On December 8, the sky was blue and cloudless, and the newly built Shikip Mei subway station was very lively and unusual.

"Look, look, the car is coming." A reporter shouted as he pointed to the fall path on the right.

I saw two lights appear in the dark corridor, and then the lights got closer and closer, and I !! With a short whistle sound, the subway train came out of the dark corridor.

After the train arrived at the station, MacLehose's catwalk was over, of course, he inevitably bragged in front of reporters when he left, saying how he supported Hong Kong's economic clouds, and finally didn't know that he was wrong, and actually released a big satellite, saying that within ten years, the total mileage of Hong Kong's subway should reach 1000 kilometers.

1000 kilometers, what are you kidding, the history of the Hong Kong subway since the opening of traffic in 79 to 07 during the merger of the two railways, Hong Kong's subway is only seven routes, 53 stations, the total length is only 91 kilometers, a thousand kilometers of subway mileage, he thinks he is the mainland government!

It is not easy to build a subway in Hong Kong, in addition to the technical difficulty of construction, the main thing is that there are a lot of strange things, it is difficult to build a subway and will definitely encounter engineering demolition, demolition will encounter nail households, Hong Kong can not be like the mainland, can forcibly relocate those nail households, so all kinds of lawsuits are indispensable, which will greatly affect the construction progress.

In addition, there are a lot of high-rise buildings in Hong Kong, and the foundation of the building is built very deep, so special attention must be paid to the construction of the subway, can not hurt the foundation of these buildings, at the same time, the Hong Kong Department of Construction also stipulates that the road sinking can not exceed the ultra-high requirements of 2CM, so the construction of the subway in Hong Kong is very different from Canada, during the construction, if the tunnel is found to have signs of sinking on the road surface in the advance, the steel pipe will be inserted into the bottom layer that needs to be solidified, and then the cement is injected into the soil through the steel pipe, so as to stabilize the foundation.

This method is effective in preventing the road surface from sinking. But the amount of work will become unusually large, and the huge project will inevitably lead to overspending. Grove for the sake of funding. There are many lawsuits with the financial secretary of Hong Kong.

It's a pity that the British government in Hong Kong can't come up with so much money, and MacLehose was annoyed by Grove, and finally dropped a sentence, "The government's finances are limited, and the funds can only help you solve a small part." The rest of you can figure it out on your own, the only thing I can do is to give you great support and tax incentives in terms of policy, anyway, the MTR Corporation has been privatized, and you should solve the construction funds of the subway yourself, don't always count on our government. ”

Speaking of which, Andy. Grove knew that it would not work to extract even a penny from the mouth of the British government in Hong Kong, but the issue of construction funds was urgent, as long as the issue was handed over to Ling Shizhe.

The construction of the project was blocked. Ling Shizhe also had a headache, but Alison and Navali were very excited, because it meant that Ambrera would have the possibility of monopolizing the entire Hong Kong subway market.

The two briefly discussed, and the suggestion to Ling Shizhe was that the cost of subway construction could not be paid by the British government in Hong Kong, but the benefits we deserved must be guaranteed!

In order to prevent the British government in Hong Kong from backtracking at that time, the legal department and law firm led by Olson also included the oral commitment of the British government in Hong Kong into the written contract, and the legal terms on the contract were quite "harsh", but the British government in Hong Kong could not deny it, otherwise the subway plan would not be able to be discussed.

Although all legal obstacles have been cleared. But the problem of funding still exists, so Ling Shizhe thought of a way to mortgage the MTR Corporation as a whole to the bank, and the loan funds were used to build the subway. Finally, the income from the operation of the subway is used to repay the loan.

The only risk here is that the MTR Corporation is very likely to return to the hands of the government, but Ling Shizhe thinks that this is nothing, because if the ultimate purpose of the MTR Corporation is to sell subway buses, as long as they buy my train, who does the MTR Corporation ultimately belong to. He didn't really care.

Besides, is it really so easy for the MTR Corporation to go bankrupt and be taken back by the government? After the opening of the first subway line, the annual profit margin of the Hong Kong MTR Company exceeded 50%, 23% of the profit was used to repay loans and interest, and the remaining 27% was its own.

The Hong Kong Mass Transit Corporation relied on this method to build up Hong Kong's subway network little by little, and finally acquired the Kowloon MTR Corporation, which not only has its own railway lines, but also its own bus lines.

In order to save money to the greatest extent, Ling Shizhe also adopted the method of engineering outsourcing, and his own engineering construction team was only responsible for the most high-tech work, and most of the rest was handed over to the China Railway First Bureau in the mainland.

That's right, it's China Railway First Bureau. In 1965, the first subway line of the Republic was built by China Railway First Bureau.

They have experience in subway construction, and the cost is cheap, so it is just right to hand it over to them.

The only way to get in touch with them is, of course, the credit of Navali, you must know that Bombardier sold more than 2,000 refrigerated cars to the Republic in the fifties, and Navali naturally had a way to contact them.

In a word, to ensure the travel safety of Hong Kong citizens, then Wally can easily hook the other party, not to mention that there is foreign exchange to be earned.

At any time, China will not reject foreign exchange, and in the 70s, when foreign exchange was extremely scarce, the mainland will not reject it, not to mention that Navali still has the political slogan of "ensuring the safety of Hong Kong citizens".

However, the funding problem was finally solved, and the first line was opened two years earlier than in history.

In the end, Ling Shizhe thought about it, MacLehose's confidence may have been seen in this way of packaging and mortgaging the MTR Corporation to the bank to obtain subway construction funds, so that he has the confidence to build a subway line with a total mileage of 1,000 kilometers within ten years.

After MacLehose spoke briefly in front of reporters, Hong Kong's first subway, the end section from Kwun Tong to Shek Kip, officially began commercial operation.

Starting from Kwun Tong Station, there are a total of 10 stations on the way, including Kowloon Hill, Choi Rainbow, Diamond Hill and Wong Tai Sin.

The subway fare is a uniform five Hong Kong dollars no matter where you sit, Ling Shizhe took a look at the seating rate of the train, and felt good, a total of six carriages, each carriage has basically reached more than 90% of the occupancy rate, if you keep this attendance rate, I believe that the cost will be recovered soon.

In fact, Ling Shizhe was right. To everyone's surprise, just one day later, it won the first peak period of subway operation in Hong Kong.

From 5:28 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. the next day, during the morning peak hours. The Kwun Tong Line trains run every 124 seconds at the shortest and 60 seconds at the highest, and can carry up to 32,000 passengers per hour during peak hours. In an emergency, Lin Wencong put the last five passenger trains into operation, but they still couldn't cope with it.

As soon as the subway was put into operation, it was so successful that Ambrera and his group of high-level executives were overjoyed, and at this rate, it seems that the construction cost will be recovered in less than two years.

Equally happy are the banks that took a big risk if the MTR project failed, when they lent money to the MTR Corporation in Hong Kong. The only way to await them is to resign.

Although the railway company can be forcibly recovered, who will take over such a huge loss-making enterprise? Now, the popularity of the route from Kwun Tong to Shek Kip has made those bankers all breathe a sigh of relief, and then there is great excitement, they have all raised the credit rating of the MTR Corporation of Hong Kong, and then they are actively approaching the door, asking when the MTR line will start construction the next day, and whether they need a loan. It's easy to say in terms of interest.

Lin Wencong finally sent these vampires away, so he called Ling Shizhe, "Chairman, the flies have been driven away." ”

"Hmm. Is Mr. Han still with you? Ling Shizhe asked on the phone.

Lin Wencong glanced at Han Gang and said, "Yes, do you want him to answer the phone?" ”

"No, you tell him that the subway line won't start so soon the next day, and it will have to wait until the engineers have inspected all the lines. Come up with a specific construction plan, it is not possible to do it without more than two years, so he can wait with peace of mind, and he can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. ”

At this time, Han Gang walked to the microphone and said: "Chairman, I understand, the subway line has just started operation, and the cost has not been recovered. ”

Ling Shizhe smiled with satisfaction on the other end of the phone, and said: "It's good to understand this truth, remember, the second subway line is Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan Line, from Tsuen Wan to Central, the relevant route inspection and construction plan will start from now on, when to start construction, we have to say, but not by those bankers." ”

"Yes!" Lin Wencong reflexively stood upright, and then whispered into the phone: "But the chairman, the existing twenty-five passenger cars can't cope with it at all, do you think you're adding some columns to us?" ”

A passenger train has six or two carriages, twenty-five passenger cars, a total of 135 carriages, so many carriages can not cope with just one line, but thinking of the 261 kilometers of Hong Kong's total length of lines in later generations, it has 1863 carriages, and it is also relieved.

So he said to Lin Wencong on the other end of the phone: "How many passenger cars do you need to find Navali, he is responsible for vehicle manufacturing, you don't need to ask me for instructions for this kind of thing in the future, you are the CEO of the railway company, how many vehicles the company needs, you should know in your heart, if the vehicles are not enough, look for Navali." ”

"In addition, although the Kwun Tong Line is very popular, it has not yet fully exerted its passenger traffic, and the line will continue to expand, Kwun Tong Station will continue to the east to Tiu Keng Ling, and the west will go south, through Prince Ten, Mong Kok, and finally to Yau Ma Tei, understand?"

"This ...... BOSS, I can still understand when I go to Yau Ma Tei, after all, it has already begun to be developed, and it will soon become a new prosperous area. Adjustable Ridge ...... It's too desolate, isn't it? ”

At this time, Tiu Keng Ling has not yet been developed, only a simple kilometer leads there, there is only one bus a day, the geographical location is very remote, it only began to be developed in the mid-to-late nineties in history, but now this time and space history has been changed.

Since MacLehose took office, he has vigorously developed Hong Kong's high-tech industries, and in just a few years, he has demarcated three high-tech development zones in Tseung Kwan O, the New Territories, and Sha Tin District.

Although Hong Kong was prosperous in the 70s, it was also concentrated in a central part of Hong Kong Island, and even Kowloon, a prosperous place in later generations, could only be regarded as an urban-rural junction at this time, not to mention other places, completely rural and rural.

MacLehose listed Tseung Kwan O, the New Territories and Sha Tin as high-tech development zones, and the most direct effect is that these rural areas, which were originally rural areas, began to be developed more than 10 years earlier than in history, and now the environment there has changed dramatically, with high-rise buildings everywhere, factories everywhere, and many, many supporting commercial service centers.

In short, the success of the high-tech development zone has won him a high reputation, both in Hong Kong and in the upper echelons of the United Kingdom, but he soon stopped laughing.

The reason is in the north. After ten years of turmoil, a lot of people fled Hong Kong from the mainland, and so many people gathered in Hong Kong, a small place, and soon, Hong Kong's original land was not enough.

As a result, some people wrote a letter suggesting that the high-tech development zones should be abolished and turned into commercial land to house those who had fled Hong Kong. You don't have to think about it, you know that it is the spokesperson of the real estate developer who can make this suggestion.

The high-tech development zone is MacLehose's biggest political achievement, how can it be canceled? Therefore, it was rejected without even thinking about it.

But what if so many people have to be resettled? So MacLehose thought of other areas in Hong Kong that had not yet been developed, and Tiu Keng Leng was in this development plan.

It was because he knew these inside stories that Ling Shizhe dared to let Lin Wencong repair the line there, otherwise he would repair the line to Tiaojingling after eating too much.

After knowing what happened, Lin Wencong could only follow Ling Shizhe's instructions, but at the end of the red, he said: "By the way, the chairman has another matter, the director of China Railway First Bureau wants to see you, you see ......"

Ling Shizhe thought for a while and said, "Okay, let him come." ”

You must always come when you should come, and you can't escape from it, and in this place of Hong Kong, no matter how you try to get around, you can't get around the mainland.

The water that Hong Kong people eat comes from the mainland, and of course there is also the desalination line, and poultry eggs, chilled food, and vegetables are also sent from the mainland, and they are also sent three times a day. Therefore, the life of Hong Kong people, everything that Hong Kong people do now cannot do without the mainland.

Avoidance is never the solution to things, only to face it head-on. (To be continued.) )