Golden autumn October.

Lin Zhichao was invited by Li Mingze to visit the Lee Garden Hill site.

The two have become friends since the Embassy Embassy transaction; And Li Mingze has just been appointed as a non-official member of the Legislative Council, and he is also about to be appointed as a non-official member of the Executive Council, which can be described as a legitimate popularity.

Of course, although Lin Zhichao did not enter the two bureaus, those who are familiar with him know that it is not that Lin Zhichao is not qualified, but that Lin Zhichao refuses to hold public office. After all, in terms of the influence of Hong Kong Chinese, I am afraid that there are few people who can compare with it, and five or six thousand employees under his command are enough to make Lin Zhichao's influence large enough.

"Lin Sheng, I heard that you own a lot of properties in Causeway Bay!" The two of them stood on the site of the Lee Gardens Hotel, and Li Mingze said with a smile.

"Yes, I do own some land in Causeway Bay and plan to rebuild it later." Lin Zhichao replied.

Just now, Li Mingze took him to inspect the property site of Richs in Causeway Bay, which is indeed very large; If Lin Zhichao owns one or two 'shoulds' in Causeway Bay, then Ritchie's property land probably has more than five or six 'shoulds'.

Li Mingze saw that Lin Zhichao said very bluntly, so he asked: "There is a question, is Lin Sheng waiting for the best time for real estate to be rebuilt?" ”

Lin Zhichao looked at Li Mingze, with a pair of glasses, with a crepe style, and his temperament made people feel very good. In his previous life, he knew that this 'Lee Hysan family' made his fortune on opium, but in the second generation of Lee Mingze, Lee Xiao and this generation, they are indeed proper patriots; Among them, Li Mingze established friendship with many high-level leaders in the War of Resistance against Japan, and has always been more inclined to the mainland, which may be more introverted; And Li Xiaohe is also a meritorious person in the anti-Japanese movement, and he also served as a diplomat in the Republic of China.

In short, Lin Zhichao has no aversion to Ritchie.

"Li Sheng, you are now a non-official member of the Legislative Council, have you heard any rumors that Hong Kong's buildings may develop to a higher height?"

Li Mingze was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "No, this rumor has indeed not come out, what channel is Mr. Lin in?" ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "I don't have a public position, how can I have a channel to know!" However, I suspect that this will be the case, otherwise how can the 2.6 million people in Hong Kong have tiled to cover their heads? ”

There is no need to hide this kind of thing now, and when he says it, it is regarded as small talk between friends.

After thinking about it, Li Mingze said: "There is really such a possibility!" This year's single-owned buildings have been built to seven storeys, so that a large number of people can have a house to live in. But the Hong Kong government is planning to buy buildings for 500,000 people, and there are still 2 million people who have to have tiles to cover their heads. If Hong Kong's buildings develop to a higher place, it may be a solution! Lam Sang invented stratification and staging, so that there would be opportunities for Hong Kong properties to flourish. No wonder Lin Sheng has been absorbing land and old buildings, it turns out that he is waiting for an opportunity! ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It's not an opportunity, after all, the market has been sluggish in the past few years, and it is not a good opportunity!" ”

Li Mingze nodded, and then he pointed to a site opposite, and said: "Since Lin Sheng is so optimistic about the real estate prospects, the land opposite the Lee Garden Hotel, I intend to sell, I don't know if you look down on this small land?" ”

Lin Zhichao looked at the land opposite and estimated that the site where a commercial and residential building could be built was probably not too much, and it happened that he also wanted to buy another site recently.

"How much area?"

"21,000 sq ft"

"How much silver paper?"

"How about 1.25 million Hong Kong dollars?"

"Deal"

In just a few words, a deal was struck.

The land in the Tsim Sha Tsui business district has reached 110~120 Hong Kong dollars per square foot, and Causeway Bay is naturally much worse, because it is not a commercial area at all, and the first square foot of 60 Hong Kong dollars is very reasonable.

Li Mingze's sale of the real estate strongman land to Lin Zhichao has a plan:

First, he needs funds to rebuild the land in Lee Gardens Hill, and in this era, not everyone dares to sell off-the-plan properties, and many real estate companies are investing in rebuilding properties and renting out the funds. If everyone dared to advance, those big foreign banks would already be invincible.

Second, the land sold by Li Mingze to Lin Zhichao is located next to and opposite other properties of Ritchie, and if Lin Zhichao develops it, it will drive the surrounding land and properties to rise.

In short, Ritchie owns such a large plot of land that selling a few small carats is nothing.

However, Li Mingze may not know that the future Causeway Bay will no longer be the Li family, but the Lin family. Of course, Lin Zhichao will be very low-key.

Following the acquisition of a 21,000 sq ft site in Causeway Bay, Cheung Kong acquired a 22,000 sq ft site at Campari Road (i.e. the east-west street of the Miramar Hotel, part of the non-core business district of Tsim Sha Tsui) for a total price of HK$1.8 million.

Of course, the two plots of land only cost a mere 3 million Hong Kong dollars, which is a sprinkling of water for Lin Zhichao.

However, there is no way, although many properties and land are traded in Hong Kong every year, it is difficult to find suitable land; The important thing is that Lin Zhichao doesn't want to be too ugly to eat on real estate.

After all, if he goes all out to develop real estate now, it will be like beating a group of children, after all, the most powerful children, their net worth is only a few million, more than 10 million.

And Lin Zhichao can easily take out tens of millions, plus he can 'empty gloves white wolf (sales post-sale flowers)', which is enough to beat a group of people.

But obviously, there's no need to go too far!

This year (1954) there were about 1,000 buildings in Hong Kong, but they were all about five storeys high, and less than 5,000 residential buildings (including commercial and industrial buildings) were provided, which is the reason why real estate has already flourished.

And next year it may be doubled!

Lin Zhichao's idea is to provide 2,500~3,000 residences per year in the two-year period between 1955~1957, occupying about 25~30% of the market share.

Before lunch.

Li Gaofu came to Cheung Kong Industrial, and Lin Zhichao met him in the office.

He obviously came for something, and soon after sitting down, he said, "Lin Sheng, do you want to empty the tenant of that piece of land on Campari Road?" ”

Lin Zhichao knows that Li Gaofu is obviously also a kind of 'temptation', and he now has five or six small plots of land under his control, all of which can be rebuilt into a building, one of which is also located in Sheung Wan (near Central) and can be used to build office buildings.

He bought so much land that he almost spent all his money, but he didn't choose to rebuild; Clearly, he knew what was waiting for his chance.

"What, you really want to work with me? I'm notoriously good at empty gloves white wolf, if you go out of the land, I pay all the construction costs, etc., I may not spend a penny, I can earn it! Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

He actually doesn't care if Li Gaofuhe cooperates or not, he also has a few small plots of land.

Li Gaofu immediately said: "That's your ability!" In fact, I want to learn some skills, how to operate this land, I will operate the other lands in my hands. I always feel that if you can build a high-rise, how big is the first floor, and do you have to sell it to one person? If it is divided into many units, wouldn't the title deed be able to be done? There are so many questions that I won't do at all. ”

Really, it seems that the layered staging has come out, but once the high-rise building is built, all kinds of problems will follow. It's nothing to Lin Zhichao, but for others, it's a blind spot.

For example, the current strata title deed has not been formally legislated by the Hong Kong government, and the title deed of the first floor is notarized through a law firm. In short, the Hong Kong government still only grants one title to one building, but the law firm is responsible for amending a 'strata lease', which has been publicly recognized as valid.

Strata leases have not yet been legislated, let alone sub-units, and if nothing else, next year will be the 'strata leases' or even 'sub-unit leases' that will be announced together with the 'high-rise residential' legislation.

In short, there are still many complicated problems that have not yet come out.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "To be honest, I also think the opportunity is coming soon, but I haven't gotten any news!" Since it is in tatters, the tenants should be cleared as soon as possible, and there is not much money anyway. ”

Li Gaofu nodded, and he already knew in his heart that there was still hope for high-rise buildings, and he didn't bother to rebuild it.

"Well, do you have time at noon, let's go have a meal together? The Shunde chef has opened a new Fengcheng restaurant, specializing in Shunde food, and the taste is not bad! ”

Of course, Shunde has delicious food, and it is also well-known in Cantonese cuisine, including Daliang fried fresh milk, fish cloud soup, fried chicken, shrimp toast, lettuce buns, etc.

Shunde cuisine has a characteristic, that is, it is very exquisite, the field chicken pays attention to the bones, and the lettuce package should be even.

Lin Zhichao looked at the time on his watch and happily went to the appointment.

Time flies, and more than 20 days have passed in a blink of an eye.

After 53 days of sailing, the four oil tankers of Universal Shipping finally arrived in New York Harbor eight hours ahead of schedule and successfully completed their mission. And Lin Zhichao himself also came to New York Harbor to witness this moment.

"Mr. Lin, we are very satisfied with this cooperation and are willing to cooperate with you Global Shipping and sign a two-year contract with these four oil tankers." Niu Deng said happily to Lin Zhichao.

Long-term leasing of ships around the world can save 15~20% of the freight, which is still compared with Greek shipowners; Therefore, Exxon's top management has agreed to cooperate with Global Shipping.

As we all know, Lin Zhichao is a large shipowner with a deadweight of at least four or five hundred thousand tons, and enjoys a high reputation in the Far East and is worthy of cooperation.

Lin Zhichao agreed and responded happily: "It's so wonderful! To be honest with Mr. Newden, our business in Asia is already huge, and we urgently need your business in Europe and the United States. Please rest assured that we will not only rely on price to enter the European and American oil transportation business, but also insist on first-class service and efficiency. ”

I am really happy that being able to do business with Europe and the United States is a great breakthrough in my career: first, the business in Europe and the United States is huge, and we abide by the contract; second, Europe and the United States have higher prices and high profit margins; Third, to open up the European and American markets is to improve the visibility and credibility of enterprises.

Niu Deng nodded and said, "So, please Mr. Lin stay in New York for a few more days, I plan to hold a drinking party for you, and I will invite the charter managers of Clam Shell, Texaco, Infinite Petroleum and other companies." ”

This is the American way of doing things, if you first know you, they will question you and be wary of you; And once they acknowledge and understand your strengths, they will be good partners, and their prejudices against you will disappear.

Lin Zhichao happily agreed to the reception three days later!

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao began to supervise the unloading of oil in New York Harbor and personally boarded the ship to inspect the hull.

New York Harbor is one of the world's largest deep-water ports, so there is no need to worry about accidents nearby, otherwise the world's richest man will not be able to afford to pay for an accident.

Generally speaking, all oil spills in previous lives were due to grounding, and the submarine reef penetrated the oil tanker. Therefore, after the nineties of the previous life, the bottom of the tanker began to be designed as a double-layer mechanism.

Three days later.

In a hotel in New York, Exxon Petroleum Company really held a cocktail party for Lin Zhichao and others, and invited senior executives of major American oil companies to attend.

In terms of generosity, it is much taller and more noble than Japan's hospitality of Lin Zhichao in the Geisha Museum. Importantly, at the reception, Lin Zhichao was able to get to know the chartering managers of many oil companies.

"Mr. Lin, this is Mr. Mister of Clam Oil, and this is Mr. Miller of Texaco Oil," Niu Deng enthusiastically introduced to Lin Zhichao.

"Hello. Hello" Lin Zhichao is very confident and humble to get to know everyone one by one.

Self-confidence comes from its own strength, which is conducive to customer trust;

Modesty is his moral character and an excellent tradition of the Chinese.

High-profile work, low-key life, this is Lin Zhichao's style of doing things.

Mistre asked very bluntly: "Mr. Lin, I heard Niu Deng say that you have fifty or sixty ships and can achieve real-time communication of global information, which is really remarkable." However, I heard that your ships are all second-hand and old cargo ships, is it true? ”

Is this difficult? Of course not, the Americans are very straightforward, if you are poor, he will expose it to your face.

Lin Zhichao did not answer this question directly, but said: "We have started to build new ships and carry out a business transformation. Of course, Mr. Mister should not underestimate these second-hand ships, in recent years, they have built me a solid financial strength, which allows me to build new large oil tankers. ”

The people around showed expressions of appreciation.

There is nothing wrong with starting from a second-hand ship, including Onassis who bought a second-hand ship to start; It is important that second-hand ships cannot be used all the time, otherwise there will be no breakthrough in the business.

Newden said: "Everyone knows each other today, maybe when Mr. Lin's new oil tanker is built, we will cooperate as a matter of course." In case you didn't know, Mr. Lim owns a maritime academy and their seafarers are systematically trained. Importantly, he was willing to increase the lease by two years, which was much cheaper than a one-way short-term rental. ”

He enthusiastically introduced Lin Zhichao.

When Mister heard this, he immediately said, "If there is a ship, you can come to our company to talk, Mr. Lin!" ”

Lin Zhichao was immediately overjoyed and said, "Of course, Mr. Mister is very happy to do things. ”

Everyone exchanged business cards, and everyone also had some understanding of global shipping.

And Lin Zhichao did not tell everyone that Global Shipping was preparing to order a batch of 50,000-ton oil tankers. Because Lin Zhichao considered that after the oil tanker was built, the Suez Canal crisis may not have broken out, so naturally he could not sign a long-term contract, and could only run a one-way short-term charter first, or stop at the port for a period of time.

After returning to Hong Kong, Lin Zhichao immediately contacted HSBC, and after some exchanges, the two sides reached an agreement: to cooperate in the establishment of the 'Universal Shipping' company, with Global Shipping accounting for 60% of the shares and HSBC holding 40% of the shares, and preparing to order four 56,000-ton German oil tankers.

At the same time, Lin Zhichao also decided to make a desperate bet and build four more 56,000-ton German oil tankers in the name of global shipping.

In recent times, Global Shipping has sent several waves of management and technicians to communicate with the Hamburg shipyard in Germany in preparation for the order of oil tankers.

It can be seen that Lin Zhichao is very determined.

There are eight 56,000-ton oil tankers, and Lin Zhichao's request is to complete them all in 20 months, and the German Hamburg shipyard readily agreed. Although the task was heavy, it was not a big problem for the Hamburg shipyard.

For Global Shipping, the total price of eight oil tankers is already nearly $60 million, and aside from HSBC's $12 million, Global Shipping also needs to spend $48 million.

Lin Zhichao did not worry about the capital, and by July 1956, Global Shipping should have about 60 million US dollars in liquidity; Even if the expenditure is 48 million US dollars, there is a surplus of about 10 million US dollars, which can be used for future shipbuilding business.

Hamburg shipyard, Germany.

Franz warmly received Lin Zhichao and his entourage, he originally planned to let Germany send at least one vice chancellor to meet Lin Zhichao, after all, the order of eight large oil tankers can be described as a very important force to revitalize the German economy, solve a large number of jobs, and make a great contribution to the industry of the entire Federal Republic of Germany.

However, Global Shipping specifically advised that there is no need to fight to sign the contract, and in the future, it is necessary to arrange at least senior officials at the level of deputy minister to participate in the launching ceremony.

In the conference room, lawyers, technicians, and management from both sides sat together, waiting for Lin Zhichao and Franz to officially sign the contract.

"I heard that Global Shipping has reached a cooperation agreement with Exxon, congratulations to Mr. Lin!" Franz was well-informed.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It is not easy to cooperate with second-hand oil tankers, and I am very much looking forward to the newly built large oil tankers." ”

In fact, Franz didn't understand Lin Zhichao's 'foolish behavior' in his heart, and he didn't worry about losing money when he ordered so many ships?

It's a gamble!

However, as a shipyard, he didn't care about how Lin Zhichao ran the ship after he bought it.

All he needs to know is that global shipping has a lot of profitability and the backing of HSBC, and that's enough.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao signed his name in a chic manner, and the two world deals were successful.

Eight oil tankers need a down payment of 20.72 million US dollars, and now it is November, and the funds of global shipping are certainly sufficient, not to mention that HSBC also needs to pay more than 4 million US dollars.

"Mr. Lin, happy cooperation"

"Happy to work with"

The two parties completed the signing and took photos.

The first tanker was to be launched in early 1956, and the last in August. For each ship delivered, Global Shipping needs to pay off the ship's funds.

As for the loans provided by shipyards, they generally need to be guaranteed by a bank, or some agreement is reached, such as completing a long-term charter with a domestic shipping company, and using that money to guarantee the ability to repay.

Of course, Lin Zhichao will not do anything, after all, it is equivalent to the initiative of signing the contract in the hands of others, so he can't make money at the peak.

After completing the signing, Lin Zhichao was still received by the German Chancellor, and he is now gradually making friends with dignitaries from various countries.

(End of chapter)