The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Time flies and it’s July in a blink of an eye.

‘Global Sea-Land Container’ easily won the bid for Kwai Chung Container Terminal 1, which became news in Hong Kong’s industrial and commercial circles.

Because Lin Zhichao calculated that Modern Container would not dare to go all out, he acquired the No. 1 Container Terminal with a price tag of only HK$25 million. This price is not expensive. If it were the 1980s, every container terminal would have a winning bid of several billion.

After winning the bid, Global Harbor Land Container was developed immediately and is expected to be completed and put into use in early 1971.

Lin Zhichao didn't pay too much attention to the container terminal. Mainly the land and sea transport group was planning and constructing it, and the Global Group only sent some auxiliary management personnel.

Lin Zhichao takes a long-term view. In the future, 70% of these docks will belong to the "Lin family", so why invest too much energy now!

In the office, Lin Zhichao called the Asian business manager Gao Qiqiang.

"Why hasn't this Ocean Ocean oil tanker been returned by the tenant? It's already two months overdue!" Lin Zhichao said with a frown.

There are 126 ships shipping around the world, and he has memories of every ship. The Ocean Tanker is a 50,000-ton oil tanker that was built in Germany in the early years, and its current tenant is a Hong Kong businessman. According to Lin Zhichao's understanding, he is a speculator.

The so-called shipping speculators rely on chartering ships (usually short-term charters) to run one-way transportation, and can make a lot of profits at one time; after all, global shipping relies on renting out ships as a business, and this kind of speculators rely on transportation as a business , and will also sit down with customers to raise prices.

The important thing is that as long as the market does not plummet in this kind of operation, the possibility of losing money is extremely low. Of course, once shipping plummets, bankruptcy is inevitable.

Gao Qiqiang said: "At first, he used various excuses to keep the ship and would not repay it when it was due. Now that I am in a hurry, he has doubled the price and is willing to pay one-third of the deposit."

Lin Zhichao said: "No, this kind of person must resolutely refuse to cooperate. You go and order him to deliver the ship, otherwise we will go to court. Once the ship is obtained, rent it to a Japanese customer!"

Gao Qiqiang said: "No problem, this time I will communicate directly with the seaman so that he can do nothing."

Lin Zhichao nodded!

When he works with people, the most important thing is their character. This kind of person who ignores the spirit of the contract will not cooperate with him next time. Although he knows the Hong Kong businessman, he has no human feelings to talk to. On the balance between money and reputation, Lin Zhichao chose credibility.

At present, due to the global shortage of ships, prices fluctuate greatly, which has spawned many shipping speculators.

Media Building.

Lin Zhichao listened to the work reports of Luo Wenhui and Li Ziduo. At this time, the media group was just established, so Lin Zhichao's presence in the company was not high and he might not visit the company once a week.

In Lin Zhichao's view, he planned first-class plans for the two companies and provided sufficient funds. If things did not go well, it would be the management's business; he was not afraid of losing anything. If it's not good, forget it.

"In the three months since the publication of "Oriental Daily", its sales have been stable at more than 80,000 copies. The slight increase in sales has approached 90,000 copies. This is mainly due to the clear positioning of "Oriental Daily" as a public newspaper, as well as a large number of current affairs news. One year later , we are confident that it will grow to 100,000 copies and become the number one selling newspaper in Hong Kong."

This development speed was within Lin Zhichao's expectation. The success of "Oriental Daily" is like "anti-aircraft cannons swatting mosquitoes". It has gathered too many elements of success - it is the first newspaper in Hong Kong to position itself as a popular newspaper, which is the best choice for ordinary citizens; a large number of Local current affairs news and overseas news allow people to know world affairs without going out; the news content pays attention to 'short and concise', 'explosive', 'wide coverage', 'fast timeliness', 'easy to understand', 'numerous columns', etc. , which can be said to save three to five years of detours.

"Well, although the results achieved are good, we should not be proud of it! In terms of content, we must slowly evolve, purify, and refine it. After all, the threshold of "Oriental Daily" is not high. If someone learns, it is not difficult to find out the key points. "Gate" Lin Zhichao preached seriously.

Luo Wenhui took paper and pen to record the boss's words, as if he had received an imperial edict.

The success of "Oriental Daily" was originally planned by the boss.

Later, Luo Wenhui took out a newspaper and handed it to Lin Zhichao.

"The boss is right! There was another newspaper "Asia Daily" published the day before yesterday. It was not surprising at first. After all, there are so many newspapers in Hong Kong; but I found that this newspaper wanted to imitate us, and also found famous writers to write the dog book. The only difference is Yes, I asked about this newspaper, and it seems that there are only a dozen people, and the boss seems to be from the society."

Lin Zhichao was stunned, and then picked up the "Asia Daily". It seemed that there were indeed traces of imitation, but it was just a folio newspaper with not much space.

The first thing he thought of was the "Asia Daily" run by Ma Xiru and Ma Zhenzhen, so he said to Luo Wenhui: "Well, pay attention to this newspaper, and then slowly check whether it was run by people from that society. This is really What’s strange is that the club is planning to use newspapers to clear their name, or to use newspapers to convey certain information!”

Luo Wenhui was stunned. This boss was really discerning, and he responded: "Newspapers can't launder people, I'm afraid they can only launder money."

Lin Zhichao nodded and said: "No matter what else, as long as it is our competitor, we must pay attention and deal with it!"

He knows that the current "Asia Daily" with more than a dozen people may be just a test, and it will actually mature. If it were founded by the Ma brothers, they would invest a lot of money and become a competitor of "Oriental Daily".

Moreover, the Ma brothers named "Asia Daily", isn't this a sign of imitation! The East and Asia have almost the same meaning. Fortunately, it was not named "Far East Daily", otherwise it would be a direct confusion.

This must be done without letting Asia Daily take the lead!

Later, Li Ziduo reported on the situation of comics: "The weekly "Manke World" has sold 13,000 copies, and "Fist of the North Star" has become the pioneer of new comics in Hong Kong and enjoys great influence among comic fans. "

Very impressive data. The records of the previous life in the early 1970s were only about 12,000 copies. It seems that the reason why it can surpass the data a few years later is because of the quality and content.

"Okay, keep it up. I'm also watching "Fist of the North Star". There's no problem with the concept, but I hope the creative team will pay more attention to bringing life into comics. The relationship should be delicate, whether it's the relationship between brothers or lovers."

"Thank you boss for the advice!"

After understanding the situation, the two executives left his office.

Today's media groups do not yet have headquarters management. Later, they gradually promote general managers of branch companies to work part-time in the group.

The next step for the media group is to acquire Cathay Pacific Organization (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., which is the original C\u0026M.

Asia Daily

"Brother, this is not possible. What future can a newspaper with more than a dozen people have? The sales volume is less than 10,000 copies. It is really embarrassing! Let me tell you, we are not short of money. We will develop according to the model of "Oriental Daily". I heard that Lin Zhichao was poaching people from all over Hong Kong, and reporters hired hundreds of them, so as soon as the first publication was launched, the sales volume was as high as 80,000." Ma Zhenzhen said a little angry.

In his opinion, to run a newspaper, you have to be willing to spend money and learn the model of Oriental Daily.

Ma Xiru immediately said: "Second brother, you can't say that! Don't forget, what is our original intention of running a newspaper?"

Ma Zhenzhen blurted out: "Of course the news about selling fans should be conveyed through newspapers!"

Ma Xiru's face stiffened and she said: "That's secondary! The most important thing is money laundering. In the past, we took the money from selling fans to a trading company and laundered it, and then it turned into clean money. But the speed was still too slow. We The purpose of running a newspaper is to launder money. However, I can’t invest too much at the beginning, so as not to attract the attention of interested people. Originally, I wanted to gain a foothold through a column like Dog’s Classic. Although it’s not close at the moment, it can still be considered a sales volume. Wait a minute After this year, we will recruit more editorial staff and strive to raise the level to a higher level every year, so that it will be reasonable and make people speechless."

Ma Chenzhen thought for a moment, and the truth seemed to be right. He could only say: "I see! Then let's develop it slowly for a while, and get more dog scriptures and horse scriptures. Many people like to read this stuff."

"Well, you take care of this matter!"

"Okay, I'll do it!"

Both brothers are not stupid, and are very smart. On the contrary, Lame Hao is the stupidest!

The two brothers had a deep relationship in Taiwan. Because of this, Ma Zhenzhen was imprisoned in his previous life and was guarantored by more than 30 squires, including Shao Laoliu.

Lin Zhichao led Huang Changhong, Li Paulo and others to the former site of Admiralty Naval Dockyard.

This month, Cheung Kong Holdings and the Hong Kong government finally reached an agreement and finalized the plan for the entire naval dockyard. Mainly considering the issues of roads and future subway stations, the two parties have been negotiating for several years, which was temporarily suspended due to last year's chaos.

The Hong Kong Metro started writing reports as early as 1964, and invited a team of British experts. Of course, it was just a report. The Hong Kong government has no intention of investing in the Metro now.

As far as Lin Zhichao knows, the official construction of Hong Kong Metro Line 1 began at least after the mid-1970s. Therefore, the entire planning took more than ten years.

In any case, Admiralty is an important station for the future subway, so Lin Zhichao still takes this factor into consideration.

At present, the entire naval dockyard is divided into two construction projects - Raffles City Plaza and Yangtze River Plaza.

Among them, Raffles City is composed of a Burj Al Arab Hotel, four super buildings (a property of more than 500,000 square feet), and a shopping mall - Raffles City; that is, the seaside side of the Navy Dockyard.

Among them, Yangtze River Plaza is composed of two hotel buildings and serviced apartment buildings, two office buildings, and a large shopping mall.

The entire Raffles City and Yangtze River Plaza will be connected by pedestrian bridges in the future, like a city in the sky.

"Tower AB of the Far East Financial Center should be designed as a shopping mall with a three-story base. In this area, the comprehensive business model of shopping, hotels, and office buildings must be fully experienced." Lin Zhichao told his subordinates.

Although the general plan has been drawn up, the actual design of each building is still ongoing.

This is Lin Zhichao’s procrastination tactic. He plans to delay laying the foundation stone until at least next year because the Yangtze River Industrial Group has ‘no money’!

Huang Changhong nodded, and then said: "For the two Far East Financial Center Building ABs on the seaside, it is more reasonable to have the high-rise buildings on the 30th to 35th floors. This can save some construction costs and not steal the limelight of the Burj Al Arab Hotel."

Since November last year, the pound has depreciated by about 12%, and the Hong Kong dollar has also depreciated; therefore, starting from this year, prices in Hong Kong have increased across the board. Among construction costs, wages will increase by 30%, and building materials such as cement, wood, and steel will also increase by 20~ Varies from 50%.

The total floor area of ​​each of the two Far East Financial Center buildings is more than 500,000 square feet. If it is built to 50 floors and the first floor is 10,000 to 12,000 square feet, the construction cost will be about 30 to 50% more expensive, reaching About 150 million Hong Kong dollars; and if you build 30 to 35 floors, the construction fee may only cost 0.8 to 120 million Hong Kong dollars per building.

Lin Zhichao looked around and said: "The Burj Al Arab Hotel has 50 floors, and the Admiralty Center behind it has almost 40 floors. These two buildings are model skyscrapers. Far East Financial Center Tower AB and Taifu Center can consider 30 to 35 floors. They have to give way." The design company will prepare an overall detailed rendering and we will finalize it.”

"Okay, I'll talk to them!"

Take your time. The Hong Kong government is not urging you anyway. After all, the current market situation is not good, and the Hong Kong government understands this.

Of course, Tower AB of the Far East Financial Center can definitely be completed and put into use at the end of 1972 or early 1973. The Burj Al Arab Hotel was put into use from 1975 to 1976, and Admiralty Center, Pacific Center, and Raffles City were built successively from 1976 to 1980. .

As for Yangtze River Plaza, it was built after 1985.

In recent years, the Yangtze River Industrial Group has been under great financial pressure. Lin Zhichao can only transfer the profits of the Yangtze River Center and complete commercial projects through loans, sales of pre-completed properties, etc.

Just one Raffles City mall (hotel + office building + shopping mall) will cost 800 million to 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.

It's definitely a big investment.

On the way back, Lin Zhichao asked: "When will the construction of the two residential projects start?"

Cheung Kong Group has restarted the development of real estate projects in April.

Huang Changhong said: "We will start construction in the middle to late this month. The drawings and approvals are ready. We just have to wait for the day."

Lin Zhichao said with satisfaction: "It's time to prepare for the sale of property. All the funds from Yangtze River Industries have been exhausted!"

He has money (more than 400 million US dollars overseas), but he doesn't want to borrow too much. After all, it is not a listed company and the interest is paid by himself. The main reason is that large investments are commercial projects, and the return on capital is slow (6 to 10 years), so it is better to have less interest.

Huang Changhong said with a smile: "Now that real estate has recovered, market confidence is also building step by step. But this time, affected by factors such as a 20% reduction in plot ratio and the depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar with the pound, the price of residential properties may break the historical record." "

Lin Zhichao nodded. Huang Changhong's analysis made sense, but he couldn't imagine how high it would be.

According to Lin Zhichao's analysis, at the turn of the spring and summer of 1969, the price of mid- to low-end residential properties could reach 55 to 70 Hong Kong dollars per square foot; and by the beginning of 1971, the price might reach 120 to 160 Hong Kong dollars per square foot; by the beginning of 1973, the price It will be 200~300 Hong Kong dollars per square foot.

From now on, Hong Kong’s property prices will skyrocket!

In the evening, Lin Zhichao enjoyed dinner with his family.

He asked: "How is Rui Huan's internship in New York?"

This summer, after finishing his junior year, Lin Ruihuan went to work as an ordinary employee at Audrey Investment Company. Of course, it was only an internship for more than a month.

Tang Caiyun said: "Audrey said she didn't know either, and she said it was you who told her. She was not allowed to reveal Rui Huan's background or anything like that. He was just a kid from an ordinary friend's family who went for an internship. So, she didn't ask about the situation, so as not to let her subordinates know. Suspect!"

Lin Zhichao suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He had indeed said so, but now he was concerned.

"Oh, that makes sense! But didn't Rui Huan talk to you on the phone?"

"It worked. He said it was very good and his tone was very happy!"

"I know, that's great!"

Lin Ruihuan's younger brothers and sisters are not jealous when they see that their father cares about their eldest brother; on the contrary, they understand that this favor is not easy to win.

When I was young, when a younger sibling made a mistake, the eldest brother would often be punished together. This makes them understand that everything has two sides. The eldest brother is more valued by his father, but his requirements are also stricter.

Lin Zhichao then said: "The recent influenza outbreak in Hong Kong, you should pay attention to your health, drink more boiled water and exercise more!"

Xu Caiying said without taking it seriously: "There is a period every year, so it shouldn't matter, although many people do have the flu recently!"

Lin Zhichao said seriously: "This time the flu is different. In just over a week, it seems that many people have contracted it, so there is no problem in paying more attention to it."

This round of Hong Kong flu is still very serious. About 15% of Hong Kong people will get it, and then it will start to spread overseas.

"Yeah, kids, did you hear that?"

Xu Caiying quickly changed her tone and no longer dared to take it lightly.

"I heard mom and dad"

Lin Zhichao said to Wu Wenying again: "Mom, you should stop playing mahjong recently and take a rest! You are getting older, so you don't have to play mahjong all the time. You might as well do more activities."

Wu Wenying likes to play mahjong and knows many people who always flatter her. She is also a good person.

Of course, no one would dare to set a trap for her. After all, Lord Lin is a man who covers the sky with only one hand in Hong Kong.

"Playing mahjong is also exercise, both for the brain and the body!"

"Just take it less! With your friends and smokers, you inadvertently inhale second-hand smoke. More outdoor activities are a good way to live longer. Look at your son, get up at six o'clock tomorrow morning and have the freshest breath. Fresh air, and do some exercise. I am 40 years old, and I am still in my twenties."

Wu Wenying saw that her son was seriously trying to persuade him, so she could only choose to reduce her hobbies.

In fact, she just wanted to listen to those women's flattery and take the initiative to lose money to her to make her happy. Lin Zhichao knew that this would happen. After all, he had played mahjong with his mother and felt that his playing skills were at a normal level, but he always lost less and won more outside, which made him suspicious.

However, although he is only a mother, when it comes to matters of principle, he still chooses to stick to his principles.