A layman in the courtyard

Chapter 180 Insights
"Okay, let's meet at the Peninsula Hotel in the afternoon."

Cao Zhihua thoughtfully hung up the phone to Qi Dezun, silent in thought, and after a while, he said:
"Xinru, please go and notify Mr. Li to come to my office."

"Okay, Chairman."

After Cao Zhihua waited for Du Xinru to leave the office, he stood up and came to the window to look at the panoramic view of his industrial park.

Soon, Li Shengnan came to Cao Zhihua's office.

"Director Cao, do you have anything to do with me?"

Cao Zhihua asked in confusion:

"If these foreign companies in Hong Kong are causing trouble abroad, can our overseas sales channels withstand the pressure?"

Li Shengnan looked at Cao Zhihua in surprise, obviously not expecting that Cao Zhihua would ask such a question, so he said:
"It depends on what kind of problem you encounter. If it's just a simple business method, there will definitely be no problem.

Nowadays, our products are hard to find abroad and are selling very hotly.

If they only rely on influencing the form of franchise stores to influence our shipments,

For us, there is no problem at all, because it will only cause losses to the interests of franchisees, and it will not affect our local shipments.
Because we now adopt the franchisee sales model, we have rejected many influential local companies.

If our sales are affected by swaying franchisees, we will cooperate with local companies and it will not have any impact on our sales.

If we use official means, we don’t have to worry too much because we have money and a good team of lawyers around the world.
I also have good relationships with local lobbying teams in many countries.

The most important thing is that our company and products are well-known around the world.
Under normal circumstances, no one dares to use official means to suppress us despite the disobedience of the whole world.This is inconsistent with the global free trade rules actively promoted by the United States.

Only using dark means, such as death threats, kidnapping, coercion, etc., may have a greater impact on our company's sales channels. "

After listening to Li Shengnan's words, Cao Zhihua said:
"Just now Mr. Qi Dezun from Hutchison Matheson called me and asked me to have tea at the Peninsula Hotel in the afternoon. I was accompanied by several senior managers from other foreign companies.

This group of white-skinned front-runners also want to intervene in the building materials industry chain to steal my business.

They want to discuss cooperation with me again. It seems that the speed at which we are making money during this period has attracted a group of great white sharks.

I think they can't compete with us in an honest and fair manner, and they want to start recruiting.

What do you think about this? "

After Li Shengnan thought for a while, he said:
"This is normal. After all, they used to be an empire on which the sun never sets. Even now, their global influence is very large.
The wealthy people in Hong Kong, such as the four major families in Hong Kong today, actually relied on this group of people to make their fortunes, and they have all taken refuge in this group of people.
They definitely hope that through conversation, you will give up some of your interests and become a member of their comprador.
In this way, you can enjoy certain development privileges.

In fact, if you really think about it, our company’s current foundation is not in Hong Kong Island. Our biggest income now is our clothing company. If we didn’t invest heavily in Hong Kong Island,
As long as we open up to the outside world, all capitalist countries, including the current bosses of the Western world, will welcome our investment.

So it's up to you whether you want to cooperate or not. "

When Cao Zhihua heard Li Shengnan's words, he laughed happily and said proudly:

"Yes, we are focusing on development, isn't it just to control our own destiny?
Now we can basically control our own destiny,

The worst result is nothing more than moving to another place for development. If we are willing, beautiful countries, kangaroo countries, and countless countries will welcome our investment.

What do we have to fear?
What's more, this is Hong Kong Island, and it's not the turn of a few foreign banks to take charge. "

Yes, although it is only 1961, in another 1-20 years, these foreign banks will cooperate with the Hong Kong government to send money to the main island of Eagle Country. They will be abandoned by Eagle Country and acquired by Chinese businessmen.

Putting aside politics, business is destined to fail. When Wheelock and Hutchison Whampoa were later acquired by Chinese businessmen, were they really just pure business practices?
That's really a fool who can believe it. If they weren't afraid of being liquidated, they would take the opportunity to sell off their assets and return to their home island, without the acquiescence of the Baipi Hong Kong government.

Unless after the handover in 97, it would be possible to acquire foreign banks through purely commercial activities. Otherwise, how could your acquisition be successful?

After Cao Zhihua thought about it clearly, he felt that such a group of people were just a group of vampires at best. What did he have to be afraid of?
Anyway, if we can agree on the deal in the afternoon, let’s talk. If we can’t, let’s do it. Who’s afraid of whom?
"Okay, what Mr. Li said is right. Now it's not time for someone to come and scare us so much that we have to spend money to buy our lives.

Okay, Mr. Li, you go ahead and do your work. I know it well. In the future, we will face one challenge after another together.

While waiting for the annual meeting, I prepared a New Year gift for you. I hope you will like it. "

After hearing this, Li Shengnan said happily:

"I like all gifts from Director Cao. This is the first time you have given me a gift. How could you not like it?

Director Cao, you are busy, I will go to work first. "

"Well, okay, go get busy."

After Cao Zhihua saw Li Shengnan leaving the office, he found that he had already finished reviewing and approving today's documents.

He asked Du Xinru to send them to various departments for execution, and called Yin Mingxing and Yang Juan in to give him a massage.

Cao Zhihua, who took a nap at noon, woke up full of energy and in very good condition.

With their own personal bodyguards, the convoy of four cars drove towards the Peninsula Hotel.

Now the entire Hong Kong Island knows that this black extended-length Rolls-Royce is the car of Hong Kong Island's richest man, Cao Zhihua.

The disadvantage is that every time I travel, I feel like I am showing off.

The advantage is that no matter where you go, you have priority. For example, for cross-sea ferries, you used to have to wait in line.
Now every time the Star Ferry ferry staff sees Cao Zhihua's motorcade, someone will come over to guide them directly onto the ferry, so there is no need to wait at all.

When Cao Zhihua's motorcade arrived at the Peninsula Hotel, Cao Zhihua's bodyguards immediately dispersed to various dangerous locations, and four personal bodyguards also immediately came to Cao Zhihua's car door to open the door.

Pedestrians entering and exiting the Peninsula Hotel looked on curiously, and even the staff did not dare to come over to ask.

With the support of his bodyguards, Cao Zhihua came to the lobby cafe of the Peninsula Hotel.

From a distance, I saw Qi Dezun and a few Baipi sitting and chatting by the window and the sea.

Seeing Cao Zhihua approaching, Qi Dezun stood up and laughed, and then greeted loudly: "Hi, Mr. Cao, here, you are so punctual."

Cao Zhihua walked towards Qi Dezun's position and laughed loudly:

"Hi, Mr. Qi Dezun, we haven't seen each other for a while. Seeing that you are still in such good spirits, it seems that you have been doing well recently."

"Haha, thanks to Mr. Cao, things have been really good recently. Come on, Mr. Cao, these are all old acquaintances, Mr. John Keswick, Mr. Shiyok Shihuaiya, and Mr. John Madden."

Cao Zhihua is now familiar with such social interactions, and with his current status, he doesn’t need to curry favor with anyone. He greets them with a calm smile:

"Ha, today I, Mr. Cao, am so lucky to have met the top executives of the four major foreign banks that dominate the economic lifeline of Hong Kong Island at once. It is really an honor."

"Haha, Mr. Cao is too polite. Mr. Cao is now the richest man in Hong Kong Island. You are the noble one. It is difficult to meet you."

"Yes, with Mr. Cao's net worth, he is ranked on the world's richest list. It is very difficult to meet you."

"..."

After Cao Zhihua and several white men complimented and exchanged greetings with each other, and after the tea and pastries ordered by Cao Zhihua were served, Qi Dezun was the first to speak:
"The main reason I asked Mr. Cao to come out today is to clear up the recent misunderstanding between us."

Cao Zhihua said in surprise:

"Mr. Qi Dezun is serious. There is no misunderstanding between us, right? Why didn't I know about this?"

Qi Dezun and others scolded the little fox in their hearts, "You still don't know what you are pretending to be," but they still said with a polite smile on their faces:

"Mr. Chen Zengxi came to us before and said that he had a very good business with considerable profits and wanted to cooperate with us. We were attracted by his plan at the time and were ready to take action without doing much investigation.

Later I discovered that Mr. Cao was already doing this business, and it was very successful.
Therefore, we decisively stopped Mr. Chen Zengxi’s plan and invited you out today mainly to clear up this misunderstanding. "

Cao Zhihua said in astonishment:

"Mr. Chen Zengxi from Hengnong Group?"

John Keswick shook his head with a wry smile and said:
"Yes, thanks to us being the ones who have been doing business for so many years, we only listen to one side and prepare to intervene without investigating. It really makes us go back more and more."

Cao Zhihua looked at Bai Pi's performance and felt that it was comparable to his own acting skills, so he said generously:
"Mr. John, you are too serious. Hong Kong Island's current economic development is so good and the market is so big. If you think this is a good business, I welcome everyone to get involved. Let's make this business bigger and stronger together."
I think you are taking this matter too seriously, and Mr. Chen Zengxi is a Chinese entrepreneur whom I am very optimistic about.

He is smart, hard-working, and capable. I believe that if you all get involved together, we will definitely be able to make this business bigger and everyone can make money. "

John Keswick and the other four people felt disgusted. The damn little fox was really difficult to deal with.
If you welcome others to enter the market, will you merge, bankrupt, and change industries all the building materials stores and building materials manufacturing companies in the Hong Kong market?

John Keswick could only continue to shake his head with a wry smile and said:

“With the size of our four major foreign banks and Mr. Cao’s Zhihua Group, if they squeeze each other to develop in such a small industry,
Everyone will drown in it and make no money at all, so today I want to make things clear to Mr. Cao, and I hope Mr. Cao doesn't mind this matter.I also hope to discuss cooperation with Mr. Cao. "

Cao Zhihua said with a smile:
“I’m really honored to have all of you, Mr. Taipan, be optimistic about the same business as me. It proves that I have a good vision.

As for saying you mind, that's too exaggerated. I'm a person who advocates win-win situations. What I like most is doing business in a harmonious way. Everyone makes money together. Hello, hello, hello, everyone.

So, Mr. Taipan, you really don’t have to worry about me minding it. Everyone is gathering firewood to keep the fire burning high. It’s not too late for me to welcome you.
I don’t know what kind of cooperation Taipan wants to discuss with me now? "

The four white men looked at each other, and then John Keswick spoke as the representative:

"Mr. Cao knows that our four major foreign banks are all century-old companies and have great influence and business operations in almost all countries in the world.

Today we have invited Mr. Cao to talk to you about the agency cooperation for your Victoria's Secret suit. "

After Qiu Jun heard this, he frowned. As expected, he wanted to take action on his core industry.

The lifeblood of a clothing company is its sales channel. How could I give up my own channel that I have worked hard and spent a lot of money to build, and instead put my lifeline in your hands? It is really funny, so I said:

“Mr. John, you have proposed a cooperation that is almost impossible to achieve.

You should know that I am a trustworthy, honest and committed person,

Now we have handed over the sales rights of Victoria's Secret suits to local partners in the global market.
Once I break the contract, our Zhihua Group simply cannot afford the huge consequences.
This will lead to the bankruptcy of our Zhihua Group, so if you want to discuss cooperation with me about Victoria's Secret suits,

So I'm very sorry, I may not be able to meet your request.

But if you want to cooperate with me, I think we can still talk. "

John Keswick and others had discussed it before coming. They knew that they wanted to blatantly seize the mature sales rights of Zhihua Clothing from Cao Zhihua. This was a very rare thing. Since they dared to propose it, they would naturally have full support. certainty,

So John Keswick continued:
"Mr. Cao, please forgive me, your current business is only in 26 countries around the world. The global market is huge, and our four major foreign banks have very mature sales networks in other countries around the world.

We hope that you can give us the sales agency rights in other countries, and at the same time, we hope to obtain the production authorization of your company's clothing styles. "

When Cao Zhihua heard John Keswick's words, the anger in his heart was almost uncontrollable, and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Mr. John, your cooperation is really sincere.

Or do you think you, the four major foreign banks, can dominate me, Cao Zhihua? "

John Madden's HSBC was the white man with the biggest appetite among the four major foreign banks. He didn't care about Cao Zhihua's anger at all and said:
"Mr. Cao, you should know that this is Hong Kong Island, and our foreign banks should be responsible for the wealth here.
You are no exception, aren't you? "

When Cao Zhihua heard John Madden's shameless words, he no longer felt like talking to these people.

Looking at John Madden with disdain, he said:

"Then I'll wait for Mr. John to let me see your methods.

Sorry, everyone, my company has something to do, so I'll take my leave now. "

After Cao Zhihua finished speaking, he stood up and walked directly to the door.

(End of this chapter)