Entering the crisp autumn season of the year, Hong Kong exudes vigorous vitality, whether it is real estate or the stock market, it is showing a vigorous scene. Hong Kong's industry continues to be the biggest driver of economic growth, while tourism continues to grow.

It can be said that without the foundation laid in the past 50 or 60 years, how could Hong Kong have prospered after the 70s. Undoubtedly, in the past 20 years in the 50s~60s, Hong Kong has been regarded as an economic take-off, while the other three Asian tigers have taken off in the 70s.

Hong Kong was developed 15 years earlier than Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.

On this day, Lin Zhichao invited Zhou Xinian to drink tea in Lu Yu's teahouse.

"Congratulations to Sir Chow, knighted by Her Majesty the Queen!" When they met, Lin Zhichao congratulated him.

It is easier for a person in politics to obtain a 'knight' title than a businessman, and of course it depends.

After the war, he began to serve as a member of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council, and in 1953, he succeeded his cousin as a 'Chief Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council', and it stands to reason that he would step down as the Chief Unofficial Member of the Two Councils in 1963. Now that the knighthood is only knighted at this time, it is already relatively slow.

Although Lin Zhichao is a businessman, he has a large fleet and world influence, and the British royal family will have to give the title of 'knight' in three years at the latest.

As for the KBE Medal (second class), I am afraid that it is a very distant thing, and if you want to obtain this title, you will probably have to make a real contribution to the United Kingdom - investment in the United Kingdom, not a contribution to Hong Kong.

and the above GBE title (first class), this is a complete 'lonely minister' act, can be obtained; Lin Zhichao, as a businessman, is even more unlikely to be towards Britain in his heart, so he died of this heart.

KBE and GBE are directly crowned with 'knighthood', while the weight of the separate reward 'knighthood' is slightly lower, such as Bao Yugang and Run Run Shaw in the early 70s.

Zhou Xinian said with a smile: "Lin Sheng is polite! ”

In and out of the words, there is pride.

Zhou Xinian was in the Legislative Council, the Executive Council, and successively became the chief non-official member in 1953 and 1959, which was already the highest position that a Chinese could achieve, in the British era in Hong Kong.

However, in this era, Hong Kong's status in the London government is not high, so Zhou Xinian does not even have a KBE title, and it is a CBE title (third class) like Lin Zhichao, but it is a number of newly sealed 'knight titles'.

In the seventies and eighties, after the British discovered the importance of Hong Kong, they immediately became generous, and Jian Yueqiang in the seventies and Chung Shiyuan in the eighties were directly awarded the title of 'GBE', referred to as the Great SIR.

In the 90s, in order to struggle and lay mines, Britain directly named Deng Lianru a 'baron'; of course, Deng Lianru not only served as the chief councillor of the two bureaus, but also married an Englishman, so she could have such a 'glory'.

On the whole, the highest number of Chinese in Hong Kong in politics is Zhou Xinian, Jian Yueqiang, Zhong Shiyuan, and Deng Lianru.

After chatting for a while, Lin Zhichao once again mentioned the old words: "Sir Zhou, I don't know what progress has been made in the establishment of the Polytechnic Institute?" ”

Just last year, Zhou Xinian proposed the establishment of a polytechnic in the Legislative Council, but this kind of thing is unlikely to be seen soon;

Zhou Xinian said: "This matter is urgent, and the Hong Kong government needs to invite scholars from London to conduct research reports before finally deciding whether to set up a 'Polytechnic Steering Committee'." I know Lin Sheng is keen on this, but unfortunately I will step down the year after tomorrow. So a lot of things don't go well."

Soon, Lin Zhichao heard the sound of the voice, Zhou Xinian's term of office as a member of the Legislative Council has ended this year, and he is currently only serving as the chief member of the Executive Council. However, as the highest political representative of the Chinese, the influence is still there.

When he said this, he was still greedy for power and wanted to continue to serve as a member of the Executive Council.

But Lin Zhichao understood that it was impossible for the London Colonial Department to agree, but in order to have one more ally, he still said: "Sir Chow has made outstanding contributions to Hong Kong's industry during his tenure in the two bureaus, and I am willing to join my friends in the business community to petition London and hope that you will continue to stay in office." ”

Zhou Xinian was overjoyed, he knew Lin Zhichao's energy in Hong Kong's business community, and there was still hope for this.

Of course, he still said modestly: "I haven't made a big contribution, it's all my essential work." Since Lin Sheng is so keen on education, I can't sit idly by, and I will mention this matter in the Hong Kong government. ”

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "This is a major event that is conducive to Hong Kong, and a major event for long-term development, so it will be troublesome for Sir Zhou." ”

Zhou Xinian immediately said: "Lin Sheng has a deep relationship with the Hong Kong government, and he is also familiar with the Governor of Bai Liji, why don't you come to the door directly and explain your views." I believe that there is no reason why the Governor of Philip Berg should not attach importance to such a selfless public welfare act. ”

Lin Zhichao said worriedly: "I'm worried that the opinion of the Legislative Council is more important in this matter, so I haven't discussed it with the Governor of Hong Kong!" ”

It is generally accepted that the Governor of Hong Kong will not veto matters decided by the Legislative Council.

Zhou Xinian said with a smile: "Not necessarily, the power of the Hong Kong Governor is very great, and the Legislative Council will also refer to it according to the Hong Kong Governor's wishes. Lin Sheng doesn't care about politics, so he may understand that there is some deviation. ”

Lin Zhichao nodded, and then said, "Yes." On that day, I visited the Governor of Bergie, hoping that he would pay attention to this issue. ”

Zhou Xinian said: "Your Mr. Lin's funding is not the establishment of a university, I don't think the problem is very big. ”

Lin Zhichao said: "I also know that the problem is not big, but I don't want the time to drag on for too long. ”

After chatting for a while, Lin Zhichao also decided to take the initiative and strive for the Hong Kong government to approve the establishment of a 'preparatory committee' within three years, and then it will only take another two or three years for the 'Hong Kong Polytechnic' to officially open.

What Lin Zhichao wants to do is not something that did not exist in his previous life, but just a few years in advance; In 1965, the Hong Kong Polytechnic was proposed by Chung Sze-yuen, and in 1969, a 'Preparatory Committee' was established, with Tong Pingyuan as the chairman of the committee, and it was officially opened in 1972.

In this life, Lin Zhichao hopes that the 'Hong Kong Polytechnic' will be opened in 1966.

As for upgrading the Polytechnic University, it took 20 years in the previous life, and in this life, Lin Zhichao can donate funds, and it is bound to be upgraded in the early eighties.

At that time, the time is stuck in Hong Kong's industrial transformation.

In mid-October, construction began on the 'Midea Building' at 71 Des Voeux Road Central, a 32-storey first-class Grade A building with a floor area of 10,000 square feet.

Up to now, the Lin Zhichao family has owned five first-class Grade A commercial buildings in Central, which are:

Crocodile Shirt Building: 16 floors high, with a total floor area of 112,000 square feet including floor shops, belonging to Uniqlo clothing enterprises.

Profit Property Building: 22 storeys high, with a total floor area of 192,000 square feet, is an asset of Cheung Kong Real Estate.

Poly Building: 26 storeys high, with a total floor area of 280,000 square feet, which is an asset of Cheung Kong Real Estate; It has been fully leased out and will open early next year.

Global Tower: a 22-storey new coastal building with a mid-floor area of 220,000 square feet, steel beams, steel columns, and glass curtain walls, which is an asset of Cheung Kong Real Estate; It has been capped and will be put into use in June next year.

Midea Building: 32 floors high, with a total floor area of 320,000 square feet, coastal building.

Other commercial projects include:

Miramar Hotel, Miramar Shopping Centre, Sing Tao Daimaru Department Store, two towers in Causeway Bay (Causeway Bay Daimaru Department Store, Xintiandi Shopping Centre), Lychee Garden Playground, a large number of scattered shops (1st floor of the residential building facing the street)

Soon, just by collecting rent, Cheung Kong Asset Group was able to live a very prosperous life.

This is like the foundation laid by Xu Aizhou for the family, of course, it is much more expensive than his family's property assets.

At the same time, there are still 1.4 million square feet of undeveloped land under Cheung Kong Real Estate (more than 260,000 square feet of Paterson Street and the Triangle Belt, which are considered to have been developed).

In terms of cash flow, it is expected that by the end of the year, there will be about 50 million cash plus shares, that is, the sale of the residential part of seven buildings on Paterson Street.

The total assets of Cheung Kong are already 4~500 million Hong Kong dollars, which is about 50% higher than last year.

Back to the company, Lin Zhichao asked Zhou Fuzhao for the lease information of the 'Poly Building'.

Poly Building is located in the heart of Central, next to the later Landmark Plaza, and is now developed by Lin Zhichao into a first-class building, and Landmark has to be envied; Because in this area, Hongkong Land's Alexandra Tower is only nine storeys high.

At present, the rent of Grade A office buildings in Central is 1.2~1.4 Hong Kong dollars, and Poly Building can collect more than 5 million Hong Kong dollars a year, of which the shopping center contributes about 25%, but the fourth floor of the shopping center only accounts for 16% of the floor area.

The land cost of this building, plus construction costs and miscellaneous expenses, is about 28 million Hong Kong dollars; According to the net profit of about 8% of the rent (looking at the vacancy rate), it will be about 7 years to pay back.

The construction cost of this building is a bit high, but Lin Zhichao thinks it's worth it!

"Boss"

"Hmm"

Liang Guangchang of Miramar Hotel Group came to Lin Zhichao's office.

Within the group, Liang Guangchang has the vague potential to become the fourth carriage, and the current Miramar Hotel Group actually manages a series of retail and commercial properties such as Sing Tao Daimaru Department Store, Causeway Bay Daimaru Department Store (the building is called Walden Building), Xintiandi Shopping Center (the building is also called Xintiandi Building), and Crocodile Shirt Shopping Center.

The rent collection of other office buildings and scattered shops is actually managed by the rent collection department.

Lin Zhichao is very optimistic about Liang Guangchang, and will take charge of the group's commercial real estate business in the future, becoming his fourth carriage.

Liang Guangchang continued: "On the opening day of the Miramar Hotel and the shopping center, I asked someone to take a look. Take a look at the day you choose, we can organize the grand opening ceremony and invite guests. After speaking, he handed over a yellow calendar.

Lin Zhichao immediately flipped through the yellow calendar and compared it, and quickly decided: "It's Wednesday, January 18 next year (1961)." ”

"Okay. What about the guests? ”

Lin Zhichao said: "I will give you a list as soon as possible, and I will personally invite the governor of Hong Kong." ”

"Hmm"

It's nothing to have a Governor!

The difficult thing is to meet the British royal family to participate in the opening ribbon cutting, that is the courage.

In his previous life, in order to let the British royal family cut the ribbon for him, Zheng Yutong deliberately waited for the foundation stone and opening ceremony of the Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition Center to wait until the date of the Queen of England's visit to Hong Kong and the visit of Charles and his wife to Hong Kong.

When Prince Philip visited Hong Kong last year, Lin Zhichao did not have the foundation stone and opening of the building, so naturally he could not be invited to cut the ribbon for the foundation stone of a hospital.

Lin Zhichao came to the Governor's Mansion and was invited into the Governor's Office by Robert Richard's secretary.

He is a Justice of the Peace and a CBE recipient, and the phone can be called directly into the Governor's office, and because there are many rights, what associations and police are small people in the eyes of characters of their level, and they can be pinched to death at any time.

Let's just say that those Inspector Hua, if they offend the justices of the peace, they will definitely be in trouble; After all, the justices of the peace can have tea with those superintendents, chat about social security, and then unite with some famous people in society, and they can immediately get rid of a small chief inspector.

If it is replaced by Lin Zhichao, there is no need to trouble, and Inspector Zonghua can be eliminated soon.

Of course, the Hong Kong turmoil is not the cause of these inspectors, but the reason why these British officials in the Hong Kong government are too greedy, so they are 'up and down'. Whoever is in charge is the same, so Lin Zhichao will not pay attention to it, and people are worried.

Every era has its own characteristics, and Hong Kong's 'detective era' in the 60s was not the kind of scene in the movie; after all, if the movie is not written exaggerated, and the club is not written as a cow B, the ghost will go to see it; of course, the community is indeed rampant, and if you want to describe it, in fact, it is the opposite side of the 90s, which may not be as good.

The status of foreigners in Hong Kong is still much higher, for example, in five or six years, those 14K troubles, the Hong Kong government had no intention of killing, but they actually overturned the Swiss consul's vehicle, causing his wife to be burned to death. It was precisely because of this incident that the military police opened fire directly, and soon killed forty or fifty people.

In this era, the British army and police stationed in Hong Kong killed the Chinese, it was really a vain death, and there was no one ~ right at all. Whoever calls the shots for you, neither side really decides.

The society of later generations is really much more tolerant of young people.

"Hello, Your Excellency the Governor!"

"Hello Mr. Lin, please take a seat!"

After the two sat down, the assistant to the governor made tea for the two.

"I know that His Excellency the Governor attaches great importance to education in Hong Kong, and has built nearly 100 schools in the past three years. In higher education, it is also sparing no effort to support and increase the funding of the University of Hong Kong; Invite Fulton to visit Hong Kong to inspect higher education and facilitate the merger of three Chinese tertiary colleges into 'Chinese University of Hong Kong'."

When Bai Liji heard Lin Zhichao's words, he was very happy in his heart, after all, it was a happy thing to be recognized by others.

Then, he said with a smile: "Mr. Lin didn't come this time to praise me, right?" ”

As the governor of Hong Kong, he will not underestimate Lin Zhichao's energy, and the wealth of this Chinese is not worse than that of Jardine Matheson; The influence in the Chinese business community is also ranked first; Its influence in the world is also increasing day by day.

Such a character is bound to grow even more!

Lin Zhichao said seriously: "I came here to establish the Hong Kong Polytechnic, and I know that the Legislative Council has raised this matter, so I am very concerned. Hong Kong's current industries are all primary processing and assembly industries, which may be enough to support Hong Kong to become an economically developed region in Asia within one or two decades. However, in the long run, when a region is economically developed, factories will move out to less developed areas to reduce costs. Then the future of Hong Kong's industry needs to be transformed. Therefore, I hope that the Hong Kong government can speed up the establishment of the Hong Kong Polytechnic and better nurture science and engineering talents for Hong Kong. As a member of the business community, I am willing to donate 10 million and will continue to donate. ”

He listened very carefully, he was a relatively decentralised official in the colonies, and Sing Tao was able to set up an autonomous government, and set up a prime minister and a cabinet to oversee all matters except 'defense diplomacy', and he even admired the lawyer very much.

At the same time, soon after he took office, he announced that Hong Kong had gained independent economic and financial powers, that the Hong Kong government would no longer need to submit its budget to London for review, and that in economic affairs, there would be no need to seek the consent of the colonial secretary in economic decision-making, that the Hong Kong government would be able to make its own economic policy independently, and that the colonial office would only intervene in the affairs of Hong Kong's foreign borrowing.

"What Mr. Lin said, I will seriously consider it, after all, this is a matter that is beneficial to Hong Kong. And Mr. Lin is willing to donate education, which I very much welcome. Bai Liji said.

After all, it's not a university, it's just a tertiary college, it's not a big deal, and he can make a great contribution as the governor of Hong Kong.

If it's a university, it's complicated.

Lin Zhichao said: "Okay, thank you for your open-mindedness. I also feel that the lack of talents in Hong Kong Polytechnic has a great obstacle to the development of our company, so I want to promote this matter. ”

Bai Liji said with a smile: "The Yangtze River Industry Group is well-known at home and abroad, and it is logical that Mr. Lin has invented trolley suitcases, instant noodles, and plastic flowers. As the ruler of Hong Kong, I naturally hope that Hong Kong will become a better place. ”

After the two exchanged politeness, Lin Zhichao got up and said goodbye.

After Lin Zhichao left, Bai Liji looked at his back and couldn't help but sigh: "This young man is really a business wizard!" ”

The assistant said: "The Chinese are developing so fast, will it be a threat to the British capital? ”

"This is a commercial matter, and the Hong Kong government will not interfere with it. ”

The assistant suddenly said nothing else!

Within the Hong Kong government, of course, many officials are partial to British capital, but as the governor of Hong Kong, the first thing to consider is governance, stability and other factors.

There are some departments below that favor British capital, which is enough for British capital to take advantage.

If Chinese capital is blatantly suppressed, it will inevitably lead to environmental instability, and it will not be good to lose the support of the people.

When the new Financial Secretary, Sir Kwok Pak-wai, takes office next year, Hong Kong will completely enter the 'free market', and the government will not interfere in the affairs of the business community. At the beginning, it was true that British capital had the upper hand - Hongkong Land drank milk, but later, it was the Chinese capital that turned around and gained the upper hand.

(End of chapter)