The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

"Boss, Mo Sheng is here!"

"welcome"

The clerk introduced a person to Lin Zhichao's office. He was about fifty years old and wore a pair of glasses. He was a relatively gentle old man.

Lin Zhichao stood up, came to Mo Yingji's side, stretched out his right hand and said enthusiastically: "Mo Sheng, I have long admired your name!"

"Lin Sheng, I have admired your name for a long time. It's such an honor to meet you!"

Mo Yingji is worthy of being a stockbroker. He has a very humble and enthusiastic attitude. At first glance, you can tell that he is a "seasoned" in the social circle. He is good at handling various interpersonal relationships, entertainment, etc.

At this point, Hu Zhaoxu can only be regarded as a junior, and Mo Yingji does not have the momentum to move freely.

Lin Zhichao invited Mo Yingji to sit down on the sofa. While the clerk was arranging tea, he asked the clerk to ask Zhou Fuzhao to come to the office.

"Mo Sheng has been in the stock market for more than 20 years and is the official broker of HSBC. You must have guessed the reason why I invited you here, right?"

Mo Yingji felt happy and immediately said, "If Lin Sheng has any instructions, it would be my honor! I don't dare to say anything else, but in the stock market, I should be able to work for Lin Sheng."

Lin Zhichao laughed "haha" and said: "Mo Sheng, you are so refreshing!"

After a while, Zhou Fuzhao also came to the office and sat on the sofa to accompany the guests.

Mo Ying-kee is the third generation of the "Mok family" in Hong Kong, and this Mok family has been wealthy for a hundred years.

As early as the 1860s, Mo Shiyang, the first generation of the Mo family, moved to Hong Kong from Guangdong and engaged in construction and grocery trading. He also bought land in the Baihua Street area of ​​Hong Kong Island and built dozens of buildings. houses.

Due to Mo Shi Yang's wide network of contacts and contacts with many foreign banks, Swire \u0026 Co., Ltd., which wanted to develop rapidly in Hong Kong, through an intermediary, strongly invited Mo Shi Yang to serve as Swire Comprador in 1870. Mo Shiyang, who doesn't understand English, does business through interpreting. He can charge Swire 5% commission for each transaction;

In 1879, Mo Shiyang died, and his son Mo Zaoquan succeeded him as Taikoo Comprador. Because of the trust of Swire, Mo Zaoquan even arranged for other Mo family brothers to work as compradors in Swire branches such as Guangdong Province and Shanghai Stock Exchange. Relatives, friends, nephews, and in-laws from the same village also worked in Swire one after another. The Mo family has a total of 1,000 people. Many family members and fellow villagers joined Taikoo. At that time, the outside world jokingly called Taikoo's foreign affairs the "Mo Family Temple".

In 1917, Mo Zaoquan died of illness, and the post of general comprador was handed over to his eldest son, Mo Gansheng. During Mo Gansheng's tenure, he made a fortune of six to seven million yuan by hoarding fried Taikoo sugar, and spent one million to buy a land of more than 100,000 square feet near the top of the mountain on Connaught Road to build the most luxurious British palace in Hong Kong at that time style villa, which aroused the suspicion of Brown, the manager of Swire \u0026 Co., Ltd., who sent someone to check his accounts. In the end, the Mo family paid a fine of HK$250,000 to end the matter. Since then, the two sides began to have rifts, so in 1931, Mo Gansheng resigned as a comprador. During his ten years in office, he had accumulated an astonishing wealth of 10 million yuan.

After three generations of development, the Mo family has already flourished and become a huge family. It used to be as famous as the "Ho Tung Family" of the comprador family of Jardine Harmony. And their descendants have developed in many aspects and have already become a 'noble family'.

Among the third generation, Mo Gansheng is a "gentry businessman", and his younger brothers Mo Yingxi and Mo Yingji are practicing barristers and senior stockbrokers respectively.

Especially the barrister Mo Yingling, who supported the mainland in the early 1950s and helped workers "strive for their interests", was finally "gifted as a gift" by the British Hong Kong government, and finally lived in the mainland. In the 1920s, as a lawyer, Mok Ying-pu rescued the Nantian King and the officers and soldiers of the Republic of China who were detained in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong. It can be said that he loved his country and Hong Kong throughout his life.

"Mo Sheng, I came to you this time because I want to hire you to be our stock broker of Yangtze Real Estate!" After chatting for a while, Lin Zhichao formally explained his intention.

In this era, if you want to buy stocks, you can only go through a stock broker.

Mo Yingji was naturally happy. After all, he got a big customer, and then said: "No problem! Is Lin Sheng investing in the name of the company?"

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "Yes. Changjiang Properties has some idle funds. I plan to buy some stocks and make a small profit. Hong Kong's economy is in a good situation. After we have studied it, we want to entrust Mo Sheng bought it for us and planned to make a long-term investment.”

Hearing that it is a long-term investment, Mo Yingji has no regrets. Although the number of commissions received is small, he thinks that the funds should be in the millions; the important thing is the personal relationship. It was an important relationship for him as a stockbroker.

"Well, no problem! How much does Lin Sheng plan to invest? Which stocks to invest in?"

At this time, Zhou Fuzhao took out a piece of paper, handed it to Mo Yingji and said, "Mo Sheng, these are some stocks we are optimistic about. How about you take a look first?"

Mo Yingji took it and looked at it seriously.

"HSBC, Hong Kong Electric, CLP Power, Kowloon Godown, Hong Kong Tramways, Watsons, Hong Kong Hotel, Landmark... are all well-developed stocks among British capital. Lin Sheng is also optimistic about Hong Kong's economy in the next few years, then These stocks will rise!" Mo Yingji said seriously.

In his opinion, Lin Zhichao, as a business tycoon and a legendary businessman, is optimistic about Hong Kong's economy in the next few years. Correspondingly, these high-quality British stocks will definitely be popular in the market, and there is nothing wrong with investing in them.

Then, Mo Yingji asked: "How much does Yangtze Real Estate intend to invest?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "How about 10 million? I have a premise, that is, when buying, the impact should not be too large, and the impact should be minimized. It can be divided into one or two months to buy. Anyway, I am also a long-term investment. I don't care if it goes up or down."

Mo Yingji looked at Lin Zhichao's calm expression, and couldn't help but feel huge waves in his heart. With this calmness, he must be a stock market expert. Immediately, he thought that maybe Lin Zhichao was rich, and a mere ten million was nothing.

But no matter what, Lin Zhichao's masterful style greatly touched Mo Yingji. Let him start to analyze Lin Zhichao's investment methods in his heart, and he can take the opportunity to learn from it.

"Then let's keep in touch at all times and communicate in time if anything happens. Is that okay?"

"Okay, I'll ask Manager Zhou to contact you on a regular basis. He is in charge of the company's work. Of course, if Mo Sheng treats you that day, you can contact me, haha!"

Mo Yingji said with a smile: "That's the deal, Lin Sheng can't refuse when the time comes, haha!"

He is naturally happy to establish a good relationship with a business tycoon like Lin Zhichao. Not to mention treating guests to dinner, he will also send gifts during the holidays.

If ordinary people entrust him to buy and sell stocks, it is someone else who invites him.

After chatting for a while, Mo Yingji got up to say goodbye, and Lin Zhichao sent him to the door, and then asked Zhou Fuzhao to see him off, which was considered very polite.

After returning to his office, Lin Zhichao couldn't help showing a smile.

Like Mo Yingji, a big stockbroker like Mo Yingji, even Li Jiacheng relied heavily on others in his previous life from the beginning.

But Lin Zhichao does not count on him, everyone just cooperates normally. The reason is very simple. Lin Zhichao does not speculate in short-term stocks;

The important thing is that six or seven years ago, Lin Zhichao could only speculate in small stocks.

At the same time, Lin Zhichao thought about the future organization of Cheung Kong.

His thoughts are:

A "Cheung Kong Industrial Holdings Company" was established, which controlled companies such as "Cheung Kong Industrial", "Cheung Kong Real Estate", "Uniqlo", and "Doll Noodles".

Among them, "Cheung Kong Holdings" will be listed in 1972 and changed to "Cheung Kong Holdings Group". Its assets include: it is expected to be about 20 development properties, and a small amount of reserve land, Uniqlo, and doll noodles.

Among them, Changjiang Real Estate does not need to be listed. Its assets are mainly commercial real estate projects, including office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, and even most of the reserve land.

In this way, when Cheung Kong goes public, its asset value only needs to be "the boss of Huazi real estate", but it is not very huge. The hundreds of millions of funds raised after listing can buy the land of Changjiang Real Estate at a high price, killing two birds with one stone.

The reason why Lin Zhichao wants to list a "signature company" is because - businessmen who don't know how to use the stock market are fools.

Leek's money is so easy to make, how can there be no reason not to make it!

Moreover, the Lin family also needs influence, so there must be a 'signature listed company'.

Lin Zhichao and Tang Zhongyuan came to the site at No. 661 King's Road, North Point.

This site is only three or four buildings away from the North Point Funeral Parlor. The north side is a reclaimed land; there are several arcade buildings on the site, and the site area is about 20,000 square feet.

"Father-in-law, where did you buy this land?" Lin Zhichao asked curiously.

He suspected that this piece of land was the North Point Industrial Building owned by Li Jiacheng in his previous life, which was later known as Millennium Plaza. It was said to be a property that would not be sold by Li Jiacheng in any case. Because this piece of land was the first industrial building built by Li Jiacheng in his previous life, and also the beginning of his entry into the real estate industry, it is of extraordinary significance.

Nowadays, Li Jiacheng naturally does not have the strength to enter the real estate industry at this time. It would be good if his Changhe Plastic Factory had a profit of HK$500,000 last year.

Therefore, if Li Jiacheng enters the real estate industry, Lin Zhichao guesses that it may be in six or seven years, just in time to buy the bottom. At that time, he should have about 5 million in assets, buying real estate at the bottom. In this way, it may even miss the listing in 1972. Even if it were listed in that year, the fundraising strength would only be at the level of 20 to 30 million. Compared with the scale of the real estate five tigers who raised 200 million, it is simply vulnerable.

Tang Zhongyuan said happily: "I bought it from Wang Kuancheng!"

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "I have heard of this. He was the land king of North Point back then. It is said that there was a lot of land in North Point at that time and dozens of buildings were built. Unexpectedly, the land is now being sold instead of being developed."

Wang Kuancheng is the president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. He donated aircraft to the mainland during the Peninsular War. He is a veritable "red-top businessman". His two actions in the 1940s can be said to be a style of the Rothschild family:

The first move was to buy the Hong Kong dollars issued by HSBC during the Japanese occupation. At that time, everyone believed that HSBC would not recognize these Hong Kong dollars after the war because they were issued under the force of the Japanese army. But Wang Kuancheng learned from a conversation with a friend at HSBC that HSBC values ​​credit the most, so the 200 million Hong Kong dollars it was forced to issue will be recognized. Because of this, Wang Kuancheng, Zhou Xinian and others made huge profits by purchasing Hong Kong dollars from ordinary citizens in the market.

The second move: After the war, Wang Kuancheng bought up land in North Point at a price as low as 7 to 8 Hong Kong dollars per square foot. In just a few years, it soared to 20 or 30 Hong Kong dollars. He built dozens of high-rise buildings (four or five stories high). . Relying on rent collection, he has a lot of money.

Of course, with Wang Kuancheng's current status, it will definitely be inconvenient to do business in Hong Kong, and the current real estate industry is dominated by Cantonese businessmen, so there is no Wang Kuancheng in this wave of real estate.

Tang Zhongyuan nodded and said: "He has been selling land in North Point for several years. This time I bought the land with a total area of ​​23,000 square feet. He asked for 1.8 million, and I paid back 200,000. Finally, the deal was sold for 1.6 million Hong Kong dollars. .”

The price is about the same!

Lin Zhichao immediately gave his father-in-law a plan, saying: "This land can be used to build a 12-story industrial building, each floor has a floor area of ​​about 15,000 square feet, and a floor area of ​​about 180,000 to 200,000 square feet. If you decide to rebuild , then hurry up and do it for you in 12 months!"

Tang Zhongyuan immediately said happily: "Okay, I'll listen to you, you are an expert in real estate!"

Lin Zhichao nodded and explained: "The construction of industrial buildings can be rented out stably, which is very suitable for your father-in-law's stable investment. After all, you are now focusing on industry. In recent years, you have invested in several industrial buildings, and you can move forward and backward freely. Advance, in the future These buildings can be an opportunity for you to enter real estate; when you retire, these buildings can generate stable income, and can also be converted into commercial buildings in the future.”

Tang Zhongyuan heard his son-in-law say this, not to mention how excited he was, who would not want to diversify investment!

But it is difficult for a non-Cantonese real estate developer to squeeze in because you are not familiar with the market. Now, he has a good son-in-law, so that he can tentatively invest in some real estate rental projects.

"Well, it makes sense! I think industrial buildings have a future. Hong Kong's industry is developing rapidly, especially some small factories are growing very fast, and they need factory buildings to be rented out in layers. The market is so strong, so I am very optimistic about the factory rental market."

For a long time, industrial factories in Hong Kong were very popular, at least until 1978.

If Tang Zhongyuan enters real estate in the future, he will have no problem becoming a medium-sized real estate developer.

For the site at No. 661 King's Road, the site fee plus construction fee is estimated to cost 2.8 million Hong Kong dollars. For Tang Zhongyuan, it was not a big bet.

Back at Changjiang Industrial, Lin Zhichao explained to his subordinates that Tang Zhongyuan didn't need to worry about developing an industrial plant for his father-in-law.

After a while, Lin Zhichao's second uncle Lin Yunchu also found him.

"Zhichao, I found a 20,000-square-foot piece of land for sale in Kwun Tong. The owner's asking price is 1.25 million Hong Kong dollars. What do you think of building a factory building there?"

Lin Yunchu had a look of hope on his face. Over the past three years, he has accumulated a fortune of three million yuan by opening wig factories and plastic factories. Although he became rich suddenly, Lin Yunchu did not waste money. A tenement building is used as a rental investment.

This is because his own nephew advised him to invest in industrial plant buildings, and he firmly believed in it. Therefore, keep saving money and dare not spend it recklessly.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Kwun Tong is also very good. It is an industrial area in Kowloon. The unit price is just over HK$60 per square foot, which is not expensive. If it weren't for the current real estate slump, this price would not be available. How about it, I will arrange someone to help You follow the procedure, and then build an industrial building for you, and you can rent out more than 100,000 square feet of factory space."

Lin Yunchu breathed a sigh of relief. With this industrial plant, he can also 'diversify' his investments in the future.

Later, Lin Yunchu and Lin Zhichao chatted in the office.

Unconsciously, Lin Zhichao began to pay attention to Lin Yunchu, his second uncle. After all, they were related by blood.

"Second uncle, the total investment in this factory is less than 2.5 million. It will bring you stable rental income every year, just like a family heirloom."

"Well, I know, so I always attach great importance to it and don't dare to spend money carelessly."

Then, Lin Yunchu took the initiative to speak: "Zhichao, two emerging industries, such as plastic flowers and wigs, have a booming cycle, right?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "There are definitely cycles, but there is no need to worry about it in the short term. If my second uncle said this, has he considered other investments?"

Lin Yunchu shook his head and said, "That's not true, but I plan to take advantage of the low housing prices and buy another tenement house."

At present, most of the buildings in Hong Kong are tenement buildings and arcades, and even thousands of tenement buildings and arcades are rebuilt every year.

After all, one tenement building cannot build a residential building. Instead, several tenement buildings need to be merged to have enough land to build a building.

Because of this, even after 50 years, Hong Kong still has a lot of six-seven-storey buildings, because where the "plot ratio" is, it doesn't matter how high you want to build.

"You can do whatever you want! As long as you don't go into debt, you can buy whatever you want. Do you think that's the right thing to do?" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

Lin Yunchu suddenly realized it and said: "It makes sense!"

What the nephew means is that as long as there is no debt, the house will still be valuable no matter how depreciated it is.

At the same time, he still has to continue to develop in industry, which is the right path.

After chatting for a while, Lin Yunchu said goodbye.

Sitting in the office, Lin Zhichao also thought about the second uncle, because he is close to the second uncle, although he is not as good as Tang Zhongyuan, but Lin Zhichao will always take care of him.

However, the care is limited. After the industrial building is completed this time, it is considered that it has done its best.

What's more, Lin Yunchu's two factories have an annual profit of 800,000 to 1 million Hong Kong dollars, which is enough for his descendants to be rich.

His eldest cousin, whose academic performance was not good, was also sent to overseas universities by Lin Yunchu to gild his family. In another two years, he will be able to come back to help Lin Yunchu.

Of course, Lin Zhichao and Lin Yunchu's family are not very close.