Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 772: Since it is a pie in the sky, let’s paint it bigger

After some discussion, it was quickly decided that out of the 202.5 million U.S. dollars (12 million dollars multiplied by 2430), Philips and Nord would each get 1 million.

Of the remaining 2230 million, Chu Xiangqian took 1200 million because he was the ship owner and the initiator of this business. People didn't really have a big objection to this, but when they saw Chu Xiangqian taking half of it directly, they were more or less envious.

Fortunately, the coal business is just one of Chu Xiangqian’s export businesses to Japan.

Iron ore, cattle, sheep, timber, and even once we get the Oman oil fields, we still need to find customers for 5 barrels of oil per month.

So when Chu Xiangqian said that he would use the 1200 million to buy Victory Cruisers in the future, the nine foreigners immediately had no objections.

The heads of the four departments, Hader, Nelson, Bridge, and Gebai, took away $100 million, which adds up to $400 million.

Assistant Commissioners Lucas and Blair received $80, while Eastern District Commander Turner and Yau Ma Tei Police Station Chief Commissioner Charles received $50.

Turner, Ge Bai's assistant, gets the least, with only $30.

This means that the nine people in the poker club took away a total of 9 million US dollars.

Add the 200 million from Philips and Norton, and Chu Xiangqian's 1200 million, the total is 2090 million.

The remaining $340 million will naturally be left to the magnesium players.

But who to bring into the game depends on the specific situation.

And given Chu Xiangqian's character, since Ge Bai and the others have taken the money, they have to do the work.

From now on, Chu Xiangqian’s import and export company in Hong Kong Island will be responsible for resolving any difficulties it encounters, whether in Hong Kong Island, London, or the people of Magnesium.

Of course, Philips, Norton and the Magnesians took the money and also had to work hard to deal with London and the Magnesians.

Correspondingly, since Chu Xiangqian took away the 1200 million, he had to ensure the supply and transportation of goods.

And it must be ensured that at least 15 ships are purchased every year.

Even if we calculate the cost of a Victory ship at $40, it would cost $600 million per year.

But Chu Xiangqian actually doesn't have to spend this money at all.

There was already an agreement with J.P. Morgan Jr. and MacDonald of the Royal Bank to exchange thoroughbred horses for victory wheels every year.

The agreement also stipulates that 40 thoroughbred horses will be exchanged for 60 victory wheels each year for the next three years.

Three years later, Chu Xiangqian will own 210 Victory ships.

Unfortunately, they are all old ships from more than ten years ago, with a total tonnage of only 315 million tons. Compared with other shipping giants, the number of ships may not be less than theirs, but the tonnage is definitely much less.

At the peak of his career as a charter king, he owned ships with a tonnage of over 2100 million tons.

Of course, that was sixteen or seventeen years later.

Chu Xiangqian had plenty of time to slowly scrap or sell the Victory ship with a carrying capacity of only 1.5 tons and replace it with a giant cargo ship of 5 tons or even 8 tons.

But think about the end of the 70s, when charter kings abandoned their ships and went ashore, which shows that the shipping industry only had a profitable period of about ten years.

No, it should be said that in a dozen years or so, the shipping industry will enter a period of low tide.

After that period, there will definitely be another peak, but by then it will definitely be dominated by super-large cargo ships of 20 tons or even tons.

A ship could easily cost one or two hundred million, or even several hundred million dollars. Chu Xiangqian got a headache just thinking about it.

But he can definitely get people to invest in the company, or go public to raise money.

Learn from Li Gongtan, who provided rights and allotments to shareholders during peak periods. Anyone who holds the company's shares can spend money to buy additional shares.

After the stock market crash occurs, we will repurchase a large number of new stocks at low prices.

It is equivalent to using the money of shareholders and stockholders to help themselves get more company stocks, while also saving a lot of money to acquire land for development.

The money earned from acquiring land at a low price and developing it might be enough to repurchase the new shares issued during the rights issue.

This in and out is equivalent to making two profits. No wonder Li Gongtan's wealth can grow explosively.

Chu Xiangqian saw that Ge Bai and the others had already fallen into the prospect he had described.
Pretending to be hesitant, he said, "In fact, as Japan's economy enters a period of rapid development, the demand for electricity will also increase.

Naturally, more coal is needed. Perhaps the coal carried by the 30 Victory ships in my hands every year cannot even meet the increasing coal demand in Japan.

So if we add 15 to 20 ships every year, we definitely can’t meet the increased demand.”

Ge Bai and others thought about it and quickly nodded.

Since the outbreak of the war between North and South Korea, the people of Magnesium have relaxed their control over neon in order to save costs.

Not only have many of the arsenals and shipyards that were bombed into ruins during World War II been rebuilt, but textiles, canned food, automobiles, and other industries have also begun a process of reconstruction, expansion, independent research and development, and finally competing with the Chinese for the low-end market.

Therefore, the demand for electricity is increasing year by year.

Any normal ruling party will stockpile coal, oil, grain and metal ores as reserves.

Japan is a country that is extremely dependent on imports, so it is no secret that the Japanese people stockpile large amounts of basic raw materials while satisfying their own consumption.

In other words, it is not surprising that Japan's demand for coal increases by 10 to 20 million tons each year.

The combined carrying capacity of 30 Victory ships is only 45 tons, and three trips per month is only 135 million tons.

It is only 1620 million tons in a year, which is roughly the same as the new demand.

But Chu Xiangqian not only wanted to get this order, he also wanted to grab the order for Australian kangaroos.

Seeing everyone nod, Chu Xiangqian continued, "I plan to use the old ship as collateral, plus the $1200 million in profits I get every year.

We will try to buy thirty to forty boats by this time next year.

And if the business continues to go smoothly, the number of cargo ships purchased next year should be able to double.

Three years later, the fleet may have 150 or even 200 cargo ships. And our income will increase three to five times.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone became ecstatic.

Three years later, even if there are only 150 ships, that means the profit has increased fivefold.

If there are really 200 ships, it means six or seven times the profit.

Of course, Chu Xiangqian knew that he couldn't buy all the coal from China. If he did that, it would be too disrespectful of other shipping and coal companies.

Chu Xiangqian was already extremely satisfied to be able to take over 15% of Neon’s coal business.

So after three years, profits can increase five to seven times, which is the ideal situation.

Chu Xiangqian knew that this was basically impossible, but it did not stop him from making promises to his partners.

Since it's just bragging, it's natural to exaggerate.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t finish it in the end, as long as you make money, it’s not a big problem.

But for the heads of the four departments, Hadel, Nelson, Bridge, and Ge Bai, it was a great pleasure to think that in three years they would be able to earn 500 to 700 million US dollars from the coal business every year.

I get so excited just thinking about it.

This was quickly settled. Afterwards, when they entered the private room to play cards, none of them paid attention to the card game, but instead kept chatting about the details of the coal business.

Then, as they talked, they began to chat about several top leaders of the magnesium army headquarters stationed in Philippine.

After the 9 foreigners started talking, they actually found a way to contact each other very quickly.

In the next few days, Ge Bai and his team were responsible for contacting the leaders of Feilibin and the Neon garrison.

Chu Xiangqian himself was busy handing over the oil fields, shares of Hong Kong Electric, a 16-story building in Central and 30 Victory ships to J.P. Morgan Jr., McDonald and Ahmed.

Once the Central Building was transferred to his name, the 30% stake in Hong Kong Electric held by the Royal Bank was also acquired.

After Chu Xiangqian became the new director of HK Electric, he took J.P. Morgan and McDonald, who had specially returned to Hong Kong Island, to the Kowloon Racecourse.

As soon as they saw the thoroughbred horse that Chu Xiangqian had specially upgraded to a higher level, Ahmed, Morgan Jr., McDonald, and the dozen or so team members that the three had brought with them were immediately attracted to the thoroughbred horse.

Not only is this horse's shoulder height three or four centimeters higher than a normal thoroughbred horse, its coat is also unusually smooth and shiny.

At first glance, it looks like a fine horse.

Of course, there are many horses that look good on the surface but are useless once on the track.

But Chu Xiangqian had already added a little physique to this horse whose agility was 1.6, physique was 1.1, and strength was only 1.3.

With a physique of 2.1 and an agility of 1.6, this horse has enough stamina to sprint from the start.

When he took the track test, he ran 2000 meters and broke the Kentucky 2000-meter track record.

Morgan Jr., McDonald and Ahmed were so excited that they jumped up.

After the horse had rested for more than two hours and ran another 2400 meters, its physical advantage allowed it to perform better.

Having broken the record twice, there is no need to test myself again in the 1900m race of the Belgian Championships.

Moreover, Ahmed, Morgan Jr. and McDonald were reluctant to let the horse run three times in a row in one day.

The three of them wanted to worship the horse like an ancestor, and Chu Xiangqian shook his head when he saw this.

Afterwards, Morgan Jr. patted his chest and guaranteed that the 25 Victory ships would not only be overhauled and replaced with new parts at the shipyard in Magnesium, but would also be shipped to Chai Wan Pier on Hong Kong Island within a month.

As for what J.P. Morgan promised, it was also 30% of Hong Kong Electric shares. This guy hosted a banquet for Hong Kong celebrities that night.

After an exchange of interests, he easily got 30% of the shares at the banquet.

When Little Morgan was showing off to him, Chu Xiangqian realized that this guy had exchanged 6% of the shares of a California power company with several foreign shareholders of Hong Kong Electric, and was able to easily convince those people.

This deal is indeed a good deal today, but it’s hard to say what it will be like in ten years.

Twenty or thirty years later, the market value of HK Electric will definitely be larger.

By the new century, they couldn't even get a 6% stake in California's new local power company, or even the tail of Hong Kong Electric.

There is even a high probability that it will either be acquired or go bankrupt.

As for the oil field that had already been handed over, Chu Xiangqian did not have the time to take over it in full for the time being. Without much hesitation, he handed over the oil field to the oil company under Ahmed's name for unified management.

All we need to do is transport 5 barrels of crude oil to Hong Kong Island every month.

It was not until the 70s, two or three years before the first oil crisis in 73 and the surge in oil prices, that Chu Xiangqian actually took over the oil field.

Otherwise, oil prices will skyrocket and it will be difficult to regain management rights.

After getting what he wanted, Chu Xiangqian asked Morgan Jr., McDonald and Mahmed to take the thoroughbred horse to Magnesium first.

Get ready for this year's Triple Crown competition.
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During the days that Chu Xiangqian accompanied Morgan and the other two, Ge Bai, Hader and others had also contacted the top leaders of the Philippine Magnesium Army through various connections.

Through the other party, he got in touch with the top leaders of the Japanese garrison.

After the two men took away 340 million U.S. dollars, they didn't care whether the coal was bought from India or purchased from China using a company in Hong Kong as a cover.

There were even two white lieutenant colonels who came forward, representing the two bases and the general, and listed Chu Xiangqian's newly established international shipping company as the shipping company for cooperation between the Philippine and Neon garrisons.

In the future, it will be responsible for transporting non-military goods to the two bases.

However, 6% of the profits from this business had to be given to the management of the two bases. Even though Chu Xiangqian knew that the other party was asking for a huge sum of money, he did not hesitate at all.

With this relationship, not only will the coal business be smooth, but even cattle, sheep, grain, vegetables and fruits can be sold to the officers and soldiers at the base.

There is a lot of money involved.

Moreover, Chu Xiangqian could have used the excuse that the cattle and sheep came from England to raise the price by several percent. Even if 6% of the profits had to be shared with the management of the two bases, Chu Xiangqian would definitely earn more.

A 600-kilogram, 14-month-old cow can be sold for $560 on a ranch in Los Angeles.

In the past two years, the prices of cattle and sheep in Magnesium have continued to rise along with the rise in wheat prices, and the price of meat has also been rising.

It rose from $61 at 515 to $560 in just over two years.

Exporting to Neon, the tariff and shipping costs add up to about $650.

Even so, it's still dozens of dollars cheaper than the local beef in Neon.

楚向前完全可以对两个基地报价700美元，那么两个基地管理层拿走的钱，不过是700减650的50美元的60%。

That is $30 per cow, and it was taken away by the Magnesian guys.

Chu Xiangqian earned $670 per cow, which was much more than what he earned in Magnesium.
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Deal with the shipping company and the handover issues while waiting for 30 cargo ships to arrive at the port.

Chu Xiangqian thought about it and decided to go back to the capital first.

Although the superiors clearly stated that coal could be exported at a price of US$6, if I wanted to take 8% of the total export value of coal in the first year, I would have to have a serious talk with them.

Even if the superiors did not agree, Chu Xiangqian would not be surprised, because his bottom line was half and half.

However, as a result, it would take almost three years to pay off the grain debt, which would normally take only one and a half years.

At that time, China will have to pay an additional one and a half years, or US$1 million, in interest.

Therefore, Chu Xiangqian believed that the higher-ups would most likely agree to his suggestion of taking 8% of the money to repay the loan.

As soon as I returned to the courtyard in front of the gate, I saw Xue Jinglan standing at the gate to greet me, holding her baby son who was more than three months old.

That expression was both resentful and happy.

Gangsheng and Feifei beside Xue Jinglan also had excited expressions on their faces.

Chu Xiangqian got out of the car, walked quickly up the stairs, and hugged Xue Jinglan tightly.

But Chu Jingrong in his arms immediately stopped and soon started crying loudly.

Chu Xiangqian laughed and simply turned over to the little guy, kissing him on the face again and again.

This immediately made Chu Jingrong cry even louder.

(End of this chapter)