Lin Zhi made a big deal to invest in the "Oriental Daily", and although he achieved very good results, anyone with a discerning eye could see that this newspaper could not make money for the time being.

It is rumored that Sir Lam ran a newspaper at a cost of nearly 2 million Hong Kong dollars, setting a record for the highest cost of running a newspaper in Hong Kong, so many people think that Sir Lam wants to gain the influence of public opinion. In last year's incident, Sir Lam used the influence of public opinion to support the government's work.

Such speculation, of course, is very marketable!

Meanwhile.

in an office.

The "Flour Horse" brothers, one of the "four major families in Hong Kong", are sitting together to discuss things, and the eldest Ma Xiru and the second Ma Zhenzhen are all solemn.

Ma Xiru said: "Lei Luo retired at the age of forty-eight, he must be tired. It's not appropriate to put a good Inspector Zonghua, and now I'm running to be a rent collector, I'm afraid I'll hear some rumors. ”

Ma Zhenzhen immediately said: "I heard that it was the big incident last year that prompted the British government in Hong Kong to review it, and it affected the JC Bureau. ”

Ma Xiru's eyes lit up immediately, and she said in shock: "I understand!" It must be that the anti-corruption voice of the JC system is stronger than before, and Lei Luo heard the rumors, so he retired early. Anyway, the money he has earned over the years will not be spent in a few lifetimes. ”

Ma Zhen smiled and said, "This is too cautious!" He thought that after retiring, those JC brothers still had a few people who listened to him, and then there would be no part of him. ”

After saying that, he laughed even more arrogantly.

Lu Le favored Lame Hao, and he naturally gloated a little.

Ma Xiru ignored this question, he thought about it seriously.

After a long time, he seemed to have thought of some good idea, and he smiled.

"What did my brother think of, could it be that he was going to expand the market?"

"Expand a P, where there is a big market. I was thinking that the recent "Oriental Daily" became famous as soon as it was launched, and its sales were close to that of the old bestsellers. ”

"Brother, you don't want to start a newspaper too, do you? That thing can make money by selling powder, and I can earn back the money I sold for a year in three days. ”

"You know what! If we run a newspaper, we can not only launder black money into white, but also use the newspaper to increase its influence, which is like a 'sword of Shang Fang'. Do you know who is the boss of "Oriental Daily"? ”

"I don't know!"

"It's the famous Sir Lin! Other people's relationships have already been called brothers and sisters with the governor of Hong Kong, and Liao Liewen, the president of the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce, saw him, and he had to shout Uncle Lin. He has such a high status, why does he still run a newspaper? ”

"In order to consolidate the position, this newspaper is really interesting!"

The two brothers soon hit it off!

Ma Xiru even said: "Although we are a layman in running a newspaper, we have a ready-made teacher, just follow him to learn!" ”

Ma Zhenzhen said: "Brother is talking about Lin Zhichao? ”

"Not bad!"

"But in this way, will it offend people?"

"Don't be afraid of this! Doing white business, paying attention to business, what can he do to us? ”

"Makes sense!"

What the two don't know is that although the mall pays attention to 'business', the business methods are much darker than those in the community. Importantly, the mall is like a blunt knife stabbing someone.

Take the Zhang Yuliang family at this time, after offending Lin Zhichao, they have been suppressed by shopping malls. At that time, a building was built and not sold, and a lot of funds were frozen; Two more buildings on Des Voeux Road were lost one after another, and the family heritage weakened; More importantly, one wrong step, one wrong step, Zhang Yuliang missed the best opportunity to make money in the front, so he encountered a bank run and Zuo Lengchan's rebellion in the back, resulting in a lot of losses.

At this time, Zhang Yuliang's family can't even count their net worth of more than 100 million yuan (temporary depreciation of property), and they have already done a lot. Wheelock in this life is naturally not something that the Zhang family can afford.

This kind of blunt knife killing, which made Zhang Yuliang painful, every time he thought of what happened back then, he regretted it, causing him to miss too many opportunities later.

"Mr. Malcolm, welcome to Hong Kong! Welcome to Universal Group! On the first floor of the Global Building, Lin Zhichao led Vice President Bobby and other senior executives to greet Malcolm McLean and other sea and land joint ventures.

He and Malcolm McLean are very good friends, and every time Lin Zhichao goes to the United States, Malcolm McLean will ask him to play golf and talk about the prospect of container transportation.

At present, Universal Group has also launched the 'Europe, the United States and Japan' container routes, which are just six converted container ships (free ships).

At present, there is no container terminal in Hong Kong, but the Hong Kong government has decided to put up three plots of land in the Kwai Chung area for tendering for container transportation terminals. Pier 1 has the largest footprint and the best location.

As a result, Lin Zhichao planned to join Malcolm McLean to bid together.

Malcolm McLean took the initiative to hug and said, "Mr. Lin, I have wanted to come to Hong Kong for a long time, but unfortunately I have not been able to make the trip. I'm finally here today, and I'm very happy! ”

"Haha, I won't let you down, please here!"

Subsequently, Lin Zhichao took Malcolm McLean and his entourage to inspect the Global Group.

The first-class headquarters building, spacious office environment, and energetic staff are undoubtedly proof that the Universal Group is a powerful group.

Malcolm McLean praised: "This is almost all Chinese management and staff, but it can manage a large fleet well, and our Western prejudice has completely changed, because Hong Kong shipping has surpassed Greece under the leadership of Mr. Lam." ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "Haha, you have won the prize!" Our Vice President, Mr. Bobby, has brought excellent experience and management of Western shipping to the Global Group, and we have grown in a learning process! ”

Bobby was immediately honored, in fact, he was more responsible for the communication and management of the 'European and American business', and the group's contribution was not particularly large.

Malcolm McLean nodded and said, "You're right, learn from each other to go further." ”

He came to Hong Kong this time because he planned to join hands with Lin Zhichao to rapidly develop Hong Kong's container transportation, not only because Hong Kong's geographical location is very important, but more importantly, the US military hopes to make better use of Hong Kong as soon as possible.

As for why he had to join forces with Lin Zhichao, after all, the Hong Kong government took out three wharves to bid one after another. First, because Lin Zhichao is the head snake in the land, and he has the most strength, indicating that he wants to bid for the largest wharf on No. 1; Second, they hope that the speed of construction can be faster, which is even more inseparable from Lin Zhichao.

And Lin Zhichao's side is also feeling the pressure, and he must join forces to hope to win the bid for Pier 1.

It turned out that the three well-known European shipping companies that took the Hong Kong route, namely Edge Line Steamship Company (UK), Hapag-Rod (Germany) and Overseas Container (UK), together with local consortiums - Swire & Co., Hutchison & Co., Kadoorie Family, HSBC and Jebsen & Co., also formed a consortium - Modern Container Terminals Company, which became a strong contender.

At the same time, Japan's Daisen Shipyard Company said that it would participate in the bidding, which is a good container transportation company. What's more, Hong Kong's geographical location is very important for the transportation of goods in Japan.

Originally, sea-land transport was also a separate strong competitor, and its strength was higher than that of Japan's Daisen Shipping.

In this way, if Lin Zhichao is a group alone, he can certainly win the price tag, but will the Hong Kong government require the transportation volume at that time? This is a problem, his container transportation is not advantageous at the moment, it is just getting started.

Therefore, he pulled the sea and land transport that was originally going to bid for Pier 3 to cooperate in investing in Pier 1. In this way, the strength of the two companies has become the greatest.

Back to the meeting room.

Feng Yongfa took out a map, which marked the tender for the wharf in the Kwai Chung area, and this time Malcolm came in person, and brought a team, and the two were ready to form a consortium.

"Mr. Lin, what do you think is the scale of investment this time?"

"The price will not be high, but the subsequent construction cost will be higher, after all, it is the largest container terminal in the 123 terminal. I predict that the initial capital will be 60 million Hong Kong dollars, and the two of us will need to spend 30 million Hong Kong dollars each, which is 5.3 million US dollars. ”

The Hong Kong government officially closed the bidding for Pier 1 at the end of June this year, and announced the winning bid in early July; Piers 2 and 3 are followed by bidding, and it is expected that all bidding will be completed within one year.

The HK$60 million only includes the list price, as well as the initial construction funds, which can be completed with a loan later.

Malcolm nodded, and continued, "What is the name of the group?" ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "It's called 'Global Sea and Land Container Terminal Co., Ltd.', referred to as 'Global Sea and Land Container', how about it?" ”

In fact, whether it was sea and land containers, or the Japanese Daisen Dockyard, these two container terminals were eventually sold by them.

"Yes! Happy working together! ”

"Happy working together!"

For Lin Zhichao, who once planned to finance land and sea transport, Malcolm would not bother with a wharf in Hong Kong.

The next two days.

Lin Zhichao accompanied Malcolm to visit Kwai Chung and visit Hong Kong, which can be regarded as very face-saving.

Of course, when he went to the United States, others treated him the same way.

Both of them are very optimistic about container transportation, but this development is too long, and those who intervene at the beginning may not end up surviving; In the previous life, the founder of the sea and land intermodal transportation proposed the management team in the eighties and nineties, so Malcolm could only take the money to retire; And by the end of the nineties, sea-land transport was even sold to Maersk.

This is also why, Lin Zhichao did not vigorously develop container transportation at the beginning, because he had to consider the development trend and slow speed.

Day 3.

The announcement of the joint establishment of 'Global Sea and Land Container' has set off waves in the Hong Kong business community. Clear-eyed people know that the strength of these two is so strong that no one can control it, so it is imperative to win Kwai Chung Pier 1.

The board of directors of Modern Containers, led by Swire, immediately realized that a strong opponent was born. At first, they thought that the 'modern container' formed by the eight consortia was a must-win, but now they have shareholders who have withdrawn.

Of course, this retreat is not to dissolve the company, but to hope that Modern Container will concentrate its efforts on competing for Container Terminals 2 and 3.

On this day, the chairman of the board of directors of Modern Container Schörk, met with the head of Overseas Container (UK) Visby (30%), as well as the heads of Bianxing (UK) (15%), Herb (15%) and other companies.

The five local foreign houses only hold a total of 40% of the shares, and in fact, 'Modern Container' is the representative of the interests of the British.

Shi York: "This time, Lin Zhichao suddenly cooperated with sea and land combined transport, which was a big surprise to us, how do you think we should deal with it?" ”

Originally, with such a large number of British capital, if Lin Zhichao bid for No. 1 alone, they could put pressure on the Hong Kong government to set a transportation capacity of 200,000 containers per year.

It is impossible to directly target the Global Group, after all, the Hong Kong government and the British government will not do this, but the annual transportation volume of 200,000 containers is required to be achieved by the Global Group, because as far as they know, the Global Group has just started its business.

Modern Container has gathered three European container companies, and its strength cannot be underestimated, which can meet this requirement.

Visby said, "There is no way! None of us expected that Lin Zhichao had such a good relationship with the United States, so it was impossible to favor this matter through official channels. So either win the bid at Pier 1 or go all out for Pier 2. To be honest, if it is only sea and land combined transportation, then they can only survive the 2nd or 3rd at most, and our consortium is the strongest. But now."

The latter words are not spoken.

Shi York was secretly annoyed that Lin Zhichao had risen too fast, posing a great threat to British-funded foreign banks. At the same time, HSBC, Hutchison, and Wheelock of British-funded foreign banks all have a good relationship with him.

In fact, Lin Zhichao and Swire and Jardine Matheson had a direct 'festival'.

More importantly, Lin Zhichao also has a very deep relationship with the British government in Hong Kong, so he has never been suppressed by the British government in Hong Kong, on the contrary, he has taken care of it.

"Oh well! Bid for Pier 1 first, and if you don't win, go for Pier 2! Schyoke said helplessly.

This time, Jardine Matheson refused to participate in the modern container group, and seemed to think that this was not a problem. Swire & Co., Ltd., with the advantage of a local foreign firm, held only 15% of the shares, but Schyock was elected chairman of the board.

Mid-May, Star Island.

"Boss"

Jason, Vice President of Shangri-La Hotel Management Company and CEO of Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, welcomed Lin Zhichao with the management team and showed him around the office building.

Shangri-La Hotel Management Co., Ltd., an enterprise engaged in hotel management, is the hotel management company owned by the Lin Zhichao family; The ownership and management of large hotel groups are two departments, and an excellent hotel management company can obtain high profits without investing a penny, that is, an asset-light enterprise.

For example, the Miramar Hotel in Hong Kong has to pay 4% of the gross profit as a management fee every year, and the Shangri-La Hotel in Sing Tao is the same, but it has only signed a management cooperation contract for 15 years.

In fact, it doesn't take 10 years for Shangri-La Hotel Management to become a good hotel management company.

Back in the conference room, Lin Zhichao took the lead in asking, "Jason, how are the preparations for Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, progressing?" ”

Jason immediately reported seriously: "Boss, at present, our management team is complete, and we are working with 'InterContinental Hotel' to train hotel staff. We will ensure that the training time of each hotel staff will reach half a year, and the training will be carried out regularly in the future."

Lin Zhichao said with satisfaction: "These experiences must be carefully studied, and we will have our own set of management processes in the future." ”

Jason said energetically, "No problem! ”

In fact, a hotel management company is bound to have its own reservation system and cooperate with airlines, which need to be developed slowly by Shangri-La Hotel Management Company.

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore will open on New Year's Day this year, but in fact, only the first phase of the project has been completed, and the later stage will be slowly developed.

Lin Zhichao even had a prediction that the business would not be good at the beginning, so he planned to go public in a year or two. Anyway, you can't throw too much of your own money into it.

"What is the level of local management?"

"Sing Tao Shangri-La has 60 per cent local management, another 30 per cent from Hong Kong and 10 per cent recruited from overseas."

That's a good ratio!

Hong Kong's hotel industry is not yet developing, although it has cultivated a lot of talents over the years with the help of Miramar Hotel, it can only barely be enough. Of course, Lin Zhichao plans to open Shangri-La Hotels throughout Asia, and then radiate to Europe and the United States, and become the representative of 'Hong Kong Style Hotel' in the future.

Therefore, he has been asking Jason to use more local management personnel, and eventually form a global management team.

As for the temperament of 'Hong Kong style', it is naturally conveyed through Lin Zhichao, the president, - a style that integrates the greats. Hong Kong is originally a place where Chinese and Western cultures meet, so the 'Hong Kong style' is also a combination of Chinese and Western temperament.

For example, if a Shangri-La hotel is opened in Europe and the United States, Lin Zhichao will not pursue his own characteristics, but will look for excellent historical buildings to recreate, retain some local traditional culture, and then give a modern hotel culture.

After chatting with everyone about hotel management for a while, Lin Zhichao went to watch the scene with satisfaction.

This time, Lin Zhichao came to Sing Tao, in addition to inspecting the progress of Shangri-La Hotel, and also participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of 'Raffles City'. It is expected that the Raffles City will invest 100 million yuan, and the construction will officially start.

The Raffles City will consist of an eight-storey shopping mall with two basement floors and a 32-storey office tower. When completed, it will be the first shopping mall in Singapore and the first shopping mall on Orchard Road.

On the day of the groundbreaking ceremony, Mr. Lee led the staff of the Development Bureau to attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

During the interview, Mr. Li asked: "Mr. Lin, you are an expert in the field of oil tanker transportation, what do you think is the future of the oil refining industry?" ”

The topic is a bit strange, Lin Zhichao transports oil, but does not necessarily understand the prospects of the refining industry. It's like he wants to invest, without a complete set of equipment and technology, everything is for nothing.

Lin Zhichao's current wealth does not rely on whims, so he has no plans to develop oil and refining now. It was only after the arrival of the eighties, after the acquisition of Husky and HK Electric, that he was in a position to enter the industry.

"The prospect is very big! Singapore's strategic location at the seam's gateway makes it a unique advantage to develop the refining industry. Jurong Island is a natural land. To put it another way, the situation in the Middle East is a powder keg, and I am afraid that there will be many conflicts in the future competition for oil. The more this is the case, the more important the oil resources are. Although Singapore does not produce oil, it can refine and store oil. ”

Mr. Li smiled and said, "I like to talk to Mr. Lin about this, you always have a long-term view!" ”

Lin Zhichao said: "It's a pity that I don't have the technology, otherwise I would have invested in this on Jurong Island." ”

(End of chapter)