Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 837 The more people working for you, the better

After the press conference, Chu Xiangqian asked someone to check the prices of cattle and sheep in Tuao.

I didn't expect to find out after checking that last year, Turkey had raised more than 1800 million beef cattle in pens.

As for sheep, it is impossible to count the exported mutton, but there are clear data for wool, with more than 90 tons exported.

Although down jackets have been invented these days, due to fabric technology, they are still far from the level of the future.

Whether it is goose down or duck down, it is clothing that only the rich and scientific expedition teams can afford.

Therefore, wool products are the mainstream.

As 70% of Turkey's sheep are Merinos and each sheep produces 4.48 kg of wool, the country aims to export 90 tons of wool each year.

The wool has to be taken from more than 2 million sheep.

If we include the young lambs, the number would be even greater.

Merino sheep account for 7% of the population in Turkey and Austria, so there should be at least 3 million sheep raised in Turkey and Austria.

Chu Xiangqian felt his scalp tingling just thinking about the number.

However, according to the data obtained by his subordinates from the Turkish and Austrian officials, there are 7.8 registered ranches.

There are also more than 40,000 farms.

In fact, many farms also raise sheep and a small number of beef cattle and horses.

It seems normal to be able to raise two or three hundred million sheep.

As for how much mutton is exported each year, even Turkey itself does not have accurate statistics.

Moreover, the Turks raise sheep mainly for wool, not mutton.

The main sales destinations for wool are Britain and France.

Although magnesium and Japan are not even in the top 10, Chu Xiangqian speculates that in the next 10 to 20 years, Japan will definitely become the main growth area for Australian wool.

The reason is simple. In this era when wool is still the main raw material for keeping warm, the faster the Japanese economy grows, the demand for high-end clothing will naturally increase.

As for beef cattle, according to the beef cattle breeding targets released by the Australian government this year, the number of beef cattle is expected to increase by 15%. That is to say, the number of beef cattle in the pens will most likely exceed 2 million this year.

Compared with Australia, the tens of thousands of cows and 1.8 sheep that Chu Xiangqian takes out from the Novice Village every year are not even a fraction of what they bring.

No wonder that before this year's horse racing auction, more than a dozen ranchers, big and small, came to Hong Kong Island with their own purebred horses to participate in the auction.

Everything is done to increase income, which shows how fierce the competition is in Australia's livestock industry.

However, since the 60s, the economies of major European and American economies have been on an upward trend. In other words, the consumption capacity of ordinary people is also increasing, and the demand for meat is naturally increasing.

What Chu Xiangqian didn't know was that in the late 70s, the peak number of beef cattle in Turkey and Austria exceeded 3200 million.

It can be seen that Australia is indeed blessed with a unique cost in terms of raising cattle and sheep, and its breeding costs are even lower than those of Magnesium, Brazil and Argentina.

Then the breeding number continued to decline, falling back to around 1600 million heads in pens each year.

It was not until China began to import large quantities of meat that the number exceeded 2 million.

After Chu Xiangqian looked at the data, his first thought was that this business was very profitable.

But after calming down and thinking about it carefully, he sighed again.

Exporting cattle and sheep does make money, but it seems that the business I have set up is too big.

If you do all kinds of business, there will definitely be a lack of management in the end because there are too many projects involved, causing projects that should have made money to end up in losses.

However, just because Chu Xiangqian doesn't do it himself doesn't mean he can't get benefits from it.

After thinking about it, he made an appointment with Zhao Congyian to meet at Kowloon Racecourse the next day.

While watching the horse trainers, stable boys and veterinarians at the farm, they were examining the Arabian horses, purebred horses and Arabian horses that had arrived at the farm a few days ago.

At the same time, he talked to Zhao Congyan, who was looking at him with envy, about his expectations for the future development of Tuao agriculture and animal husbandry.

By the way, he also took a piece of information from Zhang Tianzhi and handed it to Zhao Congyan.

After only talking for a dozen minutes, the more Zhao Congyan listened, the more surprised he became, and the more he thought about Chu Xiangqian, the more he admired him.

While we are still only focusing on the small piece of land of Hong Kong Island, others have already set their sights on the international market.

Moreover, by comparing with the data in the materials, Zhao Congyan thought more and more that what Chu Xiangqian said was absolutely right.

It’s just the nature of a businessman. Zhao Congyen doesn’t think Chu Xiangqian would be so kind as to tell him a way to make money.

Moreover, no matter how you look at it, this business will be of great help to shipping companies.

Chu Xiangqian didn't have much energy to test the waters with Zhao Congyen.

If Lao Zhao doesn't agree, he can still find the owners of other shipping companies in Hong Kong.

So when Zhao Congyan heard that Chu Xiangqian wanted to use 30 1.5-ton modified Victory ships to invest in the Zhao family's shipping company and get a 45% stake, he immediately hesitated.

To be honest, Zhao Congyan himself knew that with his company's transportation capacity of more than 45 tons, Chu Xiangqian could not even think of getting a % stake.

Even 70% is normal.

But if that really happened, Chu Xiangqian would become the one working for Zhao Congying.

Because of the examples of Ye Xiaoli, Zheng Yutong and He Chaosheng, the wealthy and celebrity circles in Hong Kong Island all know that making money is not a problem if they cooperate with Chu Xiangqian.

But if Chu Xiangqian takes away 45% of the shares, there is a 9% chance that the Zhao family's shipping company will still be named Zhao in name, but in reality, the faster the company develops, the more likely Chu Xiangqian will have actual control over the company behind the scenes.

As the company grows rapidly, buying ships is an inevitable move.

Either the shareholders contribute capital together according to their shareholding ratio, or they borrow money from the bank.

Borrowing money from a bank is not a big problem, but after borrowing once or twice, it will become increasingly difficult to get another loan.

But when it comes to shareholders’ investment, the Zhao family’s financial resources are no match for Chu Xiangqian.

If something goes wrong, Chu Xiangqian's shares will exceed 51%.

However, Chu Xiangqian did not want to seize the Zhao family's shipping company.

He didn't have the energy to manage so many companies, so he asked Zhao Congyan to work for him.

And it's not just Zhao Congyeon, but also Charter King and two other larger shipping companies, which are still in the early stages of their business.

Under the same conditions, once Chu Xiangqian acquires shares of the two shipping companies, he will be the true shipping king in the future.

Moreover, the high profit period of shipping is at least fifteen or sixteen years, which is when others are still considering whether to abandon their ships and go ashore.

Chu Xiangqian must have cashed out his shares in the two cooperative shipping companies and the shares in the international shipping company he controlled at high prices long ago.

By retaining only half of the shares and relying on the huge amount of funds in hand, it would be easy to survive the downturn in the shipping industry.

Moreover, it is not difficult for him to cash out. It can even be said that Chu Xiangqian has no choice but to cash out.

As international trade grows in the future, the thresholds for import and export business in various countries will become lower and lower.

The profits of the shipping industry will inevitably increase year by year. Chu Xiangqian, who controls three super-large shipping companies, will definitely be under pressure from many aspects. To put it bluntly, in addition to the huge profits, even the foreigners in Hong Kong and London do not want to see the world's first and second fleets in terms of tonnage and number of ships being controlled by an Asian.

It was basically impossible for Chu Xiangqian to wait until the late 70s or early 80s to cash out.

It is very likely that in the early or mid-70s, someone would come knocking on his door and want to buy shares in his shipping group.

Although the shipping market value did not reach its peak at that time, it was already at its highest point in market value.

Although the money earned from selling shares is not the highest, it is definitely the best time to sell.

Otherwise, if he waited until the early 80s to go ashore like the charter king, it would not only be difficult to sell, but shareholders and investors would also think he was running away.

In the future, the profits of the shipping industry will plummet, and the responsibility will inevitably be blamed on Chu Xiangqian.

Seeing Zhao Congyen hesitating, Chu Xiangqian put down his chopsticks with a smile and waved to Zhang Tianzhi who was standing by.

"Call Mr. Bao, Mr. Dong, and Mr. Cao and tell them I'm inviting them to dinner tonight."

Zhao Congyan became anxious after hearing this. There are actually quite a few shipping companies in Hong Kong.

But there are actually only four companies that have truly achieved scale.

Among Cao, Dong and Bao, the opponent that Zhao Congyan is most worried about is actually Cao Wenjing.

It is most appropriate to describe Cao Wenjing's family as wealthy. When Cao Wenjing came to Hong Kong fifteen or sixteen years ago, he left in a hurry and took only US$10 and some valuable jewelry.

And this is only less than 1% of the Cao family’s total assets.

Compared with the other three people, Cao Wenjing had the most sufficient capital and the strongest strength when he started his business in Hong Kong Island.

However, Cao Wenjing was the last of the four to enter the shipping industry, opening his company in 62. But as soon as the company opened, he bought 10 -ton ships.

In one fell swoop, it surpassed Zhao Congyan, who had been in the industry for seven or eight years, in terms of tonnage.

Of course, he still can't be compared with Chu Xiangqian.

But if Chu Xiangqian and Cao Wenjing cooperated, Zhao Congyen would know that not only shipping but also the new joint company of the two would develop rapidly.

In other businesses, Cao Wenjing will definitely rely on Chu Xiangqian and, like Zheng Yutong, double his family assets and quadruple them in five years.

So Zhao Congyan had no room to refuse and could only agree to let Chu Xiangqian invest in his shipping company.

And this time Chu Xiangqian wanted more than just 30%. He wanted to provide 30 victory rounds and find a good project for the new company that could make money for 10 years.

Chu Xiangqian couldn't get over the fact that he didn't want more shares.

But after Zhao Congyan agreed, Chu Xiangqian smiled and asked him to accompany him to meet Cao, Dong and Bao.

After hearing this, Zhao Congyan nodded unhappily, knowing that Chu Xiangqian was using him as an example to force the three to agree to let him invest.

However, Zhao Congyan also knew that his family's transportation capacity could not take up the increasing export share of Turkey and Austria each year.

But just as Chu Xiangqian said, instead of giving the profits to the foreigners or the Japanese shipping companies, it is better to let himself and other partners eat the fat.

Unfortunately, when Zhang Tianzhi called to make an appointment, only Cao Wenjing agreed to go.

Chu Xiangqian couldn't help but frown after listening to Zhang Tianzhi's report, but Zhao Congyan on the side smiled and said as if he heard some big joke.

"I originally thought that Lao Cao would not come, but I didn't expect that among the four of us, the Bao and Dong families, who have the least transportation capacity, are more ambitious."

Chu Xiangqian ignored Zhao Congyian's teasing. He frowned and thought about it, and soon realized that the financial backers behind Bao and Dong seemed to be his father-in-law.

He shook his head helplessly. It seemed that many celebrities in Hong Kong relied on the influence of their mother's family to make their fortune.

Chu Xiangqian could only take Zhao Congyen to watch the horses at the stable. At noon, they went together to meet Cao Wenjing.

However, when Chu Xiangqian arrived, Zhang Tianzhi, who was driving, saw a luxury car parked in front of the restaurant from afar.

After saying something to Chu Xiangqian, Chu Xiangqian and Zhao Congyan both looked over. Zhao Congyan quickly nodded and said, "Yes, it's Lao Cao's Mercedes-Benz."

When Chu Xiangqian's Rolls-Royce drove to the restaurant entrance, Duan Hongchun hurried out and personally opened the door for Chu Xiangqian.

"Mr. Chu, you haven't come here to eat for at least half a year."

Chu Xiangqian laughed, and seeing Duan Hongchun, a middle-aged man, with a flattering expression on his face, he couldn't help but comfort him with a few words.

Only then did Duan Hongchun feel relieved.

However, he didn't really have to ask Chu Xiangqian to come over for dinner, but if Chu Xiangqian didn't come once every six months, it would indeed make the employees of the restaurant less motivated to work.

Moreover, the various associations have been negotiating less frequently recently and with less backbone.

This is what makes Duan Hongchun nervous.

In the past one or two years, Chu Xiangqian is indeed not as concerned about having backbone as before.

Even the finances were directly handed over to his wife Xue Jinglan, but the monthly allowances of sika deer and tigers had never been reduced.

But every time Chu Xiangqian returned to Hong Kong Island, he would remember to go to the cold storage warehouse at Kwai Chung Pier to replenish enough to last for three months.

Then all transportation matters were handed over to Zhang Tianzhi.

But to be honest, even Chu Xiangqian himself was a little tired of eating the tough venison and tiger meat.

Since the food was not as attractive as before, Chu Xiangqian came less often.

And because Chu Xiangqian felt tired of eating there, he gave up the plan he had thought of a few years ago to open Youguqi in New York and London.

The two companies in Hong Kong are indeed profitable.

But the ceiling of the catering industry is also very low. A few million a year is no longer attractive to Chu Xiangqian.

But for the catering industry in Hong Kong Island, these several million are a benchmark and a super performance that other restaurants envy.

Chu Xiangqian is now not even enthusiastic about saving the deer and tiger for Youguqi, and asks him to run around to New York and London to deliver the deer and tiger.

The price/performance ratio is really too low.

Moreover, there are very few Chinese restaurants that can be open for more than ten or twenty years abroad.

It would be better to just base ourselves in Hong Kong Island, with one in Kowloon and one in Hong Kong.

Since Chu Xiangqian, a man of integrity, was willing to let go, he naturally would not personally manage the other small businesses he had just started in Hong Kong.

Chu Xiangqian had never been to the hundred acres of industrial land in Tuen Mun.

So we asked Hong Sam-bao to bring a director and some equipment to take photos of the industrial land and wait for the Kwai Chung Pier expansion project to start.

After the water, electricity, communications and other infrastructure are built on the industrial land in Tuen Mun, we will start building the factory and rent it out.

Unfortunately, the expansion of Kwai Chung Pier has been underway for almost two years, and Chu Xiangqian not only has not touched the land, he has basically forgotten about it.

There was also the baton produced in cooperation with Norton, and the Barbie doll produced in cooperation with Universal Pictures, and now Chu Xiangqian threw them all to Xue Jinglan.

Then lawyers and accountants from Wilson Wong & Co. and professionals from Standard Chartered formed an advisory group to assist Xue Jinglan.

(End of this chapter)