Jardine Matheson, Taipan Office.

"Henry, what does the Hong Kong government say?" John Keswick asked solemnly.

First there is Jardine Matheson, then there is Hong Kong, this is a Hong Kong proverb.

Therefore, Jardine Matheson has many connections within the Hong Kong government, and even some officials are originally from the management of Jardine Matheson.

"There's a lot of stuff involved, so there's no exact information either. But it is said that the ownership of the naval dockyard already belongs to it, and it will not choose to cancel the tender. ”

John Keswick frowned suddenly, no matter who got the Navy Dockyard, his strength in Central, Hong Kong was close to Hongkong Land's; Of course, it is only close, after all, Hongkong Land's properties are located in the heart of Central, and the location of Admiralty is still a little worse.

However, if Cheung Kong acquires this land, then Hongkong Land will lose the title of Hong Kong's No. 1 Real Estate Company, which is what John Keswick does not want to see.

"Hmph, Hong Kong's real estate is so sluggish, and it is too close to the mainland, the risk is very big! If it was really the Chinese who got it, he was making a desperate bet. ”

The Keswick family is still skeptical about the prospect of real estate in Hong Kong, otherwise Hongkong Land's large number of high-quality sites should be redeveloped.

Henry Keswick said, "Indeed! Not every time you're lucky! ”

In the end, the father and son had to put the matter aside and wait for the Hong Kong government to announce the results. Because Henry Keswick had been to the Hong Kong government for activities, he found that this matter was too big for Jardine to interfere with.

July 28th.

The Hong Kong government officially announced through the media that Cheung Kong had won the site of the former naval dockyard with a price tag of 165 million Hong Kong dollars.

When the news landed, Hong Kong and Kowloon were shaken.

This is the largest property development project in Hong Kong to date, and it is also the largest single site price in Hong Kong.

For a time, stimulated by this, Hong Kong's real estate industry instantly had a stable and upward trend.

In the office of Cheung Kong Industrial, Lin Zhichao immediately calmed down after learning that he had won the bid.

The last three to five years of this land has been in the planning period, so it will not start construction for a while, and the Hong Kong government has not asked for it. The whole project is expected to be completed by the end of the 70s, and of course it is expected to be divided into three phases, with a total construction period of about 15 years.

Take your time!

As for the impact on Hong Kong real estate, Lin Zhichao thinks that the impact will not be particularly large, even if it stabilizes this year, at the beginning of the mainland movement next year, everyone will have to invest cautiously; Needless to say, the plunge is a certainty.

What Lin Zhichao has changed is only a small trend, and the general trend is affected by political events and international events, which is irreversible. For reasons that Hong Kong is too small, it is not only heavily influenced by the mainland, but also by the general international trend. For example, interest rate hikes and cuts in the United States, the oil crisis, and the war in the Middle East will all affect Hong Kong's economy.

The five giants of Cheung Kong came to Lin Zhichao's office.

"Let's have a simple meeting at the conference table!" Lin Zhichao got up and sat down at the conference table.

Everyone is very excited, after winning this land, the influence of Cheung Kong Industrial has increased greatly, and they are naturally rising.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao said: "We have no strength to develop this land in a short period of time, so the last 3~4 years is the planning period, mainly to communicate with the design plans and the Hong Kong government, and generally speaking, don't worry." The first is that capital cannot keep up, and the second is that Hong Kong's economy cannot keep up. ”

Everyone nodded and calmed down, such a large piece of land, the funds needed are huge. And now that the real estate is so sluggish, the rent in Central has dropped a lot.

Huang Changhong said: "Fortunately, the Hong Kong government does not stipulate the development cycle, so it is completely possible to plan for 3~4 years, and then divide the place into several phases of construction and develop in stages." ”

Lin Zhichao said: "Yes, I think so too, but before that, I will communicate with you about the future layout of Cheung Kong Industrial. ”

Everyone pricked up their ears and listened seriously, because Cheung Kong was too big.

Lin Zhichao said: "After this real estate slump, I will reorganize the real estate business. The first is to set up a future listed company, Cheung Kong Group, and you will all be the senior management and directors of this enterprise in the future, that is, the enterprise reorganized by Cheung Kong Industrial. At that time, the assets of this enterprise will only be more than a dozen development real estate, Miramar hotels and shopping centers, Poly Construction, and Anderson Daya, and the reserve land and buildings will not be listed assets, including the land auctioned this time, and will not be listed assets. The unlisted assets will belong to my family real estate company, that is, the restructuring of Changjiang Real Estate. ”

Everyone nodded secretly when they heard this, and it was necessary for the boss to hide his assets by doing this. At the same time, these listed assets are scary enough, even if they are not as good as Hongkong Land, but they are not much worse.

Lin Zhichao continued: "After the listing, I can use fundraising and other methods to slowly purchase my reserve land and participate in the development of the cooperative naval dock. In short, this listed company will be one of the core of my career, and my future development energy will be on it. You are all young, the oldest is only 50 years old, and you can still work for more than ten years, and you will see the company go public and grow and grow. Of course, I will also use listed companies to give you large stock bonuses to ensure that you can achieve true financial freedom after retirement. ”

Everyone listened to the enthusiasm, they are now worth more than one million, if they go out to work alone, they can become the owners of small real estate companies. But they knew that real estate was too dangerous.

Take Lu Xiaopei as an example, when he went out to start a business for a year, he encountered a real estate slump, and trouble began to be riddled with, although it was not fatal, but it was also very helpless.

"Thanks to the boss for his cultivation, we will definitely do a good job!" Everyone has expressed their positions.

Lin Zhichao nodded, and finally said: "There are no new real estate projects here in Hong Kong for the time being, but I am going to visit Sing Tao recently, so everyone must be ready, and new projects will be opened over there!" ”

Everyone was immediately encouraged, although Cheung Kong's cash flow was less than 100 million Hong Kong dollars, but after all, there was no debt; And they know that the boss has two large enterprises, and they can always find a channel of funds.

Huang Changhong said: "Although the rent has a certain impact this year, fortunately, the income of retail properties is relatively stable, and some people have signed a three-year contract, so the overall rental income will not be less than 30 million Hong Kong dollars, which is a very stable capital input." The investment on Sing Tao must be very sufficient. ”

Last year, the rental income reached 35 million Hong Kong dollars, and this year it has decreased a lot, but it is also more than 30 million. As for other Chinese-funded real estate companies in Hong Kong, I am afraid that none of them have an annual profit of 10 million.

"I'll solve the matter of funds, there will be no shortage anyway! Before I went public, I could misappropriate it from other companies. ”

"Okay"

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

Lin Zhichao, Tang Caiyun and his wife took their son Lin Ruihuan to Harvard University in Boston to register.

Walking into the campus of Harvard, there are no high-rise buildings, and many of the buildings are low-rise European-style buildings; Such a well-known university, if there are no high-rise buildings, then it must be very large, so Harvard covers an area of 4,800 acres, almost 30,000 acres.

The tuition fee at Harvard University is more than $2,000 a year, and an average family in Hong Kong earns several years, but scholarships and loans are provided. Of course, none of this is a problem for Lin Ruihuan.

For Lin Zhichao, as long as Lin Ruihuan does not enter the Harvard campus through the back door, he will not ask for anything else, even if it is a scholarship or not.

tuition fees and living expenses will not be less than a penny for Lin Ruihuan; However, in terms of standards, Lin Ruihuan's living expenses are about the same level as those of moderately wealthy families, which will not be low, but they will not be very high.

Enjoy campus life to the fullest and don't spend your energy on money. For this reason, Lin Zhichao deliberately did not buy a property and a car in Boston, and he and Tang Caiyun both needed to stay in a hotel and take a taxi.

Harvard University officially opened on September 5, but Lin Ruihuan moved into the dormitory on August 23. His dormitory is a triple room, which is like the treatment of a freshman, and he can actually enjoy single and double rooms, but the price is higher. But obviously, Lin Zhichao won't do that, what he wants is for Lin Ruihuan to have communication skills.

"Hello"

"Hello"

I happened to meet my dormitory roommate and his parents, and everyone greeted me in a friendly manner. The other party is white, which is a good thing for Lin Zhichao, which means that there is at least one white classmate in this dormitory, even if the remaining one is black.

Briefly communicate with the other party's parents, the other party is probably an American white-collar worker; After hearing that Lin Zhichao was a Hong Kong businessman, the other party felt very good.

"Your son Lin Ruihuan doesn't look like he's 18 years old, right?" Pete, the head of the other man's house, asked curiously.

"I just turned 16 this year!" Lin Zhichao replied truthfully.

"Oh, then he must be a genius!" Pete's exaggerated preaching.

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "No, he just studied relatively early and is an ordinary person." I'm worried about whether he'll fit in with a great university like Harvard. ”

It would not be wrong to say that Lin Ruihuan is a genius, his learning ability is indeed very good, and he has inherited the advantages of Lin Zhichao's second development.

But of course, you can't show off this, geniuses will have no friends, Lin Zhichao said the same thing to Lin Ruihuan, let him not stand out too much, and of course he can't be too low-key.

"It must be possible, you see the two of them have become friends!"

The first roommate is good and very reliable. For a short time, Lin Zhichao was also observing everything.

After all, assuming that there is a very discriminatory student, Lin Ruihuan will be very troublesome, and it may not even be something that he can handle at his age. Now one roommate is good, and the other one is not too influential in any way.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao used his camera to record his son's dormitory in college, took a few photos, and then went to visit Harvard University.

Lin's dormitory is located next to Harvard Square, across the street from the Harvard Bookshop and the Harvard Smith campus center. This center is not only a visitor center for Harvard, but also a peaceful place for students to study. And it only takes 2-5 minutes to walk from their residence hall to the classrooms and the Wiedon Memorial Library.

The library has several study rooms, and it is so quiet that you can hear the sound of a needle hitting the ground, making it a great place to study. The library also houses a Gutenberg Bible, printed between 1454 and 1456 and pioneering of movable type printing in Europe.

Walk across Harvard's campus to Anneberg Hall, a place for freshmen to eat. The décor of this hall is extravagant, perhaps reminiscent of scenes from Harry Potter. Lin Zhichao is looking forward to his son's next four years at Harvard, and hopes that he can fully enjoy every moment here!

During the meal in the Anneberg Hall, Lin Zhichao said to Lin Ruihuan: "To be honest, I envy you at this moment, you can enjoy 4 years in such a higher education institution. ”

Lin Ruihuan saw that his father was so serious, and said: "If Dad had the money to study, he must be much better than me!" ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "If your father had the money to study, his fate would be different, and he might live in the mainland." Therefore, people should not regret the past, but cherish what is in front of them. ”

Lin Ruihuan immediately understood what his father said, and said seriously: "I must cherish these four years of college, study and make friends."

Lin Zhichao nodded with satisfaction and said with satisfaction: "I believe in you!" ”

There is no need to explain too much reasoning, because there is a school to teach him. Lin Ruihuan studied at Harvard for four years and graduated at the age of 20; After that, it is up to him to choose whether to study for a master's degree or work in the United States for two years.

Studying for a master's degree is to improve one's ability, not that diploma is good-looking, and he is two or three years younger than his classmates, so he can use this time to strengthen his studies.

Of course, if Lin Ruihuan wants to enter the society, then he can only find a job by himself and work in the United States for two years.

Tang Caiyun also said: "Study hard and participate in activities, and strive to get a scholarship; In life, you must learn to be independent and keep your dress clean."

The line in the mother's hand, the wanderer's shirt.

Tang Caiyun also said very reasonably, you must be independent in life, and after studying in college, you must demand your own hygiene and personal hygiene in the dormitory.

Lin Zhichao's son must not be a young master, and he has no ability to live independently.

When they study, they will not enjoy the life of the rich second generation; For the first two years of their work, they can only use their own salary.

The real enjoyment of the family's wealth has to start after they have worked for two years.

What is the eighteen-year-old to give a luxury car, just give a luxury house, that is the idea of the outburst.

If they don't know that it's not easy to make money, how can they cherish the wealth created by their parents.

After sending his son to university, Lin Zhichao quickly arranged a flight to Singapore.

In this month, Sing Tao was abandoned and Singapore was founded.

After arriving at Sing Tao, the team led by Huang Changhong was already waiting, and then everyone was officially received by Sing Tao.

In the conference room, Lin Zhichao and lawyer Li sat together, and their men sat on either side. This is an official meeting, and Sing Tao welcomes everyone with the courtesy of an investor.

"When I heard about the founding of Singapore, I wanted to invest in a five-star luxury hotel here to provide a comfortable environment for businessmen who came to invest in Singapore."

After all, Singapore has just been founded, and the next step is to consider economic development. The development of the economy is bound to attract overseas investors, and there are no decent hotels in Singapore at present, which is a very good investment.

"Mr. Lin's investment, we are very welcome, I don't know where you are going to invest?"

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao said: "I invested in a department store on Orchard Road and found that Orchard Road has great development potential, so I wanted to get an ultra-luxury five-star hotel with a total investment of more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars on about 15 acres of land in the western section of Orchard Road. I like to have the support of the new government as a place for some state affairs. ”

"I am very supportive of this investment, but Singapore is very small, so we want to plan carefully for every big real estate project. So if Mr. Lin invests in this project, I hope to communicate more with our development bureau, about the location and area, this is their business. Of course, Singapore must welcome Mr. Lim's investment in this hotel, as for government support, this problem is not big, after all, according to Mr. Lim's investment, it must be able to become the government's choice of official hotel. ”

He is a little wary of businessmen, but he has a different sense of Lin Zhichao, because Lin Zhichao has brought a lot of factory investment to Singapore over the years and is an industrialist.

Lin Zhichao knows that for such a big project, the negotiation time between the two parties will also take a certain amount of time, and Lawyer Li can receive him as soon as possible, in addition to Lin Zhichao's identity, he also has many years of friendship.

The project is solid, and an agreement should be reached this year.

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao suggested: "Although I am not a Singaporean, I am very confident in Singapore. Over the years, I have been investigating and feel that Orchard Road can be invested in shopping malls and department stores, forming a shopping street. If the new government wants to plan, I am willing to invest in another large shopping mall there to drive economic development. ”

Mr. Li was naturally happy with this kind of thing, so he said, "Okay, let's think about the plan carefully, and if the plan is feasible, we will definitely invite Mr. Lin to invest." I remember that Mr. Hayashi once told me that you have two plots of land there, one has been built into the Daimaru Department Store and the other is still vacant! ”

Lin Zhichao nodded and said, "At the beginning of the fifties, I studied the geography of Singapore, and I always thought that Orchard Road would develop in the future, so I bought two plots of land and waited for development. ”

Mr. Li said with a smile: "Mr. Lim is so optimistic about Singapore, why didn't he consider moving to Singapore in the first place, it is really a loss for us!" ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Although Singapore has good development prospects, it is definitely inferior to Hong Kong at the beginning, and it will be able to compete with Hong Kong in the future, because I believe that under the leadership of Mr. Lee, Singapore will definitely develop." ”

Dream that before 2015, Hong Kong will never lose to Singapore. Because once Lin Zhichao grows up, it will bring great changes to Hong Kong.

One person, influencing a city, he can definitely do it. As for after 2015, under the influence of political Z, Hong Kong is not something that Lin Zhichao can lead. What's more, he was already retired by that time.

"Thank you Mr. Lim for being so optimistic about Singapore and the Singapore government, and now Hong Kong is also the object of our study, which is a fact that we must admit."

"It is a blessing for Singapore to have a pragmatic ZL like Mr. Lee."

"You've won the prize, it's my duty."

After meeting with Mr. Li and other government officials, Mr. Li held a luncheon and gave him a good salary.

Lin Zhichao's investment requirements, he himself is very welcome and supportive, of course, the details have to be discussed. After all, this is a big thing, and both sides have to communicate and exchange.

To be honest, if it weren't for Lin Zhichao's early friendship with lawyer Li and Lin Zhichao's influence in the world, he would not have been able to express his position like this. Because Lim Chi Chao is not a Singaporean, nor is he a Malay Chinese, it is not so convenient to invest.

After this matter was settled, Lin Zhichao had already chosen the addresses of two Shangri-La hotels, the Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong is located in the Central Navy Yard, and spent a huge amount of money to build a sailboat; Sing Tao Shangri-La is located on the western part of Orchard Road, covering a large 15-acre site.

Neither investment is costly, especially for the 'Shangri-La Hotel & Burj Al Arab Hong Kong' in Hong Kong, which will be very scary. Therefore, I am afraid that it will not be officially built until after the 70s.

(End of chapter)