Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Zhichao's motorcade slowly drove towards Kai Tak Airport, and the convoy consisted of two cars, a Rolls-Royce and a Ford; And Lin Zhichao himself was sitting in the back row of the Rolls-Royce, thinking about things.

When he first passed through the car ferry, he was thinking about the fact that the 'Hung Hom Cross Harbour Tunnel' should be built ahead of schedule so as to boost the economy between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

However, Lin Zhichao understood that it was impossible for the government to fund the construction.

In the past, the 'Hung Hom Cross Harbour Tunnel' was proposed by Hutchison & Co. in the mid-60s, but the Hong Kong government refused to fund its construction. As a result, Qi Dezun joined forces with a number of foreign companies and Chinese people to jointly fund the construction of the 'Hung Hom Cross Harbour Tunnel', which was built in 1968 and opened to traffic in 1972. The way to recoup your costs is simple, and that is to collect tolls.

In this life, Lin Zhichao doesn't want to wait so long, and in another three or five years, he plans to propose this plan, after all, this kind of return on investment is stable, and more importantly, it can contribute to the Hong Kong economy.

"Boss, Kai Tak Airport has arrived!"

"Hmm"

The sound of the bodyguard in the front row pulled Lin Zhichao's thoughts back, he tidied up his clothes and stepped out of the car.

Today he will take a flight from Hong Kong Airlines to Tokyo and work there. Today's Lin Zhichao has a lot of business in Japan, so the number of visits to Japan in a year is the most in overseas countries.

After a while, Lin Zhichao got on the Viscount passenger plane of 'Hong Kong Airlines'.

Hong Kong Airlines has only two Viscount passenger planes, each of which can carry 70 passengers, which is already a considerable passenger capacity. For example, airliners before the fifties, almost all of them had more than twenty seats, such as the DC-3.

The two Viscount airliners were arranged on the Tokyo and Manila routes, and the remaining three DC-3s flew to Taiwan Island and Seoul.

Sitting in the seat, Lin Zhichao has already felt the change of Hong Kong Airlines, the flight attendants are uniform, the service is enthusiastic, and they can speak English and Japanese, so that the Japanese guests immediately know that some of the flight attendants are Japanese, giving birth to a sense of intimacy. Even if you are a traveler from other countries, you will be familiar with English.

Flight attendants are a 'higher profession' in this era, and many girls dream of becoming flight attendants, so when recruiting flight attendants in Japan, knowing Japanese and English is a basic requirement.

The experience is very good!

At the request of Lin Zhichao, Hong Kong Airlines' service has been upgraded to a new level.

Hong Kong to Japan, currently takes 6~7 hours, because the Viscount passenger plane belongs to the propeller aircraft, and the speed is not as fast as the jet aircraft; If you change to a Boeing 707, it is expected that you can arrive in 3.5~4.5 hours.

"Sir, it's time for lunch, do you need to.?" A sweet Japanese girl, bowed down and asked kindly.

"One rice pairing, one coke!" Lin Zhichao said with a smile.

The new flight attendant, it's normal not to know him, and he didn't particularly emphasize letting everyone know him as a boss.

There are two options for meals: one is rice food for Orientals and pasta for Westerners, both with dishes to match.

At this time, Lin Zhichao heard many passengers discussing.

"It's nice to have a good airline and it's delicious!"

"It's worth learning from Japanese airlines, and I'm going to put this advice on Japanese airlines."

"The flight attendants are from Japan and Hong Kong, and the service is enthusiastic; The food was really delicious and I love this airline. ”

In this day and age, people who fly all year round know that airlines don't serve at all, and everyone is used to bringing their own snacks. It's a real pleasure to be able to eat a delicious hot meal on a plane these days.

Hong Kong Airlines' subsidiary, Hong Kong Aviation Catering, has been providing services for more than a month and has been well received by passengers. At the same time, other flights to and from Hong Kong have also noticed this detail, so airlines have begun to place orders for 'Hong Kong Air Food'.

Cathay.

Swire & Co.'s Taipan Schyork is holding a meeting.

Schyoke is 66 years old this year, but he still chooses to take charge of Swire at such an advanced age, and he did not retire in his previous life in the seventies.

"Do you have any thoughts on what happened to Hong Kong Airlines?" He said. He did not always linger on the loss of Hong Kong Airlines, after all, Lin Zhichao's strength is not weaker than Taikoo, and more importantly, the opponent is too determined.

However, he thinks more that Lin Zhichao, an aviation layman, like Jardine Matheson and Hong Kong Overseas Airlines, has no good way to deal with Hong Kong Airlines; In the end, Lin Zhichao will obediently give Hong Kong Airlines to Cathay Pacific for merger.

Originally, things went according to his ideas, but Lin Zhichao couldn't even get the rights of Hong Kong Airlines at first, and was 'boycotted' by some high-level officials.

However, things have changed in recent months, Hong Kong Airlines' flight attendants have changed – Asian, good service, and in the last month or so, Hong Kong Aviation Catering Company has been born, which has suddenly made everyone's eyes shine.

Such a big change appeared again when Lin Zhichao joined Hong Kong Airlines, saying that it had nothing to do with Lin Zhichao, which is obviously impossible.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Kyle said: "Hong Kong Airlines' flight attendants are 'Asian' and we should learn from them, and I suggest we also recruit local flight attendants from Southeast Asia and Australia for training. As for airline food, we should also immediately cooperate with the Hong Kong airline catering company and let them provide us with meals, after all, the flight to Australia and Southeast Asia is also long. ”

That wasn't the answer Schyork wanted, he said, "Shouldn't we have an airline catering company?" With so many import and export flights in Hong Kong every year, this is also a huge market. ”

Kyle said: "It is said that the kitchen equipment and management of the Hong Kong Aviation Catering Company are very strict. If we're going to get into this business, it's going to take time to look and prepare. ”

Schyoke immediately said: "Then you can do it, and give me a plan later!" ”

In fact, he also understands that at present, it seems that Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines have similar routes, but once the jet aircraft matures and the range is expanded, Cathay Pacific will be able to fly directly to Europe and the United States in the future, which is far from being comparable to Hong Kong Airlines.

So in fact, he still doesn't attach much importance to Hong Kong Airlines, and the reason why he is targeting competition is because he has some 'disdain' for Lin Zhichao's Chinese identity and control of Hong Kong Airlines.

In particular, he still took Hong Kong Airlines from his own hands, and Schyoke complained a lot.

Lin Zhichao didn't know that Cathay Pacific was also planning an 'airline catering company', and if he knew, he would definitely scold Shi York for being shameless. After all, Hong Kong's aviation market is not particularly large, and there is no need to set up two 'aviation catering companies'.

At the same time, Hong Kong Airlines has not entered the 'mechanic engineering' business, but Jardine Matheson has a 'mechanic engineering company' in its hands, and together with the mechanic engineering company in the hands of Swire, Hong Kong's aircraft maintenance business is still in the hands of British capital.

Here, after Lin Zhichao arrived in Japan, he came to the shipyard.

The tankers and cargo ships built last year are now ready to be launched. Two of the oil tankers of more than 70,000 tons are among the top ten large oil tankers in the world, which is of great significance.

The Japanese government also sent a cabinet minister to attend the launching ceremony, which shows the importance attached to the shipbuilding industry. The event was even more enthusiastic, with hundreds of girls dressed in kimonos dancing traditional Japanese dances, and the scene was very grand, making people feel the enthusiasm of the Japanese.

Immediately after the launch of the two new tankers, they began to serve the Yamaguchi steamer for up to seven years.

In seven years, the equivalent of global shipping is only 15% of the annual profit, which is already very low. The only good thing is that the two tanker shipyards bear the 'advance', and the monthly rent of the Yamaguchi steamer goes to repay the shipyard's expenses.

Of course, just these ships operate in this way, which can be regarded as some sweetness for the shipping companies that charter ships in Japan.

"Mr. Lin, I heard that your company has built two more 100,000-ton oil tankers on Ishikawa Island?" After Yamashuro launched the tanker, he asked Lin Zhichao beside him.

"Not bad! I am optimistic about the development of oil tankers, so I am now focusing on the development of large oil tankers. Could it be that President Yamashita is also interested? ”

Yamashataro said with a smile, "If the price is reasonable, of course I'm interested!" ”

Lin Zhichao replied: "The price is definitely reasonable, but the lease period can only be three or four years. ”

As soon as Yamashataro heard this, he understood Lin Zhichao's thoughts, now that the price of shipping is very low, this shrewd businessman naturally refuses to rent for another seven years.

Indeed, the reason why Lin Zhichao was willing to lease two 70,000-ton oil tankers to Yamaguchi steamer for seven years was because the shipyard agreed to offset the shipbuilding cost with the rent. In this way, Lin Zhichao does not need to come up with too much money.

For the two 100,000-ton oil tankers built this year, Lin Zhichao paid for the ships as soon as they were built, so it was impossible to accept a seven-year return on investment.

In the shipping industry, 15% profit is the minimum standard, and it is also an oil tanker, and the life span itself is only 20 years at most.

Of course, if it is a cold winter for shipping, it is another way of saying that not only can not make money, but also will be discounted.

"Of course, three or four years of lease is fine, let's talk about it later!" Yamashataro said quickly.

Of course, he would not have thought that Lin Zhichao could predict the future. I just think that Lin Zhichao is only willing to rent for three or four years, which is a normal strategy. These two ships are willing to lease for seven years, but they don't want to spend too much money.

For Yamaguchi steamer, leasing Lin Zhichao's ship is the best choice in all aspects.

"No problem, we'll talk about it later!" Lin Zhichao readily agreed.

He has been building ships for the next few years, and as long as someone is willing to rent, that's the best news. The only thing I can't agree to is if the lease is longer than three or four years.

For example, if eight 100,000-ton oil tankers will be built next year, then they will be launched in 1960, and the lease period will be three years at that time.

In short, the goal of each ship is: to earn a charter (expected to return more than 20%) in the early to mid-sixties when the world needs oil tankers; By October 1967, the contract expired as much as possible (Suez closed in June) and then began to make a lot of money (more than 40% return).

After the shipping matter was settled, Lin Zhichao and Huang Changhong converged and came to the headquarters of Daimaru Department Store in Japan for inspection.

The department store was founded in 1717 and is now two hundred years old. In Japan, there are many such long-lived companies; According to statistics, there are more than 2.6 million companies in Japan, of which 25,321 are 100-year-old stores, 3,939 are more than 200 years old, 1,938 are more than 300 years old, and 147 are more than 500 years old.

It's even more terrifying than the long-lived enterprises of the United States, after all, the United States has only been founded for many years.

In 1736, each branch of Daimaru Department Store hung a hanging scroll written by the owner Shimomura Masaaki: "Righteousness first, then profit, glory", which is a typical Chinese Confucian ideology, originated from Xunzi, and was completely transmitted as the founding concept of Daimaru in that year.

Today, this department store with more than 200 years of history is about to become the largest department store in Japan. In the sixties of the previous life, Daimaru Department Store was the largest department store in Japan.

"Mr. Lin, welcome to the headquarters of Daimaru Department Store!" For Lin Zhichao's arrival, Ryoichi Yamamoto, the president of Daimaru Department Store, led his subordinates to warmly welcome him.

In other words, if other people come to cooperate, there must be no such treatment, and it can even be said that they have to do everything possible to contact.

However, after communicating with Cheung Kong in advance, the management of Daimaru Department Store was very interested, because Lin Zhichao's signboard was loud enough.

Everyone introduced each other, and this time Lin Zhichao also brought Huang Changhong, the deputy general manager, and also waited for the newly appointed 'head of the retail department' Zhao Mingyi, that is, the original general manager of crocodile shirts.

"Mr. Lin, why don't you visit the Daimaru Department Store together!" Ryoichi Yamamoto preached.

"It's an honor for us, and I'm curious about how a two-hundred-year-old department store has grown." Lin Zhichao said in a learned and modest tone.

He also longs for his business to still exist two hundred years later, of course, the premise is that the surname is 'Lin'.

Although many companies in Japan are hundreds of years old, the founding family may not still be the controlling person, and may not even be a shareholder.

If so, Lin Zhichao is not envious at all.

"This way, please!"

During the inspection, Yamamoto Ryoichi specially took them to the historical exhibition room, and specially introduced: "In the 1730s, the boss Shimomura Masaki arranged umbrellas, fans, braziers, lanterns, etc. for customers to use in the store, making it clear that Tong Su was not bullied, and sent food, old clothes, and even money to beggars in winter, and lanterns and handkerchiefs with the Daimaru label were sent to temples and other places where crowds gathered. Many acts of kindness and righteousness have won a lot of public reputation, so much so that in 1837, Daishio Heihachiro had civil strife and robbed the wealthy merchants, and specially ordered: "Daimaru is a righteous merchant, don't infringe." ”。”

Lin Zhichao praised: "This kind of righteous act and service reputation is what many of our modern enterprises lack, and there are too few things that can be done!" ”

His words reveal sincerity and admiration!

In fact, he understands one thing - in his previous life, in the 60s, Japanese department stores entered Hong Kong, with Japanese products, and the Japanese spirit of service, the local department stores were embarrassed, Sincere and Yongan in the 70s and 80s, the market share was greatly reduced, and even Yongan could only sell part of the shares to Japanese department stores, but the benefits were also quickly turned over.

Products and services, this is the essence of Japanese department stores.

Later, it was not the 'department stores' that defeated the Japanese department stores, but the new industry - supermarkets (supermarkets).

After the inspection, everyone came to the conference room.

Ryoichi Yamamoto said, "You said you want to cooperate with us, do you plan to set up a cooperative company in Hong Kong? ”

Lin Zhichao said: "First of all, the cooperation of Sing Tao! ”

Ryoichi Yamamoto and the others were stunned, and then he said, "Sing Tao cooperation? Lin Sheng is not from Xingdao, so it seems disadvantageous for us to cooperate like this! ”

Lin Zhichao then said: "I have been running a business in Sing Tao for ten years, and we are all Chinese. On top of that, of course, we are already building a department store. ”

Hearing that Cheung Kong had a department store, Ryoichi Yamamoto immediately said: "This cooperation is very fair!" ”

To put it bluntly, if Daimaru Department Store is asked to open up the market in Sing Tao, it will first be a department store problem. This is an asset-heavy investment, but if there are locals providing the venue, then Daimaru can be an 'asset-light' investment.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao asked Huang Changhong to introduce the Sing Tao 'Department Store' and hand it over to Daimaru Department Store for inspection along with the drawings.

After a long time, Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "President Yamamoto, how is it?" ”

Ryoichi Yamamoto immediately said: "Very good cooperation, Mr. Lin is well prepared, the department store building is very exquisitely designed, we are willing to cooperate!" ”

Fortunately, he didn't look for other Japanese department stores, otherwise it would have been a loss for Daimaru Department Store, he thought.

Next, we discussed the details of the cooperation.

Cheung Kong was out of the field, accounting for 49% of the shares; The rest is all in charge of Daimaru Department Store, with a 51% stake.

This kind of cooperation has two benefits for Cheung Kong:

First, it is equivalent to finding a big renter, to put it bluntly, being a landlord.

Second, it is certainly more cost-effective than collecting rent, and Japanese department stores will have a great advantage over the next 30 years.

Finally, Ryoichi Yamamoto said: "Mr. Lin, you are from Hong Kong, and I am very much looking forward to the cooperation in Hong Kong!" ”

The implication is that Hong Kong should also ask us to cooperate!

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "We will soon invest in first-class buildings in Hong Kong, and we will definitely give priority to cooperating with Daimaru Department Store at that time. ”

Ryoichi Yamamoto was overjoyed because in this way, Daimaru Department Store could expand its business to Sing Tao and Hong Kong without much investment.

Compared to other department stores in Japan, they are already one step ahead! (End of chapter)