Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

In the morning, a milky white luxury yacht cut through the sea and sped towards the Haojiang River, with a coastal patrol boat following behind as escort.

On the yacht, Wang Yaotang reclined on the sofa on the flybridge, his head resting on Lan Jieying's lap, feeling the salty sea breeze.

Lan Jieying peeled a lychee with her delicate hands and fed it to Wang Yaotang. Wang Yaotang swallowed his fingers whole and sucked on them, which made Lan Jieying giggle.

She took a small sip of glutinous rice wine, then lowered her head to feed it to Wang Yaotang. Her fragrant tongue circled in her mouth, and when she looked up, it drew out a glistening thread.

“No wonder everyone likes to buy luxury yachts, they’re definitely more luxurious than those patrol boats!” Wang Yaotang tilted his head and smiled at Awei beside him.

“Yeah, before, when we took patrol boats back and forth between the two places, damn it, it was so bumpy I felt like throwing up my dinner from the night before, and my butt got calluses from sitting so much. It’s nothing like now.” Awei pouted angrily, while Ye Tong ate a grape with her mouth.

"We should thank Lü Zhihe. We spend his money, live in the villa he built, and drive his yacht. The only thing missing is him seduce his wife and beat his son!" Wang Yaotang laughed loudly.

"Speaking of which, haven't you found his wife and children yet?" Awei asked.

"No, after all these years, it's not a problem for him to leave a few people to inform his wife and kids. He's just hiding somewhere, but it's no use. How long can he hide? With so much money in his account, can he really resist spending it?"

“Then the regrets of the last two will be made up for soon,” Awei said with a wicked grin.

"Okay, I'll leave the task of sleeping with his wife to you."

"I'd rather not have a haggard wife, unless I have a mistress."

The two joked along the way, and more than an hour later the yacht docked at the private yacht marina in Haojiang.

There's no customs here. The wealthy are all respected, law-abiding citizens who don't need to go through customs.

On the pier, He Chaoqiong personally greeted them, her gaze falling on Lan Jieying's face. What a beautiful and pure young girl.

"Traveling with a beauty, Yao-ge, you're in high spirits." He Chao-qiong glanced at him and then looked away, not even realizing that her words carried a hint of displeasure.

He clearly came to see me, and had important business to discuss, yet he brought a woman with him, and a beautiful one at that…

"Now that I've made some money, I'm definitely going to enjoy myself. Sorry to have kept you waiting, Ah Qiong." Wang Yaotang laughed heartily.

“Miss He, I’m reporting this. I did try to stop him, but Brother Yao is a womanizer,” Awei said with a smile.

“I call this an exploration of beauty,” Wang Yaotang said with a smile.

After exchanging a few jokes, the group got into the car that came to pick them up. Without introducing Lan Jieying and Ye Tong, they weren't qualified; even if they were introduced, He Chaoqiong wouldn't be remembered.

With the backing of Wang Yaotang and Stanley Ho, the Portuguese and Macau governments were very cooperative, and the establishment of Macau Telecom was very fast. In addition, Hong Kong Telecom itself needed official subsidies and was eager to get rid of Macau's business, so the acquisition was given the green light all the way.

Of course, it's the same team, just with a new office environment.

"Mr. Wang, Ms. He, please come in." Huang Guohui smiled brightly.

Hong Kong Telecom became a wholly government-owned company. The advantage was that everyone entered the civil service system, but the disadvantage was that their income would plummet and there would be almost no upward mobility. For people with little ambition, this was certainly a good thing, but for people like Wong Kwok-fai who were not satisfied with the current situation, it was a disaster.

He had been thinking of using his current job to find a better one, but unexpectedly, He Chaoqiong came to him, and Huang Guohui transformed into the general manager of Haojiang Telecom without saying a word.

During the company tour and the computer room visit, Huang Guohui was able to readily recall various data points, demonstrating that he is indeed a capable individual.

As the company's chairman, after the tour, Wang Yaotang called a small meeting to praise the company's senior executives and reassure them.

All the staff were recruited by Ho Chiu-king, and they wouldn't feel at ease without Wang Yaotang's approval.

After praising the company, Wang Yaotang went on to talk about the company's plans: to gradually replace the digital switches while maintaining the status quo, expand the local installed base, and take a unique development path by relying on the local gaming industry.

He Chaoqiong had actually said these things before, but everyone still applauded enthusiastically after Wang Yaotang finished speaking.

He held a meeting but didn't treat people to a meal. He communicated with different people in different ways. These people had only heard of Wang Yaotang's "generosity" but had never seen his "ruthlessness." Getting too close to him would inevitably make them become complacent.

Wang Yaotang was kind-hearted and did not want to kill anyone.

The company assigned He Chaoqiong to do social practice, which had been agreed upon beforehand. After Wang Yaotang showed up to understand the situation, he left, and the two of them took Lan Jieying and Ye Tong to the Lisboa to have some fun.

After a day of fun, we stayed at a hotel that night. The next day, I took two key technical staff members from the company on a yacht to Shenzhen.

As soon as he got off the ship, Wang Yaotang saw Director Shi and Director Zhao on the dock and immediately said with a serious expression, "I told you on the phone that you didn't need to be picked up. You came of your own accord. You can't say that I'm putting on airs by having the two big directors pick me up."

“How could we dare not come to pick up a newly minted tycoon like you from Hong Kong? If word got out, it would be said that we were disrespecting overseas Chinese businessmen,” Director Shi said in a serious tone.

"Hey, with all your eloquence, why are you a policeman? Director Zhao might as well give up his position for you."

"I was firmly against Director Shi's transfer to the police force," Director Zhao said with a smile.

After a few jokes, Director Shi introduced the man in the white shirt next to him, "This is Director Sun of the Post and Telecommunications Bureau, and this is Comrade Wang Yaotang, a patriotic Hong Kong businessman."

After meeting, shaking hands, and exchanging a few pleasantries, Wang Yaotang invited the group to board the ship for a tour; this was the reason they had come so eagerly.

Previously, the overseas Chinese businessmen who came to China were all elderly men, and they were very careful to keep a low profile when communicating with officials. It was quite a surprise that one of them came in a luxury yacht. Given their special status, they rarely had the opportunity to go abroad and had never seen a luxury yacht before.

Several accompanying personnel were also invited aboard. As soon as they boarded the yacht, someone couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice that the railings on both sides were gilded, and a light touch would leave fingerprints...

The yacht is 30 meters long and 4 meters wide, with three decks and a usable area of ​​over 150 square meters. Before coming here, I only had a vague idea of ​​luxury in my mind, but I couldn't visualize it. I only knew that the price was over 5000 million Hong Kong dollars, which is enough to build a warship. Now, after visiting it, the luxury has become a tangible reality.

"This is too... extravagant!" Director Zhao exclaimed in astonishment.

“This is what our capitalists’ successors are like,” Wang Yaotang chuckled.

Director Shi gave him a disapproving sidelong glance. "Sarcastic remarks, huh? A few years ago, those words would have gotten you arrested!"

"Hahaha, doesn't this just prove that we've opened up?" Wang Yaotang laughed. "Li Zhaoji's family are big capitalists in Shunde. They own gold shops and silver shops. They moved to Hong Kong because their businesses were confiscated. Most of the wealthy people in Hong Kong are in the same situation. Having experienced such pain, it's inevitable that they will harbor resentment. It's difficult to convince them that the same thing will never happen again."

"The situation is different now," Director Shi said with a dry laugh.

"So, I'm warning you, be polite to me!"

"Go to hell." Director Shi lightly punched Wang Yaotang.

After chatting on the yacht for a while, sipping red wine, enjoying the sea breeze, and experiencing the services of the yacht's "babes," they finally disembarked. As they got into their car and left, the two couldn't help but glance back at the yacht. Damn, the sugar-coated bullets of capitalism are truly too powerful!

After leaving the dock, we went to Zhuyuan to settle in. We had lunch there, chatting casually. After lunch, Director Shi went back to work, while Director Zhao and Director Sun held a small meeting room to discuss serious matters.

Currently, China still uses cross-type switches, which are technologically outdated. This is especially true for coastal cities, where they are severely hindering economic development and have reached a point where change is imperative.

The problem is that money is needed everywhere. Postal and telecommunications companies across the country want to introduce new technologies and equipment, which requires money everywhere. No matter how much wealth the postal and telecommunications companies have, it's not enough to fill this bottomless pit. The money that is poured out is like a sesame seed when it reaches the local area.

Shenzhen is separated from Hong Kong by only a narrow strait. Coupled with the rapid economic development in the past two years, Shenzhen has high aspirations and wants to upgrade to digital switches in one go. However, almost all the foreign manufacturers they have contacted recommend analog technology. Director Sun is unwilling to give up, so during the Chinese New Year, he asked Director Zhao to ask Wang Yaotang for help to see if there were any other solutions.

The two technicians brought by Wang Yaotang explained the mainstream products and manufacturers currently on the market, and detailed the actual usage of analog and digital switches.

The people at the post and telecommunications bureau in the north had only heard foreign manufacturers boast about how good it was, but they didn't really know much about the actual situation. This detailed introduction, in particular, broadened Director Sun's horizons.

“I don’t recommend purchasing simulation technology. Everyone knows it’s outdated. These foreign devils just want to sell this junk to maximize their profits,” Wang Yaotang said in a deep voice.

Director Sun coughed lightly, tilted his head to look at Director Zhao. This guy was too sharp-tongued, always talking about foreign devils. "That's what we think too, but foreign manufacturers keep bringing up the eight of bamboo and don't want to open up their digital switch technology to us. I wonder if Mr. Wang has any ideas?"

Wang Yaotang said with a smile, "The solutions are nothing more than those. If we have them, or are about to have them, they will open them up immediately. Of course, we don't have the relevant technology at present, so there are only two solutions left."

"First, there is internal division. The patents for digital technology are not entirely in Bell's hands. Fujitsu, Ericsson, and Siemens all hold relevant patents. They license each other and can all produce them. Of course, there are differences in the technical features. As far as I know, Fujitsu has been negotiating with Fuzhou to sell to them. Hasn't Pengcheng made any contact with them?"

“I’ve been in contact with them. Fujitsu did say they could sell their F150 PBX, and the price was really reasonable, only $8.5 million for 10,000 lines. But…” Director Sun said with a wry smile, “It’s too cheap, so cheap that we dare not buy it. And yet we can’t see any problems with it. I can’t… cough cough.”

"You don't think the Japanese have any good intentions, do you?" Wang Yaotang smiled and gave himself a thumbs up. "Director Sun, you still don't understand me. Before the New Year, my grandfather was murdered. When it was time for the funeral, several Japanese gangs sent people to attend. When we were discussing business, they made a demand: they wanted to have a contest with me."

"In front of more than 1500 people, I personally killed the Japanese boxing champion in the ring."

Director Sun stared at Wang Yaotang in disbelief. Was he really going to say that?

Isn't that illegal?

No, he's from Hong Kong, so mainland law doesn't apply to him...

Just imagine that scene, fucking awesome!

"Mr. Wang, what a hero!" Director Sun gave him a thumbs up.

Wang Yaotang's lips curled up, a smug look on his face. "The Japanese are using their early commercial development to play tricks on us. I don't know what Fujitsu told you, but commercial tactics are really just a few."

"Oh, Mr. Wang, please tell me." Director Sun immediately became interested.

Director Zhao also began to concentrate. As he worked for the Investment Promotion Bureau, he dealt with foreign businessmen the most, and the more he knew about these methods, the better.

"First of all, they sell inferior products as superior ones. I've used too many Japanese products. Their products have very good surface data and look similar to European and American products, but when you look into them closely, it's a completely different story. For example, with the same product performance, European and American products can run for 10 hours, while Japanese products will only last for 3 hours at most."

"The second is the additional service. They sell you things cheaply, but once you start using them, you'll find that some commonly used parts have a high failure rate. When you try to buy them from them, you'll find that the parts are very expensive. They make money from after-sales and additional service fees. It's like giving you a car for free, but you don't have enough gas, so they sell you gas at a high price."

"If we buy the Japanese switchboard, lay the lines, install the telephones, and then problems arise after a period of use, we won't be able to replace the equipment. We'll just have to endure exorbitant repair costs for a long time."

Director Sun gasped; this was something he had never expected.

Before the reform and opening up, we used domestically produced goods, so it was only natural for the manufacturers to repair them if they broke.

"Are all Japanese things like this?" Director Zhao asked with a look of surprise and uncertainty.

"Wang Xing, tell our two bureau chiefs the difference between Japanese and American goods." Wang Yaotang raised his chin.

"Greetings, sirs." Wang Xing nodded with a smile. "First of all, the Fujitsu F150 is indeed a fully digital program-controlled switch, and it is indeed a 10,000-line switch, but what they won't say is that it only supports 500 long-distance lines, while Bell supports 2000."

"The official data for the extended line supports 4500 lines, but they won't say that this 4500 is for analog lines. If it were digital lines, it would be 2000 lines, but in actual use it can only support 1800."

"TST's time-division-space-division-time-division structure, Fujitsu's is 'mechanical contacts', while Europe and the United States use 'cross-matrix chips'. The lifespan and expansion capabilities are vastly different."

"Both are distributed architectures, but Japanese products are simply 'distributed,' while European and American products support the addition of remote modules, and the modules can handle calls independently, with fault isolation capabilities far superior to Japanese products."

"Fujitsu's switches only support Channel 1 in mainland China and are not compatible with international standards such as SS7 and DSS1. However, since you have already opened them up, you must make them compatible. Therefore, you will need to purchase upgrade services from them again. Their hardware and software are highly bundled, and they completely refuse third-party development, while manufacturers such as Bell and Ericsson support secondary development."

"Furthermore, BHCA, or Busy Hour Call Handling Capacity, is only 300 million calls for Fujitsu, while the European and American standard is 1000 million calls,"

"When Fujitsu switches upgrade the number of lines in the future, you can only purchase their chips. At that time, the answer you will get will definitely be that production is tight, the quantity is insufficient, and you will need to pay more to buy them."

"In summary, Fujitsu's modular design and functionality still lag behind the Bell 5ESS of the same period. The Japanese focus on cost reduction, while Bell pursues technological leadership and openness, so there is no comparison in terms of their perspectives."

“Of course, Japanese goods are cheap. If it were the same price, Japanese goods would be garbage, but they are half the price, sometimes even a third cheaper…” Wang Xing shrugged. “The temptation is too great. The market prospects are still very good in relatively underdeveloped regions.”

Director Zhao and Director Sun didn't look too happy when they were told that the area was "backward".

However, cities across the country are indeed poor...

After glancing at Director Sun, Old Zhao coughed lightly and said, "Yaotang, you only mentioned the first method. What else is there?"

"And then there's finding an agent to cooperate with," Wang Yaotang said with a smile. "He Du Wang and I jointly acquired Haojiang Telecom. In the future, I plan to enter the telecommunications industry. If Director Sun needs it, I can invest in a joint company in my personal capacity or in the name of Haojiang Telecom to fund the construction of Pengcheng's telecommunications network."

“I can bypass the eight-bamboo system by purchasing from Europe and America, and funding isn’t a big problem. The main issue is with you.”

“Simply grabbing... getting a 10,000-line switch is no problem, but it’s not very useful. Yipeng City’s scale starts at 100,000 lines, not to mention subsequent upgrades, so we still have to go through the formal channels.”

"This..." Director Sun frowned immediately. At present, communications are strictly controlled by the state. Putting aside national security issues, there is no precedent for foreign capital participation.

However, the purpose of establishing Pengcheng is to serve as a testing ground, and the specific details still need to be reported and discussed.

"We are very grateful to Mr. Wang for answering our questions and helping us see the true capabilities of foreign manufacturers today. We are very thankful," Director Sun said with a smile as he stood up.

"Haha, Director Sun, you're too kind."

"That's all for today."

"Alright, I'll see Director Sun off." (End of Chapter)