Sing Tao, Nam Yi Group.

The secretary walked into the chairman's office and reported: "Chairman, Mr. Lin Zhichao, the boss of Cheung Kong in Hong Kong, I want to have a meeting with you, I don't know what you mean?" ”

Li Guangqian (Li Yukun) raised his head, thought for a while, and then said: "Does Cheung Kong produce zippers?" ”

He seemed to have heard of this person, but he was not sure.

The secretary then said: "Yes, their zippers sell well all over the world and have an absolute share in Asia. According to Cheung Kong executives who contacted us, their company built a factory on Bukit Road a year ago and is now nearing production. ”

Lee Kong Chian suddenly realized and said: "Yes, it's him, I remember, the young zipper king seems to be the world's first young man with ideas to buy a house in layers." But what did he ask me to do? ”

The older he gets, the less he wants to socialize too much, and now he devotes more energy to the reconstruction of Sing Tao, that is, government affairs.

The secretary said: "You are the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Sing Tao, and he is now going to open a factory in Sing Tao, so he naturally wants to pay a visit to you." ”

Li Guangqian nodded, this secretary has been following him for a long time, and he can analyze some things for himself, which is very in line with his own wishes. He thought about it carefully, although Lin Zhichao was not a fellow villager, but others had good results, and he was so young, he should give him face!

Sometimes, being young is a huge potential.

"Okay, you can arrange a time, just my office, but you have to think about other people's time." Lee Kong Chian said.

Either say no, or take care of others, this is his style. Because of this, he was elected president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.

"Okay, I'll talk about it again."

On the plane from Hong Kong to Sing Tao, Lin Zhichao was thinking about this trip.

After agreeing to meet, he immediately set off for Sing Tao to meet Mr. Lee Kong Chian.

This trip did not have much interest, purely because Lin Zhichao felt that since he opened a branch in Sing Tao, if he could visit the president of Sing Tao Chinese Chamber of Commerce, it would show his determination to invest in Sing Tao.

Of course, Sing Tao is just a layout of Lin Zhichao, and he will not invest too much for the time being, depending on the situation in the future (politicians are not welcome).

For example, for Orchard Road, although Lin Zhichao knows that the future development prospects are very large, he will not eat alone or monopolize; At most, he has invested in a five-star hotel and a large shopping complex (including office buildings) on Orchard Road, and he is satisfied.

After arriving in Sing Tao, Lin Zhichao went directly to the factory of Cheung Kong Industrial. The 72,000-square-foot facility is topped with two buildings, a three-storey factory building and a one-storey warehouse.

The investment in the whole factory is about 500,000 Hong Kong dollars, which is less than 250,000 Hong Kong dollars.

"Very beautiful factory!" Lin Zhichao said happily.

The layout is reasonable, the environment in the factory is also very good, and now there are people on duty and management inside.

Bao Chunlai said with a smile: "Indeed! Factories like Cheung Kong are second to none in Sing Tao, and the industry here is still far worse than in Hong Kong. ”

This is not nonsense, Hong Kong has undertaken the manufacturing industry of Shanghai in recent years, can it be underdeveloped!

Moreover, even in terms of status in the eyes of London, Sing Tao is far inferior to Hong Kong; The British only regarded Sing Tao as a trading port, but they did develop in Hong Kong, such as Jardine Matheson, Swire and Whampoa Dockyard, which can be said to be large manufacturing enterprises.

"That's right! If you recruit workers in Sing Tao, you must not recruit workers from one province, but recruit evenly from all provinces; At the same time, workers from each province should be scattered and assigned to various posts. You know what I mean? ”

When you get to Sing Tao, it's not as easy as Hong Kong, and if the people here are particularly strong, this factory will be in big trouble.

Bao Chunlai was suddenly awakened, and hurriedly said: "The boss reminded me right, I didn't think so far, I'm really ashamed." ”

Lin Zhichao nodded, he didn't have any dissatisfaction with Bao Chunlai, no one is perfect, and he also formulated this strategy based on the experience of later generations. In many factories in later generations, people in some places do not want to, especially in areas where they like to drink and make trouble.

Bao Chunlai still has a lot of advantages, such as being good at interpersonal relationships and factory management, so it is still possible to be competent in the Sing Tao factory.

"In short, I will give this factory a period of time to adapt, and if I find any problems, I will correct them in time."

"Okay"

There will hardly be a problem, Lin Zhichao thinks, and the Hong Kong side will send at least 50 skilled workers, plus 5 management, to Sing Tao.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Zhichao came to Nanyi Group and met Mr. Lee Kong Chian (alias Lee Kong Chian).

"What a young man! When I was as young as you, I had just dropped out of school and worked because of the First World War and financial difficulties. Li Guangqian greeted him with a smile and said kindly.

Lin Zhichao hurriedly stretched out his hands, respectfully held Li Guangqian's hand, and lowered his posture, he was a junior after all.

"You're too modest! Although you have only just started working, as far as I know, you have already joined the league and worked as a teacher, and your resume is much more meaningful than my experience. ”

"Haha, you're funny. Come, let's sit down! ”

It seems that when it comes to Li Guangqian's heart, the atmosphere immediately improves.

After sitting down, Li Guangqian immediately said: "You took the initiative to ask me out this time, is there something wrong?" ”

Let's get to the point first, and if the young man is not a profit-seeker, he can continue to engage with it. Because he's older, he doesn't like people who are too interested.

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "It's just a normal visit to you!" Of course, Hong Kong and Sing Tao are both predominantly Chinese areas, and I have a natural sense of closeness, so I decided to open a branch factory in Sing Tao to build our Chinese homeland. Come to visit you, without any purpose! ”

Lee Kong Chian was immediately relieved, and he was in a very good mood.

"It's my honor that you can think of me, and Sing Tao welcomes industrialists like you to invest."

Before meeting, Li Guangqian got to know Lin Zhichao again and found that this young man was very good, and there were more than 500 workers in Changjiang Industrial; Importantly, Cheung Kong is one of the more 'tech-no' companies in the industry. With a stellar resume, it's clear that this young man has a very good future.

Subsequently, Li Guangqian handed Lin Zhichao a copy of his name post, and Lin Zhichao hurriedly exchanged his name post.

In this way, it can be regarded as a preliminary foothold in the social circle of Star Island.

The conversation between the two was very fast, about half an hour, and then Lin Zhichao offered to leave. In fact, when the two met for the first time, they had this time to talk, which showed that they already valued each other more.

Coupled with the fact that there are no opportunities for cooperation, it is natural to stop in moderation.

In Sing Tao, Lin Zhichao attaches the most importance not to the interpersonal relationship of Lee Kong Chian, but to the political dignitary who was a lawyer. So when that person returns to Star Island, he has to have a relationship with him to see if he can build a good relationship.

When doing business in Southeast Asia, the most important thing is to have a good relationship between government and business, which is not a free trade port, so the relationship is particularly important. Of course, Lin Zhichao is not going to be a big business in Southeast Asia, just to occupy a pit position, if there is a son who is willing to immigrate to Xingdao in the future, he will naturally have a career to inherit.

Hong Kong.

Wang Liang, deputy general manager of Cheung Kong Industrial, came to Lin Zhichao's office.

Wang Liang said calmly: "Boss, there is a zipper factory in Hong Kong, which is seizing our Hong Kong market. ”

He was not in a hurry, because Cheung Kong could easily crush this new factory.

Lin Zhichao laughed, and then said: "This is not a sheep breaking into the wolf's den - looking for death!" What is the origin of the other party? ”

Although there is only one industry in Hong Kong (machine production), this is not incomprehensible.

Wang Liang also said with a smile: "Wang Tongyuan, a textile tycoon in Shanghai, is said to have invested a lot of money, and he sold 3 automatic rice rowing machines imported from the United States. ”

"It's him!"

When Lin Zhichao and this Wang Tongyuan moved into the new factory of Dongfang Textile, the two also had a few friendly exchanges, but they didn't expect that so soon, he would set his sights on his business.

This can be described as a shopping mall entering the battlefield, and it is changing rapidly!

Wang Liang immediately said: "They gave Hong Kong manufacturers 0.85~0.9 Hong Kong dollars a zipper, and many manufacturers were pulled away by them at once." But what is certain is that this Wang Tongyuan is also stupid, only investigating the Hong Kong market and the Southeast Asian market, and the zippers we supply are made by old-fashioned machines, and the price is slightly higher. But I don't know that we are doing this for the time being because we have no competitors. ”

Indeed, this Wang Tongyuan did not investigate carefully at all, but he heard from other places that Changjiang Industry was very profitable, so he was very hot. Of course, it is more difficult to investigate more carefully, after all, he is a person from Shanghai and does not understand the local market.

To be honest, the last time I saw Wang Tongyuan, Lin Zhichao thought of Guan Jiahui, but unfortunately he was not born yet.

It doesn't matter, he can wait, he can even raise, but he can't give birth to someone else.

"What do you think should be done?" Lin Zhichao asked rhetorically.

Win the chess steadily, see how Wang Liang plays.

After thinking about it seriously, Wang Liang said: "Let's hold on to the ground first, and then give him a heavy blow after the new machine is installed in the Xingdao factory." With the old-fashioned rice rowing machine, manual stamping slider, plus material import trade, etc., their cost is 0.6 cents, and the quality is not as good as the new machine, so there is no competitiveness at all. When the time comes, we will first throw the eliminated machines to a familiar trader, and then we can deal with them at 1.5~18,000 US dollars each. ”

It's a bit of a silver coin, but Lin Zhichao likes it very much.

"That's a good idea! In short, no matter whether they will buy the machines we have eliminated, as long as we supply the zippers produced by the new machines to the Hong Kong Yangtze River, the price will be 8 cents, and Wang Tongyuan's zipper factory will not have much room for survival. ”

2 Mao, Wang Tongyuan does still have profits, but manufacturers will choose better quality products at the same price. Of course, in this case, it will not go out of business, and you can survive for a while.

"That's right! Moreover, in just over a month, it is impossible for their products to open much of the Southeast Asian market, so the impact is not very large. As for the purchase of the machine, I think there is a great hope of success, and if it doesn't work, 15,000 US dollars can be thrown to him, and he must not be fooled! ”

The machine was originally intended to be placed in the warehouse, and it would be okay for Li Gaofu to sell it to the mainland in the future.

Lin Zhichao laughed, he also thought that Wang Tongyuan must have been fooled, after all, it takes 3.5~40,000 US dollars to import one from the United States, and the cost is very high. And now for less than half the price, you can get the machine, why not!

Six zipper machines, only about two years!

"It's okay! Even if these didn't completely break his zipper business and go bankrupt, I still have a trick in the future! ”

Wang Liang responded with a smile: "The boss really thinks highly of him!" ”

Just by rashly entering the zipper field, Wang Tongyuan miscalculated this step. The simplest reason why there are no other manufacturers in Hong Kong to follow the trend is that this market is not big (Hong Kong), and Cheung Kong has become bigger, in fact, there is no room for other factories to survive.

In 1948, he invested more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars to establish a Hong Kong textile factory, which is the largest and most advanced textile factory in Hong Kong's textile industry; It is 50% higher than the investment of the second place Nanyang Textile Factory, and the third place is Tang Bingyuan's Nanhai Textile Factory.

And why is Lin Zhichao sure that even if he doesn't bring down Wang Tongyuan's zipper factory this year, it can collapse next year, and it will definitely bring down its zipper factory.

See!

Hong Kong Textile Mills.

Wang Tongyuan looked at the machines imported from the United States, spit out the zippers continuously, and suddenly felt that this business was very good, and the profits were much higher than those of the textile industry.

With such high profits, why don't those people follow suit?

The profit of the textile industry is so low, but everyone is swarming in.

Worried about competing with Changjiang Industrial, it is only people who have no strength to think so, Wang Tongyuan thought so.

In 1940, Wang Tongyuan was already the chairman of the family textile factory, which had grown to 2,000 employees.

In 1946, in view of the political turmoil in China, Wang Tongyuan planned to ship a batch of new textile machines and power looms ordered by Britain to Hong Kong. At that time, he visited Hong Kong for six months and found that although Hong Kong was a free port and the conditions were ideal, the local sales market in Hong Kong was narrow, there was a lack of sufficient water and skilled workers (the lack of water is also a problem at present, but many manufacturers would pump water from the mountains), and the weather was hot and humid, making it difficult to spin cotton, and he returned disappointed.

In February 1947, the Nationalist Government informed Wang Tongyuan that he was not allowed to import machinery due to insufficient foreign exchange; Wang Tongyuan had no choice but to send the machine to Hong Kong again and put it in the warehouse.

In 1948, when the domestic situation deteriorated again, Wang Tongyuan sent 80 skilled workers and technicians from Shanghai to Hong Kong to set up a Hong Kong textile company, and he himself traveled back and forth between the two places. It was not until 1949 that Wang Tongyuan brought his family and his brother's children to Hong Kong to settle down.

Hong Kong's textile mills have invested hugely, and they have brought a large number of technicians and workers from Shanghai, so naturally the situation will soon open up.

Wang Tongyuan saw that Changjiang Industry had achieved such a scale, but there was no opponent, and his eyes were immediately hot. Through his investigations, he found that Cheung Kong's profit margins were very high, which completely gave his opponents room to develop.

How does this work?

Money can't make one person, so he quickly decided to buy three American automatic zipper rice machines.

"How is this slider produced differently? Why is Cheung Kong's slider process so good? Wang Tongyuan asked Wu Mingcheng, the manager of the Hong Kong zipper factory.

Wu Mingcheng compared it and said: "Some of them are produced by automatic stamping machines, but this manufacturer is not very important, not to mention that our price is cheaper, and everyone is a little dissatisfied with the long-term high-priced sales of Cheung Kong Industrial, I believe that we will soon be able to occupy half of the market in Hong Kong." ”

Wang Tongyuan frowned and said, "No! You still have to find a way to inquire about this slider automatic stamping machine, where there are imports, we can't lag behind in the process. After all, we also need to open up the Southeast Asian market. ”

Since he wants to do it, he must do his best, and this is his determination to enter this industry. Although the zipper industry is small, it is only the current situation, with the development of the economy, people's clothing will become more and more modern (Western-style), then the zipper market will increase exponentially.

Today, Hong Kong's zipper market has to have 400,000 conservative pieces, and only this small market has a profit of more than 100,000 yuan, why not do it; Moreover, he asked people to go to Southeast Asia to investigate, and found that the agent cooperation model adopted by Cheung Kong Industrial Co., Ltd., and the zipper that Changjiang got in his hands was also 0.9~1 Hong Kong dollars.

With such a good market, it's no wonder he doesn't fight for it.

"Okay, we'll find the machine channel as soon as possible."

Wang Tongyuan nodded happily, Southeast Asia is dozens of times the market of Hong Kong, if he gets a piece of the pie, it can be regarded as one more career.

"It's better to be alone than to be happy"

Wang Tongyuan thought so.

In the evening, the Lin family and the Tang family had dinner at home.

During the banquet, Tang Zhongyuan also informed Lin Zhichao: "That Wang Tongyuan's Hong Kong textile factory invested in a Hong Kong zipper factory and imported three American machines. ”

He understands the strength of Cheung Kong Industrial, so he is not very worried, just a reminder.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, anyone can invest in this industry!" Moreover, we have been expanding the European and American markets recently, and we are not afraid of the Hong Kong market for the time being. ”

Tang Zhongyuan nodded and said: "Although this line of work says that anyone can do it, but in fact, not everyone can do it, in short, Wang Tongyuan has to make a mistake this time." ”

Lin Zhichao didn't want to behave aggressively, insidiously and cunning in front of his family, so he didn't say much. On the contrary, show a kind of generosity, but also be very confident.

"That's right, father-in-law. It's time for the Yangtze River Garment Factory to change into the most advanced electric clothing, you are responsible for this matter, in short, it is necessary to have an advanced electric sewing machine, preferably the American Singer brand, and the variety should be complete, and the machine should be more. ”

Tang Zhongyuan was stunned for a moment, and immediately said: "The investment is so big, but Hong Kong's garment industry has not developed, and so many people are doing it in the markets of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia." Is it possible to consider importing equipment slowly, so that you can save some money? ”

Although it is to refute Lin Zhichao, it is also to seek Lin Zhi's opinion.

Lin Zhichao said resolutely: "It can be divided into two batches of imported machines, but it is best to complete it within half a year." So, we want to invest 500,000 Hong Kong dollars in the purchase of equipment. As for the market, don't worry, I will buy a clothing brand, and we will work hard to strengthen the market in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, as well as expand the product into Africa (South Africa). ”

The garment industry can only make a difference in these markets at present. To enter the European and American markets, after the mid-fifties; At that time, it also coincided with the trade barriers imposed by Europe and the United States on the RB garment market, which led to the rise of Hong Kong's garment industry.

Of course, in the past few years of the Korean Peninsula Campaign, Hong Kong has also lost to the RB garment industry because it cannot import new electric sewing machines, which is insufficient in the Southeast Asian market.

Although Tang Zhongyuan doubted why even sewing machines (electric car clothes) would be banned from importing, he did choose to trust Lin Zhichao's vision; Invest 500,000 yuan to buy a machine, and he will invest 150,000 yuan according to the proportion of investment.

Afford it! This time I made 100,000 Hong Kong dollars by speculating in US dollars.

During this period, Song Qiaoling interjected: "But now everyone in Hong Kong is in danger, saying that they have taken Hong Kong together." ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Mother-in-law can rest assured, I bought a machine, I have a ship, if I really want to be at that time, I will even transport the equipment of the factory together, we will go to Singapore, and in a few years, we will go to Europe and the United States." Of course, I don't think it will be accepted, after all, Hong Kong is like a bridge connecting the West, and if you really want to accept it, you can only be tied to the bears in the north in the future, which is a very bad situation. ”

When Tang Zhongyuan heard this, he immediately felt very reasonable, and said, "I don't think it will!" ”

"Father-in-law, don't go out and talk nonsense! Everyone thinks that Hong Kong Island is a threat, and the land in Tsuen Wan has not become cheap, you can expand the area around the factory a little more, and it can be used in the future, and it can also appreciate quickly. If you are short of money, Cheung Kong can lend you some. ”

Tang Zhongyuan's eyes lit up, his Oriental Textile also had a profit of 60,000 Hong Kong dollars per month, and now the debt was 600,000 Hong Kong dollars, which was not due. And he has 400,000 Hong Kong dollars in his hands, which is actually not much money.

"It's not necessarily much worse, try to buy another 100,000 square feet later, it's a little worse."

"Well, take your time, it's normal for the land price in Tsuen Wan to drop to less than 4 Hong Kong dollars this time."

Of course, if someone is willing to sell.

After dinner, Tang Zhongyuan and Song Qiaoling returned to their home, and the two returned to the bedroom.

"Zhichao is very good to our family, right?" Song Qiaoling said.

Tang Zhongyuan said with a smile: "It's normal, he is our daughter's husband; What's more, he is good to the people around him, and his cousin, just because he came to live there in Hong Kong, he supports others as a boss. It can be seen that he is a person who values love and righteousness. ”

Song Qiaoling pinched Tang Zhongyuan and said, "I mean, he and Caiying are too close, I don't believe he has no ideas." ”

Tang Zhongyuan thought for a while and said, "Caiying is still young!" ”

Song Qiaoling was stunned for a moment, her husband said this, didn't he say that it was okay to grow up?

"Let's sleep, what's the use of worrying about some things too early, the children can choose for themselves."

Song Qiaoling was immediately unconvinced, and said: "The children agree, and I don't want to agree either. Wouldn't it be a shame for your Tang family. ”

Tang Zhongyuan said: "As long as his career is big enough and can make my two daughters not aggrieved, what can we do if we interfere?" Caiying's appearance, at least she doesn't hate Zhichao; And Caiyun's appearance is very dependent on Zhichao. We do not encourage, nor do we interfere too much. Take 10,000 steps back, we still have two sons."

Men value careers, Tang Zhongyuan is eager to make a career in Hong Kong, and Lin Zhichao is his nobleman.

So, at least the two daughters don't object, he won't interfere.

(End of chapter)