It's the spring of another year (1975).

In an office building in Block B of the Far East Financial Center, Lin Qingxia looked at this office building with thousands of square feet curiously, and she didn't know why her man brought her.

"Brother Chao, what are you bringing me here for?"

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "This will be your investment company's office building in the future, and you will be the boss!" ”

Lin Qingxia said in surprise: "I want to be the boss?" ”

Lin Zhichao nodded, pulled Lin Qingxia to the sofa and sat down, feeling the charm of his young body, he felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart. This woman has been cultivated by him for almost a year, and now that she is becoming more and more beautiful, it is time to gradually retire from the entertainment industry.

"Do you know how much the stock you bought has appreciated?" Lin Zhichao asked with a smile.

Lin Qingxia lay in the man's arms and said with enjoyment: "I don't know, I just know that it has risen a lot in the past two months, and I should have made a lot of money." ”

Lin Zhichao said with a smile: "You girl, you really want to be the shopkeeper, you don't care about this matter." ”

Lin Qingxia said coquettishly: "It's not that I don't understand, besides, with my man watching, I will definitely not lose." Brother Chao, I seem to have grown up again! ”

Women, once they fall in love, they are inevitably very desperate.

Lin Zhichao laughed 'haha', and then the two scuffled on the sofa.

Afterwards, Lin Zhichao simply hugged her on the sofa and enjoyed this young time.

"How much? Dozens, or dozens? ”

Lin Qingxia is still very curious about this question, this man is so romantic and charming, it is difficult for a girl to escape his 'magic grasp'.

"What to talk about! There are only five in total, you really think I'm very romantic, I'm very restrained, I don't know how many women pounce on it! ”

Let's be honest!

The real effect is Tang Caiyun, Xu Caiying, Audrey Hepburn, Zhao Yazhi, and Lin Qingxia.

Lin Qingxia was really a little surprised, she was ready for this man to be very romantic, but she didn't expect that this man had only five 'women' in his nearly thirty-year love career, which shows that he is still very 'guarded like jade'.

She lay quietly in Lin Zhichao's arms and said gently: "Brother Chao, I believe in you!" ”

Lin Zhichao choked for a moment, it is very important to believe that this woman is not believed, any woman he wants to get, ten out of ten are stable; There are only women in this world that he doesn't want to mess with or can't afford to provoke, and there are no women he Lin Zhichao can't get, this is an open life.

"By the way, your stock should have doubled, that is, eight million to sixteen million."

"Huh? So much! ”

When Lin Qingxia heard the news, she immediately got up, didn't care about the mess on her body, and looked at Lin Zhichao in surprise.

"Yes, when you buy the stock market, the Hang Seng Index is only about 170 points. And now the Hang Seng Index is about 330 points, so doubling is certain. ”

"It's only been three months! I easily earned 8 million Hong Kong dollars? ”

"It's supposed to be a money grab, but the method is different! But I warn you that any investment in the future will have to be approved by me. ”

"Uh-huh, thank you, Brother Chao!"

Next, Lin Qingxia was still not calm, she didn't expect it to rise so much.

In fact, Lin Zhichao was also very surprised, since the beginning of the year, driven by factors such as the sharp cut in US interest rates and technical 'oversold', the Hang Seng Index has rebounded sharply, from 188 points at the beginning of the year to 330 points now (early March), which is not an exaggeration.

Of course, this kind of skyrocketing still can't change the fact that the average trading volume is only one billion Hong Kong dollars per month, after all, many of those leeks have been washed out.

"Qingxia, what you have to do now is to empty all the stocks immediately. Then set up an investment company and use all the funds to buy the property. ”

"But I won't do that, Brother Chao!"

"It's okay, I've already found a few talents for you, that's the elite of Cheung Kong Group, you have to treat me well today!"

After a while.

"Brother Chao, you can't be here!" "Qingxia, it's okay, it's safe here."

After a while, Lin Zhichao and Lin Qingxia staged the 'Shuanglin Office War', to be honest, it was very comfortable and enjoyable.

Let Lin Zhichao cash out the stock, not because he is worried that it will fall sharply, but Lin Zhichao guesses that the follow-up should be a sideways market, with a maximum of 380 points in the Hang Seng Index.

In this way, Lin Qingxia can use the funds to buy the property, and then mortgage the property to obtain a loan to speculate in stocks.

After some operations, Lin Qingxia's investment company is no weaker than Zhao Yazhi, who has struggled for more than two years.

There is no way, Lin Zhichao's favorite in his previous life was Lin Qingxia, Guan Jiahui, Li Jiaxin, as for Zhao Yazhi, he should pick one up.

In a large conference room in Central, Universal Shipping, Swire & Co., Jardine Matheson, Hutchison & Co. and Wharf Group are holding a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form Hactl.

Hactl will invest in the construction of an air cargo terminal building at Kai Tak Airport to provide airlines with a comprehensive air cargo handling system.

Lin Zhichao also attended the meeting, and as he serves as the chairman of the board of directors of Universal Shipping, he naturally wants a piece of the pie.

Originally, such a good thing was divided among British capital in this era. However, regarding the air cargo terminal, Lin Zhichao, a Chinese-funded tycoon, must be inseparable.

First of all, Hong Kong Airlines, as one of the two major airlines in Hong Kong, is naturally eligible to participate.

Secondly, Universal Shipping, the parent company of Hong Kong Airlines, whose second shareholder is HSBC, accounts for 40% of the shares, is naturally also eligible for a piece of the pie.

Finally, Lin Zhichao's influence in Hong Kong, coupled with his financial resources, even if it is a separate competition, the Hong Kong government does not dare to favor British capital too much.

The end result, of course, is that everyone works together to avoid vicious competition.

In fact, there is competition and cooperation, and this is the mall. For example, Bao Yugang in his previous life had just acquired Wharf Group, and he also cooperated with Hongkong Land to develop real estate projects.

This cooperation with Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals, Universal Shipping accounts for 20% of the shares, which is also very fair; After all, Swire & Co., the parent company of Cathay Pacific, only holds 20% of the shares.

On the contrary, it is the Jardine Matheson, which accounts for 45% of the shares (Jardine Matheson, Wharf Group); As for Hutchison & Co., it is now difficult to protect itself, and the symbolic participation is 15%.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding was attended by the heads of major foreign banks, and it was a rare 'meeting of big people'.

"Henry Taipan, I heard that you plan to return to London to govern, it seems that I have one less competitor! Ha ha! Lin Zhichao smiled and said to Henry Keswick.

Henry Keswick responded, "Mr. Lin is really well informed! But we don't seem to have had direct competition, at most it's an auction house, and I think that kind of competition is too boring. On the contrary, I heard that Mr. Lin once wanted to cooperate with the dairy company, and the result was that I achieved my goal, what do you say? ”

What he meant by this was that bidding for 'Central District Land King (Harbour Centre)' at the auction house was nothing more than anyone else's money, and there was no difficulty. And both sides coveted the milk company, and Lin Zhichao returned home, but he was successfully taken down.

Seeing that the two of them collided with some Mars, the surrounding foreign bank executives and high-level executives watched the excitement around.

Lin Zhichao spread his hands and said, "Well, Henry Taipan really made me bow down in the art of acquisition. ”

Seeing that Lin Zhichao took the initiative to 'admit defeat', Henry Keswick could only say: "Mr. Lin's grasp of the timing is what I am willing to bow to." ”

If he is proud, then it is definitely not the admiration of the people around him, but the ridicule of the people around him.

You must know that Lin Zhichao's grasp of timing, whether it is in shipping or real estate, is definitely a top-level awareness, which is recognized. Although it does not have the 'superb art of acquisition' like Henry Keswick, last year Cheung Kong Group also connected two cities - China Bank and Metropolis Real Estate.

In particular, when the Chinese Building was sold, Hongkong Land was already in a situation where the funds were insufficient and the opportunity was missed.

After a simple confrontation, everyone was harmonious, and Lin Zhichao also greeted Jardine Matheson's successor Niu Bijian and Land's successor Bao Fuda by the way. Niu Bijian is an elderly man from Jardine Matheson, while Bao Fuda has just joined Hongkong Land this year and is originally from the Hong Kong government department. It is these two people who will be in obvious crisis in the future, not to mention the loss of the Wharf, after all, this is a mess left by the Keswick family, but later Hongkong Land became the 'debt king', and I have to mention Bao Fuda's 'great joy' ability, it is his crazy expansion, and he can't see the situation clearly, is the culprit later, of course, Niu Bijian is also involved in it.

Henry Keswick is about to return to London for politics, and Neubijian and Bofforda are about to go down in history.

"Mr. Lam, Swire Properties is going to sell a piece of land located on the Sai Sai Sai West site on Braemar Hill Road in North Point, covering an area of 864,000 square feet, I wonder if Cheung Kong Group is interested again?" During the small talk, Swire & Co.'s Swire & Co. Schyoke said something.

At this time, Hong Kong's real estate was in a downturn, and the average residential price in Hong Kong and Kowloon fell from HK$220 per square foot in 1973 to HK$176 per square foot at the end of 1974, a drop of about 20%. Residential properties in the New Territories fell by 30%, and land plots also fell by 30%

At this time, most companies are unable to buy the bottom, because they have exhausted their strength at the peak of real estate.

Only Cheung Kong Group is known to everyone as a 'rich man', not only does not make a profit, but also opens up a number of channels to raise funds, and is the largest player properly.

Lin Zhichao said: "If you are interested, I will ask my colleagues from the company to negotiate with Swire Properties later!" ”

Since you take the initiative to come to the door, there is no need to hide your head and show your tail.

Schyoke nodded and said, "OK!" ”

Taking advantage of this period, Lin Zhichao also praised: "Swire Properties' development of the 2.3 million square foot real estate project at Taikoo Dockyard is another large-scale private housing estate after Hong Kong's 'Mei Foo Sun Chuen', and will surely become a benchmark real estate project in the future." ”

There is no competition with Swire & Co. in the future, and it is time to ease the relationship, after all, everyone plans to develop deeply in Hong Kong.

Hearing Lin Zhichao's praise, Shi York also said modestly: "Swire Properties is a newcomer to the industry, and for the Taikoo Shing project, I will slowly plan for it, and I will meet Mr. Lin's expectations. ”

Swire & Ocean Bank has developed 2.3 million square feet of land at Swire Dockyard and adopted a more conservative approach to fundraising, the first is to raise funds through listing, and the second is to raise funds through the sale of land.

In the past few decades, Swire & Co. has sold a lot of land, such as the sale of the Taikoo Hostel in Quarry Bay in the 60s, which was later built into the crowded white pigeon residential buildings such as 'Haishan', 'Harbour View' and 'Fuk Cheong', the Far East Headquarters Building in Central, which was now the Furama Hotel, and the land on the east side of Hualan Road in the early 70s, which has been completed with buildings such as Crown Automobile, Yan Fu Industrial Building, Po Fung Court and Wai On Court.

Now, in order to develop the Taikoo Shing project, they are preparing to sell the land of Saixi Lake, which makes people sigh that these British-funded foreign firms have never stopped being wary of the mainland.

It's not that these British-funded foreign firms don't have money, but they like to take back some of the money they earn to develop in Europe.

After chatting with various foreign banks for a while, Lin Zhichao proposed to say goodbye, looking at Lin Zhichao's high-spirited appearance, the heads of major banks and management couldn't help but feel a kind of jealousy in their hearts.

It is precisely because of the emergence of Lin Zhichao that Hong Kong is no longer a British-funded monopoly for a long time. Swire & Co.'s loss of Hong Kong Airlines and Hongkong Land's loss of 'Central Land King (Harbour Centre)' all show that this Chinese has the strength to wrestle with everyone.

The important thing is that now 20~25% of HSBC's profits come from shipping, that is, the enterprises that cooperate with Lin Zhichao. With the support of HSBC, this Chinese-funded tycoon is like a tiger.

For example, this time the air terminal is impossible to rule out Hong Kong Airlines.

Cheung Kong Asset Group.

Lin Zhichao called Huang Changhong, Hu Zhaoxu, and Zhou Fuzhao three carriages.

"This Slender West Lake project allows Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to participate in half of the shares!"

The three of them were stunned, and some couldn't understand why the boss took such good care of the Commercial Bank of Canada, after all, Cheung Kong Group was not short of money, and there was no need to please any bank at all. The boss himself also said that he could personally provide loans to Cheung Kong Group.

"This Slender West Lake project, covering an area of 856,000 square feet, can build a luxury residential project, and if done properly, the profit can reach tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars," Huang said. With such a big investment from the boss, what should the Canadian Imperial Bank give us in return? ”

He is still conservative, this project can earn hundreds of millions.

Lin Zhichao said: "If you can help us enter Canada, it will not be in the way, and it will be just one more person to make money, and there will be many good projects in Cheung Kong Group this year." ”

I see!

The boss has begun to look forward to the global business map, and this vision is really long-term, and the three of them have no doubts.

Indeed, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is the best bridge for Cheung Kong Group to enter Canada, so Lin Zhichao is willing to let them make money in Hong Kong; From the financial company we cooperated with last year to the real estate project now, we can make Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce gain a foothold in Hong Kong and make money.

In return, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will also let Cheung Kong Group gain a firm foothold in Canada in the future.

From this year onwards, Cheung Kong Group will have to consider continuing to invest in Hong Kong while also looking to North America.

Then, Lin Zhichao said: "After winning this Slender West Lake project, we will continue to buy the site, including the land exchange rights and interests, and increase the land reserve." ”

"Okay, boss!"

In fact, Cheung Kong Group is now in a position where it has the financial strength but does not have the channel to acquire large projects. This Slender West Lake is barely one, almost worth 8000~90 million Hong Kong dollars.

It can't be said that there are no channels for big projects, after all, it also spent 550 million yuan to acquire projects last year, but it includes 300 million Hong Kong dollars to acquire the Yangtze River Plaza site (Admiralty).

After the three subordinates left, Lin Zhichao also began to think.

This year, Cheung Kong should also participate in investing in Manhattan office buildings, but of course, it will cooperate with the Global Group to jointly establish an investment company.

The oil crisis has had a great impact on the United States, so the office buildings in Manhattan in the past two years are very worth investing in.

Of course, the main body of investment has to be the Global Group, not the Cheung Kong Group, which is determined by the financial strength. Cheung Kong Group is still based in Hong Kong, and overseas investment is only involved for the time being.

Cheung Kong Group's globalization strategy needs to be taken step by step, after all, he is now a listed company.

At the end of the month, the joint company of Cheung Kong Group and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce won the site of Slender West Lake for 85 million Hong Kong dollars, covering an area of 864,000 square feet.

Of course, although the area is large, the area that can be developed is not large. Cheung Kong Group plans to build a high-end residential community on 10% of this land, about 1,000 high-end residences of 1200~1700 square feet. The other 90% of the area will be built as a playground, scenic spots, and public areas, and long-term rent (entrance fees) will be collected.

Although the current residential area in North Point is only 150 Hong Kong dollars per square foot, the floor area of 1.5 million square feet is more than 200 million; In this way, it seems that there is only a very ordinary profit.

But Lin Zhichao knew that by the time the project was sold (in 1977), the price of the house would rise to more than HK$260. After the whole project, the profit is definitely hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

Affected by this news, those powerful real estate companies also began to move.

this day.

Lin Zhichao, Lee Shau-kee, Kwok Tak-sheng, and Zheng Yutong gathered in a high-end restaurant, and the four of them should symbolize the four major families of Hong Kong real estate.

Although Lin Zhichao's wealth far exceeds that of others, he is approachable and willing to help others, and Lee Shau Kee, Guo Desheng, and Zheng Yutong have all received help from him.

As for the other Li Jiacheng, he is not qualified to participate in today's gathering of large real estate developers at this time.

For example, Hopewell Real Estate, Hang Lung Real Estate, Dachang Real Estate, Carnival Real Estate, etc., have all encountered some troubles in the big stock market crash and oil crisis.

Hopewell Real Estate, whose stock has fallen by as much as 97% (at its worst), has been unable to raise funds, loans, and even homes since the stock market crash, and has not been able to recover in a short period of time, let alone buy the bottom.

In 1973, Hang Lung Properties acquired two Shaw Brothers properties at a consideration of HK$130 million, and the properties had to be delivered at the end of 1973, so the funds were fixed, and the measures for 1974~1975 were also taken.

DCH Real Estate, one of the real estate companies that raised the most funds in the market, but participated in stock speculation, stock exchange, joint ventures, etc., Chen Detai was affected by the early years, and did not have the courage to complete large projects alone, so he could only rely on British-funded foreign companies (Hutchison, Swire), so there is no need to worry.

Carnival Real Estate, Feng Guozhen was also a real estate strongman in his early years, and the scale of listing and fundraising was also huge, but after raising funds, he went to invest in a billion-dollar project in Malaysia, but when the oil crisis came, investment in Southeast Asia fell more than Hong Kong, including Hutchison suffered heavy losses in Southeast Asia.

Dinner.

Mr Lee Shau Kee said, "Are you interested in co-operating with the Sha Tin reclamation project? ”

Sha Tin is located in the New Territories, and Kowloon was originally separated by a mountain, but now that the Lion Rock Tunnel has been opened, this mountain separation is meaningless; Therefore, the property value of Sha Tin is almost the same level as that of Tsuen Wan.

This year, the government has announced that it will tender for the Sha Tin reclamation project, which aims to create a new town without much investment. After the property company reclaims the land, it will get a part of the land, and the rest will be handed over to the Hong Kong government.

The price is only 20 million or 30 million, but the cost of reclamation is huge, so it is reasonable for Lee Shau Kee to propose cooperation.

Lin Zhichao said happily: "This project is still very good, I am willing to invest in Changshi Group, just so that I don't have to spend energy to take Li Sheng's ride." ”

Lee Shau Kee was overjoyed, he was still worried that Cheung Kong Group would not cooperate and wanted to bid alone, and he would definitely be the biggest competitor at that time!

"Lin Sheng can afford to be below, and I am very willing to be the leader of this project! Guo Sheng, Zheng Sheng, what do you think, join in, each of the four has 25% shares. ”

Guo Desheng and Zheng Yutong readily agreed, and then everyone reached a verbal agreement.

In this way, the new 'Four Families' symbolizing Hong Kong have emerged.

Perhaps the only controversy is whether Lin Zhichao is considered one of the four major families, not because his strength is not enough, but because his strength is too advanced.

Of course, if only the assets of listed companies are concerned, then everything is reasonable. Although Cheung Kong Group has a high market capitalization, it is not outrageous.

The Sha Tin project will not be tendered until next year, so the four of them will tentatively settle down and start chatting.

(End of chapter)