Madison Garden Plaza cost $4.75 million when it was built, but that was in 1925, and now 17 years later, the price of real estate in New York has risen a lot, so Mrs. Rickard offered a price of $6 million.

Of course, Chen Qiang will not bargain, he will directly pay 6 million to buy something, naturally the cheaper the better, not to mention this kind of industry worth millions of US dollars, even if it is only 1% cheaper, it can save 60,000 US dollars. So haggling is a given.

The same principle applies to the seller, Mrs. Rickard, who makes $60,000 less for 1% cheaper, so Mrs. Rickard refuses to let go easily.

For the final price, the two sides began a tug-of-war negotiation.

……

In his office, Mr. Chen was negotiating with Mrs. Ricard.

"Mr. Chen, I have lowered the price to 5.8 million, which is already a very sincere price reduction." Mrs. Ricard spoke.

"Mrs. Rickard, the price of 5.8 million is still very expensive, Madison Garden Plaza is a gymnasium, not an apartment building or an office building, and now in this world, the stadium will not only not make money, but also have to pay for operation and management every day." Chen Qiang replied.

"My husband spent 4.75 million yuan to build Madison Garden Plaza at that time, and after 17 years, I only sell 5.8 million now, in Manhattan, you can't find such a cheap place, if it is an apartment building or an office building, how can it only rise by 1 million dollars in 17 years!" Mrs. Ricard continued.

Chen Qiang spread his hands: "Investment always has profits and losses, isn't it?" Over the past 17 years, there have been many investments that have yielded higher returns than New York apartment buildings, such as the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico, but New York City landlords can't always set a price based on the returns of Mexico's oil fields when they sell their apartment buildings. Therefore, a stadium cannot calculate the return according to the standard of an apartment building. ”

"Madison Square Garden is so vast that even if you just bought the land and built it into a high-rise apartment building, you could make a profit." Mrs. Ricard spoke.

"It costs to demolish the existing building. What's more, in New York now, there is no way to buy steel bars for construction, let alone build high-rise buildings. Chen Qiang paused and continued: "Mrs. Ricard, we have a term in China, called chicken ribs, chicken ribs you must know what it looks like, if you want to eat meat, the meat on the chicken ribs is not enough for you to stuff your teeth, but if you throw it away directly, it is a pity, after all, the Chinese are relatively poor, we will not give up a little protein source." Madison Square Garden is like a chicken drum, tasteless to eat, and it is a pity to abandon it. ”

"I probably see what you mean, but we Americans will just throw the chicken ribs away." Mrs. Ricard replied.

"Mrs. Rickard, you should know that there is no way that anyone in New York is interested in Madison Garden Square but me. Those rich tycoons don't look down on this kind of chicken-ribbed investment, and the average person can't afford to pay so much money. Chen Qiang said.

Mrs. Ricard thought for a moment, and finally sighed: "Well, then how much are you willing to pay." ”

"$5.2 million!" Chen Qiang said.

"It can't be. I wouldn't accept such a low offer. Mrs. Ricard shook her head.

Chen Qiang took out the same set of scientific research funds when he was a university professor, pretended to be very hesitant, and then as if he had made up his mind, he gritted his teeth fiercely, and then said: "I'll add another 100,000 to you, 5.3 million US dollars, no more!" ”

"5.3 million is not good!" Mrs. Ricard shook her head resolutely.

"Mrs. Ricard, how much do you think is appropriate?" Chen Qiang asked.

"One price, 5.7 million! Compared with the previous offer of 6 million, I have reduced the price by 300,000. Mrs. Ricard spoke.

Mrs. Ricard is a businessman, and those who run gambling to get out of the way are all human spirits, so naturally they will not be deceived by Chen Qiang's tricks. Chen Qiang was not discouraged, when he asked for scientific research funds, it was like squeezing toothpaste, with an additional 10,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan, as long as he was patient, he could always get more funds.

So the two began a new round of bargaining.

After talking for a long time, Mrs. Ricard finally insisted on 5.6 million, and she was not willing to reduce the price for a penny.

"Mr. Chen, 5.6 million, this is my final offer, and I won't lower it by a penny." Mrs. Ricard said resolutely.

Chen Qiang frowned and began to think: "5.6 million, although it is still higher than my psychological expectations, but this price is also worth starting, after all, this is Madison Square Garden!" ”

The name "Madison Square Garden" is indeed a fatal attraction for Chen Qiang, although this is only the third generation of Madison Square Garden, which is destined to be demolished in the future, but as the owner of Madison Square Garden, Chen Qiang can also get a piece of the pie when the fourth generation of Madison Square Garden is built in the future. If Chen Qiang has the money, he can even go directly to the Pennsylvania station to build the fourth-generation Madison Square Garden.

Chen Qiangfu has also been to New York many times, he has visited the location of the third-generation Madison Square Garden, that is, between 49th and 50th streets in Manhattan, and the building that towered here at that time was the landmark One Global Square in New York in the 90s. In other words, after the third generation of Madison Square Garden was demolished, One Global Square was built on the original site.

Manhattan is originally an inch of land, and One Global Plaza is the most expensive of the inches, the reason is because the location here is good enough, it is not an exaggeration to say that the land in this location is the most expensive in the world! From this aspect alone, even if you only buy the land, it is very worthwhile, and the potential for future appreciation is unlimited.

Chen Qianggang was about to agree to the offer of $5.6 million when a commotion sounded from outside, and then someone knocked on the door and entered. This person was an employee of Chen Qiang.

"What happened?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Boss, there's the latest news from the front." The employee spoke.

"Good news or bad news?" Chen Qiang immediately asked.

"There's good news and there's bad news." The employee replied.

"What's the bad news?" Chen Qiang asked again.

"Just yesterday, the Japanese captured the Aleutian Islands." The employee replied.

Hearing this, Mrs. Ricard was taken aback: "What? The Aleutian Islands were occupied by the Japanese! Is the message exact? ”

"The Ministry of Defense has confirmed the news, and there will certainly be no fake." The employee spoke.

Mrs. Ricard froze there with some embarrassment.

Chen Qiang opened his mouth and said, "Mrs. Ricard, I wonder if we can renegotiate the price?" ”

……

The Aleutian Islands are the part of the Alaska Peninsula that extends westward between the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. Most of the Aleutian Islands belonged to the American state of Alaska, while the westernmost part belonged to the Soviet Union.

The total area of the Aleutian Islands is about 17,000 square kilometers, there are many volcanoes on the island, and under the influence of the Alaskan Warm Current, the winter here is not very cold, that is, about zero degrees, but the climate here is very harsh, all year round hazy and many houses, and there are often strong winds. Also because the wind on the island is too strong, there are basically no big trees on the Aleutian Islands, and the vegetation is dominated by grass and moss.

The Aleutian Islands also have few resources, and the island's inhabitants mainly depend on fishing for their livelihood. But the strategic location of the Aleutian Islands is very important, and controlling the Aleutian Islands is equivalent to controlling the North Pacific Ocean and the gateway from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean. In the future Cold War, the Arish Islands were also dotted with U.S. military bases, and the U.S. military operated the Aleutian Islands as a military fortress in case the Soviets attacked the United States from the Far East.

Before World War II, the U.S. defense in the Pacific was mainly focused on Hawaii, and the Aleutian Islands were very weak. However, when Japan occupied the Aleutian Islands, the Americans realized the important strategic location of the Aleutian Islands.

Through the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese can easily land in Alaska, through Alaska, the Japanese can go all the way east to attack Canada, once the Japanese arrive at the Canadian shield area, all the way south is the Great Lakes of the United States, the essence of the whole United States, but it is in the Great Lakes region.

The point is that the United States does not deploy too many troops in Alaska, after all, Alaska is far from the mainland, the weather is cold, and the land is barren. Canada is also vast and sparsely populated, and Canada's pitiful strength may not even be able to stop a division of Japanese troops. If the Japanese really attacked the United States through the Aleutian Islands, it would be possible to directly attack the core area of the United States.

Although Japanese submarines fired more than a dozen shells on the west coast of the United States, for the Americans in the central and eastern regions, the station was still very far away, even if the Japanese army really landed in California, there would still be the great desert of Nevada, and there would be the Rocky Mountains, which could block the Japanese army's advance, and the central and eastern parts would not be attacked.

However, the loss of the Aleutian Islands has made the people of the central and eastern United States feel a strong sense of crisis. The United States has always been undefended against Canada, and if the Japanese occupy Alaska and then fight from the north, the United States is really in no danger.

This is no longer just a question of the strategic superiority and disadvantage of the North Pacific, but whether the most core region of the United States will be attacked by Japan. If the situation develops towards the worst, the Japanese really go all the way south to the Great Lakes, and New York will no longer be safe.

Undoubtedly, this is another bad news for the United States, and the United States will inevitably retake the Aleutian Islands at all costs, lock the northern theater of war within the confines of Alaska as much as possible, and never give the Japanese a chance to go south.

Perhaps for the Americans, losing Alaska is more frightening than losing Hawaii. Without Hawaii and the western Pacific as a barrier, the United States' powerful air force and navy can still prevent the Japanese from landing, while without Alaska, the Japanese can directly attack Canada, and the long border between the United States and Canada is completely impossible to defend.

Since the Second War of Independence, the territory of the United States has never been seized by other countries, and the Philippines, which was previously taken by the Japanese, can only be regarded as a colony of the United States, not really American territory. But the Aleutian Islands are truly U.S. territory, meaning that this is the first time in the past 128 years that the U.S. has lost its own territory.

Moreover, the Aleutian Islands are also easy to defend and difficult to attack, and historically, it took more than a year for the United States to recapture the Aleutian Islands again.

……

Both Chen Qiang and Mrs. Ricard have realized what the occupation of the Aleutian Islands by the Japanese means for the United States.

If a region is about to experience war, then the real estate industry in that area must be the first to collapse. Because other industries can run, but the real estate industry can't. For example, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, enterprises, factories, schools, and even many century-old brands chose to move to the southwest, but none of the courtyard houses in Beijing and the mansions and villas of high-ranking officials and nobles in Nanjing could be moved.

When Chen Qiang heard the news of Japan's occupation of the Aleutian Islands, a hint of joy appeared on his face, because he knew that after this news came out, the real estate market in New York would inevitably be turbulent, and it was time for Madison Garden Plaza to reduce its price.

Chen Qiang couldn't help but secretly say that he was really lucky enough, if the news came a few minutes late, maybe he would have agreed to Mrs. Rickard's offer of $5.6 million.

On the other side, Mrs. Rickard was depressed, seeing that Chen Qiang was about to agree to the price of 5.6 million, but such bad news came, and now it seems that the price of Madison Garden Plaza is bound to be reduced, and she will lose hundreds of thousands because of this.

I only heard Mrs. Rickard say, "Mr. Chen, I want to go out and make a call." ”

"Okay, take Mrs. Rickard to the call." Chen Qiang told his employee that he knew that Mrs. Rickard was calling to confirm the authenticity of the news.

I don't know how many phone calls Mrs. Ricard made, but it was always almost an hour before Mrs. Ricard returned.

Judging by Mrs. Ricard's expression, the news of the Japanese occupation of the Aleutian Islands is obviously true.

"Mrs. Ricard, can we renegotiate the price now?" Chen Qiang asked.

Mrs. Rickard nodded helplessly: "Okay, I can drop another hundred thousand dollars and sell it to you for 5.5 million!" ”

"No, no, no, 5.5 million is too expensive, I think 5 million is more appropriate!" Chen Qiang shook his head and said.

……

In the end, the two parties finalized the transaction price of 5.2 million, and then signed the transaction contract.

After sending Mrs. Rickard away, Chen Qiang also breathed a sigh of relief.

Many Americans may be worried about the Japanese taking Alaska and then attacking the United States from Canada, but Chen Qiang is not worried about this, although he is a novice in history, he also knows that the Japanese did not set foot on the American continent in World War II. Americans' fears are unfounded.

For Chen Qiang, the news of Japan's occupation of the Aleutian Islands was a timely rain that saved him a full 400,000 US dollars.

Looking at Mrs. Rickard's car gradually moving away, Chen Qiang turned his head and asked the employee who had just come to report the news: "You said before that there is good news and bad news, and the bad news is that the Aleutian Islands are occupied every day, so what is the good news?" ”

"The good news is that our Navy sank four Japanese aircraft carriers at Midway, and of course we lost one aircraft carrier. But if we exchange one for four, we still earned three, which I think should be good news! The employee replied.

"Is the Battle of Midway over? This is indeed good news. Chen Qiang nodded slightly.

The turning point of the Pacific War had come, and after the Battle of Midway, the strategic advantage gained by the Japanese by relying on the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor had been wiped out, and the United States and Japan had entered a stage of equal strength in the Pacific theater.

"Fortunately, the first thing I asked was bad news, so that Mrs. Ricard knew that the Aleutian Islands were occupied by the Japanese army, and if I asked the good news first, let Mrs. Ricard know that Midway was won, maybe she would not have lowered the price!"

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