Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 881: Strategies for Landmark
Upon arriving in Yanjing, they naturally didn't just do this one thing. They also signed an agreement to establish BAIC Mini Cars Company. The two companies invested a total of US$5000 million to build a factory on a 55-square-meter plot of land in Haiding District, Yanjing.
However, in the early stages, the factory mainly operated on the CKD model, meaning that parts needed to be imported from Europe and shipped to the mainland for assembly.
Going forward, other machinery factories in Yanjing will gradually localize the production of parts based on demand, and then replace them.
As for the Four Seasons Hotel's investment in Yanjing, he will not participate. Although the investment is also very large, it can be left to professionals.
On January 5th, Yang Wendong met with the big boss again to discuss the domestic economic situation and what areas he could potentially collaborate with.

At this time, schistosomiasis broke out in the Jiangnan region, and Yang Wendong also took the opportunity to donate US$1000 million for improvements in domestic sanitation.
In this era, many epidemics are very troublesome and cause great harm. For example, the roundworms that people born in the 80s and 90s remember were eradicated by sugar pills. There are also many other diseases, such as polio, tuberculosis, hemorrhagic fever, hepatitis B, etc.
Managing such a large country requires tremendous effort, especially in this area alone. With a population of one billion, even Yang Wendong couldn't offer much help.

Therefore, they can only contribute a small amount of money to address some acute infectious diseases, or to assist in research on things like sugar pills and vaccines.

Another major issue is the sharing of syringes within the country. Yang Wendong also mentioned this to the top leader, but given the current emergency situation in China, it is clearly unrealistic to have the entire country use disposable syringes. This would require enormous financial resources. The only option is to strengthen the control over the intermediate sterilization process during reuse.

He also owns a plastic syringe company in Hong Kong, and could invest in the mainland in the future, as some hospitals in major cities may still need these.

These things can't be rushed; we can only proceed gradually, starting with big cities and then slowly expanding from specific points to a wider area.

In other aspects, Yang Wendong had no other options; many things are beyond human control.

On January 6th, Yang Wendong visited several courtyard houses he had purchased in Yanjing. The locations were quite good, so he arranged for the person in charge in Yanjing to renovate these courtyard houses so that he could stay there when he came to Yanjing in the future.
In the afternoon, Yang Wendong took a plane and returned to Hong Kong;
In the following month, with the Chinese New Year approaching, Yang Wendong mainly rested. For the first ten days, the Yang family once again took a cruise to the South China Sea for a trip.
Then they returned home, ready to enjoy the New Year in peace.

However, the month-long period was not without work-related matters. For example, the science and technology university in Shenhai City had started construction, as had the mini factory in Yanjing.
Meanwhile, in Europe, after negotiations between his team and Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Bank was finally willing to sell 6% of its Mercedes-Benz shares for $2.6 million. At the same time, Deutsche Bank will become one of the underwriters after Best Buy goes public.

This transaction involved more than 5% of the shares, so it naturally had to be informed of Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz was unable to stop the transaction, so it sent a representative to Hong Kong to talk with Yang Wendong.
The conversation went relatively smoothly. Yang Wendong had no intention of getting involved in Mercedes-Benz's internal management, as no outsider could do that; he only expressed his hope to cooperate on some technical aspects in the future.

Mercedes-Benz and its representatives seemed satisfied with Yang Wendong's statement, or at least appeared very amicable. As a result, they invited Yang Wendong to attend Mercedes-Benz's annual shareholders' meeting in Germany this October, which Yang Wendong gladly accepted.

And so, the Spring Festival of 1981 came to an end.

Hong Kong's property prices remain high, but they seem to have stopped rising and even show occasional downward trends.
In fact, this price has long exceeded the limit that ordinary citizens can afford. However, the financial industry has a delaying effect, so it can still be delayed for a while. Many capitalists are very confident that Hong Kong property prices will continue to rise.

For example, Hongkong Land and Wheelock Properties, as well as many other Chinese-owned conglomerates such as Hang Lung Group and Caring Group, were very active at various auctions, while Cheung Hing Properties Group basically did not participate.

On February 8th, Zheng Zhijie came to Yang Wendong's office and reported something: "Mr. Yang, there are rumors circulating in the market that the Hong Kong government is preparing to auction a plot of land of about 13,800 square feet on Cotton Tree Drive. The location of this plot of land is excellent, so I would like to confirm with you whether we should participate?"

“Cotton Tree Drive? The location is alright, but at 1.38 square feet, it's a bit too small.” Yang Wendong glanced at the Hong Kong map behind him and frowned as he spoke.

Zheng Zhijie said, "Yes, the area is not large. After buying it, we can only build a small building. But there are not many prime plots of land to begin with, so it's already good to have one."

"Will many Hong Kong real estate companies go there?" Yang Wendong asked.

Zheng Zhijie replied, "Yes, we will basically participate, including Hongkong Land, Swire, Cheung Kong Holdings, and Sun Hung Kai Properties. I have also registered, and we'll see if we actually participate."

"This location is nice, but a bit small. Let's register first, and then see how it goes before making a decision," Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Because of his existence, history has changed too much. People like Li Ka-shing still exist, but many new real estate companies have also emerged. Yang Wendong is not clear about the future of these companies. At the same time, he dares not say that he can remember so many real estate companies from his previous life.

Zheng Zhijie said, "Okay, those who participate in the bidding should all be optimistic about the future of the real estate industry. However, we have been withdrawing from the real estate market recently. If we participate in this auction, will it cause misunderstandings in the media?"

"Let them misunderstand. We just need to carry out our own plans and not worry about others," Yang Wendong said nonchalantly.

Given his current status and position, any action he takes will attract market attention, so it's unlikely he would refrain from taking any action because of that.

“I understand,” Zheng Zhijie said with a smile.

Yang Wendong then asked, "By the way, the land next to our building should be auctioned off soon, right? Do you know when?"

The land next to the Hong Kong Recreation Building was originally the old Hong Kong Fire Services Department. The early buildings were naturally large in area but not tall. However, with the development of the real estate market, this type of building is no longer in line with the times. Therefore, the Hong Kong government built a new fire services department in another location, and this land was naturally left vacant and prepared for sale and auction.

This plot of land, measuring 14.4 square feet (equivalent to more than 13000 square meters), is in an excellent location, even better than Cotton Tree Drive, and is also near the sea, which will be Hong Kong's most famous trading building in the future.

Zheng Zhijie said, "I know some rumors that the auction will be delayed because the Fire Services Department has not been fully relocated yet. The estimated selling price of this land will exceed HK$60 billion. Mr. Yang, are you planning to participate?"

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Wait, I'll call Fang Xianming over so we can discuss something else together."

After saying that, he contacted his assistant, and soon Fang Xianming arrived: "Mr. Yang." "Sit down. I was talking to Lao Zheng about something, it's about the fire station next door." Yang Wendong gave a brief explanation of the matter.

Fang Xianming replied, "I also know about this piece of land. It is so valuable that we really cannot advance the funds directly. If Mr. Zheng needs funds, I think various banks should be willing to lend to him."

Real estate has a strong financial component. For such expensive land, even the strongest companies in Hong Kong combined don't have that much liquid capital, so they must go through banks.
Even the Hong Kong government knows that real estate companies cannot pay in one lump sum. Therefore, for many high-value land parcels, payment is allowed to be made in installments over a period of time, which helps real estate companies alleviate their financial pressure.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I know, but I want to use this land to set up a bigger scheme. My goal is not this land, but to acquire land."

"You want to acquire Hongkong Land?" Fang Xianming and Zheng Zhijie were taken aback, and then said, "But Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land entered into a cross-control agreement a long time ago, and the Hong Kong government has also changed the rules for triggering takeover offers, so it will be difficult for us to do so."

“I know, so this piece of land was the arrow that killed the real estate company,” Yang Wendong said with a smile.

After Wharf Holdings was acquired, and with the protection of assets from Yang Wendong's consortium, Jardine Matheson Group was worried that its own Hongkong Land or even its parent company would be targeted. So it created Jardine Estates Cross-Holdings, with each company controlling about 3/40% of the other's shares. This move can be described as rock solid.

After Pao Yue-kong acquired CLP Power, the Hong Kong government knew that the British-owned company was weak, so it changed the conditions for triggering a takeover offer from 50% to 35%, allowing shareholders who have held the shares for more than two years to control up to 40% of the shares.

This was entirely to protect the few remaining British-owned companies, and it was the Hong Kong British government's last resort.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Xianming asked, "Does Mr. Yang mean to let Jardine Matheson acquire this land, and then we sit back and wait for the real estate market to collapse, plunging the entire Jardine Matheson Group into huge liabilities?"

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. If the debt is extremely heavy, then Yizhi Mutual Control will drag down both companies. In the end, they will either unbind or go bankrupt together. I would like to see either of these outcomes."

Historically, the cross-control of Jardine Matheson and Hongkong Land was an unsolvable problem. Even if other Chinese-owned companies had ambitions, they were powerless against Hongkong Land, which had the cooperation of the Hong Kong government.
However, the enormous debt became unsustainable for Jardine Matheson, and it eventually managed to dissolve the debt after 85 years.

Fang Xianming said, "It is a method, but according to past experience, except for the special case in 67, other economic crises have not had a very serious impact on Central Real Estate. The better the location, the smaller the impact. What I am worried about is this piece of land. Even if an economic crisis occurs, its value will not drop much."

“That makes sense. It seems we need to add fuel to the fire.” Yang Wendong thought for a moment, then looked at Zheng Zhijie and said, “Hey, Zheng, you still have quite a few properties. Try to sell some to Hongkong Land, including Hutchison Whampoa, Wharf Holdings, and HK Electric, as long as they’re not top-tier properties in Central.”

Historically, Hongkong Land had previously acquired HK Electric, which cost nearly HK$30 billion. Now that it has acquired HK Electric itself, it has saved Hongkong Land a significant amount of money or credit reserves.
Of course, Hongkong Land is currently optimistic about Hong Kong real estate, and may have used this money elsewhere. Yang Wendong is unaware of this, as there is no way to make a comparison.

Zheng Zhijie said, "Mr. Yang, our companies do have some properties in Kowloon Peninsula. We originally planned to keep them ourselves. Are we really going to sell them to Hongkong Land?"

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cubs. For the sake of land acquisition, let's take a gamble. Anyway, I won't lose money selling these properties. If real estate prices drop in a few years, I can still make a profit, or I can buy them back then. Even if I can't buy back these locations, there should still be similar ones," Yang Wendong said confidently.

Properties outside the core of Central are highly substitutable; if you sell your property in Tsim Sha Tsui, you can buy one of similar value elsewhere, so there's not much difference.
I was originally too lazy to bother with anything and planned to keep to myself, but now, in order to catch a big fish, I have to go all out.

Zheng Zhijie agreed, "Okay, I'll take care of it."

Fang Xianming then asked, "Mr. Yang, should I start acquiring shares of Jardine Matheson?"

“No need. Land prices are too high right now, and Jardine Matheson’s share price is also very high. It’s not worth buying now.” Yang Wendong shook his head and said, “Let’s wait for the right time. Right now, what we need to do is to keep Jardine Matheson expanding. Newbikin is a man who is quite willing to take a gamble.”

Even with Yizhi holding a controlling stake, Yang Wendong never attempted to take action against Yizhi because, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to succeed; such a fortress cannot be acquired unless there are internal problems.

But a real estate crisis was looming, and Jardine Matheson's top management was still fantasizing that property prices would continue to rise, which would naturally be their opportunity.
In this way, whether Yizhi Interconnection is unlocked or goes bankrupt, I will have a chance.

Fang Xianming thought for a moment and said, "When Hongkong Land acquires our company's properties, it will inevitably borrow on a large scale. Why not let Hang Seng Bank provide the loan? In this way, Hang Seng will also become Hongkong Land's creditor bank. When Hongkong Land falls into a debt crisis, we can force Hongkong Land to comply."

"Haha, okay, let's do it this way." Yang Wendong nodded, then said to Lao Zheng, "Lao Zheng, come with me to see Governor Murray MacLehose in a few days. Our plan still depends on him."

Historically, the land for the Exchange Building was auctioned off in 82. By then, land prices had already fallen, so what he needed to do was persuade the Governor of Hong Kong to arrange for the auction to be held earlier.

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(End of this chapter)