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

Chapter 460 My Boss Has a Background in the Underworld!
Current global ranking of tin mines:
1. The Gejiu Tin Mine (Yunnan) has a cumulative proven tin metal reserve of 172.11 million tons.

2. The Dachang Tin Polymetallic Mine (Guangxi) has tin reserves of 116.3 million tons, associated zinc reserves of 471.5 million tons, and lead reserves of 107.5 million tons.

3. The Pitinga tin mine (Amazonian region of Brazil) contains approximately 40.2 tons of metal, but has a very low grade and low mining value.

4. The Bangka-Belitung Islands (Sumatra, Indonesia) have reserves of approximately 46 tons and a mining history of over 200 years.

5. The Manxiang tin mine (Shan State, Myanmar) has metal reserves of approximately 63 tons.

"In fact, everyone knows that Myanmar is rich in tin mines. After all, mining has a history of hundreds of years. The fact that it could be mined in ancient times meant that the tin ore was of high quality. It's just that after Myanmar's independence, there was a constant civil war, and the mining was not possible due to political, policy and infrastructure limitations."

During lunch, Wang Yaotang invited Dong Zhongxin and Luo Xinghan, the leaders of a large domestic mining company (Liuzhou Huaxi Group), to join him. The conversation turned to mining in the area. Based on the proven reserves, the area ranks fifth in the world. Everyone was puzzled as to why there had been no large-scale mining there. Wang Yaotang then explained with a smile.

"It's not that difficult, is it?" Hai Dazhao said with a smile, playing the straight man. "As for security, which of those large international mining companies doesn't have armed forces? It shouldn't be a big problem, right?"

“Not difficult?” Wang Yaotang scoffed. “Apart from us, no one else should even think about developing this place.”

Wang Yaotang looked around, Luo Xinghan chuckled and nodded in agreement, while the others had different expressions. Dong Zhongxin and the others laughed along, but their eyes conveyed only one word: bragging.

"To gain Brother Luo's trust, I had to offer up military equipment worth a hundred million US dollars to get him to open the door last time."

Dong Zhongxin and the others' eyes widened suddenly. It wasn't that they thought there was anything wrong with the military unit; the security department of the Dachang Mining Bureau had anti-aircraft machine guns and artillery, but linking it to one hundred million US dollars seemed a bit too exaggerated.

Back home, the price of a single gun is only around 200 yuan. How many guns would that cost?
The key question is, aren't you a Hong Kong businessman?
How did Hong Kong businessmen acquire so many military units from their hometowns?
Are you sure you're a legitimate Hong Kong businessman?

These words were meant for Dong Zhongxin and his group, to let them know that no one else could do it but them.

Cooperation is cooperation, but we should also try our best to get the benefits we deserve. In addition, we should be clear about priorities. We cannot have any wishful thinking or care about saving face. At any time, most people are not self-aware and will become complacent if given a little help.

If someone with such poor judgment causes trouble and makes everyone lose face, then it's a huge loss.

"I didn't get that much," Luo Xinghan said, pointing at Wang Yaotang with a smile. "Old Zhang took the most, and Old Peng took some too. I didn't even get a third of it."

“That’s about it. I put in a lot of effort when you were attacking Jingdong. I helped you with the battle plan, commanded the battle, trained the troops, and even provided planes to help you fight.” Wang Yaotang tapped his wine glass. “Later, I flew over a hundred times to Lao Peng’s side to transport all kinds of shells for him. In the end, three of my planes were lost.”

"Old Peng still got the better deal. Lashio is the industrial, economic, and transportation center of Northeast China. It's a big city with a large population, much better than my Kengtung," Luo Xinghan said with envy and jealousy.

"Then go and beat Dongzhi."

"Forget about Dongzhi, I'm afraid the military government would fight me to the death." Luo Xinghan shook his head with a smile.

Dong Zhongxin and the others exchanged glances. They were all incredibly shrewd, able to see through Wang Yaotang's plan in just a few words. However, even though they saw through it, they were still shocked.

The implication is that Wang Yaotang actually had his own private army, which was large in scale and highly effective in combat. He secretly participated in and instigated the warlord war in the area, leading to a great victory for the local forces. Afterwards, he invested heavily in the area through various channels, which enabled him to successfully acquire the development rights for the tin mine.

No wonder the ministry subtly mentioned Wang Yaotang's influence in Southeast Asia before he left, and advised them to give more consideration to the opinions put forward by their partners.

But this doesn't make sense either...

"What about the military government..." Dong Zhongxin asked in a deep voice.

Wang Yaotang laughed and said, "Whether they agree or not, the mine is already within our control area. I've promised to pay them taxes, and the exports will go through the port of Yangon. Of course they're willing."

Luo Xinghan added, "With local development and construction, people have jobs, money to earn, and enough to eat. Who would want to fight?"

Conversely, if they disagree, they should just keep fighting. Isn't that like holding a gun to someone's head? Dong Zhongxin and the others finally understood.

As for those international mining groups trying to replicate this, it's completely impossible. This place is only about 60 kilometers away from the Daluo Port in Yunnan Province. And the Chinese are known for their short tempers; just think about the Korean War…

If foreign mining groups dare to cause trouble here, the Chinese army will arrive immediately. Even the United States will be confused, let alone those mining groups.

There are too many conditions required for large-scale mining of tin here.

This mine can only be opened by Wang Yaotang!

This money can only be earned by Wang Yaotang!

Once you understand the people in these large factories and mining bureaus, you'll know where to place yourself: focus on internal management and production, and leave all external matters to Wang Yaotang.

This meal solidified the relationship between the two parties. After the meal, they rested for a while and set off for the mining area for on-site inspection around 2 p.m.

Previously, the 215 project involved exploration and mining methods based on the exploration results. People from the Dachang Mining Bureau had to conduct on-site investigations of various conditions for building the plant, study the mining scale based on the exploration results and the conditions of the mining area, and make an overall mine design.

There are many factors to consider in mine design, such as water and electricity, transportation, and land allocation.

During this period, Wang Yaotang brought over 40 Jeeps 212 over here. Regardless of whether the model is old or the shock absorption is poor, they are sturdy, durable, and have strong off-road capabilities.

Most importantly, like those tractors and trucks, they are made in China, with complete spare parts and easy repairs.

I can feel a bit of modernity now...

It takes about two hours to drive from Jingdong to the mine. Luckily, we rested for a while at noon, otherwise we would have thrown up from the bumpy ride. As soon as we got out of the car, Wang Yaotang looked at Luo Xinghan and said, “This damn road needs to be repaired, otherwise the construction and production of the mine will be delayed!”

"We'll get back and organize people to fix it." Luo Xinghan said with a wry smile, "Jingdong doesn't even have a proper construction company. I'm like a skilled cook without rice to cook."

Jingdong did not have this need before.

“If not…” Wang Yaotang stopped halfway through his sentence.

Luo Xinghan's eyes widened. "Go on, you're just waiting for Wang Yaotang to say he'd bring in a construction company."

Wang Yaotang rolled his eyes. "Can't you figure out how to recruit people and build your own team?"

“If I could find people, I would have done it already.” Luo Xinghan grinned. “Myanmar is only slightly developed around Yangon, but it’s mainly populated by ethnic Burmese. As you know, those who can do construction all have connections locally. I’d be willing to pay a high price to bring people over, but they’re not willing.”

“They’re afraid they won’t be able to get paid, and I’m afraid they’ll run away after finishing the work and there will be problems with the project.”

"Damn it," Wang Yaotang cursed, "You guys have too good a reputation."

They could bring in construction companies from Hong Kong, but the labor costs were too high. The two exchanged a glance and looked at the people from the Dachang Mining Bureau at the same time.

No matter how close we are, we're still family!

“I will send someone to learn from them,” Luo Xinghan said preemptively without Wang Yaotang needing to remind him.

As they walked towards the mine, a commotion suddenly erupted ahead. Wang Yaotang looked up and saw a group of people running quickly into the distance.

"I see there's mining going on here." Approaching, Dong Zhongxin frowned and said, "They must be villagers from nearby. Why did they run away? Why did they leave all their tools here? Mr. Wang, won't this cause some kind of dispute?"

"Ah, there are indeed locals illegally mining," Wang Yaotang said with a smile. "But don't worry, we've already arranged for someone to communicate with the village chiefs in the vicinity. It went very smoothly. When they heard that the Chinese were coming to build a large-scale factory, they cheered and warmly welcomed us, expressing their full cooperation."

Luo Xinghan glanced at Wang Yaotang and said, "They told you this in your dream, didn't they?"
I don't know if it was hot or not, but the body must be stiff by now!

The person is dead, so why are you cooperating with the ghost?

Wang Yaotang smiled broadly. How could he run a mining business with those insects? Of course, he had to clean up beforehand.

Dong Zhongxin and the others exchanged glances. What he said sounded good, but somehow it felt so unreal…

They're from Guangxi. Back in their hometown, when they were building mines, they had a lot of disputes with the local ethnic minorities. So what? Are the mountain people of Shan State really that well-mannered?
However, since Wang Yaotang had said so, they had no choice but to believe him. After all, he was a warlord, and they believed he could handle things.

Considering the inconvenient transportation between the mining area and Jingdong, and the exhausting four-hour round trip every day, the mining bureau wanted to build a temporary camp nearby, which Wang Yaotang readily agreed to. Luo Xinghan organized people to cut down trees and build stilt houses, and the Umbrella Company was fully responsible for security. They were all from his hometown with short hair, so communication was easy.

During the camp construction period, we also conducted an inspection of Jingdong's infrastructure, including water and electricity. First of all, the power supply of this small hydropower plant was definitely insufficient and it had to be expanded.

Another issue is industrial water use; a medium to large-scale water treatment plant must be built.

Dong Zhongxin simply gave Wang Yaotang a simple calculation, and it made his head buzz. The "three connections and one leveling" (water, electricity, roads, and a level site) sounded simple, and he didn't think it was difficult when he built a factory in his hometown. But when it came to his own business, he realized that it was incredibly difficult!

The reason why things can be done so easily back home is because the infrastructure is well-developed, allowing for the easy mobilization of massive human and material resources. In fact, the current "electricity supply" problem is quite significant, with insufficient power generation.

Putting aside his hometown, Guangdong is a huge province, and Wang Yaotang is just a nobody. He can't handle it, he simply can't.

Small hydropower stations are relatively easy to build, but the construction of medium-sized hydropower stations is much more complicated. In comparison, waterworks are actually simpler.

Other cement, steel, construction machinery and equipment...

We can still find a way to import raw materials from China, but we can't just throw away construction machinery after we've used it all. The equipment here in Myanmar isn't good enough, so after thinking it over, we can only rent it from our hometown.

Trouble is everywhere.

Building a large-scale mine is incredibly difficult!

Especially in impoverished countries like Myanmar, where there is a shortage of talent and a poor business environment, Luo Xinghan couldn't offer much help. Wang Yaotang had to take care of everything himself, and this took more than half a month, leaving him completely exhausted.

With a bang, Wang Yaotang slammed the water glass to the ground and roared angrily, "Damn it, I quit!"

"It's bad enough that we haven't seen any profit for years, but there's so much going on. I'd rather make several times more money with this time!"

"Calm down, calm down." Luo Xinghan rushed over to comfort Wang Yaotang. "If you're tired, let's take a rest. You've taken control of Phuket, right? Go and relax for a few days. I have a few girls here who really admire you. They want to learn from their idol and need some spiritual guidance. I'll let them go with you."

"Is that what you call seeking enlightenment? Bah, I'm embarrassed to even say it to you, you're just trying to tie me up here!" Wang Yaotang saw through the old man's scheme immediately, as he was always sending him women in different ways.

If she gets pregnant, she'll be more attentive to this area for the sake of the child.

"No, I'm going home." Wang Yaotang shook off Luo Xinghan's hand. "I'll go back to my hometown and ask for help. If we can contract out the labor and materials for building a house, why can't we contract out the labor and materials for building a mine? It's just money, I have plenty of money!"

"You'll have to cooperate properly with the local issues; I'll just handle the signing of contracts later."

"Hey, are you really leaving?"

"Let's go! Let's go now!" Wang Yaotang left only his back view. "Later, when the construction company comes, they'll build a small or medium-sized airport. This place is so lousy, there's not even a runway for private planes. It's garbage!"

Immediately after leaving the house, call someone to prepare the plane.

As for the other accompanying personnel, they naturally stayed behind to continue working.

After a stopover in Chiang Rai for refueling, we headed straight to Pattaya, where we had a nice two-day break at a resort before flying back to Hong Kong from Bangkok.

I've been away for a month, and I've accumulated a lot of official business, with over twenty appointments for meetings with various parties, even after cutting out the unnecessary ones. And at home, there's a whole bunch of women waiting to comfort me…

I was busy at the company during the day and busy in bed at night. I was so busy for more than a week that I was completely exhausted. Luckily, I have an iron body, but even so, I was almost drained.

"It seems the wish to have 100 children is a bit difficult to achieve; I'll have to stretch the timeline out a lot..." After escaping to meet up with some buddies for drinks that night, Wang Yaotang sighed with lingering fear, "Ten women, once a week, that's 50 times a month. Add two more, and it's like having to do it twice a day..."

(Teresa Teng, Sally Yeh, Cherie Chung, Yammie Lam, Li Meiren, Margie Tsang, Idy Chan, Kathy Chow, Joey Wong, Loletta Lee)

"That's terrifying, bro!"

The four brothers were laughing so hard they almost died. "Women? I'll pay, you contribute your youth and beauty. Having some fun is fine, but we should be careful about giving them a title."

Too many enemies are bad...

In the past month or so, Jardine Matheson reached an agreement with the Kwok, Li, and Cheng families. Each of the three families contributed about 3 million HKD in cash to jointly establish a land management company to acquire Hong Kong Electric's land, and then signed a 20-year sublease agreement with Hong Kong Electric.

In this way, Wang Yaotang would only need to come up with about 32 billion in cash to complete the acquisition of Hong Kong Electric.

With preparations complete, Wang Yaotang, HSBC, and Jardine Matheson held a press conference after signing the contract, announcing that CLP Power had invested HK$42 billion to acquire a 51% stake in HK Electric, thus taking complete control of HK Electric.

The news had actually been circulating in rumors for a month.

It wasn't Wang Yaotang or Jardine Matheson who leaked it, but rather HSBC and a financial company that had long been involved with Hong Kong Electric.

These financial sharks don't manipulate stocks in a simple and crude way like Wang Yaotang; they simply use real mineral resources to artificially inflate stock prices.

When Li Xiangjiao was forced to abandon the acquisition and Wang Yaotang's strong takeover was a foregone conclusion, they began to change their approach.

While the month-long delay was due to Jardine Matheson negotiating with other companies about how much money they would contribute and which plots of land they would acquire for future development, the extended duration was also due to the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of those financial companies.

Real estate developers and financial companies have always been mutually beneficial.

The financial company first spread rumors that Jardine Matheson was about to sell Hong Kong Electric, and that Chinese capital had once again defeated British capital. Those who heard these rumors were all people of relatively high social status, otherwise they would not have had access to them. Therefore, they regarded them as gospel and immediately poured a lot of money into acquiring Hong Kong Electric shares.

Hong Kong Electric shares rose in response!

Then, news was released that Li Xiangjiao and Jardine Matheson had basically reached an agreement on a 41 billion yuan acquisition.

Taking advantage of the favorable news, these financial companies seized the opportunity to sell off their holdings and make a small profit.

Just as Jardine Matheson reached an agreement with several real estate companies and everything was ready, they released news through the media that the deal between Li Xiangjiao and Jardine Matheson had suddenly been terminated. Stimulated by the negative news, the stock price plummeted on the spot.

At this point, the financial companies immediately seized the opportunity to buy back their shares.

Subsequently, media reports revealed that Wang Yaotang, the "Little God of Wealth," had intervened to complete the integration of Hong Kong's power industry and had spent a huge sum of money to acquire Jardine Electric.

The stock price rose again.

Then, media outlets reported that the Hong Kong government was preparing to halt the transaction under the pretext of anti-monopoly measures, causing the stock price to fall again.

Then the media hyped up the fact that electricity is a vital industry for people's livelihood, and that it is driven by Laos and China to ensure the safety and stability of the power supply, so the acquisition is bound to succeed.

The stock price rose again.

The information released was a mix of truth and falsehood, allowing various financial companies to repeatedly profit from the situation!
In the end, CLP completed its acquisition of HK Electric and officially announced it at a press conference. However, the stock price only rose slightly. The retail investors had already been fleeced, and the positive news had been exhausted in the previous repeated fluctuations. Major financial institutions successfully escaped at the press conference, so the stock price naturally did not rise.

When listed companies release their financial reports, some companies have very impressive financial reports, but their stock prices either rise slightly or fall altogether. This is the case most of the time.

After checking the stock price and listening to his subordinates' report, Wang Yaotang looked displeased. "So, these bloodsuckers took the money that belongs to me?"

“Well… that’s not quite right.” Li Menghui thought for a moment and said, “The current stock price is theoretically the normal value of the market. Those financial companies are making money off the sentiment of investors. Even without them, the rising stock price would gradually fall down.”

"I don't care, they're the ones who made my money!" Wang Yaotang snorted. "Make a list of which companies they are and tell them what I said."

"The Hong Kong stock market is the whole of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Electric is my territory. A bunch of bastards come to my territory to make money without even saying hello. If they don't give me an explanation, I'll make them pay!"

beet!

Li Menghui gasped. You know what, you really have to admit, explaining it from the perspective of the martial arts world actually makes perfect sense...

My boss is, after all, from a江湖 (jianghu) background!
(End of this chapter)