There are many wealthy people who have lost their fortunes, so no one would get on your boat.

Land-based casinos have to follow certain rules because they need a license. At least He Chaosheng will definitely protect guests from harassment from local gangs. At the same time, the hotel will not blatantly set traps for guests.

And since the hotel pays taxes, it is equivalent to having official protection.

Although it will also be criticized and scolded by the media and all sectors of society, it is legal locally.

So after listening to He Chaosheng's suggestion that he should become a partner in Zhenbaofang, Chu Xiangqian simply shook his head and said with a smile.

"In 60, Mr. Bai wanted to start building the Treasure House. It was actually me who suggested it to him."

Not only He Zanyuan, He Chaosheng and Zheng Yutong were surprised, but even Bridge, who was considering whether to spend 50 pounds to buy a knighthood, looked at Chu Xiangqian in surprise.

Chu Xiangqian smiled and said, "At the beginning, Boss Bai invited me to the Sheung Wan Pier, and I boarded a fishing boat to transform it into a private restaurant to eat seafood, and we talked about how much profit this kind of fishing boat can make.

I advised him that if he had enough cash, he could build a large restaurant on the sea.

After one year of operation, Boss Bai encountered various troubles again. It was me who suggested that he seek partnership with wealthy families in Hong Kong and Macau.

Now it has been proven that my original idea was correct, and Treasure Square is indeed a very profitable project.”

After listening to this, He Zanyuan and the other three nodded in admiration. At the same time, they understood in their hearts that since Chu Xiangqian said so, it meant that he would not sit idly by and watch Bai Fanyu being squeezed out of the board of directors by the shareholders of Zhenbaofang.

He Chaosheng's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

I cursed myself silently.

Although this news had been rumored in the outside world for a long time, many people felt that if the idea of ​​Zhenbaofang was really proposed by Chu Xiangqian, there was no reason why he would not invest in it.

Since Chu Xiangqian did not invest, many people felt that it was most likely that Bai Fanyu was just trying to use the tiger's skin to pull the banner.

After all, his building of Zhenbaofang would indeed cut off the business of many fishing boats' private restaurants.

At the same time, it can scare off the wealthy and gangster forces who are eyeing the Treasure House.

In terms of power, Chu Xiangqian's reputation and connections in Hong Kong Island are actually no match for those prominent families who have taken root in both places and have been running their business for generations.

He Chaosheng's father is the eldest brother of the first generation richest man in Hong Kong and Macau, so his family background is indeed top-notch.

But Chu Xiangqian knew his shortcomings. If he wanted to catch up with the local prominent families, it would be impossible without decades of hard work.

Even after Li Dafu became rich, it took him several decades to become a top wealthy family.

If you want to become a prominent family, you have to continue working hard for one or two generations without falling into obscurity, only then will others recognize you.

Only those families that have been wealthy and influential for several generations spanning one or two hundred years can be considered prominent families. The rest are wealthy people.

Once the founder passes away, the family may fall into decline.

There are many such examples.

Although Chu Xiangqian could not compare with the local prominent families, he had already seen through the alternative path. With the appearance of Norton, he directly cooperated with the Yingguo people.

In the end, they even took down Margaret, and suddenly they were no longer on the same track as the local forces.

He also looked down on those local families who had made their fortunes by selling flour and tobacco in their early years.

In addition, he had extremely strong military force in his hands. Within a few years, he first killed Po Hao and then Jin Yabing. In 62, he went to Kuala Lumpur to bombard the Cao family.

He also promoted Sam Jiang Shui to become the Inspector of Chai Wan. Within two years, Linda became a Senior Inspector and took the position of the uniformed commander of the Yau Ma Tei Police Station.

He also has a mobile force of 40 Gurkha mercenaries under his control.

The most important thing is that because of him, Fei Bo and Lan Gang became the Chief Chinese Detectives of Kowloon and the New Territories.

In the underworld, Luo Tuo was pushed to the position of the head of Dongxing, and Chu Xiangqian was also the president of the martial arts association.

Whether it is the official, the underworld, or the civil groups, Chu Xiangqian's power has grown to the point where even the local prominent families have to retreat.

What made the local notables even more angry was that this guy simply ignored them.

Not to mention He Chaosheng and He Zanyuan, even if He Chaosheng's father or He Zanyuan's elder brother came, they could only talk to Chu Xiangqian on an equal footing.

Chu Xiangqian, on the other hand, knew that within a few years, these local prominent families would not be able to keep up with the development of the times and would decline at an accelerated pace.

Even if many century-old families are still rich and powerful in Hong Kong Island in the future, their influence is indeed far less than before.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the British people were driven out of Hong Kong in disgrace.
-
Chu Xiangqian saw that He Chaosheng's eyes were uncertain and guessed that he was not in a good mood at the moment.

He smiled and said, "Mr. He, if you want to continue to invest in Zhenbaofang, I have no problem with that. But the prerequisite is that you use commercial means to obtain the shares.

Otherwise, even if I have no objection, you should not underestimate Bai Fanyu, who made his way in the fishing port with just a knife and pushed his son-in-law to the position of Chief Chinese Detective. "

He Chaosheng nodded helplessly. If it weren’t for Chu Xiangqian, he really wanted to have a game with Bai Fanyu and Lei Luo.

After all, Lei Luo at this time was not the Lei Lao Hu who would become seven or eight years later, with a fortune of at least 5 million and power so great that even the British people were afraid of him and had to do everything they could to kick him down.

Even the ICAC was set up for this purpose, and the first target was the police force.

Moreover, Fei Bo and Lan Gang had only been the Chief Chinese Detectives of Kowloon and the New Territories for a year, and had not yet realized that the British were not only unreliable but also extremely greedy.

If he wants to keep the power in his hands, he has to compete openly with Lei Lao Hu, but cooperate with him privately, or even form a group.

Although the three Chief Chinese Detectives will be transferred to other jurisdictions in the future, the position of Chief Chinese Detective will always belong to them three.

So from the outside world's perspective, Lei Lao Hu has not been as good as before in the past one or two years.

Seeing that He Chaosheng had surrendered, Chu Xiangqian no longer cared whether He Chaosheng was still thinking about Zhenbaofang.

It would be a good thing for me to even watch him make a lot of money with Zhenbaofang, then get into trouble, and then have to give up Zhenbaofang and switch back to Haishang Seafood Restaurant.

Only those who have failed will become honest.

Then, when facing myself, a person who has never been defeated, I have no choice but to bow my head.

After thinking so much, Chu Xiangqian smiled and continued, "Are you interested in opening a super luxurious hotel in Macau that integrates catering, accommodation, entertainment, gambling, and shopping?"

He Chaosheng was stunned. He had thought about this idea before.

But firstly, most of the gamblers these days are ordinary people, and they don’t have any requirements for the casino facilities.

Previously, I cooperated with Chu Xiangqian and let him buy a 3% stake in the casino. For gamblers, this completely met their needs for the venue.

There is really no need to build it in a bigger or more luxurious direction.

Secondly, building such a large hotel is extremely expensive and it is beyond his ability to participate in the project now.

Thirdly, He Chaosheng’s financial strength is still limited. He is worried that if he invests tens of millions to build a hotel, the license may be snatched away by other bidders after it expires.

After all, he is not a big boss yet.

(End of this chapter)