The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Time flies, and a month passes in the blink of an eye.

Lin Zhichao's motorcade drove slowly towards Kai Tak Airport. The motorcade only consisted of two cars, a Rolls-Royce and a Ford. Lin Zhichao himself was sitting in the back row of the Rolls-Royce, thinking about something.

When he just passed the car ferry, he was thinking about an issue. The Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel should be built in advance so as to promote the economy between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

However, Lin Zhichao understood that it was impossible for the government to fund the construction.

In the previous life, the ‘Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel’ was proposed by Mr. David C. of Hutchison Company in the mid-1960s, but the Hong Kong government refused to fund its construction. Therefore, Qi Dezun teamed up with many foreign companies and Chinese people to jointly fund the construction of the Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel. It was built in 1968 and opened to traffic in 1972. The way to recover costs is simple, that is to collect tolls.

In this life, Lin Zhichao doesn't want to wait that long. In three to five years, he plans to propose this plan. After all, this kind of investment has a stable return rate and, more importantly, can contribute to Hong Kong's economy.

"Boss, Kai Tak Airport has arrived!"

"Um"

The voice of the security guard in the front row brought Lin Zhichao back from his thoughts. He straightened his clothes and stepped out of the car.

Today he will take a Hong Kong Airlines flight to Tokyo to work there. Today, Lin Zhichao owns a lot of business in Japan, so he goes to Japan the most times a year than any other overseas country.

After a while, Lin Zhichao got on the Viscount passenger plane of Hong Kong Airlines.

Hong Kong Airlines only has two Jazz aircrafts in total, each of which can carry 70 passengers, which is already a considerable passenger capacity. For example, passenger aircraft before the 1950s almost always had more than 20 seats, such as the DC-3.

Two Duke aircraft are scheduled to fly to Tokyo and Manila routes respectively, while the remaining three DC-3s are scheduled to fly to Taiwan and Seoul routes.

Sitting in his seat, Lin Zhichao has already felt the changes in Hong Kong Airlines. The flight attendants are uniformly dressed and provide enthusiastic service. They can also speak English and Japanese, allowing Japanese guests to immediately know that some flight attendants are Japanese, which creates a sense of intimacy. Even travelers from other countries are naturally familiar with English.

Stewardess is a "higher profession" in this era. Many girls' dream is to be a stewardess. Therefore, when recruiting stewardesses in Japan, knowing Japanese and English is the basic requirement.

The experience is great!

Under Lin Zhichao's request, Hong Kong Airlines' service has been upgraded to a higher level.

It currently takes 6 to 7 hours to fly from Hong Kong to Japan, because the Viscount passenger plane is a propeller aircraft and is not as fast as a jet aircraft. If it is replaced by a Boeing 707, it is expected to arrive in 3.5 to 4.5 hours.

"Sir, lunch time is here, do you need...?" The sweet Japanese girl bowed and asked kindly.

"A side of rice and a side of Coke!" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

It's normal for a new stewardess not to know him, and he doesn't make a point of letting everyone know him as his boss.

There are two options for meals, one is rice food suitable for Easterners, and the other is pasta suitable for Westerners, both with matching dishes.

At this time, Lin Zhichao heard many passengers discussing.

“It actually provides meals and they are so delicious. This airline is really good!”

"It is worth learning from our Japanese airlines. I would like to submit this suggestion to Japanese airlines."

"The flight attendants are from Japan and Hong Kong, and the service is enthusiastic. The food is really delicious. I like this airline."

In this era, everyone who flies all year round knows that airlines have no service at all, and everyone is used to bringing their own snacks. Nowadays, it is a pleasant experience to be able to eat delicious hot food on the plane.

Hong Kong Airlines Catering Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Airlines, has provided services more than a month ago and has been well received by passengers. At the same time, other flights in and out of Hong Kong have also noticed this detail, so some airlines have begun to place orders on ‘Hong Kong Aviation Food’.

Cathay Pacific.

Shiyue, the chief executive of Taikoo Matheson, is holding a meeting.

Sy York is 66 years old this year, but he still chooses to manage Swire at such an old age. In his previous life, he did not retire in the 1970s.

"Do you have any opinion on what happened at Hong Kong Airlines?" he said. He has not always been brooding about the loss of Hong Kong Airlines. After all, Lin Zhichao is no weaker than Taikoo, and more importantly, his opponent is too determined.

However, his more thought is that Lin Zhichao, an aviation layman, like Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Overseas Airlines, has no good solution to Hong Kong Airlines; in the end, Lin Zhichao will obediently give Hong Kong Airlines to Cathay Pacific for merger.

Originally, things went according to his ideas. Lin Zhichao couldn't even get the rights to Hong Kong Airlines at first, and was 'boycotted' by some senior officials.

However, things have changed in recent months. The flight attendants of Hong Kong Airlines have changed - they are Asian and have good service. In the past month or so, the Hong Kong Airline Catering Company has emerged, which suddenly made everyone's eyes brighter.

Such a big change occurred again when Lin Zhichao took over Hong Kong Airlines. It is obviously impossible to say that it has nothing to do with Lin Zhichao.

Cathay Pacific President Kyle said: "The 'Asianization' of Hong Kong Airlines' flight attendants is worth learning from. I suggest that we also recruit local flight attendants from Southeast Asia, Australia and other places for training. As for aviation food, we should also immediately cooperate with Hong Kong Airlines Food Cooperate with the company and let them provide us with meals, after all, the flight distance to Australia and Southeast Asia is also long.”

This is not the answer Shiyok wants most. He said: "Shouldn't we set up an aviation food company? There are so many import and export flights to Hong Kong every year, and this is also a huge market."

Kyle said: "It is said that the kitchen equipment and management of Hong Kong Airline Catering Company are very strict. If we want to enter this industry, we will need time to investigate and prepare."

Shi York said immediately: "Then just do it and give me a plan later!"

He actually understands that the current routes of Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines seem to be similar, but once jet aircraft mature and the range is expanded, Cathay Pacific will be able to fly directly to Europe and the United States in the future, which is far from being comparable to Hong Kong Airlines.

So in fact, he still doesn't value Hong Kong Airlines very much. The reason why he targets competition is because he "looks down" on Lin Zhichao's Chinese identity and control of Hong Kong Airlines.

In particular, Hong Kong Airlines was taken away from him, and Shi York complained a lot.

Lin Zhichao didn’t know that Cathay Pacific was also planning an ‘airline food company’. If he had known about it, he would have scolded Shi York for being shameless. Because logically speaking, this kind of competition is malicious. After all, Hong Kong’s aviation market is not particularly large, and there is absolutely no need to establish two ‘airline food companies’.

At the same time, Hong Kong Airlines did not enter the 'mechanical engineering' business. Instead, Jardine Matheson had a 'mechanical engineering company'. Coupled with the mechanical engineering company in the hands of Swire, Hong Kong's aircraft maintenance business was still in the hands of British capital. .

Here, after Lin Zhichao arrived in Japan, he came to the shipyard.

The oil tankers and freighters built last year are now ready for launch. Among them, two oil tankers of more than 70,000 tons are among the top ten large oil tankers in the world, which is of great significance.

Japanese officials also sent a cabinet minister to attend the launching ceremony, which shows the importance they attach to the shipbuilding industry. The activities were even more lively. Hundreds of girls in kimonos danced traditional Japanese dances. The scene was very grand and made people feel the enthusiasm of the Japanese people.

After the two new tankers were launched, they immediately began to serve the Yamaguchi steamer, which would take up to seven years.

In seven years, Global Shipping's annual profit was equivalent to only 15%, which is already very low. The only advantage is that the shipyards of these two tankers bear the "advance capital", and the Yamaguchi Steamship's monthly rent is used to repay the shipyards' expenses.

Of course, just these few ships operating in this way can be regarded as giving some sweetness to Japanese shipping companies that charter ships.

"Mr. Lin, I heard that your company has built two more 100,000-ton oil tankers on Ishikawa Island?" Yamashita Tatsuro asked Lin Zhichao next to him after the oil tanker was launched.

"Not bad! I am optimistic about the development of oil tankers, so I am now committed to developing the business of large oil tankers. Could it be that President Yamashita is also interested?"

Yamashita Tatsuro smiled and said: "If the price is reasonable, of course I'm interested!"

Lin Zhichao replied: "The price is definitely reasonable, but the lease period is only three or four years."

Upon hearing this, Yamashita Tatsuro understood Lin Zhichao's thoughts. Now that shipping prices are very low, such a shrewd businessman would naturally not want to rent for another seven years.

Indeed, the reason why Lin Zhichao was willing to lease two 70,000-ton oil tankers to Yamaguchi Steamship for seven years was because the shipyard agreed to use the rent to offset the shipbuilding payment. In this way, Lin Zhichao does not need to spend too much money.

For the two 100,000-ton oil tankers built this year, Lin Zhichao adopted the policy of paying off the funds once the ships were built, so it was impossible to accept a seven-year payback.

In the shipping industry, 15% profit is the minimum standard, and it is an oil tanker, which has a maximum lifespan of only 20 years.

Of course, if there is a cold winter for shipping, that is another way of saying it. Not only will you not be able to make money, but you will also lose money.

"Of course the lease term is three or four years, we can discuss it later!" Yamashita Tatsuro said quickly.

Of course he would not have thought that Lin Zhichao could predict the future. I just think that Lin Zhichao is only willing to rent for three or four years, which is a normal strategy. They are willing to rent these two ships for seven years simply because they don’t want to spend too much money.

For Yamaguchi Steamship, leasing Lin Zhichao's vessel is the best choice in all aspects.

"No problem, we'll talk about it later!" Lin Zhichao agreed readily.

In the next few years, he will keep building boats. As long as someone is willing to rent them, that will be the best news. The only thing I can't agree to is that the lease term exceeds three or four years.

For example, if eight 100,000-ton oil tankers are to be built next year, they will be launched in 1960, and the lease period will be three years.

In short, the goal of each ship is: to earn a charter (expected return rate of more than 20%) in the early to mid-1960s when the world needs oil tankers; and to try to have all contracts expire before October 1967. (Suez closed in June), and then started making huge profits (more than 40% return rate).

After the shipping matter was settled, Lin Zhichao reunited with Huang Changhong and came to the headquarters of Daimaru Department Store in Japan to inspect.

This department store originated in 1717 and has a history of two hundred years now. In Japan, there are many such long-lived companies; according to later statistics, there are more than 2.6 million companies in Japan, of which 25,321 are century-old stores, 3,939 of which are more than 200 years old, and more than 300 years old. There are 1,938, and 147 are over 500 years old.

It is even more terrifying than the long-lived companies in the United States. After all, it has only been a few years since the founding of the United States.

In 1736, every branch of Daimaru Department Store hung a hanging scroll written by the owner, Masaki Shimomura: "Those who are righteous first and profit later will be honored." This is a typical Chinese Confucian ideological concept, originating from Xunzi, and was completely transmitted to Daimaru's founding philosophy.

Today, this two-hundred-year-old department store is about to become the largest department store in Japan. In the 1960s, Daimaru was the largest department store in Japan.

"Mr. Lin, welcome to Daimaru Department Store headquarters for inspection!" Regarding Lin Zhichao's arrival, Daimaru Department Store President Ryoichi Yamamoto led his staff to warmly welcome Lin Zhichao.

If it were other people who came to cooperate, they would definitely not have this kind of treatment, and it could even be said that they would have to do everything possible to contact them.

Only the management of Daimaru Department Store was very interested in Cheung Kong after communicating in advance, because Lin Zhichao's signboard was resounding enough.

Everyone introduced each other. This time, Lin Zhichao also brought Huang Changhong, the deputy general manager, and the newly appointed "retail department head" Zhao Mingyi, who was also the original general manager of Crocodile Shirts.

"Mr. Lin, how about visiting Shimodaimaru Department Store together!" Said Ryoichi Yamamoto.

"This is our honor. I am also very curious about how a two-hundred-year-old department store company has grown." Lin Zhichao said in a learning and humble tone.

He also hopes that his company will still exist two hundred years later, of course the premise is that the surname is 'Lin'.

Although many companies in Japan have been around for hundreds of years, the founding family may not be the controller, and may not even be the shareholder.

If this is the case, Lin Zhichao is not envious at all.

"this way please!"

During the inspection, Yamamoto Ryoichi specially took them to the historical exhibition room and introduced specifically: "In the 1730s, the boss Shimomura Masaki arranged umbrellas, fans, braziers, lanterns, etc. in the store for customers to use, making it clear that children should not be bullied, and in winter He gave food, used clothes, and even money to beggars, and sent lanterns and handkerchiefs with Daimaru labels to temples and other places where crowds gathered. Many of his philanthropic deeds were well received by the public, so much so that in 1837, Oishio Heihachiro was involved in civil strife and robbed wealthy merchants. , specifically ordered: "Daimaru is a righteous merchant, don't violate it. "."

Lin Zhichao praised: "This kind of charitable deeds and service reputation are what many of our modern enterprises lack, and there are too few that can do it!"

His words reveal sincerity and admiration!

In fact, he understands one thing - in his previous life in the 1960s, Japanese department stores came to Hong Kong. With Japanese products and Japanese service spirit, they made the local department stores very embarrassed. In the 1980s, the market share was greatly reduced, and even Wing On could only sell part of its shares to Japanese department stores, but the benefit was a quick turnaround.

Products and services are the essence of Japanese department stores.

Later, it was not ‘department stores’ that defeated Japanese department stores, but an emerging industry – supermarkets (supermarkets).

After the inspection, everyone came to the conference room.

Yamamoto Ryoichi said: "You said you want to cooperate with us. Do you plan to establish a cooperative company in Hong Kong?"

Lin Zhichao said: "First of all, it is Xingdao's cooperation!"

Yamamoto Ryoichi and others were stunned, and then he said: "Hoshidao cooperation? Lin Sheng is not from Hoshidao, so it seems disadvantageous for us to cooperate like this!"

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "I have been running a business in Sing Tao for ten years, and we are all Chinese there. Of course, the most important thing is that we are already building a department store."

When he heard that Cheung Kong Holdings owned a department store, Yamamoto Ryoichi immediately said: "This cooperation is very fair!"

To put it bluntly, if Daimaru Department Store is allowed to develop the Sing Tao market, it will first be a department store problem. This is an asset-heavy investment, but if locals provide the space, then Daimaru Department Store can be an ‘asset-light’ investment.

Later, Lin Zhichao asked Huang Changhong to introduce the Sing Tao ‘Department Building’, and handed the drawings to Daimaru Department Store for review.

After a long time, Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "President Yamamoto, how are you doing?"

Yamamoto Ryoichi immediately said: "It's a good cooperation. Mr. Lin is well prepared. The department store building is designed very exquisitely. We are willing to cooperate!"

Fortunately, he didn't look for other Japanese department stores, otherwise it would be a loss for Daimaru Department Store, he thought.

Next, everyone roughly discussed the details of cooperation.

Cheung Kong Holdings owns the venue, accounting for 49% of the shares; Daimaru Department Store is responsible for the rest, accounting for 51% of the shares.

Such cooperation has two benefits for Yangtze River Industries:

First, it is equivalent to finding a big tenant, which is to put it bluntly, being a landlord.

Second, it is definitely more cost-effective than collecting rent. Japanese department stores will have great advantages in the next 30 years.

Finally, Ryoichi Yamamoto said: "Mr. Lin, you are from Hong Kong. I am looking forward to the cooperation from Hong Kong!"

The implication is that Hong Kong should also come to us for cooperation!

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "We will also invest in a first-class building in Hong Kong soon. At that time, we will definitely give priority to cooperation with Daimaru Department Store. I have already selected the location, which is in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong."

Yamamoto Ryo was very happy, because in this way, Daimaru Department Store could expand its business to Sing Tao and Hong Kong without investing too much.

Compared to other department stores in Japan, they are already one step ahead! (End of chapter)