The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

In mid-October, the impact of the embargo has reached the lives of Hong Kong citizens. It is obvious that the number of unemployed people has gradually increased, because many companies have been relying on trade with the Mainland for a living. Although the "smuggling" industry has been derived, but After all, not everyone has the channels and courage.

The chances of finding employment were originally small, but now coupled with the increase in the number of unemployed people, life has become even more difficult for many people.

The only gratifying thing is that a large number of overseas charitable funds have poured into Hong Kong, which is more than the expenditure of the Hong Kong government. Coupled with the donations of local rich people, many relief stations have been formed.

Not hungry to death, but not full either!

Under this situation, Global Shipping began to recruit 120 seafarers, causing a huge sensation in Hong Kong. On the day of application, the whole Yangtze River Industry was crowded with people. Thousands of people heard the news and came early.

In order to avoid an accident, Global Shipping specifically called the police to come and maintain order. But after a dozen JCs arrived at the scene, they suddenly felt too small.

The scene is still noisy!

"Who the hell are you, joining our team?"

"You don't care who I am, is this your family's territory?"

Soon, there were all kinds of contradictions, which gave JC a headache.

"do not fight!"

"Believe it or not, I will put you in a cell and starve you for three days!"

Some people suddenly became contemptuous when they saw just one or two policemen coming forward, even policemen in military uniforms.

"It turns out he's a playboy who didn't steal it!"

"That's right, what's the use of light and evil!"

Seeing that the situation was about to become chaotic, suddenly a group of neatly lined up uniformed personnel, led by a foreigner, trotted in shouting slogans.

"Maintain order"

"Those who make trouble will be beaten with wooden sticks!"

William shouted in English, which the students could not understand, but Global Security provided a translator for William. What's more, when William waved the stick, the students already understood.

The next question is simple. This group of students has undergone devil training in the past month, and they are worried that they have no place to vent. When encountering unruly and troublesome male students, they will smoke wooden sticks when they go up.

For a time, order was quickly maintained.

"Who are you? Why are you beating people?" someone protested.

"Get in line, don't make trouble on site, and get out if you don't want to apply!" The male students ignored him.

It was rare to find a place to vent, and he didn't have to be powerful.

Many of them have served as soldiers, or practiced martial arts, or are tall and powerful, so naturally they are not afraid of these rabble.

The troublemakers suddenly didn't dare to say a word. This group of people were as angry as if they were on gunpowder.

A policeman stepped forward and asked, "Brother, from that team, your camouflage uniforms are very impressive!"

When the male practitioner saw that he was a police officer, his expression softened and he immediately said: "He is from the Global Shipping Convoy."

The policeman looked confused and asked blankly: "Not JC?"

"Have you ever seen a Hong Kong JC wearing something like this?"

After the male student finished speaking, he stopped talking to these playboys.

In his opinion, as long as they pass the devil's training, these police officers may not be able to match their salary.

Not envious!

Soon, the news that Global Shipping had a fleet of dozens of people was known to all the young men present.

"Why does a ship operator have so many security guards? Should he go to sea to fight against pirates?"

"They're rich! Don't even look at who their boss is!"

After having forty-five bodyguard trainees to maintain order, the order of the entire scene suddenly improved a lot.

The recruiters are all from the management of Global Shipping Lines. If you ask a few questions, Zhongyi will give you a form and no more bread;

Those selected on the first day will have to use this form to apply for the second time the next day.

Global shipping is also placing higher and higher demands on seafarers. After all, money and energy have to be spent on training them.

Ever since Wheelock's old Madden had an unpleasant meeting with Lin Zhichao, he was very disdainful and thought that Lin Zhichao was just a boastful Chinese shipowner.

But in fact, Lin Zhichao's ambitious statement of "surpassing Wheelock within ten years" has always been lingering on the old Madden's head. From time to time, he always inquired about World Shipping to learn about this potential competitor.

What's more, the last time he took the initiative and cut the price by 10%, not only did he not take away the business of Global Shipping, but he also caused joint protests from Chinese and British businessmen, which can be said to be a mess.

Since then, he has been paying attention to global shipping.

This time, he got information that the Maritime Academy, a subsidiary of Global Shipping Lines, was actually recruiting 120 more seafarers.

This surprised old Madden so much that his jaw dropped.

You know, he guessed based on some information that Lin Zhichao already has a fleet of 30,000 to 50,000 tons. This already made him incredible. After all, a newbie who had only been in the shipping industry for a year could actually have such strength?

After a while, he found Miller, a subordinate who was familiar with the dock business.

"Global Shipping, do you know how many tons of ships they have?"

Miller shook his head and said: "The details are not clear. At present, we only know that they have opened two fixed routes. The combined tonnage is 16,000 tons. In addition, they also own two 10,000-ton free ships, but in recent years, they have The moon has disappeared. So, maybe it’s less than 40,000 tons!”

Old Madden nodded, thinking this analysis should be reasonable.

A cargo ship with a capacity of 40,000 tons per year is also very powerful!

You should know that Wheelock Shipping currently only has a total self-owned carrying capacity of 200,000 tons, and manages many cargo ships (many) with a carrying capacity of 50,000 tons.

Originally, 40,000 tons was enough, but Global Shipping now recruits 120 more seafarers, which is obviously extraordinary.

Could it be that global shipping is going to double in size in the next six months?

At this rate of development, Old Madden is feeling the pressure.

Of course, it’s not that he is afraid of the rise of Global Shipping Lines, but he wants to create some competition and stumbling blocks for Global Shipping Lines, and tell young people not to get carried away!

"Which new fixed route are they opening?"

"It's a regular Yokohama-Hong Kong route," Miller said.

Old Madden suddenly laughed, and then said: "Yokohama Port, isn't that the base of the US military? Will others rent his ship?"

Miller reminded: "Yokohama has started reconstruction in the first half of the year, so there must be some freight orders!" He also speculated and did not know the specifics of this route.

Old Madden was suddenly embarrassed, feeling that he was lagging behind in news.

In order to alleviate the embarrassment, Old Madden immediately said: "Since the reconstruction of Yokohama, Japan's resources are scarce, and it must require a lot of imported materials from overseas. So, can we also open up a similar route to get a share?"

Miller thought for a while and said, "It should be possible! But boss, aren't the company's ships in Asia mainly for one-way charter, and they rarely run fixed routes?"

Wheelock has fixed routes from Hong Kong to Europe, but in Asia almost all flights are one-way charters, which are expensive.

Old Madden said: "In any case, you should first investigate whether the route from Hong Kong to Yokohama is really busy. If it is busy, I will dispatch the ship and try to see if this route can make more money."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

In short, give that boy some color!

It can also be seen from this that Old Madden is narrow-minded and arrogant.

If he learned that HSBC had provided loans to Global Shipping, he would probably be so shocked that his teeth would fall out.

Lin Zhichao came to the "Qiuyi Building" in Queen's Road Central. Global Shipping officially moved into the fifth-floor office of Qiuyi Building, not far from HSBC Bank.

Qiuyi Building is located at No. 9 Queen's Road, near the triangle area, adjacent to Ice House Street and Des Voeux Road. The famous "No. 9 Queen's Road Central" in later generations is the Holland Bank, Lee Bank, Des Voeux Road's Guangdong East Bank, and the Qiuyi Building on Queen's Road.

In a situation like this, once three streets are opened up, the plot ratio can be increased a lot, and the value can also be increased a lot.

At present, many buildings in Hong Kong occupy an area of ​​less than 10,000 square feet, or just over 10,000 square feet; unlike the buildings of later generations, almost all of them occupy an area of ​​20,000 square feet or even 30,000 square feet.

This is because, in Hong Kong in this era, the commercial buildings were not high, almost five or six floors, so the area was not large; the commercial buildings of later generations were almost 20 to 30 storeys, which was obviously too small. It's impossible, so it can only be solved by merging buildings.

At present, Lin Zhichao's career is quite large, and he hopes to own a modern building in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Building commercial buildings too early is, firstly, a waste and occupation of funds, secondly, the Hong Kong government has not yet encouraged the development of buildings towards the sky, and thirdly, the buildings are not modern enough.

When I walked into Global Shipping Lines, two front desk staff immediately stood up to greet me.

Lin Zhichao nodded and finally became a big company.

Starting next year, Global Shipping will have an annual profit of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. It is definitely considered a big company in Hong Kong.

"Ask Financial Manager Fang Ping to come to my office!" Lin Zhichao said to the assistant Li Haoshi who came up to him.

"Okay!" Li Haoshi hurriedly ran to the finance room.

After a while, Li Haoshi and Fang Ping walked in, and Li Haoshi immediately made tea.

When Lin Zhichao saw Fang Ping running in so quickly, he asked, "Do you know why I asked you to come?" You don't want to prepare for the current meaning.

Fang Ping quickly said: "Is it the financial situation of the Venus, boss?"

In fact, he was somewhat sure, but in order to save the boss's face, he naturally used a questioning tone.

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "It's true, sit down and report."

Each of its ships is registered as a company, and although the finances are calculated separately, it is actually handled by Global Shipping's finance department. The 7,600-ton Venus has been in operation for more than a month, so Lin Zhichao is very concerned about its financial situation.

Afterwards, Fang Ping sat on the sofa and reported on the financial situation of the Venus.

"Venus has completed a fixed route at present, with a load of 5,200 tons of cargo, the unit price is 15 US dollars per ton, and it took 43 days. Excluding expenses, the gross profit should be more than 60,000 US dollars."

There are also many uncertainties in gross profit, such as sudden repairs to the ship.

These are all one-way situations. Generally, there is no cargo on the return trip to Japan. According to the current market conditions, it only takes a little over a year to earn back the price of the ship. But considering that the market is still rising, there is no problem in earning back the boat price within one year. After all, it is an old boat.

This wave of market can be described as "earning back an old ship in less than a year". It is estimated that the hot market will last for two years, and then gradually decline, but the market is still good.

Of course, this is just a general description. There will definitely be deviations in the specifics, and special circumstances may occur. For example, if you go to the north to transport goods, you may earn back the price of a large ship in one trip, which is more than enough.

"Well, it seems that this route is relatively good."

"Indeed, the overall efficiency is better than that of the Jinyin (8,800 tons)."

Lin Zhichao nodded. After all, the Venus opened up a new market and was the first to try it. It’s not that there were no ships running from Hong Kong to Yokohama, but the Venus was the first ship to have a fixed route.

Fixed lines have the advantage of being punctual and slightly cheaper.

After Fang Ping left, Lin Zhichao leaned on his chair and relaxed a little.

The shipping business is going well, and the feedback from each ship also shows that the performance of these ships is very good, which can be regarded as a treasure.

Although shipping is a major subject, it does not need to be used at once. Therefore, there was nothing that Lin Zhichao could not handle while learning shipping knowledge.

In fact, he started studying shipping as early as two years ago. At that time, Li Gaofu chartered a ship to trade north, and Lin Zhichao had the opportunity to get in touch with shipping.

Nowadays, Lin Zhichao can not only seek advice from veteran shipping kings, but also directly visit and study shipyards and repair yards, or conduct field research on his own cargo ships.

These are basic skills, and what is more important in shipping is 'finance' and 'cycle'.

A ship is expensive, if it expands slowly, the achievements will be limited; if it is proficient in finance, it can speed up the pace of expansion.

Periodicity, the periodicity of shipping can make shipowners "overnight riches". By using several times the rent, he bought six boats within a year. Of course, the periodicity of shipping can also allow shipowners to "return to JF once". It is like the Great Depression of shipping in the 1930s, when ships were parked in ports, and a ship worth 2 million US dollars only cost 20,000 US dollars.

Whether it is "finance" or "cycle", Lin Zhichao not only has a forward vision, but also has a smart brain, so he is also full of confidence.

Lin Zhichao wrote down on paper: shipping, industry, real estate, while thinking about future plans.

In fact, Cheung Kong Properties has been developing residential buildings. After the Hong Kong Island crisis, Cheung Kong Properties also spent some funds to buy some old buildings (uninhabitable), and then made small-scale investments. After one year, seven tenement buildings were also built, and some small money was made.

Anyway, it is to calculate the cost and do it if there is a little profit, but it will never invest too much, following the principle of "fried four hot meats". At present, there are only about 30,000 per floor in Hong Kong, and there is still a downward trend, affected by the embargo.

In terms of industry, zippers, plastics, clothing, and clothing have all stabilized. Affected by the embargo, it may take three years to stabilize before seeking breakthroughs and new developments.

Come step by step!

It’s still a long time!

Lin Zhichao relaxed.

Lin Zhichao came to the Blue Room of the Hong Kong Club again, but this time he was not invited by the old Madden, but by Sandas. The Hong Kong Club has no Chinese members. If Lin Zhichao came alone, he would only be rejected. Only when the waiter hears that he is invited by a member will he take him to the restaurant.

Seeing Sandashi, Lin Zhichao had a smile on his face, this was his God of Wealth. Although, the cooperation between the two is mutually beneficial, or Lin Zhichao has already thought of a backup funding channel plan even without the support of HSBC.

But in any case, he still hopes to obtain financial support from HSBC.

After Lin Zhichao sat down, Sandus signaled the waiter to give Lin Zhichao the menu to order. Since it was Western food, just order his or her own portion.

"I heard that the Global Maritime Academy is recruiting a large number of sailors again. I wonder what your plan is?" Soon, Sandus asked this question.

Lin Zhichao said frankly: "You should also know that now the shipping price is soaring, the business in the Far East is soaring, and the ship shortage is only a matter of time. My three 10,000-ton ships are highly valued by Japanese customers and the business is busy. So I am sure, early next year. When it expires, they will choose to renew the contract at a high price. But this time, I want to renew the contract for three to five years."

Sanders immediately understood Lin Zhichao's plan and said, "Do you want to use the funds and contract renewal to borrow money from HSBC to expand your fleet?"

Lin Zhichao nodded honestly and said, "The best result is this!"

Sandus then smiled and said: "What about the worst outcome?"

Obviously this is a joke!

Now that we have the first loan, HSBC will more or less conduct a risk assessment based on the actual situation. As a result, it is a question of how much to borrow.

At this time, within HSBC Bank, global shipping was highly regarded, because this company could open up a profitable market without relying on smuggling. It is the first ship owner in Hong Kong to charter long-term with Japan, which obviously opens up a market.

Lin Zhichao also jokingly said: "It's not easy. The cost of training a seaman is about 500 Hong Kong dollars, and the cost of 100 training is only 50,000 Hong Kong dollars. For us, we can afford the loss."

The implication is that these seafarers can be dismissed.

Sanders smiled, and then said seriously: "Actually, HSBC Bank has not set a precedent for investing in shipping. One of the reasons for the last loan was that Global Shipping's heavy assets amounted to more than 2 million US dollars. The loan is only 25%, and your achievements, Mr. Lim, in real estate and business. In fact, HSBC still regards shipping as a 'black book'."

Lin Zhichao was taken aback for a moment, and then thought it was true, but he didn't feel depressed.

"Anyway, World Shipping and HSBC have already reached a cooperation, haven't they?"

What he meant was that he had a good start.

Sandas nodded and said, "Of course! Anyway, I will help you and convince Charlie from the project department."

In fact, Sandas himself supports it, and he has already appointed a project manager, so there is still hope that the loan will be successful.

But Sanders didn't give Lin Zhichao a guarantee, and Sanders himself didn't know how much Lin Zhichao wanted to borrow!

Afterwards, the two talked about many things, and Sanders found that Lin Zhichao had many unique insights, which inspired him a lot.

For example, when Lin Zhichao talked about Hong Kong's economy, he speculated that Hong Kong would gradually transform from an entrepot port to an industrial city.

Sanders felt that the analysis was well-founded, and he became more determined that after he took office (the project manager), he would initiate HSBC to take the initiative to make loans to factory owners.

Although HSBC has provided sparse loans to factory owners since World War II, it is still relatively conservative at present.

The two chatted happily, and went home after dinner. Invisibly, the two also became friends. At this time, Sandas never dreamed that Lin Zhichao knew that he would become a project manager, and even the chairman of HSBC Bank, so he approached him proactively. Sandas simply believed that Lin Zhichao went to the doctor in a hurry and came to him.

On the way back to the car.

Lin Zhichao is thinking about things in his mind. He hopes to get a loan of US$2 million at the beginning of the year so that he can increase the cargo capacity by about 40,000 tons (plus his own funds). This loan appeal is not excessive, and the risk is relatively small.

With this development, the peninsula war is over, and global shipping will have a load capacity of about 300,000 tons, of course all freighters.

Relying on the first wave of 'copy', distance yourself from other Chinese shipowners.

Today, Sandas suddenly asked Lin Zhichao, which is also good news. It shows that he is paying attention to global shipping, and it can also show that he has decided to support global shipping.

good!

Originally, Lin Zhichao felt that the recruitment was a bit too fanciful, but he did not expect to get a useful piece of information.